Arthas clearly hadn't reacted yet either. He froze slightly, the two ghostly blue soul fires beneath his helmet flickering, expanding and contracting in quick succession.
He had still been immersed in the joy of being recognized by his mother, so encountering this the moment he stepped out the door naturally left him a bit dazed.
But as a learned and rational lich, Arthas quickly regained his usual composure, and the soul fire in his eye sockets and chest settled back down.
He casually glanced at Irene, who was standing to the side quietly enjoying the drama. Once he was sure his mother had no objections, he shifted his gaze back, looking deeply at the nervous and embarrassed Kailolo.
Under her expectant gaze, he slowly raised a hand and accepted the gift box, which still retained a hint of warmth.
The decayed throat beneath his helmet vibrated as he opened his mouth and said in a raspy, low voice, “Thank you.”
It was just a dry, two-word response completely devoid of emotion, yet hearing it felt like the greatest reward to Kailolo. Looking at the cold armor before her, a blissful smile spread across her face.
Back in that small city in the Eastern Kingdoms, she had deeply envied the children who received Lord Arthas's thanks and praise. Now that she had received a thank-you herself, she felt as if her life was a little more complete.
But before Kailolo could recover from her joy, she saw Arthas extend his other hand, clad in dark iron armor, and gently place it on her head.
Kailolo felt a slight weight on her head, and a faint chill radiating from the armor seeped through her little red hat, spreading throughout her body.
Kailolo froze for a couple of seconds, unable to process what was happening, and then her small face instantly flushed as red as a beet!
“Lord Arthas... patted my head?”
Caught completely off guard by this sudden headpat, the girl's eyes widened to the size of saucers, her pupils spinning wildly like spirals.
Her little heart pounded furiously, beating with the frantic rhythm of a wild dance party.
At the same time, a puff of steam suddenly rose from her head, perfectly matching her face, which was now red all the way to her ears.
She looked exactly like a freshly fired-up steam engine!
“Ahhhhh... Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?!”
Screaming like a prairie dog in her mind, Kailolo pondered those three deeply philosophical questions, feeling just like a fisherman who had hooked a giant sea monster.
It had only been an instant, yet to Kailolo, it felt as if centuries had passed.
When she finally remembered who she was, she hurriedly shook her head, slipped out from under Arthas's large hand, and lowered her head, not daring to look him in the eye. Panicked, she stammered, “L-Lord Arthas... um... um... it's getting late... I-I should go!”
She practically screamed the last part. As soon as the words left her mouth, she rushed down the steps. When she reached the bottom step, she seemed to remember something. Turning her head while trying her best not to look at Arthas, she focused her gaze on Irene, bowed deeply, and shouted at breakneck speed, “Thank you, Big Sister! You're a good person!”
Then, like a little white rabbit chased by hounds, she covered her blushing face and dashed down the street. Fortunately, there were barely any passersby on this street at night, so no traffic accidents occurred.
Once Kailolo's figure had completely vanished around a corner, Arthas, who was still holding his head-patting pose, looked at Irene in confusion. He saw her resting her chin in her hand, staring in the direction the girl had disappeared with a look that clearly said she had thoroughly enjoyed the drama.
“Mother, can you release me now?” Arthas suddenly spoke.
Just now, his arm had suddenly been bound by an invisible Mage Hand, forcing him to make that gesture. However, because he sensed that the caster was Irene, he hadn't resisted, though he was quite puzzled.
“Oh?” Irene seemed to snap out of it. She waved her hand casually, releasing her hold on Arthas's arm. Looking at the gift box in his hand, a mischievous smile played on her lips. “What an interesting little girl.”
Her gaze then drifted upward. “Aren't you going to open the gift and take a look?”
“Uh... Mother, I think you might have misunderstood.” Although he didn't quite understand what Irene meant, facing a gaze that seemed to say, Who knew you were into this kind of thing, you old fossil? Arthas chose to explain honestly. “She is merely an apprentice I took in during my journey to the Human Kingdoms.”
He then looked down at the pink gift box in his hand. After scanning it with his mental strength, he said in an emotionless tone, “Inside is a white cloak. It has no magical fluctuations and is of very low value.”
“Arthas, my foolish eldest son, gifts are not measured by their value; it's the thought that counts,” Irene chided. Then, as if she had finally realized something, a look of mild disgust crossed her face. She turned and walked down the steps, muttering under her breath, “Ugh, emotionless undead are so boring.”
She left behind a dazed Arthas, who muttered softly to himself, “The thought... value?”
It felt as if something had been touched deep within him. But before he could ponder this realization further, Irene's voice drifted over from a distance once more: “Tell me about what you've been up to all these years.”
Arthas looked toward the source of the voice. Irene was standing beneath a streetlight by the side of the road, looking up at the bulb emitting a dim yellow glow, her brilliant golden eyes reflecting the light like bright gems.
She gently tapped the metal pole supporting the streetlight with her knuckles, exclaiming like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world:
“And tell me about the empire's development over the years while you're at it. I didn't notice earlier, but this is actually a streetlight! Holy crap, did the technology tree just skip straight from the steam age to the electrical age while I was asleep?”
“As you wish.” Arthas immediately gathered his thoughts, stored the gift box into his storage ring, and vanished on the spot with a Blink. When he reappeared, he was already by Irene's side.
But before he could open his mouth to speak, a bell suddenly rang out, echoing across the entire city.
Irene looked up. Keen as she was, she instantly realized that this tolling did not come from the “great golden bell” atop the church tower.
“It's a mutant beast tide,” Arthas explained at the right moment. His expression beneath the helmet turned extremely solemn as he looked toward the towering black city walls. The tolling came from a massive black bell hanging upon them.
Rate on N.U.
