Nikto nodded.

“Yes,” he smiled at Lis.

And he was embarrassed:

“Okay, Arel, let's open the envelope.”

Arel opened the envelope and took out a small cardboard with a colored picture painted on it.

They froze. Arel twirled the cardboard rectangle in his hands.

“Tol sent a greeting card?” With some surprise, he asked a little dumbfounded.

“Fucking shit…” Lis drawled. “He's hopeless. It's good that there are Borgan and Coal, otherwise I would have worried about Lower.”

Arel turned the card over and read:

“Hi everyone! You, prince, red-haired half-breed (I have forgiven you, Lis), Karina (I dream to drink with her again) and Nikto.”

Hearing that Tol dreamed of drinking with her, Karina blushed, she hoped that he had forgotten that shameful evening.

“We are great!” continued to read Arel in syllables. “And I invite you to the wedding, I will marry Lila. Come, my dear friends!”

And then the date of the wedding was indicated.

That was all. Arel tossed the message away from him.

“Is he mad? He's getting married! Again, Tol, damn him! We need soldiers! Get your ass up and come here with the army! What an idiot! What a moron?!” Arel clasped his head in his hands.

Lis took the discarded postcard and read it too. He saw nothing new there, turned it over in confusion, and suddenly his face stretched out:

“Arel! This is our street. Exactly, Rat Dead End, where we somehow lost fifty soldiers, remember?”

“Come on?” Arel didn’t believe. “I remember very well, but…”

He began to examine the drawing too:

“Now this place is unrecognizable. Is it a fountain?”

Arel passed the message on. Karina saw that the picture depicted beautiful tall houses, all in patterns and decorations, painted in light pastel colors: pink, yellow, blue. The trees were green. There was a fountain. Smartly dressed people were walking around. It was written in gold lettering at the top: “Congratulations! We wish you happiness!” And at the bottom, smaller – the name of the street.

“It looks like Upper,” said Karina in surprise. “These postcards with the beautiful streets of the Upper Town are sold at fairs and bookstores.”

“This is our Rat Dead End,” Arel said. “It’s on postcards now too.”

“No, Arel, this is no longer Rat Dead End,” said Lis, grinning. “Read the street name. Now it is Asa street.”

And his grin came out bitter.

“What does it mean?” Karina didn’t understand. And jealousy sounded in her voice. “Why was the street named after her?!”

Lis was silent, and Karina turned to Arel:

“What for does Tol forgive him?”

Arel nodded towards Lis:

“Let him tell you.”

“Do you have any pretensions to me now?” Lis said defiantly, he tensed, and his face became angry.

“What are you saying,” Arel said indifferently. “Nobody gives a shit.”

Lis looked at Nikto.

And Nikto smiled at him, he held a postcard in his hands and looked at the smart Lower. And he smiled.

“Let’s write to Tol, let him take as many soldiers as possible and come here for a honeymoon. It will be an unforgettable honeymoon trip, he will love it!” Nikto said.

“I’ll write a letter to my father,” Karina suddenly interrupted their blissful state. “I will explain the situation and ask to help you. To send everyone who stayed with him too.”

Arel looked at her in surprise:

“But…”

“I want to contribute to the common cause. Arel, is this a common cause? I'm on the team, right? And I sit and do nothing!”

“Karina! For the fact that you didn’t give up Lis at the trial and pulled Nik out of the cell, for this I will be grateful to you for the rest of my life!” Arel said quite sincerely, and she felt very good from these words.