Chapter 318 – Travelling Together with Ruyen
Zhao Hai was very dizzy by the time he left Evan’s study. For fear of being suspicious, Evan didn’t keep Zhao Hai in his study for long. Evan didn’t accompany him out, but the matter of Ruyen following them towards Rosen Empire was already finalized.
Although Zhao Hai was against it, there was no other way. To be honest, he didn’t want to mingle with Ruyen, but now that became very impossible.
Laura was by Zhao Hai’s side, she also didn’t have anything to say, She also didn’t want Ruyen to travel with them, however, Evan was right that Ruyen would be the best s.h.i.+eld for Zhao Hai’s status.
At the study’s exit, a servant immediately approached Zhao Hai and bowed, “Sir, your carriage is already parked at the front.”
Zhao Hai nodded, the group followed the servant to the front door. Zhao Hai and the two stared at the carriage in front of them. This carriage was his, but there seems to be an addition of an insignia on the carriage.
Zhao Hai was stunned, he carefully looked at the badge that Evan gave along with his viscount t.i.tle. He didn’t think Evan would be that quick.
He knew that Evan already prepared the insignia for his servant’s promotion to a Viscount. But now, the t.i.tle was given to Zhao Hai.
Zhao Hai’s current viscount status that was given by a Grand Duke was very different than an ent.i.tlement given by a King. A t.i.tle given by a King gave you the right to develop your own insignia. A t.i.tle given by a Grand Duke also gives you the right to make your own insignia, but in the corner of your badge there should be a scaled down version of the Grand Duke’s insignia. In other words, you get the mark of a Grand Duke.
Zhao Hai looked at his insignia, because his t.i.tle was given to him by Evan, Zhao Hai could see Evan’s family emblem on the top-left corner of his insignia.
Zhao Hai gave the insignia a look, then he proceeded to leave the Grand Duke’s mansion. He already told Evan that he will leave Casa City tomorrow. So if Ruyen wanted to follow them, she would need to be earlier than them. Otherwise, they will not wait for her.
Evan didn’t object, although he had Ruyen follow Zhao Hai as cover for his status, this wasn’t his original intention. Though he only interacted with Zhao Hai for a short time, he didn’t forget that Zhao Hai settled in Purcell Duchy as a Dark Mage before. Adding Zhao Hai at that time and the present Zhao Hai, Evan knew that his nephew was very outstanding.
Adding on Evan and Zhao Hai’s father’s relations.h.i.+p, how could he give up having him become his son-in-law? Although Zhao Hai broke their engagement, Zhao Hai forgot that he didn’t have any power to break the engagement. Although Evan couldn’t change Zhao Hai’s mind right now, he hoped that Zhao Hai can get along with Ruyen and see whether they would come to like each other. If they can fancy the other person, then any other issues would be easy to solve.
However, Evan also knew that Zhao Hai couldn’t have any liking towards Ruyen. Ruyen was adamant to break her engagement, the Buda Family also knew about this since Green was informed when he came to break the engagement, and it would be impossible for Green to not inform Zhao Hai about it. Thus, Evan can only resort to giving Zhao Hai some help, making Zhao Hai grateful, and hopefully insert Ruyen by his side. If fortune favored Evan, his plans would maybe succeed.
Evan was very clear that if he didn’t help Zhao Hai, Zhao Hai could still survive with his current strength, he didn’t need to fear anyone. Especially, when Zhao Hai arrives at Rosen Empire, Aksu Empire’s matters wouldn’t be able to affect him. Zhao Hai wouldn’t need to care about Evan then. Therefore Evan must make use of this opportunity and make situations where Ruyen would get to interact with Zhao Hai. Otherwise, Ruyen wouldn’t get many chances to do so in the future.
Fortunately, Evan obtained some information that Ruyen’s impression of Zhao Hai seemed to be quite good. Although there was a bit of a clash at Sh.e.l.ley hotel, it seemed to make Ruyen even more attentive towards Zhao Hai.
To Evan, this daughter of him was a headache. He knew that her daughter was spoiled by her mother which formed her bad habits. Although Ruyen was very rude to him before and made him quite angry, she was still his daughter, he couldn’t just overlook her future.
Zhao Hai correctly guessed Evan’s intentions, but even though it was what he expected, he couldn’t just reject Evan’s request, so he had no other choice but comply.
They quickly arrived at the hotel before dark. Zhao Hai and the others discussed about their travel tomorrow and then rested early since they had to hurry the next day.
They didn’t know that their trip to the Grand Duke’s mansion caused quite a stir in Casa City. When their carriage entered the mansion, it didn’t have the insignia of a viscount, but when it came out, there was already one. This made the people in Casa City quite puzzled.
The next morning, Zhao Hai and the other got up early. They had their breakfast and prepared to head out of Casa City. When their small convoy left the city, they saw that ahead of them was another convoy.
The convoy was composed of five carriages, on each of them had the insignia of the Purcell Family and along with it were 100 guards. At the forefront of the convoy was a very luxurious carriage, it seems that the carriage at front carried the pa.s.senger and the following carriages were packed full with items.
Zhao Hai looked at the convoy and guessed that it was certainly Ruyen’s convoy. The young lady’s self-image was truly very big. Zhao Hai could only bear with it and force a smile, he made Shue overtake the carriage.
The carriage arrived by the side of the luxurious carriage, the window of the carriage opened and Ruyen’s flower-like face appeared. She smiled at Zhao Hai, “Mister Wales, you are late.”
Zhao Hai still didn’t wear the mask that Evan gave him. He just exited Casa City, there were many people who had seen him in the city. He didn’t want the people to see that his face just changed overnight. He didn’t want them to be suspicious, so he just maintained yesterday’s appearance.
Zhao Hai nodded to Ruyen, “I apologize for making young lady Ruyen wait, let’s get going.” Then he closed his window and blocked it with curtains, then he had Shue lead the carriage forward.
Zhao Hai was very rude, if it was another person, Ruyen would be raging. But when facing Zhao Hai, Ruyen felt that she just couldn’t get angry, she surprisingly smiled and said “Really very stubborn, Jill, follow them.” Jill immediately complied, he quickly had the carriage follow Zhao Hai.
Jill actually felt grateful towards Zhao Hai, this was because in the past few days, Ruyen’s temper was very terrible. If they were unlucky, they would be whipped suddenly. But ever since Ruyen encountered Zhao Hai, her mood suddenly became better, they didn’t manage to get whipped even once since then. Because of this, Jill was very thankful towards Zhao Hai.
The entire morning, they were just quietly hurrying along, Ruyen also didn’t look for trouble. When noon came, Zhao Hai’s group just ate inside their carriage then continued along while Ruyen’s group needed to stop and eat. Zhao Hai didn’t bother her, he only had his carriage go, if she wanted to stop and eat, then she could do so, Zhao Hai will not stop in any case.
Ruyen had no other choice but have Jill follow them. When they went out, they didn’t prepare any dry rations, now Ruyen was very hungry.
For Jill, this was not a problem. It was also the same for the guards who followed Ruyen. They were all servants, so this kind of hards.h.i.+p is very normal. If they didn’t head out suddenly today, they could still prepare some dry rations. For soldiers, it was common sense to do so. There were times when there was no time to stop to eat a meal, so you can only eat dry rations while on horseback.
Ruyen was a bit annoyed, but she didn’t care too much. Her carriage’s design was quite similar to Zhao Hai’s. It had a cooling box inside, as well as a magical furnace. Moreover, there were also some snacks inside the carriage, so even if they didn’t get to eat at noon, she could still munch on some snacks, alleviating her hunger.
When evening came, Zhao Hai arrived at a small town called Blanca. This town’s population was quite small, altogether less than a hundred thousand people. But because of the constant traffic, it was very prosperous. Hotels and restaurants could be seen everywhere.
Zhao Hai and the others had found a medium sized hotel called Brown hotel to rest in. Although Brown Hotel wasn’t that large, its service quality was very good. When Zhao Hai’s carriage parked outside the hotel, two attendants immediately came out to cater to them. They stood by Zhao Hai carriage while bowing waiting for Zhao Hai to exit. Then one attendant led Zhao Hai and the others inside the hotel and helped them to arrange their accommodations. The other one led their carriages to the back of the hotel to park.
When Zhao Hai arrived at the hotel’s resting area, Shue arrived at the reception desk to reserve their room. At the same time, Ruyen also arrived at Zhao Hai’s side. Without caring for Zhao Hai’s reaction, she sat opposite him and curiously looked at Zhao Hai’s face.
This time, Zhao Hai already wore the elven mask. His face changed to his original face back on Earth. An ordinary yet unordinary face, it was the kind of face that was very easy to forget.
However, Zhao Hai’s disposition was still arrogant. Which awarded him some points from Ruyen, because of this she just stared at Zhao Hai, somewhat curious. Seeing this, Zhao Hai frowned, “Young lady Ruyen, don’t you think that what you are doing is rude?”
Note: I can actually sympathize with Evan. Ruyen was the only way for him to form a solid connection with Zhao Hai. I cannot blame him, with our boi’s capabilities, just being on his contact list would save you quite some trouble in the future.