"You are so cruel back then." The female lead kept saying. "What if I am not a fast runner? You"d let me end up toyed by those people?"Jiang Li was carrying a huge rattan basket behind him. On his face was an ever-present frown. He had been hearing the same voice and question over and over again that he felt so tired of saying his point.
"Why the heck is she still following me?"
A second later, he groaned. "Is this incessant questioning and pestering an act of revenge against me?"
The young man long wanted to kick her away because no matter how many times he said it, that she was not his responsibility, it was not sinking in her brain.
Was it his fault that she foolishly fell inside the carriage? How about her rolling down and getting chased by backstreet hooligans? And she was a f*cking female lead so why would he worry that her knight would not come on time?
"As Selena loves to say, keep calm, don"t think of murder..."
"Even if you"re not a knight or a gentleman, don"t think of murder..."
"Don"t think..."
To be honest, Jiang Li was troubled by his current body"s anger management issue. It was okay if he was calm, and he was not easy to anger. But once he was triggered, it would be hard to cool his head.
"When are you going away?" While rubbing his forehead, he asked the woman.
The two had just left the forest where the abandoned house was. It was a place said to be haunted so n.o.body dared to approach. But there was no way a random ghost would be able to frighten Jiang Li so he temporarily stayed there to recover mental energy. He knew the bishop would recover his wits soon and the gates would be closed down. He needed to make sure he would be able to hypnotize properly the guards to privately let him out.
But now, the problem was the girl who did not stop knocking and yelling. Normally, it would be hard not to garner ma.s.s hate for being so noisy. But maybe people had already seen her and thought she was possessed by a spirit?
Since it was midday, he had no qualms letting her stay outside. In any case, he was not really acquainted with her. Who cares if she got eaten by mosquitoes? For members of the opposite s.e.x, as long as they were not his wife or family members, he usually would not give much d.a.m.n to them. This was why it was already great kindness on his part that he did not try to hack down the annoying female lead.
An hour later, Jiang Li decided he could no longer stay in that place forever. If the church was serious, they might inspect all the houses in the city. So he went out, planning to leave.
But what the f*ck! The Viscount"s daughter kept shadowing him! Was there something wrong with her brain?
At first, he was badly wis.h.i.+ng that traditional hypnotism works in this world. But it seemed every believer here had a high mental defense against mind tricks, blessed by the deities, so only hypnotism by magic works.
A couple of minutes later, he almost punched a wall after realizing his stupidity. Because when he felt like he could hypnotize again, he immediately tried it on the young lady. But it failed! It was maybe an effect of her female lead halo but when he tried several times, the result did not change. It was seriously frustrating.
"Miss Obson... You should be aware of my current situation. I have no real ill will against anyone or the churches, but I need food and accommodation, so I was forced to do that. Now I am a wanted man so I need to leave the city as soon as possible. You. Can"t. Possibly. Thinking. Of. Following. Me, No?" He flashed a scary smile at her.
"…" The woman was silent. No, she looked to be contemplating.
A minute later, she silently nodded, making his face really dark. What does she mean? She was really thinking of following him outside?
"... I seriously... regret talking to you. As my last act of kindness, I will drop you off near the church. But I won"t go further than that. We"ll separate and don"t ever meet again. Understand?" He said as if he was speaking with a kid.
Without waiting for the reply, Jiang Li tossed the woman a cloak then wrapped himself up in one too, hiding his features. After that, he did walk towards the city center and when they were near the church, he tossed another article of clothing to her face to obscure her sight. Then he dashed into the sea of people then into the alleys again.
He thought he would be able to breathe a sigh of relief after that. After all, she should not be able to catch up. And her destination was right in front of her. Why would she go in the opposite direction when her goal all along was to go home?
It was because of this thinking that he a.s.sumed things would be okay from now on. And oh how wrong was he.
Without somebody making him feel he could actually become a volcano, he reached the gate without trouble and also slipped out with the help of a guard.
Yet when he walked past an obelisk and entered the next village, he was so surprised to hear a set of footsteps rus.h.i.+ng towards him.
As a reflex, he turned around.
... There was a smiling face gradually crossing their distance.
He involuntarily gritted his teeth again when he realized it was the female lead.
…
At nightfall, people in villages were already back to their houses, eating their dinner. The source of light had disappeared into the horizon and the night was especially dark due to the lack of illumination in the streets, so not many would wander outside.
Aliyah woke up in a place enveloped by a reddish glow of a lamp. She was feeling a bit lightheaded. She batted her eyes a few times then roamed them around to check on her surroundings.
Her heart grew cold when she discovered she was not in her room or anywhere in the castle.
"... Just what happened to me?"