Jiang Li"s eyes widened at what he just heard. He stilled. Since his steps paused, she also stopped. They were at the side-walk, thankfully, so at most the two of them only b.u.mped with some other peasants walking the lane.She gave him a meaningful smile, which appeared quite mysterious to him, leaving the guy lost in his thoughts, busy piecing out the clue.
"So she"s the real Margarette?"
"Margarette Holon, the female lead, the one whose face resembled Selena?"
It was just a guess since they were in a fantasy world, it didn"t seem a far-fetched possibility. Yet instead of regaining l.u.s.ter due to learning something good, his eyes had seemingly darkened. He leaned over to her ears and said in a whisper, "Milady... I hate being treated like a fool, so let"s go to a place we can talk without holding anything back…"
As a sign of consent, she smiled and led him into one of the streets with rows of lampposts. The walk was not long, but since it was nighttime, there were bound to be people with malicious intent lurking in the shadow. However, n.o.body dared to target the two since one of them, the taller youth was emitting something scary from his body. The woman glanced at him from time to time, revealing a look that was at times thoughtful, at times amused.
Jiang Li didn"t know whether to be irritated or not. The girl was so brave despite feeling the dark aura coming from him.
"We"re here," she said, pus.h.i.+ng the door open to uncover a dark interior. She moved around expertly as if the darkness was no issue. Not long after, candlelights were dancing around, illuminating the place.
Who knows where the woman had gotten the money, but when they separated this noon, she somehow managed to get a whole house for herself. It was located near the palace, only five minutes" walk.
The man gave the huge place a cursory glance and realized the girl who had taken over Aliyah"s body was either a dangerous individual who just happened to share the same name... or really the princess and this place was her property. The latter seemed more convincing, although it was a puzzle how she set up the access which allowed her to get in even though she was in a different body. There were other questionable things about her… Many actually.
"I"m sorry. There won"t be a servant for a while since this place is a secret property of mine."
"I see." So it was really something under her name.
Jiang Li warily looked around. There were barely any decorations inside. The room next to the entrance only had two sofas and a table at the center and some cupboards on the side. However, it was quite huge.
"Take a seat."
He only looked at her and remained standing by the door. Obviously, he didn"t plan to heed her invitation that sounded more like an order. The guy maintained a serious expression. If Aliyah was here, she would have freaked out at his emotionless face.
"Are you Margarette Holon?" After an unknown amount of time, he asked, watching her sit down on one of the sofas.
"I am." She readily nodded, a smile slowly formed on her lips. The woman had no qualm admitting this piece of information which at her current state could be said to be her deepest secret. Her reason for doing so was in line with why she kept following him. Speaking of the stalking issue…. She wondered when he would inquire about it. Wasn"t he curious how she could always pinpoint his whereabouts?
He spoke after a short while. "Quite... amazing…"
Shaking his head, he continued, "I just saw the d.u.c.h.ess. But here is somebody claiming she is also the d.u.c.h.ess."
"Are you wondering why or how I became one of this Viscountess" persona?" she asked upon seeing no change from his face.
She was not aware, but underneath his expressionless facade, complicated thoughts were plaguing the young man.
Another bout of silence reigned between them and Margarette waited for his response patiently. Her bearing was currently so different from how the Aliyah and the others would behave. Aliyah could also be refined. But not as much as how Margarette was acting right now.
If she was the princess, then it made sense. Yet it was also very odd, since he was looking at the same face used by Aliyah, and the other crazy or idiotic personas.
She asked him something. What should he answer her question?
Does he care how this girl ended up as a persona of somebody with a split personality disorder? Yes. Was he wondering about the authenticity of her words? Yes.
The system was useless as ever and was not answering his question. But actually, this was also why he kept feeling odder. When did the system ever talk seriously to him if it was about "her"? So since it was showing no intent to answer, wasn"t it a sign already?
He said, "Miss. To be honest, there is something else that comes to mind."
She threw him an encouraging look, "Go ahead."
So he did not hesitate to ask, "Did you become Aliyah"s persona before the wedding?... Or after the wedding?"
The girl was quite taken aback as it was a question she was not expecting. Not about why she was claiming she was the princess? Or how she became like this? She blinked continuously. Only after seeing how dark his face was did she answer in a soft voice, "It is before the wedding… It should be when Miss Viscountess"s soul suddenly became strange."
Another inquiry was thrown. "… Who proposed the wedding? You or the one in your current body?"
It was another question that was quite out of her expectation.
Although puzzled, she answered instinctively.
"Of course, the one pretending to be me."
Face crumpled, she added, "Why would I propose marriage to somebody I don"t know well or don"t like? If I want to escape from the palace and live a new life, I can just disappear from the public "this way.""
Her eyes showed confusion. But since she was the smartest out of the personas, she shortly realized what was wrong with the current situation.
A realization dawned on her mind.
Margarette sported a stunned expression that lasted for almost ten seconds before she began giggling. Her face was like a flower that bloomed, and the reason for this was the relief look that appeared on Jiang Li"s face.
"So this man is restless because he thought I was with another guy before the takeover of the pretender?"
The scammer was so indifferent, if not heartless, to Aliyah and the rest. But he was showing interest, if not obsession, to her, a new persona that just emerged. If not for being aware of some things, she would have thought of him as a nutcase.
While shaking her head, she said. "I think I get it now." She giggled again.
"You see... Margarette Holon"s sh.e.l.l is married to Andre Grey now. But that"s only the sh.e.l.l, my dear. I mean, if you"re thinking I ended up as possession of that Duke. The soul is here..."
With her eyes that were reflecting the dancing flame intently looking at him, she softly added, "Do you know? I have been looking for you... I have been looking for you since I learned I was Chen w.a.n.g Fei in my previous life..."