A month later. In the grand mansion of the newly promoted ducal family...It was on the afternoon of the third week. The maids at the laundry yard gossipped with each other while doing their parts of the labor.
It started when the youngest of them, a freckled girl with twin braided hair asked one of her co-workers. "Hey, Eldest Sister. I"ve been meaning to ask this since ages ago, but why did the young master suddenly develop an interest in learning the various folklores of the world?"
The question sparked a discussion centered on the heir. Sweet voices coming from young teenage girls floated about in that part of the residence, accompanying the sounds of water and the wringing of fabrics.
The first reply came from the oldest female servant there, a slightly chubby girl. "To be honest, Sister Sue, I have no idea. But if I were to guess, maybe he"s doing that to find clues on how to escape from his disease?"
"Eh? Illness? Oh, wait, I did hear something about that from our seniors. But I thought it"s just a rumor."
"Youngest, you"re new, so I understand why you"re clueless. However, I"m not lying."
"Is it the type that not even the Pope can heal?"
"From what I heard from our head maid, yes."
"How could that be!"
"Sister Barbara, are you kidding? What if the young master is simply faking it to escape from those hyenas and opportunistic people?"
"Sighs. How I wish that is the case. But the young master is truly suffering from a terrible illness. And his health now is very worrisome. My heart aches at the thought that he has to undergo those nasty symptoms!"
"He fainted yesterday afternoon. He"s actually been fainting a lot this year."
"True. And I heard, his wheelchair suddenly malfunctioned and almost caused him to fall down the swimming pool."
"Ah? That happened? Oh my gosh, all this time, I"ve been a.s.suming it"s a certain trespa.s.ser"s fault."
"Geez, no! You didn"t witness it. But even I feel like the one who sold that mechanical chair deserved to be blacklisted from the Wade Household!"
"Well, maybe this is what the clergies referred to as the law of cause and effect taking place. The words the people from the Church used are profound, but I think it is because he"s the prophet so to offset the G.o.ddess" favor, he has become unlucky?"
"... That sounds contradictory, Sister Mary..."
"The G.o.ddess of Light brings not only light and healing, but also health and wealth! You blasphemous maid, I"ll bring you to the church later to confess your sin!"
"Oh? Who? To Father George? Aren"t you just finding excuses to go to the church? Sister, it"s you who should seek forgiveness from the G.o.ddess for having a crush on Her servant!"
"Wow, it"s my first time hearing this."
"T-that... Y-you, s-speaking nonsense!"
"Hehe."
"In any case, the young master must not want to leave the world early. He is even browsing children"s fairytales and anything related remotely to myths and stories of the ancients."
The mood of the girls there plummeted down, each of them heaving a sigh.
"If only I can read... I want to help the young master!!!"
"Alas, we"re just maids. We can all hardly recognize our names..."
...
Inside the library of the Wade family, Jiang Li momentarily moved his gaze away from the book he was reading. His eyes landed on the face of the female lead who was rarely not in her maid disguise today. In front of her was a water screen showing what was happening all over the mansion.
"Now. How do you feel about your people"s opinions of you?" With a smile, Rumina Bolden waved her hand and moved the screen closer to him.
The valet accompanying the heir glared at her. "Are you still not done showing off your long-distance water-screen magic?"
"Miss Bolden, when are you leaving?" Jiang Li asked instead of answering.
"I"m in no hurry. So I don"t know."
"This troublesome female lead." Losing goodwill for the guard who let this person in, he glanced at her unamused.
"State your business, then. Because while it"s regrettable, I really don"t have much time to spare on you."
The girl felt some bad taste in her mouth. Smiling bitterly, she canceled her magic, then said, "The Emperor wanted to test me as the future Empress. I would be to depart for a region on the eastern part of the Empire and do charity works there personally."
"... Okay?"
"I"m afraid the Emperor would suddenly change his mind and ask the crown prince to accompany me. So could you please go with me to that region instead?"
The girl was concerned about working with and being in close proximity to her fiancee.
Each pa.s.sing day, it was getting harder and harder to stomach her unusual reactions whenever the male lead was around. She was hoping the prophet"s presence could help alleviate the mental and emotional stress.
Unfortunately, the response she received was not to her liking.
Firmly and coldly, the valet answered on Jiang Li"s behalf. "Please excuse my impoliteness. Miss Bolden, I"m sorry. The doctor advised the young master not to travel or leave the mansion for at least three months."
After saying that, the valet gave her a cold look. Why asked his master to travel when he was obviously ill?
The extent one could be inconsiderate and bothersome should have a limit!
Rumina had no idea about the curse on the prophet so she frowned and thought that a servant"s rudeness should also have a limit. "Why is the valet speaking before his master?"
"My opinion is the same as him. Miss Bolden." The man sitting across her replied. "So is there anything else I can help you with?"
The n.o.ble girl knitted her brows, then sported a pitiful face. "I showed you your people"s opinions of you to remind that you should not hole up in the library reading all day long. Let"s have a breath of fresh air outside, alright?"
"No." The prophet"s voice was emotionless.
A bit irritated that the female lead wanted to use him to avoid scenes with the male lead, he additionally spat out. "Now, if there is nothing else, I implore the crown princess to observe customs and leave. I can no longer entertain you because I"m busy."
Rumina showed a tired face at his unfeeling response.
Why couldn"t he help her? Didn"t he know how much she hated and dreaded that prince? She truly didn"t believe the other party was sick!
The Saintess was busy trying to catch up with her studies of the basics and the customs of this world. Until she showed great progress and could a.s.sume office, the prophet remained equally important as her to the church and the Empire.
Since Rumina hardly interfered in the state"s affair, only Jiang Li managed to showcase his knowledge of the future, stabilizing his prestige as a prophet before the Saintess even arrived.
In her mind, in the next six months, he would remain the closest to the supreme being.
He should have no problem getting treatment directly from the G.o.ddess of Light.
The female lead thought of this, unaware he could only access the plot through the system. She guessed it was the G.o.ddess who gave him the power to glimpse in the future.
The G.o.ddess liked him. Of course, She would not truly allow illnesses and everything inconvenient to plague his life. Or so she believed.
At times, a.s.suming too much without knowing the real situation could lead to fallout, anything awkward, or even a dire situation. A guy thinking a beauty like him just because of few accidental glances would have his heart broken once he confessed and got rejected. Trust between a couple would be lost once a wife or a husband a.s.sumed without basis that their spouse was cheating.
It was hard to tell whether Rumina Bolden was lucky that Jiang Li knew how the brains of most female lead work and hardly cared for them. He hardly cared for the feelings of all females in the various worlds he"d been to.
His family members and wife were the only exceptions and the only reason he was willing to meet this female lead was her face. Yet he was not senile yet to mistake her for Ye Xinya"s incarnation since he knew the real one was somewhere not in this world.
"You really won"t join the caravan?" The female lead was persistent, asking again in hopes he"d change his mind.
Yet the man clicked his tongue. "Miss. I"m ill. If I die along the way, how are you going to explain to the church, the Imperial family, and the ma.s.ses?"
Rumina exclaimed, "You must be kidding!"
"I"m not."
She only gave up due to his indifferent expression. "Fine, I"ll leave. Thanks for your time and I hope you have a great day ahead."
Her shoulders were slumped when she went out of the library. She appeared depressed, still thinking he was joking. But without her knowledge, he would really die within this year. If he pa.s.sed away while in the middle of a journey, as the one who dragged him outside of the capital, could she bear the consequences?
Well, maybe if he truly dies along the way, the female lead wouldn"t truly be in trouble. But since he didn"t want to go with those people, who could force him?
Anyway, aside from his unwillingness to go out, it was truly a fact that his death was already a foregone conclusion since the Saintess had already used her wish on the male lead.
Yes. He"d be dying soon, because he did not do anything ever since Su Luxi arrived. He let her fall for the sc.u.m prince and wish for that guy to return her feelings.
Now Rome was showing equal favoritism to the female lead and the villainess. If no accident happened, Su Luxi would join the two leads in this trip and "set" the two up so they would have more encounters.
"Host, you"re supposed to save the villainess."
The mechanical voice of the system once reminded him yet he turned a deaf ear to it.
The system wanted him to do something about the villainess who was falling deeper into the pit dug for her.
A punishment awaits him once he fails.
However, he kept acting like he didn"t care. Why?
Of course, there was a reason for it. He stumbled upon an interesting piece of work. And it made him decide to conserve his two chances to change the plot.