Chapter 487
"Is that reason enough?"
Charles paused slightly, narrowing his eyes as he began to reassess the girl standing before him.
Kill Qiangyin?
You?
"Convince me..."
Charles looked at Xia'er and spoke.
.
.
.
PS:
195 (overdue) - 2 (extra) = 193 (overdue)
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I want to stab yesterday's me!
I woke up at one-thirty today and couldn't fall back asleep, writing until now.
I'm exhausted.
And I don't dare take a nap, afraid my schedule will fall apart again.
I’ll just keep pushing through!
Tomorrow, 8K!
Chapter 256: The Final Plan (4008 words)
I can kill him.
Each of those words, when broken down, was familiar to Charles, but when put together, they created a perplexing confusion he couldn't quite grasp.
Kill, Qiangyin?
You?
Charles stared at the red-haired girl before him. Even though her gaze bore an inexplicable pressure, it wasn't enough to make him believe her outright.
"You've got the wrong person," Charles said, his face as cold as ice. "If you took the time to understand the relationship between the Sword of the Queen and the Russell family, you’d regret saying those words in front of me."
With a swift motion, a two-handed sword began to forge itself in Charles's grip. He raised it, the blade pointing directly at Xia'er.
"For the sake of... Aivina, I can allow you a final word."
Charles's cold gaze fixed on Xia'er. Anyone witnessing the fury etched on his face would believe that after Xia'er spoke her last words, he would indeed carry out his threat and pierce the girl before him with his sword.
As the tip of the sword, steaming with heat, hovered before her, Xia'er slowly shook her head.
"I had a dream, Duke Charles."
Xia'er’s gaze followed the sword tip upward, meeting Charles's eyes.
"In the dream, you, on the brink of death, said the same to me. Family, the Sword of the Queen, your reasons for being trapped..."
"And in the end, do you know what you said?"
Xia'er looked into Charles's eyes, enunciating each word: "You said, 'If you were in my position, you would make the same choice.'"
"Enough with the dream talk," Charles replied, his expression unchanged. He pushed the sword forward slightly, the blade pressing against Xia'er’s neck, drawing a thin line of blood.
A trickle of crimson seeped from the wound; just a little more pressure would sever Xia'er’s carotid artery, leading to her demise.
He appeared completely unaffected by Xia'er’s words, but she knew there was a flicker of doubt in his heart.
Because the murderous intent in Charles's eyes had vanished.
This was something Xia'er sensed through her skill, [Keen Insight], and the [Precognitive Vision] in her mind confirmed that Charles had not pressed the sword further—this was the reason Xia'er dared to remain still.
From her previous simulations of Charles's death, Xia'er understood that Aivina held significant weight in his heart.
"Stab me, and you might not kill me. The price, however, would be Aivina hating you for life." A faint smile graced Xia'er’s lips as she continued, "Why not listen to my detailed plan?"
"Are you threatening me?" Charles's expression remained unchanged.
"I'm just trying to make you understand that we have no conflict of interest," Xia'er replied. "But we both have a conflict with Qiangyin."
"As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, wouldn’t you agree?"
After a moment of silence, Charles slowly sheathed his sword.
He retrieved a vial from his waist and tossed it in front of Xia'er. Once she caught it, he continued, "You win. Let’s talk."
Xia'er opened the vial and applied the contents to her neck wound, feeling a slight sting as she finally let out a breath of relief.
If Charles had truly intended to kill her, she would have had to use her save point transformation, and possibly even the Echo of Time and the Overlimit [Nemesis] to escape.
Not only would that create quite a commotion, but it would also cost her a significant amount of fate points... Thankfully, the [Art of Conversation] had worked its magic, sparing her from a direct confrontation with a Level 4 opponent.
Charles settled onto the sofa, waiting for Xia'er, who, after her wound had nearly healed, took a seat across from him.
Once Xia'er was settled, Charles looked at her and said slowly, "While I admire your courage, you must understand that this conversation is solely for Aivina's sake... Don’t think your earlier threat will have any effect."
"I could kill you in a thousand ways without Aivina ever knowing."
"Mm." Xia'er nodded slightly, not disputing his claim.
Charles's personality mirrored Aivina's in many ways, especially in his stubbornness and unwillingness to lose face, as if they were cut from the same mold.
However, while Aivina's stubbornness was endearing and charming, Charles's hard-headedness only made Xia'er suppress her laughter.
"I don’t need you to take action or do anything," Xia'er shook her head and said. "I just need to know what happened an hour and a half ago at the royal luncheon, that’s all."
"Is that it?" Charles frowned slightly, seeming skeptical of Xia'er’s words.
Her opponent was Qiangyin, and she had approached him, using Aivina as a shield... In his heart, Charles was almost convinced that she wanted to drag him into a confrontation against Qiangyin.
He had ample reasons to deal with Qiangyin, and he had turned down many would-be allies seeking to take down Qiangyin, knowing they would all fail—they simply didn’t understand the terror of Qiangyin.
The only reason he agreed to talk to Xia'er was because of Aivina and her mention of "Aivina's lover."
Charles wanted to understand the conflict between this girl and Qiangyin, hoping to persuade her to abandon her quest, thus sparing Aivina from a life of mourning at such a young age...
Though the idea of two girls calling each other lovers felt abstract to Charles, it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible; perhaps his daughter was just playing around or trying to provoke him.
But he never expected that she truly had no intention of involving him in violence; she merely sought information about the royal luncheon...
This made Charles think that the girl before him might genuinely have the means to kill Qiangyin...
Yet, some details still puzzled him, so he needed to press for clarity.
If the girl truly had the confidence to kill Qiangyin, it suggested she was backed by a powerful organization or serving a formidable individual—Charles would never believe an ordinary person would dare to kill Qiangyin.
However, if that were the case, why would she need to come to him for information about a royal luncheon that wasn’t highly confidential, with many servants aware of it? This lack of intelligence-gathering capability didn’t align with the "power" needed to kill Qiangyin.
Charles didn’t voice these doubts directly. Instead, after a moment of silence, he shared the details of Qiangyin's position in the banquet hall and the other attendees with Xia'er.
Xia'er took out a notebook, a quill, and a portable ink bottle, meticulously recording Charles's words, her writing speed nearly matching his speech.
Soon, after Charles finished, Xia'er flipped the page and drew a few simple symbols.
"If Qiangyin was present throughout the luncheon, then perhaps you missed some information," Xia'er said, aligning the symbols in her notebook with Charles. "Besides the symbols and the wound on his left index finger, did Qiangyin have any other new injuries?"
"This is..." Charles's pupils constricted slightly as he saw the symbols.
Those were the very scars that had appeared on Qiangyin's face during the banquet...
Charles had noted them down, hoping to decipher what the symbols represented... How could this girl know so much about something that had just happened?
It was as if she could foresee the future.
But if she truly had such an ability, why wouldn’t she know the positions of Qiangyin and the others present?
Table of Contents
