Chapter 33: Xia En
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
The death of the culprit did not alarm anyone, not even summoning the two significant suspects even once. Black Gold Fortress remained as calm as ever, despite being in a state of preparedness, maintaining its usual tranquility.
Dong Du went to check on Hanchester every day. After that, to avoid encountering the lunatic Novisane again, he would go out to play with Li Sheng. Although Qin Yi did not welcome him, Dong Du was not a person with much self-awareness.
As the wedding approached, the Qin family planted new flowers and plants. The vast courtyard exuded the fragrance of fresh grass and wood. Dong Du and Li Sheng sat in the garden on newly paved stone paths. The wide and hard slabs were almost comparable to cement roads.
To ensure no mistakes during the wedding, Qin Yi did not allow Li Sheng to go out. To reassure Qin Yi, Li Sheng also chose not to move. Therefore, Dong Du pushed Li Sheng and ran on the stone path, the two of them boredly chasing dandelions.
On the balcony of the villa’s second floor, Qin Yi held a wine glass and gently swayed it. His gaze passed over the railing, landing on Li Sheng, but he was talking to Meng Ruan sitting at the round table made of wicker. “Why did you come to the Black Gold Fortress? This remote place doesn’t match up to a Duke’s son like you.”
“We weren’t this gossipy when we met before,” Meng Ruan replied unhappily. “If it weren’t for some business, I wouldn’t want to come to this place.”
“Wasn’t it Duke’s order for you to come?” Qin Yi smiled, “In this period, I thought the Duke would consider having you exercise a bit.”
Meng Ruan frowned, and Qin Yi guessed correctly. Indeed, his father ordered him to come to the Black Gold Fortress, saying it was an opportunity for him to train. In reality, it was a chance for him to earn some military merits and get promoted.
However, if it weren’t for Xia En’s arrival, he would never have come.
Seeing Meng Ruan’s silence, Qin Yi knew he didn’t want to discuss the Duke, so he changed the topic. “By the way, don’t you have an omega you like? How is it going now?”
“Don’t mention it,” Meng Ruan got irritated talking about this, “Now he’s kept close to His Majesty, and I can’t even meet him privately.”
“How did he end up with His Majesty?” Qin Yi was somewhat surprised. That omega, in the beginning, was picked up by Meng Ruan from a small alley.
“It’s partly my fault.” Meng Ruan sighed, “Before, when Xia En said he wanted to accompany me to see the palace, I took him there. Who knew we’d run into His Majesty? His Majesty… well, let’s not talk about it. Anyway, he got stuck with His Majesty and couldn’t leave.”
“His Majesty… really? Did His Majesty force him?” Qin Yi raised an eyebrow, “Does he have that much charm?”
“Xia En is the cutest omega in the world!” Meng Ruan didn’t allow anyone to question his favorite omega. He emphasized, “He’s kind, gentle, cooks well, and even knows how to knit scarves!”
Qin Yi didn’t argue with him anymore, just smiled.
Downstairs, Li Sheng saw them and poked Dong Du’s waist. “Dong Little Du, there’s a guest from the capital at Qin Yi’s today. You might know him; want to go take a look?”
Dong Du had already noticed who the guest at Qin Yi’s house was. He hadn’t expected this person to follow him. He nodded, “Let’s go and take a look, we can consider him an acquaintance.”
After all, he had been with Dong Du for many days.
There was a specially built wheelchair ramp in the Qin family for Li Sheng. Dong Du quickly pushed him to the second floor. The door to the guest room was open, facing the balcony. Li Sheng knocked on the door, Qin Yi looked over, smiled, and waved at him. “Not playing in the courtyard today?”
Dong Du pushed Li Sheng onto the balcony and sat on another rattan chair by himself. “Well, what a coincidence.”
The balcony fell silent for a moment. After a while, Meng Ruan reacted. Dong Du was talking to him. He was a bit flustered, stammering, “I, we don’t know each other!”
“If we don’t know each other, why have you been following me all the time?” Dong Du stared at him with a serious face. “What kind of bad habit is this?”
Meng Ruan blushed red. In fact, a day ago, Xia En had said he didn’t need to follow him anymore. But when he saw Dong Du leaving the tower today, he couldn’t resist and followed him up.
He told himself that it was all for Xia En, but in reality, it was just because he wanted to follow. After spending several days with Dong Du, he deeply felt that this little prince was different from the rumors. He was lively, friendly, good at combat, confident, and a bit proud, like a bright spring breeze.
“I haven’t been following you!” After holding back for a long time, Meng Ruan angrily shouted and then fled, dropping the wine glass.
Dong Du sneered, very disdainful. “Who sent such a poor spy? Such low psychological resilience.”
Qin Yi never chatted casually with Dong Du, but at this moment, he couldn’t help saying, “This is the Duke’s youngest son, not some spy.”
It was strange if it wasn’t a spy. Dong Du didn’t speak, but the fact that someone could use the Duke’s youngest son as a spy probably meant that only Xia En in this world could do it. After all, he was the Son of the World.
Explaining with great compassion but receiving no response, Qin Yi felt a bit angry. Since he couldn’t convince Li Sheng to leave, he planned to leave himself, but he hadn’t left when Qin Yu arrived.
It had been a long time since he had seen Dong Du.
His fear of him had almost disappeared, but at the first sight of Dong Du, he was still startled and subconsciously said, “I was wrong; I haven’t bullied him again.”
Dong Du looked up at Qin Yu, somewhat surprised, “You’ve already apologized. There’s no need to apologize every time you see me.”
Qin Yu awkwardly replied, “Oh, won’t happen again.”
Qin Yi sighed, put down his own wine glass, and left. Li Sheng and Dong Du exchanged a glance, then followed him out.
The balcony was now left with Qin Yu and Dong Du. Dong Du was about to leave after playing enough, but Qin Yu sat beside him, carefully leaning in and asked, “Why don’t you like my brother either?”
“Why should I like your brother?” Dong Du said impatiently, “He locked Li Sheng’s feet, taking away his freedom. Even if he loves Li Sheng, what he did is wrong.”
“It’s not my brother.” Qin Yu looked at the living room door, seeing Li Sheng hadn’t returned, then continued in a low voice, “He’s not restricting Li Sheng’s freedom; it’s Li Sheng who broke his own legs.”
Dong Du didn’t speak, gesturing with his eyes for Qin Yu to continue. Qin Yu, somewhat afraid of Dong Du, obediently continued, “Initially, Li Sheng didn’t like my brother, but his parents insisted on sending him here. After a few days, he started running away. My brother, afraid that something might happen, went to find him. During one of Li Sheng’s escapes, he fell off a cliff, and that thing on his ankle is actually just a massager. Even if it’s removed, he wouldn’t be able to stand. My brother, blaming himself, lied about locking him up.”
“Oh.” Dong Du responded nonchalantly. Qin Yu dared not complain about his brother.
After hearing the story, Dong Du got up to leave. When he reached downstairs, he happened to meet Qin Yi and Li Sheng coming back. He bid farewell to Li Sheng, ending with one hand on his waist and the other stroking his chin. He looked at Qin Yu, “Goodbye… Brother Qin?”
This time, it was Qin Yi who ignored him, and fortunately, Qin Yi didn’t pay attention to him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t know what to say next.
On the way back to the tower, as soon as he entered, he saw Zhu Di hurriedly leaving with people. Zhu Di only glanced at him lightly and said coldly, “Don’t run around today.”
What’s with running around? You’re the one running around!
Dong Du made a face at his back, humming as he entered. He saw Xia En leaning forward with his hands behind his back, staring at him when he turned around. When he faced him, Xia En smiled and greeted, “Little Highness, long time no see.”
Imitating his movements, Dong Du put on a fake smile. The two of them were almost face to face. Dong Du laughed, “Didn’t you ever think you’d see me again?”
“Indeed,” Xia En ruffled his curly hair, “I didn’t expect to come to the Black Gold Fortress again. I thought I wouldn’t see you after you came to the Black Gold Fortress.”
Dong Du didn’t expose him. He walked towards the elevator, and Xia En followed him, “Where are you going? I’m not familiar with this place. Can you show me around?”
It seemed that Xia En had deliberately come to find him.
“What about Xi Yuan? Aren’t you with him?” Dong Du pressed the elevator button.
Xia En pouted, looking a bit angry. “Xi Yuan has been busy planning something recently, too busy to take care of me.”
“Then come and play with me for a while.” Dong Du set the floor for the elevator. “Come in.”
Xia En happily entered the elevator with light steps, a somewhat mocking smile on his lips. Indeed, still so naive; he had overthought it earlier.
The elevator stopped, and without saying anything, Dong Du led Xia En out for a stroll. He stopped at the door of a room, knocked on the door.
As soon as Fina opened the door, Xia En’s smile froze a bit, but he quickly recovered, “If the little highness wants to find someone to play, it might be inconvenient for me to follow. I’ll go back by myself. See you next time.”
“Why run? Aren’t we all familiar?” Dong Du grabbed Xia En’s collar, forcibly pushing him into the room.
With a bang, Fina closed the door.
Brovill, holding a book, looked surprised at Xia En, “Cousin, why are you here?”
“He came with the Emperor of Clos.” Dong Du took the initiative to answer, “If Xia En agrees, he might marry Xi Yuan tomorrow.”
“Ah…” Brovill made a shocked sound, only knowing that Xia En had mixed into the upper circles of the Clos Empire, but he didn’t expect him to make the Emperor enchanted.
“I’ll just take you here, and you can go back on your own later.” Dong Du played with the smart ring while waving to leave the room.
There was an awkward silence in the room. After a moment, Brovill asked Fina to serve tea to Xia En.
Xia En, full of confusion, sat down. He didn’t know what Dong Du was up to. When he brought him here, he thought Dong Du had discovered his identity. However, Dong Du left so easily, leaving him puzzled. Did this person really find out?
He can’t be that dumb, can he?
Being deemed very foolish, Dong Du was currently with raptor, crouched on the wall next door. Novisane sat on the side, raising his eyebrows in amazement.
To avoid suspicion, he rarely went out at the Black Gold Fortress. Unexpectedly, today Dong Du took the initiative to knock on his door. Although the purpose was to eavesdrop on the conversation of the little bishop next door.
The mechanical arm of the raptor was tightly attached to the wall, and the instruments in its palm captured the sounds next door. So, although the conversation was in a low voice, Novisane could clearly hear it. Even Novisane listened clearly.
Brovill: “Cousin, stop it. Jarvis is now locked in the high-security prison. It’s hard for you to even rescue him, let alone… other things.”
Xia En: “Bubu, I can’t stop. I’ve taken too many steps. Stopping now would only lead to failure. Jarvis is suffering inside, and I won’t leave him alone.”
“He might not even remember you.” Brovill sighed, “Is it worth doing all this for him?”
Jarvis? The brother of the Novisane family?
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
