Chapter 58: The Merman
The people trained by Rowett were extremely efficient and in just a few minutes, the banquet hall was restored to its previous appearance, leaving no trace of panic and chaos, and it completely restored the ball to its original luxurious and peaceful appearance.
The unexpected assassination seemed like an insignificant episode to the whole ball.
And that person was just hit in the shoulder, was not yet dead, and was dragged away by the soldiers who rushed up.
What awaited him next was self-evident.
His Majesty the Emperor left in a hurry.
Whether it was the interrogation, development of the next strategy, or the taking security accountable, it would be obviously a bloody storm.
Ge Xiu stayed at the banquet without any psychological burden.
To be honest, without Rowett, he could be more relaxed and comfortable, and as Rowett’s dance partner, not only did no one dared to come forward to invite him to dance, but they were even quite apprehensive to do so because of his previously revealed skills, even the undisguised looks from the beginning became a lot less.
So, Ge Xiu ran directly to the long-coveted dining table.
The fragrant roast suckling pig was drizzled with golden honey, placed together with soft pigeon pie and colourful cold cuts. The high-stacked cocktails shone with colourful lights under the light, like a sea of strong wine fragrance.
Ge Xiu devoted himself to it, trying to fill his stomach.
He quickly swept to the last dessert table and found the candy tower he was looking forward to.
Ge Xiu peeled off a piece of chocolate and stuffed it into his mouth.
The warm and slightly bitter cocoa melted in the mouth. After biting off the fragile shell, the rum with the rich fruit wine and sweet fragrance overflowed instantly, flowing along the tip of the tongue and spreading throughout the mouth. The sweetness of the chocolate syrup mixed together for an unforgettable and wondrous feeling.
Ge Xiu’s eyes lit up, and after eating one, he stretched out his hand to the next one.
Just as he lowered his head and patiently peeled off the colourful packaging wrapped around the chocolate, a figure slowly walked towards him and stopped beside him.
As Ge Xiu threw the chocolate into his mouth, he raised his head in a hurry and glanced beside him.
It was a beautiful girl with fair skin and a slender figure. The long blue dress outlined her graceful figure, and the long blond hair was draped over her shoulders, making her look more beautiful and graceful.
Christine Albert looked at the teenager who was busy eating, and a trace of deep jealousy flashed in her eyes.
She has always felt that she was beautiful in appearance and had a noble family background. All the young talents who were worshipping her have proved that she was irresistible, but…
Although the young man in front of her was stuffing something into his mouth unseemly, a bit of chocolate syrup was smeared on his cheeks, and this almost vulgar gesture was not without the slightest rudeness in face of her background, and it even seemed extraordinarily naive and charming—but he was standing beside him, with mediocre facial features, pale skin, and a vulgar posture.
Christine Albert clenched her fingers in hatred, and an uncontrollable sense of anger and inferiority welled up in her heart.
The thin white fingers were slightly red due to the exertion.
——Not only was His Majesty, whom she secretly had been in love with for a long time, bewildered by him, but even those young nobles who were always around her were absent-minded, their eyes swayed in the direction of the young man from time to time, and even her own brother, Arthur Albert, from the moment the other entered the ballroom, has become too distracted.
Ge Xiu looked at the girl who had been silent for a long time, raised his eyebrows, and was the first to break the silence:
“Is something wrong?”
—even his voice was so nice.
Christine Albert was doubly depressed and angry but after a brief lose of control, she put again a beautiful and elegant smile on her face, carefully hiding her emotions in the depths of her blue eyes, and she said kindly:
“I’m just here to cut the cake.”
Saying that, she picked up the silver knife on the side, carefully cut a piece of fluffy chocolate cake and put it on the plate, and her swept secretly past the other’s slender waist, new doubts came to her mind again—how did this person eat so much and still kept in shape?
In order not to deepen his anger, Christine quickly looked away.
As she held the plate, she didn’t say anything, but with a carefully planned angle of her smile, she naturally chatted with Ge Xiu:
“You came here with His Majesty the Emperor. Your relationship must be very good, right?”
Ge Xiu crushed the chocolate into pieces, sucked the syrup filling put inside it, and shrugged indifferently: “Not really.”
After all, it had only been a few days since they met.
“Then you must be closer to His Majesty than we are.” The smile on Christine’s lips became sweeter: “Speaking of which, have you heard of the latest mermaid raised by His Majesty the Emperor? It is said that it killed Grand Duke Willis, but His Majesty fell in love with its beauty at first sight, so he directly took it for himself, without giving the slightest punishment.”
After she had left the banquet that day, she learned from her brother’s stories what the nobles of the upper class had kept mermaids for.
Although she was embarrassed and annoyed at the time, she was aggrieved with jealously, she quickly recovered from this incident—after all, it was not a big deal for His Majesty to raise a merman. It was easier to accept than having a mistress. Besides, if one day she could really capture His Majesty’s heart, couldn’t she think of a way to deal with a pet that was not even a human being?
And now, she thought of the best way to take advantage of the news.
“…Love at first sight?”
Ge Xiu’s movements stopped, he raised his eyes to look at the other party, and seemed to hesitate.
Seeing that she had attracted the attention of the other party, Christine cocked the corners of his mouth proudly: “It is said that His Majesty also sent someone to design a huge and luxurious fish pond for him. This was the only time His Majesty has shown a distinct interest in something in over ten years—”
——According to the concern that His Majesty showed for the merman at the last banquet, she could estimate that he would not lose his interest in it in the near future.
If she can make a little provocation to make this young man who thought he was the only one favoured by the Emperor feel jealous and do something…
No matter who won in the end, she would always be able to have one less rival in love.
Christine pretended to sigh: “I really want to see how beautiful that merman is, to be able to fascinate His Majesty like this…”
Ge Xiu’s expression was somewhat indescribable.
He slowly repeated it again: “…fascinated*?”
Christine felt that her little plan was about to take effect, and became even more excited, adding fuel to the conversation between her brother and those noble youths. She started to describe the merman’s beauty and His Majesty’s love and devotion for it, vividly and with exaggeration**.
She was close to composing a love song about an interracial love between them.
Ge Xiu listened, and his expression became more and more complicated.
Unconsciously, more and more candy wrappers were peeled off on the side, stacked in colourful piles on the table.
The light above his head was bright and dazzling, shining on his face, revealing his face in great detail, as if shrouded in a thin halo.
Abruptly, Christine, who had been chattering all the time, suddenly stopped.
She glanced at the boy in front of her hesitantly—she didn’t know if it was her own delusion, why did she feel like… the other person’s face was getting more and more red?
The beautiful light red climbed up the soft jade-white cheeks and cheekbones like clouds, as if the heat steamed bright colour that spread from his ears to his neck, it was really alluring. It made his already beautiful facial features appear more dynamic, even Christine, who disliked Ge Xiu, couldn’t help but feel slightly shaken.
Those blue-purple eyes were foggy, and seemed a bit unfocused, and looked strangely dull.
Christine glanced sideways, and was stunned when she saw the candy wrappers on the table: “Why did you eat so much?”
This is a high-quality rum chocolate! People who are not good at drinking will get drunk if they eat two or three!
Ge Xiu blinked slowly, as if he didn’t understand what the other party wanted to say: “Huh?”
The young man seemed to want to move away, but his figure swayed, and he was about to fall to the side, so Christine hurriedly raised her hand to support his arm, and asked nervously, “Are you alright?”
The moment when his fingertips touched the back of the other’s hand, Christine shivered from the iciness and almost retracted his hand—
how could someone be this cold?
She raised her head in surprise, and before she had time to think more about it, she saw a few attendants who noticed the situation in front of them and walked over quickly—they obviously had the Emperor’s order to take good care of the one in front of them, and don’t let anything happen to him.
They cautiously helped Ge Xiu away from Christine’s hand and tried to take him away.
Ge Xiu raised his head abruptly, his eyes were sharp with killing intent, which shocked people. He grabbed the attendant’s wrist with his backhand: “Where are you taking me?”
Although he looked slender, his strength was astonishingly large, his grip as cold as an iron hoop, making the attendant almost exclaim in pain. He endured the pain and stammered to explain: “I, I’ll take you to see His Majesty.”
Ge Xiu narrowed his eyes. His speech was clear, unlike a drunk person: “I don’t know His Majesty you’re talking about.”
The other person saw the situation was not good, and hurriedly took out the communicator to contact the upper floors.
Ge Xiu tilted his head and looked at him for a while, then suddenly let go of the attendant in front of him, and rushed forward with a single stride——
“Crack cacha.”
The hard communicator suddenly deformed in those slender and soft hands, as if it was a fragile and thin dead leaf that was crushed into crumpled fragments, and Christine took a few steps back in panic, unable to believe her eyes.
She shivered and took a few steps back, trying to distance herself, but she didn’t have the guts to turn around and run away.
Ge Xiu glanced in her direction undistracted.
He raised his hand to hold the other’s neck, and his icy fingers tightly pinched the throat, as if it could be broken with a slight twist.
“Where are you taking me?”
He asked softly, his voice hardly fluctuating, as if he was stating a simple fact, but in that calm tone, there were some incredible and dark emotional fluctuations being suppressed.
Ge Xiu’s expression was still cold and calm, except for the slightly hazy gaze and the red flush on his face, there was hardly any difference from usual.
It also made him look strangely terrifying.
This was the corner of the entire banquet hall, which was a blind spot for almost the entire hall. Compared with the lively outside, it looked very deserted, and few people noticed what was happening here.
The young man’s arm gradually rose.
Those misty blue-purple eyes still possessed an unworldly innocence, but at this moment they were extremely cold and cruel.
The attendant’s feet lifted off the ground, and a frightened “hehe” sounded from his throat.
There were footsteps in the distance, and Rowett hurried in this direction with big strides. The previously boisterous crowd suddenly quieted down and separated in front of the Emperor like sea dividing before the Moses.
——Although the communicator was shattered by Ge Xiu, the information was transmitted a second before.
Rowett had been distracted at the dance, and kept as eye on what was going on there all the time, so after he noticed something abnormal, he rushed over as quickly as possible.
After so many mishaps, this dance will definitely not go on.
Rowett gestured to the soldiers behind him, and the guards with live ammunition began to evacuate people in an orderly manner, and in just a few minutes, the entire hall was completely empty, leaving only Ge Xiu who was facing him.
Ge Xiu didn’t seem to understand the situation in front of him very well. He tilted his head and threw the attendant in his hand like a rag doll aside.
The weight of the adult man taller than him felt just a doll to him.
The guards behind His Majesty the Emperor raised their guns vigilantly, for fear that he would do something that would endanger others.
Rowett glanced back coldly, the kind of almost tangible pressure forced the soldiers to subconsciously lower the barrel of the gun, no longer facing the boy in front of him.
He retracted his gaze, turned his head and stared fixedly at Ge Xiu, who was swaying on his feet in front of him.
Ge Xiu looked very calm. Although his face was blushing, there was still an almost terrifying sense of danger trapped in those seemingly pure and harmless eyes, as if he could bite through the throat of the man in front of him and begin a bloody massacre in the next second.
He asked: “Where are you taking me?”
Rowett narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the boy in front of him thoughtfully.
He suddenly recalled his sleeping position.
Curled up like a baby, the already thin body shrunk even smaller, lying quietly on the cold rock.
Extremely insecure.
He’s a captured merman, sent all the way here in a shipping container, was that why he asked such a question when he got drunk?
—”Where are you taking me?”
Rowett reached out to Ge Xiu and said in a coaxing tone: “Take you back home.”
Unexpectedly, Ge Xiu replied bluntly: “Liar.”
He narrowed his eyes, the aggresion that had been faintly displayed a moment ago became even sharper and more acute, it is even more sharp-edged, sharp fangs were looming under his lips, and deep purple pupils were shining with a manic cold light. The well-concealed beastly nature broke out of the cage, screaming for bloodshed.
The atmosphere turned sharp and tense in an instant, and the conflict was on the edge of breaking out.
The two faced each other in a messy ballroom.
Rowett cautiously stepped closer to him: “Then where do you want to go?”
Ge Xiu was suddenly stunned, a daze flashed in his eyes, as if he was at a loss for this question.
Immediately afterwards, he frowned suddenly, as if he was in an unbearable pain, raised his hand to protect his head, and stumbled back, the table behind him was knocked over, and the candy and cold wine spilled on the floor.
Rowett’s heart tensed, and he strode forward, recklessly shortening the distance between the two.
The nervous shouts of the soldiers came from behind, but he turned a deaf ear to them, he walked straight to Ge Xiu, raised his hands and wrapped them around his shoulders.
He heard Ge Xiu murmuring obsessively;
“…P”
“…Pandora…”
After saying that word, his strength seemed to be drained out of a sudden. Rowett caught his body that fell down instantly, and took the young man’s slender body into his arms.
Ge Xiu raised his head in his arms.
He blinked blankly, as if he didn’t know what had just happened.
The breath that was before like an unsheathed blade disappeared.
Ge Xiu’s expression became a little clearer, and he seemed to have regained his sanity. His eyes were no longer as blurry and hazy as before, but his eyes and nose were red, like a child who was wronged.
His flushed face was resting against Rowett’s chest, he raised his hand and grabbed his front lapels, sniffled, and said in a low voice,
“…I want to eat candy.”
*神魂颠倒 – fascinated, obsessed, crazy in love
**天花乱坠 – it was used to describe the imaginative words, vivid and vivid, and very pleasant; it was often exaggerated and unrealistic; it can be used in sentences. As an adverbial, complement; or with derogatory meaning
Little Theater:
Other people when they get drunk at a party: leave the party
Ge Xiu when he gets drunk at the party: makes the whole party leave
Bamboo has something to say:
Little thoughts that absolutely made me crazy this chapter:
1. I believe that Ge Xiu said he was a liar when Rowett said he’d take him back home, because he never had a home–
2. Rowett who will ALWAYS give Ge Xiu angsty backstory on his own and will see the fragility and insecurity under his ruthless cool appearance– (Ge Xiu’s literally about to murder someone and all in this man’s mind is: Ge Xiu is so insecure is he homesick?)
3. GE XIU ASKING FOR CANDY (THOSE WHO MTLed KNOW QAQ)
