Castle instance world
Tian Xihua watched the drifting clouds as he listened to the woman speak. He felt a strange, inexplicable sense of dread, but couldn’t figure out the origin of the feeling.
Lady Amelia spoke slowly as she explained, ‘When my mother passed, she left a lot of things for me, but this one she gave personally. She hid it in my palm on her deathbed.. It is something of indefinable value to me, but recently, Janos has been asking me about it..’
‘He doesn’t want to let it go. Of course, he trusts you wholeheartedly, and he already knows this so it won’t matter even if you’ve only seeked me for more information. It won’t matter.’
She rubbed her nose with the back of her hand and the corner of her eyes appeared slightly red as she spoke, ‘You can tell him that he was right. I didn’t want to believe him at first, and I also couldn’t.. I couldn’t believe that it was true, that he would..’
She sniffed loudly, but held her tears back. ‘I took a carriage outside last month, I’m sure you noticed. It happened in the middle of the night and I tried my best to stay in the shadows, but he still found out in the end.’
‘It doesn’t matter if he did, it makes no difference. I went to that place and looked specifically for the thing..’ Lady Amelia let out a tinkling laugh as she shook her head. ‘I went there and it is not real.’
Tian Xihua’s brows furrowed. He tried sounding her out, ‘The thing you mentioned, it can’t be the..’
He waited for her to finish the sentence but the Lady only nodded. ‘Right, it’s what you think.’
Tian Xihua, ‘……..’ Couldn’t she tell him what it was though? He didn’t have the entire day, alright..
He shook his head, deciding to ask about other details. ‘It wasn’t real? What do you mean?’
Lady Amelia smiled somewhat regretfully as she stared at the top of the trees around them. ‘It’s nothing more than a legend. My mother and father, my grandparents and their grandparents.. It makes you wonder, you know?’
‘Whether any of these things really have anything to do with us in the end. It makes one feel especially powerless, doesn’t it?’
She propped herself on her elbows again, but didn’t look at him as she spoke. ‘I’ll be straightforward with you. This treasure, it feels like a curse in the disguise of a blessing, with the blessing part missing entirely. I cannot help but wonder if my father really loved her or not, you know? Whether Janos really loves me.’
‘And it would be fine, wouldn’t it, as long as I had all those things I wouldn’t care. But it isn’t real! None of the stories are. So I’m afraid that once he realises it was only that, a legend and nothing more, he will leave me behind.’
It seemed that Lady Amelia’s fear wasn’t without reason. It was just that, although she chose to tell her fiance about everything, the other still didn’t believe her and instead thought that she wanted to keep the treasures for herself..
Tian Xihua nodded after gaining a general understanding about the state of matters. ‘I get it. Since you’re sure that your father only married your mother for this, and you’re sure that your fiance only wants the same thing from you..’
He hummed. This really seemed like an uncomfortably unsolvable situation.. The Lady clearly knew all that, but she still chose not to keep up pretenses and told him everything, risking even her engagement.
On the other hand.. Tian Xihua wasn’t sure whether he would act in any other way in the same situation. After all, doubt was the most poisonous thing anyone could feel. It seeped into their mind, ate through their thoughts and left behind nothing but despair.
He felt a strange type of pity towards the other, the sort where he pitied her helplessness and appraised her courage.
Lady Amelia pursed her lips, but didn’t refute him. She held a curl between her fingers, her hold involuntarily tightening as she blinked up at the sky. ‘I’m glad you understand. I just can’t understand why none of them would believe me in the end. You know, sometimes I wonder whether my mother had ever tried to tell my father.’
‘Whether he reacted in the same way or believed her instead.. I wonder if he already knows.’
She smiled shallowly as she looked at him again, the darkness at the bottom of her gaze as deep as the trench of despair. ‘I bet he doesn’t.’
Tian Xihua stayed silent. He pressed his lips into a thin line as he thought.
The matter of this instance.. It was definitely more complicated than it had seemed at first. First of all, there was the issue of this relic that turned out to be nothing but a tool for a legend to gain fame. Then, the supposed greed and jealousy of the people around this poor woman that eventually grew to give way to a drive to kill.. Not even mentioning the entire resurrection problem!
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Po bcis tf xcfk ktja atja kjr. Ktf qijdef ralii gfwjlcfv tlvvfc.. Yg wjsyf la kjr pera atfw ktb kfgf abb miewrs ab olcv la. Pa kjr fnlvfca atja atf qijdef tjv ab yf rbwfktfgf ktfgf la kbeiv yf fjrs ab cbalmf.
But it wasn’t even mentioned in the booklet.
Only then did Tian Xihua remember that the book had more or less described the actions he took the evening before.. It should be that the text was about what he would do next? But how could that even be possible?
After all, he never liked to make too detailed of plans concerning everyday matters. Usually, he just acted on a whim, not really minding the long-term consequences of his actions. This was something he inherited from his mother, and there was no way to change it.
But if the book could tell what he was about to do even before himself.. That was truly too wonderful for him to consider it a good thing.
He turned to look at the Lady next to him, frowning as he felt somewhat muddleheaded. First the poison, now the dagger.. This woman really appeared rather pitiful. She inexplicably reminded him of her own mother with her way of thinking and unreasonable amount of courage.
He had a sudden idea. Wouldn’t it be better to establish a sense of connection with this NPC, wouldn’t that make getting information easier? And what better way was there for that than to mention shared experiences?
He coughed a couple times. Lady Amelia blinked a couple times as her expression became blank and she turned to look at him. ‘Are you alright?’
Tian Xihua nodded, patting his chest lightly as if he really had just taken a breath in the wrong way. ‘I’m fine, yeah, I’m well.. It’s just that what you said reminded me of someone I haven’t met for some time now..’
He bowed his head lightly, stealing a glance at the other from the corner of his eye. The Lady seemed like she didn’t really care about what he had to say, but she still asked politely, ‘What is it? You can tell me if you’d like to.’
‘Well.. It’s my mother who was in a sort of similar situation to yours. Maybe you’ll feel better after hearing about it?’
Lady Amelia nodded absentmindedly. ‘Sure, go ahead. There’s no one I could gossip about your matters with, if that makes you feel any better.’
Tian Xihua made a somewhat conflicted expression as he sighed, but it seemed that he had come to a decision at last. He rubbed the hem of his shirt as he spoke, ‘My mother.. She’s sort of like you, you know? She’s from a wealthy family as well, the oldest daughter of my grandparents.’
‘She.. You love my master a lot, don’t you?’
Lady Amelia didn’t expect the conversation to get back to her, but she still hummed approvingly.
Tian Xihua nodded, ‘Yeah, well, my mom also liked someone a lot. But it was one of those situations, you know, where the person she loved wasn’t liked by her parents nor her friends. They didn’t really approve of their relationship, yeah?’
He really had a hard time talking about this, since the topic hardly had anything that the Lady would care about so far. But the other listened to him calmly, nodding along when it was needed and humming when it was appropriate.
He coughed awkwardly again before continuing, ‘My mother really liked him though, and she chose to elope with him. The guy didn’t know about her parents’ disapproval of him, and he went with her gladly. He thought that all of this was what his girlfriend’s rich family wanted them to do, so of course he didn’t have many misgivings.’
‘But soon he came to realise that my mom had precisely left her family behind just to be with him.. You must have an understanding of the kind of person this man was. In fact, although he did love my mom, he loved her money just a tad bit more.’
Tian Xihua sighed with feigned regret. He seeked the Lady’s eyes with his gaze as he finished the story, ‘By this time, they already had me. It was precisely at my birth that that man realised what exactly was going on. After no one from that family showed up, he barged into the room and interrogated my mother.’
‘She was extremely tired at that time and didn’t hold any mistrust against him anyway, so she straightforwardly told him about everything. When he freaked out and asked her why she never spoke about these things before, she only said that he had never asked. Then there was nothing he could reply to that, after all he really had never asked anything..’
‘My mom thought that he would come to understand her, but she didn’t expect that he would only get mad at her. Soon after that they split up, but my mother never went back to her family.’
‘This is similar to your situation, because..’ He scratched his nose, letting out a laugh, ‘Because you’re also obstructed by the greed of others. If you take my advice, you should figure out whether what you see as love really isn’t just another thing hidden under the veil of fawning. When you’re sure..’
‘Just make sure that whatever decision you make in the end is one you won’t regret. If you’ve got that, you’ve got your freedom.’
Lady Amelia was somewhat stunned after listening to his advice. She nodded slightly as she thought, asking, ‘That, you’re right at. How should I make sure then? How do I know what they really think?’
‘That’s harder to figure out.’ Tian Xihua looked her up and down as if contemplating her choices, ‘Actually, I can help you with that.’
In fact, he could be said to be extremely clear on the topic. After all, wasn’t it him who saw the girl die because of the poison, and hadn’t it been him who was entrusted to stab her later that day? He could easily tell her about these things. Although this carried with it unknown consequences and was a dangerous chance to take, he could still try..
In the kitchen, some time later.
Lan Kejia just arrived back at the kitchen, putting down the pile of weeds she had carried over all the way from the back hills.
Shen Qiu put her head through the uncovered window, a somewhat lost expression plastered on her face. She could hear the commotion even from the outside, and now she was looking at the older woman intently, waiting for the other to notice her and call her over.
Lan Kejia didn’t waste too much time inside either. She instructed the servants around herself before waving the young girl over.
It seemed that she didn’t take the people around them for ones that could mean any sort of danger towards their mission, and she directly asked, ‘What is it? You haven’t found the plaque alone, have you?’
Shen Qiu’s expression became blank for a moment before she quickly shook her head. ‘No, no. It’s not that..’
‘What do you want to say then? Say it, ah. I still have to find that maid kid for the cake to compare it..’ Lan Kejia tucked a strand of greying hair behind her ear and rolled her sleeves up as she leant on the table.
Shen Qiu pursed her lips as she looked around, but she still didn’t say anything in the end, only pulling the pouch hiding the dagger out from her clothes.
She handed it to the older woman and spoke quietly, ‘Tian Xihua gave this to me. He said that he was ordered to kill the Lady tonight, but when I asked about his exact plans he got mad and gave it to me. Said that I should do it..’
Lan Kejia pulled the mouth of the pouch open, letting the hilt jump out slightly. Her pupils contracted momentarily, but her voice didn’t give any of her emotions away. ‘He doesn’t plan on doing it then?’
Shen Qiu shook her head, about to reply, but the words that Lan Kejia followed up with made her choke her words back.
‘That’s fine too, you can do it in his stead.’ Her voice was nonchalant, as if what they were discussing really wasn’t more than a slight inconvenience.
Shen Qiu stared at her with wide eyes as she hurried to oppose, ‘No, no, I really can’t do it.’
‘Well then, am I supposed to do it instead, or what?’ Lan Kejia frowned at her. ‘I’m already so old and yet I still have to finish others’ business, huh?’
She spoke as she organized the herbs into small, neat piles. ‘And besides, you already promised him, didn’t you?’
‘I..’ Shen Qiu scratched her nose, but she really couldn’t refute her. ‘Actually, no one has to do it.. If we just don’t act, then..’
‘Even you yourself don’t believe that, do you? You should know what would happen if we really did nothing..’
Shen Qiu shook her head hurriedly, ‘No! I do, it’s just that..’
‘I see.’ Lan Kejia put her hands down as she looked up at her. ‘I know what you mean, but darling, some choices you have to make in life, they simply cannot be divided into categories like ‘good’ and ‘bad’. I know you know that.’
‘And so sometimes, you have to choose the less bad one from two terrible choices. Other times, when both options are equally bad, you have to choose the one that’s best for you. Do you know what that one is in this scenario?’
Shen Qiu didn’t reply, only bowing her head and letting out a barely audible ‘mhm’.
‘That’s good then.’ Lan Kejia smiled at her shallowly, handing her the dagger back. ‘The better option is where we get to live, isn’t it? One life is no better than four, however you look at it. Don’t wait too long to act, there might be hindrances.’
By the time Chu Anzhi stepped into the kitchen, Shen Qiu was nowhere to be seen.
Lan Kejia was busy tending to a pot over the fire. The things inside the pot looked suspiciously similar to the herbs she brought in from outside.
There weren’t many servants in the kitchen, as it was already past lunchtime. Chu Anzhi waved one away, and sat down at the table in the middle.
He waited for Lan Kejia to finish her business with a dark expression on his face.
It didn’t take too long for the woman to take the pot off of the hearth either. She stirred the liquid a couple of times before filtering it and pouring it out into two cups.
She placed one of them in front of Chu Anzhi, and took the other for herself as she sat down, carefully folding her skirt under herself.
‘Have you found the plaque?’ Chu Anzhi didn’t waste time making small talk, and began asking about the topic he came to discuss instead as he stirred the tea around in the cup.
‘Mm, no. I haven’t been anywhere else yet.’ Lan Kejia didn’t seem too bothered by his straightforwardness as she showed a neutral expression.
Chu Anzhi frowned instantly. ‘That’s not good then, not good at all.’ His fingers unconsciously went to scratch his goatee, but he held the urge back when he felt his skin touch the barely dried mud.
‘We left out an important location then, possibly lost the chance to trigger a plotline too.. I spent today going around the place, looking through all the halls and rooms I could, only to not even find as much as a small clue.’
‘The book doesn’t have any specifics, which only makes me believe that the place is one of great significance.’
Lan Kejia hummed, taking a sip of her tea. She spoke after putting the cup down again, ‘Where have you been already?’
Chu Anzhi thought for a moment before dipping his pinky into his cup and drawing up a basic image of the castle grounds onto the rough surface of the table.
He pointed to some corners as he explained, ‘The character I play is a stableboy. I began looking there, then followed the book all the way over here. This is to say that I’ve got this route covered.’
‘Then I went to look around inside, reaching the Lady’s quarters by coincidence. We followed another route back here, then went to the main hall together. After splitting up, I went to look around the Lord’s quarters, but couldn’t get closer than the first few rooms.’
‘I was called to the stalls after that, and that’s the last place I went before meeting up again. I had some unfinished chores there, so I went back after our discussion.’
Lan Kejia nodded, ‘So that means that you’ve been almost everywhere except for the servants’ quarters?’
‘Basically, yes.‘ The man wiped the liquid off of the table with his sleeve, ‘There are some smaller passages and halls I didn’t have the time to get to, but everything of importance should be covered. So, where can that damned plaque be then?’
‘Shen Qiu came from the servants’ parts. She probably didn’t search the place, but I’m confident that she wouldn’t have missed such a big thing.’ Lan Kejia let out a sigh, ‘We should already have found it, and yet..’
The last of her words scattered in the cavalcade of sounds that came from outside.
Chu Anzhi stood up and walked to the window to look outside. The sight made his expression change momentarily before he hurried to push the door open.
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After the 10th of august the schedule of updates will be changed from twice a week to one chapter every tuesday.
Thanks for the chapter <3