Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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“You just said Ivan Jasper’s weakness is the princess. Explain that to me.”
Lei Qie met her eyes. Reason told him there was no hope, but he inexplicably sensed a trace of strength in those eyes.
Oh well, since there’s no hope anyway, having someone to chat with in the end isn’t so bad.
Having found an excuse for himself, Lei Qie said, “Jasper is sick, mentally ill, and the princess is the root of his illness.”
Si Huang sat on another leather chair opposite him, trying to calm herself down. “There’s more than one princess?”
“That’s both right and wrong,” Lei Qie said. “I’ve seen his princesses twice. Even if they dressed the same and looked very similar, I’m sure they weren’t the same person.” He pointed to the photo wall. “Look at those photos; the women in them were all his princesses.”
Si Huang glanced back at the photo wall, and then a scene flashed through her mind.
She remembered the time she and Qin Fan were in a car accident. The victim at the scene was a black-haired woman. At that time, the woman’s face was so badly damaged that it was unrecognizable, but her clothes were the same style as in the photo.
—Is my princess in there too?
—No, Earl, you’ve forgotten. Her Highness the Princess had an accident on the road.
—You shouldn’t have reminded me of this unfortunate news again. I thought you had already made up for this mistake.
The conversation between Ivan Jasper and the freight manager echoed in Si Huang’s mind, making her even more certain that the victim of the car accident she encountered last time was the so-called princess.
So, was that car accident deliberately targeted at Ivan Jasper? Was it simply to annoy him?
Si Huang collected her thoughts, faintly hearing footsteps. This time, the footsteps weren’t coming through the loudspeaker, but were actually approaching.
Ivan Jasper… Ivan Jasper… Ivan Jasper…
The name kept swirling in her mind, as if she’d heard or seen it somewhere before, a memory from a past life.
“I heard that Ivan Jasper wasn’t originally named that. He was a butler in the Jasper family, growing up alongside the eldest daughter and serving her. However, an accident led to the destruction of the entire Jasper family. The murderer, to torment them, deliberately had the eldest daughter killed by Ivan. How exactly she died is unknown, but Ivan went mad around that time. After lying low for several years, he dealt with the ferocious beast and rebuilt the Jasper family.”
“…Mad?” Si Huang was stunned.
Lei Qie didn’t quite catch what she said and continued, “I don’t know when rumors started circulating that Jasper had a princess he doted on, someone he’d do anything for, someone who would grant any request. Someone kidnapped this princess to get rid of Jasper, which triggered his madness. That’s when people in the underworld realized how terrifying this Earl was.”
Si Huang’s expression constantly shifted.
Lei Qie chuckled, seemingly recalling a thought. “This kidnapping cost the princess her life. Everyone thought the Earl would be heartbroken, but soon after, another princess appeared in his life, and he also treated her exceptionally well… What do you think happened next? Let me tell you, in less than six months, this princess was replaced again. According to special intelligence analysis, the princess was spoiled and became unlike the princess the Earl had in mind, so she was abandoned.”
“This is common knowledge in the underworld, but it can’t be mentioned in front of the Earl. They deceive themselves into acknowledging the princess’s existence because the Earl with a princess is the safest and most reliable collaborator.” Lei Qie’s gaze drifted towards the locked door of the room. “To gain the Earl’s help, many families are willing to ‘create’ princesses for him.”
“Alright, the story is over. Are you ready to face death?” Lei Qie gave Si Huang a familiar, provocative smile.
“No.” Si Huang answered without hesitation, then suddenly stood up. “Three minutes. Stop him for three minutes.”
Lei Qie was stunned, surprised by Si Huang’s composure, even more surprised by the glimmer of life in her bright eyes.
Was it just an illusion?
“What plan have you come up with?”
Si Huang turned and walked towards the fitting room she had seen earlier, coldly saying, “If you want to live, then try your best to survive.”
Lei Qie wanted to ask something more, but suddenly there was a “knock knock” at the door.
If it were before, he might have said nothing and waited for Ivan Jasper to break down the door. But with Si Huang’s instructions, he took a deep breath and asked with a smile, “Who is it?”
There was a brief silence at the door, followed by the sound of a key being inserted into the keyhole.
Lei Qie’s scalp tingled, but he still called out in a nonchalant tone, “Entering the room without the master’s permission is very impolite.”
“I am the master.” The person outside the door was indeed Ivan Jasper.
“Isn’t this the princess’s room? Shouldn’t the princess be the master?” Lei Qie noticed the key turning had stopped. Despite being dizzy from blood loss, he tried his best to speak normally. “It’s a rare privilege to be a guest in the princess’s room. Please allow me to have a cup of black tea before I leave.”
“You’ll dirty the teacup.”
Hearing the key turn again, Lei Qie’s face tightened, and he coldly snapped, “If you dare come in, I really dare to dirty this place. Oh~ let me think, how about urinating on the princess’s bed?” He knew this would definitely enrage the other party, and almost without pausing, he continued, “However, if you’re willing to give me two minutes to quietly drink a cup of black tea, I will treat everything here politely and then leave this room.”
Silence fell outside. Lei Qie thought he had succeeded, but before he could even exhale, the door suddenly opened.
Ivan Jasper stood in the doorway, his deep blue eyes fixed on the frozen Lei Qie.
“Where’s your gentlemanly manners?” Lei Qie smirked, an arrogant smile playing on his pale face, though defeat flickered in his eyes.
Ivan Jasper raised his chin slightly, his posture flawless. “You look terrible.”
Lei Qie remained arrogant. “So, could you grant this wounded man a small request and let me finish this cup of tea?”
He reached for the teacup on the table, only to have a bloody hole appear in his arm, the pain twisting Lei Qie’s smile.
Three minutes? Probably not, probably only a minute…
Ivan Jasper asked, “Where’s your partner?”
Lei Qie didn’t answer. He watched Ivan Jasper’s finger about to pull the trigger, his face tense, awaiting the impending pain— he knew the other wouldn’t kill him with a single shot, but would leave him to suffer slowly.
“Ivan! Stop!”
A woman’s voice, inappropriate for this setting, soft and clear, instantly brightening the mood, yet possessing an innate noble arrogance.
Ivan Jasper forgot to fire, and Lei Qie turned in astonishment towards the direction of the sound.
A tall woman stood on the steps.
A deep black, high-necked, long-sleeved lace dress covered her from her neck to her calves, revealing her still-developing frame, yet already displaying a golden ratio figure.
Her black, slightly wavy hair reached her waist, and an exquisite golden bee queen mask concealed her face, revealing a mysterious face through the gaps, making one want to reach out and remove this barrier, yet also feeling inferior and hesitant to approach her.
She was clearly a young girl, with a pure yet domineering aura.
If she was as noble as a princess, then she was a princess destined for the throne.
Who was she? Why was she here?
“…” Lei Qie remembered that only Si Huang had gone in there before, and thinking of a certain possibility, his eyes widened as he incredulously examined the girl’s entire body. He especially focused on her throat and chest, which were covered by the high collar, as if he wanted to see through the fabric.
Ivan Jasper stood motionless, his eyes fixed on the girl. His lips moved twice before he uttered a hoarse voice, “Who are you?”
His voice startled Lei Qie, who looked at the girl with a complex expression. He was now almost certain that this was Si Huang in disguise. But how could he remind Si Huang that even if she could convincingly impersonate a woman, impersonating the Earl’s princess was far more difficult? He had seen the personalities and temperaments of the two princesses before; both were harmless like cotton flowers, pure yet willful.
Just as Lei Qie suspected, the person standing on the steps was indeed Si Huang. Her gaze swept over Lei Qie for a second before landing on Ivan Jasper’s face.
“I like this mask. Ivan, you understand my tastes best.”
She said, walking briskly down the steps with girlish energy, yet speaking to Ivan Jasper in a patronizing tone, “As a reward for you, I’ll play you a piece of my new composition.”
Even with the mask on, her smile couldn’t be hidden, making one think she was actually being coquettish! Only, her way of being coquettish was subtle, and she was unwilling to admit it!
Si Huang walked to the piano against the right wall of the room. She sat down with her back ramrod straight, unlike the typical graceful posture of a young girl.
Her slender, pale fingers danced across the black and white keys. Before pressing a key, she turned to Ivan Jasper, “Ivan, listen carefully.”
Ivan Jasper’s lips parted slightly, but no sound came out.
The clear piano music filled the room, flowing gently like water.
Lei Qie, who knew a little about piano music, was certain that Si Huang wasn’t playing a famous piece. He looked up at Ivan Jasper and found that this man, who wasn’t even afraid of death, had a distorted expression.
His expression was incredibly complex, a blend of countless emotions: shock, longing, pain, and more, all ultimately coalescing into a deep, intense attachment.
This attachment and obsession struck Lei Qie as morbid. He had seen him look at his princess with similar eyes before, but never with such depth.
How could this be?
Lei Qie felt that everything before him was definitely not a coincidence or luck.
Si Huang’s words and actions gave him the feeling that he was doing it deliberately, that he had planned it all along.
But… how could he have known that this would win Ivan Jasper’s favor, like a sharp blade instantly piercing Ivan Jasper’s fatal weakness!
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