novelraw Chapter 22
Chapter 22
22~ Purpose~
"You... know me?"
"Of course, Your Highness."
This noble gentleman introduced himself while approaching her, until the little Princess warily took a step back and he stopped.
"So what do you want with me?"
"Nothing much. I've long heard of Lady Mo's name and came specially to pay my respects."
He pulled out a box and opened it. Inside lay a set of exquisite clothing: clothes, skirt, stockings, underwear, panties, all complete.
But chasing her this far really just to see her once? She felt this guy's purpose absolutely couldn't be this simple. This was just polite talk.
"Is that so?"
"Of course, Your Highness. Within Scarlet Phoenix Nation's borders, no one dares lay a hand on royal family members."
Of course, excluding those desperadoes.
The little Princess was slightly speechless for a moment, then immediately refused the other party. Her reason was that the Empress didn't allow her to bring things from outside back, then she played dumb and deflected a few of the traps he'd set.
Mm, anyway, no matter what blame, just throw it all on the Empress's head. Whatever traps he set, just play dumb with all of them. Worst case, she could just run to tattle later.
Although running to tattle felt like something only elementary school students would do, compared to her own life, she felt losing a bit of face was just a small problem.
"Sorry, please leave. In a bit, Fei will be calling me back."
Seeing his plan fail, the middle-aged noble pulled out a handful of snacks, looking like he was planning to directly tempt her.
Mo: "???"
Did she really look like she could be tricked away with food?
Honestly, she was somewhat angry. Not because this middle-aged noble planned to extract information from her, but because she'd been treated like a small child, the kind that could be tricked away with candy.
So in your eyes, I'm just a little girl, is that it?
Fine, she'd remember this grudge.
"Fei said I can't eat food from outside randomly."
Then what's that in your hand!?
This was purely talking nonsense with eyes wide open!
But if she really wouldn't cooperate, he didn't have much recourse either. After all, this was a royal family member. If something happened to her outside, it would definitely be thoroughly investigated. At that time, he might even face execution of nine generations of kin...
"Does Your Highness not trust me?"
"I don't even know you. Who knows if there's something wrong with the food you're giving?"
The middle-aged noble: "..."
"Then since that's the case, my apologies. I've disturbed Your Highness's enjoyment."
Only after watching the middle-aged noble's figure completely disappear from view did Mo's naive expression with a trace of wariness instantly revert to an expressionless look.
Yes, the expressions just now were all fake, just to quickly deal with and send this guy away. Using a bit of "self-proclaimed mature talk" and a certain degree of expression could achieve a very good deceptive effect, especially with her body's inherent advantages, which amplified this effect infinitely.
That guy probably would never imagine until death that this seemingly young body had an internal soul that had already lived nearly fifty years.
...
"Sigh..."
Still couldn't extract any useful intelligence, but he'd roughly figured out some of this Lady Mo's background. Nothing more than a child who thought herself mature, but unexpectedly obedient to the Empress. She didn't seem to know much either, but she was still a point of entry.
However, walking along, he suddenly felt something wasn't quite right. Was this the road he'd taken on the way here? How did he suddenly deviate from the original route?
Just as he stopped, preparing to investigate, he suddenly felt a chill on his neck. His body was missing something, then he fell to the ground.
...
...
"Hey! Come quickly! Someone's been killed here!"
...
...
"Heave-ho... heave-ho..."
So tired. The Imperial City was clearly right in front of her. How could this short distance be so exhausting?
Just as she was about to collapse from exhaustion, her eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of a maid outfit. It was Ling who caught her in time!
"Your Highness, are you alright?"
"I'm fine..."
She hadn't fallen directly to the ground, so of course she was fine.
However, in the air, she smelled a familiar scent, a scent that made her somewhat nauseous. It was a fishy smell mixed with rust, the smell of blood.
She absolutely couldn't be mistaken. This was a smell she could never forget.
Looks like that middle-aged noble who chatted her up very likely met with misfortune... But what did that have to do with her? Even if suspected, it would all be suspected on the Empress's head! She almost couldn't help but applaud!
"Her Majesty wants to see you now."
"Then carry me over. I can't walk anymore."
Although she hadn't walked too far outside, merely less than half a street's distance, for her it was already at a level she couldn't handle.
When carried before the Empress, she was already about to fall asleep.
"Mo, wake up."
"Mm..."
"Did you have fun today?"
"Not fun."
Indeed not very fun. Originally, because of her body's condition, she couldn't walk too far. Then she was recognized by others, ruining her original plan to browse as an ordinary person. Later, after being bothered by that noble like that, her already somewhat bad mood immediately couldn't improve anymore.
"Then does Mo want to go out again in the future?"
"Don't want to anymore..."
At least not for the next month or so in the near future.
While speaking, she'd already started dozing off.
The corner of the Empress's mouth lifted slightly. This was probably the effect she wanted.
Just needed to stay properly by her side. Didn't need to worry about anything. As long as she obediently stayed by her side, she could enjoy everything...
"Take her back to my bedchamber to rest."
The Empress instructed Ling. As for bathing and such, tomorrow would be fine too. She still had to go handle some troublesome matters in a bit...
...
...
And again the next morning...
The little Princess scratched her head, completely forgetting what she'd said to the Empress before falling asleep yesterday. She only remembered the Empress asked if she had fun, then she blacked out.
Mm... if she couldn't figure it out, better not think about it. Anyway, she didn't want to ask either. Probably wasn't anything important.
"Ling?"
Sure enough, as soon as she called, the Maid Ling immediately pushed the door open and appeared at her side.
"What are Your Highness's orders?"
"Mm mm... did Fei not come back last night?"
"Her Majesty got up very early this morning. Afraid you hadn't slept enough, so she didn't wake you."
"Oh... then did I bathe last night?"
"No. Your Highness had already fallen asleep before even returning to the bedchamber last night."
"Then go prepare hot water for me."
"Her Majesty instructed that when you wake up in the morning, you should go find her. In a bit, Her Majesty will bathe with you."
Mo: "..."
Then fine... anyway, she'd bathed with the Empress plenty of times normally.
...
"So you're saying, no one can figure out who killed my father right now!?"
The young noble smashed a water cup to pieces.
"Young Master, don't worry! Some information has been found. Before he died, the master went to the shop once, then followed the information to find that Lady Mo."