Close Combat Mage

Chapter 147 – The Meaning of Beauty Pt. 1

The night passed without incident. The next morning, Suo Jia recovered his spirit, and quietly sat within the office to wait for the mysterious customer. Since he had already accepted such a valuable present from the other party, he naturally had to try his best to help her. This kind of basic work ethic was something that Suo Jia still had.

Not long after, Lan Ruo walked in to report the mysterious customer’s arrival. Under Suo Jia’s consent, Lan Ruo respectfully invited the mysterious customer inside. She then quietly left without a word; even if she had wanted to say something, she couldn’t.

Suo Jia invited the mysterious person to sit on the luxurious sofa. He then stood up and walked to her, gesturing at her to lie down. At the same time, he said, “Before I begin the procedure, you have to take off your mask. If I can’t scrutinize you closely, I’m afraid I might make a mistake. If that happens, you will not only lose your beauty, but you might also end up looking like a monster.”

After some hesitation…. the person wordlessly reached out to take off her mask. Soon after…. a beautiful, charming middle-aged face filled with dignity appeared in Suo Jia’s line of sight.

Was she ugly? No…. even though she was already over 40 years old, almost 50! She was not at all ugly. In fact, she had an extremely lovely appearance. One could even say that her looks were enchanting. However, the blades of age were merciless; they had left too many marks on her charming face!

Lightly extending his hands and caressing the woman’s wrinkled face, Suo Jia knit his brows and muttered to himself. After a long time…Suo Jia said in a low voice, “Since I’ve accepted your things, I have to offer the most perfect service. Thus, before I start working, there are some questions I must ask you!”

Levelly looking at Suo Jia, the woman nodded and said, “If you have any questions, go ahead and ask them. If I can answer, I definitely won’t hold back.”

Suo Jia nodded and continued, “First of all, I need to confirm your status. Different statuses require different types of appearances. There is no single definition of a woman. My goal is — to find the best and most appropriate appearance for you!”

The mysterious person frowned at Suo Jia’s words. After a long contemplation, she took out a scroll and handed it to Suo Jia, “It’s best if you don’t know my status. Just adjust my appearance based on this picture. As long as you can recover my previous state, then I won’t forget you, and will properly repay you in the future!”

Suo Jia opened the scroll and looked at it for a bit. Although….Suo Jia couldn’t help but sigh at the incomparably alluring looks of the person in the drawing…..he still wordlessly threw the scroll back to her and shook his head. “I will stand by my previous words; I want to know your status. Or could it be that your status is taboo? You can’t say?”

“That….” The mysterious person hesitated at Suo Jia’s question. Seeing this, Suo Jia said in annoyance, “Here, you’re my customer. No matter what secret it is, this place will be it’s final destination. There’s no need to worry about me spreading the word. I still have that bit of work ethics.”

Suo Jia paused for a bit before continuing, “You need to know that people with different statuses need different appearances. Let me ask you, if you had a son and I made your appearance like that of the one in the drawing, how are they supposed to deal with it? How could they call someone that looks younger and more beautiful than them their mother? Don’t you think they’d be perplexed by it?”

“That…” The mysterious woman’s expression turned stiff. She had indeed not considered this question. At the same time, Suo Jia continued, “‘If something strange happens, it’s the result of the devil; judging by the way Wen Ya treated you, I’m certain that your status is very high. In that case, if anything abnormal happened, do you think the people around you would accept it? You didn’t plan getting set back because of encountering any disaster that results from this, right?”

The mysterious person’s face suddenly turned green, and then white. Her IQ was definitely above Suo Jia’s, and normally would’ve thought of such things. However, this whole time, she had become intoxicated by the thoughts of returning to her former beauty, and her intelligence had sharply declined. Now that Suo Jia had pointed it out, she immediately thought of many other things.

After some contemplation, the mysterious person understood the reason behind Suo Jia’s apprehension. She lifted her head respectfully, and looked at Suo Jia with a moved expression, “Lord Suo Jia, please forgive the rudeness I had just displayed to you. Originally, I had thought that you were just a child, and even if you had some skill, you couldn’t be on the same level as an adult. However, I must say now that you are an extremely qualified master at changing appearances. You have a noble work ethic. If it weren’t for your insistence, something big might’ve happened today!”

Suo Jia smiled and calmly replied, “This is nothing. Since I’ve accepted your gifts, I have to perform work that is of equal value. I will never allow other people to owe me anything, but I permit myself owing others even less. That’s why…no matter what price you pay, I have to provide an equal return!”

With a sigh of admiration, the mysterious person looked at Suo Jia with eyes that suddenly flashed. She said in a heavy voice, “Alright…. I shall tell you. In reality, I’m the Holy Light Empire’s Empress!”

Suo Jia only indifferently nodded his head at these words. His expression remained unfazed, neither showing shock nor fear, and was completely at ease. As she watched Suo Jia’s expression remain calm, the Empress couldn’t bring herself to believe that this was only a 10-year old child! The only ones that could do this were people that were either complete geniuses that had been outstanding their whole lives, or were completely ignorant. But did Suo Jia look like an ignorant person?

As the Empress contemplated this, Suo Jia continued, “Next, I want to know your goal for fixing your appearance. Is it just because you enjoy beauty, or is there another reason?”

The mysterious person froze for a second, then suddenly realized that Suo Jia’s calmness was because of his cunning; it was not because he was ignorant, but because he deeply considered everything in order to help her. There was absolutely no time for him to become nervous or scared. To Suo Jia, she was nothing but his customer.

The Empress didn’t bother hiding anything any longer. While Suo Jia was wholeheartedly thinking of how to help her, there was absolutely no reason in hiding anything for the sake of face. Besides, this matter was too important to her; not the slightest bit of a mistake was permitted.

Wordlessly complying, the Empress told Suo Jia everything about the bitter experience she had encountered, as well as her desires. As he heard her words, Suo Jia’s frown deepened. By the time the Empress had finished speaking, Suo Jia was already deeply submerged into his own thoughts, and he contemplated for a good half an hour.

After a while, Suo Jia abruptly lifted his head and said to the Empress, “Your Highness, I would like to confirm something: the only reason you want to recover your former beauty is simply to regain the Emperor’s heart?”

With a firm nod, the Empress said without hesitation, “That’s right. To me, nothing in this world is more important than the Emperor’s heart.”

Suo Jia said resolutely, “In that case, this drawing is of no use. It is not suitable for you.”

“Ah! Why not?” The Empress cried out in shock and confusion as she caught the scroll.

Suo Jia said calmly with a smile, “Your Highness, before I answer your question, I want to ask you once more. If your Highness was still an unmarried woman, would you fall in love with me?”