Chapter 96 - 95: Clever girl.

Chapter 96: Chapter 95: Clever girl.

The man stopped and glanced at his hand before slowly returning his gaze to Zhao Linger’s face.

"I was just... scratching my nose."

"Then stracth it without moving!"

A brief silence fell between them. A princess who lacked common sense and a common man who pretended to be mysterious.

"That’s..."

The man hesitated, seemingly struggling to find the right words.

"A rather difficult request..."

The masked man slowly lowered his hand and scratched the back of his head instead. "Very well, I will try."

Zhao Linger watched him suspiciously. Whenever his gaze brushed against her, she instinctively shielded herself, her back nearly pressed against the railing behind her.

Tch...

The man snorted. "Don’t worry. I’m not interested in a flat-chested woman like you."

"W-what! What did you say?!"

Zhao Linger finally found a burst of confidence, only for the man to tilt his head and watch her with apparent curiosity. Her voice quickly faltered under his gaze.

"I-I mean, w-what did you say?"

Much softer.

"Just now..."

The last two words came out considerably quieter, as though she were hoping he hadn’t heard her earlier outburst.

The man seemed to find her reaction amusing, but he didn’t continue teasing her. Instead, he leaned back against the railing, his masked face turning toward the palace gardens below.

"Since you’re so interested in what I’m doing here, let me make one thing clear. I came here for one purpose only."

Zhao Linger’s expression grew cautious and her words stumbled out of her mouth in shambles. "A- and what purpose would that be?"

"To ask for clarification... "

"An answer... "

"Of a person that seeked the opposite of what had been served..."

"W-what?" She blinked, then glanced around as if expecting someone else to appear. "You broke into the palace just to ask me a question?"

"That’s right."

"..."

Zhao Linger genuinely struggled to find a response.

She had imagined all sorts of possibilities, from an assassin targeting the imperial family to a suspicious cultivator sneaking in to steal some treasure.

Apparently, this mand gone through all the trouble of entering the palace just to speak with her.

She narrowed her eyes behind his mask.

"You’re lying."

"Am I?"

"Of course you are! Who would sneak into a heavily guarded palace just to ask someone a question? Do you think I’m stupid?"

The man tilted his head.

"Well... You are a bit stupid."

Zhao Linger opened her mouth, then shut it again.

The man, however, seemed to have finally remembered the reason for his visit.

His posture straightened slightly, and the playful air around him faded just enough for Zhao Linger to notice.

"Last night," he began, "you said something while watching the puppet show."

Zhao Linger froze.

The puppet show.

The warrior who had fought desperately to protect his village, only to be defeated by the demon in the end. The unfair ending that had left an uncomfortable weight in her chest.

She stared at the smiling mask.

"...You were the puppeteer?"

"Come on, I’m pretty sure you’ve guessed that already, no?"

Zhao Linger stayed silent to that, and the man continued.

"I heard what you said. You thought the ending was unfair." He paused, letting the words settle between them. "Tell me, Princess Zhao Linger, the second princess of the Great Yan Kingdom. What exactly did you mean by that?"

Zhao Linger’s earlier indignation gradually gave way to uncertainty.

She lowered her gaze and rubbed her thumb against the bracelet on her wrist, searching for a way to explain something she had barely understood herself.

"W-why do I have to answer? T-this is crazy... "

"It’s either that, or me slicing your throat out of disastifaction."

!!!

Zhao Linger trembled under the man’s threat, and hurriedly, she swallowed her breath as she rapidly tried to come up with an answer.

"B-Because..." She hesitated before looking up again. "Why can’t good people win?"

The man remained silent.

Zhao Linger continued, her voice becoming a little more earnest as she struggled to put her thoughts into words.

"The warrior was trying to protect everyone. He knew he wasn’t strong enough, but he still stood up to the demon because there were people waiting for him."

"He kept getting back up, even after he was beaten so badly that he could barely stand." Her fingers curled around the railing. "And in the end, he still lost. The demon killed him, and the village was destroyed anyway. So what was the point of everything he did?"

She looked down at her bracelet again.

"I know it was only a puppet show, but..." Her lips pressed together. "It just didn’t feel right."

The man repeated her words slowly, almost as though he were turning them over in his mind.

"Good people can’t lose?"

"That’s not exactly what I—"

"No." He interrupted her gently, his voice strangely thoughtful. "Good people can’t lose."

He repeated the words once more, then fell silent.

Zhao Linger wondered whether he was making fun of her again. She was about to ask when the man pushed himself away from the railing and stood upright.

Only then did she realize how tall he was.

He approached her at an unhurried pace, his loose grey robes shifting with each step.

The smiling mask remained fixed upon his face, its cheerful expression utterly at odds with the stillness of his movements.

Zhao Linger instinctively retreated until her back pressed even more firmly against the railing. Her hands tightened around its edge, and she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"W-what are you doing?"

The man stopped in front of her.

"Tell me, Princess Zhao Linger." His voice had lost its earlier playfulness. "Have you never seen the true face of this world?"

"W-what?"

Her answer came out barely above a whisper.

He looked down at her, "What a naive princess you are."

Zhao linger didn’t answer, and the man took one more step forward, his height towering over her.

"You... "

His hoarse voice came in a deep tone, "You seem like someone who wishes to see the outside world, don’t you?"

Zhao Linger’s expression changed for a brief second, and the man caught that.

"W-what does that have to do with anything?" She asked cautiously, playing along for now as she was praying for anyone to notice what was happening here.

The masked man turned back toward her, "Nothing, perhaps."

He raised one hand and gestured vaguely toward the city beyond the walls, "But what if..."

"I could show you... "

Zhao Linger blinked, "S-show me what?"

"The world."

He said it so simply that she wandered whether she had misheard him.

Then, out of nowhere, the man extended his hand toward her, his palm open and seemingly to be awaiting.

The smiling mask gazed down at her with its fixed, cheerful expression, and something about the gesture felt out of place.

It sounded like a whisper from the devil, offering something precious to a person who had spent too long wishing for it.

Zhao Linger stared at his outstreched hand.

The strange feeling returned to her throat, leaving her momentarily unable to speak. She couldn’t explain why she felt so uneasy around him.

At last...

"Y-you won’t harm me?" She asked in a cautious voice, her arms pressed together before her chest, "Y-you can show me the outside world?"

A longing...

The masked man lowered his head, and bowed with an elegance that seemed almost excessive for their current situation. But there was beauty to it.

His extended hand remained patiently over the air, waiting for her to accept it, "By the heavens... "

He lifted his gaze toward her, and although the mask concealed his face, his eyes behind it lingered over her face with an earnest gaze, "I will not harm you... Dear Princess."

Zhao Linger swallowed.

"I..."

She looked at his hand again. Then, slowly, she raised her hand.

"I want to see the world..."

The words came out quietly, but once she had spoken them, she found that she didn’t want to take them back.

The masked man’s head tilted slightly.

"Splendid."

Zhao Linger reached forward and placed her hand in his outstretched palm. The instant Zhao Linger’s hand settled into his palm, something seemed amiss.

The masked man had already noticed the subtle movement of her other hand from the start.

Although the princess had been trembling throughout their conversation, her fingers had remained suspiciously close to something hidden in her sleeve.

Oh?

Before he could react, a brilliant light burst from Zhao Linger’s free hand.

The pendant she had been clutching beneath her sleeve suddenly flared with blinding radiance, its surface covered in intricate spiritual patterns that illuminated the surrounding walls.

A powerful surge of spiritual energy erupted from within it, spreading outward in an instant as a translucent bubble enveloped Zhao Linger’s entire body.

At nearly the same moment, a violent explosion tore through the upper structure of the building.

BOOM!

Stone fragments scattered through the air, and the railing behind Zhao Linger shattered under the sudden impact.

The entire rooftop shook violently, sending dust and debris billowing into the sky.

The spiritual bubble remained firmly around her, shielding her from the destruction as it carried her away from the masked man’s grasp.

The masked man’s eyes widened behind the smiling mask.

"Helppp!!!!"

Zhao Linger’s scream pierced through the roaring explosion.

Her eyes were squeezed shut, and both hands were pressed against the inside of the spiritual barrier as she was carried away from the collapsing rooftop.

Good grief...

The masked man watched the glowing bubble shoot away, carrying the princess with it while the remaining fragments of the rooftop crumbled around him.

Then, beneath the mask, the corners of his mouth lifted.

Clever girl.

He stood amid the drifting dust, watching the spiritual bubble disappear beyond the broken rooftop.

So, Princess Zhao Linger... You do have a little more sense than I thought.