Chapter 220 - Su Luxi (10)

"C-can you help me... cancel my engagement to the prince?" Midway she paused to swallow the invisible lump in her throat.

"Oh? Engagement again? No."

"..." The female lead became speechless. Why ask for her if he would only say no to her? Wait, somebody else also tried to request this from the prophet? The prince?

The answer came out immediately since Jiang Li had no plans to play with words with a true a.d.u.l.t. The young boy laughingly added, "Sorry about that, Miss. But I don't think you should bother trying."

Jiang Li would not meddle with the plot for now. He was saving his two chances for the villainess who was his mission. Also, there was no way the plot would let the leads not end up with each other.

In other words, this girl would have no way of escaping the sick romance with the stupid ML. That was unless she could go against the plot by herself, or make Jiang Li be so moved that he would shoulder some punishments for a plot-change outside of the allowed chances. The question is, could she do that? Breaking the leads' ship would mean an extreme amount of work, how would he be willing to do it without a very strong reason?

'Bringing me somewhere in the palace when I collapsed in the hallway is not so big to make me move.' He indifferently thought, watching as despair crossed Rumina's eyes.

"Ask me something different. If it's within my capabilities, I don't mind answering or helping."

'... What else can I ask though...' The girl was disheartened, but since she was someone whose mind was that of a twenty-year-old girl, she restrained her expression and simply said, "Your Honor, my mind is simple. Please let me just leave the judging of what I should get as compensation to you."

In other words, I leave it to you. You judge.

A corner of Jiang Li's lip rose up. It seemed like the woman's IQ returned, and that fast even. 'Quite witty.'

So he would be the one to decide how to return the favor? Was he counting on his titles, both as a prophet and an heir to a duchy, to make sure she would not receive a loss? Or maybe she was simply not counting on him much after receiving that initial reply?

'On account that you look like the young her, I'd then be more tolerant.'

While Jiang Li laughed and opened his mouth to say something which made the little girl stunned and rooted on her spot, another person listening and witnessing their conversation watched the expression on the boy's face with both interest... and something a bit darker.

...

Even before the day ends, the crown prince went to the Emperor to complain about Jiang Li's conduct. By then the latter was already escorted home by the church's people. When the news reached his ears, he laughed so loudly that the ducal couple was alerted.

"Son, son, what is the good news that made you so happy. Care to share it with your mother and me?" A smile hung on Duke Wade's face when he lovingly rubbed the white hair of his son.

Jiang Li looked at the maid who called for the two and glowered, then turned to the Duke with an amused expression. "I heard the crown prince complained about me to the Emperor. I was simply imagining in my head how the Emperor responded."

'I'm wondering whether he finally realized the truth through that audience with the old dude?' the thought flashed across his mind after he remembered how he purposely did not make the crown prince forget what took place in the break room.

Once the Emperor asked the guards following the prince and received an answer opposite of what that boy said, what would the Emperor do?

The next morning, he got the answer he wanted. The crown prince was scolded. Yet that was it.

Jiang Li knew the Emperor was saving face for the male lead, either through his own discretion as his father or forced by the plot.

...

Time flew by quickly. When Jiang Li was eighteen years old, the leads started to have more interactions and the female lead frequently sought him out, fearing how accurate his predictions were.

On that day when he beat up the crown prince and then spoke with the girl, he told her everything he saw in his memories. And it was amusing how his chances of changing the plot did not decrease. Meaning even though Rumina Bolden acquired the knowledge of her future, since she was the female lead, her fate was essentially written down and predetermined by the plot already. This was proven by how many times the girl complained to him about the frequent encounters she had with the crown prince when she turned thirteen.

Maybe because she had already guessed that he knew her past, she treated him like her best friend. Regarding this, Jiang Li only rolled his eyes. It was amazing how thick-faced a lead character could be to claim she was best friend with a guy and somebody who rarely spoke with her.

It was the afternoon of a bright and sunny day when Rumina snuck into Wade's mansion, pretending she was a maid.

The duke's heir was seated in the balcony facing a mountain of books at the top of his table. Since he only had so much free time in hand, he spent most of those in training his magic and arts, learning stuff to make his body stronger, and researching about the curse and the Goddess.

Amidst his busy schedule, the girl was simply an unwelcomed existence.

"L-Luke. I-It's really scary. I, I went to the opera hall and met that man there. H-he really did invite me in his private booth!"

"Oh? Why? Because of a letter?" He casually asked, reading his book and not even lifting his head to see her reaction.

If this was before, she would have widened her eyes for the young man had guessed it correctly again. But now, she only sighed, seemingly used to this. Every time, this white-haired boy would give her a disinterested look. It had become so familiar with her that she could not even feel annoyed at it anymore.

She gained a new male friend who she was actually quite attracted with. This person noticed her aversion and fear of the prince and asked about it in a letter. She replied with a very long narration of her experiences in her previous life, telling him it was her dream, a very realistic and vivid one. Yet before this letter could reach the correct recipient, it landed in the hands of the male lead.

The thirteen-year-old girl's face was full of despair as she cried. "He, he read what's in that letter and interrogated me about it. A-and then he promised he wouldn't be like that! I-It's scary how my heart suddenly started pounding even though my mind is full of doubts about his words. I mean... I don't even believe he will change!"

For so many years, she suffered in the hands of that sc.u.m. It was hard to rewrite the impression she had of him in her mind. Since the images were burnt at the back of her mind, why did her heart behave like that when he said that meaningless and empty promise?

"Well..."

Jiang Li shrugged then went back to reading. He had nothing to say. Or more appropriately put, he didn't find it interesting since this had happened numerous times already, both this girl complaining and the plot entangling her to Rome when given the chance.  

Seeing the ducal heir's reaction, the girl let out a sigh again.

"In your prediction, that girl will be summoned in 2 years..." Downcasted, the female lead subconsciously murmured. Gloominess could be seen from her expression, her tone too was displeased.

"Yeah." The man simply replied.

She clutched her chest, "... I... dreaded that day coming..." 

This remark was said in a tone full of both fear and resentment.

He placidly looked at his bony fingers, taking in the annoying paleness and lack of meat in his arms before raising his head and flashing a smile at the disguised girl.

"Sorry." He apologized. "But contrary to your wish, I actually look forward to that day coming..."