Chapter 77: 3.31

Sefu's video sent everyone into an uproar. Weirdly the people who were most indignant were the paparazzi.

Paparazzi: 'We've been suppressed by this evil ghost for so long, and now it turns out that he can be photographed?! Give us back our wasted camera film, our uncorrupted data!' ‎(ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ ┻━┻

Most people, despite a lack of photographic evidence, also vaguely recognized Sefu as the scary scarred bodyguard of Prince Farrell. After all, he was almost always in the same room as the prince and was eye-catching in his own right. Seeing the video, all sorts of messy dogblooded thoughts popped into the heads of the public.

If it wasn't sort of really offensive given the whole 'threatening to murder one's family' thing going on, there would probably be quite an increase of ButlerxMaster, RebelxPrince, ServantxPrince type of fiction being produced online. There probably will be to be honest, with the author or artist really selling their disclaimer of being a work of fantasy, unrelated to any real people or situations in reality. Honestly, Jia Hyson didn't find it too abhorring, a little insensitive sure, but it wasn't like these people were going to link it to his Weibo while he was having his family being threatened with right? Of course not ah...

...Only trolls and nosy 'good samaritans' will.

Jia Hyson sneers as he reads another iteration of [@YourHighnessFarrell look at this awful story, clearly the author is taking advantage of your misery and sexualizing it! How can others be so insensitive given your situation. #NotRight #Disgusting #BanThisPerson].

"How annoying, Bebe, give these self-righteous idiots something to really bitch about ah."

"On it~" Bebe happily agrees. It's already relatively skilled with fighting the netizens from past experiences, one could say that it was one of its strengths as a system ah. So Bebe was proud to show off its capabilities for once. Viruses. Bugs. Leaked information. All sorts of troubles descended upon these unwitting account users scorned by Jia Hyson like the plague descended on Egypt.

Satisfied with this knowledge that others were suffering, Jia Hyson focuses on his main problem.

Going to the bathroom he tries to think sad thoughts and uses some crocodile tears to make it look like he had been crying. Then he splashes his face with water, scrubbing the cold water onto his face harshly before giving himself a loud slap on the face.

Looking at the mirror Jia Hyson sees a man clearly stressed and pushed to the brink emotionally, his eyes are red and a little puffy, cheeks flushed and an expression filled with restrained pain and confusion and anger. His face is wet, a clear indication that he tried to wash away his tears and the slap was a slap to forcibly bring him back to reality. Solemnly he nods to himself in the mirror. Perfect.

Leaving the bathroom he heads straight to the main living room where Song Chuntao, Zheng Jinhai and Zheng Xin were sitting with serious faces, their mood bringing down the atmosphere of the room. 

The moment he appears they all look at him with expressions of sympathy and pity. After all, who didn't know how close the prince was to this bodyguard. Even Zheng Xin who only had a shallow relationship with Jia Hyson was aware. Song Chuntao, of course, has a much deeper bond and had a far better comprehension so she was ready to cry once she saw Farrell's distressed appearance.

"Farrell..."

"I'm going back." Jia Hyson states boldly.

Zheng Jinhai frowns, "Don't be stupid, it's clear that this is a big trap, if we rush blindly into it then it's not just your family's heads on the chopping block." Prince Farrell was the beloved baby and the face of the royal family. Even though arguably he was the least vital family member in terms of strength, intelligence and wit, Farrell had popularity. He was essentially the mascot. His capture and demise would be symbolic and deal a big blow to the confidence of many allies.

Then again, refusing to go over to save his family may also deal a big blow to Farrell's moral character in the eyes of others... still, in Zheng Jinhai's opinion, most people with half a brain would see what he was seeing and understand.

Even though Zheng Jinhai was also sympathetic, right now his sympathy couldn't buy anything so it was better for him to act ruthlessly. Song Chuntao, however, doesn't see it like that and glares angrily at him, clearly furious at how lacking in tact her boyfriend is. Sure his opinion is valid but to not only insult Farrell and then give him the image of his family's heads rolling which is essentially what Sefu, his most trusted (though clearly a piece of shit) servant, implied in the video with that knife- Well!

If this guy wants to sleep in the same bed as her tonight he's going to need to do some serious coaxing later! Hmph!

"Don't worry Farrell! Whatever you decide, I'll support you!" Song Chuntao speaks up, grabbing his hands as she looks at him with a fierce and determined expression, "The anti-rebels should already know by now what's happened and would be making as many preparations as they can. If you want to go then go if you want to stay then stay! I'll protect you instead!"

Jia Hyson looks touched, staring deeply into her eyes before embracing her tightly, "Chu Chu," he chokes out, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," she also sounds a little emotional, "I love you, Farrell,"

"Me too Chu Chu, me too,"

Zheng Jinhai: '...' Huh, that's strange. We're obviously a couple. Why do I suddenly feel I'm the lightbulb here?

Zheng Xin: '...' I want to say something to return my sense of existence yet I suddenly feel like my mouth is stuffed with dog food. Not only that but it's the dog food of the one night stand who took my virginity and my brother's girlfriend.

In retrospect, the relationships between the four of them were really quite messy ah.

In the end, Jia Hyson still stubbornly demands to go back. The video gave a time limit of three days before they start killing a royal a day so Jia Hyson really didn't have much time to think. He did acquiesce to arriving by the third day, maximizing the preparation time for the others. Song Chuntao also volunteers to come with him, much to Zheng Jinhai's dismay.

Honestly, Jia Hyson silently appreciates Zheng Jinhai's level-headed approach to these things more. If this was his original world, or at least, if he wasn't on the job, he would never do such a thing without putting in a lot of precautions, planning and back up options. He certainly wouldn't have agreed to bring Song Chuntao nor the reluctant tagalong Zheng Jinhai.

But this is a story. And a story with such a big build-up needs a fittingly dramatic or action-packed finale. He himself doesn't know what will happen when he goes back but he's sure it will be big. And having the main characters there will guarantee this scene would be more in his favor, after all, they had their halos to protect them, and by proxy himself.

Bebe: 'Please respect the dignity of the main characters and not talk about them like they're your personal good luck charm.'

However, it was hard to deny their effectiveness. Jia Hyson brought not only the protagonists but the rest of his covert bodyguard group that hadn't followed Sefu over- which was only a measly three guards. When they arrived at the island, they were cornered by the more radical rebels who wished to kill them before they reached the palace, thus allowing the negotiations to fail and killing off all the royals quickly. By the end, it was only with the stupid good luck of Song Chuntao and the OPness of Zheng Jinhai did they manage to get out and arrive at the very last second.

The three guards though did have to 'sacrifice' themselves in order to distract their pursuers and give them time. Jia Hyson was very moved and silently resolved to treat them much better later.

After all, the lack of loyalty from the other guards was way more offending than Sefu's betrayal to be honest. Sefu has a decent excuse but you guys? It was this Laozi who fucking gave you your paychecks! Why are you hopping over to Sefu's rebellion group ah?

Bastards! White eye wolves! Give me back my money! Peh!

Finally, as the sun was starting to set, they arrived at the gates of the palace on horseback. They rescued a little girl and stole the kidnappers' horses somewhere in between. It was a whole thing. Jia Hyson blames it on the protagonist halos.

Bebe: '눈_눈 You can't just treat the halos like a good luck charm and then also blame them for the shit that happens.'

Jia Hyson: 'The halos giveth and the halos taketh away.'¯_(ツ)_/¯

The royal palace was a beautiful massive piece of architecture. It was no Taj Mahal but it was definitely up there in terms of appearance. The palace was constructed by one of the first kings of Samotrelis, who had a secret love for aesthetics and gold.

Unfortunately for that king, while the building was lavish and eye-catching it was not appreciated too well they overall. Architecture and art, in general, wasn't a big interest to Samotrelians who preferred more practical things. Even though it was a point of interest given its size, and appearance, overall many just view it as the building where the royal family lives. This can be seen by the social media of the people.

Most glamour shots of Samotrelis taken by the citizens were either of the massive wildlife, the lush vegetation or the abundance of gems and gold around the place. Sometimes the palace would just happen to be in the background and netizens will be curious about it only to be met with an indifferent response of 'Oh, that? That's just the royal palace ah. Anyway, look at what my eagle Bolololol caught for me today!'

Jia Hyson, despite being artsy trash also had similar views. Sure he likes aesthetics and such but that's more for the style of art in manga and comics rather than buildings. Initially, he had also been impressed the first time he saw the palace in all its glory but if you lived in the Eiffel Tower every day it quickly begins to lose its glamor so he also treated the palace like a simple building.

Song Chuntao and Zheng Jinhai, however, have not built up any immunity though and actually stopped their horse- because they had to just fucking share one- to stare up and gawk at the magnificence of it against the sunset.

"Beautiful," Song Chuntao breathes out. Even though she's seen photos from Farrell's phone she had never gone to Samotrelis in person. In fact, despite opening their borders for trade, Samotrelis still hasn't established much in the way of tourism. Which Jia Hyson finds it a pity but also fair given how he knows how much tourism can impact their pristine environment.

Still, after all this, he promises to himself to let the pair have a nice time in Samotrelis now that they're here. Though, the emphasis is of course on 'after all this'.

"Chu Chu oh my god are you taking a selfie?!"

"No…" She denies as they get off their horses, Jia Hyson takes another glance at her only to see both her and Zheng Jinhai with their heads together snapping photos.

Jia Hyson: '…' Oh, my bad, it was a 'we'-fie.

Zheng Jinhai for the sake of his girlfriend was even doing a cutesy duck face that completely ruined his handsome male god abstinent appearance. If Jia Hyson really wasn't aware that these were the good luck protagonists whose very presence would put the cards of fate in his favor, he really would punch them right now.

Seeing her best friend's face going increasingly ugly, Song Chuntao stops playing around and they rush to the entrance.

Past the gates and right in front of the door stood his kneeling family members, tied up and being each held down by two rebel guards.

Behind them were three figures, Sefu Karamoy, the Rhino Tribe Chief- Symon's father, and the royal advisor who Jia Hyson fucked right after he had sex with his daughter. These were the three rebel leaders.

Out of all of them, there was only one rebel leader he hadn't seen him naked.

Out of all of them, the only one didn't have a son or daughter he had stuck his dick into, and that was only because he didn't have a kid.

Jia Hyson: '...' Next world he really needs to control his dick better.

Bebe: 'Even though this isn't all your fault, it sure feels like it is.'

Jia Hyson: '...' Yeah, it weirdly does.