Avril didn't realize that her heart was being captured.
She liked the feeling of being with Gong Hao. Her emotions changed because of him. This was the first boy she cared about. She would care about his thoughts and feelings, laugh for him, and cry for him.
Her emotions fluctuated because of him, and she was completely controlled by this blond boy.
She thought it was friendship because he was her only friend.
However, Gong Hao knew that Avril's feelings for him had greatly exceeded the scope of a friend.
Even though she was a high and mighty princess, the girl's heart was lonely. She had never had anyone she could rely on psychologically. Someone she could trust, entrust herself to, and be fascinated by.
In Avril's heart, Gong Hao was like the best combination of a father, an older brother, and a lover. Although his status was low, he was someone she could rely on. She could confide in him, and he would listen quietly.
Sometimes, Gong Hao would tell her some stories.
Avril would exclaim,'My god, how could he have so many stories to tell in his head?' Moreover, each and every one of them was so exciting and moving.
He was like a bard with countless stories and was always so philosophical.
"The king told the messenger that this war has cost my country a lot of strength, and you must pay compensation. The arrogant messenger replied," Yes, Your Majesty. We will compensate you for your land. Then, the messenger took out a piece of animal skin and said,"We will compensate you with a place as big as this piece of animal skin." This was a great humiliation to the king, but at that time, the king's beautiful and wise queen smiled and said,"Oh, is that so?" Then I would like to thank your country for its generosity. And guess what she did?"
"What did you do?" Avril asked.
"She picked up the animal skin and cut it into thin and long ropes with scissors. Then, he tied all the ropes together and used them to circle a large area of the other party's country.”
"Oh my god, she's so smart.”
"Alright, the story is over. My little princess, you should sleep.”
"I want to hear another one." Avril blinked her big eyes and said.
Gong Hao scratched his head in distress.”
"How many more do you have? I want to hear it all."
"Wow, that's a lot. My left hand held a thousand and one stories, and my right hand held even more. Why don't I tell you another story about Aladdin's Magic Lamp?”
"I've heard of that." Avril was lying on a gorgeous ivory bed with her back against a soft round pillow. Her long hair was loose, and there were two bowls of desserts brought by the servants on the brocade stool beside her.
One bowl was for herself, and the other was for Gong Hao.
The night was already dark, but the lights in the room were still shining. The little princess was fascinated by the story and refused to let Gong Hao leave.
"Then what kind of story do you want to hear?”
"I want to hear a story about a prince and a princess. It has to be very romantic.”
"Alright, why don't I tell you another Cinderella story?”
"Alright."
After Cinderella's story, Gong Hao told her the story of Snow White and the seven dwarves.
Only God knew that this little princess had never heard so many interesting and touching stories before. The more she listened, the more excited she became and she refused to sleep.
"I want to hear another one." This was the sentence she said the most tonight.
"This is the last story. You must sleep after listening to it.”This was the one Gong Hao talked about the most tonight.
"Then, let me tell you another story about Sleeping Beauty. If you promise to be good, I'll tell you the story of Troy tomorrow, the story of the beast and the beauty, the story of the Wizard of Oz, the story of Alice's adventures in wonderland, a lot more, how about it?”
"Alright, alright, the last one, the last one then.”The little princess said as she squirmed. It seemed that it was impossible to listen to all the stories tonight.
Did he really have thousands of stories? Avril was curious.
When she finished telling the story of Sleeping Beauty, Avril blinked and asked,""Why does every princess need a prince's kiss to wake up after falling asleep?”
Gong Hao thought for a moment. This was really a complicated question."Sometimes a kiss has a kind of magic. It can do many incredible things.”
"Like magic?"
"Oh, it's more magical than that. The most magical thing in this world was human emotions. They were incomprehensible and unpredictable. You would never truly understand your feelings, and you would never be able to control them. You could only follow their feelings. Magic could at least be learned and mastered, but emotions…you could never learn and master them.”
Was it like when he was chasing Xiu Yi away, but could not help but call him back? Avril somewhat understood.
Avril tilted her head and thought for a while."Xiu Yi, have you kissed before?"
Gong Hao shook his head. That is a very sacred thing."
"I don't have it either." Avril said regretfully.
She suddenly realized that she envied Snow White and Sleeping Beauty because they could get a kiss that would make them happy for the rest of their lives.
He really wanted to have it.
She quickly made a decision.
She lowered her head and grabbed the blanket tightly with her small hands. She said softly in a mosquito-like voice,"Xiu Yi, kiss me."
These words were like a thunderbolt that struck Gong Hao's head, almost making him jump up in shock.
"You don't have to act so scared." Avril was a little displeased.”
Gong Hao looked around. Fortunately, there was only him and the princess in the room.
"Hurry up and kiss me." Avril urged him.
"Are you sure?" Gong Hao asked softly.
"Of course." Avril glared at him unhappily. It seemed that she didn't plan to let Gong Hao off until she got this kiss.
Gong Hao braced himself and leaned forward, gently planting a kiss on Avril's cheek.
The kiss was very light, like a dragonfly skimming the surface of the water, but it left a deep mark in Avril's heart.
Avril felt her face burning in pain. God, what was that feeling? Was he sick? Why was his heart beating so fast?
Her little face flushed red.
"This…Avril, you know you can't tell anyone about this, right?”Gong Hao was a little worried. Damn it, he had just kissed a princess. Her face was burning, but it felt pretty good.
"Yes, I know. This is our secret.”Avril replied with a red face.
"Then, be a good sleeping beauty. See you tomorrow.”
"Mhm, see you tomorrow."
Gong Hao stood up and left.
When he pushed the door open and went out, Avril curled up under the blanket and whispered softly,""Xiu Yi, if one day I fall into a deep sleep, you will run over to save me like Prince Charming and wake me up with your kiss, right?”
"…Yes, I will." After hesitating for a moment, Gong Hao answered affirmatively.
"You won't abandon me again? Not for any reason?"
"I swear I won't, never again.”
" That's good…" Avril closed her eyes in satisfaction.
Gong Hao sighed softly and opened the door.
————————————————————
The night was deep and silent.
Gong Hao stood alone in the center of the castle.
He was a little confused.
There were always some things that were out of his control. There were always some emotions that drifted outside of his rationality. Avril's passion, naivety, and dependence on him were rapidly increasing. If this continued, many things might soon change beyond his expectations.
This was not what he wanted to see.
There was a natural gap between him and Avril. It wasn't just the huge difference in status, but more importantly, his deep-seated hatred for the Lance Empire.
He couldn't forget the dead Thacker, Caesar, Bill, and Fanner.
He couldn't forget every dead youth.
He could not forget that even though he had relied on his own efforts to reach this point, he still could not escape the threat of death.
But what could he do?
Perhaps it was time to make some preparations for the next plan.
——————————————————
Avril stayed longer this time because Gong Hao hadn't found the magical beast mount she needed yet.
Everyone could tell that the only mount Ariel needed was the little blond boy, not some magical beast that wasn't part of their plan.
Perhaps Avril was hoping that she would never find her mount in this lifetime, so that she could always have this little blond boy.
Unfortunately, she had no say in this matter. Heinz rejected her wish to take Gong Hao away, and she was so angry that she almost cried on the spot.
The old man didn't even have the mood to comfort the princess. He only said lightly,""There are many things on Purgatory Island that you don't understand. Go back and ask your father. If he agrees, I don't mind giving Grayer to you.”
Of course, the Emperor would not agree. He knew that the person who planted the spiritual seed could not be safely taken out. Even if he did not consider the issue of bloodline, he would not allow his daughter to become a widow.
Two days later, Liberty arrived.
This was the first time two ships had docked at the same time on Purgatory Island.
Gong Hao decided to look for Bailey. He told Avril that he was on leave and said a lot of good things to her. He also promised to tell her at least ten good stories today before finally setting off.
"Hey, Shuiglaire, my good friend, I'm so happy to see you again.”Bailey shouted.
He gave Gong Hao a warm hug and invited him to the cabin for a drink according to the old rules.
On the way in, Bailey said to Gong Hao,"I see the royal ship. It seems like our cute little princess has come to Purgatory Island to look for her mount again.”
"No, not yet." Gong Hao replied.
"I think she has already found it.”Bailey mischievously looked at Gong Hao."I heard from the soldiers guarding the ship that the little princess is very fascinated with you. She wants to be with you almost every day. She even wants you to accompany her and coax her to sleep when she goes to bed. Oh my god, you made her maid lose her job. And you even made the little princess angry and cry for you, right? It's surprising that you haven't been punished at all.”
"Rumors always spread fast." Gong Hao replied indifferently.
"Don't worry, it's just a transmission between peers. Isn't it boring to guard here? Those guys don't have the leaves you gave them. They must have been smoked to death every day. I'm guessing they can't wait for you to offend the little princess and make her run back from the island.”
"No, I gave them the leaf. You know that being friends with the princess is not necessarily a good thing. It can bring you a lot of trouble, such as jealousy. That's the most terrifying kind, so I helped them.”
"Oh, do you know, Xiu Yi, this is what I admire the most about you. You will always be calm, rational, and a good person. You will never easily offend anyone. With your intelligence, how could you not have discovered some small secrets about the island?”Bailey laughed.
Gong Hao was shocked. He looked at Bailey."What are you trying to say? Bailey."
"Alright, Hughie, don't play dumb with me. You know that we have many secret deals between us. I will never betray you. You just want to live, right? You have been working here for almost two years. You are the only one who broke the rules here and became an apprentice. I don't believe that with your diligence and intelligence, you wouldn't be able to see through some strange tricks.”
Gong Hao was stunned.”
"At least there should be some suspicion. But you never asked about this, so I guessed that you probably already had an answer. "So you made all kinds of efforts..." Bailey winked at Gong Hao."You didn't do anything wrong. You should know that even if you admit it to me, you don't have to be afraid that I'll expose you.”
Gong Hao looked around cautiously."What else do you know?"
Bailey smiled smugly. Don't worry, I don't need to know more. Look, if you give us benefits, we will help you. As long as you don't make a big mistake, we won't care what you do.”
"Very good. I will give you more good things next month, but you and your friends better keep your mouths shut. By the way, thank you for your reminder. I think I understand something very important.”
Yes, Gong Hao finally understood why Pierre had always been indifferent to him. Why didn't he believe her? Damn it, I should have realized this earlier. He thought.
Neil had said that as the youths worked here for a longer period of time, and as they grew older, their minds would gradually mature. There would always be some smart people who would discover the problem.
Gong Hao's performance on Purgatory Island was too outstanding, so outstanding that everyone believed that he was a genius.
There was no reason for such a genius to turn a blind eye to what was happening in front of him and not suspect anything. In private, there had even been servants discussing where the servants who had been taken away had gone. However, Gong Hao never participated in this private discussion.
However, it turned out that this was not a good way to avoid suspicion.
This was why Pierre didn't trust him.
The reason why they dared to continue using him now was perhaps because they needed his outstanding work, and on the other hand, they were confident that they could control him.
It seemed that he had to be more careful in the future. Should he reveal some doubts about everything intentionally or unintentionally?
But wouldn't that be too brazen? Would things become rigid because he made everything clear?
No, he couldn't. Some things were better understood by each other than made clear.
So what should he do? Perhaps he should first figure out how many people were suspecting him because of this. Other than Pierre, was there anyone else? He had to investigate this first before making a decision.
Gong Hao fell into deep thought.
Bailey patted him on the shoulder. Let's complete our deal first. This is the information you asked for about Heinz and Pierre. As for Lancelot, it's strange. He seems very mysterious. We can't find anything about him. But don't worry, we'll continue searching. I have a friend who works in the Law Department. Their noses have always been very sharp. There's no information that they can't find out.”
"How powerful?"
"Even the most ordinary hound can find out everything they want by following some clues. There were also some skilled mages who could use an item to recreate all the events that the item had experienced over a period of time. They called it time reversal. Oh, it's scary to think about it. If you fall into the hands of those people, you won't be able to keep any secrets.”
Gong Hao's heart skipped a beat.”
" Of course, using Time Reversal consumes a lot of energy, and there are many restrictions. For example, they can only go back in time for one day, and they need at least three black-robed mages to use up all their magic power at once. They also need some very expensive medium…Unless it's some big case, they can't use it casually. As long as my friend from the Law Department is willing to help, Lancelot will be fine.”
Gong Hao reached out to take the documents, but Bailey grabbed his hand and reminded him seriously,"I hope you understand that it will cost a lot of money to get information, whether it is already known or not.”
"You will get a return, far higher than what you invested.”Gong Hao replied calmly.
Gong Hao replied. He casually took out a box that contained the things that Bailey and the others needed to make a lot of money.
Then he took out a list. But I'm sorry, but I still want you to help me find these goods and the information I need. That's very important to me. Without them, I wouldn't be able to make a greater contribution and gain Grandmaster's trust. Since you know, you should understand that everything I do is just to survive. I can't go against the entire empire, right?”
"Of course, I'll get it for you. I understand your needs as the cost of materials, not the cost of labor, right?”Bailey replied with a smile.
Then, he glanced at the list and frowned."Magic book? You want a magic book on soul magic? What do you want that thing for? You have to know that it's a taboo."
"Not for alchemists. Master Heinz has been researching the creation of flesh puppets, and I've been involved. I believe that to solve this problem, I need to use soul magic, so I need your help. If I can help Master Heinz solve this problem, I think he will let me touch on the alchemy topics that he hasn't solved yet. You know what the highest-end technology means, right?”
"More money!" Bailey's eyes lit up.
"That's right."
"Alright then, I'll get you a copy, even though it won't be easy.”
"See you next month."
"Aren't you going to stay and drink some?"
"No, Bailey. You gave me a huge shock today. I have to go back and do some preparations.”
"No matter what, Xiu Yi, you're a genius. My companions and I admire you very much. We hope that you can always live and live healthily.”
"I hope so." Gong Hao replied with a smile.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。