Chapter 24: Luo Ye found a breakthrough

Luo Ye never expected Hisina to react like this.

It seemed that what happened back then had hurt her far more than he imagined.

Was there any way to pry open her lips?

Luo Ye’s expression grew solemn as he glanced around, then looked sincerely at Hisina.

“Hisina, you should know by now that Princess Alicia was actually assassinated.”

“What did you say?”

Hisina slammed the table so hard she nearly drew the attention of everyone nearby.

Luo Ye was a bit confused.

Could it be that this Duke’s Daughter didn’t know Her Highness the Princess was assassinated?

Or did she truly believe Alicia died of illness, as the rumors outside claimed?

“Hey, I…” Hisina lowered her eyes, letting her bangs fall so no one could see her expression. “Can you tell me what exactly happened with the assassination?”

Luo Ye blinked.

He hadn’t expected Hisina to really not know about Alicia’s assassination.

What was this? Was this… Luo Ye glanced at the snowy white in front of Hisina, and mentally commented that she was well-endowed but…

Ahem, best not to be so absolute.

“Hey, you’ve been silent ever since just now. What’s that supposed to mean? Hurry up and tell me the truth!”

Hisina gritted her teeth, speaking through clenched silver teeth.

“An exchange. One for one.”

Luo Ye calmly stated his terms.

“I’ll tell you the truth about Alicia’s assassination. But you also have to tell me what really happened between you and Alicia back then.”

Hisina fell silent.

Luo Ye leisurely sipped his coffee.

He wasn’t afraid Hisina would refuse.

After all, it was just an incident from the past, and in exchange, she’d get crucial intel.

The choice was obvious.

This deal couldn’t be more worthwhile for her.

Or so Luo Ye thought.

But…

“Thank you for your proposal, Mr. Luo Ye.” Hisina tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “But don’t think that just because you don’t say anything, I have no way to find out the truth myself.”

“If you plan to threaten me or use the Princess as a bargaining chip, don’t even think about it.”

Luo Ye fell silent.

Why was it that, at times like this, this woman’s mind became so sharp?

Could it be that she’d lost so much face in front of Alicia back then that she’d rather die than tell him?

Otherwise, he really couldn’t figure out why Hisina wouldn’t tell him about what happened back then.

Well, then, time to use plan b.

“All right, Miss Hisina, since you’re unwilling to talk, then I have one last question for you.”

Hisina took a sip of tea and raised her eyes, not speaking, clearly waiting for Luo Ye to continue.

“Hisina, when did you first feel that Alicia had changed into a different person?”

“……”

Hisina’s silence was Luo Ye’s only answer.

A moment later, she finally spoke, slowly.

“Why… would you know about that?”

Hisina stared at Luo Ye with suspicion in her eyes.

Of course, Luo Ye thought, because you told me yourself in the Simulated World.

But obviously, he couldn’t answer that way.

Luo Ye took a sip of coffee, putting on a mysterious and profound air.

“You don’t actually believe my marriage contract with Alicia was fake, do you? For the past three years, I was her fiancé, you understand?”

“You!”

Hisina glared at Luo Ye, seething with anger, clearly infuriated.

Luo Ye curled his lips in satisfaction at Hisina’s reaction—it was even better than he’d hoped.

Damn it, if he didn’t talk back, did they really think he was some pushover?

Always looking at him with that “main wife looking at the mistress” expression—anyone would get angry, let alone someone who’d only just transmigrated here three days ago.

“I don’t know, I know nothing!”

Hisina plopped back into her seat in a huff, angrily stabbing at the cake on her plate as if it weren’t a masterpiece baked by a top chef, but instead a little voodoo doll of Luo Ye.

Each stab, over and over, as if she were saying, “Stab you, stab you, stab you…”

Such a deeply devoted girl—Luo Ye couldn’t help but worry about the guy who would be politically married to Hisina in the future.

It’s not scary if a young lady is infatuated, what’s scary is if she drags you into a whirlpool of gravity.

To this, Luo Ye could only feel deep sympathy.

And rush to the scene to laugh at him first chance he got.

“Miss Hisina, if you refuse to say anything, it’s really going to make my investigation difficult.”

Luo Ye sighed helplessly.

“To kill Alicia in broad daylight, in the Inner City of the Royal City, the perpetrator must have had tremendous power. Any clue could help me solve the case in advance. Are you really not going to tell me? Can you really justify this to your feelings for Alicia?”

Luo Ye alternated between hard and soft tactics, playing the emotional card with Hisina, even mixing in a bit of pua.

But Hisina wasn’t buying it.

Or rather… she might have, but she’d already given up.

“How many times do I have to say it before you understand…”

“What’s done is done. Alicia is already dead.”

“She cut ties with me long ago. I don’t even know what she did in the end…”

“Mr. Luo Ye, in this situation, what’s the point of you knowing what happened four years ago? Can’t you just let it rot in my heart? Must you tear open my wounds?”

Her voice trembled slightly.

Her shoulders shook faintly.

Luo Ye could clearly see the mist gathering in Hisina’s icy blue, resilient eyes, her rims gradually reddening.

She clenched her fists tightly, restraining herself to the utmost in public.

Yet whether it was the temperature dropping around her, or the frost beginning to form under her high heels, both made it clear what she was feeling.

“Sorry.”

Luo Ye’s mood grew heavy as well.

He hadn’t expected the relationships between these girls to be so weighty, nor had he expected Hisina to be so devoted to Alicia.

Even after being cut off, after their friendship ended, she’d still attended her Funeral, and at the Funeral, became the most devout mourner.

The complete opposite of that Lilith, who only ever said “Nya~”.

Why was it that their attitudes toward Alicia had changed so much, to the point of breaking off ties…

Hmm?

Wait.

Luo Ye realized something.

At the Funeral, in Luo Ye’s mind—that is, in the original host’s memories—his impression of Alicia and Hisina was: the two were inseparable best friends.

In the simulation, even when Alicia and Hisina were apart, it was obvious to the naked eye that when Hisina came to find her, there was reluctance in Alicia’s eyes.

In reality, that is, after the Simulated World’s timeline, Hisina and Alicia truly broke off all contact.

Then, is it possible—

If he could enter the Simulated World once more, and tell “the Hisina of the past” about what would happen in the future, would “the Hisina of the past” then, to guard against the future, reveal what happened back then to him?

Luo Ye had found a breakthrough.