“Pfft—!”
Suddenly, Lin Nuo choked on his breath and almost couldn’t get it back.
After several deep breaths, he looked incredulously at Princess Amidina’s sincere face.
‘Damn it! This part doesn’t seem to be in the script!’
Though she didn’t outright agree, the Princess hearing something like this should never even consider it—she should have rejected it firmly and solemnly!
Old butler Hans stroked his little mustache, seemingly also finding the Princess’s “maybe consider it” answer unbelievable.
But looking at Noble Young Master Lin Nuo’s dignified appearance that made thousands of maidens scream in their dreams, he felt this answer might actually have some bizarre logic behind it.
“Well, since you also think marriage is only a matter of time, how about this—if I want you to first do what needs to be done tonight, and then we discuss the engagement, what do you think?” Mrs. Puli seemed to see a glimmer of hope.
Lin Nuo couldn’t help but feel his mother’s naivety.
Princess Amidina probably said she needed to consider the engagement out of politeness and decorum.
If she was straightforwardly asked about something so intimate and she actually agreed, he’d eat a whole kilogram of food on the spot!
“Since Princess Amidina has come here, she has her considerations on many things, but this is definitely not one of them.”
The Princess paused for a moment then replied, “But I believe Lady Puli and the Duke will be more thorough in their considerations than I am. With that said… Amidina is willing to follow all of Lady Puli’s arrangements.”
‘No… no!!’
Lin Nuo felt his blood pressure spike straight to his brain.
He had only just barely convinced Feng Aotian that he was not interested in her woman.
And now the Princess was just beating around the bush for so long, and yet still directly agreed to this without hesitation!
“Princess Amidina, are you out of your mind?”
Lin Nuo mouthed a warm greeting to the Princess’s back but was immediately shot a severe glare by his strict mother, Mrs. Puli.
“Princess Amidina, actually… Duke Kuxiu’s intention is also that you two marry as soon as possible. But about consummating the marriage, I was planning to talk to Lin Nuo about it first… If you feel uncomfortable—”
Mrs. Puli slowed her words to give room for a possible withdrawal.
But seeing no indication of that from Amidina, her tone quickly shifted to pure delight:
“That’s wonderful! I knew you were a sensible child. I’ll have the wedding bed prepared now… Since you just arrived today, you should rest first, and then consummate the marriage with Lin Nuo tomorrow night!”
With a clap of her hands, Mrs. Puli happily sealed the decision.
At the end, she even scooped up Fatty Bird and shot her silly son a sharp “you deal with this” look…
Lin Nuo’s heart sank halfway, and he even felt a more cutting, slightly sinister gaze shoot from behind his head.
He turned around and sure enough saw Xiafuya, who had heard the entire conversation, smiling at him politely and gracefully.
Yet the silver fork between her fingers was already completely bent out of shape…
‘It’s over!’
‘Damn it, I’m done for again!’
***
“What?”
“The Princess just arrived today, and she already agreed to have the Noble Young Master’s child?!”
No wonder the servants in the estate were utterly shocked when they heard the rumor.
The Princess was just too beautiful.
Men went crazy upon seeing her, women lost their periods—she was literally the nemesis of depressed Beast-Eared Girls, the alarm clock for the Depressed Knight, the savior of timid women…
Her combination of stunning beauty and cold aloofness made it hard to believe that such a Princess would so easily agree to such a serious life commitment.
Yesterday, just a glimpse of her side profile was enough to make the pants of the maids twitch.
That night, the boyfriend lying in front of one of them caused her anger to boil over until she finally punched and tore the doll…
Wailing, she thought about how that doll was made of Magic Tree Gum and Slime Gel Polymer and wasn’t local, so it couldn’t compare to the Noble Young Master’s peerless Princess.
The sadness was overwhelming!
“But…”
“It’s strange… Yesterday the Princess did agree, but the Noble Young Master acted like his fiancée had run off with someone else.”
“Rumor has it that the Water Saint Princess usually treats people coldly but gave her approval at a glance. The Noble Young Master didn’t look very happy about it.”
“Huh, today no one can be found anywhere…”
Meanwhile, in another bright and spacious room decorated with soft, warm tones—
A neatly arranged row of Priestess robes hung in a solid wood wardrobe, a plain desk with a perfectly clean glass mirror, opposite the mirror stood a slightly warped ergonomic chair with armrests…
And on the bed knelt a girl quietly folding the Priestess robe, her eyelashes coated with the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees outside, casting a radiant hue.
However, the yellow-haired boy lying on the bed, muffling his head under the soft quilt that still carried the girl’s faint youthful scent, and wriggling against her knees, broke the peace and tranquility of the room:
‘No!’
As if hearing Lin Nuo’s thoughts, XÄ«, having gracefully finished folding the robe, gently patted the writhing quilt in front of her and spoke calmly, “Since the day the Princess entered the bridal chamber, what are you doing in my room, Noble Young Master?”
“No! I’m not going, it’s just… so hard! Too hard!”
Guessing women… really is too difficult!
Did Amidina suddenly think about that night when she first warned her, leaving her speechless in front of her younger sister and making her agree out of spite, causing her to embarrass herself in front of her mother too?
The Princess wouldn’t be so childish as to disregard the occasion, right?
Or did the Princess simply believe that agreeing so readily, especially in a place like the Sacred Relic Hall where she stored the statues she gave him, meant she was worthy of entrusting her life?
No, an elf’s feelings are never that cheap.
Or did Amidina already see through that Lin Nuo didn’t really want too much contact with her, and even if he agreed, he wouldn’t do anything to her…
“I just don’t understand!”
“Well, hiding in my quilt isn’t a solution either,” XÄ« said, tapping him with a hanger.
“Of course I’m not just hiding here… XÄ«, since you’re here, help me analyze this.”
Lin Nuo rubbed his face hard.
“Here’s the thing… I have a friend, and his story is complicated. To make it short—he doesn’t want to sleep with his fiancée. Now he found another beautiful girl who wants to sleep with his fiancée, planning to use a shape-shifting spell tonight to transform into his likeness and sleep with the fiancée instead.”
“Letting someone else sleep with your future wife? Though it’s a girl, it sounds like Noble Young Master is still…”
XÄ«, finishing folding the robes, covered her mouth, only her eyes curved up in a smile.
Suddenly she shifted tone, “So your friend is really selfless.”
“…”
“The key point is, that friend’s wife rightfully belongs to someone else…”
Is this selflessness?
Or is it cuckoldry?
Lin Nuo couldn’t even tell who’s being cuckolded here.
“This is complicated; XÄ« doesn’t quite get it.”
“…”
As expected, XÄ« still treated the Noble Young Master’s problem with a dismissive attitude, completely unconcerned about his plight.
In the past, Lin Nuo always kept in mind to guard against the mysterious sickly girl’s identity, so he never dared get too close to beautiful girls who intentionally approached him.
But having someone like Xī in the church—always annoyed with him but with a great temper, standing elegantly in simple Priestess robes, radiating purity and grace—made Lin Nuo very willing to interact more with her.
“You might think I already have a solution…”
But Lin Nuo felt deep down that this little preparation was far from enough.
Fatty Bird carrying away one of Amidina’s socks was enough to completely derail everything that was supposed to happen in the original story…
Lin Nuo vaguely realized he couldn’t precisely plan the future.
Just that one chance meeting that night, plus receiving and politely accepting Amidina’s twenty-three Jin Shi Statues, such a tiny change from the original plot had made Amidina make a choice completely opposite to what the story required…
This shouldn’t be!
Lin Nuo felt he had to do something more!
If he didn’t take the initiative, chances were slim he could peacefully win!
So… is there really no way to completely rewrite the plot that belongs to him, and directly have Amidina go out monster hunting with Feng Aotian, skipping the Villain’s part of the story?
Is there really no simpler, more forceful move?