Chapter 115 - 3.11

Xu Jiaqi blinked in surprise, not expecting Xie Yongrui to have this big of a reaction. Her eyes grew fonder. She placed her cup of tea down. A tense aura was present in the room, and Xie Yongrui's anger seemed to have emitted a strong presence that overpowered her current fragile body.

She bit her lips, displeased with her weakened state.

'System, I want to check one thing. I have been feeling.. a good amount of energy, but it's very fleeting. Is magic possible in this world?'

[It is possible, Host. Though, I must say that this Xie Yongrui is a different case from the others. The reason you feel magic from him is not because everybody has magic, but rather because he is someone who obtained enlightenment.. Or something akin to that. It might be related to his soul's quality as well. In any case, magic is technically possible, but you wouldn't be able to do the feats you did as Ariel before.]

'..I see. Then, could I use the swords gifted by the System?'

[As long as not a lot of people see the magic happen, you are free to use it. I will cover this kind of thing easily.]

'Fantastic. Then.. It's time to do a little bargaining.' Xu Jiaqi internally sighed as she faced Xie Yongrui with a pare of unwavering eyes.

"Calm down, my lord. It's nothing major. Besides, haven't you brought a new light to my life? I am satisfied with just that, you don't need to take any unnecessary actions. It will just burden you.. And I don't really like having someone else take revenge for me, you see?" Xu Jiaqi pacified the other with a light tone.

The original had left no message to take revenge, but she still wanted retribution to come towards Xu Yan's life in one way or another. The woman had selfishly thrown away the innocent child who had no fault in the tragedy that was dropped on her. Indeed, the one who actually committed the worst offences here would be Xu Jiaqi's birth father, whose identity was still unknown.

However, Xu Yan also didn't have the sense to take care of the child that she had produced, a life she brought out to the world after carrying the baby for nine months. Her conditions were not at all great, and living with Xu Jiaqi would be tedious, but who said that the baby wanted to come out of her womb in the first place?

The pitiful Xu Jiaqi had no choice in her life.

There was no sense of responsibility inside Xu Yan's head. Although she could faintly sympathize with what Xu Yan had gone through.. Ultimately, everything that happened was still her fault. She, who had hoped too much, ended up getting her heart risen up to impossible heights, only for it to drop down full speed and injuring her in the process.

She was also someone to blame. Xu Jiaqi, thinking about this, began to prepare for plans to visit Xu Yan in the near future. If there was someone who could help her with finding out who this anonymous father was, it would be Xu Yan. The one who had regularly met up with her father before he disappeared.

"..I see. I suppose that makes sense. I will leave your matters to yourself, then." Xie Yongrui's sudden anger spike receded.

"That's right, my lord. Rather than my puny background, I am rather curious about you. A gallant figure like you, surely your childhood must have been very colorful."

"Wouldn't hearing my story just make the atmosphere gloomier, kitten? I reckon you don't know anything about my past, but.. I will just tell you that it's not sunshine and rainbows." Xie Yongrui's gaze hardened as he spoke.

Indeed, there were no such thing like sunshine or rainbows in his life. The pitiful child.

"I am aware, lord. I'm not that naive to think that someone like you came out of a happy family. Colorful.. doesn't have to be positive. Any situation could be colorful. Whether it is colorful because of happiness, tragedies, or whatsoever." Xu Jiaqi giggled.

"Is that supposed to be an insult?" Xie Yongrui raised a brow as he snorted.

"If you think of it as an insult, then I can't do much to prevent you from doing that. But to me.. I'm just trying to convey how I admire you in a way." Xu Jiaqi spoke, shining rays of honesty out of her eyes.

"Hahah! Clever evasion. I hope that you truly think that way." Xie Yongrui downed his cup of tea before displaying a melancholic smile. "Let's see.. Ah, it's been a long time since I tried to recall what happened in the past. I usually don't even try to associate my current self with those times."

Xie Yongrui took a deep breath in before starting to tell his side of the story. The life he had went through. Truthfully, it couldn't be expressed into mere words. The amount of danger he was forced to pass through. The uncertainty that always glazed his path. He ended up overcoming all of that, but the steps he had to take.. none of them weren't risky.

If he was just a bit less lucky, Xie Yongrui wouldn't have existed to sit before her right now.

"Everyone was my enemy. No one stood by my side, because they didn't regard me as a potential winner in life. As an imperial family member, people are always going to categorize you into who they can use, and who they can't. Your value will constantly be counted since birth. How strong, clever, or beautiful you are. Your value is tallied into how usable you could be.. and what you possess in order to attract your followers' attention and respect.

"As someone who didn't come from the noblest birth, and wasn't loved by the Emperor, I was naturally not given any sort of preferential treatment. I was treated like a bystander, and there was nothing I could do about it."

Xie Yongrui's tone became colder and colder as he continued.