Chapter 50: Singing Solo for You, Why Is the Young Lady So Angry?

Just as that young lady was lost in thought,

Little Ilya quietly came over to clear the dishes.

Leonora’s body stiffened, and she subtly tucked her legs further under the table, not letting the girl notice the red tea stain on her high-waisted skirt.

She coughed a few times, then pretended to be stern as she tapped the table with her bent index finger.

“Be more careful from now on. Don’t forget a fork again. Any other guest would have scolded you without hesitation.”

Ilya didn’t look up, her voice so low only the two of them could hear.

“Aren’t you happy being fed by Sister Shiya?”

Her slender eyelashes fluttered, and Leonora’s face flushed hot.

Now she couldn’t even turn her neck.

“What do you mean?”

Ilya wiped the cream stains off the table with a damp cloth, finally raising her head to calmly gaze at the young lady who was always blushing.

“Rumors are flying everywhere outside, and Sister Shiya even lost her job because of it. She’s actually pretty down.”

“I’m only doing all this because I know that right now, only you can cheer Sister Shiya up.”

Leonora didn’t turn her face to look at Ilya, but she still forced out the word very awkwardly.

“Thank you.”

Ilya picked up the dishes and replied in a faint tone.

“You’re welcome.”

“I mean, thank you on behalf of that person.”

Then her gaze inadvertently swept under the table.

“Do you need me to go buy you a new dress and some underwear from nearby?”

Until they left the dessert shop, Shiya had no idea what exactly the young lady was grinding her teeth about.

But just now, under Ilya’s meaningful stare, the young lady had grabbed her arm and fled in panic.

That sight struck the girl as both amusing and adorable.

“Pfft.”

Unable to hold it in, Shiya covered her mouth and turned her head away, not looking at the embarrassed and furious Leonora.

“What are you laughing at? Is it really that easy to see through what I’m thinking?”

“Yes, my lady. The way you look when you’re angry, shy, or jealous…”

The girl paused mid-sentence.

‘Why do I think Leonora is jealous of me?’

‘Doesn’t this young lady like Karlen?’

‘Or have I understood everything from the start, and I’ve just been avoiding Leonora’s feelings?’

Shiya shook her head internally.

She didn’t want to, and didn’t dare, to think deeply about this question.

She still had to return to her original home and find Xiao Mei.

Before she knew it, the two had walked to a park fountain.

Scattered droplets of water splashed down, wetting their hair.

Even though she felt reluctant, Shiya slowly pulled herself away from Leonora’s shoulder.

“My lady, is our earlier agreement still valid?”

The warmth of leaning against her suddenly vanished.

Leonora instinctively wanted to reach out and grab it, but upon hearing Shiya’s words, she stopped.

As time passed, Leonora seemed to have actually forgotten about this matter.

For the past nine days, she either went to Flower God Village to find Shiya or always found excuses to rehearse lines with her alone.

She had once been interested in Karlen, the man beside that princess, until she got close to Shiya on that hospital bed… everything changed.

This proud duke’s daughter stopped, lifted her chin slightly, and coldly asked the girl.

“Of course I remember. Even though your performance has been terrible so far, let’s hear what wish you want to fulfill in the future.”

‘If this girl suddenly confesses or even proposes, wouldn’t that be too sudden?’

‘Should I be reserved, or reluctantly agree?’

But the girl’s next words left Leonora stunned on the spot.

“My lady, do you know any space-time magic that can go to very faraway places?”

Shiya’s fingers tightly gripped her skirt.

After hesitating for a moment, she decided to reveal a little bit of the truth, so Leonora could think of a way in advance.

That familiar tightness in her chest surged up again. Leonora slowly exhaled a breath.

“So where exactly are you going?”

Her speech speed unconsciously quickened.

“Will you ever come back?”

This forbidden magic did exist in the duke’s estate, but at a terrifying cost—

It would nearly drain all the resources of the duke’s territory.

Even worse, before the ritual could even begin, the royal family would detect it and send troops to suppress the Celestine family, while the surrounding minor nobles would eagerly pile on.

Shiya could see the grievance and disappointment hidden behind the forced calm in the young lady’s eyes at a glance, so every word she spoke came out haltingly.

“Maybe… I won’t come back, my lady.”

Leonora let out a laugh, tightly clutching the staff in her arms, her nose stinging.

“Why are you telling me this? I don’t care where you go or whether you come back.”

“You haven’t even finished your mission yet, so don’t have such daydreams.”

Shiya didn’t dare look at Leonora’s reddened eyes. She just nodded.

“I understand, my lady.”

After a moment of silence, the girl reached out and grasped Leonora’s palm, her expression earnest.

“But, my lady, I need to make this clear to you: Karlen is not a good person. He has seduced and toyed with many girls.”

“If he ever approaches you out of character one day, it’s definitely to plunder your family’s property.”

As a transmigrator, Shiya could only use this roundabout way to warn the young lady.

If she said any more, it would only arouse suspicion and distrust.

But Leonora coldly shook her hand off.

“What does that have to do with you anyway?”

“By the time you finish your mission, you’ll be off gallivanting who knows where. Who I end up with—do you have any say in that?”

‘A nobody like him—what’s his character really like?’

Leonora didn’t even want to hear it.

She only knew that she was in a terrible mood right now.

Shiya was clearly choked up.

She had warned the young lady out of goodwill, never expecting that she actually still had some interest in Karlen.

She grew frantic.

Even though Leonora kept turning her head away and wouldn’t look at her, Shiya kept circling around the young lady, stubbornly repeating over and over just how evil a scumbag Karlen was.

Her originally gentle, limpid golden eyes began to develop red veins.

Shiya gritted her teeth and stamped her foot.

“And besides, my lady, you have such a bad temper that no boy would ever like you.”

“Cough, cough, cough—”

The young lady choked on her own spit.

She couldn’t believe it as she looked up at Shiya, who was now completely frantic.

But the girl’s next words were like a sharp scalpel, precisely cutting open her heavy scar.

“And on top of that, my lady, you’re as flat as a runway. That makes it even harder to attract men.”

Leonora’s flat chest heaved violently, and her originally beautiful maple-red hair exploded into a frizzy puff.

“Y-you, you big-chested, brainless woman! What right do you have to say that about me?”

Shiya didn’t care if her words hurt Leonora’s feelings.

Seeing that this tactic worked, she simply cleared her throat and started singing.

“Run~way~”

Run~way~

Whoosh, whoosh—

Fighter jet takeoff~

“Whoosh, whoosh—smooth runway ready~”

The hoarseness from her damaged vocal cords couldn’t hide the girl’s excellent singing foundation.

Listening closely, the comical melody unexpectedly touched some string in the heart.

A slight pang stung inside, instantly replaced by a blaze of fury.

The young lady’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot, and she stepped forward to grab this girl by the collar and shut her up.

But maybe because she was too eager, she tripped over a pebble, lost her balance, and pushed Shiya into the grass.

She herself fell on top of her.

The two of them just lay there in the lush, secluded, hidden grass, staring at each other from close range.

Face to face, lips almost touching.

But in truth, the moment they tumbled in, Leonora had already clearly felt a warm, soft sensation brush lightly across her lips.

Yet, both fully aware of it, neither of them acknowledged that brief, accidental peck.

The girl unconsciously closed her eyes—

Whether to escape or to actively entice and welcome—and slightly lifted her face.

The young lady also swallowed hard, her throat dry, and tentatively bent down inch by inch, as if to respond to that unspoken expectation.

Just as the ambiguous atmosphere reached a critical point, Elena and Karlen’s figures slowly emerged on the other side of the fountain.

“I thought I heard two familiar voices arguing.”

Elena’s gaze searched around in confusion.

But Karlen just smiled, pointing at the pair of legs placed side by side outside the grass.

“Just an ordinary couple having a tiff—making up in bed and making out.”