Chapter 261 "Rich men are all womanizers!"...
To move to another underground space, one must first come to the surface.
“There’s a passageway under construction connecting the two underground palaces, it’s not finished yet,” the head maid explained as she ran, “you’ll have to make do with going through the gunfire.”
Amidst the booming of cannons, a thick cloud of white smoke reeking of gunpowder, coupled with the vast expanse of white snow, made it almost impossible to see anything. I stumbled and fell several times, each time being quickly helped up by the maids.
"Where is Prince Bernard?" I asked, panting.
"He happened to be with Princess Nora, leading the princess and several children along another route."
Just as I was about to reach the entrance to another underground palace, a group of guards in white armor suddenly attacked. Almost all the guards around me were knocked down, and the maids screamed and fled, only to be mercilessly killed one by one by the swords. I was surrounded by five or six guards and was "invited" forward by the lead guard.
I was terrified, slipping and sliding as I walked, moving extremely slowly, but the leading guard didn't urge me on.
A sharp bird cry suddenly rang out, and a flock of enormous, colorful birds swooped in. The largest one flew to within a few steps of me, my long hair and clothes billowing in the air.
Even after being "invited" onto the flying bird, my heart still couldn't stop pounding.
I don't want to follow Bernot, nor do I want to follow the Elf King, but my fate seems to be out of my own hands.
The birds carried me for a while, then Bernard and his legion caught up. They mounted specially trained eagles and charged at us like arrows.
The elven guards riding on their birds were prepared, drawing their longbows and swords to fight against Bernot's guards. Bernot's eagles tried desperately to get close to me, but couldn't. A group of elven guards surrounded me, protecting my birds as they flew swiftly.
Bernard raised his longsword and fought with the elven guards.
Countless gusts of wind and countless drops of blood splattered onto me. I lay on the back of a flying bird, not daring to lift my head.
Just then, looking down, I saw the clouds below changing rapidly. The wind was strong, the snow was heavy, and countless clouds moved quickly, colliding and scattering again and again, soon forming a map-like pattern.
I could hardly believe my eyes. I sat up straight and stared blankly down.
It really is a map—a map on yellowed paper. I originally thought it depicted the topography of this continent, but it turns out to be a naturally formed pattern.
The world is truly wondrous and unpredictable, beyond the scope of human comprehension.
Several collisions occurred, and the map appeared twice.
The third time it appeared, I saw that the area that appeared last after obtaining Nacia's blood was slightly raised. As if lost in thought, I pointed in the direction to the bird and straightened up.
Bernard's sword suddenly stopped, and with a hiss, an elven guard's longsword pierced his shoulder, blood gushing out. Several black-armored guards rushed over to protect him, but he yelled at me, "Don't move! Don't move!"
As the birds flew closer, I leaped towards the slightly raised area on the map, moving with incredible speed...
The sounds of blades clashing, swords clashing, and Bernard's shouts seemed to vanish in an instant—
Everything disappeared.
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I went back to the other world completely and didn't have any connection with it for several years.
I've never even dreamed about it.
After graduating from community college, I found a job locally as a teacher at a preschool. After my internship, I worked there for another year, but I got bored and packed my bags to go back to my home country.
I didn't look for another job. After staying at home for half a year, I opened a small shop selling trinkets that girls like. I have both online and offline stores. I earn a moderate amount, just enough to support myself.
For a long time, I was out of sorts and found it hard to fully commit to making money. I was often absent-minded, confused, and lost. I often felt that life was boring, stopped contacting all my old friends, deleted my WeChat account, stopped using QQ, and only had one phone in the shop—a phone I installed just to contact buyers and suppliers.
This situation didn't improve until three years later. I started to be able to interact with people and contact my parents at regular times, but I still had no contact with people from my past.
The castle's little maid left me messages on WeChat and called me multiple times, and left comments on Weibo, but I never responded. My cousin also tried to contact me through various channels, even asking my parents for my address, but I refused. I haven't told my parents my address, because I really want some peace and quiet.
It took me three years to recover. The experience in that other world was too shocking; I needed more time.
As I returned to my normal life, my state of mind gradually calmed down.
In my spare time, I sometimes gaze at the clouds outside the window—they seem exactly the same as the clouds in another world. We live in parallel worlds, except I'm in this place and they're in that place.
They might wonder what's wrong with me, just as I sometimes wonder what's wrong with them.
Forget it, why think about it like that?
Only occasionally, when I see a group of children leaving kindergarten or school, chattering away, do I think of my own children and wonder how they are doing.
I shouldn't have had the child. I can't bear the responsibility at all, but I had no other choice at the time.
Fortunately, their father was powerful and influential, so they were not forced to live a life of hardship and displacement.
I feel a deep sense of guilt towards the children, which is perhaps one of the reasons why I can no longer work in the kindergarten. Looking at the young children reminds me of my own child, and I simply cannot control my emotions.
Time passed by day by day, and I lived a life without any major ups and downs.
Worston came to see me. He's much richer, so it was easy for him to find me through a private investigator. I was startled when he showed up outside my shop.
I invited him in to sit down, and I also ordered two takeaway coffees.
"I heard you woke up in the hospital?" he asked.
"To be precise, it appeared in the hospital."
The accident scene was chaotic, and several people were injured. I was missing, but because there were no security cameras, the police couldn't determine exactly how many people were missing. Some police officers abroad aren't very dedicated and didn't investigate thoroughly. My parents discovered I was missing and went to the police station to inquire, traveling back and forth between China and abroad multiple times, but they couldn't get any information. The police said I was an adult and maybe I had gone off somewhere to play. They said many young people go missing like this in the US every year, only to reappear years later.
My parents, of course, disagreed with this view and even hired a lawyer to fight the case, which lasted for several years until I suddenly appeared.
I appeared at the hospital, still bearing the wounds from the car accident.
The doctors and nurses assumed I had run in on my own. After giving me emergency treatment, they contacted my parents. My parents happened to be in the United States, so they rushed over and stayed with me in the hospital for a few days before taking me home.
I refused to say a word about what had happened, no matter how my parents asked.
When pressed, I had no choice but to say that I had depression and wanted to find a place to hide away where no one knew me, to heal myself.
After hearing this, they said nothing more and rarely pressed them for answers afterward.
“Your parents came to see me, the castle maid, and your cousin, but they couldn’t get anything out of us,” Worston said. “What I’m curious about is why you haven’t contacted us since you came back, and why you’ve been avoiding us?”
"I'm exhausted, both physically and mentally, and I don't want to talk about the other world anymore," I said.
"Are you all better now?" Worston asked cautiously.
“Much better.” I took a sip of my takeout coffee. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to talk to you sitting here right now. Even if you came looking for me, I would just lock you out.”
We chatted casually about everyday things before he took his leave.
A week later, I received a brand new De'Longhi fully automatic coffee machine, which he gave me as a gift. I was both amused and exasperated, and asked him on WeChat why he gave me a coffee machine. He said that making coffee myself is more sophisticated, and that delivery services only deliver fast food.
I replied with a laugh, "I don't have time to wash the coffee machine; takeout is much more convenient."
"You're so unromantic," he teased.
Despite our pleasant conversation, neither of us was interested in the other. Firstly, I had no interest in him and didn't have any feelings for him. Secondly, he was already married with a wife at home and several mistresses who had fathered his illegitimate child. Compared to his ancestors, he was even worse.
His explanation was, "He's handsome and rich, so there's nothing you can do. They all come at you on their own. You can't stop them, and there's nowhere to hide."
His first lover was his secretary; given their proximity, it seemed natural for her to take him as her lover. His second lover was a female college student he accidentally bumped into; she then approached him and insisted on being with him. His third lover was a business partner; they developed feelings for each other, and she was also wealthy. She even bore him a son, and he said he didn't need to marry her; they could simply raise the child together.
His fourth lover was someone he met at a high-end club. She was a very beautiful receptionist with a pitiful background and a sharp mind. He couldn't tell whether his feelings for her were pity or love, admiration or sympathy, and that's how they got together. She gave birth to his illegitimate daughter. His fifth lover was someone he met at a high-society party. She was young and beautiful, a female PhD who had returned from overseas. They hit it off while drinking and went straight to a hotel. She gave birth to his second son from an extramarital affair.
It is said that his female secretary is about to give birth, which will be his fourth illegitimate child.
"Doesn't your wife have any objections?" I asked.
“She grew up in wealthy circles and has seen it all before, so she’s used to it. As long as I handle the division of assets properly and don’t let my illegitimate children take over her and her children’s assets, that’s fine.” He added, “We are a good match; both our families are prominent families.”
Oh, they must be really rich. The King of the West and his modern-day wife have left a considerable fortune for their descendants.
“Rich men are all womanizers!” I laughed.
“Rich women are the same,” he laughed. “It’s just that women are easily deceived. Even the richest women and heiresses can be easily blinded by love.”
I sighed deeply, "A woman's death knell."
He often came over to chat with me, asking me about things in the other world. When I was interested, I would tell him more about myself; when I wasn't, I would just chat for a few minutes and then send him away.
His wife and mistress once thought I was his next mistress, and several of them had caused trouble at his place. I didn't say much, sometimes I called the police, sometimes I called him directly, and I even installed a camera in the store to record the ugly or beautiful moments of his mistresses causing trouble, and then sent the videos to him.
"Women are all complicated, whether they are polite or not." I texted him, "Keep your harem in check, I still have business to do, or you might as well not come at all, so as not to cause me trouble."
He apologized repeatedly. No one knows how he managed it, but the disturbances decreased less and less afterward, until they disappeared completely.
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Author's Note: Tomorrow is National Day, please allow me to take a break, muah~~ If you're bored, feel free to check out my novels: *Love of Ice and Fire*, *Cinderella Wants a Thrilling Novel Script*, *All the World's Male Gods Are in Love with Me*, and *My Brilliant Friend*, muah~~ You can also ask me for my previous novels, such as *Love for the Bloodthirsty Beast* and *The Fairy King's Bride*, but you'll have to read the first sentence of my synopsis, muah~~
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