Chapter 165: Things You Like

Chapter 165

Things You Like

"Young Lord Aman, I mean..." Nara noticed Aman had fallen silent. She wanted to say more, but she didn’t have many opportunities. Suddenly, a glint appeared in Aman’s eyes. The young man took a small step back, moving himself out of the line of the shot without Nara even noticing.

Fwoosh!!

Thud!!

“Ah!” The girl screamed, coinciding with the dimming lights as the evening’s music was about to start. The lights, which had been shining brightly, did their job properly. The beauty of the moonlight streamed inside, revealing only the dim outlines of nearby faces.

“Lord Aman?” Nara felt something hot pierce into her neck. Her small hand touched her neck and found it was a thin object, like a needle. However, it gradually dissolved into her body.

Her other hand flailed, reaching out for Aman who had been in front of her the entire time. Now, the other dance partners had started moving, leaving her as the only one standing still. Nara’s vision began to blur as she desperately searched for Aman, the pain intensifying.

“Lord Aman...” Nara couldn’t see the man she desired, and the strange sensation made her realize something was very wrong.

The girl made a final effort to survive. A small light from her magic power began to grow, illuminating the area. Since Nara had only learned to use her magic power to produce light, she was quite skilled at it.

In just a moment, the light from magic power dazzled everyone’s eyes, and Aman’s voice rang out.

“There’s an intruder! Capture them!!” His voice, not far away, surprised Nara. She didn’t know when he had moved there, but he was now talking about an intruder causing trouble. Did this mean the situation she was in was the work of an intruder?

Nara felt a pang of anxiety. Why had she suddenly become a target of the culprit!? The small girl’s body collapsed, even though she was dizzy and groggy, she could still hear the surrounding noises.

“Protect Lady Ellie! Don’t let anyone harm her!” Aman’s shout made Nara furrow her brows. Even though she was lying there helplessly, it was strange that no one came to help her.

The sound of many footsteps confused Nara’s thoughts. Something tight in her chest seemed to want to exert its power, while something new and foreign fought to take over her body. As a result, Nara’s psychic powers were severely damaged.

“Ah!!” Nara screamed powerlessly, as if it were her last breath. She hoped that this scream would alert someone to come and help her.

“How is Nara?” A familiar voice spoke near her ear, one that Nara now hated more than anything. She wanted to get up and shout at the person to stop pretending to care just to show Young Lord Aman how innocent they were!

Of course, Nara’s thoughts arose because she had always used these methods herself—pretending to care for others, acting like a pure and innocent person, not harboring any dirty tricks, all to capture the attention of men.

She had learned this from her mother since she was a child. If it weren’t for her mother’s excellent acting skills, how else could she have secured the most influential man in the village as her husband?

Her mother had always taught her that men prefer sweet and kind women. No matter what type of women they liked to look at, in the end, they would choose someone good-natured, obedient, and harmless as the mother of their children. Her mother had demonstrated many techniques to achieve this, which had allowed her to rise from poverty to become the wife of the village chief.

Nara had learned these lessons well from a young age. She dreamed of more than just being the wife of a village chief; she wanted to be the wife of a great noble. That’s why she begged her mother to help her avoid hard work, spending all her time learning how to please men.

Seeing Ellie using the same methods she herself liked to use instantly made Nara furious. But with her body in this state, she couldn’t do anything. All she could do was curse her own misfortune.

She was so close to winning over Aman, only to be shot something unknown in the neck by some attacker!!

“She really was shot in the neck. They genuinely believed she was you, so they targeted her neck. But I have no idea what will happen to her later. As for tracking down the assailants, the Setter family’s men have already driven them away. From now on, you’ll have to work hard to identify their status. If they contact their commander at any time, report to the Setter family immediately.”

“I understand that. But please also look after Nara and see what happens to her next. I’m just worried the attackers might have more of such weapons. We need to study them thoroughly and prepare a countermeasure.”

“Haha, we’re already aware of that. Besides...she told me she’d help me. She even said she’d take away my pain. So, I’ll make sure she gets what she wants—she’ll bear the pain for the entire Setter family until we figure out this strange poison.”

Aman laughed with satisfaction. Thinking of the harsh words Nara had spoken about his brother, he wanted to do more to her. How dared this woman try to incite him, a loyal younger brother, to betray his elder brother? If it weren’t for the fact that she was already intended to be a test subject and needed to act as a convincingly injured victim to prompt the culprits to report back to their master...he would have broken this vile woman’s bones himself!

Ellie shook her head. This Nara certainly knew how to negotiate. It didn’t take her long with Aman to volunteer to take the pain from the vicious Demon. But then again...this was just like her, wasn’t it?

If Nara hadn’t been so eager to offer herself up, there’s no way Ellie could have brought her to the event and used her as bait. Because it was Nara...everything had gone smoothly up to this point.

The Setter family’s men took Nara to their research room, a place constructed with high-level stratagem. If something went wrong, it would prevent any dangerous substances inside from escaping easily, or at least there would be an alert signaling the anomaly. The Setter family frequently used such rooms for studying and enhancing various elements. Previously, the eldest young lord had used this secret room to experiment with creating weapons to seal demonic beasts.

Even with Owen’s formidable power, this secret room ensured there wouldn’t be any catastrophic explosions. So, for Nara, whose body might experience adverse effects, it wasn’t overly terrifying.

The party ended abruptly with the incident. Many hadn’t expected that someone would dare cause such chaos at a Setter family event. Given the Emperor’s high status, the guests were quickly teleported away almost immediately after the incident began. Nobles of all ranks were also sent away, under the pretext of a terrorist attack, though many understood that the Setter family didn’t want them around to witness what was really happening.

Many people tried to volunteer to capture the culprits to curry favor with the Setter family but were bluntly refused, forcing them to leave with their pride wounded.

In the end, the chaos concluded with everyone wondering what had actually happened and why that young girl had become the target of the attackers. Given that the event was meant to introduce the eldest young lord of the Setter family, it made more sense for the attackers to aim for him. If they wanted to damage the Setter family, the prime target worth risking their lives for was the eldest young lord!

But why did they target an insignificant girl? Was it just because the Setter family showed interest in her? How was that possible? This question lingered in the minds of many. The audacious act made the identity of the perpetrators a topic of great interest. While the Setter family was still pursuing the culprits, many other families were also trying to gather information about this incident.

Ellie was taken to rest in the same room where she had gotten dressed earlier, which the Setter family had prepared for her from the start. They wanted her to stay at the Setter family mansion for a while while they awaited the results of the research involving Nara.

Initially, Ellie wanted to object because she still valued her privacy. However, after considering that if she returned to the village alone while Nara remained bedridden, she would have to answer numerous questions from many people. She changed her mind and agreed to stay at the Setter family mansion.

That night, Ellie got some private time surprisingly quickly. After agreeing to stay with the Setter family, they easily let her be. Partly, it might have been because the Setter family had many matters to deal with, and partly because they didn’t want to disturb her.

Ellie spent half the night absorbing power, as she had done many times before, gradually refining her power level to a higher bar. She was now nearing the 4th level. As long as she could absorb enough life force, she would finally become a level 4 magician, considered one of the strong ones.

Knock, knock, knock.

A new morning arrived quickly, and she still wasn’t used to someone knocking on her door. The housemaids entered with a golden washbasin filled with clear water mixed with expensive herbs. Just the smell was refreshing.

Her small frame was swiftly dressed by the maids, and soon the entourage left, leaving only the head maid, “Selin,” to guide Ellie to the Setter family dining room.

“Good morning, Ellie. Did you sleep well last night?” The head of the Setter family greeted her first. He observed the young girl in her dark green dress adorned with some delicate lace, looking bright and charming for her age.

Reflecting on it, he had to commend Owen’s eye for detail. Despite not having much experience with women, he had chosen an outfit that suited Ellie perfectly.

Initially, he thought that girls’ clothing should be pink, white, or blue to look like a proper young lady. However, upon reflecting, if Ellie was to wear those colors, it might have made her look mismatched and comical rather than cute as she did now. Luckily, his decisive son had made the right choices. Not only did he ignore his advice, but also arranged everything for Ellie on his own. In the end, as an experienced elder, he had to let things be.

Well...Owen’s decisiveness turned out to be the right move.

“Good morning, Lord of the family, Young Lord Owen, and Young Lord Aman,” Ellie greeted those she knew, bowing to the 2 to 3 ladies and gentlemen around the table. They responded warmly, showing that they knew just how important Ellie was.

“Sit, sit. My eldest son had asked the chef to specially prepare this morning’s breakfast for you. At first, Aman insisted you liked eating potatoes, but Owen corrected him, saying you preferred meat with potatoes as a side dish. So, this morning, we’re having grilled meat.”

Ellie raised her eyebrows, surprised that Owen could guess her preferences despite never seeing her eat. Meanwhile, the clever Second Young Lord Aman seemed to think she would only want potatoes for breakfast.

“................” Ellie glanced at Aman, who was laughing, sensing that he regretted not being able to make her eat just roasted potatoes!

“Come now, today’s meat is Blue-tailed Rabbit. If I’m not mistaken, you should like it the most.” Ellie’s small frame paused slightly. Who would have thought that even the type of meat would be something Owen knew best?

“It seems the young lord has studied me quite thoroughly,” Ellie couldn’t help but make a small sarcastic remark. However, the answer she received made her regret daring to tease him...

“If I want to win your heart, but not know something like this, then how else could I impress you?” A teasing smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. This playful demeanor, unlike his usual self, not only stunned Ellie but everyone else in the hall as well!“!!”