The red-haired girl had a pair of exceptionally beautiful, bright eyes, resembling rubies. When she stared directly at Shen Lin, he felt a kind of illusion, as if being scrutinized by a witch.
He hesitated for a moment.
Subsequently, Lilia, disregarding her ladylike image, burst into laughter, “Hahaha! Did I scare you — this is a curse, a curse in the bloodline. Doesn’t it resemble what I’ve learned? Uncle Benson once told my father like this. He’s truly a hypocrite, always telling the people that this is a gift from God.”
Shen Lin looked at her expressionlessly.
Lilia pouted, finding it uninteresting, “Okay, okay, Uncle Benson is good to me; I shouldn’t talk behind his back like this.” She then looked at Shen Lin and sighed, “It’s nice; I want such a beautiful hair color too. Blond hair looks so good.”
“What will happen if you leave?” Shen Lin asked.
“I don’t know,” Lilia rested her cheek on her hand, shaking her head slightly, “I asked my father, and he said it’s not something I should know.”
Shen Lin said, “Try some psychology.”
Roll for insight.
Lilia seemed natural, and there was no sign of lying.
Shen Lin thought, she really doesn’t seem to know.
Lilia said somewhat unhappily, “He always treats me like a child, doesn’t let me know anything. I suspect Dorena has already come, but he doesn’t want me to know.”
Shen Lin tried to get more information, “Who is Dorena? I don’t know him. How can I help you find him?”
“He’s an outsider,” Lilia frankly said, “I saw him last time ten years ago. I don’t know what he looks like now. He’s like you, blond and beautiful.”
Shen Lin asked, “Don’t outsiders usually stay on the side of the sanctuary? Hosted by Benson.”
“No, he will come to find me,” Lilia said confidently, “He promised me; he will definitely come to see me.” She thought of something and leaned dejectedly on the table, “But he’s been late for several days from the agreed time. Do you think he got lost in Moonfall Township? Help me find him!”
Shen Lin remained silent for a moment and asked, “How did you two meet?”
Lilia’s face turned red, she held her hot face and said coyly, “Just met like that. You’re so annoying, can’t ask a lady such questions.”
Shen Lin thought, “Ten years ago, you were only a few years old?”
Lilia covered her face and looked at Shen Lin through her fingers, “You will help me, right?”
Roll for resistance against charm.
Shen Lin threw the dice, succeeded.
Roll for emotional resistance.
Shen Lin rolled the dice, “You feel nothing inside, and you even think she’s not as good-looking as you.”
Shen Lin said, “…”
With Lilia’s eager gaze, Shen Lin nodded and said, “I will help you keep an eye out.”
Lilia breathed a sigh of relief, “Since that’s the case, as a reward—” She took out a handkerchief, wrapped the dictionary in it, and hid it in a secret pocket near the hem of her skirt. This was something she made herself, and her actions from start to finish were skilled, indicating she had done such things many times.
“I will also help you take this book out, and my father won’t trouble you. She winked at Shen Lin cunningly.
When they came out of the study, Mayor Rodson was reading a newspaper.
Lilia walked over, hugged Rodson’s neck from behind, and affectionately kissed his cheek, “He is such a lovely child! I really like him. If it weren’t for going to Mrs. Lina’s place soon, I would chat with him for a while longer.”
Rodson asked in confusion, “Why are you going to Mrs. Lina’s place?”
“She is sick, I’m going to visit her, and I’ll be back soon,” Lilia let go of Rodson and said, “Tonight, I want to eat raspberry protein custard tart. Don’t say there’s none; I saw some raspberries.”
Rodson nodded indulgently, “You know, I will fulfill all your wishes.”
“I love you, Father.”
“Dear, I love you too. Come back soon.”
“Got it.” Lilia ran to Shen Lin, grabbed his arm like a gust of wind, lifted her skirt, and took out the book from a hidden pocket below her dress. She handed it to him, “Here you go. Don’t forget our agreement. If you find anything, come here and find me.”
She took off one of her earrings and gave it to Shen Lin, “Hold this earring when you come to find me; the guards at the door will let you in. Where do you live?”
Shen Lin didn’t plan to expose his hideout to Lilia, so he gave a location a couple of streets away.
Lilia frowned, “Why do you live in such a place?”
“What’s wrong?”
“That’s where the lower-class citizens live,” Lilia said, “I thought you should at least live on, well, Wells Street.”
After inquiring from Freud and others, Shen Lin learned that the entire Moonfall Township classified its residents into three categories. The first category included those favored by the gods, with the purest and noblest bloodline, equivalent to nobility outside, enjoying the best resources and living the most luxurious lives. Most of them lived on Magnolia Street and Eilinkus Street. The second category included ordinary people who could sustain themselves through labor and had a certain land and resource allocation authority, mostly residing on Wells Street. The lowest category comprised some poor people who were weaker than ordinary citizens, more prone to illness, and mostly lived in the narrow, dirty George Street and Hassan Street.
Shen Lin said, “Then put me on Wells Street.” Going back from Wells Street would take about half an hour, not too far.
“No,” Lilia thought for a moment and refused Shen Lin, “I will safely take you to your destination. From now on, you are a princess, and I am a knight; this is my duty.”
Shen Lin: “… Damn princess and knight.”
So, the luxurious carriage entered the dirty and narrow alley. Lilia looked around in shock at the dilapidated scene. Weak people huddled on the street, and half-naked children wandered around innocently but observed their surroundings vigilantly. Their eyes all focused on the carriage, and the passing pairs of eyes, seemingly lifeless yet predatory, pierced through the opened curtain and landed on Lilia’s face.
Startled, Lilia dropped the curtain and shrank back. She looked at Shen Lin with a pale face, “How can this be?”
Shen Lin: “Try some psychology.”
Roll for insight.
Shen Lin successfully discerned from her trembling voice that she was frightened.
Lilia hugged herself, and goosebumps appeared on her fair skin, “How could… how could this happen? What is on them? Why do they look like that?”
“Disease and poverty are tormenting them, as you mentioned, the bloodline classification,” Shen Lin explained, “Upper-class individuals enjoy better resources due to their birth, while those born afflicted by disease can only stay in the abyss.”
“I didn’t know,” Lilia shook her head, her eyes turning red, “They are so miserable… Doesn’t Uncle Benson distribute food to them?”
Shen Lin remained silent. He identified the route with a glance and told Lilia, “Drop me off here; I’ll find my way back.”
Lilia hesitated, evidently still adhering to her promise of princess and knight.
Shen Lin reminded her, “Go further in, and your magnificent carriage may get stuck in the alley. They might pull you out of the carriage and snatch everything valuable from you.”
Lilia widened her eyes, “I am the mayor’s daughter!”
Shen Lin sneered, glancing at the wandering people on the roadside, “Do you think they care?”
Those people’s gazes were like wolves, ready to pounce.
Terrified, Lilia said, “Then… then… I’ll drop you off at the next intersection. Be careful after you get off.”
“Okay,” Shen Lin nodded.
The carriage stopped, and Shen Lin jumped off.
Lilia’s luxurious carriage swiftly departed, but the coveting glances around did not disperse.
Shen Lin said, “I’d like to try some luck.”
Roll for luck.
Shen Lin: “…”
Shen Lin conceded, “You roll.”
Shen Lin rolled and succeeded.
“In fact, I had prepared a long sequence of plot,” kp said expressionlessly, “It’s quite dull.”
Shen Lin: “Oh? What about now?”
kp said, “Those refugees, seeing your shabby attire, lost interest in you.”
Shen Lin: “Tsk.”
The crowd stared at Shen Lin for a while, showing regretful expressions, then one by one turned their gaze away and left.
“But how will it be?” Shen Lin asked.
kp paused and said, “Actually, it won’t be much. Before you made the luck check, someone had already made a luck check and succeeded. Now he’s coming to pick you up.”
With kp’s hint, Shen Lin swept his gaze through the crowd and quickly saw Yan Xiu approaching from the alley.
Back at the temporary camp, Shen Lin handed the book Lilia had helped him steal to Floyd. “Too many words. I am tired of reading; you translate.”
“Sure!” Freud hugged the book, pushed up his glasses, and said to kp, “I need to roll for the library.”
His library skill was 80, and he successfully passed the check. Freud carried the book aside and quickly interpreted it. “The stars have reached a specific position, and something, something will reappear in the mortal world. Huh, haven’t I heard this somewhere before?”
“Princess—” Shen Lin quickly recalled, “Princess Louise left this sentence when she died in the clock tower.”
“Can’t find the name,” Freud carefully looked through the old books, “It seems that a few pages in the middle are missing, and some words can’t be translated.”
“Let me see,” Shen Lin leaned over, brows furrowing, “Tsk, crucial names can’t be translated.”
