Chapter 1

Chapter 1: I’ve Been Trying Not to Live for a Long Time!

“Hey, beautiful, want to grab a drink?”

Carol felt a pat on her shoulder.

She frowned and turned around.

In the dim light of the tavern, she saw a scruffy middle-aged mercenary eyeing her greedily.

She sighed, then raised her middle finger without looking back and said, “Go home and drink with your mom. Besides, I’m not some easy catch.”

The mercenary, face turning pale, walked away amidst the laughter of the surrounding patrons.

Once she dealt with the annoying matter, Carol shifted her gaze back to the distance.

Honestly, she didn’t mind when men hit on her, it just depended on who it was.

Like the boy sitting at the bar right now.

The reason she called him a boy was that, judging from his somewhat slender build and the occasional side-glance toward her, he didn’t look very old—perhaps still a fresh-faced novice.

He had several empty bottles at his table; despite being tipsy, he kept drinking.

It seemed like he had some unshakeable troubles on his mind.

Of course, what stood out was the boy’s beautiful hair, as dark as ink.

Even though it was a bit messy and slightly curly, it was a symbol of noble blood from the Saint Roland Empire.

While she didn’t know which family he belonged to, the fine leather boots on his feet suggested he came from wealth.

He seemed like an excellent candidate for a “prey.”

In fact, today marked the third day the boy had been lingering in this tavern.

From her observations over these days, Carol had pieced together the truth of the matter.

The boy must have had a falling out with his family and, in a fit of anger, ran away, only to discover that the outside world was cruel but wouldn’t back down, drowning his sorrows in alcohol.

To her, this naive noble boy was a tender, juicy lamb.

With that thought, Carol could hardly contain her excitement any longer.

She downed her glass of wine in one go and then sauntered over to the bar.

“Aren’t you going to buy me a drink?”

She confidently sat down next to the black-haired youth.

The black-haired boy didn’t seem too surprised; instead, he snapped his fingers at the bartender: “Get this lady a glass of Amber.”

Amber was the tavern’s priciest drink, costing ten silver coins a glass—a foolish choice for anyone but a big spender.

At that, Carol flashed a light smile, charming and radiant: “I’m Carol. And you?”

“Does it matter?”

Not cold, but clearly not as easy to seduce as typical nobles?

Accepting the drink the bartender pushed to her, Carol took a delicate sip, then lightly brushed her lips with her tongue, her knee gently rubbing against the boy’s thigh.

After all, this was the time when feelings ran high after a few drinks.

Just as Carol was about to say something, the boy beat her to it.

“Since you had that drink, I have a few questions for you.” He set down his glass, “Madam, today is your third day hiding in the corner, secretly watching me.”

“If you could, please provide a reasonable explanation.”

Oh no, caught red-handed?

Carol, who had been feeling quite pleased with herself, suddenly felt a warning bell ring in her head.

But now that they had reached this point, she couldn’t back down just because of a simple inquiry.

So, tilting her head to the side, letting her chestnut hair cascade down, she half-jokingly, half-seriously said, “Because… you’re good-looking?”

That was the truth.

To be fair, this boy was the type that immediately gives a good impression.

He was handsome, carried himself with grace, had striking blue eyes, and a teardrop beauty mark at the corner of his eye that added a delicate charm rather than detracting from his features.

However, the downside was his dark circles; he probably burned the candle at both ends—playing around too much, looking a bit worn out.

But that seemed to work to her advantage.

Upon hearing Carol’s explanation, the boy wore a “ha, women” expression and withdrew his gaze.

Little brat. Carol could read his eyes and felt a twitch in her mouth.

But she immediately put on a pitiful look: “You… you don’t think I’m a hooker, do you?”

That gaze of hers was enough to make any iron-hearted man soften.

But the boy in front of her clearly wasn’t an average guy.

“Aren’t you?”

At that, Carol’s face fell.

In reality, only she knew that after years of scraping by in this border town’s slums, not one man had ever had the luck to share her bed.

But before she could say anything, the boy spoke again.

“Actually, we’re all selling something.” He said calmly, “It’s just that everyone’s selling different things.”

This made the anger that had just flared up in Carol dissipate into thin air.

Not only that, but after thinking it through, she even felt there was some philosophy to it.

This guy… she felt like he had teased her a bit, so Carol, feeling a bit embarrassed, smoothed out her skirt, her face slightly flushed, and lowered her voice: “Since you say that, don’t you want to buy me?”

The black-haired boy shot her a wary glance: “Buying people is illegal.”

Carol felt her patience wearing thin.

Was this kid acting dumb or really dumb?

Considering her plan for tonight, she bit her silver tooth and stopped being polite: “I mean, buy me; tonight I belong to you.”

To her surprise, he instinctively covered his pocket: “I don’t have money.”

“It won’t be expensive.”

“Madam, I’m not the kind of guy who takes a stranger home for the night. Please don’t insult my character.”

“Free.”

“But then again…”

Of course, all men were the same. After walking into the guest room on the second floor of the tavern, Carol quietly examined the simple setup while internally concluding decisively.

Just thinking about the ridiculous excuse he had made filled her with disdain.

So, Carol fake-smiled and said, “You’re not going to show me how that cat does a backflip?”

She thought he’d awkwardly chuckle, revealing his desperate side.

To her surprise, the black-haired boy pointed to a black lump lying on the bed: “Look, it’s right there.”

Following his finger, Carol froze.

She saw a small black cat stretching and yawning, getting up from the head of the bed in an elegant manner, then looking over with emerald-green eyes.

The boy snapped his fingers: “Little Black, show this lady your backflip.”

“Auntie?” Carol’s face darkened, about to say something when the black cat seemed to respond with a “meow.”

Then, she watched in shock as the little cat did a backflip in an utterly impossible manner.

Carol was dumbfounded.

No way, do you really know how to do that??? She thought “my cat at home does backflips” was just a line used by desperate men to trick women into a one-night stand.

She never expected to see it actually happen right before her eyes.

Is this world going crazy? Carol’s temples throbbed, feeling that everything happening tonight was completely unexpected.

No, she couldn’t keep bantering with this kid anymore or her blood pressure might blow.

So, without hesitation, while the boy was distracted, she took a step forward and pushed him down.

Staring at the black-haired boy lying on the bed, it was the first time she saw shock on his face tonight.

Her lips curved up slightly, very satisfied with his reaction.

Then, as if losing her balance, she exclaimed, “Ah!” and fell into the boy’s arms.

The situation took a sharp turn.

This little guy, is this really not something you can control?

Carol was quite confident in her looks.

She looked down; at that moment, they were so close that they could feel each other’s breath.

Gazing into his deep blue eyes, resembling the ocean, Carol, who intended to tease, suddenly found herself at a loss for words.

Furthermore, her heart raced slightly.

Looking at him up close, he seemed even cuter… No, wait, I’m losing focus!

Finally snapping out of it, she heard the boy awkwardly say, “This… doesn’t seem right?”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“I haven’t showered yet.”

“No problem, I don’t mind.”

The boy shook his head: “I’m saying you haven’t showered yet.”

Carol: “…”

She clenched her teeth, took a deep breath to ease the throbbing in her temples.

Can’t take this seriously.

If I do, I’ll lose.

So, in the next second, Carol instantly unleashed her acting skills and screamed dramatically.

“Ah!!”

“Bang—”

Almost simultaneously, the guest room door burst open.

A burly man barged in, holding a revolver.

He first moved the “shaking” Carol aside, then turned to look at the black-haired boy lying on the bed.

But clearly, there was a hint of guilt in his gaze.

It was obvious he was new to this kind of thing.

Still, the burly man did his best to appear fierce, stepping forward to pin the boy to the bed, gun trained at him.

“Don’t move!”

Seeing that, Carol pretended to wipe away her tears: “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t expect this to happen…”

In a situation like this, most people would first react with panic, then try to smooth things over.

Especially the nobles, who value their reputation.

Who knew the boy didn’t show an ounce of panic, just casually appraised the man: “Are you her husband?”

“Of course!” The burly man feigned calm, “You slept with my… wife, give me one good reason not to blow your head off!”

Upon hearing this, not only did the boy not defend himself, but he also sighed with a troubled expression.

“I can’t think of a reason.”

The burly man was stunned: “What?”

“I can’t think of a reason that would make you not want to shoot me.” His expression was quite sincere, “If you really are her husband, truthfully, I think you should just shoot me right now.”

That statement left the burly man utterly speechless.

He turned to look at Carol as if seeking help.

Idiot, Carol cursed inwardly, but on the surface, she kept her sorrowful appearance and sobbed intermittently, “This… this is my husband, Andre. He’s killed before, don’t mess with him, he really will shoot!”

“Yeah, I really will!”

The burly man came back to his senses, gripping his revolver tightly, swallowing hard.

“Well, you’ve done me a huge favor.” Hearing this, he became overjoyed, “Come on, I’ve long since wanted to die!”

In the next second, the boy reached out, grabbed the gun barrel, and pressed the gun to his own forehead.