Chapter 119: Sorry, Richard (1/2)

Chapter 119: Sorry, Richard

The Soul-Caller Gem warmed.

“Come get me at home.”

“It’s so early. I’m still sleeping.”

“A bodyguard must fulfill their duties! Nobles must abide by their promises!”

“…”

“A-Jue, what are you doing so early?” Hua Li pulled himself to a sitting position on the couch, watching Lan Jue wash his face with drowsy eyes.

“You don’t have class today either. Where are you running off to? You wouldn’t need to get up this early to train your disciples either.” Hua Li’s questions were fussy at the early hour.

Lan Jue’s response was muttered, almost to himself. “A bodyguard must fulfill their duties! Ugh, nonsense.”

“I despise you,” Hua Li sighed dejectedly. He grudgingly pushed himself from the sofa.

Ten minutes later.

The antique bicycle rattled speedily along the road. Hua Li’s morose expression stared at the passing ground as he sat behind Lan Jue. “A-Jue I’m starving. It’s not good to skip breakfast. Gives you energy for the day.”

“Shut up, I’m hungry too. And I’m the one pedaling. Already a crappy day!” Lan Jue glared ruefully as they trundled along.

“So why are we up so early anyway?”

Lan Jue was silent, answering a few moments later in a miserable voice. “I’m telling you, you better not laugh.”

“I’d never!” Hua Li’s assurances came without hesitation.

“Not long ago a woman came in to my shop…” As they made for Zhou Qianlin’s house, Lan Jue recounted the tale of Pearl, stealing the Chief Minister’s daughter, and the things that followed.

Hua Li listened aptly to the tale, but upon hearing the tale, he shook almost hard enough to tip the bicycle. His eyes nearly popped from his head.

“Hairy hippos in a jelly tub! You sure you got that right?! How the hell did you mix that up, after being with Hera for so long you’d figure you’d know what she looks like! What kind of moron are you?” Hua Li stayed true to his promise, and didn’t laugh. He was mad!

“Hey, whose side are you on, I’m already miserable about this. Shouldn’t you be here comforting me? Still just accusations and interrogations? Hera’s dead… for three years do you know how I’ve been able to keep on? Living like a drunk man, like in a dream, or nightmare. Wallowing in regret and loss. She was gone so suddenly, and then to hear just as suddenly that she wasn’t dead, do you think I’d be in my right mind? That I could keep a level head? Even you who’ve known me for so long, after three years you start to forget what one looks like. Zhou Qianlin and Hera are very, very similar. Exactly the same. I was nervous, excited, scared, she’d been drugged. I didn’t know at the time, but when I found out it was already too late.”

Hua Li was near enough the only person Lan Jue could be this honest and open with. He held nothing back.

“That’s all well and good, but that’s not what I mean,” Hua Li said. “Using this opportunity you find yourself in to have her act as Hera’s stand in, is. Sure she looks like her, but is it fair to her, or you, to act this way? To make her fill that whole in your heart?”

Lan Jue’s smile was bitter. “If only it were that easy. You must know, in my heart Hera is absolutely irreplaceable. And what happened… was my fault. She wouldn’t have…”

“Alright, no use dwelling on it,” Hua Li interrupted. “I’m actually curious what this Hera impersonator is actually like. Knowing you I wont be sorry acting as her bodyguard for a while as well.”

Lan Jue let out a sigh. “Maybe it really is as you say. Sometimes I do forget she isn’t Hera, it’s happened more than once. Suddenly it’s like she’s here by my side again. I know she’s just a substitute but, deep in my heart, I long for it to be real – for her to be Hera. But I figured this out quickly. I’ve been keeping my distance.”

“Are you scared you two will develop feelings for one another?”

“Maybe,” Lan Jue said. He found himself growing irrationally agitated at the thought.

Hua Li patted his back comfortingly, and said nothing further. In emotional situations like this, trying to persuade the heart otherwise was a pointless endeavor. The only cure was time enough to figure things out in your own head.

ζ

The foot of Tian Mountain

An excessively fancy verti-car was parked at the base of the towering mountain. Richard, clad in a fine white suit, stood not far off. An arrangement of roses were clutched in his hands.

Suddenly, his eyes grew bright, and his left hand left the flowers to check his moist, greased-back hair. He shuffled forward a few steps, and gently called out: “Qianlin.”