Chapter 27: CH 15.1

In the vast Central Imperial City, Archduke Carlos’ estate occupied the most land area besides the grand and majestic Imperial Palace.

It was said that Archduke Carlos’ family line was one of the oldest amongst all noble families in the empire. Its long heritage could be traced back to as far as the earth era. The inheritance was so large it almost couldn’t be measured in numbers, and the wealth was fearfully rich. In Carlos' hands, not only had it not decreased, but instead, it’d increased to another level. The countless nobles in the empire couldn’t even reach his toes in terms of power and wealth. Without a doubt, his family line had top class wealth and power.

This was also one of the key reasons Carlos could fight Emperor Sui for a whole book. His power was really too great!

However, Ji Ting didn’t belong to Carlos' faction. In fact, he wasn’t willing to take part in the struggle between Carlos and Emperor Sui at all. As a result, there wasn’t much interaction between Ji Ling and Carlos. That’s why he’d never been to the Grand Duke's residence last life.

Although he also called him, ‘Uncle Carlos,’ that was like how people normally called familiar adults older than them.

Ji Ling curiously sized up the grand duke’s gate in front of him, and calmed his mind as he stepped off the car.

Since Carlos had dared to openly invite him over, he naturally wouldn’t be after his life, and would definitely send him back in one piece. This was the real reason Ji Ling had dared to accept the invitation.

It wasn’t like he was going to die, so what was there to be afraid of?

The butler, Anderson, respectfully welcomed Ji Ling in. The duke had already ordered him to take good care of Ji Ling and treat him like he would the master of the place. Ji Ling could not be made to feel the slightest displeasure.

This was the first time His Excellency had valued someone in this manner. Although he was puzzled in his heart, and couldn’t understand what the duke had seen in this infamous rich kid to hold him in such a serious regard, Anderson still carried out his order strictly.

Anderson took Ji Ling to the building where the duke usually stayed. He said respectfully, “His Excellency has some business and will not be back for some time. You may rest and wait here."

Ji Ling looked at the vivaciously green and beautiful garden in front of him. He was surrounded by various rare plants and flowers on all sides. Going deeper along the tree-lined road, there was a three-storied European-style building, which felt steeped in history.

Compared to the concrete jungle outside, filled with futuristic sci-fi vibes, coming to this place made one feel as if they had gone back in time.

Gee, I didn't expect Carlos to be such a nostalgic person.

Ji Ling nodded and said, “All right.”

Anderson told the family maids and servants to prepare fine tea snacks for Ji Ling, and ordered them to take good care of him, before turning to leave.

Ji Ling spun around a little. His nose filled with the fragrance of flowers, and he raised his head to look up at the blue sky. Truly beautiful scenery.

While he was admiring these, he had no idea that the others were admiring him.

The servants of the grand duke's estate curiously observed. The young man was like a beautiful fairy youth walking through the emerald fields. This was the super infamous rich kid, Ji Ling; The only child of Grand Duke Ji Ting who was said to be extremely arrogant and who bullied people like it was nothing… So he’d grown up to be like this. When he wasn’t committing bad deeds, he was such a quiet and tranquil boy…

Therefore, an ugly person wasn’t necessarily (bad) ugly inside, and a beautiful person wasn’t necessarily (good) beautiful inside. You can’t judge a book by its cover!

That’s why nobody expected the grand duke to dote on him so much. He’d even let him come here.

You had to realize that the grand duke’s estate was very large. There were many areas, but this one was Carlos’ daily living quarters, and also, a forbidden area.

Carlos never let anyone set foot here, besides the occasional meeting with his confidants in the study. What’s more, this was a young rich kid and he was allowed to wander around freely.

This was the first time the servants had seen the grand duke entertain guests here. It was self-evident how special Ji Ling was, so everyone treated him extremely respectfully and kept on their toes at all times.

Ji Ling of course didn’t know what the servants were thinking. As he walked, he began to think about how to get some evidence here. It was better to take advantage of Carlos’ absence and first see if he could find anything.

So Ji Ling turned and went into the residence.

The materials used to build this structure were not the metals you’d see everyday, but mostly rare stones and valuable wood. In this era, those were much more expensive than metals.

The spacious lobby was decorated all over with famous pieces, every one extraordinary.

Subtle hints of extravagance could be seen everywhere.

In his heart, Ji Ling gasped in admiration upon seeing these. However, he hadn’t come here today to appreciate just how rich Carlos was. His purpose was to see whether there were signs of rebirth at Carlos' house. That’s why he didn't stay in the great hall for long and followed the spiral staircase upstairs. When he reached the second floor, he saw a heavy, solid-wood door at the end of the corridor, and prepared to go in for a look.

However, before he could even approach, he was stopped by a servant. The servant bowed respectfully and said, "This is the grand duke's study. You cannot enter."

Ji Ling’s eyes suddenly brightened. Oh, so he wasn’t allowed to go in here?!

He had been wandering around for half the day, and his only purpose was to look for anyplace unusual. Just by looking at how nervous this servant appeared, you could tell that this study couldn’t casually be entered by others. That’s why he’d been stopped. Studies… were usually full of secrets. The more he was prohibited from entering, the more he wanted to go!

This was it!

Ji Ling immediately showed displeasure and shouted coldly: "Get out of the way. How dare you stop me?”

The servant cried bitterly. He really didn’t want to stop Ji Ling. He couldn’t afford to offend Ji Ling, but if anyone freely entered the grand duke's study, he would only find death at his end. He cried out in a low voice: "Please understand, you really can't go in here."

“Move aside.” Ji Ling kicked the servant away in one motion, and pushed open the door without hesitation.

The servant fell on the ground, and watched as Ji Ling swaggered into the grand duke's study. Frightened pale with legs shaking, he crawled up off he ground with much difficulty and turned to rush away anxiously. Since the situation was beyond his control now, he could only tell Anderson!

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Ji Ling walked in and immediately caught sight of the floor to ceiling bookcase. He looked left and right, then went straight to the large desk in front. This should be Carlos' work station.

Ji Ling grinned widely and went right to examining everything on the desk carefully. Then, he opened the drawer to turn everything over, and casually rummaged through the letters and papers, leaving a mess, as if he didn’t care for the consequences if he were to be caught.

But Ji Ling’s expression soon turned to disappointment.

Although there were some important things here, such as the correspondence letters between Carlos and other nobles, and the accounts of some properties under his name, there was nothing related to rebirth... On second thought though, even if Carlos was reborn, he probably wouldn't be so bored as to write a diary recording his thoughts and revelations on rebirth, right? So finding evidence here, unfortunately, really wasn’t an easy thing.

Ji Ling turned Carlos' desk upside down and found nothing. Then, he turned to look at the bookcase behind him. Raising his brow, he moved the ladder next him and climbed up.

The system couldn’t watch anymore and said: [I advise you not to do this. Have you considered the consequences? 】

Ji Ling gave a cold ‘hmph.’ They were still at cold war!

Of course he’d considered the consequences of his actions. He didn’t need the system’s reminder. He just wanted to see the limit of Carlos’ tolerance of him.

Ji Ling’s brows crinkled, as if he was deep in thought.

After his exile, he’d unexpectedly met Carlos who was being chased by Jing Sui and Brandon. In order to save himself, he’d reached his hand out to save Carlos and hidden him in his house. When Carlos departed from there, he left him with one phrase: I’ll help you do something in return for your help.

At the time, Ji Ling hadn’t believed Carlos at all and didn't think he’d really repay him. He hadn’t taken it seriously, but not long after, he got news of Ning Yu's kidnapping.

This was something that had never happened in the original book. It was also the only event that broke away from the main plot last life.

That shouldn’t have happened.

Ji Ling was very flustered at the time. After he’d calmed down, he suddenly remembered that Carlos said he’d help him do something when he left. It couldn’t be that the something was helping him deal with Ning Yu, right? So Carlos was the one who kidnapped Ning Yu?

Ji Ling felt like a *blind cat who’d somehow found a dead mouse. He tested the waters and asked Carlos about this. As a result, Carlos had actually admitted to it without hesitation!

Ji Ling was really shocked at the time. Carlos actually wanted to help him kill Ning Yu to repay him, but he didn't ask for that at all. Do you have to decide on your own like that? Ji Ling felt like his **face was beat bloody…

But Ji Ling quickly realized that things may not have been that simple. Carlos always had a clear purpose behind whatever he did, so kidnapping Ning Yu was not so much to repay him, as to go against Jing Sui. In this way, he could achieve both getting revenge on Jing Sui, and "repaying” him. Wasn’t that killing two birds with one stone?

In the face of this kind of plot change, Ji Ling certainly couldn’t let Ning Yu die. Therefore, he simply countered back with his own plot, and suggested to Carlos that he personally meet with Ning Yu. He pretended to be venting, when in fact, he was giving Ning Yu a chance to escape.

Looking back on it now, perhaps the main reason Carlos did it was to deal with Jing Sui, but… a very very small part of it might have actually been to repay the favor?

If last life, Carlos was prepared to kill Ning Yu for him, then he could just barely accept the reasoning that Carlos would help him kill Ning Yu sooner this life.

Ji Ling was anxious and doubtful. He’d always felt that Carlos couldn’t be the type of person who ‘re-payed his benefactors.’ However, no other suitable reason existed that could explain Carlos' every move.

Moreover, Carlos’ thoughts were too deep and his mood hard to grasp. He wasn’t like Brandon, an upright soldier with an honest personality. Those he had a good impression of, he’d raise high, and those he held in low esteem, he’d step into the ground. He was earnest and reliable to his friends, and never hid his dislike or distaste from his enemies.

Carlos never wore his emotions on his face. His every move was hard to read.

Ji Ling really couldn’t predict what the reborn Carlos might do.

He absently flipped through Carlos' bookcase, suddenly looking surprised as he went from book to book. He never expected that Carlos would have the hobby of collecting ancient books... and he had such an extensive library too. There were even several different versions of the Bible on the bookshelf! And also several books written in simplified Chinese characters!

Ji Ling held one of the books and gave a sigh. This was probably how a person from the modern era would feel if they came across ancient bone script or hieroglyphs…

The contents of this book were also very interesting. It just so happened to be a book written in simplified Chinese characters so Ji Ling could understand. Unexpectedly, it described the history of the human race after leaving earth, and their developments afterwards, magnificently capturing the events in great detail. Ji Ling couldn't help but be completely captivated, looking amazed.

Wasn’t this worldview too realistic? Even the details of a trivial little nowhere were fleshed out in such detail that it seemed like this world was a real place.

Fortunately, he would’t be staying here for long. In the end, he had to go home. However, for people living in this world, it was completely real for them…

Whether it was real or fake, true or false, who could say with conviction?

Just then, slightly hurried footsteps resounded in the hallway outside.

Ji Ling looked up, and saw Carlos walk over with a cluster of servants surrounding him. It looked like he’d just received the news and returned from outside. However, his expression was still calm and leisurely. The corners of his mouth were raised in a faint smile.

Carlos looked up at the boy on the ladder. The youth sat there with his legs swaying gently. His golden hair shone gently and softly in the sunlight, looking beautiful. His aqua-blue eyes were bright and lively. His white fingers gently pinched the book’s black cover, as he looked up at him. Actually… he hadn’t been sure before whether Ji Ling would accept his invitation or not. After all, the boy always seemed a little cautious when facing him.

Fortunately, he came in the end.

Carlos looked gentle and smiled saying, "There you are."

Translator’s notes

*An incapable person tries and somehow succeeds (normally, I localize, but I have to keep kitty idioms in XD)

** This is difficult to express since it’s a kind of play off ‘so moe/meng that your whole face is flushed’

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