Host raises Leslie's favorability to 30, rewards 500 fate points Host raises Leslie's favorability to 40, rewards 1000 fate points Host raises Leslie's favorability to 50, rewards 2000 fate points and the god-tier skill [Absolute Copy]
Hint: Leslie's current favorability is 20. If the favorability drops to 0, Leslie will 100% eliminate the host.
Looking at the system tasks in front of him, especially the system's hint, Owen appeared calm, but his heart was pounding like a war drum, and his mind was racing, strategizing.
From the system's hint, it seemed that he was not yet a match for Leslie. If she decided to take action herself, he would be undoubtedly dead.
However, the fact that she had a favorability of 20 for him was somewhat surprising to Owen. It must be because Leslie had been observing his recent activities. Her favorability towards him could only be based on his outstanding talent and her curiosity about him.
This was a good thing, but at the same time, if he couldn't satisfy Leslie, this scarce favorability would definitely keep dropping!
"Owen, you don't need to be nervous. Although Leslie's personality is a bit strange, she is actually a very good person. The fact that she is willing to see you proactively is unprecedented; she has a very good impression of you!"
Seeing Owen's body tense up a bit, Duke Charles knew he might be nervous. After all, Leslie's reputation wasn't great, so he spoke warmly to reassure him.
Owen smiled at Duke Charles upon hearing this. If Leslie was really that easy to win over, she wouldn't be the hell queen who is patient, powerful, and cold as iron.
Currently, Duke Charles and many others who saw her as a chaotic demon king were all in the dark about her true nature.
Soon, led by a maid, Owen walked through luxurious pavilions and buildings, eventually arriving at a somewhat deserted independent courtyard in the back of the duke's mansion.
The maid stopped in front of the courtyard, made a gesture inviting Owen to enter, and said, "Mr. Owen, the lady is waiting for you in the courtyard."
Owen nodded, paused, and then slowly entered the courtyard.
Watching Owen's back as he entered the courtyard, a complex expression flashed in the maid's eyes.
She had been serving Miss Leslie for many years. Miss Leslie had a bad temper, and the marriage engagements the Duke had arranged for her were all disrupted by her and eventually came to nothing. Now, for Miss Leslie to take the initiative to see another man, especially in her private courtyard, was unprecedented.
Owen ignored the maid's gaze as he walked into the courtyard.
The first thing he saw was a towering tree in the middle of the yard.
This tree was very peculiar, with lush foliage and branches that stretched skyward like a celestial wooden structure. Standing before it made one feel quite small.
What struck Owen even more was that the dense leaves and branches of this tree were layered into nine distinct levels, making it look like a giant tower from afar.
Underneath this great tree stood a stunning woman with red hair and blue eyes. She seemed to have been standing there for a long time.
Her features were delicate and painted, and when the soft golden light filtered through the leaves, casting mottled shadows around her, it made her appear even more ethereal, like a flawless beauty in an oil painting.
At first glance at the woman, Leslie's name surfaced in Owen's mind. Cold, noble, an absolute earthly beauty! That was Owen's first impression of her.
Although Owen knew Leslie inside out, having participated in designing this character, seeing her in person still made his eyelids twitch, and his steps involuntarily halted.
While Owen was observing Leslie, her blue eyes also fell on him.
Seeing him stop a short distance in front of her, a faint glimmer of coldness flickered in her eyes, and the temperature of the air seemed to drop significantly.
Owen? Indeed, he was somewhat handsome, and his aura was exceptionally strong. She even sensed a faint, subtle feeling of danger from him.
Danger! It had been a long time since Leslie had experienced such a feeling.
For someone like this, if he could not be used for her purposes, then he must be utterly destroyed!
There was no third option!
"You wanted to see me?" Owen was the first to speak, breaking the silence between them.
"You are my fiancé, naturally I should meet you," Leslie said calmly, but she emphasized the word "fiancé."
Upon hearing this, Owen noticed that Leslie's favorability on the system panel dropped to 15.
It seemed she was very averse to the idea of him being her fiancé. Just meeting her didn't increase her favorability; instead, it decreased.
Owen's mouth twitched. Dealing with someone like Leslie, conventional methods wouldn't work. So, he seriously stared into Leslie's eyes and directly asked:
"Do you want to kill me?"
Leslie's slender eyebrows raised slightly. She had indeed felt a trace of killing intent towards Owen just now.
However, she had completely hidden that trace deep in her eyes. Owen had actually sensed it!
This man's perception was truly astonishing.
So, she slightly restrained her emotions and asked:
"Why do you say that?"
Owen smiled slightly and confidently said, "Because I understand you!"
"We've never had any interaction before, nor have we met. How could you understand me?" Leslie responded noncommittally.
"Understanding someone doesn't necessarily require close contact. Your infamous deeds, such as burning down the palace of the Third Prince who was engaged to you, training hunting dogs, and teasing tutors, are well-known. So, I do have some understanding of you," Owen said.
Leslie remained calm, "If that's all you know, then it's just the same old stories that everyone in the imperial capital knows..."
Before Leslie could finish, Owen continued:
"Yes, those things are well-known, but I also know that they are just your cover. You even deliberately arranged for your subordinates to spread these stories!"
Hearing this, Leslie squinted her eyes, which suddenly turned icy, and she chuckled lightly, saying, "Well said, continue."
Owen glanced at the system panel again, noticing that Leslie's favorability had dropped to 10.
Clearly, having her secrets exposed increased her hostility towards him.
However, Owen remained composed and continued, "After you turned fourteen, you became extremely low-key, almost as if you vanished, because you knew that deceiving others and making them belittle you, diverting their attention away from you, had already achieved its purpose. You could start your real plan!"
Owen smiled, being the person who understood Leslie the most besides herself. Seeing a flicker in Leslie's eyes, he continued, "During the time you were hiding, you unified the underground forces of the imperial capital through decapitation operations. To make your sister the leader of the Eagle Guard and further expand the influence of the duke's mansion, you caused the death of the former Eagle Guard leader."
"You also took advantage of the birthday banquet held by House Copper for their young master, ambushing House Copper's strongmen and secretly poisoning them, causing them all to fall unconscious. Then, you had people set a fire, burning the entire bloodline of House Copper to ashes. The fortress where House Copper resided burned for three days and three nights."
"After clearing out opposing factions, you used iron-fisted methods to integrate scattered forces, forming the current Chrysanthemum Hotel, the strongest intelligence network in the imperial capital."
Owen spoke confidently, as if these hidden, shadowy events had occurred right under his nose, witnessed by him personally.
As he continued speaking, Owen noticed Leslie's favorability towards him had dropped to 5.
With only a sliver of favorability left before she would personally take action against him, the atmosphere grew tenser.
As her favorability towards Owen decreased, cold light began to emanate from her body, the air temperature plummeted, and even frost could be seen forming.
At this moment, Leslie's mind was in turmoil, and her gaze towards Owen became sharper, like icy blades.
"How do you know this? Who else knows? You should be aware that I can kill you right now and have more than enough means to cover up your death here!"
As she spoke, Leslie mobilized the mana within the courtyard, surrounding Owen in what felt like an invisible prison of ice and snow, leaving him with no escape.
"You are a smart person. Since you know these secrets and dare to mention them in front of me, you must have enough confidence."
"I'll give you one chance to speak. If you can't satisfy me, you'll go to hell and keep my secrets well!"
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Like it ? Add to library!
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
In Leslie's heart, a cold intent to kill had already formed.
The man in front of her knew too much.
If she couldn't fully understand his intentions, she wouldn't be able to rest easy!
Feeling the aura Leslie exuded, which almost completely isolated the courtyard and the duke's mansion, Owen realized that Leslie probably had mastered some sort of domain ability.
This was her stronghold, where she could use various terrifying methods.
Owen already felt that his magical circuits were being locked by some technique.
Clearly, Leslie had murderous intentions towards him!
To a conspirator like her, the greatest fear is having her schemes exposed, especially the worry of being seen through by others!
If what he says next doesn't satisfy Leslie, given Owen's understanding of her, she would undoubtedly kill him without hesitation!
At this moment, even though Owen had anticipated this, his breathing was slightly rapid.
After a brief moment, he steadied himself and softly shook his head, saying:
"The Order of Ice is not the only [Order] capable of seeing through people's secrets."
"The reason you can threaten so many people to work for you, creating meticulous and flawless plans, is because you possess the Order of Ice, which helps you see into others' pasts."
"I have mastered the Order of Fire, which has similar abilities. Though my mastery of the Order of Fire is not as proficient as your mastery of the Order of Ice, the reason I know your past is because the Order of Fire continuously guides me."
Owen spoke with great conviction.
In reality, he was making it all up.
The Order of Fire did not have the ability to perceive the past or future. But Leslie didn't know that, and neither did anyone else.
So, he decided to gamble and use this to deceive Leslie!
After Owen finished speaking, Leslie's favorability directly dropped to 1, reaching the most dangerous critical point!
"The Order of Fire can also see the past and future? So what? You're here just to deliver the [Order] to me. It's perfect timing since I also need the Order of Thunder and the Order of Fire right now!"
As Leslie spoke, her alabaster finger pointed directly at Owen's forehead. The bone-chilling cold seemed to freeze even the void.
Owen neither dodged nor activated his mana for defense. Instead, he confidently said:
"You won't kill me!"
"Oh? Why not?" Leslie asked coldly.
Owen shook his head and said, "You've done all this just to overthrow the Azure Kingdom's royal family. Killing me won't help you; it will only create more trouble."
"Aren't you afraid of death, knowing so much?" At this moment, Leslie's killing intent almost became tangible.
Although, as Owen said, killing him wouldn't be of much help in overthrowing the royal family and might even affect her original plan, Owen knew too many secrets. As long as Owen lived, her plans and goals would face more risks!
Seeing that Leslie's favorability towards him was about to drop to zero, Owen suddenly said seriously, "I can help you!"
Leslie's finger, which was about to pierce Owen's brow, stopped. She hesitated slightly and asked, "How can you help?"
Owen pondered for a moment and said, "You now have enough power. The reason you don't dare to act is because you fear the top expert in the Royal Council of Elders. Even if you exhaust all your resources, you won't be a match for him. But if we cooperate, within a year, that expert will no longer be a threat."
Seeing Owen speak with such seriousness, Leslie was shocked.
In her estimation, it would take at least four more years for her strength to reach a level where she could contend with that top expert.
However, considering Owen's astonishing rate of improvement, if he continued to advance at such a rapid pace, it might indeed be possible within a year!
The sooner this matter is dealt with, the better. Currently, many new talents are rising within the royal family.
The longer it drags on, the more difficult and risky it becomes!
If Owen is truly willing to help her, it would undoubtedly be like adding wings to a tiger.
But why would Owen help her?
She never took others' help for granted!
Owen's unsolicited assistance made her very uneasy.
Seeing the flicker of uncertainty in Leslie's eyes, Owen knew that she was already tempted but didn't trust him due to her suspicious nature.
So, he said slowly, "The reason I'm helping you is because you don't seek to become the ruler of Azure Kingdom after overthrowing the royal family. You want to gain military power and destroy Kyrik to avenge your family!"
"You are not a simple opportunist."
As he said this, a complex emotion flashed in Owen's eyes.
Leslie was not actually Duke Charles's biological daughter but was born in the Kyrik General's household.
At that time, the General was conquering all directions, and his prestige in Kyrik was growing day by day.
Although the General had already sensed the suspicion of outshining the master and handed over his military power, preparing to retire to the countryside, unfortunately, the King of Kyrik had already harbored strong murderous intent towards the General's household.
Thus, on the way to retirement, the General's household was ambushed! Regardless of whether they were men, women, old, or young, they were all killed on sight! To prevent any survivors, their heads were all chopped off...
This scene had an unprecedented impact on the young Leslie at that time.
The sight of her father, mother, and siblings being beheaded haunted her dreams like a nightmare!
Therefore, Owen could understand the fire of anger in Leslie's heart and her ruthless determination to seek revenge at all costs.
"And the most important reason is that I need your help to find a way to break the seal on the Godslayer Staff," Owen said, flipping his hand to reveal the Godslayer Staff and gently stroking it.
The seal on the Godslayer Staff had seven layers in total, and six needed to be unlocked.
This secret was known to no one but himself. He didn't want to divulge this information, but the Godslayer Staff couldn't remain sealed forever.
Given the current situation, the best way was to leverage the intelligence network of Leslie's Chrysanthemum Hotel to find the method to unseal it.
Hearing this, Leslie felt a sense of relief. Owen had a request for her, which was what she hoped to see. In her view, a partnership without mutual interests was like a rootless duckweed.
Seeing that the coldness on Leslie's body had unconsciously diminished, Owen slowly extended a hand to her.
"If you don't mind, shall we try to cooperate?"
Staring at Owen's outstretched hand, Leslie was silent for a long time before she spoke, "The path with me will be very bloody and full of danger.
As someone with a promising future, aren't you burdened by the thought of abandoning the light for the darkness?"
Owen laughed freely, "To hell with the burden. I only follow my true desires. Without strength, what's the point of talking about romance and dreams? Only by surviving does everything have meaning!"
At that moment, a vivid scene unfolded in Leslie's mind.
Ten years ago, when she first obtained the Order of Ice, she suddenly saw a vision of the future where the imperial capital lay in ruins, the people wailing in misery, the earth seemingly stained with blood, and countless skeletal remains holding mage staffs, howling in the wind!
It was as if this continent had suffered an indescribable catastrophe.
The casualties were devastating!
Sometimes, when she closed her eyes slightly, she could see countless mages begging in pools of blood.
She saw women and children weeping bitterly among the ruins.
She couldn't make out the faces of the powerful enemies, only sensing that all the mages of that time had their spirits utterly shattered.
And now, this world was a scattered mess!
Only by uniting them could there be a chance to battle the unknown formidable enemy.
She never believed in the fairy tale of people being born united.
There was only one way to unify them: to defeat them all into submission.
If anyone refused to submit, then they should be killed!
Overthrowing the Azure Kingdom royal family and annihilating Kyrik, though driven by her personal vendetta, was merely the first step of her journey.
That mysterious enemy was unimaginably powerful, treating everyone else like ants.
Her premonition, however, was something no one would believe. But the man before her, he was strong enough, he should understand!
Thinking of this, Leslie smiled gracefully and grasped Owen's hand:
"Well then, let's have a successful cooperation!"
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Like it ? Add to library!
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
Anda mungkin juga menyukai
Komentar Paragraf
Fitur komentar paragraf sekarang ada di Web! Arahkan kursor ke atas paragraf apa pun dan klik ikon untuk menambahkan komentar Anda.
Selain itu, Anda selalu dapat menonaktifkannya atau mengaktifkannya di Pengaturan.
MENGERTI