“`
Looking at Liliya chasing after Aileen, Rocky helplessly shook his head. He was relieved to have Liliya around; otherwise, he truly didn’t know what to do in such a situation.
Actually, Rocky could also tell that Aileen wasn’t quite herself, but he didn’t know how to broach the subject. After all, the two of them didn’t share any personal relationship but were merely in a subordinate one.
Setting that aside for now, Liliya, who had left the City Lord’s Hall, quickly caught up with Aileen.
“Aileen, wait a moment.”
By the time Liliya had caught up with Aileen, she was already preparing to board a carriage. Called to a halt, she turned back and saw Liliya approaching.
“Captain Liliya.”
Seeing Liliya, Aileen didn’t dare to neglect her manners, promptly nodding to her as a sign of politeness.
Now, Liliya was the Captain of the Guard Corps, holding a position equivalent to Aileen’s, and what was more important, she was one of Rocky’s confidants. Thus, even though Aileen wasn’t very familiar with Liliya, she still showed her due respect.
“Captain Liliya, does the City Lord have any instructions?”
Knowing her departure was somewhat abrupt, Aileen quickly asked when Liliya approached.
“Nothing from the City Lord, I just wanted to talk to you.” Glancing at Aileen, Liliya smiled and said, “If you don’t have any matters to attend to, why don’t you take a walk with me?”
After saying this, Liliya didn’t even wait for Aileen’s response before she walked ahead, causing Aileen to have no choice but to follow.
So, the two women walked side by side out of the City Lord’s Mansion, a carriage trailing behind them, looking just like two noble ladies taking a leisurely afternoon stroll.
“How has Lord Voss been recently?”
“Grandfather is doing well.”
Ambling through the streets, Liliya casually asked, and Aileen casually answered. However, Aileen’s mind was somewhat perplexed, for she couldn’t make out Liliya’s intentions.
With her intelligence, Aileen naturally understood that Liliya coming to find her was not for small talk; there must be another reason. Yet, she couldn’t fathom what it could be. Could it be that Rocky had sent Liliya to see her?
Impossible. If it were Rocky’s instructions, then he would have simply directed her to see him directly, no need for Liliya to be involved.
“Aileen, have you encountered any troubles?”
“Hmm?”
As Aileen was musing, Liliya’s question took her aback, and she quickly shook her head: “I don’t have any troubles.”
“Is that so?” Liliya looked at her skeptically: “It’s not just me who noticed you weren’t quite yourself today, the City Lord also saw it, which is why he asked me to come and check on you.”
“I truly appreciate the City Lord’s concern, but I’m fine.”
Continuing to shake her head, Aileen said nothing more.
Seeing that she had no intention of opening up, Liliya suddenly laughed, which bewildered Aileen.
“Do you remember Perolo?”
After her laugh, Liliya suddenly asked.
“Perolo? I remember.”
Although Aileen did not understand why Liliya brought up that person, she nodded her head. Of course, she remembered the former administrative officer.
“What do you think of Perolo?”
“A waste.”
Without a second thought, Aileen voiced her opinion of Perolo. In her eyes, Perolo was nothing but a waste, and she even found it an insult for her grandfather to have to work with such a person.
And Liliya, in response to that answer, nodded and added: “Perolo is not only a waste but also a scumbag who can’t control himself around women.”
“Ah?”
“When I first came to Thunderhawk City, Perolo harbored improper thoughts towards me, and he didn’t let go of them until he was caught by the City Lord.”
Liliya’s words staggered Aileen; she couldn’t believe the other woman would share such a thing with her, someone who was hardly even a friend!
Yet those very words struck a chord with Aileen.
Deep down, Aileen was painfully aware of how badly she had behaved today, and the reason for that was the incident that occurred with Jia Xi.
The previous day’s events had a significant impact on her, scaring her thoroughly.
But Aileen was strong – so strong that she was stubborn. She hadn’t mentioned yesterday’s events to anyone, not even to her grandfather Voss, intending to bear the burden alone.
However, she never expected Liliya to have noticed!
As bright as she was, Aileen immediately realized why Liliya had sought her out. After a moment, she looked at Liliya and, biting her lip, asked, “What happened afterwards?”
Liliya has just said that Perolo had unsavory intentions towards her, so what happened next? How did it end?
“Afterwards…” Liliya gave a slight smile towards Aileen and patted her side sword: “Well, when I was ready to chop off his head, he ran away.”
This answer astonished Aileen, and it wasn’t until she snapped back to reality that she looked at Liliya with newfound admiration in her eyes. She imagined a scene where Liliya, with her sword at the ready, pointed it straight at a terrified Perolo, scaring him out of his wits.
“`
If only I could muster the grace and imposing presence of Liliya, and point my sword at Jia Xi, I wonder if that old bastard would still dare to touch my hand! Would he still harbor inappropriate thoughts about me!
Unfortunately, I am not Liliya.
With that thought, Aileen couldn’t help but sigh…
However, she suddenly thought of something and blurted out, “Does the City Lord know about this?”
“He…doesn’t know…”
Liliya shook her head upon hearing this and sighed, “I haven’t told him about this matter, and even if he had known at the time, there was nothing he could have done.”
As Liliya thought about it, she felt a sense of helplessness, much like how Rocky regarded her as someone closest to him. In Liliya’s heart, Rocky was also the person she trusted the most. It was just that Rocky at the time was really…
But then she turned to Aileen with a smile, “But if it were now, I would tell the City Lord about it.”
“Why?”
“Because the City Lord would help me, he would back me up,” Liliya said with certainty as she looked at Aileen.
Her words were no lie. Indeed, Rocky used to be too timid, a fact even Liliya admitted. But now, Rocky had changed, and although she didn’t know why he had changed, he had undoubtedly become better than he was before.
So if a similar situation were to occur again, Liliya would definitely tell Rocky, and Rocky would absolutely back her up!
Aileen was stunned by her words. She of course understood what Liliya meant, but after a moment she still let out a wry smile, “Yes…the City Lord would indeed back you up…”
Aileen believed Liliya’s words, but let’s not forget that the one speaking was Liliya herself! She was Rocky’s confidante, possibly even his lover, whereas Aileen didn’t share such a connection with Rocky.
Aileen was well aware of her place, knowing she was merely the finance officer recommended to Rocky by her grandfather.
“No, he would help you too.”
Just as Aileen was privately sighing, Liliya suddenly took her hand and looked into her eyes, “You might not quite understand Rocky yet. Whether in the past or now, he’s a good person. As long as you can support him well, he will never let you down.”
“And… Rocky is also worthy of your trust. His achievements in the future will be boundless.”
“Really?”
Upon hearing this, Aileen also gazed intently at Liliya, her eyes suddenly filled with curiosity, “Does the City Lord have such aspirations?”
“It’s not aspiration, but an inevitable outcome.”
Liliya was very clear about the future that awaited Rocky once he mastered the Mana Runes. Without exaggeration, as long as he could get through the current difficult period and had enough time, Rocky was destined to become a prominent figure in this sky!
This was the reason Liliya had so much confidence in Rocky.
Unfortunately, Aileen was not aware of this, so after listening to Liliya, she just smiled, “Perhaps, but Captain Liliya, you should know that the City Lord won’t only be dealing with the likes of Perolo.”
“It’s all the same.”
Aileen’s skepticism didn’t surprise Liliya, mainly because Aileen was still unaware that Rocky had mastered the top technology of Mana Runes. Therefore, she didn’t argue further but said with full confidence:
“Be it Perolo or Jia Xi, they’re just clowns who can only strut around for a while. In front of Rocky, the current Jia Xi is no different from the former Perolo.”
……
……
By the time Liliya returned to the City Lord’s Mansion and saw Rocky in the laboratory, it was already the afternoon. She and Aileen had chatted for a long time, almost seeing Aileen all the way home before coming back.
“You’re back, what took you so long?”
In the lab, Rocky was still busy inscribing Runes for the Void Magic Armor. At least thirty First Level Runes had been etched inside the lining of the chest plate of the Armor. However, as soon as he saw Liliya return, he put down his pen.
“I had a chat with Aileen, so I got a bit held up,” she said.
“Oh? Did you find out why she’s been off her game?”
Rocky was curious to hear Liliya mention this, so he couldn’t help but ask.
“It’s because of Jia Xi.”
After taking a sip of water, Liliya recounted the matter to Rocky.
Rocky frowned upon hearing it.
“That old bastard is really trying to play the dirty old man…and I haven’t had my chance with her yet…”
“You’re still green yourself, so quit thinking about tender grass,” Liliya unexpectedly heard his muttering and Rocky, startled, quickly retracted his head and hurriedly said, “I got it, I’ll handle this matter.”
After saying that, he picked up the Magic Energy Pen again, seemingly ready to continue inscribing Runes, but then he seemed to remember something and turned to look at Liliya again.
“Liliya, it seems like you had noticed something between Aileen and Jia Xi long ago, right?”
“Did you ever encounter something similar?”
Rocky might have been a bit slow on the uptake with this issue, but he was not a fool and immediately sensed there was more to it.
However, Liliya responded with a faint smile and, heading towards the door, said, “Of course not. If anything like that had happened, I’d have told you.”