Anthony and Helena's lobbying went relatively smoothly. Just as Li Andy was about to strike while the iron was hot and directly win over Charles and Rose, he found Charles wasn't there. He then went to Rose's room, only to find she wasn't there either.
Only Moss, the grey-skirted girl who took care of Rose, was left.
“Knock, knock, knock…”
Li Andy hesitated for half a second, but still knocked on the door.
Moss opened the door a crack, cautiously and suspiciously appraising him, her uninvited guest.
“Hi, do you still remember me?”
At this moment, Sophia suddenly jumped out from behind Li Andy, startling Moss. As the other party was about to grab the doorknob and fall to the ground, Sophia quickly dodged and grabbed the other party's arm, preventing her fall.
This series of clumsy actions caused the previously half-closed door to open completely before Li Andy.
He glanced at the situation inside the room and found that yesterday's mess had been cleaned up, as if nothing had happened.
He turned his gaze back to the grey-skirted girl, Moss. She had changed into another grey everyday dress, and her already unremarkable appearance now looked even more inconspicuous.
“You… what do you want?!”
She nervously pushed Sophia away and backed away.
“Don't be afraid, I mean no harm!”
Perhaps feeling guilty, Sophia was also a bit flustered at this moment.
“We… are not bad people!”
“Sophia, bad people usually don't admit they're bad people.”
Li Andy helplessly pulled the golden retriever vampire, who wanted to lie on the ground with her, behind him, took out a business card, bent down, and smiled as he handed it to the grey-skirted girl on the ground:
“Hello, I am an investigator from the Miling Agency, primarily undertaking various… abnormal incident investigations.”
This time, Li Andy intended to communicate with the other party using his true identity.
The grey-skirted girl instinctively recoiled, but upon seeing his friendly and clean smile, she visibly froze for a second. Then, she took a shallow breath, mustered her courage, and asked again in a hoarse voice:
“Do you… have something you need?”
“As an investigator, I naturally investigate and solve various problems.”
Li Andy smiled gently,
“But before I explain my purpose, I want to apologize to you for my clumsy maid. Her running around yesterday must have caused you a lot of trouble, right?”
“Maid?”
Moss subconsciously looked at Sophia. She was very surprised. The beautiful red-skirted girl who looked like a celebrity yesterday was actually the maid of this black-haired young master? What was this young master's background?
Sophia frowned slightly, wanting to refute, but after thinking about it carefully, she decided against it.
Outside, it was better to listen to Andy.
Anyway… she had called him master, husband, and father before.
Maid it is then…
After adjusting her mindset, Sophia slightly lifted her skirt, bowed slightly, and apologized pitifully with the only skirt-lifting etiquette she knew:
“I am truly sorry for yesterday, I shouldn't have run around. Last night, Master punished me very severely!”
Perhaps accustomed to being humble, Moss quickly stood up and frantically waved her hand, saying, “No… it's fine, my voice is very bad. Yesterday I… was just imitating Miss Rose singing, and I accidentally ran into you!”
This simple girl still thought others hadn't discovered their secret.
Even Li Andy's explicit self-disclosure was ignored by the other party.
“Excuse me, is Miss Rose in? I would like to discuss some very important matters with her,” Li Andy asked directly, getting straight to the point.
Moss frowned slightly, initially a bit wary, but looking at the good-looking and pleasant faces of the two in front of her, she felt that they didn't seem to be bad people after all. It was just like Miss Rose, who was beautiful, and although her words could sometimes be harsh and her emotions occasionally out of control, she was actually very good to her…
“Hello? Excuse me, is Miss Rose in?” Li Andy asked again, not quite understanding why the girl suddenly zoned out. Could she be an extreme face-con?
“Ah!”
Moss looked at the face that had moved a few centimeters closer, and her face immediately flushed.
“Mi… Miss she… went to a banquet! Several military officers wanted to invite Miss to dinner and discuss the opera arrangements. Char… Charles was worried, so he went along too…”
Li Andy subtly frowned.
It seemed that Miss Rose still favored the Empire and was not optimistic about the Independents.
However, thinking about it, it made sense. After all, the Empire was strong at this time, and there were no major wars externally. Longing for and leaning towards the suzerain state was the view of the vast majority of people at present.
If he himself were not a transmigrator but an ordinary native, perhaps he would not believe that the Thirteen Provinces could successfully achieve independence in the future.
Tsk, this was a bit troublesome.
Charles also went to the banquet, so his stance had probably changed as well.
However, as an Imperial army, did they really need to compete for this troupe?
While pondering, Li Andy remembered the butler, who had once said that the Imperial garrison was not originally on the banquet list, but was added at the very end.
Could it be that they had other motives?
Not enough information was available, so Li Andy pondered for a few seconds and temporarily set aside his conjectures.
Leaving behind the business card marked by the Witness's Pen, Li Andy apologized and then left Rose's room with Sophia.
Returning to his suite, as soon as he closed the door, Li Andy was embraced by two soft bodies, pressed against the wall.
Youxi and Jasmine occupied his arms, one on each side.
“Brother, do you think there's anything different about us?” Youxi whispered.
Li Andy froze, realizing that these two girls had changed into evening gowns again.
Their style was somewhat like dancers from the Western Regions, with light, sheer clothing, adorned with gold ornaments on their delicate skin, glittering and intertwined, drawing all eyes.
“Hmm, the clothes are very nice, and the accessories are also very pretty.”
“Brother, it's not the clothes~”
As the sister's voice circled his ears, Li Andy's hand was guided to extend backward.
Then, he touched two fluffy things, one fluffy and wide, similar to a fox tail, and one slender and long, similar to a cat tail.
Li Andy's breathing instantly hitched, remembering Youxi's playful remark about growing a tail that morning.
So you weren't joking, you were serious?
Sophia carefully moved behind them, looking at the two 'transformed' individuals, her pretty face becoming increasingly wrinkled, utterly confused:
“You… aren't you uncomfortable?”
She was now highly suspicious that Youxi's last visit to the church to borrow something might have involved some strange item, leading to a constant mutation of certain habits and preferences.
“It's fine, once you get used to it, it feels different.”
Youxi waved her hand at her, her teasing voice like a devil's whisper,
“Sophia, are you really not going to try it?”
Sophia pouted and leaned back, her expression resistant. But seeing the other party's natural demeanor, she couldn't help but feel curious, so she actively went to the bedside, picked up a grey wolf version, and then popped out her own real one to compare the details.
“It's not very similar, there are no bones inside. What material is this tip, why is it so smooth? This… can this go in…”
Before she could finish, Youxi suddenly appeared behind her and pressed it in.
“Mmph!”
Sophia's fur stood on end, she sharply gasped, and her body instantly tensed.
Li Andy, who witnessed the entire process from the side, also shivered, muttering to himself:
“My goodness, that's too wicked!”
Sophia trembled for a few seconds, then slowly turned around with teary eyes, gritting her teeth and glaring resentfully at Li Andy.
“Uh… why are you glaring at me? It's not my business, I really didn't force it…”
“But you let Youxi do it! You didn't protect me!”
Sophia, indiscriminately, still aimed her little fangs at Li Andy.
Li Andy didn't humor her, sidestepping to dodge and directly grabbing her two weak points.
At this, Sophia shivered again, completely losing her mind, her eyes turning blood red.
“Wuwu, you all bully me!”
“Hey, don't bite! Don't move! I'm trying to help you take it off!”
“Wuwu! You're still pulling!”
Watching the chaotic scene, Youxi, the instigator, covered her mouth and laughed, greatly amused.
For some reason, as her power grew, she felt she increasingly enjoyed such chaotic scenes.
Just as she turned to get something else to add fuel to the fire, she suddenly felt herself being pulled.
“Eh?!”
At the same time, two resentful voices sounded from behind her:
“Don't go.”
In just a few seconds, Li Andy and Sophia, who had been fighting, had actually formed a united front.
Jasmine blinked, watching her big sister being mercilessly dragged away and carried off, her eyes filled with envy, and she quickly tiptoed to follow.
.....
While Li Andy was performing the judgment ceremony, something subtle also happened at a hotel on the Nine District border.
“Rose, please don't go!” Charles pleaded bitterly, grabbing Rose's arm.
Rose's face flashed with a hint of pain, but she endured it, pursing her lips and saying,
“For the troupe, I must go. Besides, this isn't the first time, is it? In truth, I'm no different from how I was at the very beginning.”
These words were like a heavy hammer, striking Charles's heart hard.
“Don't go! This troupe… let's just give it up!” Charles's lips were bleeding from biting them.
Rose's body trembled, and she showed a desolate smile:
“Charles, it's too late. The moment we used that thing, there was no turning back. Charles, you didn't actually buy that person's item, did you? You really don't need to go crazy with us.”
At these words, Charles's body paused. After a few seconds of silence, he slowly stood up:
“No… I actually bought it too!”
Rose froze, watching Charles take out a mask that looked like skin or a shell and quickly put it on his face. Rose wanted to stop him, but it was too late. Charles's face began to wriggle and became very blurry.
“Are you crazy?!”
Rose cursed, supporting the staggering man, tears constantly falling from the corners of her eyes,
“You've always seen our ghostly appearance, haven't you?!”
“Rose, I… I'm also using it for the first time. You… don't be afraid.”
Charles's muffled voice came out intermittently,
“It was my cowardice that led to the troupe being driven out of the Imperial Capital… And it was also because of my cowardice that I never dared to pay the price, always parasitizing your sacrifices… I… should be the one to go crazy with you all the most!”
The last sentence became very clear.
The blurry face before her also solidified into shape.
However, that face was not Charles's, but had become exactly like hers, Rose's.
“Wait a moment, let me take your place and drink that damned wine.”
Charles, transformed into Rose's likeness, no longer had a timid gaze, but one that was exceptionally resolute.