Chapter 394 - 186 The Bell Tolls of the Ancient City (Please Vote, Asking for Monthly Tickets)_3
What he said was true, but just a few words, and he expected a father to take his daughter, leave the homeland where they had lived for many years, and drift overseas.
It was, after all, somewhat unimaginable.
Yet, the old man knew the Skelot Family would arrive soon, and if they didn’t leave now, it would really be too late.
However, whether Rhode was willing to go was a decision the old man couldn’t make for him.
Having said so much, the old man had done his best and could leave with a clear conscience.
"Perhaps, it’s time to escape."
After sending the old man away, Rhode sighed and then took his daughter to the base of a cliff on the island.
"Daddy, why have you brought me here?"
"The Skelot Family has set their eyes on your voice," Rhode didn’t hide the truth and told his daughter, "We need to go."
"The old gentleman, he..."
"We can’t use his boat."
Firstly, it wasn’t safe, for Rhode still couldn’t trust the old man.
In addition, Rhode had made preparations to flee since the moment his daughter displayed her anomalous powers, so he wasn’t completely unprepared.
"This is!"
In a cave beneath the cliff, Rhode untied the ropes, revealing a moderately-sized wooden boat slowly drifting out.
For ten years, Rhode had prepared for this day.
He was to take his daughter away from here and seek opportunities in new seas.
As for the dangers of the sea, Iotina’s singing was so unique that both Sea Beasts and storms would avoid them.
With such power, where couldn’t they go?
There might still be dangers, though.
But under today’s circumstances, not leaving was not an option; if they stayed here, there was only a dead end. Rather than facing that, it was better to take to the seas to seek a slim chance of survival.
"Daddy, are we really leaving?"
"I’m sorry, Iotina."
Rhode said, "Daddy is powerless, unable to protect you, and has to take you on an adventure at sea."
"It’s okay."
Iotina showed a tender smile, "As long as I’m with Daddy, anywhere is the same."
"Don’t worry, Daddy, once we’re out at sea, Iotina will sing with all her might," the girl laughed, "I’ll sing away the clouds in the sky and the monsters beneath the sea."
"Hmm."
Seeing his daughter’s smile, Rhode felt a surge of boundless courage and confidence, "It’s up to you."
·
"Splash--"
In Hiruen’s fishing grounds, a young man dressed in an attendant’s garb walked down the aisle with a handmaiden.
The fishy smell from both sides was overpowering, yet the two of them reacted not at all, seemingly accustomed to these scents.
"Brother."
"Call me Master Attendant."
The young man wasn’t a real attendant; in fact, he was just a manservant.
But for the sake of showing off, he deliberately wore this attire to revisit the place he once lived, to avenge the humiliation he had once suffered.
"Master."
"Good morning, Master."
"He really came back, is he going to trouble us?" n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"You were the one who bullied him, it has nothing to do with me."
"He’s looking this way, quick, bow your head, bow your head down!"
"He can’t see me, he can’t see me."
"..."
Even being a mere servant, a Knight’s servant was not the same as these fishmongers.
The young man had entered the upper echelons, following Sir Knight around, witnessing grand scenes, while they could only stay in the fishery, breathing in the putrid, fishy odor.
Of course, this was all a pretense by the young man, and his actual goal was not so simple and vulgar.
"Why did you call me here?"
The handmaiden, the young man’s sister, didn’t quite understand her brother’s intent, "This dress was just issued to me. If it gets dirty, I’ll be in for a beating."
"If you don’t dare to take even a little risk, how are you going to climb into the bed of someone important?"
Flai said, "It’s a good chance to train your courage."
"I don’t want to be pressed under that fat pig."
The girl called Ireina did not share her brother Flai’s aspirations to show off.
Their mother was a prostitute from the Ancient City and had once tried to climb into the beds of the powerful men with her beauty.
But as a result of being powerless and without backing, she was bagged in the night, her face slashed.
Finding her unappealing as an Ugly Freak, the master threw her out of the mansion.
Thus, without any real skills, the mother fell into decadence, becoming the most lowly of prostitutes.
Ireina and Flai were half-siblings who depended on each other and neither knew who their biological father was.
Flai was less fortunate, not having inherited their mother’s beauty, and was rat-like in appearance.
However, Flai was articulate and particularly adept at flattering, which led to him being favored by Sir Knight and becoming his manservant, and not long after, rising to become Knight’s Attendant.
As for his sister Ireina, she was very beautiful, even more so than their mother.
"What do you mean by ’fat pig’?"
Flai said, "That’s the patriarch of one of the six great families in this city, the head of the Mordi Family. If you can become his concubine, you won’t have any worries for the rest of your life."
"And then you can start climbing higher?"
"Heh."
Flai laughed, "With my looks, how far can I climb, even if I try?"
"Then what is it that you want to do?"
"I may be cunning but I’m not so low as to plot against my own sister," Flai said, "I want you to bear that man’s child, and then we’ll raise him together, make him the new patriarch of the Mordi Family!"
Ireina: Isn’t that scheming? You say that isn’t scheming?
"..."
If someone else had said this, Ireina might have scoffed, but her brother Flai was genuinely smart.
Yep, all his attributes in looks were invested in intelligence.
"I know it’s risky," Flai said, "We have to be able to outmaneuver that fat pig’s concubines and legal wife first, then his countless offspring. It could consume ten years of our lives, or perhaps a lifetime."