Chapter 9
Inside the wooden house.
Under the faint light of an oil lamp, Xia Mingyu tossed and turned on the hard bed, unable to fall asleep.
His thoughts were still stuck on what had happened at dusk.
“I left just like that... Anliya must have been very disappointed.”
Xia Mingyu raised his hand and stared at his palm.
Thinking about how carefully the girl had taken care of him these past few days, he felt increasingly guilty.
He turned his head and looked toward the corner of the room.
There sat a basket filled to the brim with bright, juicy red fruits.
They had all been given to him by Uncle Simpu, whom he had met in the orchard earlier that day.
Looking at that basket only made the guilt in Xia Mingyu’s heart grow stronger.
His hand slowly clenched into a fist.
His slender knuckles turned slightly white from the force, and his fingernails dug into his palm.
Yet he did not even notice the pain.
“I... want to help them too!”
“But someone like me, who has nothing and is carrying around a false title, might only bring disaster upon them.”
“If only my Identity Blessing were real... No, wait. Strictly speaking, it actually is real. It’s just completely useless here!”
Xia Mingyu lightly tapped his forehead with his fingers, trying to force himself to come up with a solution.
“Repaying kindness is one of my principles. Xia Mingyu, you managed to raise your college entrance exam score by two hundred points in the final three months. Use that same determination and think of something!”
He took a deep breath and began organizing everything he knew.
“The root of the village’s crisis is that they can’t pay enough taxes.”
“In other words, it comes down to two words—no money!”
“And the reason they ended up in this situation is because that damned traveling merchant from Kelai cheated the village. Their red fruits piled up because they couldn’t sell them, and that left them unable to pay the agricultural tax.”
Xia Mingyu suddenly froze.
“Wait... traveling merchant...”
He vaguely felt as though he had just found a possible way out of this situation.
Knock, knock, knock.
Just as he fell deep into thought, someone suddenly knocked on his door.
“Your Highness, are you asleep?”
Anliya’s gentle voice came from outside.
For some reason, Xia Mingyu felt that her voice sounded slightly shaky.
“Not yet.”
Remembering what had happened at dusk, he felt somewhat guilty, causing his voice to lower without him realizing it.
“Your Highness... may I come in for a moment?”
“Of course.”
Xia Mingyu got up and opened the door.
Only after Anliya stepped into the area illuminated by the oil lamp did he belatedly notice that she looked somewhat different tonight.
She was still wearing the same linen outer garment tied around her waist.
However, her long golden hair, as soft and warm as a wheat field in autumn, seemed to have just been washed.
There was still a little moisture at the ends, along with a faint, pleasant fragrance.
Her fair and delicate cheeks were slightly flushed with a beautiful shade of red.
Her clear blue eyes looked at him with the damp, nervous gaze of a newborn deer.
For some reason, Xia Mingyu even sensed a faint trace of charm in her expression.
“Is something wrong...?”
He was just about to ask when the girl standing before him slowly untied the belt around her waist and removed her outer garment.
Underneath was a beautiful blue dress.
The light fabric followed the graceful lines of her figure, while the hem gently swayed like a bluebell dancing in the morning mist.
Even when Anliya had been wearing worn and shabby clothes, her appearance had already been comparable to the greatest celebrities back on Blue Star.
But now, with her golden hair and blue dress complementing one another, she looked almost like an elf who had stepped straight out of a fairy tale.
She was so beautiful that it was almost frightening.
Every small movement carried an indescribable charm.
Even Xia Mingyu, who had seen countless internet influencers edited by beauty filters until they looked like heavenly immortals, was momentarily stunned by her appearance.
“Your Highness... please have mercy on me!”
Before Xia Mingyu could react, he felt a warm and soft body throw itself into his arms.
So soft...
Like cotton candy.
And so hot...
Her body feels like she has a fever.
For a moment, Xia Mingyu felt as though a warm little deer had pressed close to him, making his blood rush through his body.
