Book 19: Chapter 47
When they met the next day, the young man in white was by Miss Vera’s side, which was quite the surprise to the four sisters. As a matter of fact, Liu Yue gave the youngster next to her a sympathetic look. She opened her arms and, with a bright smile, suggested, “What’s the matter? You need a friendly hug to relax?”
The youngster believed Miss Vera assigned him to protect the four sisters because she trusted him in addition to the sisters not disliking him. Nevertheless, seeing someone else protect the woman he liked left a bitter taste in his mouth. With that said, he was a bodyguard. As a bodyguard he couldn’t question his master’s command. As such, he had to put up with the bitterness.
The four sisters had different impressions of the young man in white. They didn’t realise it at first. After Miss Ying interacted with him, however, they learnt that he was actually an apprentice officer by their father’s side. It was strange because as soon the sisters learnt of his identity, they immediately recalled lots of related memories.
Daisy felt there was something different about the young man in white next to Miss Vera. She had an odd feeling upon first meeting him; she thought she met him before. Afterwards, she asked Miss Ying about him and learnt he was a new apprentice in the guard unit. That wasn’t the reason she knew him, nonetheless. There were lots of apprentices in the Imperial Palace. Fundamentally, her father’s bodyguard team was comparable to her Grandmother Elizabeth’s Valkyrie squad, which was why there are lots of apprentices. Therefore, it was impossible for her to remember an ordinary officer.
Daisy felt she spent several years of thinking on her memories of the last few days, yet she couldn’t recall where she saw the young man in white before. Daisy wasn’t fond of thinking. She’d rather spend her energy training or stalking her father than thinking about the young man in white. Nevertheless, an opportunity had presented itself.
Two bodyguards were currently present in the rest room. Miss Vera was busy with her work; she planned to take the sisters to lunch afterwards.
Liu Yue played chess with Vera. Nona chatted with Miss Ying. Ying wasn’t fond of speaking, but she was a good listener. It was apparent Ying enjoyed chatting with Nona. Ying was fond of the innocent type of kids, such as Nona.
“That means that nobody is paying attention to me at the moment. This might be my chance to ask,” rationalised Daisy. She inquired, “Umm… Have we seen you before?”
The young man in white pivoted around. He answered, “Yes. We met at the city door. To be honest, I never thought we would be working together after that meeting.”
Daisy grabbed him: “No, what I mean is in the past, further back, that is. You’re one of my dad’s apprentice officers, right? Have we met before in the Imperial Palace? I don’t have a great memory, but something must’ve happened for me to remember you. I just can’t recall exactly what happened. So, do you still remember where we met and what we did?”
“Erm…” The young man’s expression subtly changed: “Sorry, Your Highness, I am just an apprentice officer. Normally speaking, I would not have the chance to meet you…”
“That’s a lie,” Liu Yue coldly interjected, causing the duo to shudder. “Although I don’t know what you’re trying to hide, you’ve dined with my father before. To be precise, you dined with my father and Mommy Lucia. I don’t believe my father would take the initiative to invite an apprentice officer to share a meal with him; you must be somehow related.”
“Ah… I…” With a helpless smile, the young man explained, “About that… umm… to be honest, I really do not know… What I mean is that I really did not know that King Troy taking the initiative to invite an apprentice officer to share a meal was special case. I thought everybody would have the experience… After all… after all…”
Liu Yue folded her arms and sternly responded, “Leaving us out even if it’s just a meal is unlike Dad! When Dad sees guests, he’ll tell us – unless the guest is somebody very important. Otherwise, he’ll let us join. Why are you the exception? I noticed something wasn’t right from the start. I merely didn’t speak up. Now, tell us, what exactly are you here for? I feel as though… Dad sent you to protect us?”
“Sorry, Your Highness, I must apologise for the previous matter for I previously did not know the reason. But nonetheless, you can consider me an ordinary person from the West. I am unrelated to His Majesty in any capacity, and I do not have any idea why His Majesty did that… I think… if you want to know… it would be best for you to ask His Majesty yourself. As for your second question, my answer is ‘no.’ I am, indeed, here on orders from His Majesty; however, my order was to guard Miss Vera, not you. I am sure Miss Ying and Miss Tanya will be the ones to protect you. I am just an apprentice, after all. Asking me to protect you would, frankly, be too tall of an order…”
“Mm…” Liu Yue looked at the young man.
When Liu Yue was about to ask more questions, Miss Vera came over. Miss Vera, smiling, suggested, “I heard you sisters were quite fond of stir-fried dishes. I, therefore, asked the chef in the palace to prepare some dishes for you. You should be able to use our eating utensils now, right? Let us go have our meal now, then.”
“All right.” The girls nodded, thereby ending the inquiry session. They did manage to attain some answers, albeit not the answer they wanted. Although the young man might’ve told the truth, the four sisters didn’t look as though they planned on acknowledging his answer. Even so, not even the astute Vera could find a reason to refute his claims.
The young man in white sighed and then walked over to Miss Vera. The youngster vigilantly watched the young man in white. The biggest taboo for guards was secrets. A guard with a secret was the easiest to capture, and they were problematic.
“It seems… that there’s a small problem with Mom’s filtering magic… How did they see through me…? A dragon’s magic should be perfect, shouldn’t it…? Why is there a problem…? Why…?” silently questioned the young man in white.