“I’ll just say it straight, Charles. The envoy from the Imperial Capital has already decided to let her take the position of City Lord. If we don’t do something soon, it’ll be too late.”
Masha’s expression wasn’t good. Usually, when she was involved in these shady dealings, she would phrase things more ambiguously, leaving some face for both sides. The fact that she was being so direct now could only mean she was truly anxious.
“Once Xiliya and her people become City Lord, I’m afraid our current business…”
Masha knew Charles would understand her implication. The Textile Merchant Guild was her closest partner in the smuggling trade, and the one she trusted most in this matter, which was why she had come to him for help.
“I like Madam Masha’s candor,” Charles said with a smile. “Just tell me straight—what do you need me to do? The Textile Merchant Guild is at your service.”
As expected, merchants were all smooth talkers. They were clearly plotting something underhanded in secret, yet Charles could spin it as “candor.”
Moreover, when it came to dealing with Xiliya, Charles was more than willing. He still remembered the incident where she had knocked out two of his teeth.
“Xiliya has a good impression with the envoy from the Imperial Capital right now. We need to find a way to change that. Here’s what I’m thinking…”
Masha instinctively lowered her voice as she discussed the plan with Charles.
Masha knew this was her last chance. It wasn’t just that failure this time would mean Xiliya taking the City Lord position—it was that if she failed again, Samuer would absolutely force her to cooperate in getting rid of Xiliya.
Masha was well aware that Samuer wouldn’t care about the life or death of an ally like her. He just didn’t want the threat of Xiliya sitting in the City Lord seat. If it really came to that, her own situation would become extremely dangerous.
—
Cough cough…
After the massage ended, Ximo couldn’t help but cough twice, immediately drawing Xiliya’s attention.
“I’ll go get your medicine. Was it too intense just now?”
Xiliya stood up. She hadn’t dared to go too hard on Ximo precisely because she was worried about her physical condition.
After Xiliya left, Ximo suppressed the urge to keep coughing and called out to the System in her mind.
“Why do I feel like my body has been worse lately? I’ve been taking medicine the whole time.”
Ximo remembered that after failing the Winter Hunt task, her physical condition had seemed worse than before. Though lighter than the original Sickly Young Lady’s symptoms, if the illness kept worsening, it would be trouble.
“Kisses, just taking medicine isn’t enough~ The punishment for task failure is irreversible. Medicine can only help stabilize things.”
Irreversible? Ximo’s heart sank. She had thought that once Xiliya agreed to prepare medicine for her every day, the sickly debuff wouldn’t be such a hassle. Now learning it was irreversible was a real problem.
She wasn’t like Xiliya, after all. After two failure punishments, she was just a bit weak-bodied, but if she failed once more, Ximo figured she’d really turn into the Sickly Young Lady.
“Also, the reward for completing this task has already been distributed to you, kisses. Now opening the next plot task~”
【As the legitimate heir of the Camberlan Family, your stepmother Masha has been relentlessly slandering and framing you.】
【After the Imperial Capital’s envoy Selina visited the residence, Masha grew bolder and accused you of stealing something from Selina.】
【Unable to defend yourself, you suffer the mute loss, and your image in Selina’s eyes drops another level.】
【Please complete the plot task “Framed for Stealing Selina’s Item (Incomplete)”. Warm reminder: Failure of this task will result in System punishment.】
Hearing the task details, Ximo’s heart sank again.
This task was far more troublesome. Masha was framing Xiliya, not her as the little maid. What merit did she have to be worth Masha framing her?
Moreover, knowing the punishments were irreversible made Ximo take the tasks even more seriously. She couldn’t afford another failure punishment right now.
Magic aptitude increase ×1… Seeing that the reward was the same as before, Ximo’s mind stirred, and she asked one more question.
“Will future task rewards always be aptitude boosts? What’s the reward for the next batch?”
Ximo suspected the System’s rewards were batched, like how they had shifted from useless constitution boosts to magic aptitude. Once aptitude rewards were done, would there be ones to improve her condition?
“Sorry, kisses, no query function for task rewards yet. You can ask my main personality once she awakens.”
Main personality? Ximo paused before realizing it meant that customer service rep System. The System had said she’d awaken after the first chapter’s plot ended. She had to hold out until then.
But the timeline to the end of the first chapter’s plot wasn’t far off. In the original story, after Xiliya was stripped of her heir status, she went to study at the Imperial Capital Magic Academy.
Thinking about it that way, Xiliya from her previous life had gone through so much misery. She really had it rough.
—
Ximo hadn’t expected Masha to act so quickly. The next day, when Annaer came to find Xiliya and said the Madam was looking for her, Ximo knew Masha was making her move.
Ximo followed Xiliya to see Masha. In the residence’s reception room, sitting on the sofa was Charles from the Textile Merchant Guild.
When he saw Xiliya, a flash of barely concealed disgust passed through Charles’s eyes, but he quickly forced a smile, stood up, and extended his hand.
“Long time no see, Xiliya.”
Xiliya didn’t move, so Charles’s outstretched hand hung awkwardly in midair.
“Is there something you need, Young Master Charles? I don’t recall us having any reason to meet.”
“You child, how can you speak like that? Young Master Charles came specifically to visit you.”
“There was a little unpleasantness between you two before, but you’re about to become Camberlan City’s City Lord. You’ll have even more dealings with the Textile Merchant Guild in the future. Young Master Charles thinks this is a good chance to reconcile for everyone’s benefit. You can’t disappoint his good intentions.”
Xiliya nodded, finally understanding why Charles’s smile looked so strained. Even if it was just an excuse to frame her, having to take the initiative to “reconcile” clearly didn’t sit well with him.
Xiliya chuckled silently to herself. In her previous life, Charles hadn’t had this attitude. Back then, the excuse Masha used to make them meet wasn’t this. After Masha took her City Guard Captain position, she had Charles replace her and called him to the residence to hand over work.
So in her previous life, Charles had been arrogant and overbearing when they met, nothing like this current stifled look where he had to swallow his bitterness.
