Chapter 24 - Dark creatures

Rege noticed Jian Qiao’s disquiet immediately.

He leaned into the ear of the gentleman Earl and asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong with you? Feeling unwell?”

He’d grown up in this era. He simply couldn’t understand the rejection in Jian Qiao’s heart. Aside from the whip, driving these dwarfs directly onto red hot coals, making them jump and scream and howl, could also be considered lively entertainment.

And Rege had seen this kind of performance too many times. He’d never felt there was anything wrong with it.

In the eyes of these people, the strange-looking dwarf was a lower form of life than livestock, and no one would show excess sympathy for an animal.

Jian Qiao understood how Rege had been influenced by the limitations of the times. If he too had been born and raised among the nobility of this era, his thinking might not be any more enlightened. So he suppressed his discomfort, shook his head, and said, “No, it’s nothing. I just had a few drinks. My chest is a little tight.”

He gently stroked his chest.

“What a rotten body you have!” Rege’s face was full of disgust, but he’d already beckoned the attendant. “Send over a glass of ice water with a little lemon juice.”

A glass of ice water was immediately placed in Jian Qiao’s hand. The coldness of the ice, the tartness of the juice, and the pungency of the peel soon made Jian Qiao’s dizzy head feel a little better.

When it came to showing consideration for people, Rege was really experienced.

Jian Qiao took a small sip of the ice water and sighed. “I finally understand why those women like you. If I were a woman I’d like you too.”

Rege, who was watching him with a concerned gaze, wasn’t sure why, but his heart suddenly lurched. Those last words were like a heavy mallet knocking him dizzy.

His eyes darkened for a moment. Pretending he hadn’t heard clearly, he asked, “What did you just say?”

Jian Qiao paused for a moment then suddenly changed his mind. “No, being a woman doesn’t matter, I’d like you anyway. In this world you’re my favorite person.”

The statement was completely free of exaggeration. It had only been five years since he came to this world, and Jian Qiao, who was out of step with everyone, had found only a single like-minded friend. If he didn’t like Rege, who else could he like?

Rege: “…”

Shit! He really was going to explode into foul language! What exactly was the gentleman Earl’s little mouth made of? How could it be so sweet? He probably drank honey water every day, right? And it was marigold honey! One flower after another, as bright as the sun, just like every word he uttered!

Rege’s crazy heart could no longer be suppressed. But just at that moment, the female dwarf who’d reached the center of the dance floor told a very funny joke, which caused the guests in the hall to laugh.

Rege took advantage of this to reveal a grin. The corners of his eyes and his eyebrows were full of happiness and satisfaction like never before, just like a blooming marigold.

Jian Qiao also smiled. The corners of his lips rose, his eyes curved, his smile was subtle but also cheerful. He watched the female dwarf in the middle of the floor and applauded gently.

Rege looked at him in surprise, then whispered, “You, you smiled? You can do that?”

Prince Andrew was scanning the room, observing who was amused and who was not.

Jian Qiao kept the smile on his face and whispered, “I’m a human being too, of course I can smile.”

Rege carefully observed this smiling face, but kept thinking something wasn’t right. The gentleman Earl’s smile was really very beautiful. Slightly curved eyes like a lovely crescent moon, upturned lips that pulled the muscles of the cheeks, revealing two small pear-shaped dimples, and the dimples were full of intoxicating wine.

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Oh dear God, it turned out the gentleman Earl had pear-shaped dimples! He’d known the other man for so long, but Rege hadn’t discovered this big secret until now.

When he wasn’t smiling, Jian Qiao was elegant and indifferent and beyond reach, but once he showed a smile, he looked so immature and tender. He seemed to have become a big child.

It was just that this big child’s eyes seemed to be missing some clarity and light. Rege vaguely came up with this thought.

But before he could think about it further, Prince Andrew said gloomily, “Very well, everyone laughed except for Cassia. Bring my whip!”

A servant immediately presented a long whip full of barbs.

The smile at the corner of Jian Qiao’s mouth stiffened slightly, then it bloomed even more. He no longer applauded gently, but lifted his hands and beat his palms until they were red and swollen. He wanted to set the atmosphere for the female dwarf on stage.

Naturally, the female dwarf also saw the long whip held in Prince Andrew’s hand.

Her face immediately turned ghastly pale, but she adjusted her mood in an instant. She boldly walked towards a handsome and proud young nobleman and half-kneeled on the ground, begging him to dance with her, earnestly describing how she fell in love with him at first sight when she came to the banquet.

She clutched at her little heart, gushing burning words of love, and made the young nobleman feel both annoyed and ashamed.

The strong contrast between beauty and ugliness, as well as the absurd drama of a toad aspiring to kiss a prince, made the guests burst into even more excited laughter.

The young nobleman finally couldn’t bear it and kicked the dwarf woman away.

The female dwarf smoothly tumbled backwards, rolled twice on the ground like a ball, and actually rolled back to the feet of the youth, hugging his legs and saying eagerly, “My darling, please kick me again. The harsher you treat me the more I love you!”

The young nobleman’s cheeks turned red, then he held his forehead and lamented. He was done! He was completely done!

This was the lowest form of comedy, but also the last resort—that is, to degrade yourself.

But the longer this went on, the more the guests appreciated it. They burst out with laughter like never before, followed by wild applause. The golden candelabra placed on high were slightly shaken by the powerful noise, causing the candles to flicker and go out. The lights and shadows danced wildly, and the guests’ silhouettes on the ground lengthened, then twisted and distorted.

The core of comedy is tragedy, and everyone involved in it was creating a tragedy. This laughter was not laughter, it was the lament of an era.

Looking at such a scene, the smile on Jian Qiao’s face slowly faded, but whenever Rege or Prince Andrew looked over, the two pear dimples on his cheeks would return.

He raised his hands and clapped vigorously.

However, even though the little woman used all her skill to make the nobles laugh, she could not make Cassia, who was sitting in the place with the most brilliant lights, show even the slightest smile.

The person sat perfectly upright to ensure her gorgeous skirt wouldn’t form unnecessary wrinkles. Her emerald green eyes were focused on the stage, but it was like she saw nothing at all. While others were laughing wildly, she just narrowed her eyes with a lazy expression.

In the crowded and chaotic danse macabre of high society, she alone was sober, self-contained, and unmoved.

And she had no idea her noble attitude would bring others to ruin.

The female dwarf rolled and rolled until she lost momentum. Eventually she stopped in the center of the floor with her legs split in a line, and looked at Cassia with imploring eyes.

Cassia turned her head away indifferently, then frowned in disgust. She liked the feeling of being watched, but that didn’t include being looked at by such a bizarre thing.

Prince Andrew stood up, slowly walked to the middle of the dance floor, and raised his hands to motion for silence. “Ladies and gentlemen, a few words. A few moments ago I made a bet with my little pet. I said as long as she could amuse all the guests I’d reward her with ten gold coins. And if any of them didn’t laugh, I’d whip her to death.”

Prince Andrew stood in front of Cassia and said in a gloomy tone, “Obviously, she lost!”

Everyone looked at Cassia, who’d been as cold as ice from beginning to end. Cassia raised her delicate jaw even more proudly, as if to say—I simply didn’t laugh, what do you want?

Prince Andrew leaned down and menaced, “My dear, you’re the only one who can save her now, understand?”

Lower himself to make a woman laugh? No, it was absolutely impossible for Prince Andrew to do such a ridiculous thing. If he saw a beautiful flower he would pluck it at will. If the flower was full of thorns he’d take his scissors and cut them off.

He was a tyrant through and through.

Hearing these vicious words and seeing the long whip full of poisoned spikes, all the women present let out a low cry of horror.

“God, Cassia, please smile, come on! I don’t want to see someone die in front of me!” A noblewoman took out her smelling salts and took two deep sniffs, shouting while covering her chest.

Cassia, however, looked straight at Prince Andrew and said, very distinctly, “If I want to smile, then even if someone dies in front of me, I will smile brightly. If I want to cry, then even if countless treasures are piled up in my hands, I will weep with sorrow. My emotions are completely controlled by myself and won’t waver for anyone. If you want to kill her, do as you will.”

After these words fell, she extended her hand and made a “please” gesture.

The female dwarf, who’d been looking at her with hope, was crushed in an instant. She clasped her hands together and choked out a plea, “No, don’t, beautiful miss, please be kind and save my life! It’s easy for you, just reward me with a smile, even if it’s fake, it’s all right. I beg you, I beg you! I have two small children at home to provide for, they can’t lose their mother!”

But no one cared about her life, much less the lives of her children. Of this type of livestock, Prince Andrew could get as many as he wanted.

Cassia never even glanced at the female dwarf, but only fixed her eyes on Prince Andrew, her expression more and more haughty. She was competing with this man, and a human life was nothing.

And the more staunch, fierce, fearless, and merciless she was, the more she aroused the esteem of these great lords with their pathological mentality. This gang of monsters, who’d grown up in a hotbed of corruption, had long ago warped their aesthetic sense.

The darker the creature, the more fascinating it was in their eyes.

The pear dimples in Jian Qiao’s cheeks completely smoothed out. When he looked at Cassia there was no longer any trace of appreciation in his eyes, only a profound chill. Then he withdrew his gaze and looked at his red and swollen palms.

No matter how much effort he put in, it was useless. His strength was too weak.

Rege took his slender wrist and whispered, “Did you like the dwarf’s performance that much?”

Jian Qiao nodded silently. Of course, he didn’t like this kind of vulgar show at all, but he couldn’t help it. That was a life!

Just then Prince Andrew applauded and laughed out loud. “Good! Very good! Dear Cassia, I like you more and more! In order to express my burning affection I’ve decided to give you a good show. Drag her up.”

Immediately, two manservants dragged the limp female dwarf to Cassia’s feet, where Prince Andrew would execute her. When the whip danced in the air, Cassia would inevitably be covered in blood.

No woman could bear the terrible scene of flesh ripping open and bones shattering.

But Cassia was by no means an ordinary woman. She stretched her hand out as before and made a “please feel free” gesture. Even if someone died in front of her, she wouldn’t blink. That was how ruthless she was.

Prince Andrew nodded and smiled more cheerfully, then he began to put on clean white gloves so as to avoid staining himself with blood. He liked this woman so much! She was more rebellious than the strongest wild horse on the steppe.

But he liked a challenge, and even more than that, he liked to hear his opponent’s bones smashing one by one.

The female dwarf was so scared she was incontinent. She slumped on the ground like a mass of mud, while some of the guests next to her actually let out low laughs of amusement.

Jian Qiao tried to say a few words to stop it, but closed his thin pallid lips with difficulty. He understood the mentality of people like Prince Andrew all too well.

They were born with rebellion in their bones. The more others begged them not to do something the more they dug in, because they were happiest when watching others suffer. Moreover, Jian Qiao was nothing in his eyes. His words wouldn’t have the slightest weight.

If Jian Qiao opened his mouth to intercede and pleaded for the female dwarf, the most likely possibility was not that he would save her, but that it would make Prince Andrew strike harder. Originally it might have been only a hundred lashes, but he might smile and whip her two hundred, three hundred times or more, then laugh and say, “Are you satisfied now?”

So Jian Qiao could only choose to be silent. These pampered aristocrats would tire after they gave ten lashes with their own hands, and then they’d make others do it for them.

By that point it should be easier to intervene and beg for mercy.

With this thought, Jian Qiao clenched his fists and waited silently. When his heart was tortured with guilt, Rege suddenly said: “Andrew, let her go for my sake.”

TL Notes:

Shit! – This was in English in the raw text

crowded and chaotic danse macabre – 群魔乱舞 – a host of ghosts and demons dancing in riotous revelry