Chapter 35 - The nightmare returns

Rege strode into the castle. As he brushed past Cassia he said in an icy tone, “Don’t flatter yourself. This performance wasn’t for you. That smile of yours costs other men countless gold coins to buy, but it’s worthless in my eyes!”

Cassia shrugged, completely unfazed by these words.

“Darling, you’re so childish,” she shot back.

Rege snorted and continued to walk inside.

After returning to the banquet hall, the butler presented a tray containing the cloth bag left by Prince Andrew, as well as the ring with the Grande family crest.

Rege picked up the ring. Waving his hand, he said, “Take this pile of gold coins and reward the dwarfs. I was very pleased with their performance.”

The butler bowed and went to obey.

Rege slid the ring onto his finger, then he leaned back on the sofa, leisurely rolling the lion’s head ring on his thumb, the one given to him by Jian Qiao. His brain kept recalling the scene when they parted. Dizziness and turbulent emotions washed through his heart like ocean waves.

He ducked his head with a smile that overflowed with happiness, and kissed the blood diamond set in the lion’s mouth.

Just then, the dwarf woman named Zoe came up trembling and hunching her shoulders. With a tremor in her voice she said, “Your Lordship, we just received your bounty, so I’m here to thank you on behalf of everyone. Your generosity is beyond compare. Thank you very much!”

Rege looked down and fondled the blood diamond, and gave a cursory reply. His two overly long legs rested casually on the round table in a very indolent posture.

It was obvious that today’s performance had pleased him. Now he was like a sated lion, and his entire body was comfortable and relaxed.

Zoe carefully examined his mood and grew a little bolder. She got down on her knees. “Your Lordship, after the performance we received a lot of invitations from other nobles. They want us to perform at their houses as well, and they said they would give us a lot of gold coins. Your Lordship, will you allow it? We can give you all the gold coins we get from each performance. We only ask you to reward us by permitting us to eat white bread every day.”

The dwarfs were kept like livestock, so they were naturally fed rice hulls, barley husks, rotten vegetable leaves, and other unpalatable things.

Before being sold to the ducal palace they didn’t even know what it was like to sleep in a bed. A crude stable full of weeds was often their only shelter.

Such a huge bag of gold coins was something they’d never seen before. Just a moment ago, several of Zoe’s companions actually fainted after receiving the coins.

Ecstasy and happiness lingered in everyone’s hearts, and the extremely courageous Zoe realized that she’d found a benevolent master and a good livelihood.

That was why she came. She wanted to see if she could fight for a better life for her companions. Then she could eat normal food and live in a normal house like a normal person.

In the past, there was no question Rege would have kicked this greedy dwarf woman out. Performing plays for family after family in the name of the Duke’s household, what kind of nonsense was that? Would the ducal palace be transformed into a circus?

The play he personally wrote could only be performed in his house for the guests he invited. People outside shouldn’t even think about it.

That’s what all the great nobles did. They appropriated the best things for themselves, or even snatched what others had, and used these things as a symbol of their status and position.

But when Rege raised his head with an angry face, he suddenly thought of Jian Qiao. He thought of his submission and compromise, but also his gentleness and kind heart.

So he tensed his cheeks for a moment, then said in a deep voice, “You can, but you can only accept invitations from nobles of the same or higher standing than the ducal family. You must also obtain permission from the butler or you won’t be allowed to leave.”

This was the biggest concession he could make. If any dog or cat could be invited to see the dwarfs of the Duke’s house perform, then what was he as the master? The head of the circus?

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Zoe was overjoyed. She bowed again and again, saying, “Thank you, master! Thank you! You’re so merciful and kind! May God bless you!”

Now she could eat sweet and soft white loaves of bread every day, what a happy life! God Himself might envy them, wouldn’t He?

Zoe was so happy that tears streamed from her eyes.

Rege listened impatiently to these flattering words and waved his hand to dismiss her. When he heard the jubilant cries from the group of dwarfs outside the door, he couldn’t help but smile.

He didn’t realize that his hard heart had caved in, revealing the softness inside.

—

At the same moment, Jian Qiao was sitting in the carriage with his eyes closed, recalling the performance just now. Of course, what he was concerned about wasn’t the noise on stage, but every little movement of the man who sat beside him.

Rege had frequently peeked at his profile, his eyes full of nervousness. He went from excited anticipation to depression, and when he walked Jian Qiao to the carriage he avoided looking at him, like a child who’d done something wrong.

Every second of this memory made Jian Qiao smile from the bottom of his heart.

He curled his lips, smiling quietly.

When he opened his eyes and glanced down to see the sapphire ring on his finger, he naturally thought of Rege’s blue eyes, and smiled again.

When he returned to the hotel and took off the cloak that belonged to Rege, he caressed the soft fabric—and smiled again.

The entire time, Jian Qiao was smiling. Whenever an image of Rege flashed through his mind, whenever he saw one of Rege’s belongings around him, he formed a heartfelt smile.

No one had ever cared about his feelings as much as Rege.

He still remembered the time in his past life when he was deep in depression and his body was about to collapse from exhaustion, and he’d made a phone call to his father to ask for help. He needed to find a psychiatrist, but he wasn’t yet an adult and couldn’t afford hundreds of yuan an hour for treatment.

He thought that when he was about to die of illness his father would soften his heart a little.

But the person on the other side of the phone said in an incomparably cold voice, “You really are your mother’s seed. You love to use these tricks! If depression is going to kill you, go ahead and die. I’m not wasting a penny on you.”

After his father hung up, Jian Qiao fell into an even more hopeless darkness. At the time, he thought the rest of his life would be exactly the same. No hope, no warmth, no light.

But now there was a person who’d gone to great lengths to squeeze into his hands the hope, the warmth, and the light he thought he’d never have.

Thinking of this, Jian Qiao smiled again, but this time tears faintly glimmered in his eyes.

That night, when he woke up from the nightmare, he didn’t seem to feel as scared.

—-

More time passed, and Jian Qiao finally signed an agreement to buy food from several great lords near the city of Desolette.

When he put down his quill and shook hands with some of these lords, one said with great enthusiasm, “Let’s go hunting. Venison is at its tenderest this time of year.”

Jian Qiao, who fainted at the sight of blood: “…”

There was simply no room to object, because several great lords immediately changed into their hunting outfits, grabbed their weapons, summoned their hounds and knights, and were ready to set off.

The servant also brought a set of well-fitting hunting clothes for Jian Qiao. If he spoiled their fun, something might go awry with the contract he’d just signed.

With no way to back out, Jian Qiao took out a handkerchief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Forcing a smile, he said, “Can I invite another friend?”

So Rege came.

He carried a huge longbow on his back, led a pack of excitedly barking hounds, and was accompanied by several strong knights with arms as thick as pillars. He hurried to the hunting ground as fast as he could.

When he got off his horse, he strode towards Jian Qiao and embraced him with his strong arms. He laughed, then whispered, “Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything. I won’t let you catch sight of blood and faint in full view. Your dignity is mine to guard.”

Jian Qiao’s pale cheeks were tinged with a hint of red, and his ice-cold hands and feet regained a little temperature. So tense that his throat had gone dry, he said in a muted voice, “Ray, thank you. I’m so glad you could come.”

He raised his head to look at his only friend, pursed his thin lips, and revealed a very faint smile.

Rege rubbed the pear-shaped dimples on his cheeks with his fingertips, his eyes overflowing with tenderness.

“Don’t worry. Just follow me,” he urged again.

After going up the mountain, Rege took Jian Qiao away from the hunting party in the guise of splitting up.

“We’ll wait here. After dark they’ll sound the horn at the rendezvous point. Then we can go back.” Rege dismounted from his horse beside a mountain stream.

He thought the scenery here was the most beautiful. He liked the sound of rushing water beating against the rocks, and he liked the mistiness of the water vapor enveloping the valley.

Jian Qiao got down from his horse and asked apprehensively, “Won’t they laugh at you if you don’t catch any prey?”

He knew what these great nobles loved most was to compete with each other. Comparing wealth, status, power, women, military achievements…. They fought over everything, and Rege was so competitive.

“It doesn’t matter. For your sake it doesn’t matter if they laugh at me.” Rege walked towards the edge of the mountain stream, his tone very careless.

When he heard these words Jian Qiao couldn’t help but smile. He drew level with Rege, and then he caught sight of the meandering river. Above the surface of the water were waves of froth rolling with white foam, and below the surface were swirling and surging undercurrents. The roar of rumbling water filled his ears.

In an instant the scene brought Jian Qiao back to his original nightmare.

Only then did he realize that in addition to his fear of blood, he was also afraid of water. The fear hidden deep in his subconscious had made him avoid rivers and lakes throughout his life. So he had never discovered this weakness.

He turned pale when he reached the side of the mountain stream, then backed away in alarm.

But the mossy, wet rocks were too slippery. He panicked, falling in headfirst.

With a splash he plunged into the water, but it felt as if he’d fallen into lava. There was a painful sensation like burning flames. Water filled his mouth and nose, taking away his breath, and fear like a monster burst out of the dark rapids to attack him.

“Help me!” He opened his mouth and tried to shout the two words, only to choke on more cold water.

The swift current hurled him downstream, throwing him against the rocks at the bottom along the way, and the pain grew more intense each time. Eventually it would kill him.

Just as death strangled his neck and threatened to drag him to hell, a pair of strong arms wrapped around his waist and carried him toward the silver-painted surface.

It was Rege.

Jian Qiao clutched at the other man, like a vine clinging to the tree that gave it life.