Chapter 7: The Black Hole Hiding Secret

"If you want me dead, just say so. There's no need to use such a vicious method."

Liang Lin trembled like a leaf.

"Hahaha~" Liang Di covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Alright, don't worry, you won't marry Gael."

Liang Di gave Liang Lin a meaningful look.

"You can't marry him. Doris doesn't like the current Langwendi family. Though... she'll probably encourage Auston to make you Prince Gael's secret lover..."

Liang Di raised her hand and gently stroked Liang Lin's smooth, delicate face.

"You're quite pretty."

Huh?

That compliment was rather sudden.

But Liang Lin's focus wasn't on that.

"Gael will be the king?"

Liang Di's smile froze.

"What do you think?"

"How would I know?"

Liang Lin wasn't unaware; she just didn't want to appear too clever in front of Liang Di (although in Liang Di's eyes, she was actually quite stupid).

"Well~ it doesn't matter who's the king anyway." Liang Lin casually stretched her elbows. "Anyway, it's none of my business."

She was determined to make Liang Di completely lower her guard.

"Let's go, let's go."

As Liang Lin left, she turned back and asked Liang Di, "Will you come back with me?"

Liang Di smiled and waved at her. "No, you go back with Duke Auston and the others. I have things to do."

"Okay."

Without further ado, and without any more pleasantries, Liang Lin turned and left.

On the way...

“If I remember correctly, there’s a forbidden area in the Lanwendi family’s back garden,” Liang Lin muttered to herself. “It’s definitely…not that simple.”

There’s definitely a secret hidden there.

Thinking of this, Liang Lin had a sudden inspiration.

Why not take advantage of the fact that Auston, Miranda, and Liang Di are all away from home and go check that place out now? Maybe she can discover some secrets.

Liang Lin quickened her pace.

“Take me home first, then come back to pick up Duke Auston,” Liang Lin said to the coachman.

Meeting his mistress’s arrogant gaze, the coachman clearly lacked confidence. He stammered, “But…His Excellency the Duke is still inside.”

“Are you defying me?”

Liang Lin raised her voice.

“Remember who’s the master of this house. Don’t waste your breath. If you defy me again…” Liang Lin touched the sword at her hip, her gaze gradually turning venomous.

The coachman's legs were trembling. He was torn, but under the threat of the sword, his brain raced, and he concluded: staying alive was more important.

"Yes, Miss, please get in, Miss." The coachman scurried into the carriage.

Tsk.

"Wasteful wretch."

Liang Lin snorted coldly.

A demon! This woman is a demon!

The coachman, a rough, muscular man in his forties, capable of killing two children with a single punch, now shed tears of bitterness, realizing that serving nobles was no easy task.

Silence filled the journey.

Upon arriving home, Liang Lin, lifting her skirt, ran faster than her pet dog, Dody, who had come to greet her. The dog watched helplessly as its mistress overtook it, dashing into the back garden without even a breath.

Left turn, right turn.

The layout of the Langwendi residence was complex; if Liang Lin hadn't had a good memory, she might have taken a long time to find it.

Pushing aside a thicket of bushes, the dark entrance to the cave appeared before Liang Lin.

This was it.

Liang Lin crept closer, cautiously observing her surroundings, afraid of being discovered. As she approached the entrance, she could hear a howling wind inside, like a woman weeping, or perhaps an old man whispering, sending chills down Liang Lin's spine.

The darkness inside was unnatural. Liang Lin squinted, trying to make out even a glimpse of the cave's interior, but she couldn't see anything clearly. All she could see was a black mass, seemingly mist, gathering at the entrance, obscuring the view of anyone trying to approach.

How dangerous.

For some reason, Liang Lin felt an urge to run back. Her sixth sense told her that something bad was inside, and it was dangerous, potentially fatal.

Should she… go back? Liang Lin hesitated.

But she had already come this far, how could she–

"Miss, what are you doing here?"

That voice sounds so familiar! Who?! 

Liang Lin turned sharply towards the source of the sound and saw the elderly head maid standing behind a tree not far away, her deep purple eyes fixed intently on her.

Oh no.

She'd been discovered.

If this woman told Auston, Liang Di might find out too, making it even more difficult for her to approach the cave entrance.

"Bellica, have all your maids cleaned up here?" she asked with a half-smile, as if teasing the head maid, Bellica.

"Miss, we haven't been cleaning. It's just me." Bellica emerged from behind the tree and beckoned to Liang Lin. "Miss, don't go near there. Come over here."

She warily eyed the cave entrance, took a few steps towards Liang Lin, then stopped, seemingly hesitant to approach further.

"Just you alone..."

Liang Lin drawled.

If she was alone, maybe she could escape?

Liang Lin gripped the sword at her waist, ready to draw it the moment Bellica came any closer, adding a beautiful stroke to the woman's neck.

But Bellica didn't move, just stood there, repeatedly calling for her to come closer.

In those few seconds, Liang Lin's mind raced, and she suddenly realized something.

She couldn't kill Bellica; she was the head maid. If she suddenly disappeared, it would definitely cause her a mess. Although most of the Langwendi family members were incompetent, Liang Di seemed quite intelligent, and although Auston seemed stupid, he was actually quite clever to have become the head of the family.

She couldn't kill Bellica, so… how could she explain why she was here?

Liang Lin slowly walked towards the head maid.

"Bellica, I'm lost. This is the forbidden area, isn't it?" Liang Lin pointed to the dark entrance.

Bellica breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Liang Lin approaching, but when she saw Liang Lin pointing to the entrance, she was inexplicably terrified again. “Miss, you were so careless! If you had been…” Bellica didn't finish her sentence. She had been too flustered and forgotten that Liang Lin was a wicked woman. Now that she remembered, she dared not complain any further.

“Miss, since you're lost, let me take you out.”

“Okay.”

It seems she'll have to wait until next time.

However, even if Bellica hadn't come, she probably wouldn't have gone in today. That sense of danger made her afraid to approach. Her sixth sense was always very accurate; if she rashly went in, she might lose her life, which would be a huge loss.