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"…"

I took a deep breath, sighing deeply.

"So? Why are you here?"

I was speaking to the beautiful but expressionless and silent girl who was currently standing in front of me, looking up at my face with an innocent expression. I originally thought her hair and Lan Xiao Su\'s were similar in color, but that was just because of the lighting. Out here under the sun, it was clear her hair was actually closer to a light turquoise. This separated her appearance from Lan Xiao Su quite a lot, in addition to the fact that her hair was just let down to her back-height while Xiao Su\'s was tied up in twin ponytails.

But never mind that… the problem was, why she had followed me out here.

Naturally, though, she didn\'t respond, and instead just blinked at me blankly. At a loss for what to do, I folded my arms and glanced around.

"Look… you\'re from one of the Eight Great Families, right? Go on home, please. I have things I need to do… privately."

She didn\'t budge. Okay, time for plan two.

"If you don\'t stop following me… I\'ll force you to stop."

My red eyes held a sharp gleam in them, which was usually enough to intimidate any enemy. But not her. She didn\'t even see me as an enemy, and instead continued staring at my face with that same, never-changing expression of hers that reminded me of Lorelei. Except, Lorelei actually talked. This girl did not—only very rarely.

"God…" I sighed, giving up. "What am I going to do with you…?"

Let\'s see, what are my options? Correct, I have exactly zero. Clearly, words weren\'t getting through to her, despite me being sure she could hear me. I couldn\'t exactly knock her out either, since that would most likely earn me some trouble I didn\'t want to deal with—especially not when she was from one of the Eight Great Families of Fragment.

Oh wait… there\'s that strategy, huh?

A mischievious, triumphant smirk donned my face as I came up with a master plan to shake off this girl: Zhao Xiuying.

*****

It didn\'t take long for me to find a restaurant. I entered it, and Zhao Xiuying naturally followed. Obviously, her gorgeous appearance made her stand out. Many recognized her to be the young miss of the Zhao Family, but none believed it was the real her, entering a restaurant with a boy. That was so out of character, it was unbelievable. Yet here she was.

The waitress hurried over and led us to our seat, eyes landing on Zhao Xiuying in particular, but didn\'t question anything as that was rude. After sitting down, I immediately stood back up again and began walking away. Zhao Xiuying did as well like a truly persistent follower, but I stopped her with a hand.

"What are you trying to do?"

She didn\'t respond. That was fine.

"I\'m going to the washroom. You know you can\'t enter there, right?"

"…" She didn\'t respond this time either, but I did hear a cute, almost inaudibly soft grunt escaping her lips. Good—she acknowledged my words. Now then…

I strolled on in to the bathroom confidently as Zhao Xiuying returned to our seat, waiting for me to come out. Little did she know, I never would.

Thankfully, no one else was in the men\'s bathroom at the same time I was. This gave me the freedom to whatever I wanted. I immediately located the tiny, translucent window in the corner of the room, near the ceiling, and entered the stall closest to it. Then, climbing on top of the toilet lid, I pulled open the window after some effort and slipped through. It wouldn\'t have been possible without my vampiric strength, but I did it.

Did I feel bad? Kind of. But ultimately, it was the only way I could run from her. I had no intention of interacting with her, and I definitely did not need more women by my side.

"Take that, Zhao Xiuying!" I cackled in victory, landing on the ground behind the restaurant and dusting off my cloak. "Didn\'t think I\'d escape through there, did yo-"

I straightened my body up, and my gaze met the eyes of the same girl I had been trying to run away from. I froze mid-sentence, and a series of questions flowed through my head at Mach 1.

"… How?"

"…"

She didn\'t respond. 

Of course she didn\'t. 

She didn\'t even look sad or angry that I had tried that, though her lips were down-turned a little more than normal. 

"Alright then…" I sighed. "You\'re smarter than you let on, huh? Well. In that case, guess there\'s only one thing I can do."

*****

After a few minutes, I found myself staring at a massive mansion directly across from the Long Family\'s manor, comparable in size. Getting here wasn\'t a problem, as asking for directions was easy enough. The Xiang Family manor was right beside it, but I didn\'t see Xiang Peng anywhere—not that it really mattered. I had a more… problematic issue on my hands.

Sure enough, Zhao Xiuying was still beside me, having followed me all the way here. I tried losing her in the crowd, but it didn\'t work, surprisingly enough. 

"This is your house, right?" I asked. She slowly gave a nod. Well, better than nothing, I suppose.

"Perfect." With a smile, I stepped up to the entrance and rang the bell beside the metal black gates. Several seconds later, a servant rushed out of the manor, and quickly unlocked the gate to speak to us.

"Young miss! Welcome back!" Then, turning his gaze to me, he continued. "And you are…?"

"Oh, don\'t mind me," I said. "Your young miss, uh… ended up following me around. It was an… inconvenience, to say to the least. I was hoping you could, you know, stop her from doing that."

"Ah… actually…" The servant held an uncomfortable expression on his face. "… It\'s no use, I\'m afraid. The young miss is talented, but very stubborn. Once she has her mind set on something, no one can change her mind. Not even the patriarch and matriarch can, much less a mere servant like me…"

My mouth hung open.

"S-So, let me get this straight. You\'re telling me… there\'s absolutely nothing that can be done about this situation? I\'m stuck with her forever, until she decides to leave?"

The servant hesitantly nodded. I broke down, rubbing my own forehead.

"Ha… you\'ve got to be kidding me."

"I ask that you please don\'t hurt the young miss… the patriarch, matriarch, and most importantly Butler Zan will not be happy if you do. And Butler Zan… is scary—you don\'t want to get on his bad side. He is also very overprotective when it comes to the young miss, so…"

"In that case, can\'t he just take her back into the house? Please?" I begged. It\'s been a while since I last begged someone for something, but this really was a more troublesome situation than one could imagine.

"No can do," an old man stepped outside of the manor, wearing a full butler outfit that made him look real professional. It reminded me of the butler from the Death Realm—Ling Xin and Axilia\'s grandfather.

"B-Butler Zan…?" The servant was evidently surprised to see him. "I thought you were resting…"

"How can I rest when the young lady has just returned home?" The butler laughed, but the smile disappeared as quickly as it came as he set his gaze on me.

"You, young man. What is your name?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Is that important?"

"Yes. The patriarch, matriarch, and myself would all like to know the name of the man the young lady will be married off to."

"Wha- married?!" I cried, eyes widening in shock. "W-Woah there, Mr. Butler, I think that\'s taking it too far, no? She\'s just been following me around for a few hours, we\'re not getting married!"

Butler Zan sighed. "I am sure you know this by now, but the young lady is extremely quiet, but stubborn. She also has never been interested in anyone, and certainly not a man. The only interest in her life is alchemy. The fact that she has chosen to follow you around for so long, refusing to give up… it is saying a lot."

"Uh… great? But do I not get a say in this?" I asked. "Marriage is a two-sided thing, correct? Even if she wants to get married to me, I don\'t feel like marrying her. Nor anyone, for that matter—I\'d like to wait a few more years before even thinking about marriage."

"Well, the young lady hardly leaves us any choice," Butler Zan shrugged. "It is either you marry her, or you let her remain lonely for the rest of her life. And we, as the Zhao Family, will never accept letting the young lady remain lonely for her entire life!"

I narrowed my eyes dangerously. "… Is that a threat?"

Butler Zan snorted. "So what if it is?"

"Hmph. No one has ever threatened me… and made it out alive."

If there was one thing I hated most… it would be others threatening me.