The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix’s Novels Also Desires Happiness - Chapter 228
6. That Glance
On the black carriage, Anna looked at the elderly man in front of her, whom she knew all too well, her expression complex:
“It really is you.”
“What? Are you scared?”
“No, it’s just that my foster father, the one who runs a little shop that never has any customers, the harmless old man who dozes off every day, suddenly transforms into one of the most powerful people in the country, the rumored sword bearer who can stop children’s night cries; it’s just a bit hard to adapt.”
“……”
The old man fell silent for a moment, half-opening his murky eyes, and said:
“Do you still recognize me as your foster father?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Anna lowered her head and said softly:
“After all, you are the one who raised me, aren’t you?”
“Even if my motives for adopting you were not pure from the very beginning?”
“I guessed that… but that doesn’t contradict your kindness in raising me, does it?”
Anna lifted her head and smiled:
“I’m not the kind of person who forgets kindness. And if you think about it, even if you had other intentions, you never harmed me. Even back then… when the Silent Agency suddenly captured me, it could be seen as a form of protection. It’s just that I fear you never anticipated how crazed those heretics would be, to directly attack one of the branches of the Silent Agency.
And most importantly, without your guidance, there would be no Anna Carlin today. So no matter what your motives were when you adopted me, I am truly grateful.”
“…”
The old man fell silent once more.
He looked at the girl before him, her eyes brimming with endless tenderness, and his memories involuntarily drifted back ten years.
At that time, he had approached her with the intent to kill.
From the intelligence he had gathered, he learned that this pitiful girl, abandoned by her parents, had shown signs of serpent transformation since birth.
Historically, the longest incubation period for the serpent disease was ten years.
And those who transformed over a decade ultimately caused catastrophic disasters that nearly obliterated entire cities.
So, when the girl had just crossed the threshold of eleven and was forced to leave the orphanage, he appeared before her.
His purpose was to kill her, to eliminate this unknown threat once and for all.
For him, the “Swordbearer” who had executed countless heretics over the past century, this should have been an easy task.
But.
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On that windless night, under the cold moonlight, he noticed that this girl, just like now, held within her eyes an endless tenderness and strength, and he suddenly hesitated.
Perhaps it was because the weather that day was truly beautiful, the moonlight was exceptionally bright, and it illuminated everything vividly.
Or perhaps, as he approached the twilight of his years, on the brink of descending into hell, he subconsciously sought atonement for himself.
Thus, this old man, whose hands were stained with blood and whose feet were surrounded by countless corpses, softened for the first time that night.
And this softening was like the tender shoots that gradually sprout after a spring rain, growing in the depths of his heart, which he had long considered a frozen wasteland, blossoming into a gentle meadow.
“I should be the one thanking you.”
“Mm?”
Anna tilted her head, looking at the old man in confusion, not understanding the meaning behind his words.
“It is you who made me fight against the evil gods and heretics my entire life, who turned me into a sword that kills, until now, when I finally understand what it means to be human.”
“Is that so?”
Anna’s eyes curved into a smile:
“What does it feel like?”
The old man looked at his withered hands and smiled as well:
“It feels good.”
The sunlight streamed through the gauzy curtains of the carriage, filling the small space with warmth. The old man and the young girl sat facing each other, both wearing gentle smiles, resembling a pair of father and daughter with a significant age gap, radiating a cozy atmosphere.
“By the way, you called me over specifically; it can’t just be for reminiscing, right?” Anna leaned against the window, resting her chin on her hand, and asked softly.
“What else is there? Please, go ahead.”
“You’re still as sharp as ever.”
The old man showed a hint of helplessness, the drafts he had long harbored were all cast aside as he got straight to the point:
“Actually, it’s nothing much. I hope you can join the Silent Agency; this is the place that suits you best.”
“The Silent Agency…”
There was no surprise in Anna’s eyes as she replied:
“But I don’t like that kind of place.”
“I know.”
The old man seemed to have anticipated Anna’s reaction, responding calmly:
“But I’m not asking you to start from the bottom. You are now worthy of a higher position.”
“So…” Anna raised an eyebrow.
“…I am very old.”
After a moment of silence, the old man continued:
“Old enough that I don’t know when I might suddenly find myself in a coffin, so…
I need an heir.”
“What…”
A hint of surprise finally appeared on Anna’s exquisite face, her cherry lips slightly parted, looking almost innocent:
“Me? An heir? But I’m not even a Silent One yet.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. The Silent Agency isn’t a bureaucratic institution; it doesn’t look at qualifications but at strength. As long as your strength is enough to suppress everyone, then everyone will wholeheartedly obey your commands.”
“But my strength isn’t enough.”
“Not now, but in the future…”
The old man looked at Anna meaningfully, as if he could see something within her, and said:
“I believe in your potential.”
“…”
“Not to mention, I’m still alive. Before I pass on all my skills to you, I doubt I would be willing to breathe my last.”
“…”
Anna fell silent, her gaze lowered as if deep in thought.
After a moment, she tightly clenched the hem of her clothes, concealing the struggle within her heart, and softly said:
“Yet I still…”
“Reluctant to part with that boy?”
The old man completed Anna’s unspoken thoughts with a cold laugh:
“Do you think you can indulge in sweet nothings at St. Mary’s Academy, but once you leave and join the Silent Agency, that opportunity will be gone?”
“…”
Anna did not speak, but her meaning was crystal clear.
At this moment, when her feelings for her junior were overflowing, how could she bear to leave him?
“Sigh… you girl.”
Watching the cabbage he had nurtured for ten years being taken away by that golden-haired pig, a trace of helplessness and frustration appeared in the old man’s eyes, and he continued:
“Actually, it was your relationship with that boy that made me decide this.”
“Hmm?”
Anna cast a puzzled glance, somewhat confused about the connection.
“Ha.”
The old man suddenly looked out the window, sneering, “You wouldn’t have forgotten that boy’s identity, would you?”
“Identity…”
Anna furrowed her brow and then immediately realized.
The person she had been thinking about was named Mu En Campbell.
He was the only son of Duke Campbell, a future duke almost guaranteed.
And most importantly, due to generations of single inheritance, unable to branch out, the Campbell family had naturally become the only staunch royal faction among the great nobles.
Because of this, as a link, he had a marriage engagement with the renowned princess of the empire, bestowed by the emperor himself.
“Marriage engagement…”
Anna murmured softly, turning her head to look out the window, following the old man’s gaze.
Not far away, on a rooftop, in the faint sunlight, that silver-white figure stood gracefully.
As if born to be under the spotlight, the princess merely stood there quietly, enough to mesmerize anyone.
“So beautiful,” Anna sighed lightly.
And as if sensing something, the silver-haired girl suddenly turned around, locking eyes with the girl in the carriage across several streets.
This seemed to be their first meeting of gazes, devoid of any killing intent, and lacking any special meaning.
It appeared so calm.
Like a sea without a single breeze.
But the old man’s smile suddenly turned sly as he said:
“Girl, as I just mentioned, it’s quite normal for Mu En Campbell, as the future duke, to have a few lovers.”
“But—”
“Don’t you want to fight for that one and only position of duchess?”