20. The Puppet President
After her little thoughts were exposed, Lin Ke surprisingly relaxed a lot, which made me feel much more at ease. After all, her earlier attempts at subtlety, which were not even a fraction as skilled as Louise’s, seemed rather… childish to me.
“First of all, I hope Mr. Oujili can trust that my invitation to you is genuine. I truly just wanted to express my gratitude by inviting you in a more extravagant manner.”
As her gaze wandered, Lin Ke, now unrestrained, crossed her legs, set down her cup, and began pouring wine into it with a hearty splash, then downed it in one go.
With her script of “having a request of me,” Lin Ke at this moment resembled someone who was “drinking to muster courage.”
“Next, I want to tell you something. Since you clearly have no interest in my little ‘tricks,’ I won’t bother with those ‘seductive behaviors’ that I’m not accustomed to either. If I remember correctly, you previously asked me out of curiosity about which family the ask·me family belongs to when we were discussing the four great families of the kingdom. Now, I think it’s necessary to answer you.”
[Lin Ke decides to reveal a secret to Oujili.]
The script appeared, and its content made me perk up my ears, closely watching Lin Ke’s every move.
Because this “secret” was evidently an “important matter” for Lin Ke, prompting her to take several deep breaths before summoning the courage to tell me.
“My family is called De Gula, a family that existed long before the establishment of the kingdom by the various federations of Meriga, steeped in a rich history!”
Her passionate speech quickly lost its vigor, and Lin Ke chuckled self-deprecatingly, “Although such titles and things are basically useless in the kingdom, and I want to emphasize that it’s not just about my family. Rather, it’s…”
Setting down her wine glass and clenching her fist, Lin Ke’s gaze drifted: “You should already know about the head of the Pig family, Pig. As for my family… Mr. Oujili, I am not the true head of the family.”
[Lin Ke is not the true head of the family.]
The script appeared, confirming the truth of Lin Ke’s words. Seeing that I had no reaction, Lin Ke finally felt at ease to continue: “I am merely a façade, a false head of the family, slightly packaged by the true head to deal with family disputes. The real head cannot frequently appear in the kingdom for various reasons, so I represent her.”
This already counts as “confidential” information, so Lin Ke naturally couldn’t just laugh it off; what she was really focused on was my response.
“What’s up? You don’t look surprised at all.”
“Because I’ve seen similar situations before.”
The relationship between Louise and the Moon Fairy in the Great Ying Empire is probably quite similar to what Lin Ke just mentioned. With that experience, I now only felt a mild surprise.
As for Lin Ke, the secret she just revealed was clearly just a prelude; on top of that, was her real request.
“So, I hope you can help me out, knowing this! If that’s the case, not only can I keep this position of Grand Commander, but maybe… ah haha~ you might even save my life.”
Lin Ke clasped her hands together, her voice lowered, laced with earnestness.
“Recently, our family is gathering people from various federations, but those folks aren’t really my ‘personal guards’ anymore. If any of them ask about you or your two wives, please, please don’t let me mess up the ruins, or in the end, I’ll have to sell myself cheap to you guys for letting it slip!”
“The head of the family is very concerned about losses to her reputation and such. If she finds out I’ve made such a mess this time, she might just kill me!”
Lin Ke’s request was so simple and pure that I didn’t even have time to ponder what she meant by “my two wives.” She wanted me to keep the recent ruins incident under wraps, but…
“Lin Ke, you can’t hide a fire with paper. Are you sure you can keep this under wraps after losing so much?”
“Oh, that’s not a problem! The head of the family doesn’t really care about money! She only cares about face and things like that.”
Aren’t you people from the Meri United Kingdom all fond of money? Your family head is quite the oddball.
I already had my answer: this wasn’t a request that required us to incur any substantial losses to cover up a lie. This way, I could skip the discussions with Ke Fei Er and Ni Lu and agree directly.
After all, it was just helping to cover up a lie. If Lin Ke could get through this crisis, with her public identity, she should be able to provide us with some convenience later.
“If it’s just about covering up a lie, then I agree.”
I had no issues with it, but for Lin Ke, who had received the promise, it was a different story!
“Thank you!”
She jumped up excitedly from her chair, “You’re simply my destiny goddess… uh, male god! So you really don’t need to ask for anything else? Even if you directly take me to a super luxurious hotel room on the next floor, I’m totally no problem with that!”
“Forget it!”
It would be better if you said less of those words that lead to misunderstandings; that would be the true repayment to me! I certainly don’t want to be kneeling on a washboard!
Realizing that her “image had somewhat reverted,” Lin Ke quietly sat back down. The secret had been revealed, the request made, and I had agreed. I preemptively rejected some of Lin Ke’s little gestures before she could act on them. Thus, tonight’s “candlelight dinner” had truly transformed into a simple “dinner with candlelight.” Everyone could happily enjoy a bit of molecular gastronomy from the upper class, then pat their backs and head home, and today would pass just like that.
But…
Sometimes, things don’t develop so smoothly.
Once Lin Ke calmed down, she realized something.
“Eh? Speaking of which, the servants are taking way too long to serve the dishes.”
Lin Ke frowned and muttered, “I’ve booked the whole place today, and it’s still this slow. No matter how high-end it is, it shouldn’t take this long. If I can’t get an explanation, I’m going to complain.”
With that, she shook the bell on the table. However, the bell rang out, yet not only did no waiter rush in with a cart, but not even a servant came over to explain!
In the next moment, it was as if what I heard by my ear was more like a “sense of crisis” ringing in my heart. Amidst the ringing of the bell, I seemed to hear a “crack,” like the sound of glass shattering!
And this was no illusion! Because Lin Ke fell silent, no longer shaking the bell to urge them, but instead…
She immediately lifted her long leg from beneath her gown, not caring about any potential exposure, and from a position near the top of her thigh, she drew out a firearm that was clearly shortened in length.
“Fxxk, Mr. Oujili De, it seems some disgusting wild dogs have come to disturb this beautiful time.”
“……”
Wild dogs, huh…
If that’s really the case, then it’s simple, Lin Ke. At this late hour, wild dogs and hungry wolves can easily be mistaken for one another.
——
The character illustration of the head of the household is ready, but it will only be released at the appropriate time; it’s too early now.
PS: There’s a color insert in preparation recently; everyone, please give a shout-out for the monthly tickets. Isn’t the beginning of the month just for voting?～