Book 4: Chapter 18: Go Create New Memories
To be honest, on the basis of my true strength, this tiny blade wound was one that would heal very quickly.
But in order to not expose myself, I still maintained my condition of suppressing my power, which included suppressing my own body’s natural recovery speed. I told Fang Thirteen that my power was similar to that of Aleya’s. If Aleya was the one receiving injuries like these, it would take her four to five days to recover, so I lay on the bed for four to five days.
With this period of time, there were many plans that I could refine even further.
Fang Thirteen came every day to check up on me as well as help me reapply medicine. My injury gradually improved, causing the smile on her face to gradually become happier.
But whenever I caught sight of her smile, I actually felt a little uncomfortable.
Because I knew that the current me was just a swindler who was kept continuously deceiving her. There would inevitably there be a day where she would know about these matters, know about my identity, know about me peeping at her formation sketches and secretly disclosing them, know that my motivation for approaching her wasn’t pure, know that I actually didn’t have a wife and children, know that the quickly increasing hostility between her and Fang Lita was all thanks to me.
But when did I ever consider myself to be a good person.
Thus, I kept on deceiving her.
After I completely recovered, I was immediately thrown into work and helped her share a part of the pressure. But at the same time, there weren’t many opportunities for me to approach her due to tiredness. Occasionally I would help her push her wheelchair around the streets or outside the city for a stroll and chat with her, joke around, and so on.
It was a must for me to create enough memories between us so that she would be partial to me once that destined “choice” of hers pops up.
As a result, I intentionally got into closer contact with Fang Thirteen in recent times and various things have happened. The things that can be counted as memories are three things at the very least.
The first is being taught formation arrangement.
The other day, Fang Thirteen took the initiative to teach me the strategy behind arranging formations. Since I had always been very interested in this topic, the two of us, a single man and single woman, stayed in her room and learned in the pitch-black night with a lit lantern. The other day, Fang Thirteen taught me many things. I’m the type to remember things that are useful, so I learned it very quickly. Teaching a talented student would naturally make the teacher happy, so Fang Thirteen was happy the entire time.
At the end of the conversation, sitting behind the table was Fang Thirteen raising a finger and continuously gesturing:
“Then, while the formation is changing from the outside, the form can appear scattered but the spirit cannot be scattered. On one hand, averting too much concentration will be met with the other side’s magic bombardment while on the other hand, it can’t be too scattered or else it will break apart from being a formation. During daily exercises, we must teach ‘change’ as a main point of the exercises and simultaneously teach them that the most important point is for them to believe in each other and to advance courageously. Understand?”
I nodded:
“I understand. But young lady Thirteen, what if the other side has a very strong assassin, what do we do if he wants to aim for the center?”
Fang Thirteen dropped her hand and placed both of them on her legs before continuing:
“Soldiers versus soldiers, kings versus kings. In the past, the approach I took was to strengthen the strength of the central section of the battle formation. Even though it would lead to the formation being spread out a bit unevenly, due to not having that kind of especially powerful opponent around me, doing so simply didn’t matter. But when I attacked West-Resisting City, I suffered some losses……but, I believe that it will be alright in the future.”
“Mm?”
“Because I have you by my side, right? Jade.”
She smiled and I nodded in response. It seems……she’s become a bit more dependent on me.
The second is the romantic surroundings.
Recently, apart from Fang Lita’s usual obstructions, Fang Thirteen and I have been considerably busy. During the daytime, Fang Thirteen stays within the army grounds and only returns to the City Lord’s mansion at night. Yet she still stays up late frequently to handle things. As for me, apart from continuing to carry out my traitorous actions, I truly handled many issues within the city walls.
After a long tiring day, I was met with the pleasant scene of Fang Thirteen in the courtyard. I took the initiative to cup my hands submissively and stated:
“You’ve worked hard.”
Fang Thirteen sighed. I walked forward and helped massage her shoulders. Fang Thirteen’s body trembled a little, but she didn’t decline my actions.
I continued by asking:
“Has it not been going well recently?”
Fang Thirteen answered:
“The pressure from military affairs has never been small, but the firepower behind Abyss City and West-Resisting City’s attacks has actually stopped for a rest. I can’t tell if it’s my misconception or not, but it feels as if they’re scheming something. My recent battle formations have occasionally been guessed……I don’t know if it’s because I’ve become sluggish or not.”
I casually picked a still flourishing and delicate flower from the tree on the side and inserted it into Fang Thirteen’s supple hair to quietly encourage her. It was a bit cold that day, so Fang Thirteen had her head lowered and she was continuously rubbing her hands against each other. I drew her hand and in response, Fang Thirteen didn’t refuse it, instead exposing a clearly spaced-out expression.
That day, a meteor streaked across the clear night sky. I placed both my hands together in prayer and made a wish with a voice only she could hear:
“I wish for everything to go well for Sky Star City.”
Of course, I still continued sneaking into her room in the middle of the night to steal some sketches and secretly used a carrier pigeon to relay the information.
The third is being extravagant.
Regardless of how big of a crisis the current Sky Star City is facing now, the day that makes anyone happy was arriving soon——payday. But the pay that I received was honestly quite lacking and pitiful. Even Fang Thirteen seemed a bit embarrassed when handing me my pay, so she specially gave me an explanation. It went like this: The 10 cities that Fang Lita is currently in charge of, including Sky Star City, is facing pressure from both the north and south, so all of the money and grain has basically all been used on war preparations.
Of course, I knew that the truth was that Fang Thirteen had long since handed over all the wealth within the cities for Fang Lita’s safekeeping. And since he still hadn’t truly lay down his hatred and desire for revenge, he retaliated against me in this sort of manner.
This person’s petty actions, can Fang Thirteen not feel it?
But she didn’t speak, so I didn’t mention it. After weighing the sum of money in my hand, I went out to find a travelling merchant, selected and purchased a deep blue necklace. Didn’t Fang Lita give his older sister an earring when he was younger? Then I may as well more or less express the same.
After I returned, I crouched down in front of Fang Thirteen’s wheelchair and spoke with a grin:
“I’ve got a present for you.”
Then I helped her gently put on the necklace.
Fang Thirteen might not have been able to see anything, but she still more or less carried about her own appearance. Normally, she would tidy herself up quite a bit, so it could be seen that she was a girl who had a love for beauty. But rather than a sense of beauty, it would be more accurate to say that she wished to find more value in herself and make her not feel so worthless.
Just like in that year when the blind and crippled her chose formation arrangement as her future career, the one that suited her the least.
Fang Thirteen’s fair, smooth, and small hands stroked the slightly cool necklace and a warm smile slowly blossomed on her face.
She quietly inquired:
“Was it very expensive?”
I said it wasn’t. Fang Thirteen giggled as she said:
“Liar. I can feel the quality of the material.”
She thought for a moment, then advised me:
“I like it very much, but still, I should return it. It must’ve cost quite a lot of money.”
I used a light tone to respond:
“What use do I have for so much money since, in any case, all the food and lodging is provided here. All I need to do is just mooch some more meals from you, so don’t drive me away when I do.”
Fang Thirteen rubbed her nose, then whispered:
“Alright.”
Her voice carried a hint of wanting to cry. Just as I prepared to stand up, Fang Thirteen suddenly extended her hand forward. After fumbling around a little, she grabbed onto my arm and used a bit of strength to pull the distance between us a little closer. Soon after, she pursed up her lips and, as if she had made a firm resolution, she moved over to kiss me. But because she couldn’t see and she didn’t say anything about it, she panicked. The imagined romantic scene didn’t occur and instead, her forehead banged against my head.
This girl……has a very hard head!
Fang Thirteen seemed to have been embarrassed by her own actions since she used both her hands to cover her crimson cheeks. Her head was buried lower and lower, but her face was suffused with an obvious smile.contemporary romance
done.co