After watching Fronde and the others ride their horses away, Ai Luo looked toward Rose Manor again from afar.
Rose Manor had two masters. One was his former fiancé, Count Fronde, and the other was Fronde’s younger brother, Count Olesen.
Rose Manor was a cursed place, and some extremely vicious ferocious beasts and monsters were imprisoned in the dungeon. The two brothers jointly suppressed them, so those ferocious beasts and monsters would not run out and harm the people. That was why the local people were deeply grateful to the two brothers, and why Ai Luo would have things thrown at him by angry people even when he was merely walking on the streets.
However, if he wanted to successfully escape from this game, he had to find a white rose in Rose Manor. If he could not even get inside, then it was simply impossible for him to win the game. So the first problem he had to solve now was to find a way to enter Rose Manor. He knew that this was a very big problem for him.
Ai Luo turned around and got onto the carriage. As he watched the rose fields gradually disappear from his sight, he remembered a saying that had been passed down from Rose Manor. That saying was: I have ten million roses, and you are the most beautiful one.
“I have ten million roses, and you are the most beautiful one.” Ai Luo repeated this sentence again and again. He did not know why, but he always felt that this sentence was very moving. There really were ten million roses in Rose Manor, but which one was the most beautiful one? He would only know after going there.
Ai Luo got down from the carriage. After looking at the mansion in front of him, he walked inside. In this world, he was born into nobility. His grandfather was a duke, and his parents died when he was little, so he grew up with his grandfather. His grandfather had also died some time ago. According to his grandfather’s will, everything in this family was inherited by him. Yet his uncle, who had originally separated from the family and moved out, suddenly moved back in with his son and daughter.
“Ai Luo, what happened to you?!” Dela exclaimed in shock as she looked at Ai Luo’s disheveled appearance.
Ai Luo raised his eyes and looked over. Dela was his younger female cousin, while the person standing beside her, named Kupi, was her older brother.
Ai Luo felt very uncomfortable all over and wanted to hurry back to his room to wash himself clean. He did not want to deal with them. Just as he was about to return to his room, the butler called out to him, “Young Master Ai Luo, wash your face first before going back to your room. The juice from the purple berries on your face can only be washed off with bud-root water.”
Hearing the butler say this, Ai Luo washed his face with the water in the washbasin carried by the maid, then picked up the towel from the tray beside him and wiped the water from his face.
When Dela saw Ai Luo’s clean face, she involuntarily froze for a moment. She had always been very confident in her own appearance, but when she looked at Ai Luo’s face, she could not control her feelings of jealousy. After Ai Luo left, her eyes were filled with jealousy and malice.
Ai Luo returned to his room and took a bath. Wearing a bathrobe, he walked out of the bathroom. Just as he was about to sit down by the bed, with a loud bang, the door to his room was forcefully pushed open, and a tall middle-aged man walked in furiously.
Abraham glared fiercely at Ai Luo and roared angrily at him, “You bastard, you actually dared to tear up the dress Dela was going to wear to the ball! You cannot go yourself, so you tore up her dress to vent your anger. Who gave you the guts to do this?!”
Although Ai Luo still did not know what had actually happened, he knew his own identity. He was absolutely not some bastard. And the man in front of him who was calling him a bastard was his uncle, Abraham.
At this time, Dela ran in wearing the gorgeous long dress that had been slightly torn. With her pair of eyes glimmering with tears, she looked at Abraham and said, “Father, it is only a dress. Please do not blame Ai Luo.”
Because he hated Ai Luo and felt distressed for his daughter, Abraham said furiously, “Your kindness and forbearance will only let him take an inch and demand a mile. I absolutely will not allow anyone to bully you. He must be taught a lesson!”
Abraham stepped forward and, raising his hand, fiercely slapped Ai Luo across the face, knocking him onto the bed. Dela covered her mouth with a frightened look.
Half of Ai Luo’s face immediately hurt with a burning pain, and the intense pain seemed to be reminding him that this so-called game was not merely a game after all. Everything was happening for real. Not only would he feel pain, he would truly lose his life as well.
“This is the last time I am warning you. If there is a next time, then get the hell out of here!” Abraham roared at Ai Luo.
“Ai Luo, are you alright?” Dela walked to the bedside and looked at him with a worried expression, but in reality, she was hoping that if this slap could just ruin Ai Luo’s face, that would be good.
“Don’t bother with him. He won’t die!” After saying this, Abraham turned around and walked out.
After watching Abraham leave, Dela grabbed Ai Luo’s hair in one motion, making his head tilt backward, and looked at him with a vicious gaze as she said, “You’re a boy, yet you grew a face like this. What a waste. Why not just ruin it?”
Ai Luo’s scalp hurt terribly from her pulling. He had never experienced such a humiliating posture, even after becoming an experimental subject. With his mental power, he only needed to wave his hand once to slam Dela against the wall so hard that she could not even be dug out, but…
“Miss Dela!” The butler came with people and appeared at the doorway.
“I warn you, you are not allowed to go to Rose Manor. If you dare to go, I will definitely ruin your face!” Dela slammed Ai Luo’s head hard against the bed, then turned around and left Ai Luo’s room. But regardless of whether Ai Luo went to Rose Manor or not, ruining Ai Luo’s face was something she was definitely going to do.
“Young Master Ai Luo, are you alright?” the butler asked worriedly.
Ai Luo slowly shook his head.
The butler sighed in his heart, closed the door, and had someone stand guard at the entrance.
Ai Luo lay face-down on the bed and could not get up for a long time.
Meanwhile, the people watching the livestream saw this scene with their own eyes, and all thought that Ai Luo had been unable to get back up after being slapped.
—Why isn’t he moving? Hit back ah! He got slapped in the face and he isn’t even hitting back right away? Aren’t you an experimental subject from the mental power laboratory? You should immediately torture them in the most cruel way, or beat them until they are crippled or dead ah!
—Although he is a failed experimental subject, isn’t he way too weak? Shouldn’t he be able to crush those people’s necks just by moving his fingers?
—Those people who came out of the mental power laboratory before, whoever dared to touch them even once would either be beaten to death immediately, or have various cruel methods used to make the other person wish they were dead. And he actually does not even have the strength to fight back?
—This is really too disappointing. He actually cannot even resist to this extent. Not to mention experimental subjects and failed experimental subjects, even compared with ordinary people, he is far too weak. Looking at it this way, I’m afraid he will not last long before he dies.
—Does he not have even a little mental power? Isn’t this failure a little too thorough? What a waste of such a good-looking face.
—I really had high hopes for him. I thought that a failed product from the mental power laboratory would very likely turn out to be another crazy beauty. Even if he died, he would die in a spectacular fashion. I did not expect him to be this weak. There is nothing worth watching anymore.
Ai Luo was not unable to fight back because he had no mental power. It was because after going through so many years of experiments, his mental power was in a very unstable state. It was precisely because of this instability that he was a failed subject. The experimental process not only consumed his lifespan, leaving him with only one year left to live, it also made his body very weak. That was why there was so much hatred in his heart. He had completely survived by relying on his hatred, so he also had to stay alive and go back to seek revenge.
After resting face-down on the bed for a while, he slowly sat up and raised his hand to touch the half of his face that had already become a little swollen.
Dela threatened him, telling him that he was not allowed to go to Rose Manor to attend the ball, or else she would ruin his face. He believed that she really would do it. He was already not allowed to enter Rose Manor, yet Dela had specifically come to threaten and warn him. There was actually another very important reason for this. The matter of stealing Fronde’s lifesaving medicine had been falsely pinned on him by Dela. Dela herself had a guilty conscience, so she did not want him to go to Rose Manor.
But in this game, he had to complete the mission in Rose Manor in order to successfully escape from this game. Otherwise, he could only become a ghost or a monster and remain here forever. So, in order to escape the game, no matter what method, no matter what means, as long as it could allow him to succeed, he had to try it.
At noon the next day, the butler brought people in carrying a box.
“Young Master Ai Luo, these are the things you wanted.” the butler said.
“Just put it there.” Ai Luo said, “Are the other things all prepared as well?”
The butler had the others leave first. After closing the door, he took out a medicine bottle and handed it to Ai Luo, saying, “This is a potion that can make your eyes change color, but it can only last for at most a little more than ten hours. Please be sure to come back before the potion loses its effect.”
“Okay.” Ai Luo nodded.
The butler had once been a genius pharmacist. Because he had gotten into some trouble, Ai Luo’s grandfather saved him. After changing his name and surname, he became their family’s butler. The butler had followed his grandfather for many years. He was the only person Ai Luo could trust now, and also the only person who could help him.
After the butler left, Ai Luo locked the door, and only then opened the box.
He took several long dresses out of the box and placed them on the bed. Ai Luo chose the dress he would wear to attend the ball tonight. Since he was not allowed to enter Rose Manor, then he would just change his identity and go inside.
Ai Luo chose a light-gold long dress. Although the workmanship and fabric of this dress were both very good, he was not very satisfied with the design, so he altered it himself.
It was almost evening when Ai Luo finally finished altering the dress. Then he took cosmetics and a wig out of the box and entered the dressing room.
About an hour later, Ai Luo pushed open the door of the dressing room and walked out. The livestream comments immediately surged.
—Oh my god, is this a cross-dressing master?
—Is this the same person who went in just now? Could they have switched people? Although they are both very good-looking and beautiful, the beauty is completely different ah!
—Not being allowed into Rose Manor, this really is a good method. And he really, really is so beautiful, oh my god!
—As an enthusiast of cross-dressing masters, I think I have the right to speak. This is definitely the most beautiful cross-dressing master I have ever seen!
—This will definitely amaze the entire venue. I originally did not want to watch anymore, but now I have already started looking forward to what he will look like appearing at the ball.
—This dress was altered so beautifully. Did he study fashion design? I really want to own this dress. Please give me the same one.
—Is this makeup? This is practically a complete disguise, right? I never used to believe that someone could become unrecognizable just by dressing as the opposite sex, whether a woman dressing as a man or a man dressing as a woman. But now I really believe it. One character, I’m convinced! Three characters, absolutely amazing![1]The “one character” and “three characters” refer to how the expressions are counted in Chinese characters. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3637427_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3637427_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
Ai Luo turned his head and glanced at the tightly locked room door. After drinking the potion the butler had given him, he put the hood of his cloak over his head, then left through the secret passage behind the cabinet in his room.
Ai Luo pushed open the door and walked out from a small house in the woods, then quickly walked to the roadside. The butler and coachman were already waiting there.
Before Ai Luo got into the carriage, the butler handed him an invitation with a rose-patterned seal printed on it, saying, “Young Master, everyone in Rose Manor is very hostile toward you. Please be extremely careful and do not let yourself be recognized.”
Ai Luo took the invitation and glanced at it, then nodded and got onto the carriage.
There would be three days of balls at Rose Manor. These three days of balls were actually for the purpose of choosing a suitable marriage partner for Count Olesen.
When the carriage reached the entrance of the rose fields and passed through the road in the middle of the rose fields, Ai Luo turned his head and looked out the window. He did not know whether it was his own illusion, but these roses looked as though they had a very eerie beauty at night.
After the carriage entered the manor, Ai Luo discovered that the inside was much larger than it looked from outside. Everywhere had a sense of high-end luxury. It was very beautiful, but Ai Luo still felt that within this beauty, there was also a strange feeling that he could not put into words.
The carriage stopped after going around a huge fountain pool. Ai Luo got down from the carriage and quickly walked toward the banquet hall. He had come relatively late, so the ball should have already started. When he reached the entrance, a maid immediately came forward to help him untie his cloak. The weather was cool at night, so it was normal to come wearing a cloak, but before entering the hall, the cloak had to be removed.
The guard came forward to check Ai Luo’s invitation. The maid had already untied and removed Ai Luo’s cloak. Just as the guard was about to speak, he froze in shock with his mouth open, his eyes filled with astonishment at Ai Luo’s beauty, and for a long time he could not come back to his senses.
Ai Luo handed over the invitation. The guard somewhat mechanically raised his hand and took it. He did not check the invitation in his hand, but instead kept looking at Ai Luo’s face.
The guard, who was supposed to open the main door, likewise looked at Ai Luo’s face with an astonished expression while mechanically opening the main door, watching as Ai Luo slowly walked forward and entered.
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