Chapter 18: Negotiation

‘She is “Rosie Moulton”?’

‘The person who killed me in the classroom is “Rosie Moulton”?!’

This news struck the young lady’s mind like a bolt of lightning.

Her body, slumped on the floor, couldn’t stop trembling.

After the immense shock, a sliver of ecstatic joy inevitably grew in her heart.

No matter what, she could deduce from this information that this world had some connection to her original world.

Since she could transmigrate over, then it wasn’t necessarily impossible to go back.

Of course, the premise was that she could overcome the current crisis and survive.

Rosie suppressed the complex feelings of fear and excitement in her heart, trying her best to calm down before speaking, “I don’t know why a portrait of me would appear here.”

“It’s possible the murderer deliberately threw it out as a smokescreen to divert attention.”

Such words, at this time and in this place, especially with the corpse of Donahue Bobby, whom she had just killed, still lying nearby, seemed far too feeble.

Hermann let out a laugh, his tone carrying a nonchalant air, “Oh, my apologies.”

“Strictly speaking, there are still some differences between Miss Moulton and the person in the painting.”

“Hmm, you have cool-toned tea-brown hair, oh, and the color of your eyes is different too.”

“I wonder if Miss Moulton has a twin sister? If not…”

The man pressed the gun muzzle forward a little more and said coldly, “Then you will still have to die here.”

‘If Hermann really wanted to kill her, why would he waste so much breath?’

After the great ups and downs, Rosie’s heart felt unusually calm instead.

This man had previously put on an act of fawning over her, and now he was feigning indifference.

His words, his tone, and even his actions had a heavy “performance” element to them.

This was a negotiation.

He was just trying his best to place himself in a higher position to gain greater benefits.

She pursed her lips, skipping the roundabout talk and getting straight to the point.

“Mr. Rhys, whatever your demands are, please state them directly.”

Hermann raised his eyebrows, seemingly a little surprised.

‘The girl who can’t even remember names is quite sharp in certain aspects.’

He pulled the gun in his hand back slightly and praised, “I just love dealing with smart people.”

“Miss Moulton, it’s actually very simple to make me believe you.”

“I just need you to promise to do me a small favor.”

‘A small favor? Money? Power? It couldn’t possibly be…’

She recalled the cold and stunningly beautiful face of the young lady in the painting, like the bright moon in the sky, and felt a little intimidated.

‘There can’t be a defeated-CG plotline here, can there?’

‘A real man stands tall between heaven and earth; how can he be subservient to another for long?’

‘This kind of request, I, Lin Yu, will refuse to my death!’

While the young lady’s imagination was running wild, the man stated his request.

“It’s very simple. Help me enter the aristocratic social circles of Bredek.”

‘Ah, Bredek?’

As luck would have it, Rosie’s pitiful memory contained information on this.

The capital of the Kingdom of Soth, Bredek, a bustling metropolis with a population of over four million.

“Rosie Moulton’s” coming-of-age ball was held there.

After the social season began, she, as the eldest daughter of the Moulton family, would have to return to Bredek from Glenn City.

‘What? Is that all?’

‘Forget helping Hermann enter aristocratic social circles; as long as he lets me off the hook now, whichever young lady he fancies, I’ll saddle up and help him pursue her.’

‘However, I can’t make it seem too easy.’

‘That would give him the impression that this request is cheap.’

Rosie “hesitated” for a while before “reluctantly” nodding her head.

“Alright, I promise you.”

“It’s a deal, Miss Moulton.”

‘OK, this should count as barely passing the trial, right?’

Before Rosie could even breathe a sigh of relief, she heard a thump on the floor.

Her peripheral vision caught sight of a brown glass bottle slowly rolling to the outside of her thigh.

Hermann’s annoying voice came from behind her again.

“For the sake of our pleasant future cooperation, and to prove that Miss Moulton is not the mastermind, please drink this potion.”

‘Potion?’

Rosie’s small mouth opened slightly, and she couldn’t help but stick out her little tongue to lick her somewhat dry, rose-colored lips, asking, “What kind of potion is this?”

Hermann answered honestly, “Poison.”

Rosie, “!!!”

‘Poison?!’

‘I really wish I were the so-called mastermind, then I would definitely tie up this man who’s taking advantage of the situation.’

‘First, I’d fe— no, first I’d castrate him, then kill him, then castrate him again, then kill him again!’

As if sensing the young lady’s resistance, the kind Mr. Hermann explained.

“Please rest assured, Miss Moulton.”

“Although this potion is lethal, it’s not a fast-acting poison, but a slow-acting one.”

“The onset period is about seven days, so you don’t need to feel so much psychological pressure.”

Rosie, “???”

‘Don’t say it like it’s a pregnant woman’s due date.’

She was silent for a moment before speaking, “Do I have a compelling reason to drink it?”

“Although I personally believe that Miss Moulton is not the instigator of all this.”

“However, the existence of this painting is also a fact.”

“Since the so-called Salvation Ritual on that parchment scroll is only five days.”

“Then, there are no more than two possible endings awaiting us.”

Hermann completely ignored the noble young lady in front of him, who was exuding a chill like an ice sculpture, and continued to talk glibly.

“One, we cooperate to thwart the enemy’s schemes and escape the castle together.”

“Two, the enemy is more cunning, the escape plan fails, and we die in the castle.”

“If it’s ending one, our cooperation will be pleasant, and it won’t delay your time to take the antidote, Miss Moulton.”

“If it’s ending two, well, you see, at least you’ll have a companion to chat with on the way to the heavenly kingdom, right?”

‘A companion to chat with?!’

‘Why can’t there be an ending three, where you die in the castle, and I escape safely?’

‘What, we have to be a pair of ill-fated lovers, is that it?’

‘We may not ask to be born on the same day of the same month of the same year, but we will ask to die on the same day of the same month of the same year?!’

‘No, wait, I’ve been led astray by this guy.’

‘What kind of star-crossed lovers are we?’

The mountains on Rosie’s chest rose and fell, clearly quite angered by this “tyrannical clause.”

After her mood calmed down, she turned her head, pretending to look at the glass bottle on the floor.

In reality, her gaze fell upon the arm hanging by the outside of her thigh.

Beneath the soft fabric, a cold dagger was still hidden.

Rosie’s eyes lowered slightly, but her heart couldn’t help but start to race wildly, as if it wanted to leave her narrow chest cavity.

What was that saying from her past life?

‘Beyond seven steps, the gun is faster.’

‘Within seven steps, the blade is faster.’

‘Should I trust in Brother Yan Shuangying¹ this one time? To bet, or not to bet?’

“Fine, I’ll drink it.”

After Rosie spoke, she reached out her right hand, moving towards the poison, and simultaneously towards the location of her left arm where the knife was hidden.

‘If Yan can go, so can I.’

‘Today, I, Rosie, shall re-enter the realm of a land-based god of war!’

‘Come, my blade!’

¹ Yan Shuangying is the protagonist of a popular Chinese TV series, known for being an unstoppable, almost mythical hero skilled in combat. Saying you’ll “trust in Brother Yan” is like saying you’ll channel your inner action hero.