Chapter 4: Rose Earl 4

"Hold on, I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?"

Xia Qi hastily lifted his foot.

Just now, the weight of that step was considerable.

"It's fine." The man said without changing his expression, showing no sign of pain. Worried that Xia Qi might feel guilty, he smiled gently, "It really doesn't hurt."

Xia Qi frowned. Regardless of whether the man was pretending or not, his consideration made Xia Qi feel even more embarrassed.

The countdown for the "Kiss of True Love" task was very short, leaving Xia Qi no time to switch partners. Seeing others around him already kissing, Xia Qi clenched his fists.

"Good times are always brief, madam... do you have something to say to me?" Noticing Xia Qi's anxious look, the man asked.

Caught by the man's insight, Xia Qi felt awkward.

He actually had nothing to say, but rather a crazy task to perform...

["Kiss of True Love" task countdown: 00:00:59.]

Time seemed to be accelerating, and in a blink, two minutes had passed.

There was no time left...

Looking at the countdown gradually turning red, Xia Qi took a deep breath and steeled himself.

He said, "I'm sorry," then quickly grabbed the man's hand.

Looking down at the man's slender and strong left hand, Xia Qi pursed his lips and kissed the back of his hand.

The system required a "Kiss of True Love," but didn't specify where it should be. Xia Qi planned to use this vague rule to boldly attempt completing the task.

Would this work?

As the countdown reached one second, Xia Qi, nervously waiting for the task announcement, suddenly heard a familiar "ding dong" sound. He clenched his fist excitedly—

"True Love Value +999"

At that moment, Xia Qi, holding his fist, froze.

999 points of True Love Value!

He couldn't believe that a random stranger had given him enough True Love Value to use the magic wand once!

Compared to Cha Gong's meager 4 points, Xia Qi almost couldn't recognize the term "True Love Value."

Xia Qi looked at the man in disbelief, feeling his cheeks heating up.

Feeling guilty for accidentally using the man to gain True Love Value, Xia Qi took a step back and sincerely said,

"I'm sorry..."

But as soon as Xia Qi finished speaking, the man stepped forward, grasped his hand, and said, "Madam, there's no need to feel guilty. Your dance was truly wonderful."

Hearing this, Xia Qi was stunned. Had the man misunderstood something?

He wasn't feeling guilty about his poor dancing, but about using someone else!

Seeing Xia Qi's furrowed brows and troubled expression, the man chuckled, lifted Xia Qi's hand, and kissed the back of it.

Feeling Xia Qi's hand trembling, the man did not linger on the overly smooth hand, just touching it briefly before letting go.

When the man released his hand, Xia Qi's hand remained suspended in mid-air.

The coolness on the skin where the man had kissed him confirmed what had just happened.

Was he... completed the task by an NPC in reverse?

["Kiss of True Love" task completed!]

"Ding dong! Red Side plot progress +0%"

After this task, the Red Side's plot progress remained unchanged, still stuck at 10%.

Xia Qi continued to listen to the announcements while in a daze.

"Ding dong! Blue Side plot progress +10%"

"Damn!" Someone in the dance floor exclaimed.

"What's going on?! The Blue Side's progress is almost halfway!"

Now, the Blue Side's plot progress was 41%.

Hearing the surrounding exclamations and curses, Xia Qi's heart raced again. Could the man in front of him really be...

"I must leave now." The man bowed slightly, and his body gradually faded away visibly.

Before Xia Qi could ask, amidst the crowd's screams, the lights in the dance floor suddenly went out.

Endless darkness enveloped them, and a particularly cold gust of wind blew through the hall, dispersing the man's elegant voice.

"Looking forward to seeing you again..."

Another gust of wind blew, and amid the panic, a "beep" sounded, and the corridor outside suddenly lit up.

"There's light!"

Several maids entered the dance floor with lamps, and the butler addressed everyone, "Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize; the wind tonight is too strong."

With the light, Xia Qi gradually saw the positions of everyone standing on the dance floor.

At this moment, the man who had been dancing with him had completely disappeared, and now standing in front of Xia Qi was none other than Cha Gong, who had been searching for him for a while.

"Xia Qi, who were you just dancing with?" Cha Gong had almost strained his eyes trying to find Xia Qi.

Xia Qi raised an eyebrow at him and countered, "And you? Who were you dancing with?"

Cha Gong was taken aback by the question. He only remembered dancing with a short cross-dresser but couldn't recall who it was.

Just then, the old man suddenly appeared nearby, patted Cha Gong's shoulder, and laughed in a pinched voice, "It's me, handsome! You even called me Sweetie earlier; how could you forget me now?"

Cha Gong instantly got goosebumps all over and shouted at the old man, "Get lost! Don't touch me!"

The old man, like a snoring monster dressed in doll clothes, laughed so hard that his wrinkles could crush flies. Cha Gong felt a wave of nausea remembering he had danced and kissed him.

"If you can dance with someone else, why can't I?" Watching the old man deliberately disgust Cha Gong, Xia Qi couldn't help but smirk.

Cha Gong choked and quickly explained, "I was just worried about you..."

At that moment, a member of the Red Side suddenly rushed out, pulling Cha Gong away and whispering, "Brother Cha, the Blue Side's plot progress has surpassed ours. They must have found the key clues and characters!"

Cha Gong paused, looking back at Xia Qi.

Xia Qi was observing the positions of everyone on the dance floor to determine their dance partners.

Feeling a gaze from behind, Xia Qi turned around and saw Cha Gong looking at him again.

Xia Qi gave a cold humph and shot him a glare without hesitation.

Cha Gong showed a hurt expression.

"One by one, go and find out," Cha Gong said sternly to his teammates after Xia Qi turned away.

Although Xia Qi seemed off, they also needed to be wary of the other Blue Side members.

"Oh right, two of us didn't find dance partners, so they ended up forming a pair."

The fog on the dance floor was too thick, which made it difficult to notice that two members of the Red Side had paired up. This information was only revealed when the lights came on.

Hearing this, Cha Gong's face turned shocked. "Wait! If they formed a pair, that means there's an extra person on the dance floor!"

According to the original number, one of them should have been without a partner. How could two people end up pairing up?

"So, just now..." The Red Side teammate shuddered.

"The extra person danced with one of the Blue Side members!" Cha Gong said through gritted teeth.

He thought one person would be left out, but the remaining two actually paired up.

Cha Gong said grimly, "Be careful tonight. If anything happens to those two, don't bother helping them."

"Yes, yes." The Red Side teammate's voice trembled as he ran off.

After rejoining the Blue Side members, they chattered excitedly: "What happened? Why did our plot progress increase so quickly?"

"Could it be... our luck finally turned around?"

Since everyone was new, no one had yet considered that someone might have discovered a clue and completed part of the plot.

Only the old man occasionally glanced at Xia Qi.

"Ladies, your rooms are ready. Please follow me to rest." The butler appeared once more.

The Blue Side members followed the butler out of the banquet hall to the third floor of the castle, where he assigned rooms to everyone. When it was Xia Qi's turn, the butler pointed to the spiral staircase: "Madam, your room is on the fourth floor."

"Why does he get to stay upstairs?" the Yellow-haired man asked, feeling uneasy about the butler's excessive politeness toward Xia Qi.

The other members also looked at Xia Qi with suspicion. He hadn't done anything special, yet he received better treatment than everyone else, which made them uncomfortable.

The butler didn't directly answer the Yellow-haired man's question but smiled at everyone.

That same smile was on the butler's face before he killed the fat man. The Yellow-haired man shivered and quickly apologized, "N-no, I have no problem."

"Then, ladies, please get some rest early." The butler's voice grew colder, emphasizing the words "get some rest early."

After saying this, the butler led Xia Qi to the fourth floor.

There were only two rooms on the fourth floor, and Xia Qi's was the one facing south. Unlike the rooms on the third floor, this one was exceptionally spacious—four times larger, with a large outdoor terrace.

"This room was specially prepared for you by the master. I hope you find it satisfactory," the butler said meaningfully.

Master?

Who was this "master"?

Seeing the butler's enigmatic smile, Xia Qi suspected the butler knew something.

Unfortunately, the butler was too terrifying, and Xia Qi didn't dare inquire further without knowing the situation.

After sending the butler away, Xia Qi closed the door, removed his wig, and walked into the room.

This was a Baroque-style room, every detail exuding luxury. In the center was a huge red velvet bed. Xia Qi lifted the cover and found five layers of pigeon feather mattresses beneath, wrapped in soft golden silk, feeling incredibly smooth.

Xia Qi opened the painted glass door leading to the terrace, stepped outside, and found it pitch black, so he returned to take a bath.

A bathroom was separated by red curtains within the room, containing a gold bathtub filled with pink water scented with perfume and floating rose petals.

Looking at the girlish bathwater, Xia Qi couldn't help but rub his forehead. This game was utterly shameless!

Xia Qi fished out the rose petals and threw them away. After enduring the frustration, he took a hot shower and changed into a white silk pajama set. Then, he lay down on the excessively soft dove feather mattress.

It was so comfortable.

So comfortable that he almost forgot this was a terrifying game where lives could be lost at any moment...

Before going upstairs, he had taken a look at the yellow-haired man's room. It was small and cramped, with a particularly narrow bed, looking like a maid's room. As for the others, judging from their small door frames, they were most likely maid's rooms as well...

And yet, he was enjoying treatment better than a five-star hotel on the fourth floor.

Xia Qi never thought he deserved such benefits; good fortune often came with misfortune. The more he enjoyed, the greater the price he would have to pay.

Could it really be because of that man?

Unable to figure out the man's true background, Xia Qi thought about the two people from the red side who were forced to dance together.

Logically, since the two from the red side didn't fully comply with the task requirements, would they end up like the fat man?

As these thoughts drifted through his mind, Xia Qi grew increasingly drowsy. This bed seemed to possess some kind of magic, making him feel extremely sleepy.

Then, Xia Qi had a beautiful dream. In the dream, he stood on a hillside covered with roses, feeling the gentle breeze on his face and hearing familiar whispers echoing in his ears.

"In this dark world, only I will love you forever..."

"Memories may fade, but my love for you remains unchanged..."

"My rose, I await your full bloom."

The man spoke with deep emotion, tinged with a hint of melancholy. Xia Qi immersed himself in the tenderness, sinking deeper into sleep.

"Squeak—"

A sharp whistle pierced the silence, jolting Xia Qi awake.

He suddenly opened his eyes, sat up, and looked around, only to find the room empty.

At that moment, another whistle sounded from outside.

Following the sound, Xia Qi glanced toward the door leading to the observation terrace.

This door served as both an entrance and a window. Due to the late hour, the originally colorful glass now appeared pitch black.

Suddenly, a glaring red light flashed outside, illuminating the glass. Xia Qi felt he saw something and, puzzled, got out of bed and approached the glass door.

Another red flash revealed a ghastly pale face outside the previously dark window. The face pressed against the glass, staring back at Xia Qi through the door.

"Who's there!" Xia Qi shuddered, taking several steps back. When he regained his composure and looked again, the pale face had vanished.

He rushed to the glass door and scanned the observation terrace, finding it empty.

Xia Qi then moved to the other side of the glass door and looked downward, noticing shadows of bats swiftly passing below before settling near a first-floor window.

The next day.

After finishing his morning routine, Xia Qi heard a scream from downstairs: "Ah—someone's dead!"