52. I Object!

"No, no... It's... it's not that I..."

Seeing that Vanessa was already at a loss for words, An Xinghe stopped teasing her:

"All right, little Vanessa. Don't you still have to go see your Father King? Hurry up and go!"

"I'll go right now."

Vanessa rushed out of the room like the wind, but she did not forget to remind An Xinghe:

"Don't wander off! I'll bring you something to eat when I come back tonight!"

Sure enough, that evening, Vanessa returned with a platter of shellfish and fish.

An Xinghe took it from her but did not start eating. Seeing that Vanessa did not look well, he asked:

"What's wrong, little Vanessa?"

"Nothing. It has nothing to do with Mr. An."

An Xinghe did not press her. Instead, he began eating.

At that moment, Vanessa asked:

"Mr. An, could you tell me about the human world? I heard Father King say that it's a world filled with deception."

As he stuffed an oyster into his mouth, An Xinghe said:

"Your Father King was right. The human world really is filled with deception. Countless people will do everything they can to trick you. Many of them would love nothing more than to drain your blood! But there are good people too."

Vanessa lowered her head:

"Is Mr. An also someone who likes deceiving people?"

"Yes." An Xinghe admitted it without hesitation. "I'm truly not a good person."

Vanessa forced a smile:

"Mr. An, you're really honest."

"I just think that an unapologetic villain is much better than a hypocrite."

Looking at An Xinghe eating with his head lowered, Vanessa gritted her teeth and asked:

"Mr. An, do you know that humans once hunted the merfolk?"

An Xinghe nodded. "I do. But what does that have to do with me?"

Vanessa's eyes widened in disbelief:

"Don't you feel ashamed?!"

An Xinghe looked at Vanessa:

"What do I have to be ashamed of? This has nothing to do with me. I'm not even a human from this world."

Vanessa did not understand what An Xinghe meant:

"What do you mean, you're not from this world?"

An Xinghe was just about to explain when the horror game's system voice suddenly rang in his ears.

[Warning! Warning! If player An Xinghe reveals the existence of the horror game to Vanessa, An Xinghe will be directly erased!]

[Warning! Warning! If player An Xinghe reveals the existence of the horror game to Vanessa, An Xinghe will be directly erased!]

[Warning! Warning!...]

The warning rang out three times in succession, showing just how important this matter was!

But this did not trouble An Xinghe at all. He changed his explanation:

"You can think of me as someone from another continent! I have nothing to do with the people of this continent!"

For some reason, Vanessa suddenly brightened at his explanation:

"So you don't bear the sin of killing merfolk?!"

"Not even the slightest bit!"

"That's wonderful... That's wonderful..." At some point, Vanessa had already taken An Xinghe's hand.

"Could you tell me more about the human world? I've never left the merfolk territory, so I'm very curious about the outside."

An Xinghe smiled. "Sure, but you have to agree to one request of mine too."

"What... what request?" Vanessa's face flushed red, and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

"Stop calling me Mr. An. Just call me Xinghe."

"Oh, that..." Vanessa's voice carried a hint of relief, along with a trace of disappointment.

"Xinghe, tell me a story about the human world."

"All right."

An Xinghe had graduated with a degree in Chinese literature. His literary knowledge and eloquence were both exceptional, and as he told his stories in a captivating voice, Vanessa gradually fell asleep.

An Xinghe picked Vanessa up, gently laid her on the bed, and tucked her in.

Then he thought for a moment and crawled in as well!

I'm doing this for concealment! Concealment, understand?!

The next morning, before dawn, Jennifer suddenly pushed open Vanessa's door with tears in her eyes:

"Vanessa! Something terrible has happened!"

Vanessa was still half-asleep. She rubbed her eyes and mumbled:

"What happened, Sis?"

"Father King... Father King was murdered! Father King was killed by Big Brother!"

§52 I Object!

"Father King... Father King was murdered! Father King was killed by Big Brother!"

The news made Vanessa's vision go black!

She could not believe that the Father King who had doted on her so dearly just yesterday was dead today!

And he had died at the hands of her own big brother!

Her little world had shattered!

Without caring about anything else, she threw on her clothes and rushed out!

An Xinghe had no intention of getting involved in this mess either. It was their family affair, and it would not be appropriate for him to interfere.

The imperial palace hall.

When Jennifer and Vanessa arrived, what they saw was the corpse of Byronvis, the king of the merfolk.

And sitting on the throne, holding a trident, was William, the merfolk's eldest prince.

"Father King!"

The two girls let out heart-rending cries and threw themselves toward the corpse.

"Father King! Wake up!"

"Father King! Father King!"

William acted as though he had not heard any of it.

Vanessa turned around. Her bloodshot eyes glared at William as she growled:

"Why! Big Brother, why did you kill Father King?"

William shook the blood from his trident, his tone careless:

"Because that old fool refused to die. If he didn't die, I couldn't become king, so I just gave him a hand."

"You... you bastard! You shameless scoundrel!"

For Vanessa, who did not know any real curses, "bastard" and "shameless scoundrel" were the harshest insults she could come up with.

"Hahaha! My dear sisters, don't worry. Even with Father King dead, you won't lose your wealth and status! I'll pamper you just as Father King did! Hahaha!"

"I don't need it!"

With a loud cry, Vanessa picked up Byronvis's corpse and tried to carry it out.

"Stop!" William said coldly. "My dear sister, did I say you could leave?"

"I'm going to bury Father King!"

"There's no hurry to bury him. If I remember correctly, tomorrow is your coming-of-age ceremony, little sister. My subordinate, Marlon, is deeply in love with you and has yet to marry. I think it would be perfect for you to marry him!"

Vanessa glared at William furiously:

"I absolutely will not marry him! I already have someone I love!"

"Hah, you mean that pretty boy Father King chose for you? I've already killed him! You'd better give up on him! Besides, when did you get to decide whether you marry or not?"

William waved his weapon and pointed at the guards beside him:

"Guards, take Vanessa away. Don't let her out until her coming-of-age ceremony!"

"Yes!"

Two merfolk guards forcibly took Byronvis's corpse back and then brought Vanessa to the dungeon.

Meanwhile, An Xinghe was still lying on Vanessa's little bed.

He truly had no desire to interfere in other people's family affairs.

However, Vanessa did not return that evening, leaving An Xinghe hungry.

William's rebellion had been planned long in advance. After a day of purges, the palace had fallen silent by the following day.

Vanessa was brought out of the dungeon. Restraining-magic shackles bound her hands and feet, and merfolk guards followed behind her. Escaping was nothing but a pipe dream.

She was first taken to the imperial palace hall, where William, as her elder brother, presided over an extremely simple coming-of-age ceremony for her.

This was a ritual that every merfolk had to undergo.

Afterward, the Red Scale on Vanessa's forehead had deepened to a dark red. This was also a sign that the Red Scale was about to fall off.