Let's Make a Deal

Amy's story was actually the story of how she and Li Qi met on the train.

But in this story, only the characters were the same. The events themselves were completely different from reality.

In Amy's version, she was an adventurer who had grown tired of the peace in the Royal Capital and set out in search of new treasures.

While riding the train, she met a girl who seemed difficult to approach but was actually only cold on the surface and shy at heart.

She got to know the girl and grew close to her. With her own witty conversation and elegant manners, she successfully became friends with the girl while earning her admiration.

Then, an accident occurred on the train. An enemy nation's spy was hiding among them.

To prevent him from escaping, Amy decided to find and capture the enemy spy before getting off the train.

And so, a clash filled with wisdom and courage began on that train.

In the end, Amy and her newly made friend on the train—the noble young lady who admired her—successfully captured the spy.

That was the complete story.

Li Qi sat among the girls, drinking black tea to stay awake and eating pastries while listening to Amy spout nonsense.

Anyone could tell at a glance that Amy's story was based on her and Li Qi.

However, aside from the train, Amy herself, the noble young lady 'Ann,' and the 'spy' on the train matching their real-life counterparts, absolutely nothing else lined up.

What wisdom and courage against a spy? What finally capturing the spy and bringing him to justice?

Weren't you the spy yourself?

What, was I supposed to capture myself?

Li Qi nearly laughed as he listened, but out of courtesy, he kept quiet and simply ate his pastries.

Still, he had to admit, noble pastries were delicious...

No, that wasn't the point.

What he had to admit was that Amy really did have some talent for storytelling.

If one ignored the circumstances behind it and looked only at the story itself, what Amy had said was indeed fascinating.

Even Li Qi thought it was a good story, so there was no need to mention the noble ladies.

That was obvious from the admiration on their faces.

A story that began at two in the afternoon lasted until after four.

Li Qi had already finished two cups of black tea by the time Amy finally ended her story, still reluctant to stop.

After she finished, the noble ladies begged her to tell another story, but Amy had no intention of continuing. She spoke to the others apologetically and politely:

"Ladies, I'm sorry, but I've already been speaking for a long time. If you'd like to hear more stories, I'll come again tomorrow. Before I leave, I promise to tell you one of my adventure stories every day.

"But for now, please allow me to admire the scenery of Kefiser City."

"Are you leaving?"

Glora immediately asked.

Amy answered with a smile, "I'd like to walk around the city and look about."

"Then I'll go with you!"

"I can go too! I can take you to the largest theater in the city to watch an opera!"

"Me too!"

The girls spoke without the slightest restraint. Their eyes held admiration for Amy, along with something... more.

Some of them probably wanted to 'spend the night' with Amy.

To put it less politely, they wanted to sleep with her.

It sounded absurd, but given the customs of Uno's nobility, it was not absurd at all.

The nobles of Uno were an extremely open-minded bunch. As long as someone was attractive, they did not care about the person's age or gender.

Men with women, men with men, women with women...

There was nothing they could imagine that they could not do.

So Li Qi was not surprised in the slightest by what was happening.

Unfortunately, Amy already had someone else in mind.

"Sorry, ladies. I'm very happy that you've welcomed me so warmly, but... I'm actually a little shy around strangers too, so I'd like to find someone I'm familiar with to accompany me."

Amy declined tactfully. Glora asked in confusion, "Someone you're familiar with?"

Amy nodded, passed through the crowd, and came to Li Qi, who was sitting at the edge. She gave him a slight bow.

"Miss Angela, I wonder if I might have the honor of having you accompany me around the city?"

Amy's invitation to Li Qi left all the ladies at the tea party looking astonished.

They did not understand why Amy would invite the quiet and inconspicuous 'Miss Angela.'

Glora, however, faintly guessed the reason.

She remembered that Amy had asked them whether they knew Angela when they first arrived. In the story, there had also been a noble young lady who had a good relationship with Amy.

Could it be... that the noble young lady in Miss Amy's story was Angela?

Glora's eyes widened, as if she had discovered the truth.

Li Qi set down his teacup and looked at the hand Amy extended toward him. He smiled and placed his hand in hers.

"I'd be honored."

Inside the carriage, Amy and Li Qi sat facing each other.

There was no one else around. Even the coachman was Generro, so Li Qi made no effort to hide anything and said frankly:

"I never expected us to meet again, Miss Amy."

"I didn't expect you to actually come see me either," Amy said. "I thought you wouldn't come."

On the train, Li Qi's attitude had been far from pleasant.

He had practically written the word 'disdain' across his face in plain sight.

Even stealing the documents from Amy had been done only because he did not want her to keep bothering him.

Given that attitude, Amy would not have been surprised in the slightest if Li Qi had refused to go out with her just now.

But she had not expected him to agree to go out with her.

Although surprised, Amy had also formed a tentative guess. Perhaps... this mysterious noble young lady had something she needed Amy's help with.

Li Qi did not hide anything either and said directly:

"You're leaving Uno in a few days, right? I want you to take me with you."

Li Qi did not like beating around the bush. Besides, he only wanted to shed the identity of 'Angela' as soon as possible, so his conversation with Amy had to be brief and effective.

The best outcome would be to reach an agreement in the shortest possible time.

If that was not possible...

No, there was no 'not possible.' Even if it was impossible, it had to be done!

Today, Li Qi was determined to make Amy take him to the Shipu Federation, no matter what!

Amy did not know what Li Qi was thinking, but after hearing his words, she instead became calm.

The smile on her face grew somewhat amused as she asked:

"Leave Uno? Why does Miss Angela want to leave Uno?"

"That's none of your concern. You only need to answer me: will you or won't you?"

"Miss Angela, you're being rather overbearing. I don't know your identity, nor do I know what you intend to do after leaving Uno. Don't you think it's unreasonable to ask me to take you with me based on a single sentence?"

Amy's smile faded as she spoke to Li Qi.

A deal had to go both ways. But judging from Li Qi's attitude just now, this was not a deal. It was more like an order.

"I know you're a spy. If I report to my 'father' that I've found a spy, what do you think they'll do to you?"

Li Qi stated his 'condition.'

Amy's expression did not change.

"That's merely Miss Angela's word against mine. Without evidence, Uno's officials won't believe you."

"No, they will." Li Qi smiled. "Trust me. They absolutely will."

Li Qi spoke with such certainty that Amy became even less certain of his identity.

There was no proof behind what Li Qi had said. For him to expect Amy to believe, based solely on his word, that he had the ability to make Uno's authorities trust him was somewhat far-fetched.

But the problem was that Amy did not dare to take the chance.

Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance that what Li Qi had said was true, she still did not dare to gamble on whether he could report her.