Appearance Changes and the Backpack System

Ye Wei'an had just pulled the carriage door halfway open when Ailian, who had been waiting by the side, hurried over.

"Young Master, you've been busy for so long, shouldn't you rest for a moment? Let me pour you some water..."

"No, there's no time to rest, Ailian." Ye Wei'an said as he began packing a few changes of clothes and a small box containing important documents. "Knight Cain and I are taking a few men to ride through the night to Firefall Town."

"Firefall Town? Right now?" Ailian was startled, then instinctively grabbed his sleeve. "Then—then what about me? Young Master, take me with you! I... I can help!"

"That won't work." Ye Wei'an didn't stop his movements, refusing without looking up. "There's no carriage for this journey; we have to ride on horseback, and there might be danger along the way. You'll be safer staying with the main group."

"Young Master—" Ailian dragged out the sound, tugging and gently shaking his sleeve. "Please take me with you, I promise I won't be a burden! I can help you organize your gear, prepare meals, and besides... I'm really scared to be left here all by myself."

"It's only for a day or two," Ye Wei'an stopped packing and looked at her helplessly. "Can't you wait even that long?"

"I can't!" Ailian shook her head firmly, puffing out her cheeks as she said indignantly, "Besides, I promised Sister Lina that I would take good care of you, and I have to keep my word."

Lina—full name Alexandrina Sebastian—was a maid of the Xiaxing House, four years older than the original owner.

According to the original owner's memories, she was a beautiful and kind-hearted girl who had taken great care of him back when he was still at Firefall Fortress.

As an illegitimate son disliked by Lady Xiaxing, the original owner's life at Firefall Fortress had been difficult. Most servants dared not show him any kindness, but this "Sister Lina" would often visit him in secret, keep him company, and bring him exquisite pastries meant for the noble young masters. When Lady Xiaxing forbade him from entering the family library, "Sister Lina" would sneak books to him according to his requests.

As Ye Wei'an's personal maid, Ailian's favorite person at Firefall Fortress had been Lina.

Unfortunately, Lina was a maid of the Xiaxing House and could not follow Ye Wei'an to Suzar; the two hadn't seen each other in four years.

Seeing Ailian bring up Lina, Ye Wei'an found it hard to argue and had to find another reason to make her give up.

"Can you ride a horse?"

"I can learn!" Ailian said immediately.

"Learn? I'm leaving in a moment; I don't have time for you to learn."

"I... I can ride on the same horse as you, Young Master!" Ailian blurted out in her desperation.

To be more persuasive, she even leaned in close, wrapping both hands around one of Ye Wei'an's arms without a second thought. "I'll hold on tight, I promise I won't be a burden! Young Master, I beg you, don't leave me here all alone..."

Her warm, soft body pressed against him, carrying the fresh, unique scent of a young girl.

Ye Wei'an had underestimated the level of intimacy the little maid felt toward him. This sudden attack made his body stiffen almost imperceptibly.

Having such a beautiful girl hold his arm and act spoiled—when had he ever experienced this in his past life?

What should he do? He had no experience dealing with this!

At a loss, he could only force down his unease, maintain a calm expression, and shake his head.

That only made Ailian hold on tighter. On her upturned face, those perpetually moist brown eyes were filled with pleading, shimmering with water as if tears were about to fall at any moment.

Not only did his body want to agree, but his mind also began to find reasons to justify it:

Leaving a pretty young girl alone with a bunch of soldiers was indeed not very reassuring.

Besides... according to his plan, bringing her along should make it easier to gain the trust of the mastermind behind the scenes.

Seeing that if he kept resisting he might truly lose his composure, Ye Wei'an finally relented and compromised: "...Alright, alright, I'll take you. But you must promise to be obedient on the road and not complain, no matter how hard it gets."

"Mm! I promise!" Ailian immediately cheered up, her face clearing instantly.

She turned around briskly and began helping Ye Wei'an organize the clothes he needed to take.

The two of them packed together inside the carriage. After a while, Ailian's movements slowed, and her gaze fell quietly on Ye Wei'an's profile.

This was a small habit of hers, but this time, as she watched him, she found she couldn't look away.

"What's wrong, Ailian?" Ye Wei'an noticed the silence beside him and felt a bit strange. "Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something dirty on my face?"

"No... it's nothing!" Caught in the act of staring, Ailian's face turned red instantly.

"Then what is it?"

The young girl stammered for a long time before saying in a very small, uncertain voice, "Young Master... do you feel like... you seem a little different?"

Could it be that my personality changed too much after transmigrating, and she's noticed something is off?

Ye Wei'an's heart skipped a beat, but he remained calm on the surface. "How am I different?"

"I can't quite put my finger on it..." Ailian tilted her head, examining him very seriously. "Your eyes seem to have more spirit, your nose is straighter... hmm, your contours seem to be... in short, you just feel... better looking?"

Ye Wei'an steadied his mind and deliberately used a relaxed tone. "Are you seeing things? I've always been like this."

"Is that so..." Ailian blinked, looked at Ye Wei'an twice more, and finally laughed sheepishly. "Maybe I was just too nervous earlier and saw things wrong."

Taking advantage of the moment she turned to grab the water skin, Ye Wei'an quickly pulled a small silver mirror from his luggage and, using the light filtering through the carriage window, carefully examined himself in the mirror.

At first glance, it seemed to be the same face he had been familiar with in both his past and present lives, but there were indeed some differences—

His facial contours seemed more pleasing, the lines of his brow bone were clearer, the bridge of his nose was straighter, the proportions of his features were more harmonious, and his eye sockets had opened up slightly; his once somewhat ordinary single eyelids had somehow become defined double eyelids.

The most obvious change was his eyes; deep within his pupils, a faint, blue-white shimmer flickered. When he looked at someone, there was an indescribable focus and penetration.

These changes weren't very significant individually, but when combined, the overall impression of his face had improved significantly, shifting from merely handsome and pleasant to truly striking and refined.

"It seems... this is the direct result of the increase in my Charisma attribute." Ye Wei'an put away the mirror, understanding dawning on him.

It looks like I'll have to be a bit more careful from now on.

This subtle, imperceptible change might be attributed to a "change in temperament" or "growing into his looks" by those familiar with the original owner, like Ailian, but if the changes became any more obvious, it could invite unnecessary suspicion.

Fortunately, over the past half-month, his predecessor had stayed inside the carriage for long periods and had little interaction with the surrounding guards.

He hadn't seen his family in four years, either.

There certainly wouldn't be any problems in the short term.

Setting down the mirror, Ye Wei'an continued packing.

As the descendant of a noble, even if only the illegitimate son of a Baron, his personal belongings were still quite numerous.

On the other side, Ailian felt that everything might come in handy—portable pots, tin cups, even an unopened bag of expensive spices—she wanted to stuff them all into the satchel, arguing righteously, "Sister Lina secretly sent these to me; the Young Master will need them when eating dry rations!"

The result was that the only leather satchel was soon stuffed to the brim, with a pile of items still left with nowhere to go.

If I had known, I should have bought a few more travel bags.

Unexpectedly, the moment the thought crossed his mind, several translucent grid outlines faintly appeared at the edge of his vision—exactly like an inventory system in a game.

With a flicker of his intent, he tried "thinking" about putting the few heavy magic books in his hand into one of the slots.

The next second, the books vanished from his hands, and the corresponding book icons appeared in that slot.

It really is... an inventory system? He immediately understood what was going on.

When he focused his mind, a status prompt appeared in the corner of his vision: [Weight: 3.2/140].

Just as in the game. He realized that the higher his strength attribute, the higher his weight capacity; as long as the total weight did not exceed the limit, items could be stored in this attached pocket dimension.

Thus, he decisively "loaded" the magic books he had originally intended to leave behind, as well as a crystal ball, into it.

He then turned to look at the young girl who was folding clothes: "Ailian, hand me the clothes you've packed; I'll take them with me."

Ailian walked over holding a stack of neat shirts and trousers, looking curiously at his empty hands: "Young Master, where... are you planning to put these?"

"This, well..." Ye Wei'an made up an excuse without changing his expression, "I just remembered, a friend gave me a dimensional bag when I left the academy; it can hold quite a lot of things."

"A dimensional bag?!" Ailian covered her mouth with both hands, "I've heard Sister Lina talk about it; that's an extremely, extremely expensive magic item! Even the most basic one costs over a thousand gold coins, and the entire Xiaxing House only has one... Your friend is truly generous."

Ye Wei'an was merely the illegitimate son of a Baron, and as his personal maid, Ailian had likely never seen more than three hundred gold coins in her entire life.

"I did him a big favor; this is just him returning the favor," Ye Wei'an said, glossing over it.

Ailian nodded, seemingly understanding.

The little maid knew nothing about magic or the dealings between mages, and she trusted her master unconditionally, so she believed whatever Ye Wei'an said.