Irelia's Wondrous Mind

"Me! Eh?? Al... alright."

Irelia sat blankly on the carriage, staring in bewilderment at Li Ke, who had just hauled her aboard.

By all logic, she should be screaming for help right now, but the moment she saw Li Ke, she felt an inexplicable sense of trust, accompanied by a strange sensation.

She couldn't quite put it into words; she felt shy, yet strangely familiar, as if she had finally recovered something she had long lost.

She didn't understand this feeling, but her heart was pounding so hard it felt as though it might leap right out of her chest.

And so, she found herself agreeing in a daze, sitting obediently on the speeding carriage.

Then, she watched as her stunned father flashed past her, left far behind in the dust.

Just like the theoretically correct reaction from before, she should have been calling out to her father for help, but for some reason, being whisked away from his side by this strange man gave her a feeling of, a feeling of...

Excitement?

Irelia couldn't fathom why she would feel this way. She had always been such a well-behaved girl; how could such a sensation arise?

She suspected she might be under a spell, but the amulet she wore showed no signs of warning, nor did she feel her mind being interfered with or twisted in any way, so...

Why on earth was she being so compliant with a man she had only just met?

Could love at first sight truly exist in this world?

Lito watched the scene in utter shock. What had he just witnessed?

His daughter had made breakfast that morning, which he had enjoyed immensely. He was chewing on a fried dough stick, planning to watch his daughter dance for a while, then give his good-for-nothing son a beating, brag to a few old friends, and deal with some blind bandits.

But what happened instead?

He was humming a tune while eating his dough stick, and suddenly, his daughter was kidnapped?

What the (Ionian profanity)!!

Lito's blood pressure spiked instantly. He coughed twice, then rushed into his house to retrieve his sword.

Although their family was a lineage of blade dancers, because Irelia possessed such immense talent, he and his wife had kept it a secret from her, allowing her to learn only dance.

Thus, when facing opponents who weren't particularly strong, they used ordinary swords.

Only as a last resort would they use their family's ancestral blade dance.

After all, the ancestral blade dance was far too destructive and defied the natural order; one slip-up could result in killing both the target they were meant to protect and the enemy, or they might overdo it—intending to negotiate, only to end up slaughtering everyone.

It couldn't be helped; being too strong had its downsides, like having no friends.

With that, Lito mounted his beloved horse, drew his cherished sword, charged out of his estate, and galloped in the direction Li Ke had taken.

On the carriage, Shen looked at Li Ke, who was driving, with an apologetic expression. In his view, he bore some responsibility for failing to stop Li Ke from committing such a reckless act.

"...My apologies, Irelia. Li Ke is just a bit eccentric."

Irelia was still dazed, only snapping back to reality when Shen called her name.

"Ah, oh, it's alright, Shen. I just wanted to know, what are you planning to do by kidnapping me?"

Irelia knew Shen as well; the children of Ionia's top warriors all knew one another to prevent future conflicts that would be difficult to resolve.

"Well, Li Ke said he sensed a group of Noxians persecuting the villagers, so he probably wants you to guide the way..."

Shen felt quite embarrassed saying this, but before Irelia could ask further, Li Ke spoke up.

"Because I need your help to settle the villagers who have lost their homes. I believe your father, Lito, should have the authority to handle such matters, right?"

Irelia nodded. Her father, Lito, did indeed have such responsibilities—managing the resettlement of villagers under his jurisdiction during times of disaster or turmoil.

However, she was still puzzled.

"I can understand kidnapping me because time was of the essence, but why didn't you just go to my father?"

She was confused by this point. She was just a powerless young girl with no great strength or knowledge of swordsmanship—merely a dancer.

Her father, on the other hand, was a renowned master of the blade. Wouldn't finding him have solved the problem much faster?

Could I tell her it's because I'm afraid her father would cut me down before I could get two words out?

Thinking back on his actions in the simulator, and the thoughts and feelings Lito had expressed there, Li Ke felt that if this Lito inherited the perspective of the one in the simulation, then...

He was a dead man!

Peeping at someone's daughter while she bathed, threatening her with her own clothes, and then doing the deed of a lover to get things done.

Even if it was mutual, Li Ke felt that if his own daughter were treated that way, he would at least be sentenced to a suspended death penalty for a crime of passion.

And then, just randomly walking out and stealing a girl's heart—if that happened to him, he'd at least be looking at three years for causing emotional trauma.

While there was a chance Lito might have inherited a favorable impression, why take the risk?

Even if Lito didn't kill him, how much would a disgruntled Lito really trust him?

Things were fine as they were: the daughter was snatched, Lito would inevitably follow, and once they reached the target village, everything would naturally fall into place.

Still, the journey was far too boring as it was.

"Because I have no way to earn your father's trust, I had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure."

Li Ke offered Irelia a warm, considerate smile. He often used this expression to get discounts from the merchant women in the village, so he was quite practiced at deploying this "warm guy" grin.

That's right, Li Ke's warm, gentle smile was trained exactly like this. Although using a warm smile to seduce others because of a lack of money was a shameful thing, you had to admit that a warm smile cultivated in such a way...

The lethality was truly immense.

Irelia's face flushed red. She had already harbored some peculiar feelings for Li Ke, and upon seeing this heartwarming smile, she became even more flustered, the sound of her own heartbeat growing louder and louder in her ears.

For a fleeting moment, she even thought of names for their future children...

Yet, strangely enough, when she thought of those names, she felt an inexplicable sense of sadness.

However, that sadness vanished rapidly the moment she looked at Li Ke.

In its place, she once again felt that strange sense of happiness, as if she had recovered something she had lost.

This left her feeling deeply perplexed.