He left without hesitation.
That departing figure suddenly seemed so much taller in Sena's eyes.
Now that was a knight!
That was true nobility!
Even when mired in the muck, he still held on to the gentlemanly manners etched into his bones.
He would rather sleep in a stinking stable than sully a young woman's reputation.
Sena was so moved she could hardly contain herself.
She hurried inside and pulled the thickest wool blanket from the cupboard.
It was part of the dowry she had prepared for herself, and she usually wouldn't even use it.
"Wait!"
Sena ran after him.
The stable did smell a little.
It was the pungent smell of horse manure, hay, and an old donkey fermenting together.
Su Li stood in the stable. Beside him, the old donkey stared at him like he was an idiot, chewing its hay and making a constant crunching sound.
"What're you looking at?" Su Li glared at the donkey. "We're roommates now. Learn some manners."
The old donkey snorted, spraying Su Li's face with bits of hay.
Su Li wiped his face and didn't get mad.
He found a relatively clean corner. A thick pile of hay was stacked there. It was a little prickly, but at least it was dry.
Sena came in with the blanket.
"Here, this is for you." She handed the blanket to Su Li carefully, as if presenting an imperial decree. "It's new. Nobody's used it."
Su Li took it.
"Thanks."
Su Li spread the blanket over the hay and tried lying down.
Not bad.
"Head back quickly," Su Li said, lying on the blanket with his hands behind his head. "Don't let your father catch you."
Sena stood in the doorway, unmoving.
She looked at Su Li, lying in the hay. Even in a place like this, the man was so handsome she couldn't look away.
A few pieces of hay clung to his hair, only adding to his carefree, disheveled air.
"Um..." Sena bit her lip. "Tomorrow morning, I'll bring you something to eat. I know where to find freshly laid eggs."
Su Li closed his eyes, the corners of his mouth curving into a smile.
"Sure. Thanks, miss."
Only then did Sena leave, reluctantly. She even took care to shut the drafty gate behind her.
The stable fell quiet again.
Only the sound of the old donkey chewing hay remained.
Su Li opened his eyes and looked at the thatched roof overhead, which had a huge hole in it. Through the gap, he could see the pale moon outside.
He'd gotten through this hurdle.
Not only had he found a place to stay, he'd also planted the seed of a "good person" in this innocent girl's heart.
With Sena as his inside connection, getting enough to eat in this village shouldn't be difficult.
As for what came later...
Su Li rolled over and wrapped the blanket a little tighter around himself.
He'd worry about that later.
"I wonder what that lunatic Charlotte is doing now..."
Su Li muttered.
The woman who had cost him his life, then made him a father.
Hah.
Just wait.
He'd settle that score sooner or later.
Sleepiness swept over him like a tide. His young body was full of energy, but even it couldn't take that much exertion.
Su Li's breathing gradually evened out.
In his dream, he didn't see roast chicken.
He dreamed that he'd become a great landowner.
He owned a thousand mu of fertile fields and kept a hundred pigs at home.
Old Jack, that dead bastard, was squatting at his feet polishing his shoes, calling out as he worked, "Master, these leather shoes are so shiny!"
Meanwhile, Lady Charlotte was dressed as a maid, bringing him a basin of water to wash his feet.
"Is the water warm enough, Master?"
"Not bad." Su Li waved a hand in his dream. "Next time, remember to add some rose petals. I'm a man of status now."
Early the next morning.
Before the sky had fully brightened, the rooster was already crowing at the top of its lungs.
Su Li was woken by a series of clanging sounds.
They were rhythmic metallic strikes.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Every strike felt like it was pounding directly on his brain.
Su Li groggily opened his eyes and sat up in the hay. His body felt itchy; bugs in the hay had bitten him.
He rubbed his messy hair and yawned.
That was a rough night's sleep. His back and waist ached.
The old donkey beside him had woken up long ago. It stood there with its rear end toward him, swishing its tail to chase away flies.
Su Li got up and shook the bits of hay off himself.
The clangs outside continued. Old Buck was already at work.
Su Li walked out of the stable.
The morning air was cold, sharp with frost.
In the courtyard, a bare-chested, burly man stood by the furnace, swinging a hammer.
The man's face was covered in a thick beard. His muscles bulged like chunks of granite, and sweat ran down his back, gleaming in the sunlight.
This was Old Buck.
Su Li swallowed.
That build. That presence.
If he'd really snuck into Sena's bed last night, he'd probably have been beaten into an iron pancake by now.
"Good morning, sir."
Su Li's voice rang out bright and clear.
Old Buck's movements stopped.
He turned around, still holding a pair of red-hot iron tongs.
His bull-like eyes, big as copper bells, fixed straight on Su Li.
His gaze was full of scrutiny and suspicion.
"Who are you?"
Su Li didn't panic.
He'd seen scenes like this plenty of times.
He took a step forward and gave a calm, respectful bow.
His clothes made the gesture look a little ridiculous.
"Just a wanderer."
Su Li said.
"Your daughter was kind enough to take me in. I spent the night in your stable."
Old Buck narrowed his eyes.
He looked Su Li up and down.
The boy was... damn, a menace to society with a face like that.
Old Buck had lived for more than forty years and spent his whole life smithing. The prettiest thing he'd ever seen was the lord of the city's jeweled sword.
But this boy was even more dazzling than that sword.
Especially those eyes.
Old Buck was a rough man who didn't know much about fancy words.
He only knew that when those eyes looked at him, it felt like the newly quenched edge of a sword sliding over his skin—cool, and somehow... refined.
"Spent the night?"
Old Buck snorted. The iron tongs in his hand clacked loudly.
"Since when did my stable start taking guests?"
Just then, Sena ran out of the house carrying a basin of water.
"Father!"
Sena stepped in front of Su Li.
"I brought him here!"
"He had nowhere to go, so I let him sleep in the stable! Look, he didn't even come inside!"
Old Buck looked at his daughter's anxious expression, then at Su Li's calm demeanor.
No one knew a daughter better than her father.
Old Buck's heart sank.
It was over.
His unwanted cabbage was about to be pulled out by the roots.
The boy looked... too weak.
He couldn't carry anything on his shoulders or lift anything with his hands.
Besides that face, what use was he?
Old Buck tossed the iron tongs into a bucket of water.
"Hiss—"
White steam billowed upward.
Before you continue