Quadruple split.

Chapter 2423 Boy and Girl (III)

"Let's just say..."

Cole leaned against the window, crossed his arms, and looked down at Hermes and the others filing out of the villa. He asked with a subtle expression, "Was that a little too strong of you just now?"

"of course."

Normally, she should have left the house with everyone else, but after the others went downstairs, she returned here. Xiao Ai sat back in her seat, smiled, and said softly, "Can you make me a cup of tea, please?"

Cole did not answer "yes" or "no", but walked briskly to the other side of the girl, smiled and took out a mini heating stove and a crystal clear teapot from his space bracelet, and swiftly prepared fruit tea suitable for the girl's current appetite and mental state, while teasing, "You seem to like to order me around today."

Xiao Ai immediately shook her head and said seriously, "No, I didn't ask you to do that. I was clearly asking you for a favor in a friendly way!"

"Affable is a very condescending way to describe it."

Although he seemed to be complaining, the corners of Cole's mouth curled up into a not-so-subtle smile: "So, I remember you shouldn't be so tough."

Xiao Ai held her chin with her folded hands, looked expectantly at the small tea set in front of Cole, and said nonchalantly, "That only shows that the impression you have of me is very different from the real Ai Vanye, which makes me very sad."

Cole nodded slightly and said in a light tone: "Oh, then you just bear with it."

"You..."

Xiao Ai couldn't help but rolled her eyes at him, pouted and said, "Aren't you afraid that I'll complain to Rona after she 'comes back'?"

Cole casually threw two sugar balls into the birthday gift that Cholera gave to Xiao Ai, and looked at the beautiful drink in the small teapot that was gradually turning into an amber color with concern: "I have become a lot braver recently, so I am not that scared."

"You are just good at talking. It's obvious that one look from you can make you unable to walk."

Xiao Ai chuckled and said teasingly: "I still remember that when Rona and I just came out of the classroom, we saw you..."

"Shhh."

However, Cole put his index finger to his lips, made a gesture of silence, squinted his eyes and stared at the flame in the mini heating furnace, and whispered: "Be quiet, Master Cole Shuren's wonderful fruit tea is at a critical moment-"

Xiao Ai closed her mouth obediently, and then continued to look expectantly at the 'wonderful fruit tea' in the small teapot that was bubbling with small bubbles.

Just like that, after two extremely quiet minutes——

"Please, ma'am."

Cole poured the drink into the cup in a gorgeous, handsome and useless posture that he had learned from Yuying. He tapped the rim of the cup, allowing the fragrant fruit tea to slide accurately in front of the girl, and leaned forward slightly: "Few people can witness the gorgeous beauty of Lord Cole Shuren--"

So, Xiao Ai picked up the cup of fruit tea in front of her, which actually looked quite ordinary. After taking a sip, she blushed because the temperature of the drink was quite high and said, "It tastes just ordinary."

“Just normal.”

Cole shrugged and spread his hands. "You know I have no talent in this area. My husband often says that the coffee I make for him is a disaster."

"Never mind, I don't think sir minds any kind of disaster."

Xiao Ai said this with a smile, and then took a sip of the ordinary fruit tea in her hand, which was made by someone who had no talent, and said with a smile, "It tastes good."

While cooling down the heating furnace that had completed its task, Cole reminded, "You just said it was normal."

"Yeah, it's very ordinary."

Xiao Ai nodded vigorously and smiled: "But ordinary delicious ones are also delicious."

"my pleasure."

Cole put away the heating stove, took out a second cup and poured himself a cup of ordinary and delicious drink, and raised his glass to the girl in front of him: "Cheers to the gentleman, and to Ms. Ai Vanye."

Xiao Ai also raised her cup with a smile, and said in a light tone: "Cheers, sir, to Master Cole Shuren's wonderful fruit tea."

The two smiled at each other, as if they had returned to a time less than a year ago, yet it seemed as if centuries had passed.

Unfortunately, this trance-like and wonderful atmosphere only lasted for less than half a minute. Xiao Ai gently put down the teacup and returned to the second floor of the villa at No. 0 Bella Street in the Nightless District of the Free City.

"The answer to that question just now is actually very simple."

Xiao Ai blinked. Her friend, who wanted her to think about it later rather than hearing the answer, smiled and said, "I hope to put some pressure on Granny Imelda and Father Lorenzo and test their bottom line. After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Kevos family has become the decision-maker of the Bella Street Committee. But if we want to assume this status, we need the absolute support of those two people."

Cole sighed silently, and then followed the rhythm and said, "I personally think that Ms. Imelda shouldn't have too many ulterior motives. After all, you went to see her alone once before."

"At least in terms of the conclusion, I agree with your point of view."

Xiao Ai did not comment too much on Cole's thinking, and said softly: "So this time, the toughness is completely for Father Lorenzo of the Black Curtain to see."

"Father Lorenzo..."

Cole stroked his chin and said hesitantly, "At least on the surface, he doesn't seem to be the kind of character that needs to be specially beaten."

Xiao Ai smiled and said calmly: "You are right, but the problem is that things that can be seen on the surface are often worthless in this city, and Father Lorenzo's [Black Curtain] Church is the only organization that we have not been able to infiltrate in any form."

Cole was slightly stunned, and followed Xiao Ai's train of thought and asked: "You mean, in addition to the 'apostate' condition, there are other more stringent screening mechanisms there?"

"I don't know, but my intuition tells me that the old priest is probably not a simple person."

Xiao Ai lowered her eyes and stared at her reflection in the cup. She said calmly, "I even tried to use the power of the Wanderer Inn, but Boss Jun Wu's first investigation did not yield any useful information. Although he said he could 'look it up carefully', the fact that he specifically mentioned it to me instead of helping with the investigation directly is enough to prove his attitude."

Cole pursed his lips, carefully recalling the old priest whose presence was not strong and whose aura was far less powerful than that of Hermes, Alma and others. He directly used Xiao Ai's suspicion as the underlying logic and sighed: "He is really well hidden."

"No, if it is 'deeply hidden', we might be able to find out something, instead of finding nothing like now."

Xiao Ai shook her head and said seriously, "In my opinion, Father Lorenzo probably didn't deliberately conceal the specialness of the Black Curtain from the beginning. It's just that in this city where everyone has secrets, people like Mr. Hermes who live openly without hiding anything are the outliers."

Although he was considered by Mo Tan to have no talent for strategy, after spending a long time with Tan Mo and Xiao Ai, Cole almost immediately found the blind spot: "For forces like the Imelda Chamber of Commerce and the Roman Abyss, it is difficult to get to the bottom of the Black Curtain, an organization of the same level. It is normal, but even with Boss Jun Wu's involvement, they still can't find anything. This..."

"Strength is unknown, but it gets stronger when it meets a stronger opponent."

Xiao Ai casually said a rhyme from another world that she had heard from someone, leaned back in her chair and smiled at Cole, "But these are not the main points. I don't care how many secrets Father Lorenzo has, nor do I intend to explore the true strength of the Black Curtain Church. All I need is an attitude, a signal that can be positive or negative. Although I personally don't like the 'toughness' just now, it is a necessary step and means."

But Cole shook his head, stared at Xiao Ai seriously and said, "I still don't think it's right. Even though the logic makes perfect sense, but..."

"but what?"

Xiao Ai blinked and looked at Cole with interest, with a hint of gentle expectation in his eyes. "But you won't be willing to do this."

Cole took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "In other words, if there were other options, you would definitely not do this."

Xiao Ai covered her mouth and chuckled, and asked curiously: "Because in your heart, I have always been a soft person who can't be tough?"

"You are one of the strongest people I have ever met in my life."

Cole leaned forward slightly, looking into Xiao Ai's eyes that were full of smiles but inexplicably evasive: "In fact, I don't know why I think this way, but I still insist that this is not something you would do under normal circumstances."

Xiao Ai nodded and looked down at the fruit tea in front of her again: "Oh..."

However, the other party did not intend to let her go, but asked without hesitation: "So, can you tell me the reason?"

"Ok."

It only took Xiao Ai a few seconds to make up her mind. She looked up at Cole and said simply and clearly: "I should go."

The latter was immediately stunned: "Leaving? Where to?"

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

"It should be in the northeast. I don't know the details, but I think the gentleman will tell me soon."

Xiao Ai picked up the cup and took a sip of the still warm fruit tea, and said softly: "But the environment there should be much better than here. Didn't you also say when we first came here that the Free City is not suitable for me. It's a bit too smoky and dirty."

Cole finally realized what the word "gone" meant in the current context. His pupils were dizzy at this moment. He said in a rare and incoherent voice: "You're leaving?!"

"Well, I'm leaving now."

Xiao Ai nodded slightly and smiled, "That's why I'm anxious to get this place settled before I leave. I don't want to leave a mess behind and embarrass you, sir."

Cole's eyes grew colder, and he said in a deep voice, "Someone is coming to replace you?"

"Don't overthink it. This isn't some clichéd story where an outsider shows up to pick peaches while you're halfway through your work."

Xiao Ai saw through the other party's thoughts at a glance and immediately explained: "You should know clearly that there is a trump card in the [Joker Card] that has equal authority to the master. If nothing unexpected happens, she will come to the Free City to take charge of the work in a while. So by then, I can retire and do other things for the master."

Cole pursed his lips and remained silent for a long time with a gloomy face, then asked sullenly, "Is this what you mean, sir?"

"That's what I meant."

Xiao Ai suddenly smiled slyly, stretched out her little hand and tugged on Cole's cheek, then said to the latter's face that was forced to smile: "Sir actually hopes that I can stay here, but I have indirectly dealt with another "ace" when I was in the Violet Empire before, and I know very well that she is much stronger than me in all aspects. So if I insist on staying, it will probably cause a lot of waste of manpower. After all, you know, I'm actually quite powerful..."

However, before she could finish her words, she was stopped abruptly because the other party grabbed her wrist tightly.

Just like that, the girl kept pulling the other's cheek as if in a mischievous manner, and the boy kept holding the girl's wrist tightly, and the two of them fell into a pause that was actually not that long, probably less than two seconds in total.

Then--

"Oh, sorry, sorry, I'm not..."

Cole let go of the girl's slender and cold wrist as if he had been electrocuted. He tried to explain something in a panic, but he couldn't say a word.

"..."

Xiao Ai pursed her lips and lowered her head, wondering what she was thinking about.

"Well, I don't know."

Finally, Cole put down his waving hands with a wry smile, leaned back in his chair, stared up at the ceiling, and said with an extremely tired and complicated expression: "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"I know."

As a result, Xiao Ai actually muttered this sentence softly.

"you know?"

Cole looked at him in surprise and asked, "What do you know?"

"I know you don't know what's wrong with you."

Xiao Ai sighed, and raised her pretty face, which was still flushed, and smiled at the other party with an exceptionally brilliant smile, as dazzling as the god she believed in in the past: "So in order to prevent your symptoms of becoming increasingly stupid from getting worse, I took the initiative to ask Mr. to leave here."

"What did you say..."

"Also, after I leave, you will be on your own here, so although there is still some time, you can prepare yourself mentally now."

"..."

"Oh, by the way, I may not be able to go back with Uncle Bayes and Ms. Leiduo's wedding, but don't worry, I will definitely prepare a good gift for them!"

"Hey."

"Okay, I'll go back first. You haven't finished your tea yet, so come back later."

"I also……"

"Don't follow me!"

"..."

"When we meet again in the manor later... we must be as good friends as we were yesterday."

"..."

"What's the answer?"

"……Um."

"Well, see you later."

"Okay, see you later."

Chapter 2414: End