It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

Phillips gave a three-part smile.

Left with no other option, Li Cheng had to rack his brains and improvise a half-true, half-false emotional journey. It wasn't too dramatic or contrived, since Phillips didn't seem like a girl easily fooled...

The story goes that through daily contact, a man gradually develops feelings for the princess, and the two naturally begin to spend time together. Unfortunately, due to their vastly different social statuses, they can only keep their relationship secret.

Unfortunately, fate intervened, and the woman was pressured into a marriage alliance. Desperate to improve her situation, she agreed, but the man firmly refused. Unable to resolve the conflict, he had no choice but to find a convenient option and traveled alone to Paris...

As for its authenticity?

Haha, from his perspective, his relationship with the princess isn't exactly inseparable; it's practically nonexistent.

In comparison, it's somewhat like the tragic ending of an American middle-class man who has a one-night stand with a stranger in a bar, only to be tricked into having a child by the bar girl.

Even worse is if the child is born out of wedlock, then there is only obligation and no right – legally, the child can refuse to support the father, but the biological father must bear the cost of raising the child. In this regard, judges, juries, and public opinion almost unanimously favor the woman.

The child is indeed innocent, and it is perfectly reasonable for the father to bear the cost of raising the child. However, it is outrageous for some bar girls to use this method to extort money from people by exploiting the child!

Moreover, they don't care about the children's survival at all; they treat them purely as tools to extract living expenses! They don't consider sustainable exploitation at all, turning many previously middle-class men into homeless individuals! Even if the men express willingness to take on childcare, they will resolutely refuse and insist on money!

As for how to deal with it, apart from the ultimate move of keeping oneself clean, the only way to fight back is to be ruthless and act like a homeless person with zero savings. After all, as long as you have no money, you don't have to worry about being ripped off. Bar girls will also consider their financial situation before trying to extort money from you.

However, considering the difference in status between Li Cheng and Veronica, it seems that Li Cheng is the bar girl...?

Speaking of this, it's worth mentioning that Veronica once promised to help Li Cheng obtain a title.

Before he could even find an opportunity, Charles II died, and he never formally married any noblewoman, making him a 100% pure English peasant.

But bloodline is a complicated thing... If you trace it back thousands of years, he might even be Li Shimin's great-great-great-great-great-grandson, a true royal bloodline, wouldn't you say?

Ahem, we've really gone off on a tangent.

After listening to Li Cheng's account, Phillips' eyes gradually brightened, and the faint disappointment he had felt earlier slowly disappeared.

Compared to accepting assignments from others and deliberately approaching Phillips with a purpose, Li Cheng's current explanation, although also with some ulterior motive, is much more emotionally acceptable.

Furthermore, since their meeting was purely a misunderstanding—Sophia only went to Li Cheng to order clothes after seeing an advertisement—all of this caused Phillips' previously suppressed anger to vanish without a trace.

On the contrary, she became increasingly interested in Li Cheng, who had such an experience.

Phillips straightened his position on the sofa, broke the silence, and asked, "So, Mr. Designer, you're not an envoy sent by that princess?"

“I have never claimed to be an envoy sent by Veronique.”

Li Cheng shrugged: "I only said that I am from Her Highness the Princess's side. You mistakenly thought I was an envoy sent by her."

Phillips quickly recalled and realized it was true. She hadn't thought about it too much before and subconsciously judged Li Cheng to be Veronique's envoy, never considering any other possibility—well, that's usually the case, but this time it was quite unexpected.

"The designer's experience is very pitiful."

Phillips then asked, "Don't you feel there's something missing—some convincing evidence? Something enough to prove the authenticity of the experience, like Veronica's keepsake—surely there's something there, more or less?"

A token?

Li Cheng thought to himself that he had no token of love. Li Cheng and Veronica had huge differences of opinion on the marriage, and their relationship could not be described as loving; it was simply nonexistent.

If they could persuade Veronica to reject the arranged marriage, why would they have bothered coming all the way to Paris...?

Although there was no token, everything else was prepared.

“I have no token, after all, my ideas differ from Princess Veronica's, and she does not agree with my approach.”

As Li Cheng spoke, he walked to the boxes and miscellaneous items he had previously organized, bent down and searched for the few family letters: "But I happen to have a letter written by Princess Veronica here. You can tell the truth once you read it."

Chapter 293 The world? Let's just destroy it.

Li Cheng bent down and rummaged through the wooden box for a moment, and soon found the pale yellow envelope among the magazines. It was the handwritten letter from Veronica that had been sent to Lincoln and then forwarded to Paris along with letters from Newton and others.

After confirming that everything was correct, Li Cheng got up and walked to the sofa, handing the envelope to the blonde "beauty" who was waiting expectantly on the sofa.

“The letter from that stubborn princess is truthful and reliable,” Li Cheng said.

"Oh, a letter written by Her Highness the Princess herself."

Phillips' eyes widened, his small mouth slightly agape, and he exclaimed dramatically, "This is something I can actually see? Really? Can I just open it up and browse the contents?"

Compared to the beginning, she was clearly in a much better mood and even had the energy to joke around.

"It's alright, it's all very ordinary content." Li Cheng couldn't help but twitch his lips, thinking to himself, "Aren't you Louis XIV's brother, a prince, for good measure?"

"Really? Then I won't be polite."

Phillips swiftly took the letter, tore open the double-sealed envelope, took out a white sheet of paper covered with beautiful handwriting, and began to quickly and attentively scan its contents.

Instead of standing idly to the side or sitting next to her to read together, Li Cheng walked to the sofa opposite Phillips, picked a comfortable position and sat down, seemingly relaxed but actually intently observing Phillips.

After all, he had already read the contents; to summarize, it meant that Her Highness would make her own decision and there was no need for her to act on her own...

Although the content didn't contain intimate sweet nothings like those between lovers, and was even somewhat forceful, the tone of his words and the fact that he didn't treat Li Cheng as an outsider did, which was consistent with the ideological conflict setting he had just fabricated.

However, it's fortunate that Veronie didn't mention the baby in her womb in that letter, otherwise it would be difficult to explain why the baby's mother would have such a conflict of opinion with him...

The letter is short, and even with careful reading, it won't take too much time.

Therefore, compared to the specific content, Phillips paid more attention to observing whether there were any signs of forgery. His mysterious and elegant purple eyes were serious and focused, not letting go of even the slightest detail, just like the most meticulous archaeological master.

Written text can reveal a lot of details, such as the writer's mental state at the time, the neatness or sloppiness of the handwriting, and the choice and frequency of words used in more complex cases. These are things that forgers find very difficult to fake.

Even with such careful observation, nothing unusual could be detected.

"Um......"

Unable to find any problems, Phillips put down the letter and closed his eyes to ponder.

Frankly, she was initially skeptical of Li Cheng's story—a princess falling in love with a fine commoner, the princess marrying, and the commoner going to a foreign land to try his luck. Such a development seemed more like a script written by third-rate playwrights than reality.

But with Li Cheng's accurate analysis of the marriage situation and Louis XIV's psychology, and corroborated by this letter, and most importantly, with Phillips herself present...

You can lie to others to brag, but what's the point of lying to her? She's really going to occupy a corner in this script, even if her existence seems to be that of a supporting character.

After accepting this premise, one is likely to be deeply shocked.

The reason a story is a story is that, in many cases, it does not exist in reality.

The cliché story of a hero defeating an evil dragon, if it happened in reality, would make him a true hero who saves the world, a feat worthy of being sung about for thousands of years, a legend.

The story of a commoner falling in love with a princess and overcoming all obstacles to achieve a happy ending is a tale worthy of being sung and celebrated in real life.

If I were the main character...

After briefly imagining things from one side's perspective, Phillips slowly opened his eyes and said with a rather complicated expression, "I think I roughly understand the situation, Mr. Designer."

Seeing that he had finally satisfied the man's curiosity, Li Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Can I continue now?"

Although Phillips's opinion of Li Cheng improved somewhat after the story's authenticity was somewhat assured, it was clearly not enough to convince him to change his decision. What both sides really needed was something more practical.

"Okay, let's continue."

Phillips flashed a sweet, xylitol-like smile, eager to see how Li Cheng would convince her—xylitol may not be sugar, but that doesn't stop it from tasting sweet.

............

No. 12 Tulip Street.

"Hmph hmph hmph~ Hmph hmph~ Hmph hmph hmph hmph~"

A mature woman pushed open her front door, carrying a lunchbox and humming a tuneless melody—and the one behaving in such an inappropriate way for her age was none other than Li Cheng's landlady, Mrs. Hudson.

Mrs. Hudson has recently experienced her second spring... well, I should say her first.

For some reason she was unaware of, the English gentleman, Anderson, treated Mrs. Hudson with great care.

For some reason she was unaware of, not only Anderson but also his daughter Louise felt extremely close to Mrs. Hudson after their first meeting and quickly grew fond of their neighbor, their relationship progressing rapidly.

The progress was going so smoothly that she began to doubt its authenticity.

"I also have to thank Mr. Orenki; it's all thanks to his advice."

Mrs. Hudson thought to herself.

Finding a good tenant without bad habits is actually quite difficult, especially when this tenant can provide unexpected help in addition to the rent, which is truly a pleasant surprise.

Although this tenant seems to be having some complicated relationships with two women recently, it's not a stain on his reputation as a young, handsome, and capable man. As long as he's not married, it's not a problem at all.

"Hehe, it's a pity that he's still far inferior to Mr. Anderson."

Hudson's eyes gleamed: "Mr. Anderson possesses such immense wealth, yet he hasn't remarried even after his wife's death so many years ago. A man like that is truly worthy of entrusting one's life to! My patient waiting all these years has been for a man like him!"

With similar thoughts running through her mind, she tightened her grip on the lunchbox in her arms and continued her routine meal delivery.

She quickly reached Li Cheng's door. Hudson reached out his left hand to knock, but the door creaked open and bumped into the blonde girl who was about to leave. Hudson stumbled and almost dropped his lunchbox.

"Hey, is that Little Phillips?"

Just as he was about to complain, Hudson took a closer look at the person in front of him and gave him a gossipy expression: "You've come to visit Mr. Orenki again. Why don't you stay for lunch before you leave?"

"Thank you for your concern, Mrs. Hudson."

Phillips responded very politely, "But I have some things to take care of at home, so I'll be leaving now."

She seemed to be in a good mood. For some unknown reason, a slight, heartfelt smile always lingered on her pale pink lips, and her eyes were filled with uncontrollable laughter. Even the golden hair draped behind her head seemed to shine brighter, and her whole being seemed to be glowing.

"Okay, okay, then you go ahead and get busy. Remember to come visit often when you have time."

Hudson greeted her warmly, as if she were in her own home... Well, it seems this really is her house.

"sure."

After making his promise, Phillips headed straight away into the distance.

What a wonderful girl, so sensible and beautiful... Hudson sighed as he watched the golden figure that seemed to glow as it left, then turned and pushed open the door to continue delivering lunch to his tenants.

"Mr. Aurunki, I'm here... Oh? What's wrong with you?!"

However, when she opened the door, she saw Li Cheng sitting on the sofa in the living room, his expression blank and his whole being lifeless, as if he were eight shades grayer than the surrounding air. She was shocked and quickly walked to Li Cheng.

"What's wrong? What happened?" she asked anxiously.

It was only then that Li Cheng seemed to notice Mrs. Hudson's arrival.

He stiffly raised his head and said in a numb tone, "It's nothing, I just suddenly feel that the world should just be destroyed."

Chapter 294 The So-Called Pledge of Allegiance

Mrs. Hudson showed great concern for the mental health of her tenants.

"Are you really... alright?" She looked at the dejected red-haired youth in front of her with suspicion.

To Mrs. Hudson, lines like "destroy the world" were so incredibly childish and cringeworthy, it was like finding a cockroach in her bed during the day – it made her feel itchy and uncomfortable all over. She found it hard to believe that the person who said such a thing would be alright.