It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

?

Veronica opened her slightly narrowed eyes, looked at the meticulously sculpted crucifix before her, and slowly uttered a question mark.

Are there rats in this church?

Before she could finish expressing her surprise, a small section of the wall behind the Christ statue suddenly caved in with a loud bang, revealing a dark entrance to a secret passage. A red-haired man in a black suit emerged from it, smiling broadly as he removed his hat and bowed to her.

"Surprised? Unexpected?"

Li Cheng, who had painstakingly crawled out of the tunnel, greeted Veronica in front of him.

Veronique: "...?"

to be frank.

Veronica had become somewhat immune to Li Cheng's bizarre entrances.

Even when that familiar figure appeared at the entrance of the secret passage, her first reaction was not shock, but a strong urge to complain, "Why is it you again?"

"It's you again?"

And that's exactly what she did.

Li Cheng ignored Veronica's complaints and instead looked at the beautiful woman in front of him with an appreciative gaze.

Today, Her Highness the Princess has been meticulously dressed. Not to mention the light makeup on her already fair and delicate face, her noble and elegant temperament, cultivated over the years, is enough to make anyone fall in love at first sight.

As for the magnificent white gown she wore, although it wasn't a wedding dress, it surpassed it in terms of exquisite detail and luxury, from the intricate openwork patterns to the incredibly soft and textured skirt. It's safe to say that even the most unremarkable girl on the street would instantly become the center of attention wearing it.

In contrast, Li Cheng's black suit appeared much more plain.

But this simplicity is not shabby. The design of his black tuxedo is to match the white tuxedo. Both the color and the design style are to further highlight the beauty of the woman in the white tuxedo. While drawing attention to the beautiful woman in the white tuxedo, it also makes people remember that they are obviously a couple.

Veronica quickly noticed this as well, and her expression showed a hint of surprise.

Is this appropriate?

Li Cheng smiled slightly: "I designed both dresses, so I made an extra one."

"for what?"

"For the engagement."

As Li Cheng spoke, he took out a small square box from the breast pocket of his black tuxedo, opened the lid, and revealed two glittering gold engagement rings inside: "Right here in this church, with the statue of Christ as our witness, we will hold an engagement ceremony ahead of schedule."

???

Veronica gazed at him quietly, her beautiful brown eyes filled with doubt and confusion.

You're taking such a big risk.

Just so he could secretly get engaged to her two hours early in this church?

Putting aside whether she would agree to such a sudden request, even if she did, what difference would it make where she is? Why go through all the trouble of climbing the secret passage at this particular time?

"Why?" Veronica asked again.

Don't you think this is funny?

Li Cheng took a ring out of the small box: "At the upcoming engagement ceremony, the bride—let's call her that for now, it's pretty much the same thing. The bride, dressed in a pure white gown, will be engaged to her true love in the prayer room of the church, in front of God."

"Who gave you this confidence? That you think I'm the one you truly love."

Veronica asked again.

"It doesn't matter anymore, whether it's someone I truly love or not."

Li Cheng shrugged: "After all, many people in the world just make do and are grateful to find someone they find agreeable—in that respect, I think I'm quite agreeable to you."

Veronica looked at the red-haired man in front of her and nodded slightly in response to his remarks.

I don't deny that.

“Right? That’s what I was thinking too.” Li Cheng smiled slightly. “Anyway, marrying someone you don’t know well is the same as marrying me, so why not give it a try?”

Why not give it a try?

It sounds casual, as if it were a trivial matter.

But Veronique, who grew up surrounded by flattery and praise, firmly believes that only actions can reveal a person's true thoughts, while language is often just a useless thing that interferes with thinking—after all, language itself is a product of a person's thoughts, a product of dual processing by the brain and mouth, or hands.

Only actions can truly reflect a person's inner self.

So how many real actions are hidden behind such a simple statement?

Veronica closed her eyes.

She began searching through the sea of ​​memories for Li Cheng's part, and was surprised to find that he had done so much for the past, far beyond what two people who had known each other for less than a year could have done; and that for the present, his arrangements for the ceremony and the preparations behind the ring and dress were not as casual as he had made them out to be.

Veronica opened her eyes.

She sized up Li Cheng, whose smile wasn't exactly solemn, and the glittering gold ring he was holding in his hand. She recalled his recent remarks about his choice of marriage partner and his self-assessment of whether he found her agreeable.

Does it look pleasing to the eye...?

Veronica pursed her lips, silently agreeing with this.

It's quite pleasing to the eye, and for the time being, it seems unlikely that anything more pleasing will be found in the foreseeable future...

Moreover.

Compared to spending two boring hours in this cramped prayer room meditating with eyes closed, and getting engaged to someone else under the witness of a Christ statue, this is definitely more interesting...

Thinking of this, Veronique couldn't help but reveal a faint smile on her usually dignified face.

A smile that turns heads is captivating.

Perhaps Bai Juyi saw a similar smile back then, which is why he wrote such verses.

The moment that beautiful smile appeared, Veronica no longer hesitated and stretched out her left hand.

It was a perfect hand.

Although the delicate, fair hands were covered by a thin layer of white gauze, making them difficult to see clearly, the slender, long fingers and the beautifully curved palms and backs were enough to make one marvel at the Creator's favoritism.

Chapter 377 One Person on Each Side

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

In the prayer room with its doors tightly shut, under the gaze of the Christ statue.

Li Cheng walked up to Veronica and, under her rare, gentle smile, knelt on one knee. He gently took her work-like left hand and placed a glittering gold ring on her slender left middle finger, thus completing this simple yet incredibly complex ritual.

After doing all this, he stood up and took two steps back.

As if weighing a ton, Veronie could raise her left hand to her eyes at an extremely slow speed and observe intently.

Staring at the dazzling ring on her middle finger, reflecting the sunlight, she was momentarily stunned, finding it hard to believe what had just happened, as if it were all a dream.

You actually agreed to it?

Was it... a little too impulsive?

"It's too late to regret it now."

Seemingly noticing the slight hesitation in her eyes as she looked at the ring, Li Cheng first gave a faint smile.

Everything went surprisingly smoothly, and smoothly in a way that was even more unexpected.

As Li Cheng himself said, although he had put in a lot of effort to prepare carefully beforehand, he was only "giving it a try" when it came to this operation.

It doesn't matter if it doesn't work out; he can go back to where he came from.

It's done... then it's done.

What else can we do? Do you expect Her Highness to act like a shy little girl, blushing as she accepts the ring, and then casually lie on his chest and draw circles on his chest?

Logically speaking, it's not very realistic.

After all, the relationship between the two is rather delicate.

The two of them found each other agreeable, and since they already had a child, they decided to get engaged.

This will also resolve the small misunderstanding between the two of them, making them feel much more at ease in the future, and they won't have to constantly dwell on the bad things they did when they were drunk that day.

But despite the engagement, the two will likely maintain a rather detached relationship, not spending every day and night together like lovers in the throes of passion. It's more like a gentleman's friendship, subtle and understated—though a gentleman's friendship is more like a nodding acquaintance, and theirs is more like that...

A close friendship?

Thinking of this, Li Cheng smiled, leaned closer to the princess in her finery, met her gaze into her bright brown eyes, and once again grasped her hand clad in white silk, preparing to continue with the steps required for the engagement ceremony.

There's still more than an hour to go.

If it weren't for the worry of getting the gorgeous dress dirty or messed up, Li Cheng would have thought he could have taken advantage of the atmosphere to flirt with the princess.

But just then...

Looking at the ring on the slender middle finger in front of him, Li Cheng's expression suddenly froze.

He remembered a small, overlooked thing.

The design of the ring before us seems to be based on the ring to be used in the engagement ceremony between the two countries in front of everyone, so that Her Highness can wear it with her every day, instead of just keeping it as a collection in her study.

On the surface, there seems to be no problem.

The problem is that Phillips has the same one. If that's the case, wouldn't that mean that, besides him and Veronica, the cross-dresser would also be wearing the exact same ring?

Are all three of them wearing the same style of engagement ring?

Li Cheng: ? ? ?

......

evening.

Most of the people who went to participate in the grand engagement ceremony went home, leaving only vendors and some people who still wanted to join in the fun to linger in the square, which turned it into a small market.

Li Cheng naturally had no interest in watching the engagement ceremony. After finishing his work in the prayer room, he packed up the precious props he had used that day and stored them in a safe place. Then, he went home early and sat on the sofa in the living room, reading a book while waiting for the girls to come home.

Louise was the first to arrive home.

The little girl spotted Li Cheng waiting on the sofa. Her eyes lit up, and she immediately ran towards him like a cute pet dog that had been away from home for a long time, trying to jump into her owner's arms and act cute.

but.

Just like a pet dog often has a leash around its neck, Louise, though she didn't have one around her neck, felt as if she were being tied by an invisible rope halfway through her run. Her steps suddenly stopped, and she didn't continue running.

Li Cheng had already opened his arms, ready to welcome them, but when he saw what he saw, he was stunned for two seconds.