138: Paint a big cake for Gu Xiaoyue

Fortunately, Gu Xiaoyue had only just taken off her coat; if she had been changing her undergarments, she wouldn't have minded giving Charlie a sound thrashing.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Xiao Yue! I was just too anxious!"

Charlie looked embarrassed. He had known Gu Xiaoyue returned to the dormitory and had come to find her at the first opportunity.

He had indeed neglected etiquette.

Gu Xiaoyue looked at him with a cold face. "What is it? I hope the severity of this matter is enough to justify you losing your composure like this."

"I've spoken with Principal Zheng and demanded that he let you be the captain for the National Competition!"

Charlie looked somewhat smug, thinking that now Xiao Yue would surely praise him.

Gu Xiaoyue stared at Charlie for a moment with the look one gives an idiot, then rolled her eyes at him.

"I refuse."

Principal Zheng, of course, would have loved nothing more than for Gu Xiaoyue to take over as captain of the National Competition again.

But in reality, she didn't care for it at all.

Charlie, conversely, had gone to talk to Principal Zheng, giving him a way to save face.

The key point was that Charlie's smug expression looked as if he were fishing for credit from Gu Xiaoyue.

"Why? You promised me you would help me fight for my title! If you don't participate in the National Competition, how can I have any chance of winning?!"

Charlie was somewhat agitated.

Before coming, he had investigated: Huaqing's Lv Hao and Su Anxi, as well as Xiangzhong's Qian Mingyu, were incredibly powerful—they could even be called monsters.

Although last year's Chongbei representative, He Zhichen, didn't perform well, the He family and Chongbei would surely pay more attention to him and cultivate him further.

Gu Xiaoyue raised her hand to signal him to calm down.

"I recall that our verbal agreement was to ensure your safety; I have no obligation to help you fight for the title."

"If I were to participate in the National Competition, fighting for the title might be something I do along the way. But I don't want to participate right now!"

"Furthermore, expecting me to help you fight for a title for just twenty million star coins and two stalks of Hanxing Grass—your wishful thinking is truly loud!"

Charlie's rude behavior just now had stirred a trace of anger in Gu Xiaoyue.

It wasn't just that he had barged in without knocking. It was also the fact that she had clearly stated she didn't want to participate in the National Competition, yet Charlie had taken it upon himself to go to Principal Zheng to arrange for her to be the captain!

Charlie—he had crossed the line!

Once Gu Xiaoyue finished speaking, Charlie stood there with his mouth half-open, seemingly at a loss for words.

"Lord Howard, perhaps you are accustomed to making decisions for others. But please do not forget, this is the Dragon Kingdom. I am merely the private bodyguard you hired, not a tool for you to fight for your title!"

Gu Xiaoyue stared expressionlessly into Charlie's eyes, watching his gaze gradually dim.

After a long while, Charlie lowered his head and left, looking somewhat dejected.

Gu Xiaoyue glanced at his retreating figure, then sat cross-legged and continued practicing her Ice Flame skill.

Charlie returned to his room, his dejected expression fully taken in by his butler, Allen.

"What happened, sir?"

Charlie repeated Gu Xiaoyue's words to Allen.

"Allen, tell me, why did Xiao Yue react so strongly? Although, she's right; she never actually promised to go all out in helping me fight for the title."

He had been in the Dragon Kingdom for over a month. From the moment he hired Gu Xiaoyue as his private bodyguard and told her about the battle for the title, he had assumed that Gu Xiaoyue would help him.

"Allen, tell me, what should I do to make her continue helping me? She said two stalks of Hanxing Grass were far too cheap!"

Allen listened quietly to Charlie's complaints, thought for a moment, and then spoke: "Sir, there is a saying in the Dragon Kingdom called 'painting a big picture'—it means promising something that you don't currently have, but might be able to obtain in the future."

"If your current resources are insufficient to move Miss Gu, then why not try offering some of the resources you will gain after you obtain the title?"

Upon hearing this, Charlie was suddenly enlightened.

He said with some excitement: "Hey Allen, has anyone ever told you that you're a genius! I'll discuss it with her tomorrow!"

Early the next morning, as soon as Gu Xiaoyue opened her door, she saw Charlie standing there.

He was personally pushing a food cart, upon which were arranged all sorts of dishes.

Gu Xiaoyue was indeed planning to go eat breakfast, and since Charlie had delivered it to her door, she stepped aside to let him in.

"Xiao Yue, I'm sorry, my actions yesterday offended you!"

As soon as he entered the room, Charlie apologized impatiently.

Gu Xiaoyue waved her hand, signaling for Charlie to sit down and talk.

"I accept your apology, and thank you for getting up early to bring me breakfast. However, my thoughts will not change. As for Principal Zheng, I will not go to explain anything to him."

Charlie didn't respond to Gu Xiaoyue's words; instead, he asked her to eat breakfast first, saying they could talk after she was full.

Gu Xiaoyue had a hunch that after the meal, Charlie would likely want to have a detailed discussion with her. She didn't refuse and filled her stomach first.

She polished off most of the meal, wiped her mouth, and signaled that they could have a proper talk.

Charlie took a deep breath and apologized once again.

"I'm sorry, Xiao Yue. Before, when you agreed to be my private bodyguard, I mistakenly thought you had agreed to help me fight for the title. But in reality, that was just my own wishful thinking; I've thought it through clearly yesterday. Two stalks of Hanxing Grass are indeed not enough to get your help, so, would the entry qualification for the Nevis Snow Mountain Secret Realm be able to move you?"

A Secret Realm? Gu Xiaoyue raised an eyebrow; she had never heard of it at all.

Seeing Gu Xiaoyue's puzzled expression, Charlie explained: "Nevis Snow Mountain is within my family's territory, and very few people know there is a Secret Realm there. There are 99 keys in total; my father gave us three brothers 9 keys each. He once took a team of attendants inside, and the fierce beasts within are at least Mature Stage Rank 7. Therefore, Father should still have 66 keys, which will be inherited by the next Duke. The woman who was hunting me down before is one of the members of the Dark Night Baron Bandit Group. They don't just want the Hanxing Grass I have; what they want even more are the keys to the Secret Realm."

Gu Xiaoyue understood; no wonder they were so relentless in their pursuit. With the lowest level of fierce beasts being Mature Stage Rank 7, the level of the treasures inside must certainly not be low either.

"So?" Gu Xiaoyue didn't get Charlie's point; what exactly was he trying to express after saying all that?

"I still hope you can help me win the title, on the condition of twelve keys to the Secret Realm," Charlie said earnestly.

Gu Xiaoyue thought for two seconds, then chuckled.

"Your condition is indeed very tempting, but I have a question. If I agree to you, but in the end the title isn't obtained, wouldn't I have done all that work for nothing?"

Charlie's expression looked a bit ugly, while Gu Xiaoyue smiled gently.

"If you want the horse to run, you have to feed it grass. You can't just hang a carrot in front of it; regardless of how fast or slow it runs, if it can see it but can't eat it, that won't do, right?"

Charlie furrowed his brow, his heart seemingly engaged in a battle between heaven and man.

After a while, he drew a summoning formation, and five very exquisite keys with white buttons appeared in front of Gu Xiaoyue.

"I'll give you five keys first; if we succeed, I'll pay the remaining seven. However, I have a condition as well."

"Go ahead."

"I'm giving you five keys, but if we fail and I cannot become the next Duke, then at the very least, you must take me into the Secret Realm once. I need to obtain some supplies so I can get by for the rest of my life!"