174: Charlie's Background

According to Charlie, Harry being grounded was nothing more than being confined within the Duke's territory.

Since he wasn't locked in a prison cell, Gu Xiaoyue didn't understand why he would run away.

Even if Harry ran away, Charlie's attitude struck her as very strange.

"So what?"

Gu Xiaoyue stared into Charlie's eyes in confusion.

Charlie's brows furrowed slightly, his expression complex and pained.

His gaze drifted, as if he had made a great resolution before slowly recounting the origin of the matter.

It turned out that Carmel, the mother of Charlie and his brother, was a Beast Taming mercenary.

More than twenty years ago, Duke Howard's territory was invaded by a beast tide.

The Duke issued a bounty, hoping that capable mercenary groups could help defend against the beast tide.

At that time, Duke Howard had only recently inherited his title, relying on his wife's noble background.

Therefore, his subordinates were not strong enough to resist the beast tide, which was why he sought out mercenaries.

The mercenary group Carmel belonged to was the closest to the territory where Duke Howard encountered the beast tide, so they accepted the bounty.

The Duke also fought alongside them in person.

During this period, the Duke and Carmel had a romantic entanglement.

Carmel knew the Duke had a wife, and she treated this relationship merely as a life experience, having no intention of asking the Duke to divorce and remarry her.

After the beast tide passed, the Duke returned home, only to learn that his wife was already carrying his child—Vincent.

Carmel also discovered she was pregnant only after leaving the Duke.

At that time, for the sake of the child, Carmel did not continue her mercenary work for over a year.

She told her close friend Ina everything.

Coincidentally, Ina had also just become pregnant, and the two friends took care of each other while expecting.

Carmel did not know that Ina was a member of the Dark Night Baron Bandit Group.

To make a living, she eventually returned to work for the mercenary group until she perished during a fierce battle with a beast tide.

At that time, Harry and Charlie were only seven years old.

Ina occasionally helped Carmel look after the twin brothers, which she was willing to do.

However, after Carmel died, she couldn't look after them all the time.

So she chose to send them back to the Duke, and even placed her own son, Brown, by Harry's side.

"You mean Harry and Brown are people of the Dark Night Baron?"

Gu Xiaoyue recalled the day she fought Hand, remembering those two masked men whose figures were ninety percent similar to Charlie's.

In fact, she had later suspected that those two masked men were Harry and Brown.

But without evidence, she dared not be certain.

She looked at Charlie, who was hanging his head in silence, and continued to ask, "Did you know long ago that Harry was colluding with the bandit group and wanted your life?"

Charlie lifted his head in sorrow and indignation, his eyes brimming with tears.

"No! He only wanted the key to the secret realm! He didn't want to kill me!"

Gu Xiaoyue felt her blood pressure rising and took a deep breath.

"Fine, he just wants to go to the Snow Mountain Secret Realm. Then, has he done anything to Vincent?"

Charlie's expression froze; he didn't know—

"Judging by your previous description, the Duke is still fair.

Whether it's the Hanxing Grass or the key to the Snow Mountain Secret Realm, he treats you and Vincent equally.

Even—"

Gu Xiaoyue paused, not mentioning that perhaps even the shadow guards were distributed similarly.

If Harry also had shadow guards, then the Duke might have been aware of his involvement with the Dark Night Baron Bandit Group, or—

Harry's shadow guards were also members of the Dark Night Baron group!

That would explain how he was able to escape successfully even under the watch of the royal family!

Harry didn't want to be trapped in the Duke's mansion; since he couldn't inherit the title, he might as well set himself free.

The reason for his escape was to live a carefree life with the people from the bandit group.

"Now Harry should be completely out of the running for the title."

Gu Xiaoyue paused for a moment. "Has Vincent's mother's side not made a statement?"

Since Vincent's mother played a huge role in Duke Howard inheriting the title, it shouldn't be a big problem to secure Vincent as the next Duke.

"Before Harry and I were sent back, she had already passed away.

Although there were some voices supporting Vincent over there, Father didn't pay them any mind."

Gu Xiaoyue nodded. The Duke had a political marriage with his wife and no love for her, but he felt love for Carmel, and guilt toward Harry and Charlie.

Therefore, once he firmly held power in his own Hands, no voice could shake his decisions!

Compared to Charlie, I'm afraid the successor the Duke preferred was—Harry.

Perhaps he had long seen through Harry's indifferent exterior, realizing that deep down, he had an immense desire for power.

And his unscrupulous methods were likely inherited from the Duke as well.

It was just that Harry's methods had been exposed by her, brought out into the open.

How could the Sun Never Sets royal family allow Harry's actions that damaged diplomatic relations between the two countries!

Gu Xiaoyue looked at Charlie in front of her, who was as innocent as a puppy; he must have inherited more from his mother, being kind and harmless.

"Since Harry has returned to the Dark Night Baron, there's no use in you worrying.

If the Duke hasn't given any special instructions, then just wait quietly. No matter what the outcome is, I will fulfill what I promised you."

When Charlie used the key to the Snow Mountain Secret Realm as a bargaining chip, she had promised him that even if she couldn't help him win the title, she would take him to the secret realm to ensure Charlie's future livelihood.

"Or, you could consider settling down in the Dragon Kingdom; there's delicious food and beautiful Dragon Kingdom girls!"

She made a joke to lighten the mood with the sour-faced Charlie.

To her surprise, Charlie actually replied, "That's what I was thinking too!"

Now it was Gu Xiaoyue who was smiling bitterly; it turned out the clown was herself.

The atmosphere eased a bit, and Gu Xiaoyue went to submit the list for the individual competition to the officials.

Unexpectedly, on the way, she ran into Duan Yao and Chu Li tugging at each other.

"You say the Yellow Dragon is yours, so summon it and show me!"

Duan Yao grabbed the corner of Chu Li's clothes and refused to let go; Chu Li pulled her away, and she grabbed his sleeve again.

"I don't want to summon it, what does that have to do with you! Please stay away from me!"

Seeing Gu Xiaoyue from afar, Chu Li used all his strength to shake off Duan Yao and walked quickly toward Gu Xiaoyue.

Duan Yao followed closely behind him, "Stop! I'm not done talking!"

Chu Li stood beside Gu Xiaoyue, his lips curling with impatience.

"I have nothing to say to you."

Duan Yao blocked their path, asking relentlessly.

"I just want you to prove that the Yellow Dragon is your pet beast; is that so hard?"

Chu Li sighed helplessly and rolled his eyes.

"I said it is, so it is! Besides, whether it's my pet beast or not, what does that have to do with you?"

Duan Yao glanced at Gu Xiaoyue with some wariness.

"You two talk, I have things to do, so I'll go first."

Gu Xiaoyue saw that Duan Yao wanted to talk to Chu Li alone; it was perfect since she had to go submit the list to the officials and didn't want to get involved in their business.

Instead, Chu Li grabbed Gu Xiaoyue's Hand, not letting her leave.

"Xiao Yue isn't an outsider, just say whatever you have to say!"

Duan Yao's expression darkened slightly, and she cleared her throat.

"Since you say the Yellow Dragon is your pet beast, then I will go apply to the Head of the Duan Family to propose marriage to the Chu Family!"