After Running Away From Her Wedding, The Tsundere Young Lady Went Crazy - Chapter 26.1

Lover, family, or “friends with benefits”?

Confronted with that relaxed and certain tone, Ji Songshu failed to react for a moment.

Anything that reached Shang Keyu seemed to become effortless. A single, light sentence could resolve the massive problem that had trapped her until now. She knew Shang Keyu could do it. A person who never breaks their word is utterly terrifying.

She began to consider Shang Keyu’s proposal.

Sending Pei Jiyue abroad was a feasible plan, but it couldn’t be handled by Shang Keyu’s people; otherwise, Shang Keyu would see the name on Pei Jiyue’s passport, and everything would be ruined.

If that happened, she and Pei Jiyue might be sent to Italy together and tossed into the sea to feed the sharks—chewed up and spat back out, one piece here, one piece there.

She cleared her throat and said to the person on the other end of the line, “This is a family matter; I will handle it myself.”

“Fine,” Shang Keyu said. “If you don’t want to go back, you can stay at my house for this month and help me look after the place.”

“Why one month?” Ji Songshu asked, puzzled. “Are you going on a business trip for a whole month?”

“Yes.”

“I only have three months in total, and you’re going to be away for a full month?” Ji Songshu hummed a few times. “You’re cheating!”

“Fengyuan City is a three-hour drive from Suilin City. You can choose to come and find me.”

“No, I have classes.” Ji Songshu refused decisively, then thought for a moment. “Can I send you messages every day?” Online dating sometimes had its own unique flavor.

“Suit yourself,” Shang Keyu said indifferently.

“Will you reply?”

“Not necessarily. It depends on my mood.”

“Then I wish you happiness every day.”

On the other end of the phone, Shang Keyu let out a short breathy sound, like a laugh, before saying, “If you have any requests, just tell Carlotta. She will arrange them for you.”

Then, she hung up the phone.

Ji Songshu handed the phone back to Carlotta, quickly emerging from that relaxed state. Her expression was now filled with worry.

The chat was over; it was time to consider the most important issue: how to deal with Pei Jiyue?

As she thought, she rolled around on the bed clutching the quilt.

Seeing her distressed look, Carlotta said considerately, “Miss Pei, if you have any life or emotional problems, you can tell me. I can provide you with professional answers.”

“I have EPA certified registered psychologist credentials, RNutr registered nutritionist credentials, international etiquette trainer certification, pharmacist license…”

“Stop, stop, stop,” Ji Songshu sat up and interrupted. “Superman, I have a question for you.”

“Please ask.”

“Shang Keyu… why is she so incredible? She handles everything with ease as if she was born knowing how to do it.”

Carlotta smiled. “The Eldest Miss is also human and went through an ignorant childhood. You need not feel self-deprecating.”

“How long have you known Shang Keyu?”

“I have served the Eldest Miss for fifteen years. Ever since she arrived in Italy, I have been the one taking care of her.”

“Can you tell me more about Shang Keyu’s past?” Ji Songshu said. “I want to understand her a little better.”

“I can, but you must promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“Please become the Eldest Miss’s family.”

Ji Songshu froze for a moment. Not a lover, not a sweetheart, but family.

Carlotta’s voice was sincere and firm: “I have been observing since you appeared. I believe you are someone who can become the Eldest Miss’s family.”

Ji Songshu didn’t know how to answer; she didn’t like making promises she couldn’t keep.

After a long silence, she hardened her heart and said, “Alright, I promise you.”

Carlotta began to narrate the stories of the past, the gears of time turning back fifteen years.

Naples is ancient and feverish; Vesuvius is its beating heart, Pompeii its decaying bones, and the Bay of Naples its bleeding wound.

The Mercury Manor sat atop a hill overlooking all three, reigning over everything in the city.

From high above, this three-thousand-acre estate looked like a giant chessboard, solemn and orderly.

The maid, Carlotta Viscar, was only fourteen at the time, pruning flower branches in the west corner garden.

She had arrived as a servant only a month prior. She had been wandering the streets after her orphanage was demolished, and the kind Earl had given her a job to make a living.

But since entering the manor, she had not seen her benefactor once. Aside from the strict hierarchy, it was because the Old Earl needed quiet rest.

Earl Wheeler was of advanced age but remained the head and spokesperson of the Mercury family.

She held the scepter of power firmly and never relaxed for a moment, which made her look younger than her actual age.

In truth, she was of grandmotherly age, with two daughters—one in politics and one in business, both renowned figures.

Carlotta had entered the manor with expectations of seeing social celebrities, and then, she was punished on her very first day.

While cleaning the West Tower, she accidentally opened a long-sealed room.

It was a luxuriously decorated bedroom with a draped carved bed, gold-thread carpets, and an oil painting of a young girl by Auguste Renoir hanging on the wall.

She was too busy marveling to look closely before she was caught red-handed by the head maid and punished by having to clean toilets for several days.

Later, she learned from the servants’ gossip that the bedroom belonged to the Old Earl’s youngest daughter—the former Third Miss.

The Third Miss? Since entering the manor, Carlotta had never heard mention of a Third Miss.

The mysterious past fascinated her, and she desperately wanted to know more, but whenever she asked, the response was always a shake of the head or a command to shut up, everyone appearing deeply secretive.

Until a few weeks later, rumors spread through the manor that a young lady was returning.

Carlotta immediately perked up; she was finally going to see the legendary Third Miss!

She wondered what kind of person the Third Miss was. She had seen the Second Miss from a distance—a tall, mature beauty with incredibly elegant gestures. The Third Miss would likely be the same.

A few days later, as she and the other servants lined up to welcome the returning lady, she was still picturing a princess-like figure in her mind.

But when the person appeared, she was dumbfounded, and all her fantasies vanished like bubbles.

Following the butler was actually a young girl, not even waist-high, with a soft, fair little face and messy, fluffy black hair. Her gaze was stubborn and unyielding—she looked just like a wild cat.

—Only later did Carlotta learn that this nine-year-old Little Miss had crossed the ocean alone, relying on gestures and broken Italian to reach this place. Then, on the streets of Naples, she had all her luggage stolen by gypsies, including her child’s phone, passport, and the bagel-rabbit plushie in her suitcase.

The girl looked around curiously, and Carlotta also curiously peeked at her, feeling somewhat bewildered.

This little girl, shorter than her, was the Third Miss? When was she born? After doing the math, Carlotta was greatly shocked.

As expected of the Earl, to be able to give birth in her sixties or seventies! She couldn’t help but widen her eyes in shock.

In the row of maids with heads lowered, afraid to look directly, only one person had their head up and eyes wide, like two shining lightbulbs.

The black-haired, black-eyed girl quickly noticed this person, walked straight up to her, and greeted her in clumsy Italian:

“Very happy to see you. Your blue eyes are very beautiful.”

Then she stopped talking. Her hasty escape had only allowed her enough time to learn those few sentences of Italian.

Carlotta was overwhelmed by the favor and excitedly replied with a long string of thanks and introductions at a rapid pace. Clearly, the girl didn’t understand, but a faint smile remained on her face.

Once Carlotta finished speaking, the girl turned to the butler, pointed at Carlotta, and said: “I want her.”

And just like that, Carlotta became the new lady’s personal maid.

Just as she was feeling smug about her promotion, a bucket of cold water was poured over her head.

Once, she saw several maids huddled together, their words regarding the Little Miss being extremely disrespectful, even calling her a “mongrel.”

She angrily walked over and demanded an apology, but the group just laughed and dispersed, ignoring her.

She didn’t understand why their attitude was so malicious.

Finally, a gardener who took good care of her told her the truth, which he had allegedly overheard while pruning flowers in the courtyard:

“Back then, the Earl set an engagement for the Third Miss with a wealthy businessman from Sicily. But before the wedding, the Third Miss suddenly eloped abroad with a man and never returned.”

“The Little Miss who has returned now is the daughter born to the Third Miss and that man.”

Carlotta covered her face in shock, but more was to come.

“The Earl doesn’t much like this Little Miss who carries half-Asian blood. She even intends for her to inherit her mother’s engagement and marry that wealthy businessman once she comes of age.”

Making a nine-year-old child marry her mother’s fiancé, who was decades older than her?!

Carlotta’s jaw nearly hit the ground. She sought confirmation once more in disbelief, and after receiving a definite answer, she was completely stunned.

That night, when she went to the Little Miss’s room to serve her before bed, her face was still full of worry. Shang Keyu easily saw her abnormality.

“What’s wrong with you?”

At that time, Carlotta didn’t know how to lie. Once caught, she obediently told everything she had heard.

Shang Keyu fell silent after hearing it. She sat on the edge of the bed for a long while, clutching her hands tightly, murmuring: “So that’s how it is.”

Carlotta captured a flash of loneliness on her face and immediately felt filled with righteous indignation and a sense of responsibility: “Miss, if you don’t want to marry that old geezer, I can help you escape!”

Shang Keyu shook her head: “I don’t want to run away anymore.”

When she said this, her young, fair face was full of exhaustion, like a fledgling bird that had flown for a long time without finding a place to rest.

After a long time, she lifted her head again, her eyes shining with determined light.

“I will survive here, and not just as a tool for an alliance.”

“Can you tell me more about the Mercury family?”

The Mercury family motto is Fatti non parole, meaning Deeds, not words. From then on, Shang Keyu took this sentence as her life creed.

She buried her desires and true thoughts deep in her heart and threw herself into it.

She used every bit of time to learn Italian, Latin, etiquette, violin—everything she could learn. She wanted to use a face that was half-Asian to integrate into this Roman family that had spanned hundreds of years.