After Transmigrating to Become Lady Skylark - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The starving woman’s eyes were filled with anticipation. She didn’t get a fragrant meal, but a medical kit that Tetsuya Kusakabe was carrying.

Jin Chaoyan belatedly looked at the marks on her wrist and politely reached out to take it. “Thank you, I can do it myself.”

Tetsuya Kusakabe looked hesitant, the blade of grass in his mouth moving slightly as he spoke. “I’m afraid the madam won’t be able to do this on your own.”

As he spoke, he took out a ring inlaid with a golden-yellow jewel and a box of the same color with an engraved pattern from the medical kit.

Chaoyan: Oho.

She didn’t expect to be treated to such high-tech service. She immediately sat up straight, her eyes glued to Kusakabe as he put on the ring, opened the box, and took out a small fork with a bright golden flame burning on its tip. When he touched it to the wounds on her wrist, the gruesome marks on her skin healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Watching the wounds restore to their flawless, fair state, she let out a “Wow” and praised him sincerely, “That’s amazing.”

Tetsuya Kusakabe felt a little flustered from the praise, thinking that the madam, who had just watched two of Kyoya Hibari’s battles, was praising his Sun-attribute flame, which had a minimal effect on the battlefield. He repeatedly said, “You flatter me. Well then, I hope you never have to see it again in the future.”

Chaoyan couldn’t help but bend her eyes into a smile at his unique wish for her safety.

Just then, the man leaning against a corridor pillar next to her suddenly spoke, “Where did you get your ring?”

“I picked it up.”

The woman raised her hand to comb through her hair with her fingers, straightening it out. She sat on the steps and looked up at him, answering very naturally.

At this point, Kusakabe had silently withdrawn, leaving the two of them, one sitting and one standing, with the wind from the long corridor between them. Chao-yan met his beautifully-lined, gray-blue eyes for a moment before adding naturally, “From the warehouse where I was kidnapped.”

I picked it up from the kidnappers. Nothing wrong with that.

Kyoya Hibari thought of the investigation report on the Tokyo suburb that had just been submitted. It indicated that the abandoned warehouse was actually a secret Millefiore base in Tokyo, with many factory markings from their military operations left at the scene. It was strange that no secret weapons were found nearby.

And there was the latest police intelligence that the kidnappers had all fallen into a vegetative state—they had vital signs but could not respond to any external stimuli. A smile appeared in his eyes.

“Oh?”

His tone was meaningful. “You have good luck. You actually picked up a B-rank Mist Ring worth 500 million yen.”

Chao-yan cleared her throat, about to speak, but was cut off unhurriedly. “Should this story start with ‘It all began when you did good deeds throughout your life’?”

“…”

The woman was clearly speechless. She didn’t expect him to learn to jump the gun with an answer.

Just as Kyoya Hibari prepared to hear her new, fabricated lie, the long-silent Chaoyan took out the ring again, placed it on the ground, and used her index finger to push the Mist Ring, little by little, towards the other person.

In a short while, the indigo ring rested all alone in the middle of the “Chu-Han border” between them.

It was like a silent, cautious bribe.

The man lowered his eyes to look at the ring. Just as Chao-yan thought he was going to press his advantage and completely dismantle her clumsy lie, she waited for a long time and got no response.

Ten-plus minutes later.

Inside the spacious traditional Japanese courtyard, the hall faced a tree-lined garden. Chaoyan sat sideways at a small table, her expression gradually growing confused as she looked at the plate of pan-fried dumplings, mapo tofu, shrimp stir-fried with a tomato flavor, and a bowl of Tenshin-don with sauce on the side.

—And her confusion about this mix of Chinese and Japanese cuisine reached its peak when she lifted the lid of the soup bowl and found a bowl of small steamed buns floating in the soup!

What kind of culinary abomination is this!

Facing the doorway, the man, now in a dark-patterned Japanese yukata, sat under a plaque that read “Solely The Best.” He was naturally enjoying his Japanese meal, occasionally glancing at the woman’s expression across from him, his gray-blue phoenix eyes carrying a hint of contemplation.

He remembered Kusakabe’s previous investigation report, which stated that the fragile young lady of the Kin family had always excelled in her school subjects and was often praised by her teachers for her mastery of homemaking, illustration, and tea ceremony.

But then he remembered the plate of sushi Chaoyan had made last time, which was a vivid rendition of the famous painting The Scream, and her strange preference for Chinese cuisine after her miraculous recovery from a heart condition…

He mentally added another point of suspicion to his list. When the woman put down her chopsticks, he spoke to the doorway, “Tetsu.”

Tetsuya Kusakabe, carrying the rings he had previously ordered from the company’s R&D department and a brand-new phone on a tray, came in and gently placed them next to Chaoyan.

The woman recovered from her dazed state, which had been caused by the flavor of the soup-soaked steamed buns. After verifying her identity on the new phone, she swiped a finger across the screen and saw the “Moneybags Mall” app, like a piece of caramel candy, had followed her.

A flash of light passed over the brand-new app, silently greeting her.

Jin Chaoyan’s throat constricted as she thought of the money she had spent. She put the phone down expressionlessly and turned to look at the various rings on the plate—

“What are these…?”

“You can pick one of the rest, besides Cloud and Mist,” the man in the main seat said lightly.

Jin Chaoyan, remembering the Mist Ring he had just accepted, instantly understood. “Are you exchanging with me?” She had been prepared to give it to him for free as a thank-you for the rescue.

But a fool who doesn’t take advantage of a good deal is the worst!

Her eyes scanned the shining jewel rings in order. After looking for a while, her violet eyes looked at the black-haired man with interest. “Which one is more expensive?”

“…”

This time, it was Kyoya Hibari’s turn to fall silent.

He put down the teacup he had just picked up, narrowed his eyes slightly, and asked a question that was rare for him, “You didn’t think about using them?”

Compared to ordinary people who were completely ignorant of new fighting styles, Chaoyan had seen how rings and boxes were used up close. He didn’t expect that when faced with these attribute rings, her first question would be which one was more expensive.

“Huh?” Jin Chaoyan was stunned for a moment, and she answered with a bit of uncertainty, “Can I?”

Kyoya Hibari didn’t say anything, perhaps not wanting to answer such a stupid question.

With a look that said he couldn’t stand to look at a fool anymore, Chaoyan put the rings on the plate onto her fingers one by one, which were the five remaining attributes besides Cloud and Mist.

Just as she was done, two more were tossed into her lap.

She paused, then silently put them on. Looking at the seven-colored jewels on her left hand (four) and her right hand (three), she felt the weight of hundreds of millions of yen on her hands and had never felt so rich before.

So, the question was—

How do you light these things?

At this moment, Kusakabe, who had retreated to the doorway, whispered the answer from the corridor, “Resolve, Madam, lighting the ring requires resolve!”

“Mmm…”

Jin Chaoyan’s face slowly turned red, but she didn’t see the jewels give her any face and produce even a single spark.

“Heh.” Kyoya Hibari scoffed at this traditional teaching method.

That is, until Chao-yan’s expectant gaze, looking for an answer to copy, fell upon him.

“…” The man raised an eyebrow and met her gaze. After a few seconds, he suddenly said, “If you can light them in one minute, you can choose a ring with your attribute, and I’ll give you an extra 100 million.”

“!”

Jin Chaoyan heard the sound of her heart being moved. She instinctively bargained, “A little more?”

Kyoya Hibari looked at the rings on her hand. After a moment, he nodded with interest, being unusually easy to talk to. “One billion.”

“!!!”

Whether the rings wanted to light up or not, Chaoyan didn’t know, but she felt like she was about to be lit up by the damned charm radiating from this man!

“Only fifteen seconds left…”

Kusakabe outside the door counted down with a complicated expression. Before today, he had never imagined that getting married was such an expensive affair.

But compared to Chaoyan’s nervous, thrilling, and almost-suffocating mood—more so than when her college entrance exam scores were released—the rings on her hand were as steady as old dogs, not moving at all, like fakes.

Hearing the countdown enter ten seconds, she felt like this one-billion-yen check was a cooked duck about to sprout wings and fly away. She couldn’t help but say mournfully, “Wait a little longer, I really feel like I can do it…”

Kusakabe did wait.

But the capitalist who had promised the money didn’t. He perfectly timed a cold sigh. “It seems you have no destiny with this billion. What a pity.”

“…”

Jin Chaoyan’s soul seemed to float away with the lost billion yen. Compared to her earlier high spirits and the desperate struggle against the time limit, she was now exceptionally calm, like a gambler who had just experienced a great rise and fall.

Tetsuya Kusakabe watched her back, starting to worry if her heart condition would recur. But apparently, someone didn’t feel any empathy for Chao-yan’s minute of heart-wrenching torture. He said unhurriedly, “It seems the ‘motivational resolve’ method doesn’t work.”

The sound of pouring tea was serene in the quiet hall.

A moment later, Kyoya Hibari’s extremely magnetic voice rang out again. “By the way, the investigation report on the Tokyo attack shows that some residential buildings were damaged. One of the buildings happens to be a property under your name.”

Jin Chaoyan: “?!”

She suddenly looked up, her expression as if struck by lightning.

Tetsuya Kusakabe, whose heart felt like it was on a rollercoaster trying to relate to her feelings, reminded him with a bit of a pained voice, ” Kyoya Hibari…”

Whether the rings light up or not isn’t important, but there’s no need to go as far as calling an ambulance!

“How many…” Jin Chaoyan’s voice was choked up, her grief reaching its peak. She unilaterally declared an irreconcilable feud with the terrorists who caused this attack. “How many properties did I lose?”

She looked at Kusakabe with teary eyes.

Tetsuya Kusakabe tried to gesture a number.

A sound of a sharp intake of breath echoed in the room.

At this moment, the only calm voice in the entire scene came to a thoughtful conclusion: “It seems anger doesn’t work either.”

“…?”

Jin Chaoyan mechanically turned her head to look at him, following his gaze to the motionless rings on her hands. As she looked at them, the corners of her eyes began to moisten.

Thinking that she not only failed to earn a billion yen but also lost three properties—

Suppressed sobs filled the room.

Having finished his tea, Kyoya Hibari got up and was about to leave. He paused. Kusakabe, who stood in front of him, raised his hand to cover his face, afraid that he couldn’t help but give his boss a look of condemnation.

This was really too much! He actually made the madam cry!

 Tetsuya Kusakabe quickly composed himself and tried to signal to his boss with his eyes to do something, but Kyoya Hibari’s expression subtly changed, and he didn’t say a word.

Seeing that the sobbing in the room wouldn’t stop, Tetsuya Kusakabe could only grit his teeth and try to add, “Madam… your houses were insured. You can usually get a claim for accidents, and there’s also a collective housing repair fund.”

“R-really?” Jin Chaoyan looked at him through her tears, her voice uncontrollably trembling as she spoke.

“Insurance claims only work for non-human-caused accidents,” Kyoya Hibari nonchalantly corrected him.

His right-hand man, who was trying his best to save him from a widowed fate: “…”

See?

Jin Chaoyan in the room couldn’t hold back anymore and started crying even louder.

Support After Transmigrating to Become Lady Skylark