Chapter 33: Matters of Importance

Ci Mo?

Turning around, she saw Ci Mo, who had been nowhere to be found just moments before, now standing with a glass cup of steaming water in his hand and a harmless curve at his lips. When he saw Chao Xu return, his eyes brimmed with cautious delight. He hesitated, then stepped forward to hand her the cup, saying, “It’s cold outside—you should drink more hot water.”

Hmph, that damnedly straight-laced remark.

She clicked her tongue inwardly at his words, but despite her silent complaint, Chao Xu took the cup and drank it all in one go. Placing it on the table, she leaned back with arms crossed, scrutinizing Ci Mo from head to toe. “Where did you go just now? Why didn’t I see you when I came back?”

Ci Mo didn’t protest. He merely pointed at the cup on the table, his azure eyes damp and timid, like a small animal as he looked at her. “I thought you’d be coming back soon, so I went downstairs to get you some hot water.”

“And if I didn’t come?”

“Then I’d pour it out, fetch another cup, and wait for you until you returned.”

He looked exactly like a long-suffering, devoted little wife, waiting foolishly for her scoundrel husband to come home—so meek he wouldn’t even complain if bullied.

It was impossible to connect this gentle, weak youth with the demon who had been so ruthless just moments before.

Seeing its host bullying the innocent newcomer again, the little furball anxiously tugged at Chao Xu’s sleeve, eager to help Ci Mo escape her clutches.

[Host, didn’t you say you had something to do when we first arrived? Why don’t we leave now?]

Satisfied with its own sense of accomplishment for rescuing the innocent boy, the furball’s red scarf around its neck seemed to glow even brighter. Yet for some reason, it felt a growing chill at the back of its head. Could it be that premature baldness awaited it?

Scratching its head, the furball began to wonder when it should start saving up for hair growth tonic.

Hearing the furball’s reminder, Chao Xu finally recalled that she did, indeed, have something to attend to. Before dealing with that Shen Lu, there was something else she had to do first.

Glancing at Ci Mo, who stood silently by her side, Chao Xu asked casually, “I need to head downstairs for a bit. Are you coming with me?”

Given Ci Mo’s usual quietness, she hadn’t expected a reply, but to her surprise, he nodded and spoke, “I’ll come with you.”

With that, he followed closely behind her.

For a moment, Chao Xu couldn’t help but imagine she’d picked up a little puppy afraid of abandonment.

It must be just her imagination.

Shaking off the odd feeling, Chao Xu led her little shadow downstairs in search of the butler. When they reached his usual resting room, she knocked on the door.

At the sound, the butler opened it and, seeing Chao Xu, his expression instantly lit with unconcealed joy. He hurriedly invited her in, fussing, “Miss, what brings you down here? The stairs are so steep—what if you missed a step and fell? Really, if you need anything, just call me and I’ll come right up!”

Faced with the butler’s kind eyes, full of the doting concern one might have for a somewhat slow-witted three-year-old, Chao Xu was speechless.

It seemed… the butler truly believed she was incapable of even walking on her own.

Exasperated, she wondered how she might convince the butler that she really was a perfectly capable, self-sufficient adult.

But that was not the point right now. There was something far more important at hand.