Chapter 119: Be Bold. Be You.

When Xu Jiaoying set her mind to take care of someone, she really didn’t fuck around.

Within an hour, a small army of tailors arrived, armed with personal attendants and more than a hundred different clothing items.

They went around to all of the guest rooms and took the group’s measurements. Minus Dakota, who wasn’t very comfortable with the ideae.

Everyone else had a team of stylists pick out an entire wardrobe of clothes that perfectly fit their body’s proportions. For the first time in his life, Solomon had four different pairs of shoes.

They even offered to provide Yari with jewelry, but despite being extremely tempted, she politely refrained.

Dinner was somehow just as lavish.

Pan-fried duck breasts with a sweet red wine sauce over steaming beds of mashed potatoes that were as smooth as the butter dripping over them. A decadent shaved fennel salad was passed around the table exactly once before it stopped at Yari, and she ate the remainder.

There was also freshly baked bread, along with slices of fine cheese as well as fruit. And wine. Reds and whites were poured for each of the guests, save for Nila who was denied alcohol by Solomon, Yari, Everett, and Raizel.

But after Jiaoying had the maids bring her four more duck breasts, Nila quickly forgot that she ever wanted wine in the first place.

Between her and Solomon, they ate ten pieces of meat to their immense satisfaction.

Dessert was a three-layered red velvet cake with a smooth cream cheese icing. It did not even last ten minutes at the table.

Food at the academy was about fuel. Giving the body what it needed to survive rigorous training and exercise.

But this? This meal was about pleasure. Because of that, the group may have gotten a little bit carried away.

Raizel held Nila in his arms and Dakota across his back. Both girls were consumed by fits of the itis and stricken with meat sweats. However, they seemed to have absolutely no regrets. Just a bit of delirium.

Jiaoying allowed everyone to retreat to their rooms with a promise that they would discuss their futures tomorrow.

This was how Yari, Solomon, and Jiaoying ended up outside, in a stone garden connected to the castle via a staircase.

Yari was asleep between the two of her lovers. Her stomach was properly full, and after a long journey, her weariness had finally caught up to her.

Jiaoying cradled her love’s head in her lap as she stared into the starry sky above. The night was particularly beautiful. Or perhaps she was just feeling the lingering warmth of their affection.

Realizing that it had been a long while since she had heard Solomon’s voice, she turned to him and found him staring out into the horizon with a complicated look on his face.

He was divinely handsome to her. The black, silken drapery he wore was bound with gleaming gold trim and chained accents around his waist. One shoulder was covered in a robe-like sleeve, while his other arm, as well as his chest, were bare for all to see.

Jiaoying wanted to jump him as soon as he got dressed, but she restrained herself through nothing short of a minor miracle.

“Regretting those slices of cake?”

Jiaoying’s subtle joke brought a smile to Solomon’s face. “..Not in the slightest.”

After hearing the underlying dark tone in his voice, Jiaoying became aptly concerned.

“The truth now, darling. Have I… burdened you unnecessarily?”

Solomon shook his head and fervently reached for her hand.

“Perish the thought. I am beyond grateful for your help and generosity. It has deepened my feelings for you in ways I cannot describe.”

“Then..?”

Solomon sighed depressively. “I… had one, simple mission. Infiltrate the secret society of nobles and figure out which of them was going to open the rift… then kill them. But I have committed a grave error and floundered such an easy assignment. And the realm remains in jeopardy because of it.”

Jiaoying listened as Solomon confessed his guilt. And his feelings of regret.

When he had finished, she surprised him by reclining back into her seat and turning her gaze back to the stars.

“So what I’m hearing is… You need a way to still get in contact with the Society of Fergal. Making friends and the like.”

Solomon nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, that isn’t that difficult. They too will be on break soon. Young Archon’s family has a villa on the other side of the bay. He and his compatriots frequent this city, making merriment, engaging in training, and the like. It would be nothing for you to bump into them coincidentally.” Jiaoying winked at him.

Solomon was stunned. But before he could get too excited, he remembered an unfortunate circumstance.

“But I would not be able to properly ingratiate myself with them. I would have only been moving on to my second year. Their group only includes third years and above.”

Jiaoying smiled at Solomon mockingly.

“…What?” He asked.

“You’re showing your age, my young lover. As well as your lack of understanding around nobility.”

Solomon leaned closer to her. “Please, enlighten me.”

Jiaoying stared at him for a moment before she reached for his face.

To his surprise, she reached behind his head and unbound his hair before taking care to strew it around his face.

“Wear your hair down. It says that you’re handsome, but effortlessly so. You don’t have to work to be the envy of anyone that you come across. It says that you are sculpted from all of the finest things in the world without lifting a finger.”

Jiaoying brought a hand to his Adam’s apple.

“Your voice is nice. It’s deep and has strength, but you should add an underlying richness to it. A sweet elegance that makes people want to talk to you more and more.”

Jiaoying pulled back her hand and smiled at him. “You’re confident already. But you need to turn it up to a level that reaches arrogance. Become someone who is on a journey of self-perfection. Someone who thinks that nothing in this realm or the next is out of his grasp.

Be deliberate. Refined. Provocative. Hard to read, but most of all, magnetic. Talking to you must feel like a roller coaster ride.

Tease, entice, and impress, and know when to switch between the three. Don’t sound poetic and flowery all the time, or you will come off as condescending and snobbish.

So that you don’t seem like some kind of flippant man whore, you need to operate a code of morality out in the open. Something that you respect immensely and revere.

Beauty, skill in the arts, magic, swordplay, or the courageous acts of others are all perfect for you…. Have you ever thought about learning how to play the piano?”

Solomon blinked slowly. “…Why are you telling me all of this?”

Jiaoying flicked his nose softly.

“Because in noble society, rules and regulations are nothing but an illusion, my handsome bear. If you are powerful enough, or likable enough, you can circumvent anything.

You want to get in with the Society of Fergal as a first-year student? You must act as if you do not put them in your eyes without insulting them and making enemies. Embrace the qualities of yourself that made Yari and I fall for you.”

Solomon feels his heart begin to beat again. “…And what would those be?”

“You’re sweet. Provocative. Grand. Prideful. Intense. Most of all, you are striving for something bigger than yourself. Embrace those things and the society won’t be able to resist trying to pull you in to be groomed.”

Jiaoying reached for Solomon again and touched his face. Her gaze became slightly discouraged.

She brushed the pads of her fingers along his beard before reaching his ear. She gently played with the lobe between her fingers.

“And… there’s one more thing that I know might be a bit difficult for you.”

Solomon was so enthralled by her lesson that he wanted to hear more regardless of the difficulty. “Please continue.”

“…You must control your temper.”

Solomon’s eyes instantly darted away, but Jiaoying gently rubbed his neck until he looked back at her.

“Hey, listen. I’m not saying you’re not allowed to get angry. Far from it. I’m saying you need to change the way you express it.

Right now, your rage is like a great volcano. You explode and lash out, and the aftermath gets everywhere. You must be like a block of ice.

When you are angry, your body language should show it first. Your rage should feel like lethal stillness, sharpened attention, cold judgment, and most of all, your retaliation must be precise.

The angrier you are, the less you should express that anger for all to see. Decimating your enemy must be methodically executed. You don’t throw tantrums, you make decisions.

If someone throws wine on you at a party, do not draw your sword or fire off a spell that would affect the whole room.

Instead, break the fingers of whoever has crossed you, be they man or woman, and see to it that they are knocked out- not killed. It will ruin the mood of the party for everyone and you won’t be invited back.

When it is done, stand up, apologize to the other occupants for showing them something unpleasant, and then maybe make a light joke before you excuse yourself for the evening.

This will make you appear reasonable and socially aware. You will be all anyone will want to talk about for the rest of the night. That opens doors for you.”

Jiaoying leaned back with a satisfied smile. “I think living as Raizel’s attendant for so long, you got somewhat used to making yourself smaller and quieter. It was expected of you.

But your lives are no longer as intertwined as they once were. You don’t have to stand behind him anymore.

Be yourself without restraint.

Take up space.

Be impossible to ignore.

Be bold.

Be proud.”

That night, Solomon almost felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He stared at Jiaoying like she was a beautiful goddess gifted to him by the hand of the cosmos.

She faced him again, an expectant smile on her lips.

“Now let’s practice. Say something to me that is-”

“The longer that you talk, the more you begin to sound like something I would happily ruin myself for.”

Jiaoying’s face became flushed with red.

It was there.

That sweet undercut to his deep voice that she believed he would need hours to perfect… it was there, and instantaneously no less.

With his hair messily strewn, the beautiful gleam of his white teeth, and the intense burning behind those bright orange eyes… he was unreasonably intoxicating. In her entire life, Jiaoying had never been this hopelessly attracted to a single person.

She had unintentionally created a weakness for herself that she did not know how to overcome.

He even smiled at her, as if he knew exactly what effect he was having on her.

She loved it so much that she could barely breathe.

Jiaoying brushed her hair behind her ear shyly. “Maybe… we should head to bed now.”

“Finally.” A voice said.

Yari sat up from her place in both their laps. She grabbed her partners by the hand and began pulling them back towards the estate with a vigor that she certainly did not have thirty minutes ago.

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