Book 4, Chapter 10 - Inevitable Encounter
At night, I sat in a trance before my dress. Raffles had picked a grayish blue dress for me to wear to the dance ball. It was his favorite color, shimmering faint blue like moonlight at night, with shades of gray like clouds covering the moon. The beautiful long dress looked dreamy. Dim blue crystals embellished the dress in strategic spots, low-key yet luxuriant, like starlights that shimmered under the light.
“Tomorrow.. Do you really have to be in a man’s outfit?” Raffles asked gently. He sounded disappointed.
Harry stood by the door and furrowed his eyebrows slightly. “Why don’t you dress up as a girl? Xing Chuan has always taken you as a guy.”
“No way.” I immediately shook my head. “Xing Chuan’s eyes are poisonously sharp. If he found out that I’m a girl, I have no idea what he’ll do.”
“What else can he do?” Harry smirked coldly as he leaned against the door frame. “If he dares to take you, I will beat him up!” Harry clenched his fist.
“Harry.” Raffles held Harry’s wrist. “Elder Alufa doesn’t want to be caught in a stalemate situation with Silver Moon City.”
Harry put his fist down. Then, he chuckled and shook his head. He looked at Raffles. “You’ve been looking forward to this, to seeing Xiao Bing in a dress.”
Raffles blushed. “What nonsense are you talking about?!”
Harry smirked cheekily. “You think I can’t tell? You know, Xiao Bing looks beautiful in a dress.”
I blushed. Harry’s compliment made me feel embarrassed.
“You saw Lil Bing’s photo?” Raffles was shocked.
Harry was confused. “What photo?”
Raffles glanced at me and I immediately looked away. “Don’t listen to Harry. There’ll be many opportunities for you to see me in a dress in the future..” I lowered my face. Raffles.. seems to be really looking forward to seeing me in a dress.
“That’s right. There’ll be many opportunities in the future!” Harry hugged Raffles’s shoulder. Raffles’ hair had started to grow out. Today he’d tied it into a small braid at the back of his head, just like how Harry had worn his half a year ago.
Raffles sighed gently and nodded with a smile.
I had always been with the two of them. In the near future, I would likely almost always be in a dress since summer was coming.
On the morning of the twelfth of September, Noah City became busy.
The girls were in charge of flowers. Moving all the artificial flowers out from the warehouse, they decorated the main walkway.
The guys were in charge of decorating Noah City and the banquet hall. There were lightings, ribbons, a holographic imaging device, tables, cutleries, exquisite tablecloths. The entire Noah City was instantly all dressed up and became a beautiful underground palace.
Elder Alufa was dressed in his best too; a white round-collared, long-sleeved robe with luxurious gold embroidery on the chest. Actually, Elder Alufa could be quite showy sometimes. I could just imagine him shamelessly showing off his good looks back when he was still a young man.
A red carpet rolled out through the city gate of Noah City, with racks of flowers lining both sides. When the breeze blew past, it carried the floral scent of the dried flowers on each rack.
Harry and Raffles were dressed in formal attire, which they would never have worn on a normal day.
Raffles was wearing a long gray robe with shimmering crystal buttons, his collar fastened by a brooch-sized silver-edged sapphire.Dark silver linings ran through the entire robe, the soft grayness of the cloth setting off the elegance and classiness of the dark silver lining.
The long robe went well with Raffles’ short grayish-blue hair. He untied his braid and I helped him put on a low-key crown that made him look like the Prince of Noah City. His outfit would definitely not be inferior to the Prince of Silver Moon City!
Compared to Raffles’ classiness, Harry’s look was more casual. He was in a golden tuxedo with a row of burgundy buttons running from the collar to the shirt hem. Burgundy floral embroidery set off the elegant golden color, which would have otherwise looked distasteful. But there were too many buttons and Harry had yet to finish buttoning.
“There are too many buttons on this shirt!” Harry didn’t have the patience to wear it and tugged at the proper collar. As a casual person, he didn’t like to be restrained. But his outfit was so especially proper.
Raffles and I exchanged a glance and smiled. Raffles squatted to button his buttons from the bottom while I moved forward to button his buttons from the top.
Harry’s body stiffened. He gradually relaxed after a short tense moment. Smiling, he looked down at me as I did up his buttons for him. His collar had an alexandrite-studded girdle, an eye-catching feature.
Even Harry’s hair was brightly colored. His vibe was different from Raffles’ silence. His sexiness and gorgeousness required a similarly luxuriant outfit to bring it out. In Noah City, there was no other man who had the same temperament needed to do this outfit justice.
After I buttoned the girdle, I picked up the golden ribbon and walked behind him to tie up his curly hair. Touching his hair, I was surprised. It turned out that Harry’s hair was smooth, soft and bouncy too. He didn’t have to perm his hair to get the wavy hairstyle that girls liked. Sis Ceci had great genes.
“Father, Father! You are so good looking today!” Little Carl ran around us happily. “Uncle Harry looks good too! Little Carl is so happy.”
Little Carl led the three lucid birds in circles around our legs. The birds grew so well! They instantly made our living room feel cramped and even knocked about against the chairs.
“Little Carl, bring them out!” I said sternly.
“Oh..” Little Carl turned around in grievance. “Oh yeah, Princess Arsenal told me to inform you to gather at the city gate. The people from Silver Moon City are coming.”
I immediately put on a glum look. “You all go ahead.” I felt annoyed the moment I thought about Xing Chuan.
Harry and Raffles exchanged a look and smiled.
“Be careful on your own,” Raffles exhorted me.
“Let’s go.” Harry held Raffles’ shoulder. Then, the two of them went to welcome Xing Chuan and his companions together.
Little Carl brought the birds and followed closely behind them.
I put on my male outfit and brought my mask for the masquerade party later at night. Alone, I walked in the direction of the wheat field.
Everyone walked to the city gate to welcome the people from Silver Moon City. The entire Noah City had quietened in anticipation of this occasion. I was the only one out and about on my own, walking past the square, my statue, the swaying wheat field and the greenhouse under the sunlight all by myself.
The apple tree in the greenroom had grown to about a human’s height, blossoming with white flowers all over. Back in the world where I had come from, my area had been known for cherry blossoms. Mere apple tree flowers wouldn’t be considered as ornamental flowers. But at the end of the world, any place with such a tree would be crowded because they had never seen real flowers, flowers that bloomed on the trees.
Under the apple tree, there was a sunflower facing the sun. Its huge flower bud was telling you that its flower would grow really, really big.
I watched it for very long. Suddenly, a huge shadow passed overhead, blocking out the sunlight above the greenhouse. Lifting my head, I saw a huge white spaceship glowing with blue light, a large Silver Moon City symbol printed on its body. It gradually flew past me, likely slowing down for landing.
Xing Chuan is here.
I ran to the south gate to head to the surveillance capsule. Going up to the capsule, I saw that the huge spaceship had landed at the front entrance of Noah City, where we’d cleaned up the weeds.
I sat on the seat that had originally belonged to Brother Qian Li. Then, I pressed on the badge pinned on my chest. “Little Carl, show me the scene.”
“Yes, Master!” Suddenly, a screen projected out of my apple badge. Little Carl was trying very hard to squeeze to the front.
“You have to follow the people from Silver Moon City closely. Do you understand that?”
“Wow! I’ve become a spy! Little Carl is so excited!” Little Carl shouted in excitement. He wasn’t suitable to be a spy. Which spy would scream his identity out loud?
However, Little Carl’s small body size gave him a great advantage. He was all the way at the front by now. Everyone was clapping their hands by the sides of the red carpet.
Elder Alufa and Arsenal were dressed in their best, waiting at the end of the carpet with Uncle Mason and Sis Ceci. Arsenal looked beautiful. Her long hair was ornamented with a fresh flowers headdress and she was dressed in a silver evening dress. She’d put on light makeup too, which set off her exquisite features flawlessly.
Although I felt that Arsenal was already beautiful normally, her appearance that day would definitely make all the men present fall head over heels for her. She was as beautiful as a fairy in the comic books.
The door of Silver Moon City’s spaceship opened slowly, and a row of well-trained soldiers dressed in grey windbreakers ran down and stood neatly on both sides. Then, a guy stepped out of the spaceship.
The guy was good looking and cheerful. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a white and blue striped evening suit. Underneath his suit, there was a v-collared waistcoat and a silver bowtie, while on his chest was a Silver Moon City logo.
“This is a drastic change!” That was the first comment the guy made when he came out. He wandered about and sniffed the dried flowers by the side. Looking at the flower rack, he said, “You did steal many good things from Kro.”
I was surprised. They knew?!
They knew that it was us who moved everything from Kro?
I looked at Elder Alufa, Arsenal, Uncle Mason and Sis Ceci, who didn’t look shocked, but Raffles, Harry and the others looked as surprised as I was.
“How can you say they stole? Gale?” I heard a familiar voice. Then, I saw Sharjah walking down with another girl.
Sharjah was wearing a similar outfit to the young man named Gale. However, he brought out a different vibe with his brawny build.
My attention was caught by the girl next to him. She was a.. beautiful young lady whose beauty was not second to Arsenal. Slightly taller than Arsenal, she walked with her chest out, her figure curvy in all the right places. Her bright blue hair reached down to her waist. When it swayed along with the breeze, it revealed her beautiful earring and slender neck.
She had a pair of green eyes that were brimming with radiating vigor, a tall nose, and cherry lips. Her beauty carried a handsome vibe that Arsenal’s didn’t. She was like a female general next to the spaceship. Her arrogance made all the girls feel inferior.
I had never seen such a handsome girl in Noah City, unless you counted Sis Ceci back when she’d been young.
The girl was dressed similarly to Sharjah and the others. However, she had on a short white skirt hemmed in blue at the bottom, and a gun with a white Silver Moon City logo at her waist. When I saw the girl, I felt envious. I wanted to be a girl just like her, valiant and formidable, dashing and ruthless, without any need for pretence.