C38 — [2.1 -The Rose Manor]

In the late afternoon, a red sun hung in the sky, dispelling some of the haze in the sky.

 

The distant mountains were covered with a greenish-gray mist that didn’t dissipate over the years. The mist stretched across the waist of the towering mountains and obstructed one’s vision, making it impossible to see the tops of the mountains at a glance, and one could only see the dense black forests at the foot of the mountains and the nearby barren farmland.

 

As well as the mountains not far away from a very wide area of the noble manor, with a castle spire faintly visible within the estate.

 

 

This was the estate of Count Augustus, the owner of this vast territory. The Augustus family was one of the oldest families in the history of the empire, possessing wealth and power comparable to that of a country.

 

 

But they were criticized for their brutal character.

 

 

In this family, no matter which count succeeded, he would become cruel and unkind, taking pleasure in oppressing the people.

 

 

The current count was no exception, and was even more horrible.

 

 

Not only did he not care about the people in the territory, even the servants in the castle lived in fear, occasionally, some servants would be beaten and thrown out of the manor due to their mistakes that angered the Count.

 

 

The brutality of his behavior could be seen.

 

 

“I have heard that this old count is said to be particularly frightening! So he hides in the castle all day and doesn’t come out ……”

 

“And also! If you meet with him, you must not raise your head to look at his face, it is said that he will gouge out the eyes of everyone who looks directly at him, and then give the eyes to that person to eat!”

 

“Vomit – what you said is so disgusting, really!”

 

 

Inside the manor.

 

Near a field of dried and dead roses, there were a few young noble youths getting together to talk about something, they were sitting on delicate chairs,the table was covered with the light pink tablecloth that was the most popular color in the imperial capital nowadays.

 

 

Gathered around drinking after-dinner refreshments, they spoke in a staccato tone, with the characteristic condescending accent of the aristocrats.

 

 

“What’s wrong with that? We have been here for a week, why hasn’t Count Norman come to see us?” The flaxen-haired noble youth took a sip of the black tea in his hand with a haughty expression.

 

 

“Why?”

 

“He’s picking someone’s eyeballs that look good, and then digging them out, hahaha!”

 

 

Everyone was amused, but their eyes involuntarily glanced at the blonde young man sitting quietly on a bench reading a book not far away.

 

 

If that gloomy Count Norman really didn’t come to see them because of this reason, then this blonde-haired, blue-eyed youth must be the one who best met the requirements.
Because he had a pair of the most attractive light blue pupils, the translucent blue color was just like the sky after the rain, his skin color was almost snow like white, even if he was quiet and didn’t speak, his appearance was enough to attract everyone’s eyes.

 

 

The crowd secretly looked at the youth not far away, the original lively scene suddenly became quiet, it took a while before they looked at each other, showing some embarrassment, then they continued to drink the tea, but became much quieter.

 

 

It seemed they were afraid that they’d disturbed the reading of the youth not far away.

 

 

“……”

 

 

Jiu Shu glanced at the several noble youths sitting within the garden gazebo and withdrew his gaze.

 

 

Having come to a new world, he was reading the plot information provided by the system.

 

 

It was a small world formed from western romantic literature.

 

 

It was mainly about a noble man and woman who were in love with each other breaking free from the oppression of feudalism and eventually living happily together.

 

 

In this story, the heroine, Julie, as a young lady from a declining noble family, was sent to the estate of Count Augustus, who her family had had a marriage contract since the previous generation, after reaching the age of eighteen, she waited for the Count’s approval before officially getting married.

 

 

Seeing the old count who was more than a decade older than herself, Julie was gloomy all day. She resisted marriage and fled the estate several times.

 

 

So she met the old count’s heir, also known as the male protagonist, Reid.

 

 

The two fell in love at first sight, but due to their explicit status, they could only meet in secret and spend a happy time.

 

 

But eventually, the old count, who had a suspicious character, discovered the clues.

 

 

The old count’s family suffered from an unknown hereditary disease, and every member of his immediate family couldn’t live past the age of twenty-seven. Although the old count lived to thirty, his face looked older than normal, and he had become an extremely twisted character as a result.

 

 

He already felt inferior, and when he found out about the heroine’s and the hero’s treachery, he became furious and imprisoned the heroine, Julie, and drove the male protagonist, Reid, who was originally set to be the heir, out of the manor.

 

 

Julie spent the darkest time of her life imprisoned in her room, waiting for the servants to bring her three meals.

 

 

Until one day, the gloomy and withdrawn old count came to the door of her room to grimly question why she betrayed him, and Julie simply replied.

 

 

“Because you are ugly and disgusting.”

 

 

After that the old count left in anger, she didn’t know how long it took, but Julie was finally released, only to find that the old count had become much younger and more handsome, and treated her with a gentle, gentlemanly demeanor.

 

But rumors began to circulate in the manor that the old count had gotten his youth from the devil, bathing in the blood of young girls and boys, and it intensified.

 

 

Until finally the people in his territory were terrified, afraid that their children would be captured by the old count.

 

 

This matter eventually reached the ears of the Imperial Emperor, who sent someone to investigate, and Reid, the man who was driven away in the first place, had already investigated.

 

 

He submitted the evidence of the old count’s crimes to the messenger, and after receiving the approval of the Imperial Emperor, the count was sentenced to be imprisoned in the manor until death.

 

 

All of the old count’s property would be inherited by the male protagonist as a former heir, he picked up the heroine Julie and held a prestigious wedding with her.

 

 

After that, they lived a life of wealth, prosperity and happiness, becoming a famous couple in the history of the empire.

 

 

As for the old count who was so eerie and horrible in the story and tried to dominate the heroine, he died in an unoccupied old castle as early as the first year of his captivity.

 

 

It was said that his dead body emitted a foul stench and his mutated limbs were ugly and disgusting, which further confirmed the rumor that he had made a deal with the devil.

 

 

Seeing this, Jiu Shu turned the plot synopsis page over and carefully looked up the personal information of the target of punishment.

 

 

This time, the target of punishment was the old count in the story, Augustus Norman.

 

 

There was quite a bit of information written about him in the system panel, and the dense text swept past Jiu Shu’s eyes as he skipped to the end, and sure enough, he found a hidden button.

 

 

Ever since the last world when he got full control of the system, the system had no way to hide any information from him.

 

 

Tapping on the hidden information page, Jiu Shu’s long and slender fingertips subconsciously rubbed the corner of his lips, and faint contemplation filled his azure eyes.

 

 

This romanticized piece of literature seemed to be a masterpiece from some small world, adapted from a dark nursery rhyme from that world’s folklore about a dreadful bloody count.

 

 

The old count was the character derived from the ballad and was given many fantastical overtones.

 

 

For example, the original depicted inexplicable youthfulness and the like, which clearly had a supernatural element to it.

 

 

And there were many works based on this bloody count, the most famous of which was a horror novel called Blood of Madness.

 

 

It seemed that when it was first released it was called a sequel to the famous novel Rose Manor in order to gain attention, which drew a lot of abuse from the readers of Rose Manor.

 

 

Jiu Shu clicked on the original text of this novel and compared it with the original book of this world.

 

 

In the middle of the day, he revealed a thoughtful look, if these two novels were really one worldview, then it was indeed a bit difficult to deal with.

 

 

Originally, he thought that just changing the fate of the old Count’s tragic death would be enough, but now it seemed that he had to think about it in the long run.

 

 

Thinking like this, Jiu Shu put down the books in his hands that he used to cover up and stretched his waist, his limbs carrying a youth’s characteristic youthful suppleness.

 

 

He wasn’t really in a hurry, there was still a long time to stay in this world, he could take his time to plan.

 

 

He just didn’t know what kind of character the object of discipline would be this time.

 

 

Jiu Shu recalled the last world’s You Xin, a little shaken, he and the object of discipline spent hundreds of years of their married life in the last world, those peaceful but sweet days seemed like it was still yesterday.

 

 

But in the blink of an eye, he had already come to another world.

 

 

Having experienced countless world transformations, Jiu Shu felt a tingling sensation in his heart as he remembered the pale face of the punishment object before the end of his life.

Before leaving, the man who had always been quiet hugged him tightly and said that they would meet again.

 

 

Jiu Shu narrowed his eyes, showing a warm smile and a bit of despondency.

 

 

He also hoped that they would meet again, though it wasn’t very likely; after all, even though he was part god, he was ultimately just a god in a small world, unable to cross world barriers.

 

 

He was also not in a position to stay with the object of punishment for the time being, there were still things that had to be done.

 

 

But if they did meet again, it would be nice to get married again to spend a life like the last world.

 

 

Jiu Shu’s thoughts seemed to drift far away as he recalled those times when he was loved deeply like never before.

 

 

The last world was the only time in his countless mission worlds that he had been partnered with someone, and the only time he had been loved so deeply, and although he prided himself on his rationality, it was still a little hard for Jiu Shu to forget..

 

 

He leaned back on the bench, his blonde, semi-long hair was tied behind his head and cascaded over the chair with his movement, shimmering in the sunlight like flowing honey.

 

 

Not even noticing the castle facing the garden, it seemed that someone in the room was angrily scolding the servant for opening the curtains without permission.

 

 

“Close the curtains! Are your ears for show!”

 

 

The man’s velvety, silky voice suddenly resounded within the dimly lit room, and the servant who was originally lifting a piece of the window screen to peek at the garden downstairs instantly fell to his knees with a pale face.

 

“I’m sorry I’m sorry, Lord! Please forgive me, Your Excellency!”

 

 

The servant really hated his own mind, he shouldn’t have forgotten that the count would come to this room to take a nap at this time every day because he was attracted by the blonde young man downstairs who was so beautiful that he glistened in the sunlight.

 

 

And the Count hated opening windows and curtains the most, or rather, he hated being exposed to sunlight the most. Every room where the Count was located was strictly required not to show any light.

 

 

Whether it was day or night, this count who treated others harshly to the extreme only allowed them to turn on the lights, not allowing the windows to let out a trace of light.

 

 

He was more like a vampire than the legendary vampire.

 

 

“Hmph! Useless thing, what are you looking at? Looking at those youngsters right?”

 

The old count’s voice was low and magnetic, but contained a chilling chill.

 

 

He hated those young skins and lips that only spoke flowery words.

 

 

Those frivolous and immodest so-called youths, relying on their youthful looks, were reckless.

 

 

They even committed countless heinous sins, like his nominal fiancée and shameless heir, Reid!

 

 

The world was even more ridiculous for those who only coveted youthful skin! Shallow in the extreme!

 

 

“Ho ho ho ho–” the old Count seemed to laugh in anger, his voice eerily cold, as he walked to the window with a calm pace unique to nobles, and looked at the noble youths downstairs by the gardens with a condescending gaze full of loathing.

 

 

These frivolous young people, at a glance one could tell that they had incomparably hypocritical and dirty souls, even if their appearance was beautiful, they couldn’t hide their inner filth.

 

 

The old count thought so, his eyes swept over contemptuously, but lingered for a moment on a figure with long blonde hair.

 

 

It was just another false skin, he seemed to pause before criticizing it.
Downstairs, Jiu Shu seemed to notice someone’s was watching and raised his head, his blue eyes as clear as sapphires in the sunlight, colliding with the prying gaze from upstairs.

 

 

The old count’s pale and slender fingers seemed to unknowingly grasp the window screen in his hands, his figure revealing a rare pause.

 

 

 

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TN:

NEW ARC, NEW ARC!!!!!

See ya tomorrow ✌️