si-mexico Chapter 376: I agree
Chapter 376: I agree
An aged voice, yet brimming with power, rang out. Jankos looked toward where the voice came from and saw an old man.
Although the old man’s body was rather thin, his eyes shone like stars, firing out a cold, fierce light like two swords. His hair was more than half gray, and there were quite a few wrinkles on his face. At first glance, he looked as if he had only just passed sixty.
"Grandpa!" The moment Lylia saw the old man, she spoke up.
Jankos frowned and slowly released Lylia’s hand. Neline also withdrew her dagger, but she still gripped it tightly, her eyes full of vigilance as she watched him.
"Mr. Corey." Jankos said with a frown.
Corey slowly walked toward Jankos, his gaze as if it wanted to pierce through him. His voice, cold and threatening, rang out, "Jankos, what are you doing to my granddaughter."
Jankos shrugged and said with a smile, "Mr. Corey, I was just talking to her a little. After all, she’ll be my wife in the future. I have to discipline her a bit, so she understands who is..."
SLAP!
Before Jankos could finish, Corey immediately slapped him across the face. However, Corey frowned when he felt his own palm ache sharply.
He frowned, watching Jankos only tilt his face slightly to the side, his cheek turning faintly red, but not seriously injured at all.
Corey had used all his strength in that slap, yet not only was Jankos unhurt, the one who got hurt was Corey.
Jankos slowly turned his head back. His diamond-shaped pupils returned to their original state. He frowned and said, "Mr. Corey, you dare hit me?"
Although Corey’s hand hurt badly, he could not show weakness. With proud, resolute eyes, he said, "Yes. Even if Lylia has an engagement with you, you and she are not married yet. You are not husband and wife. You cannot touch her."
Jankos clenched his fist. His heartbeat rose, his Adam’s apple shifting slightly. He stared at Corey for a long time. While no one noticed, a green, honeycomb-like structure suddenly appeared on the back of his hand, wrapping around it.
"Mr. Corey!"
Suddenly, a voice rang out from afar. Hearing that, Jankos immediately withdrew his magical energy, and his hand returned to normal.
Junas hurried over to Corey. He saw Jankos, only gave a slight nod, then looked at Corey and said, "It’s true! Hurry, come with me."
Hearing that, Corey burst into laughter. "Hahahaha... good! This is great! Lylia, let’s go. We’re going to meet someone important."
Hearing that, Lylia frowned. In her heart, she knew that the important person Corey mentioned was the one he wanted her to marry.
She felt her fate was truly miserable. She had just escaped Jankos, only to be shoved into another pit of mud. She did not know when she would be able to gain true freedom.
Seeing Lylia still standing there, Corey hurriedly said, "Lylia, don’t worry. That person is truly important. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied."
"Grandpa, I already said I won’t..."
Before she could finish, Neline spoke up. "Lylia, you should go with your grandfather."
"You..." Lylia gritted her teeth, not expecting even Neline not to take her side.
But at this moment, Neline stepped closer and whispered into Lylia’s ear, "You should go with your grandfather. Otherwise, Jankos will keep pestering you endlessly."
Hearing that, Lylia pressed her lips together, feeling extremely upset, but in the end, she still decided to follow Neline’s words and went with Corey.
Jankos looked at Neline’s back, a strange thought in his mind, then left as well.
He walked outside, took out his phone, and called his father.
"Jankos? You’re back? I will..."
"Father, call Simon. Have him capture Noralia."
"What?!" Janky jolted and hurriedly asked, "Why? Lylia is our target."
Jankos shook his head. "Father! Lylia is our target, yes. But if we want to hold both Lylia and her family in our grasp, we need Noralia. I don’t believe Lylia will hear that her mother was kidnapped and not care."
Janky fell silent for a long time, then asked, "Are you sure? You know if we do this, it will make the Empire suspicious."
"If I get Lylia, then even if the Empire discovers what we’ve done, they won’t dare cause trouble for us," Jankos said. "Behind us is the Insect King."
Janky fell silent for a long time, then said, "Fine. But I’ll have Simon do it. After all, he’s Noralia’s husband. If this fails and the Empire finds out, it has nothing to do with us."
Jankos nodded. "Good. I’ll return to the family. Prepare resources for me. Ah, Father, I want all information about someone named Noan. I want to know everything, including his background, his parents."
"That... is he our enemy?"
"Yes. I’m afraid he’ll ruin our plan."
"Good!"
Jankos hung up. For an instant, his pupils turned diamond-shaped, and his corneas became a honeycomb-like structure, but then they returned to normal.
He frowned and murmured, "Noan! In the City, you won’t be able to use the power of a Lord. By then, you’ll just be a fish on the chopping block, waiting to be killed."
...
Walking beside Corey, Lylia felt truly exhausted. She really wanted to throw everything away and run, but where could she run?
She wanted to stay with Noan, but there were too many women around him. If... if he decided to avoid trouble and completely abandon her, then what?
Lylia suddenly felt a stabbing pain in her heart. Her eyes turned wet, as if she were about to cry.
Seeing that, Corey sighed and said, "Lylia, the person I want you to meet has a Rank SS Hero, and he’s still very young. Junas says he doesn’t have any special status at all, just an ordinary person."
"At least, if you marry him, you can dissolve the engagement with Jankos’s family. After all, that family won’t dare cause trouble for someone who possesses a Rank SS Hero. Besides, your future life will also be protected by the World Government and the Empire."
After hearing that, Lylia only nodded lightly and said tiredly, "I’m just a puppet, a commodity for you. Whatever you want to decide is your business. Do I even have the right to decide?"
Hearing that, Corey sighed, wanting to comfort her, but not knowing how.
"Lylia, listen to me this time. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Feelings... can be nurtured slowly later. Right now, the most important thing is that you need to get out of that engagement with Jankos."
"Jankos’s family may not be big, but Jankos’s father has connections with the Grand Elder of the Royal Family. If we break the engagement, I’m afraid it won’t just be you, our entire family will run into trouble."
"But if the person you marry possesses a Rank SS Hero, it’s different. By then, both the World Government and the Empire can protect you, and protect our family as well."
Lylia lowered her head so far it was as if she wanted to bury it into the ground. But she knew... she could not be free.
"I... I understand." Lylia choked out, tears dropping one by one onto the back of her hand as it clenched the blue skirt.
Seeing Lylia cry until her body trembled, Corey’s face looked as if it had aged ten more years, the wrinkles on his face becoming even clearer.
He shook his head and sighed. He was doing this not only to protect the family, but also to protect Lylia and Noralia. After all... he owed them far too much.
Junas waited for a while, then said, "Mr. Corey, that young man’s name is Noan. Although he doesn’t have any special status, you should remember..."
"Mm." Corey nodded. "I’ll give him the respect he deserves. After all, he possesses a Rank SS Hero. He’s a treasure of the Empire and the World Government. I know how to behave."
Junas nodded lightly and said with a smile, "Good. I can only help you meet him for ten minutes. The people from the Government and the Empire are on the way. You have to be quick."
Corey smiled. "Thank you, Junas. If you ever need my help later, just call me."
"With those words, I can rest assured," Junas replied with a nod.
"Wait! What did you say?!" Lylia was startled and hurriedly asked, "You said... what was his name?"
Junas said in confusion, "Noan... is something wrong?"
Lylia’s mouth fell open, her face full of disbelief. Someone who possessed a Rank SS Hero, yet had no special status, had just returned to the city, and was even named Noan.
She had already seen Noan’s Rank SS Hero when he saved her. Therefore, Noan possessing a Rank SS Hero was not some mystery to her.
But what she could not believe was... the person her grandfather wanted to introduce to her was the very person she loved the most, Noan.
Could there really be such a coincidence in this world?
Corey thought Lylia wanted to refuse and hurriedly said, "Lylia, it’s fine if you don’t agree to marry him. But I hope you can meet him once. I think that..."
"No! I agree!"
"Don’t refuse so quickly. I really think that... Huh?! Wait!" Corey heard something strange. He frowned, looking at Lylia, who was wearing a radiant smile, and asked in confusion, "Lylia, you... what did you just say?"
Lylia smiled, her eyes still brimming with tears. "I said... I agree to marry him."
Corey: "..."