"Nice to meet you…
…fucker"
"W-what?"
Viel was currently sweating from head to toe as he tried to scour his mind for words to say to the woman sitting on a wheelchair. He couldn't look at the woman directly, as for some reason, he felt a sense of uneasiness when speaking to her, as if afraid of making a mistake in front of her.
"What did you just say, little boy?", the woman on a wheelchair twitched her eyes as a surprise expression covered her face.
Even though the woman's head was covered in a hood, Viel quickly noticed this, but alas, his western vocabulary was limited only to a few words and phrases taught by Grandpa Ling.
"H-how much for a night, prettee rady?", Viel once again stuttered as he tried his best to imitate Grandpa Ling. He even tried to whistle at the end of his sentence, but he could only produce a minute and pathetic tone.
"…Are you… alright?", the woman once again spoke in the western language. Vie started to sweat even more as he noticed that the woman's eyebrows were already starting to furrow.
"Me no understando", Viel's head started to shake as he gulped nervously, this was the last phrase that Grandpa Ling taught him, or at least the last phrase he could remember.
He really wished that Grandpa Ling taught him more phrases. Surely, if Grandpa Ling was here, he would be able to see what this woman needed.
Hearing the struggling mumbles of Viel, the woman sitting on a wheelchair sighed, "Could it be that you do not understand anglisc?"
Finally, hearing the woman speak in a language Viel could understand, Viel could finally relax as he slowly released a breath of relief. He wiped the sweat on his face and finally looked at the woman in the eye.
"Of course, I don't. Do I look like a westerner?", Viel crossed his arms as he squinted his eyes to the woman. His long golden hair flowing with the wind.
Once again, the woman's eyes twitched in annoyance, making Viel to unfold his arms and look to the side uncomfortably.
Seeing Viel look like a lost puppy, the woman could not help but chuckle.
"So sorry, I thought you were a westerner because of your golden hair", the woman patted Viel's head as she smiled.
Viel pouted his lips in response, "Hmph", but it was obvious in his face that he was blushing, "No, both my grandparents are Eastern. My Grandpa Ling is the epitome of eastern masculinity. It can't get more eastern than that!"
"I..I see, so that was the case", the woman chuckled awkwardly. It seems that pushing further on the topic will just lead to nonsensical replies from the boy.
"Then what about your parents? Are you looking for them, little boy?", the woman had an excited look on her face, "I didn't realize that there are other golden haired people in Taizhou, which one of your parents have golden hair? I'd pretty much like to meet them"
"My… parents?", Viel tilted his head.
Realizing the sensitive nature of her question, the woman let out a small gasp.
"S-sorry, could they… have passed?", the woman let out an anxious tone. The boy had traces of blood on his face, it was really foolish of her to ask such a question, seeing as they are just recovering from a calamity.
But it seems all her worries were for nothing, as the boy just shrugged his shoulders.
"I only know Grandma and Grandpa Ling", Viel said as he released a sigh, "I'm looking for my friends."
"I see", the woman sighed in relief. And then, she gently lifted a part of her mantle, slowly leaning towards Viel.
"W-what are you doing?", Viel slightly backed away as the woman leaned towards her and placed the mantle on her face. But he instantly stopped struggling when she realized what the woman was doing.
The woman was wiping the blood on his face. Viel closed his eyes as the woman continued to wipe the blood off his face, she didn't stop until she was sure that Viel's face was clean and spotless.
"Good, it seems you don't have any wounds", the woman smiled in satisfaction as she patted her mantle, "Much better. Now everyone can see your face. Hmm, your hair is even more beautiful than mine…"
"See? We almost have the same hair color", the woman suddenly took off her hood and leaned in again, trying to comparee their hair with each other.
It is true, the color of the woman's hair was almost identical to Viel's.
Seeing the woman's face. A surge of emotion suddenly rose up from inside Viel. Or more specifically, there was an uncomfortable simultaneous ringing being resonated by Mr. Voice.
Viel felt this before, yes. He was sure of it.
What he was feeling now was…
…killing intent.
It was pure killing intent, like every part of his body was telling him that he should kill the woman in front of him right here and now.
Viel's hand slightly trembled as it slowly got closer towards the woman's neck.
"Oh? You also want to touch my hair?"
Viel's quicky retracted his hand as soon as he heard the woman speak again. His breathing started to get heavy as he tried to calm himself down.
"Are you okay?", seeing Viel's awkward state, the woman expressed concern.
"N-nothing, I am fine", Viel once again looked to the side, not looking at the woman's face.
"Hmm… maybe you should tie your hair? It makes you look like a girl", the woman placed her finger on her lips, seriously deliberating on what hairstyle would suit Viel the most.
"Here, sit on my lap. I'll tie your hair", the woman patted her lap, signaling for Viel to sit on it.
Unknowingly, even though Viel was still confused and afraid as to why he suddenly felt a surge of killing intent, he still nodded and followed the woman's orders and gently hopped and sat on her lap like a little puppy.
"Honey, there you are!"
But before the woman could tie Viel's hair, a hoarse voice called for her from behind.
"Gah! It's the golden-haired terror monkey!", as soon as the source of the voice revealed himself, he quickly pointed at Viel.
Although the guard was not that familiar to Viel, he still somewhat recognized him. The man was Guard Leader Bai, if he remembers correctly.
"Honey! That's so rude!", the woman quickly reprimanded Guard Leader Bai, "Apologize to the boy right now!"
"W-what!? But it's true! That boy is nothing but trouble, even though his hair is longer, I am sure it's him!", Guard Leader Bai furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at Viel, "What are you doing on my wife's lap, boy!?"
Finding Guard Leader Bai's desperate and nagging state funny, Viel quickly pushed back the uneasy feeling in his mind.
Slowly, tears welled from his eyes as he hurriedly hugged the woman, "T-that man is scary…", said Viel as he whimpered away on the woman's robes.
"Honey! Look at what you did!", the woman gently patted the teary-eyed Viel's hair as she scolded Guard Leader Bai, "How could you even slander a little child!?"
"N-no! This golden haired brat-"
"Wait, are you insinuating that just because this child is a westerner that he causes trouble!? I didn't know you were such a bigot, why did I even marry a racist like you!?"
"What!? No!"
"I have golden hair too, are you saying I am a terror as well!?"
"H-honey, that's not what-", Guard Leader Bai was about to continue rebuking, when he saw the golden haired terror monkey looking at him with a wide smile on his face, silently snickering.
"S-see!?", Guard Leader Bai quickly pointed at Viel. The woman, however, was not hearing any of it as she continued to scold Guard Leader Bai.
This went on for a couple more minutes, with Guard Leader Bai looking like a defeated puppy by the end of it.
The end result?
"I...I'm sorry", Guard Leader Bai hesitantly apologizes to Viel.
Viel slowly climbed down from the woman's lap and approached Guard Leader Bai, patting him on the leg, "A true man knows when to apologize, we are proud of you"
Guard Leader Bai's eyes twitched. He really wanted to hit this little boy so much, but he was afraid of what his wife might do to him if he did so.
His wife in question, however, was now laughing at the sight of the two of them.
Guard Leader Bai cleared his throat, "A-anyway, I called you because they are already handing out the food. We should go before it runs out"
"Hm… didn't you just call me because we would be in the priority since I am in a wheelchair?", the woman teasingly answered Guard Leader Bai.
"W-what? Of course not, honey. Are you still mad? Please, I will massage you later.", Guard Leader Bai chuckled nervously as he approached his wife, "And please cover your hair, someone might see you"
"Hmph, okay.", the woman playfully harrumphed as she addressed Guard Leader Bai. She then looked at Viel who was happily watching their exchange.
"So, your name is Viel?", the woman said as she smiled, "My name is Charlotte. Let's definitely meet each other again, okay?"
Charlotte reached out her open hand towards Viel. Viel was confused as to why she did so, did she want something from Viel? Should he kiss her hand like what the Emperor did to Xianying?
But before Viel could do anything, Charlotte grabbed his hand and shook it, "This is the way westerners usually greet each other, or when they agree on something".
"O-okay", Viel nodded his head as he gently shook Charlotte's hand.
"That's good. I'll tie your hair next time and teach you some other anglisc words… we don't want you getting in to trouble, who knows, you might visit the west someday", Charlotte chuckled as she retracted her hand.
"I hope you find your friends. It was very nice meeting you, Viel", Charlotte waved goodbye as Guard Leader Bai was in a hurry to go in front of the line.
Viel could not help but to look at the woman named Charlotte with curious eyes. He senses a sort of familiarity with her, something warm. But at the same time, there was also this weird killing intent that welled up inside him, what exactly was Mr. Voice trying to tell him?
However, Viel's deliberation was quickly cut short when he saw the line for the food getting longer. Viel rushed towards the end of the line, afraid that someone else might take his position.
It took a while before it was finally Viel's turn to get some food, he tried to search for Charlotte during the line, but he could no longer find them.
"D-do you have some sweets?", Viel said to the woman that was handing out food.
"What? No, how can there be… little Viel, is that you!?", the woman's tone was initially tired out, but when she saw who the boy was in front of her, a sudden liveliness erupted from her voice.
"Ah, mother Diao!"
The lady that was serving food for the people was Diao Mei's mother, Diao Chan.