How to Stop the Villain from Going Crazy
Translator: Fuyu
Chapter 18 - She just thought he was shy (2)
Before she knew it, they reached a fork in the path. There was a stable on the side of one of the exits.
Bo Li stood on her tiptoes, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "Should we ride the horses to escape? I don't know how to ride them. Would it affect…"
Their escape was too hasty. According to her original plan, if she decided on fleeing by horse, then she would have gone to the kitchen to steal sugar cubes or carrots.
Although she hadn't ridden on a horse, she had played a horse game before, and treats were how horses were calmed in the game.
However, Erik grabbed her by the hair and pushed her head away without any gentleness.
Startled, Bo Li didn't pay attention to the slight stinging pain. She thought they had been discovered, but when she looked around. It was dead silent. There was only stillness in the night.
It was only then that she figured it out. He had pulled her hair because she had gotten too close. Her hot and moist breath had sprayed over his ear.
Bo Li felt that he was like a dog that might bite people at any moment and also like a cat that was susceptible to stress.
She endured her annoyance, covered her mouth, and asked in a muffled voice, "Should we ride horses or not?"
Erik didn't speak, but he walked towards the stable.
Bo Li immediately followed after him.
Her luck wasn't good. She hadn't even taken two steps when a sharp whistle sounded followed by hurried footsteps. Someone was using the whistle to wake up the people in the tents.
"Wake up, get out of bed, Richard has run away. Gather around, the manager had something to say!"
Bo Li shivered as if she had been slapped by the whistle.
Soon, everyone in the circus woke up, but no one made any loud noises as if they understood the seriousness of the matter.
Bo Li didn't dare to look back. She quietly sped up.
A hand suddenly reached out and pushed her head down.
Bo Li almost had a heart attack. It took her a moment to realize that the hand belonged to Erik. Someone was holding a lamp and patrolling the exit near the stable.
"It's so cold," the patrolling person said while shivering, "Why did Richard Simon run away? Didn't he come to an agreement with the manager to send the bag to Paris together?"
"He originally said he only wanted the contents of the bag and didn't want the reward from Louis Vuitton," the other person said, "Maybe after opening the bag, he saw that the contents were worthless and regretted it."
"Who told him that bag belongs to Louis Vuitton?"
"Who knows? But he only talked to that brat Poli tonight. We can go catch that kid later and ask him…"
Bo Li felt chills. She had guessed wrong.
Erik didn't knock Richard unconscious because of his appearance. It was because Richard didn't follow her plan!
She had underestimated the people here. She thought a reward from Louis Vuitton would be enough incentive for Richard to take the risk to steal the bag.
He was much more cautious than she expected and used the information she provided to exchange the contents of the bag with the manager.
The manager probably hadn't let Richard touch the backpack until tonight because he didn't want him to see the contents of the bag. If there were good things in the bag, there might be a fight over the contents.
After their negotiation and with the new knowledge, the manager was willing to let Richard take the backpack and have a go at opening it.
Richard was a magician, and it was only a matter of time before he found the hidden clasp and opened it.
If Erik hadn't intervened, not only would she lost her backpack, her identity might be exposed too. Her driver license was inside the backpack.
Although she didn't know what this body looked like, according to how transmigrations usually worked, it wouldn't look too different from her original body.
By then, whether the manager would catch her and interrogate her about the origin and uses of the contents inside the bag, or treat her like Emily's unborn baby and make her into a specimen… was unknown.
Erik saved her life, but she had wrongfully thought he had done those things because he was jealous of Richard's appearance.
Bo Li raised her eyes to look at him. She wanted to apologize, but didn't know what to say.
Erik noticed her guilty gaze. He didn't show any emotion or response.
He was used to being misunderstood. Compared to his previous bitter experiences, her scared and doubtful gaze was nothing.
He saw that she didn't look away and and continued looking at his mask with a strange warmth. Why did her gaze feel like hands stroking his mask?
He felt extremely unsettled as if her gaze would peel off his mask at any moment and touch his skin.
This feeling made him feel uneasy and… humiliated.
He felt the impulse to attack her. He wanted to grab her throat and choke her until her vision lost focus and her heart stopped beating so that she could no longer touch his face with her eyes.
Bo Li finally figured out how to apologize. Since he likes physical touch, she could give him another hug.
She reached out and hugged him. She raised her head and kissed his mask. She quietly said, "I'm sorry. I misunderstood you."
The patrolling person had walked far away by now. She wasn't worried about being overheard.
And yet, Erik shoved her away.
However, he only pushed her and didn't abandon her. He still allowed her to stick to his side as they walked forward.
Bo Li didn't think too much about it. She just thought he was shy.
Translator Ramblings: Oh Bo Li, you came so close to death.
Having read a ton of romance webnovels, I jumped to thinking that Erik's stalking and knocking Richard unconscious was out of jealousy, but I like Bo Li's reason for his behavior much better. It would be sad and unhealthy if Erik has romantic feelings for someone that he knows is using him.
T/N: Next part will be posted on August 19th at 9:15 PM EST.