How to Stop the Villain from Going Crazy
Translator: Fuyu
Chapter 42 - They had become questions that haunted him (3)
Before getting on the carriage, Bo Li looked back one more time.
Erik still hadn't appeared. She didn't feel like she was being watched either.
Why? Could he be in trouble? Could he have been kidnapped by Trique?
No, that seemed unlikely.
If Trique had kidnapped Erik, then she would no longer be useful to them, and they wouldn't be treating her courteously.
Boyd was only treating her nicely because he wasn't sure if Erik was lurking in the shadows.
"What are you looking at?" Boyd asked.
Bo Li coldly said, "Didn't you say that you smelled the breath of a ghost on me? Can you not see what I'm looking at?"
Boyd was a bit embarrassed, but he quickly made up an excuse for himself. "Of course I can see ghosts. What I meant to say is that you're safe with me. Ghosts are afraid of psychics. There will be so many psychics around you today, so at least for today, it won't bother you."
Bo Li suddenly asked, "What if the ghost I see is a living person?"
She raised her eyes and directly looked at Boyd. "How will you deal with that?"
Boyd was a person that could hide his emotions. He was adept at acting and swindling. He could accurately control every muscle on his face to show any expression he wanted.
And yet, when he heard Bo Li's words, his smile stiffened. Beads of cold sweat dripped down from his back. He would never forget the day his finger was cut off.
At the time, he was watching a show when a rope suddenly fell down, wrapped around his neck, and dragged him into the darkness.
Immediately after, a hand covered his mouth and nose. The hand was alarmingly big and was wearing a rough black leather glove. He almost suffocated.
What made him even more frightened was that his assailant was looking over his throat as if he was deliberating how to kill him.
That person was wearing a white mask, and his gaze was cold and empty. He looked at him as if he wasn't a human, but an animal to be slaughtered.
At that moment, Boyd only felt a chill rising from his tailbone. He was drenched in sweat, and it felt as if his heart was wildly palpitating in his throat.
He was going to die. This man was going to kill him.
However, that man didn't kill him. He pulled him up by his hair with one hand and slammed his head against the wall. After that, that man calmly and nimbly cut off his finger.
It felt as if that man often did such things. He controlled his strength so that he wouldn't faint from pain and kept him terrorized and dizzy enough to not scream.
After that man left, Boyd didn't have the strength to call for help. He could only lie on the floor of the private box, listen to his wheezing breath, and look at his cut finger while overcome with dizziness until the usher came and discovered his miserable state.
Trique said that he was very lucky to have escaped with his life from that lunatic, but Boyd had the foreboding feeling that Erik only left him alive so that he could torment him further.
If Trique hadn't repeatedly persuaded him with Polly's wealth and beauty - how he would not only get a huge sum of money, but also be able to vent the humiliation and pain of having his finger cut off on Polly - he would have probably never approached her again.
However, money could make even the devil do one's bidding.
If someone had to be blamed, then it was Polly for taking money that didn't belong to her.
After a long time, Boyd finally managed to suppress his fear and quietly said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Bo Li discovered that Boyd was terrified of Erik. She hadn't even mentioned Erik's name, only alluded to his existence, and Boyd was scared stiff with sweat dripping from his forehead.
If it came to the point when she had to shoot, she could use Erilk's name to scare Boyd and then press the gun to his back.
She had always been like this. The tenser the mood, the calmer she became.
The carriage headed towards Garden Villa Street. She could tell that it was a wealthy district in New Orleans from the environment. The streets were lined with detached white houses that were partially hidden from view by the shade of trees. There were police standing guard everywhere. The area wasn't noisy like the environment near the hotel.
The first word that popped up in her mind was secluded. There was almost no sound to be heard. In the front yards, the flowers and leaves were quiet. Even the fountains were still. The silence was almost abnormal.
Whether the people were standing, sitting, or talking in low voices, the sounds seemed muted. She felt like she was looking at people through a dark, silent water barrier with a surging undercurrent.
Bo Li fell a chill down her back. She felt cold all over.
She inexplicably had an uneasy feeling. Even if she screamed and struggled, her fate would be like a person adrift in the ocean. She would be swallowed by the dark tide, and no one would hear her screams.
Boyd had been observing her expression. Seeing that hint of fear on her face, he immediately held her hand and softly said, "Don't worry. I'll protect you."
Bo Li stared at his hand and saw that he was missing a finger on his right hand.
She suddenly remembered that she felt the breath of a third person in the private box after Boyd… touched her neck.
At the time, she thought Erik had been gone for a while. She only realized later that he had been following her and even followed her into the theater's private box.
What about now then? Was he still watching her? Watching Boyd hold her hand, how close their faces were, and how their breaths were mingling?
They weren't in a four-wheeled carriage, but a lightweight two-wheeled one. The carriage space wasn't enclosed. The leather seating only had enough space for two people.
If Erik was following her, he would be able to see her every move.
She didn't know if Erik had cut off Boyd's finger because Boyd was a handsome liar, or if it was because Erik saw her as his prey and wouldn't allow a lowly liar like Boyd to do anything to her.
Regardless of the reason, he wouldn't stand by and do nothing if Boyd got close to her.
She specially chose a pair of short gloves with a hollow lace pattern to increase the friction on her palms. She didn't want to risk not having a good grip on the gun if her palms became sweaty from fear.
She stared at Boyd and slightly tilted her head. "You've never kissed my hand in greeting."
Boyd froze in surprise. "I thought…"
"What do you think? Do you think that because I cut my hair short and wear pants, you don't need to treat me like a lady?"
"Of course not…" Boyd was just a bit puzzled. One moment, she was frigid and spoke sarcastically to him, and the next moment, she wanted him to kiss her hand in greeting.
It was too abnormal. On the other hand, that seemed normal?
He was so young and handsome. He wasn't any different from the gentlemen in the gardens. It was quite normal for her to fall for him.
After all, there were only two men around her to choose from. Him and Erik.
In order to drive a wedge between Erik and her, Trique specially hired an artist to paint Erik's appearance. Trique said the painting had only captured 70% of Erik's appearance.
Even so, Boyd had nightmares all night after seeing it. How could a human look like that?
How could a person have a face that was half cold, stern, and upright without any flaws while the other half resembled… a terrifying skull!
Saying that it looked like a skull was putting it nicely.
When Boyd saw the painting, he felt like the eyeball on the left side of Erik's face was about to fall out. A skull didn't have eyelids, only deep holes for eye sockets. His left eyeball looked like it was shoddily embedded and on the verge of tottering out.
If he got closer, he might see the sticky, wiggling veins behind that eyeball.
This painting only shared 70% similarity with Erik's face.
Who knew how terrifying he actually looked?
No wonder Trique had said he would regain his confidence in his appearance if he saw Erik's face.
Polly had probably thought things through on the way and wanted to show her goodwill, so she asked him to kiss her hand.
She was quite the pretty girl. There was no reason she would choose a horrific skull over him.
Thinking of this, Boyd lifted her hand, leaned over, and kissed her hand.
His kiss, with its turbid heat, left behind a mark on the hollow lace glove.
Strangely, Bo Li felt a strong sense of revulsion.
Erik had leaned over her several times. She had heard his heavy and rough breathing above her head. She had shared a bed with him before and felt the uninterrupted heat emanating from his body, but she never felt repugnance.
So weird. Even weirder was why did she think of Erik when Body kissed her hand?
The next moment, she felt a prickling sensation on her back. It was an indescribable feeling of imminent danger.
Her scalp went numb, and she had goosebumps all over her body.
Sure enough, Erik was watching her.
His gaze was cold and heavy like a sticky watery ice cube that was slowly sliding across the back of her hand.
Bo Li felt like her hand had been dunked into ice water and was a bit stiff from the cold.
Despite that, she continued to let Boyd hold her hand instead of pulling away for Erik to see.
She could feel his gaze becoming colder and heavier. It felt like her hand was being drenched in ice water and stabbed with a knife.
And yet, she felt an odd sense of… safety.
T/N: Extra part to thank Sslsdm for their review. Next part will be on Monday at 9:25 PM EST.
Translator Ramblings: Go Bo Li for figuring out how to get Erik to show himself! I like that the author had written about the misunderstanding with Richard (the magician), so that it makes sense Bo Li wouldn't make this connection earlier.