342: Depressed Xiao Nai

Chapter 341: Xiao Nai's Melancholy

Another day passed, and Dick was indeed as he said, very well-behaved, not causing trouble outside of Bit Manor.

In his capacity as a consultant, he spent from morning till night discussing various topics with Toya officials under Victoria's command, laying the groundwork for his future promotion.

Dick had to gain the trust of other noble officials. If he were directly granted the title of Marquis with real power simply because of Victoria's personal preference, it would cause widespread dissatisfaction.

Initially, Victoria worried that Dick wouldn't be able to do it, as the more one talks, the more likely one is to make mistakes.

It was difficult for a young man under twenty to interact with those old nobles who were skilled in political maneuvering. If he accidentally said something wrong, he might even be looked down upon.

Victoria had originally planned to take things slow, first extraditing Dick back to the country as a technical talent, and then arranging various welfare tasks for him to accumulate prestige.

Soon, under Victoria's careful operation, Dick would easily become a top talent in the Toya Empire.

Finally, it would be a matter of course for him to be granted the title of Marquis, bestowed with a fief, given significant power, and... become her Royal Husband.

Victoria had arranged everything. As long as Dick didn't make any particularly serious mistakes, he would become the "First Husband" of the Toya Empire in a few years.

However, Dick's performance surprised Victoria greatly.

He actually managed to integrate with the accompanying Toya noble officials just by talking, and everyone forgot that Dick was an Earl of the Amyria Empire.

Mature and appropriate speech and behavior, political views that catered to their preferences, profound and boundless technical knowledge... Dick was like a fish in water among a group of old nobles!

But the most important thing was that Dick was rich. He had signed a permanent revenue-sharing agreement with the Amyria Empire, which meant a continuous flow of gold coins into Dick's account in the future.

Not to mention that Dick had also become very good friends with Afra and was even gifted the fate teaching scripture, which meant immense connections.

How could such a talented and wealthy Dick not be liked by the old nobles?

It wasn't until the banquet that night, when a group of Toya noble officials lined up to toast Dick, that Victoria realized how much she had underestimated him.

She had been blinded by love and forgotten that Dick was originally a top-tier talent; he didn't need any help at all.

Since Dick could become the top talent in Amyria in less than half a year, he could naturally rise rapidly in the Toya Empire as well.

In fact, Victoria had forgotten one more thing: she herself was easily won over by Dick.

Victoria was now almost entirely focused on considering things for Dick. This kind of love-struck state was something she couldn't have imagined before.

...

Another half day passed, and as noon approached, the women returned to Bit Manor by carriage.

Since Afra had already left, the women didn't need to display their most authentic acting skills anymore. Dick had already explained the "take a sip" plan through soul telepathy early on.

After all, if the women worried for too long, it would likely affect the "Twisted Witch" quest. Xiao Nai was a typical example.

Her psychological resilience was even lower than Mina's. Just after he was poisoned, Xiao Nai almost had an episode.

It seemed that in the future, Xiao Nai would also need special attention. Witches themselves were prone to becoming extreme, just to varying degrees.

Dick believed that if he were to truly die one day, the Witches under him would likely go insane and bring about a devastating disaster to the world.

Without question, Mina would go 100% insane because he was her everything.

Dick could even imagine that Mina would probably think, "A world without Dick has no reason to exist," and then proceed to act on that truth.

Although everyone was now present and Fama was urging him, Dick still decided to rest for one night and depart early tomorrow morning.

The reason was simple: below the "Twisted Witch" quest, Xiao Nai's avatar frame, although green, was flashing.

Clearly, she needed Dick to comfort her.

It seemed that his previous "near-death" experience had stimulated Xiao Nai too much. Even though she knew he was actually in control, she still hadn't recovered.

Dick always strived for stability. Before starting a quest, this little loose end had to be dealt with cleanly.

After dinner, Xiao Nai uncharacteristically refused to join the other women for a hot spring bath. Instead, she returned to her room to rest after a simple shower.

Tomorrow, they would leave Bit Manor and head to the sacred place of the Eternal Frost Forest, which was also the headquarters of the Snow Goddess Sect—Snow God Mountain.

Xiao Nai didn't have much luggage and finished packing in less than a few minutes.

It was just past eight o'clock, and there was still a long time until bedtime. So, Xiao Nai took out her portable magic wallet, preparing for her daily routine count.

This was a good habit Xiao Nai developed after coming to study in the Amyria Imperial Capital. At that time, she was very poor, and earning money every day was difficult, so she cherished every gold coin.

Of course, the most important reason was that Xiao Nai had been robbed several times. Not only was she pickpocketed in the market, but even the small stash of gold she hid under her dormitory bed had been visited by thieves.

Nowadays, Xiao Nai no longer needed to struggle for a living. She had even become a rich woman, and the gold coins in her wallet had been replaced by stack after stack of gold notes.

Yet, despite this, Xiao Nai still insisted on counting her money once every day, without fail.

Nothing made Xiao Nai happier than watching her accumulated wealth grow.

"One, two, three..."

Xiao Nai had a thick stack of gold notes, each with a face value of fifty thousand gold coins, enough to cover the entire bed!

And these were just the change she used regularly. The real bulk was stored in Xiao Nai's bank account, a number longer than her life.

Besides the equipment money earned in the Underground City Championship, Dick also converted some of the merit points from the wizard token into gold coins, most of which he gave to Xiao Nai.

But more than holding vast wealth, Xiao Nai preferred Dick's trust in her; it was a feeling like floating on clouds.

"Three hundred and one, three hundred and two, three hundred..."

For some reason, Xiao Nai, who should have been overjoyed, couldn't muster any enthusiasm at the moment, and her voice was inexplicably flat.

"Sigh..."

As she counted, Xiao Nai sighed heavily, then lay down on the big bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Having the wealth she did now was entirely because she had latched onto Dick. Xiao Nai had always been very clear about this.

But more than the money, Xiao Nai's feelings for Dick were primarily love, a burning hot love.