Chapter Seventeen: Ode to Joy

As Xiu Yi was still pondering how to resolve the crisis before him, Clarice had already stepped out of the inn.

Today must have been a painful lesson for Clarice.

Yet at this moment, her face was grave, not at all as if she had come to express gratitude for what had happened during the day.

She walked up to Xiu Yi and said, “Fink, come with me for a moment.”

Following Clarice to the backyard, she stopped and gazed at Xiu Yi in silence, making him feel quite uneasy. With a wry smile, Xiu Yi asked, “What do you want from me?”

“I just want to know—who are you, really?”

Xiu Yi was taken aback.

After regaining her composure, Clarice had at first been filled with regret, anger, dejection, and embarrassment. However, being someone who prided herself on her strength, she quickly recovered from the blow. In truth, the girls of the troupe spent their days navigating the world of the nobility; experiences like today’s were far from rare.

Without excellent psychological resilience, they would not survive.

Once clear-headed, Clarice’s shrewdness returned, and she keenly sensed there was something off about Xiu Yi’s background.

How could an ordinary servant have rescued her from Lanya Theater so smoothly?

This man was versed in business, meticulous in thought, appeared out of nowhere with a mysterious past, and though he claimed to be penniless, he could produce a potion worth two thousand gold vit.

And that wasn’t all. Why did the Karmel family treat him with such respect? Why did the Brownie family silently endure the humiliation they suffered that day? Even though her mind had been clouded at the time and she had not witnessed any deaths, she could still sense that Xiu Yi’s rescue had not been gentle.

Who was this person, truly?

She suddenly realized she had been far too careless—so careless that she had simply believed the casual explanation he’d given for his background. But it was obvious that such a simple origin could never match the mysterious abilities of the young man before her.

Clarice finally realized she had likely been deceived by Xiu Yi. Thinking of the tricks he used to outwit those merchants in the shop, Clarice had no doubt about his skill in deception.

Once this dawned on her, she immediately set aside her embarrassment and called Xiu Yi over.

Facing Clarice’s interrogative gaze, Xiu Yi could only force a smile. “Does it really matter so much to you who I am?”

Clarice’s expression shifted slightly. “So you’re not really named Fink, are you?”

Xiu Yi did not answer.

“Who are you? Why did you deceive us?” She stared at him, countless images flashing through her mind, and suddenly a realization struck her.

The young man before her, aside from his black hair, seemed to match the description of that murderer wanted all over the country…

“Oh, my God.” Clarice covered her mouth and gasped softly. “You… you’re Xiu Yi Glair. God, you’re that murderer!”

Xiu Yi grabbed Clarice, who began screaming frantically, “No, let me go! You must be him, yes, you must be him. Oh my God, what kind of person has the gods sent to me?”

“Enough, Clarice!” Xiu Yi growled in a low voice. “Look more carefully. I am Fink, not Xiu Yi Glair. Do you really think I’m that heartless criminal?”

Clarice looked up in astonishment, and in that moment, she saw the clear, limpid gaze in Xiu Yi’s eyes.

Xiu Yi held her by the arms. “Clarice, you have to trust me. When you observe things, you can’t rely only on what you see and hear. You have to feel with your heart, to truly understand. Do you think I am that kind of person? Look at me—look into my eyes. Do you really believe I am that murderer, with blood on my hands, guilty of countless crimes, a villain who kills and burns without remorse? Do you think I could be that person?”

Clarice instinctively shook her head. “No, Fink, you’re a good man.”

“Yes, that’s right. Do you see now? The man in the wanted notice is a devil—he kills the innocent and harms civilians. But I’m not him. I’ve never done anything to hurt you, have I?”

Clarice sobbed, tears spilling down her face. “No, you haven’t. On the contrary, you’ve helped me. Oh, God, how could I ever have thought you were that murderer? If you really were Xiu Yi Glair, you would have killed me the moment I blackmailed you for twenty gold vit. I’m so sorry, Fink, truly, I’m so sorry. You saved me, yet I looked at you like that…”

“It’s all right, Clarice. I just want you to understand—I would never harm any of you. In any case, I’ll be leaving soon. Then you can truly be at ease.”

“You’re leaving us?” Clarice stared at Xiu Yi in shock. “Why? Are you angry?”

“No, it’s just that I’m not really a member of the troupe. I could never stay with you all forever. Unfortunately, my plans have run into some trouble, so I’ll have to leave earlier than I intended. But I promise you, we will meet again someday.”

“You’re sure it’s not because of what I just—”

“I’m sure!”

“Oh, no…” When Xiu Yi said he would be leaving, Clarice was suddenly overwhelmed with reluctance. She realized that, without her knowing, this young man had already conquered her heart. What did it matter what his background was, whether he was a wanted fugitive or a runaway servant? What mattered was that she didn’t want him to go.

Heavens knew how much it hurt her when Daisy and Lanty, those two troublesome girls, were frolicking with him in his room.

That scoundrel—he had charmed the heart of every girl, herself included.

“Trust me, Clarice. I’m only leaving for a while.”

“All right… When will you go?”

“On Christmas Day. I want to see your performance, to watch Turandot staged at Lanya Grand Theater, to see you win the hearts of all the nobility, and only then will I leave.”

“Oh, that’s impossible,” Clarice muttered. “I’ve already given up on Lanya. I think Violet Troupe will have to perform at the small theater after all.”

“Trust me, Clarice. There is never a shortage of miracles in this world,” Xiu Yi said, smiling at her.

The next morning, Clarice returned to the inn and began shouting at the top of her lungs.

“Lanya! We’re going to Lanya!”

The news sent a shockwave through the entire troupe.

Daisy was the first to rush out, clutching her thick, flowery skirt, shouting, “Oh, heavens, Clarice, what did you just say?”

Clarice laughed and shouted, “I said Lanya! We’re going to the Lanya Grand Theater! On Christmas Day!”

“Oh!” The girls who came rushing out behind her all clapped their hands to their mouths, their eyes filled with disbelief, some even bursting into tears of joy.

To leap from being a pitiful troupe performing only in small villages to suddenly entering the Lanya Grand Theater was too great a leap.

Especially performing on Christmas Day—a dream no troupe had ever dared to imagine.

Lanty wept as she cried out, “I can hardly believe it—we’re going to Lanya! And on Christmas Day! We’ll be performing at the Grand Theater on Christmas Day!”

Daisy exclaimed, “But how could this be? Yesterday, Fink snatched you away from that manager—how could they possibly let us perform at Lanya now?”

Lanty shouted, “Who knows? Maybe their conscience finally awoke! No matter what, we’ve done it! We’re going to be the happiest troupe in the world!”

All the girls jumped up, hugging each other as they cried and rejoiced.

Perhaps the commotion outside was too much, for even Xiu Yi, deep in meditation, was distracted by the noise.

He opened the window and looked down at his companions, who were weeping tears of joy at this tremendous news. Xiu Yi, too, smiled with satisfaction. “You see? Helping others is always a beautiful thing, isn’t it, Xu?”

The little dragon, lying on the bed, snorted, showing a look of disdain.

Outside, there was a furious pounding at the door.

Xiu Yi opened the door and saw Clarice standing there.

She had made a special effort to dress up; at the moment, she wore a white court dress, her cheeks dusted with a hint of powder, her face alight with excitement.

Xiu Yi smiled at her, and she could no longer contain herself—she rushed forward and threw her arms around him. “Thank you, Fink. Without you, we wouldn’t have today.”

“It’s your own hard work. Tell me, how did you get this opportunity?”

“Oh, I don’t know what happened either. After what happened yesterday, Lanya Theater changed managers. The new manager read the script for Turandot and said that, under normal circumstances, there was no way we could have secured the Christmas slot, not even with money.” Clarice nearly tripped over her words in excitement. “But he was so pleased with the script—he believes that if we perform it well, it will become a classic. He loves our arias, but thinks we lack a good orchestra, so he’s even decided to lend us the theater’s own orchestra. He believes we can cause a sensation in Fragrant Leaf City—or no, in the entire country!”

“That sounds like a pretty good reason.”

“Oh, yes, it is, a very good one. Fink, I don’t know how you did it, but the new manager even apologized to me on behalf of his predecessor, asking me not to hold anything against him. He said he hoped Lanya Theater and the Violet Troupe could establish a long and lasting cooperation in the future.”

“I hope so too.”

At this, Clarice fell silent. She moved close to Xiu Yi and gazed at him with deep emotion. “I don’t know how to express all this to you, or how to thank you for what’s in my heart. You taught me how to manage my troupe; you wrote us the best script in the world and gave us hope; you gave us the money to save us so we could go on; you even rescued me from that lecher’s clutches… Even when I was blind and treated you so harshly, you still helped me; oh, God, I even suspected you, but you still cared for me, helped me… You’re like an angel—a real angel. It’s as if the gods answered our prayers and sent you down from heaven to save us in our hour of need…”

Her eyes sparkled with tears of excitement, and she could say no more. Xiu Yi gently drew Clarice into his arms, traced her cheek with his fingers, and then softly pressed a kiss to her burning lips.

The kiss left Clarice blushing furiously. She hurriedly tried to escape. “Oh, no, no, Fink, I’m so much older than you—I’m not worthy of you. Only the most noble and beautiful girl in the world could match you.”

At that moment, Xiu Yi froze ever so slightly, the shadow of Avril rising in his heart.

With a woman’s innate sensitivity, Clarice sensed something. “There’s a girl in your heart, isn’t there? You just thought of her, didn’t you?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Xiu Yi nodded. “Yes.”

“Do you love her?”

Xiu Yi shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Then… you do love her.” Clarice murmured softly, “She must be very beautiful.”

“…Yes.” Foolish as the answer sounded, Xiu Yi did not want to lie to Clarice.

He was about to add, “But there’s no hope for us,” when Clarice suddenly threw her arms around him and kissed him passionately, leaving him nearly breathless.

Little dragon Xu let out a squeak and climbed off the bed, clearly eager to join in.

At last, Clarice let go of Xiu Yi, gazing at him with infatuation. “I want to try,” she murmured.

“What?” Xiu Yi was startled.

Blushing, Clarice whispered, “You don’t need to make me any promises. This is my own decision. I just… want to taste that forbidden fruit. You know, don’t you? All those things I said yesterday…”

“That was when you weren’t yourself. You don’t need to take it to heart.”

“No, Fink. You taught me to feel with my heart. My heart tells me—I want you.”

With that, she pressed herself to Xiu Yi’s chest, and the two embraced tightly.

Peeking through the window, Daisy and Lanty both sighed with a tinge of resentment.

“I knew she’d fall into that guy’s clutches sooner or later,” said Daisy, sitting down.

“We should be glad we got there first. Now Clarice is the latecomer—she should thank us for our generosity,” Lanty replied, sitting down as well, her tone filled with dissatisfaction.

Suddenly, Xiu Yi’s voice rang in their ears. “If you’re really so generous, why not join in together?”

The two girls looked up in astonishment and saw Xiu Yi at the window, grinning mischievously at them.

“Ah!” the girls shrieked in unison and fled to their rooms.

With lingering reluctance, Xiu Yi turned his gaze back to Clarice, whose eyes now brimmed with infinite hope.

“No one will disturb us now, will they?” she smiled.

“No,” Xiu Yi replied, stepping toward her.