However, during the day, both of them still had many things to attend to.
Liu Yu finally understood how the true European nobility spent their long days:
The Fergus Family, being somewhat marginalized, didn’t count.
They were busy, extremely busy.
Busy learning various etiquettes, fencing, horseback riding, and acquiring the knowledge and skills befitting nobility.
The Academy of Light aimed to train clergy—
They served the gods, inherently noble, and naturally required elegant speech, rich cultivation, and graceful demeanor.
The first class was history, though Liu Yu interpreted it as a "Love God Education Class."
A professor named Rofolo taught the class. The professor was elderly, with white hair, small curls that didn’t reach her shoulders, and gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose. She would push the glasses up every few sentences, liked to look at people from under the lenses, and enjoyed tapping the heads of daydreaming students with chalk, always hitting her mark.
Liu Yu didn’t daydream.
She listened with great interest, as many of the kingdom's secret histories sounded as bizarre as if they were made up:
For example, a father had a dream of his son usurping the throne, so he imprisoned his son. When the son grew up, he returned to kill his father, and even took his mother and sister as concubines, combining extreme taste with soap opera drama.
The second class was fencing.
Liu Yu initially thought she would embarrass herself, but when she picked up the sword, her body naturally knew how to parry—
The muscle memory of her original body was still there; she must have attended basic fencing classes before. The basic stances were decent, and after a few swings, she gradually got used to it.
Of course, she still couldn’t compare to Princess Mary, who had been formally trained by a court swordsman, but she could at least manage.
Liu Yu studied diligently.
She never wasted any opportunity to learn.
Countless times, she was struck by the cold blade, the fierce impacts leaving marks on her tender skin, her palms aching from gripping the sword, but she never called for a break.
In the afternoon, there was only one equestrian class.
The riding field was vast, stretching as far as the eye could see.
The academy issued each student a set of fiery red riding attire with gold trim, a black corset, and trousers neatly tucked into riding boots, making them look quite dashing.
Liu Yu tied her hair up neatly, fluffed it out, and secured it into a loose bun.
As she stepped out of the changing room, she inevitably attracted a slew of admiring glances.
“Have you seen Mr. Leslie?”
She asked an unfamiliar boy.
“Mr. Leslie?” The boy pointed to the right front, “He went horseback riding.”
Horseback riding?
Gaia?
Liu Yu muttered to herself, smiling at the boy:
“Thank you.”
The boy’s face turned bright red, nodding:
“M-Miss Fergus, y-you’re welcome!”
Liu Yu was amused by the boy’s bashful reaction. Ah, youth! She felt she had never experienced such a carefree, easily infatuated time in her life.
Holding the issued riding whip, she followed the path to the right and indeed saw Gaia on horseback at the entrance.
He was sitting on the horse, with Prince Carlo and Natasi standing on either side. The three seemed to be discussing something, and she could see Natasi’s shyly pursed lips.
“Really, Prince Carlo?” Natasi smiled slightly, “Oh, that’s so interesting.”
Prince Carlo looked at her with fascination, then at Gaia.
“What are you talking about?”
Liu Yu walked over with a smile.
Prince Carlo placed a hand on his chest:
“Miss Fergus, we were just saying that at the party, we must get Mr. Leslie drunk and see if he can still be as serious as he is now.”
“Oh, I’m looking forward to it.”
Liu Yu laughed.
If he really got drunk, things would be easier to handle.
“Beiliya.”
Gaia looked at her disapprovingly.
By then, Liu Yu had already reached his side.
The boy looked down at her from his height, the sunlight casting a soft halo around him. His silver hair was tied back, cascading down like mercury, a strand falling onto her shoulder. Liu Yu was momentarily dazed before saying:
“Ah, a drunken Gaia must be adorable.”
“Beiliya.”
The boy’s voice was elegant, with a hint of embarrassment.
Liu Yu then realized that besides being indifferent to most things, he still had a bit of a youthful nature.
She smiled:
“But I still want to see it.”
“Beiliya sister…” Natasi interjected, looking at her hesitantly, clearly wanting to ask how she knew those things.
“What you just said—”
“—Good horse.”
Liu Yu patted Gaia’s horse.
This white horse had smooth muscle lines, a glossy coat, and was clearly extraordinary.
The equestrian instructor, Edward, stood nearby with arms crossed, laughing:
“Little Leslie immediately picked Harry, a wild horse! No one has been able to tame it.”
Mary hurriedly adjusted her cuffs as she approached. It seemed the high and mighty princess had never lacked maids and hadn’t yet learned to dress herself:
She exclaimed:
“Oh heavens! Mr. Leslie, how did you get on the horse?”
“Mr. Leslie is a born horse tamer!”
Edward shook his head proudly, “As soon as he arrived, all the wild horses bowed their heads in submission.”
Those with the Holy Spirit Body are naturally favored by the gods, and always have some divine abilities—and Leslie Gaia proved this point.
Prince Carlo also praised:
“Actually, I picked it first, but Harry wouldn’t let me near. I barely got on and was thrown off. But Mr. Leslie just stood there, and Harry’s head went right to him… I helped Mr. Leslie onto the horse, and he wasn’t skilled at first; but after a lap, he was already keeping pace with me. I bet by the second lap, he’ll leave me far behind.”
“In fencing class, it was the same… Mr. Leslie couldn’t even hold the sword at first, but later he knocked my sword out of my hand.”
“Knocked it out?”
Princess Mary exclaimed, “Prince Carlo’s fencing was taught by the Golden Knights, even the palace’s top warrior couldn’t disarm him.”
“Well, that’s how it is. We have to admit, there are things in this world that we can’t do, but others can.”
Prince Carlo shrugged helplessly.
Mary and Natasi’s eyes were practically overflowing with admiration as they looked at Gaia.
Liu Yu stepped in front of him, blocking their blatant gazes, and said:
“Gaia, how do you avoid obstacles when riding?”
She wasn’t at all surprised by Gaia’s astonishing learning ability.
This was a man who held the greatest cheat in the world:
He was the incarnation of a god.
Even if he had lost his memory and divine powers, he was still a god.
Animals, acting purely on instinct, naturally bowed their untamed heads to this boy.
“The wind, shadows… and, feeling,” Gaia looked at her, “Just like I knew it was you who came over.”
He suddenly smiled, a clean and pure smile:
“Though I’ve lost my eyes, the gods haven’t abandoned me.”
Liu Yu’s expression remained neutral:
“…Oh, of course.”
“Alright! Everyone’s here! Each of you, pick a horse!”
Edward clapped his hands. Some of the God's Favored Ones were nobles and had already learned to ride, but the commoners hadn’t.
Most of the girls picked gentle mares, but Liu Yu chose a stallion, though Edward said it was relatively tame. The more impatient boys couldn’t wait.
“Alright, alright, those who know how to ride, go ahead! Those who don’t, stay! You have the whole afternoon to learn how to ride…”
Mr. Edward was quite open-minded.
Liu Yu quickly got the hang of it once she was on the horse. She trotted around the field a few times until she was fully comfortable, then started to gallop.
Mary rode over and quietly reminded her:
“Beiliya, you promised me!”
“At the party, how about it?”
“You don’t want to know the consequences of deceiving the Carlo Royal Family!”
Mary warned her, then glanced at her and suddenly whipped the horse’s rump:
“Miss Fergus, this is the price for offending Mary Carlo last night!”
Liu Yu thought, “Oh no,” and quickly pulled the reins, but it was too late. The horse, in pain, neighed loudly, reared up, and bolted forward wildly.
Everything happened in an instant.
No one knew what was going on.
On the field, people saw the black horse suddenly galloping madly with the golden-haired girl on its back. The girl looked like a fragile luggage bag hanging onto the horse, the violent shaking threatening to throw her off at any moment.
“Beiliya?”
“Miss Fergus?”
Gaia and Carlo almost simultaneously rushed forward.
Liu Yu could only feel the whistling wind in her ears as everything around her rapidly receded into the distance.
Her mind was blank, unable to process anything. She hadn’t expected Princess Mary to be so reckless, nor had she anticipated that she would meet her end because of a princess’s whim before she could even sleep with Gaia or become one of God’s Favored Ones.
All she could do was cling desperately to the horse, moving with its every gallop, waiting for the rescue that might never come.
Her nails were splitting, the torn flesh causing searing pain, but she dared not scream, fearing that opening her mouth would let the wind snuff out her last breath.
God, if God could truly hear her…
“Beiliya! Beiliya…”
“Give me your hand!”
Liu Yu opened her eyes, and in her blurred vision, a figure appeared.
A white horse, a red robe—he seemed to cut through the heavy dusk, charging toward her with a thunderous presence.
Gaia Leslie.
The incarnation of the God of Light.
His usually calm face was now tinged with urgency as he skillfully controlled his horse within a certain range, reaching out to her:
“Beiliya! Quick! Jump!”
Without hesitation, Liu Yu placed her hand in his palm and leaped.
Her entire body soared through the air before crashing into a firm chest.
“Bang—”
The black horse collided with a tree, its skull shattered, limbs twitching before it went still.
Liu Yu’s face turned pale, her body trembling uncontrollably.
She realized that all her schemes and plots had been defeated by this world that treated human life as worthless.
She could strike at a vampire because he was not of her kind, feeding on humans—
But what about Princess Mary?
What about Natasi?
Even Gaia?
Could she bring herself to harm them?
She couldn’t treat human life as something trivial; that was a mark left on her by the past twenty years of her life.
“You’re crying.”
A cold hand touched her face, gently wiping away her tears.
He asked, “Why? Because… you’re scared?”
“Yes, I’m scared.”
Liu Yu buried her face in the young man’s chest.
She shivered, both for this world and for herself.
She had thought Mary was just a rebellious teenager, but this rebelliousness could cost her life.
What about Natasi?
She had an invincible luck buff.
What did she have?
Just one life.
“I’m scared.”
Mary’s whip had awakened her.
Everything she had been so proud of was nothing but a castle in the air. She was still a weakling, at the mercy of others, waiting for rescue.
She wasn’t one of God’s Favored Ones, not a saint, she was nothing.
Only by reaching the heights…
Liu Yu’s gaze toward Gaia burned with unprecedented intensity.
How beautiful he was, like the most exquisite and noble porcelain in the world. He possessed kindness, benevolence, and an unparalleled dignity.
She wanted to own this porcelain, to possess it forever.
“It’s over now, it’s all in the past.”
Gaia patted her head, feeling as though she were a lost lamb.
“Gaia, hold me tighter, I’m cold.”
In his arms, Liu Yu opened her fiery, azure eyes.
Through the layers of green foliage and scattered sunlight, she noticed that Prince Carlo, Natasi, and Mary had arrived at some point.
They stood in silence, their eyes meeting hers, but no one spoke.
After a long moment, Liu Yu rested her head on Gaia’s chest and held him tightly.
Nickname:
