Unease, A Man Cannot Be Inferior to a Woman

Ninth Royal Uncle and Serena Feng had been back in Eastlyn for more than half a month now. The weather had been unusually cooperative—no rain at all, perfect for going out and enjoying the city.

But today, out of nowhere, the sky turned dark. Soon, rain started pouring down—and judging by how heavy it was, it wouldn’t stop anytime soon. Today was exactly the day they’d estimated the Valley Master and Dr. Marcus Guile would arrive in the Capital.

"I wonder if this will delay their journey." Serena couldn’t shake a vague sense of unease.

The sky was so gloomy it was almost frightening, with clouds as dark as ink pressing down like a weight on her chest, making it hard to breathe. Serena kept feeling something was about to happen, but she also wondered if she was just overthinking.

To dispel her frustration, Serena could only pace back and forth inside her room, trying to drive away the uneasiness in her heart.

"Dr. Marcus Guile is skilled in martial arts, and both the Prince of Jiangnan and Prince Colin know how dangerous this trip is—they wouldn’t let them travel alone." Serena kept reassuring herself, but as time passed and there was still no sign of the Valley Master or Dr. Marcus Guile, her unease only grew.

Serena would sometimes stand, sometimes sit. Whenever someone walked past outside, she’d get up to check, hoping it was Dr. Marcus Guile and the Valley Master arriving.

The butler watched Serena’s behavior and was quite puzzled.

Was the young lady just bored?

Taking the chance while refilling Serena’s tea, the butler quietly suggested, “Miss, the young master just woke up. Why not bring him over to you?”

Playing with the young master would be better than just pacing around indoors.

"No need." Serena shot the butler a look. "Any news from those sent to meet the Valley Master?"

"Not yet." So that's what she's worried about, the butler realized, nodding in understanding. "Don't worry, miss. The weather's bad today—they may have been delayed on the road."

With such a long distance, even riding hard day and night, being off by a day or two is normal.

"I know." She just couldn't shake the unease in her heart.

The arrival of the Valley Master and Dr. Marcus Guile would be a fatal blow to the Hsieh Clan—they wouldn’t just do nothing.

Even the Emperor could uncover this, so of course the Hsieh Clan would know too. But in the past half month, the Hsiehs have been completely silent—that’s definitely unusual. From what she knows of them, they’re not the type to just sit and wait for doom.

If she already knows all this, why is she still worried?

The butler looked at Serena, puzzled. But Serena was lost in her own thoughts and didn’t notice his gaze.

She waited from morning to noon, then to afternoon, but still no news. Serena couldn’t sit still any longer—even with rain pouring down, she was determined to go out.

'Left Shore, come out—hurry!' Serena called out toward the roof. Soon, Left Shore appeared at the front entrance, looking impatient. 'What is it?'

He looked like he'd just woken up.

'Come with me outside the city.' Serena felt a bit apologetic—if she wasn’t so worried, she wouldn’t trouble Left Shore.

Left Shore just rolled his eyes and walked out.

Serena stared after Left Shore, confused... Was he coming or not?

Was he coming or not?

'Aren’t we heading out? Hurry up.' Left Shore walked dozens of steps, realized Serena hadn’t followed, so he stopped and called back to her.

'Coming.' Serena hurried after him, told the butler to bring the horses, and got rain gear ready for the trip.

Serena and Left Shore both changed into black waterproof coats, ready to head out—when suddenly the Snow Wolf blocked their way.

The Snow Wolf let out a low growl, instantly making both horses tense up and glare at it warily.

The Snow Wolf glanced arrogantly at the horses, then trotted to Serena’s side, looking up at her pitifully, its eyes clearly saying: Take me with you.

The Snow Wolf really did look miserable—after Serena had shaved its fur, it had finally grown back, only to be plastered flat by the rain, making it look comically ugly.

Serena knew she’d kept the Snow Wolf cooped up too long. It didn’t need her protection—if it wanted to come, she’d let it.

The Snow Wolf howled happily, but scared the horses so much they nearly bolted. Serena and Left Shore had to soothe them for ages before they calmed down.

So, the people on the street got to witness Serena riding out in a downpour, walking a wolf.

With the Snow Wolf following behind, the horses seemed to sense danger and ran much faster than usual—even in the heavy rain, they covered ground quickly.

Serena was pleased with the Snow Wolf’s help and promised herself to give it an extra meal later.

In such heavy rain, there was hardly anyone outside the city. Even though visibility was poor, Serena and Left Shore kept their horses at a gallop and didn’t slow down.

They knew this road well, so they weren’t worried about problems.

Riding through wind and rain for half an hour, even with waterproof coats, both of them were soaked, and the horses began to slow down.

Along the way, they only saw one or two people hiding from the rain, but there was no sign of Dr. Marcus Guile or the Valley Master—and no trace of a fight.

After another quarter hour, still no sign of anyone. Serena started to hesitate.

Maybe the Valley Master and Dr. Marcus Guile just wouldn’t arrive today. With such a long journey, it’s normal to be a few days off, but her unease still wouldn’t go away.

Serena gritted her teeth and decided to keep going. "Left Shore, let’s ride for another half hour. If we still don’t see anyone, we’ll turn back."

She’d do her best and leave the rest to fate—if she didn’t check for herself, she couldn’t be at ease.

"Mm." Left Shore didn’t object.

If Serena, a woman, could brave wind and rain, then he, as a man, couldn’t be less than her.

With a time limit set, Serena stopped hesitating and pressed on, putting her worries aside for now.

Half an hour later, Serena and Left Shore still hadn’t found Dr. Marcus Guile or the Valley Master.

Serena frowned and sighed inwardly, feeling she’d worried too much and wasted her effort today.

She reined in her horse and stopped; Left Shore soon halted beside her. Serena apologized, "Sorry for dragging you out in this weather."

"It’s fine," Left Shore replied stiffly.

Running through rain for over an hour, anyone would be annoyed. But since Serena had suffered just as much, he couldn’t really complain.

Let’s go back. There’s no point in staying.

They turned their horses to head home, but the Snow Wolf refused to cooperate. It stood still, howled, then bolted down the road. Halfway, it noticed Serena wasn’t following, stopped, and called to her again, as if saying: Come on!

Serena hesitated, but then followed the Snow Wolf.

She couldn’t bear to leave the Snow Wolf out in the storm. If it got lost or ran into danger, that would be terrible.

"Troublesome," he muttered.

He thought he'd never met a woman as troublesome as Serena, or a wolf as annoying as this one.

He hoped that dumb wolf actually had something important to show them, otherwise...

Heh... Left Shore gave a sly, shadowy laugh. If he couldn’t vent his frustration on Serena, at least he could take it out on that dumb wolf...

If he couldn’t vent his frustration on Serena, at least he could take it out on that dumb wolf...