The Young Master in the Shadows-Chapter 344: Streaming

“This is Gloria Flick with you again on this private stream!” Gloria said to the camera. “Behind me is the infamous White mansion!” she added as the cameraman zoomed behind her to the grand mansion surrounded by tall trees.

ANONYMOUS 1024: OHH…. IT’S ON!

ANONYMOUS 9234: WE MISS YOU GLORIA!

ANONYMOUS 0: SHOW US YOUR BOOBS LIKE YOU DID LAST TIME! I WILL PAY YOU $1000!

ANONYMOUS 7712: WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?

ANONYMOUS 0: LAST WEEK, LOOK IT UP…

ANONYMOUS 7712: WAH! ARE THOSE FOR REAL?

ANONYMOUS 0: YAH, WE NEED TO THANK YOUNG MASTER VICTOR FOR THE TREAT!

Gloria silently cursed as she read the comments feed. She decided to ignore them and continued to talk. This was her last chance for a good report or she would truly get fired and would have to really start showing of her boobs to put food on her table.

“This mansion has some really dark history! According to my confirmed sources, it was built by the nefarious gangster Nick White to be his base of operation, but he was killed in an accident and his cousin… or brother… we don’t really know… Anyway, Victor white Inherited this mansion and used it as his base ever since!” Gloria said as the cameraman focused on her again.

ANONYMOUS 4687: WOW… I WANT A MANSION LIKE THAT!

ANONYMOUS 7622: ME TOO

ANONYMOUS 1232: ME THREE

ANONYMOUS 4222: ME FOUR

ANONYMOUS 778: DO THEY SELL DRUGS THERE?

ANONYMOUS 23: ME FIVE

ANONYMOUS 1024: ME ONE HUNDRED

“Now, as you all know, the last time I was here, we were kicked out by the stupid guards and I was even molested by Victor! And despite it being on camera, the police refused to intervene!” she said in a strange tone, seemingly still holding a grudge.

ANONYMOUS 4222: WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE?

ANONYMOUS 145: SHE IS DEFINITELY HUNTING FOR A HUSBAND

ANONYMOUS 7344: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

ANONYMOUS 0: SHOW US YOUR BOOBS!

“Today, we bought a new drone, and we intend to try to investigate the shady things happening inside!” she said, ignoring the inappropriate comments.

ANONYMOUS 2311: ISN'T THAT A CRIME?

ANONYMOUS 1024: PROBABLY….

ANONYMOUS 5121: DEFINITELY!

ANONYMOUS 7622: SHE LOOKS REALLY DESPERATE…

ANONYMOUS 0: GLORIA WE ARE ROOTING FOR YOU…

ANONYMOUS 23: GLORIA I WILL VISIT YOU IN PRISON!

ANONYMOUS 5101: I WILL KILL SOMEONE TO GO TO PRISON WITH YOU! WE CAN MARRY THERE!

ANONYMOUS 2311: ABOVE, YOU ARE AN IDIOT… SHE WILL GO TO WOMEN'S PRISON!

ANONYMOUS 5101: WHO SAID I AM A WOMAN?

“Don’t worry, it is not a crime… We would not physically be there, This is just journalism!” Gloria said affirmatively. She was walking on some very shaky legal grounds here, but if this report managed to discover something big, she wouldn't mind spending a year or two in prison!

…

Harper sighed. Despite this, the emperor’s group being some of the weirdest people she had seen, she was thankful she met them. This dungeon was not a place some naked semi-player could survive on her own!

After she was scammed into signing that stupid contract eight days had passed in the blink of an eye.

The emperor was a very strange and mysterious person.

Most of the time, after giving her and the others some tasks to do, he would sit by himself, writing in his diary while stopping to laugh every once in a while. Other times when they were walking through the forest, he would make sure to explain many random things to her and the others… Things they didn’t ask about like demons and souls.

Although she thought he was talking nonsense at first, from the way Juicy began to ask him some very specific questions, Harper realized that he was probably telling the truth.

This world had demons that stole people’s bodies!

Vic definitely belonged to some very noble family. Harper could tell from the way he held himself, talked, and ate his food. And she could easily tell that his arrogant bravado was fake, as he slipped sometimes… The only thing she didn’t know was why he was doing this. He didn’t need to.

Not only was he smart, reliable, and well-educated. He was very strong. Other than killing those monsters that were found around the fruit trees in one strike, he had some strange skills.

Yesterday, their group was attacked by some strange men. Unlike the ones who attacked her, they were dressed lightly and had tan skins.

After Vic talked to them in some strange language, they began screaming at him, so he just shook his head and started killing them.

They didn’t stand a chance and it was a one-sided massacre. Even Juicy, who was prepared to join the fight, didn't get a chance.

Harper could swear she saw one of the men stab Vic in the back, but to her surprise, the sword shattered on impact and that man was decapitated in the next moment!

It happened so fast that the others didn’t notice it, but due to her true vision skill, she could see it!

Those men had some moon fruits that the emperor didn’t eat but distributed to her and the others. They tasted like peaches.

Now, the most important thing was that other than making her wear the stupid maid uniform and perform some stupid maid duties, Vic didn't really molest her. On the contrary, he seemed to be pampering her with that maid called Juicy, explaining things to them whenever he had a chance. She could tell that he liked her somehow, but she couldn’t really stand his arrogant attitude and his stupid pronouns.

The first night he made her warm his bed. She was really nervous and couldn’t sleep, but to her surprise, he really just hugged her with Juicy to sleep and nothing happened…. On the contrary, his strong masculine smell made her have some stupid fantasies that she didn’t dare to address!

After two days, she got used to it. She was also really thankful that she got to sleep comfortably. Liam, who kept making trouble, was tied every night to the bottom of the tree they were sleeping at. According to Vic, he was using Liam’s services to repel the mosquitoes… The problem was there were no mosquitos in this dungeon!

Other than that, she noticed that Juicy would always hug Vic very tightly every night. At first, she thought that the girl loved her young master, but after talking with her a little, Juicy denied doing such improper things. In fact, Juicy turned out to be in the same situation as her. She was forced to sign a contract and she had never met Vic before.

So after some investigation, Harper knew the reason! Vic, every night, before going to sleep, would take a chocolate cookie and break it then scatter its pieces all over his head and torso before going to sleep! Juicy who had some strange sweets addiction would naturally get attracted to him, like an ant, drooling all over him in her sleep.

Vic definitely knew Juicy from before, Harper could tell from the way he looked at her with complex eyes. Juicy on the other hand seemed to be completely oblivious to this!

According to Harper’s observations, Juicy was definitely from some big family, not only was she super strong, she had some arrogance bred into her bones… Vic seemed to have noticed that too, and whenever Juicy acted arrogant he made sure to stop whatever he was doing to either scold her or spank her butt!

This routine seemed to be taking effect, as Juicy began to use a less arrogant tone when talking to others.

Vic definitely believed that his ‘education’ was working, but Harper thinks that it was Juicy herself who began to notice how ridiculous her arrogance was after hearing Vic brag about his imaginary imperial power all day long.

Liam on the other hand was apparently the only normal guy in this group. He was a semi-player like herself, He was also a greedy pervert young master. The kind she hates the most.

That bastard would flirt with her whenever he had a chance, and every time she had to do some shore, he would sneak a peek under her very short skirt… She was getting really frustrated, but thankfully Vic, two days ago, who seemed to have noticed that, took a pink whip from his storage space and began to whip Liam as a punishment, shouting something about touching his imperial things.

She was not an 'imperial thing'! But the result of the punishment was a success. Liam’s molestation stopped.

Now, about her progress.

She got 7 out of the required 9 fruits. They were granted by Vic. She was almost finished with this level… Maybe if she passed this trial she would be able to become a full player!

Her stupid father would not be able to force her to marry after that, and she might be able to go roam the world and search for her missing grandfather!

Harper humphed as she carefully walked into the forest. She had been sent by Vic to collect some dry wood for cooking dinner.

Suddenly she heard the sound of sinister laughter, looking behind, she saw two dark-skinned men walk from behind some bushes and eye her while licking their lips. Did they really have to do that? Hadn’t they seen a woman before? She wondered not realizing that only those with high bloodlines got to sleep with women in their tribe.

Harper quickly grabbed the crossbow which she was carrying on her back. She aimed it at them, but she didn’t have a chance to fire, as suddenly she felt something stuck at her hand like a whip and pushed her down to the ground, tied down like a dumpling.

One of the men seemed to have thrown a weighted rope at her, embolizing her before she could attack.

The two men looked at each other and then smirked saying something that she didn’t understand as they approached her… She could easily tell that one of the men was praising the other’s skills.

“HELP!” she screamed, but no voice came out of her mouth… she couldn’t move… The rope must have been laced with some paralysis poison.

It took the men seconds to stand above her and then lose their heads.

Vic slowly appeared out of thin air as the men’s headless bodies fell to the ground.

“You look really nice tied with a rope…” he said as he quickly untied her, then threw an antidote pill in her mouth. It took her a few seconds to be able to move again while he searched the men for valuables.

“Thanks…” she said, pouting a little, even with a weapon, she was useless. “Your Highness was following me?” she asked as they began to move back.

“Yes…” he nodded. “This emperor wanted to talk to you about something, and I figured that those two idiots would help this noble one explain something to you!” he said.

“What?” she asked as she stopped and turned to look at him. During the last few days, she seems to have figured out his personality. She knew he wanted to tell her something and didn’t want the others to hear it.

“We will finish collecting the fruits required to advance by tomorrow…” he said, taking out two fruits that were with the men.

“Probably…” she said.

“After that, we will be transported to the next level separately!” he said.

“Um… I know… I will be in danger…” she said.

“No you will not… “ he shook his head.

“Your Highness knows what’s next?” she asked.

“Yes, but that is irrelevant… You are probably hoping to get to be a full player, I presume,” he said.

“Yes…” she stopped hesitating and nodded looking straight back at him.

“You will be disappointed then!” he said.

“What?... Why?” she asked

“Everything you see here is a lie from this forest to the system messages… This place is not a dungeon at all. In fact, we are in a subspace in the real world now…” he said.

“What?” Harper frowned. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“It is a trap, meant to collect talented people from all over the world, then steal both their talents and their bodies!” he explained, not caring about her using the wrong pronoun.

“...” Harper frowned.

“Don’t look at this noble one like that… This emperor is telling you the truth. The moon fruits you had been eating were a lie… They are a kind of soul fruit, and their effect is making your soul a little malleable… Like dissolving powdered milk in water using it for cooking….”

“What?” Harper frowned and blinked… Weren't they eating those? “You mean…”

“Don’t worry… The fruits this emperor had been giving you were all fake. They are normal fruits that were disguised as the moon fruit to scam the ones behind this place!” he said, making a few moon fruits appear in his hands before transforming them to their original shapes, peaches, and apples. “A real dungeon system would never be fooled…” he added.

“Ahh….” Harper was shocked. She opened her mouth not knowing what to say as she watched him eat one of the apples.

“Why are you... Your Highness telling me this?” Harper asked after a few moments.

“Simple… Unlike Liam or Juicy, I have a plan for you after leaving this place….”

“So you already know how to safely leave?” she asked.

“Yes… Don’t worry about such minor details, you just need to relax and watch the show later….” he said chuckling. “This place’s scheme is already doomed to fail…”

“So, what do you want from me?”

“Well, let me tell you something first… After exiting this place, you are going to be captured and sent to Victor… Even if you are good at running away, the noble families are not that easy to fool!” he said.

“But…”

“The only reason you are still free is that Victor has too many things to take care of at the moment!” he said. “He has no time to take care of some random runaway bride! Damn, he didn’t even have time to enjoy his honeymoon!” he said.

“How do you know that?” she asked warily.

“The organization this emperor works for is already spying on most of the world’s powers… Of course, I knew many things about someone as important as Victor Von Weise… He is in the center of so many schemes that I am surprised he managed to live to this day!” he said.

“What organization?” Harper asked.

“This emperor can’t just tell you that…” he said, looking at her with his golden eyes. “But what you need to know is that in 20 years or so, this world would face a cataclysm… Many people will die. Our organization has one goal, and to control the world after!” he added.

“... And what is your role in this organization?”

“This emperor is meant to be the emperor they choose to rule this world!” he said simply.

“Oh…” she opened her eyes and looked at him, finally realizing the secret behind all that emperor bullshit. “You want me to join your organization in exchange for letting Victor leave me alone?” she asked.

“Yes... but not exactly… You are not strong enough” he said, stepping forward until he was close to her. “I want you to marry me and be my imperial concubine!” he said with a smug smile as he grabbed her hand and put a ring on her finger.

“WA A WHAAAT…” She quickly stepped back. “I refuse!” she yelled as she took the ring and threw it away immediately as if she were allergic to it.

“Wow… That was so direct…” he said, a little surprised.

“I might be your maid now, but we made a deal… I will not marry!” she said directly, blushing a little.

“Fine then… Then go fetch me that ring… It was an A-ranked storage ring. If you lost it you would have to pay for it…”

“Ah…. What? You pushed it into my finger!”

“Yes… Now go get it, if it was lost, you would have to work as this emperor’s slave until you pay its price!” he said, taking out the contract and pointing at one of its clauses.

“Ah…” she quickly ran to where the ring fell… It was no longer there…

Harper bent down and began to search for it. After scurrying around the bushes for an entire 15 minutes she found nothing.

“Maybe one of the rabbits took it…” the emperor said as he put his hand under his chin, apparently thinking.

“You took it didn’t you?” She asked as she stood up, turned around, and glared at him… She knew he was toying with her, but she had no way to refute him. She hated being this weak!

“How could this one be this heartless?” he asked as if he was hurt. “If you accept this emperor’s proposal… That would mean the ring was yours all along… You would not have to pay me for it…” he said, flashing her a bright smile.

“...” She just ignored him and decided to walk back to their campsite.

“Decide quickly…” he said. “If by the time we retired, you didn’t make up your mind, this emperor would start treating you as a slave… The clause about not Violating you would be invalid…” he said… She could tell he was being serious.

“I… I….. I will just be your fiancee for now…” she said in an angry tone while blushing a little as she walked past him, not daring to look back. She just has to find a way to repay him and escape this marriage….

The next moment she felt a pull at her hand, and she was dragged forcibly back into a warm embrace…. Then she felt something soft touch her lips… he was kissing her!

“Ah…” she wanted to resist, but she couldn’t escape his firm grasp. Remembering what she said earlier she decided to just let him do it. She would consider it as being bitten by a dog…

And it went on and on…

On and on…

Every time she thought it would end, it would go longer…

By the time he let go of her, she could only look blankly at him, wanting more. She was not really reluctant as she could hear her heart beating through her ears… She had never kissed before, but she could tell that this kiss was too fucking good! And his lips tasted amazing!

She could swear she felt her blood boil there for a second!

“Now you are officially my fiancee!” he said with a bright smile as he took her hand and put the ring on her finger again.

“AHH!! YOU BASTARD!” she said as she looked at him and then at the ring on her finger with shock.

“You already agreed… The contract clearly states that you can’t go back on your words with me!” he said as he turned around and began to walk back to the camp, totally ignoring her. “Make sure to not lose that ring…” he added, making her gasp then stomp her foot to the ground then quickly follow him.

“Will you trick Juicy too?” she asked after a few minutes of silence. “Is she the empress or something like that?” she added sarcastically.

“No… Juicy is not cute enough… And the empress is someone even this emperor has to fear, so make sure not to anger her when you enter the harem…” he said.

“Who will enter your fucking harem!” she scolded as she thought of a way to escape this fucking situation… Maybe she should try and escape to some other continent…

“We will see about that….” he said, shaking his head. “Scions… So fucking troublesome…” he added in a low voice that didn’t escape Harper’s sensitive ears… What did he mean?

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