Chapter 211: Chapter 210 The Real Smack
“No way! Really, no way!”
In the Bath Room, the man was speaking while backing away and accidentally bumped into the bath tub, letting out a “thud” as he fell into it.
Richard watched the other man struggle, his eyes flickering, and he quickly guessed the real situation.
So, this was the “little gift” Macbeth had mentioned? But wasn’t this little gift meant for Nancy? His own gift should be in either Nancy’s or Raymond’s room.
Macbeth really put some thought into this, satisfying his wicked sense of humor. But had the other forgotten to tell him about the arrangement of their rooms? And he had personally said they should rest well. Was this really the pace to let them rest well?
Richard couldn’t help wanting to facepalm, while the man who had fallen into the bath tub for the second time was already struggling to climb out again.
The man still had a “scared” expression, swallowing hard as he looked at Richard, one hand protecting his chest, the other rubbing his belly—the spot Richard had hit just now, which was still hurting. This made the man acutely aware of Richard’s strength.
“Uh…” Considering Richard’s strength, the man realized it was pointless to resist and could only speak softly, “Um, brother… no, young master… no, Grandpa! Grandpa, I… I was wrong, I really was wrong, please let me go. This isn’t what someone told me before, they said it was a woman, and that’s why I came.
You know… um, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you’re bad, it’s just that my tastes aren’t that heavy, and I have principles when I do things. So, could you please let me go? I would be eternally grateful, truly grateful! Oh right, um… the money, I’ll give back all the money you gave me, okay?”
Richard didn’t say a word, just looked at the man calmly. It wasn’t that he disagreed, but he was curious where a man completely naked, with only a loin cloth, could possibly get money from?
To his surprise, the man actually produced some money, reaching under the loin cloth and pulling out three silver coins, offering them with a face full of sincerity and fear.
Speaking of which, where the heck did he pull those from? It couldn’t possibly be…
Because of a series of doubts about where the man had taken the money from, Richard really didn’t want to reach out.
The man seemed to understand, bent slightly, and carefully placed the three silver coins on the ground, muttering, “I do have a pocket under my loin cloth…”
“Um… now that I’ve given the money back to you, Grandpa, can I go now?” After placing the money down, the man looked at Richard with a pitiful, pleading face.
“Ah! Don’t!” The man let out a scream, “Big brother… no, Grandpa! Grandpa, I really was wrong, I really was! I really don’t like men, I only like women.
Actually, I was forced into this situation. I have a disabled sister who needs a large dowry to be married off, so that’s why I’m doing this. But… but I really can’t with men… I beg you, please!”
The man was in tears, sobbing heavily.
Richard suddenly realized the man might have misunderstood something, or maybe he had forgotten a detail—according to what Macbeth had said earlier in the port city, on this “Lisben” island, nodding meant ‘no’ and shaking your head meant ‘yes’. So when he had nodded earlier, in the man’s eyes, he had refused the man’s request.
Indeed, habits deeply ingrained were not easy to change. Moreover, certain taboo loves seemed to have an excessively destructive power over some people.
Thinking this, Richard spoke up, “Um, I got it wrong earlier. Actually, you can go, yeah, you can go, hurry on.”
“Ah?!” The man, who was still crying out, was taken aback, seemingly surprised and relieved, “I… I can really go?”
“Hmm, you can go.” This time, Richard shook his head, “And take your silver coin with you, I’m not short on money, keep it as a dowry for your sister. Actually, I have no interest in you. If you hadn’t jumped out like that, I wouldn’t have hit you.”
Richard was telling the truth; he indeed had no interest in men, and in fact, if it had been a woman, he would have asked her to leave as well. On one hand, he didn’t want to indulge in a moment of pleasure and delay his research. On the other hand, he was quite aware that in a medieval-like world, certain venereal diseases were rather common and there were no proper cures yet. Those diseases could even claim an Emperor’s life. A moment of pleasure for a lifetime in the grave… not worth it.
The man had no idea of Richard’s true thoughts, but upon receiving Richard’s permission, he scurried to quickly pick up the silver coins from the ground, shoved them back under his loin cloth, and dashed towards the door—just like a rabbit.
Richard followed him out the door and watched him leave. Just as he was about to close the door and return to his room, he saw the door of Nancy’s room next door “squeak” open.
Nancy came out with a tight face and a flush of red, whether from anger or embarrassment was unclear.
Following beside Nancy was a beautiful woman draped in a light veil, alluring with glances cast here and there, looking somewhat aggrieved with one hand covering her face.
Nancy led the beautiful woman out, pointed toward the distant staircase as if about to say something, but suddenly saw Richard.
Their eyes met, and the entire hallway fell silent.
The next moment, Nancy raised her eyebrows slightly and gave the beautiful woman a gentle push towards Richard’s direction, saying, “This was Macbeth’s gift for you. It ended up in my room but now I’m returning it to you.”
Richard spoke out, “Never mind, let her leave.”
“What, you’re just letting her go like that? Aren’t you going to feel regretful?”
“I think the one who should feel regretful is you,” Richard said, “Your ‘gift’ ended up in my room. I just sent him away, and he’s already downstairs. So, you didn’t even get the chance to see him. Tsk, if you ask me, he was quite good, might suit your taste. Why not chase after him and take a look?”
Nancy rolled her eyes and spit out a retort, “Forget about it, if you think he’s so good, you should enjoy him yourself. By the way, you!” Nancy then looked at the beautiful woman beside her, raising her voice, “Disappear from my sight as quickly as possible, or don’t blame me for being rude. How dare you grab my…”
As she was speaking, Nancy remembered Richard was right there. Her lips parted as if to continue, but she swallowed the words back, unsaid.
The beautiful woman looked aggrieved, “It’s not my fault, it was just a misunderstanding. Besides, we’re both women, a little grab…”
“Are you leaving or not!” Nancy’s eyebrows shot up, interrupting the beautiful woman’s words, “If you don’t leave now, I’ll really lose my temper.”
“Alright, alright, I’m going, I’m going.” The beautiful woman hurried toward the staircase. As she passed by Richard, she threw him a look, to which Richard had no reaction. The beautiful woman gave up and quickly left.
As the beautiful woman disappeared at the top of the staircase, the hallway was left with only Richard and Nancy once again growing quiet, the atmosphere turning slightly awkward.
Fortunately, Richard broke the silence in a timely manner, waving his hand and saying, “Well then… good night?”
“Uh, good…” Nancy was about to say the same to bid farewell, but suddenly at that moment, some abnormal noises came from Raymond’s room on the other side.
Moans, thuds, and finally, what seemed like the uncontrollable howling of a drunken baboon.