Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Appointment

  Sulina's home wasn't hard to find, I strolled here at dusk and easily found the small house. Actually, if it was hard to find, I might not have gone, yesterday Trik teased me a bit, feeling that going to find her like this seemed a bit inappropriate, as a result I walked around here casually and found Sulina's mentioned residence.

  I hesitated for a moment, then reached out and knocked on the door. The one who came to answer it was surprisingly a rather lean man, he opened the door a crack, looked me up and down with suspicious eyes several times before asking: "Who are you looking for?"

  "Did I get the wrong door?" I asked tentatively, "Excuse me, is there a Miss Su Lina here?" The man asked stiffly, "What do you want with her?" It seemed I hadn't gotten the place wrong after all. With great patience, I explained, "Miss Su Lina invited me to come, would you please let her know that I'm Alek Solrens."

  Upon hearing my words, the man finally managed to squeeze out a smile on his face, opened the door a bit wider, and made a "please enter" gesture: "The young lady has instructed me that if you came, I should let you in directly. Please forgive my lack of courtesy."

  I squeezed into the narrow opening that the man had left for me, and as soon as I was inside, he immediately slammed the door shut with a "bang".

  I ignored him and walked along the gravel path in the yard towards the small building. The yard was not big, but it was well-maintained, with thick green grass covering the courtyard, and some flowers and plants that I couldn't name were planted here and there. Those purple little flowers dotted around reminded me of the small village at the foot of the mountain in my hometown.

  "You've finally arrived, I've already prepared dinner, come on in." Sulina was standing at the door with a smile.

  Today's Sulina is no longer the disheveled person from yesterday. Her chestnut-colored long hair was casually tied up in a ponytail behind her head, and her hair was very long and smooth, just like a waterfall that fell to her waist. The dirt on her face had already disappeared, and her brown eyes were full of laughter. Her small nose made the whole person look a bit mischievous and childish. Her thin lips seemed to be bright red because she had deliberately applied lipstick. A white long dress perfectly accentuated her proud figure, while the low-cut style made her chest appear particularly full and enticing. When I looked at her, she even deliberately straightened up, showed me her white teeth, and made a silly face.

  "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with me? Why are you looking at me with such a strange gaze?" Sulina looked at me, glanced around herself and asked.

  I smiled at her and said: "You're really a beautiful angel today, seems a bit different from the rumors."

  "Haha, I know, you think I'm a prostitute too, don't you?"

  I looked at her with interest and said: "So I'm curious, what is your identity, miss?"

  Surina stepped aside to let me through, saying: "Actually, I'm from an island nation overseas, it's a beautiful place, if you want to know, I'll tell you in detail later, for now, let's go inside and sit down first."

  The two of us walked into the room, one in front of the other. I raised my head and carefully examined the layout of the room. This living room was very spacious, with not much furniture, but there were many oil paintings hanging on the walls all around, mostly landscapes, but among the few oil paintings, one caught my interest, a woman who looked similar to Sulina wearing a small crown sat quietly in it.

  I asked: "This lady should be your mother, right? Are you a member of the royal family from that island nation overseas?"

  "Sulina pointed to the table full of wine and dishes and said to me: 'Mr. Alex is really observant and good at inference, you guessed it right, please sit down first, we have plenty of time to eat and talk.'"

  I sat down and looked at the table in front of me, which was filled with all sorts of tempting dishes. There were seafood such as scallops, tuna, lobster, and sea cucumber, as well as game meats that are rarely seen in coastal cities. Although these game meats were mostly smoked and dried, they were also delicately made and visually appealing. The table full of colorful dishes stimulated my appetite at first glance.

  The wine is a rare good wine, fragrant and enticing. From a young age, I followed my father to drink wine, when my father and Uncle Locke drank wine, I often secretly drank their wine, my father never blamed me. So from a young age, I have drunk quite a bit of wine, but such good wine is the first time I've had it. Clear and transparent, the aroma can be smelled from far away, taking a sip, the liquid flows from the tip of the tongue to the stomach with a burning sensation, but does not irritate the throat.

  Sulina sat across from me, constantly raising her glass to toast me. I held my own with a considerable amount of alcohol and just kept drinking cup after cup. Gradually, I felt like my head was getting a bit dizzy and my body had a floating sensation. No way, can't drink anymore. Looking at Sulina's face, which was completely red from drinking, I knew she was probably in the same state as me. I blocked her hand as she reached for the glass again and said: "Take a break, don't drink anymore, or we'll both end up drunk. Instead, tell me your story, I'm really curious now."

  Sulina put down her wine glass, looked at me and smiled: "I didn't expect you to be a very self-controlled person... Do you really want to know about my stuff?"

  I nodded, not saying a word, just looking at her with my eyes. It didn't matter whether I listened or not, the key was that if I kept drinking, I was afraid I would get drunk and fall over. If I did something rude after getting drunk, it wouldn't be good for anyone to see me like that. So I had to control the pace, my alcohol tolerance wasn't bad, but at this speed, anyone would get drunk.

  "Sulina suddenly sighed and said: 'Okay, I'll tell you about my story, but don't laugh at me after hearing it.'"

  "It's just as you imagined, my country is about a month's voyage from here by sea. It's a kingdom made up of many islands, where the seasons are always spring-like and it's an extremely beautiful place. My father is the king of that country. My parents loved each other deeply, so after they got married, my father didn't take any other wives. They only had me as their daughter, so they doted on me. You could say I spent my childhood in happiness..."

  "But last year, my father fell seriously ill and left me and my mother behind. From then on, my happy life came to an end. After my father's funeral, we found ourselves in unprecedented trouble..."