Chapter 216 - Anna 

They reached the roof, which had a glass dome acting as a greenhouse for many plants. At the centre, there was a swing there for anyone to rest. Aile quickly sat on the swing and beckoned Anna close, and made her set on his lap as they were swaying. She held on to him, and he held her soft body. Since Aile did not have anything to do, he just enjoyed his time with her and asked about her as they watch many flowers, and from time to time, a different fragrance wafted.

She was the daughter of a noble family who was, in a sense, being auctioned off. Their middle-tier family was using her beauty as a way to form the best connection for them. She was not forced to oblige. But she had an opportunity to get out of it. Either she had to find someone herself, at least on the same level of influence, as the top three people that the family chose for her, or she had to gain enough power herself to have a say in the family.

She got her influence with her wealth that she earned with Sara and Sophie and broke the potential engagement that their family almost decided on to an old man.

After gaining her wealth, the family did not stop bothering her, whether it was money, finding a partner or using her to get benefit from Star Merchant Union. Consequently, she had enough and decided to leave and joined Sara and Sophie publically and became their maid. With that, no one could force her to do anything apart from Sophie and Sara. At this point, Aile lightly tapped her on the forehead, "That was not a smart move!" After all, she did not know Sara and Sophie well. She might have escaped the frying pan but jump into the fire. It was reckless.

Anna shyly nodded and said, "Maybe, but I do not regret it, in fact, it resulted in the best moment of my life."

Aile tapped her again on the forehead.

"Fine, I won't do anything like that again. After all, now my responsibility and hard decisions fall on to you or Sara and Sophie. After all, working as a subordinate can be liberating in a way. So you don't have to worry." She said with a smirk.

Aile kissed on her red cheeks and lightly smacked her bottom, "I expect more from you, I hope you follow your path and cultivate properly, so I can see more of you for a longer time." She got a bit sad as she was not really good at cultivating before.

Anna was a bit more hopeful after Aile told her she was cultivating the wrong element. But it will take a while for her to accept that she is not bad at it.

Then after this, she changed the topic and asked Aile to give her some information about him. Aile told her that he was found and live in Hazel's house. Later, with help from Fiona, Emily and Hazel and Diana, and the support of Sophie, Sara and more people, he built everything he has today. Aile continued, "I am lucky to have added another capable person to the group today." He then squeezed her a little to make it clear who he was talking about.

Anna felt happy being called in the same sentence as the people he cared most about and rested into his embrace. Their relationship was indeed not very solid, and it happened due to coincidences, but Aile did not care about that. He had clearly like the physical aspect of their relationship, if he wanted, he could have stopped it there.

However, Aile did not want that. If that was the case, then he would have taken One and Four's 'gift' to him a while back, as they wanted to introduce him to underground girls.

He spent the next portion of the time on the swing rocking while Anna was on his lap. The start was just casual conversation, then it followed into some teasing by Aile. Eventually, the conversation led deeper and about their future. Aile understood that she was indeed intriguing.

Her goal was to have a maximum understanding of wealth and cultivation. Aile then asked her if her goal was cultivation why did she not pay attention to that. After all, Anna was cultivating the wrong element.

Aile then found out that she never checked her element after it was determined since she was young.

Anna had spent a lot of time to advance, but she did not receive much progress. Therefore, Anna had leaned more towards financial strength. That way, she can improve her cultivation through pills and other things not remaining behind in either path. Yet Her cultivation stagnated no matter how much wealth she put in it.

Aile sighed, it seemed that she was indeed the big picture thinking kind of person. She was not too focused on the detail of things. While she had grand ambition, a small block at the foundation was holding her back. What surprised Aile was that it was hard to make a mistake in determining someone's element.

So was she deliberately held back. Aile did not want to be part of such a family drama now, but he told her to be aware of such a possibility. She nodded and hugged him closer, "Thank you," she was emotional, knowing that she was not talentless and someone who would not live as long as others.

That had been one of her concerns. Even reaching the 4th stage would enough as the majority of people in her circle reach that stage.

Any stage below that would result in premature death. She was stuck at the beginning of the second stage, not budging, and now she had hope. After spending some more time, Anna decided to show Aile around the mansion, to areas that she found intriguing. Aile agreed, and the two of them started to roam around.

The first place she showed him was going towards the back of the mansion, and in an area that the vegetation was more concentrated, there was a spring. The spring trickled down from the side of the mountain, forming a small lake. This was apparently the secret location that only a few people knew of. It was mainly Sara, Fiona, Xue, Emily, her and a few others. They would use this place to rest after a long day. The only downside was that the water was freezing, and the temperature was not ideal for a nice soak.