Chapter 78: Manuela

Suddenly, the little maid remembered the man Roberta and the young master often mentioned after they returned.

"Yes, it's him. He once saved the young master. He's our great benefactor." Roberta turned to the little maid and said, "Fabiola, you must treat him well, understand?"

"Oh!" The little maid named Fabiola nodded blankly. Although she was a smart girl, she was still young. When it came to Roberta, the head maid, she simply obeyed.

"It's nothing, really. I just helped a little," Aiden said modestly. Then he glanced at the basket in Fabiola's hands and asked, "Are you out shopping for food? But..."

Aiden looked at the sky. It was already close to noon. "Shouldn't you usually do that in the morning?"

"Our car ran into some trouble on the road, so it got delayed until now."

"But, it is precisely because of this that we could meet you here. Thank God."

As Roberta said this, she crossed her hands in front of her chest and said sincerely. She believed it was God's will.

Then, Roberta continued speaking, "Aiden, you haven't found a place to stay yet, right?"

"No, we just arrived not long ago." Aiden pointed at the backpacks he and Leon were carrying.

"Then I'd like to invite you… hmm… and your friend, to the young master's estate. What do you think?" Roberta said, but in truth, she only wanted to invite Aiden, if he agreed, the spiky-haired guy next to him didn't matter at all.

"Alright."

Aiden naturally had no objections, but Leon was still beside him. He nudged Leon with his elbow and asked, "What about you?"

Leon scratched his head awkwardly, but thinking that Krauser would only arrive after a day or two, he did some mental math and nodded in agreement.

"In that case, let's go. I'll take you to where we parked. I think it should have rested enough by now." Roberta immediately smiled and was about to lead Aiden and the others to the parking spot when the little maid Fabiola poked her in the waist with a finger.

"Miss Roberta, I think you forgot something." The little maid held up an empty basket, "We haven't bought anything yet!"

These words made Roberta lower her head in embarrassment. She was too excited after seeing Aiden.

"Then let's go together. We can enjoy the town's scenery too." Aiden patted Roberta on the shoulder and said.

"Mm!" Roberta nodded vigorously, took the basket the little maid handed over, and walked toward the town's market.

Following behind the two maids, Leon's expression was extremely complicated. He could tell that the maid in the gothic uniform, named Roberta, was quite interested in Aiden.

"You bastard, aren't you afraid Jill or Ada will shoot you someday?" Leon whispered. "That maid called Roberta clearly likes you. Right now you're playing with three boats."

"That's not even all," Aiden thought to himself, but out loud, he said softly, "Don't worry, it won't happen. Especially Ada, she knows Roberta too."

"What?" Leon's eyes widened, and then he stared hard at Aiden. After a while, he said, "Can you teach me how to handle this? I want to learn."

"Sorry, I don't know either." Aiden himself didn't understand it, so how could he teach him?

"Maybe it's personal charm." After thinking about it, Aiden added.

Leon's gaze immediately became a bit blank, then he coldly said, "Aiden, you're seriously shameless."

———

As it was nearing noon, the two maids stopped halfway through shopping and took Aiden and Leon to a relatively upscale restaurant in town for lunch.

Although it was still boiled beans, fried plantains, and grilled pork chops, the taste was quite good, at least good enough that picky Aiden nodded in satisfaction.

After lunch, they accompanied the two maids for another round at the market and then followed them to where they had parked.

"Roberta, is this the vehicle you mentioned?"

Looking at the four-wheeled carriage pulled by a horse, Aiden was extremely surprised.

"Although the Lovelace family has declined, we can't lack proper appearances. So every time we come into town, we usually take this." Roberta stroked the horse's face and said.

Then she opened the door and made a gesture inviting Aiden in, "Aiden, please get in."

Aiden looked at the horse and asked with some concern, "Can it pull all four of us?"

"Don't worry, it's the best." Roberta said seriously.

"Alright then." Aiden shrugged and got in with Leon.

Next, Roberta and the little maid Fabiola sat at the front and gently shook the reins, and the carriage began moving toward the outskirts of town.

On a winding jungle path, the carriage slowly headed toward the Lovelace family estate.

"Miss Roberta, what kind of person is he?"

On the driver's seat, the little maid asked the head maid beside her. The man constantly mentioned by the young master and Roberta made her very curious.

"Him?" Roberta glanced back at Aiden chatting with Leon inside the carriage, thought for a moment, but couldn't describe it well, so she said, "He's someone with a lot of good qualities."

"There are very few men as excellent as him," she added.

"But he looks kind of ordinary." The little maid Fabiola said, "Though he's good-looking, he seems really lazy."

"That's just his personality, Fabiola. Don't judge a person by appearances. If you spend more time with him, you'll notice some of his strengths."

"Oh." Fabiola replied, then stopped speaking, resting her chin on both hands, deep in thought.

As the carriage went deeper into the jungle, no other people were in sight along the path. Roberta tugged the reins, preparing to have the horse speed up.

But just then, a white figure suddenly dashed out from the jungle by the roadside. Perhaps because she didn't stand firm, or maybe she tripped on something, she fell right in the middle of the path.

Roberta quickly pulled the reins, stopping the carriage in time to avoid trampling and running over her at once.

"Roberta, what's going on?" The sudden stop caused Aiden and Leon inside the carriage to lurch forward. Aiden simply opened the door and asked.

"There's someone lying up ahead," Roberta and Fabiola jumped off the carriage and walked toward the person as they explained.

"We didn't hit her, did we?" Hearing this, Aiden and Leon looked at each other and jumped out too.

"No, she suddenly fell in the middle of the road." Roberta said, flipping the person over, and discovered it was a beautiful girl.

The girl had shoulder-length golden hair and wore a white dress, though the hem was stained and torn in several places, likely from running through the jungle.

Whether it was because she was too tired or for some other reason, the girl's consciousness was blurry. As Roberta turned her over, she mumbled, "I don't want to go back… I don't want more people to get hurt…"

When Aiden walked over and heard this, he froze for a moment, then took a closer look at the golden-haired girl. A name came to his mind.

'Manuela Hidalgo. What a surprise,' Aiden thought.

But thinking again, he realized it wasn't surprising, because in the story, after learning the truth, Manuela chose to flee from her father, which later led to the village that sheltered her being slaughtered by bio-weapons sent by Javier.

"Not bad. It's like she did a good deed." Aiden shook his head with a smile, then took out a bottle of mineral water, opened it, and carefully fed Manuela.

Manuela had been wandering in the jungle for two whole days and nights, barely eating or drinking. When the water touched her lips, she instinctively raised her hand and grabbed the bottle, chugging it down.

After a few gulps, her consciousness gradually returned. She opened her eyes with effort and saw several people around her.

"Thank you."

Though her father was a ruthless mafia boss, Manuela herself was a kind and well-mannered girl. Realizing these people had helped her, she immediately thanked them.

Then, feeling a bit embarrassed, she handed back the half-empty bottle to Aiden, who was still holding the cap.

"Thank you for the water."

"You're welcome." Aiden didn't take back the bottle, but instead passed her the cap. "The whole bottle is yours. You can keep drinking."

"I'm not thirsty anymore," the girl said softly, lowering her head. Then she tried to stand up, but nearly lost her balance. Roberta quickly helped steady her.

"Looks like she's hungry," Leon said from the side.

So Aiden took out a packet of biscuits and handed it over.

The girl was even more embarrassed, but her hunger made her accept the food. Just as she opened the wrapper, Aiden and the others suddenly became alert.

There were sounds from the jungle.

"Someone's coming, more than twenty people," said Roberta. Ever since she took down the Tyrant barehanded, her senses had become sharper, sharp enough to judge numbers from the sounds in the jungle.

"They're probably after her," Leon guessed accurately from his police instincts. "This isn't good, we'd better be careful."

"Hmph, I don't care how many there are. I'll wipe them all out." The little maid scoffed.

Hearing their conversation, Manuela's face instantly turned pale. She knew, it was her father's men.

"Don't worry. Just keep eating," Aiden comforted the panicked Manuela.

"But…" Before she could finish, more than twenty South American men carrying various guns burst out of the jungle.

"Nobody move! Hands up!" one of them shouted, spotting Manuela behind Aiden.

But Aiden and the others just stared at them without moving. The leader lost face and angrily raised his gun at them.

"No!" Seeing this, Manuela stepped forward and stood in front of Aiden.

"Miss, please step aside. I need to teach this blind idiot a lesson," the leader shouted.

Then he added, "Of course, if you're willing to come back with us, I'll let them go."

"I don't…" Manuela only spoke halfway and then fell silent, because she suddenly realized that whether she went back or not, others would get hurt.

Seeing her expression, the leader was smug. He knew his lady was a kind person.

But just then, Aiden made a move. He grabbed Manuela's arm and pulled her behind him.

"Don't worry. They're nothing to worry about."

"Don't say it's just twenty-something people, even if you multiply that by ten, it still wouldn't pose any threat to us."

"Arrogant bastard." That leader was furious. With a wave of his hand, the underlings behind him simultaneously raised their guns, aiming at Aiden and the others.

However, they didn't open fire, because their boss's daughter was still inside.

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