The Savior Says She's Having a Breakdown - Chapter 22
Chapter 22: Poaching is Also a Skill
Barbara didn’t get angry, probably having anticipated her answer. She still maintained a confident smile. “When you hear my terms, you’ll regret saying no so soon.”
Seeing the person in front of her with such mysterious confidence, Feng Qingyu was further convinced that she and Maggie were biological sisters.
“Maggie is ruthless and malicious. You won’t have a good outcome cooperating with her. Do you know what happened to people who cooperated with her before?”
Feng Qingyu shook her head.
“A prince from a certain planet once sought cooperation with Maggie to seize the throne, and Maggie agreed. The prince eventually won the throne, but that planet became a subsidiary of the Star Kingdom. Because Maggie set a trap in their cooperation terms. As long as you sign a contract with her, you are destined for a bad end.”
Barbara deliberately lowered her voice, trying to create a tense atmosphere. However, her appearance was too adorable, and she was wearing a light green dress today. Feng Qingyu not only felt no tension but also had the illusion of watching children playing house.
Seeing no reaction from her, Barbara continued, “Although I don’t know what terms Maggie offered you, I think, as her sister and also an heir to the Star Kingdom’s throne, I can certainly offer you more than she can. And I guarantee that by cooperating with me, you will have no worries. As long as you abandon her and choose me, I can give you anything you want, except the throne.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the door to the reception room opened. The newcomer had a gloomy expression, and his military boots made a muffled sound on the thick carpet.
Barbara was sitting with her back to the door. Hearing the sound, she turned to look, then frowned, displeased. “You are getting more and more ill-mannered, Maggie. I think you might need to go back to the palace and study with Vivian.”
Maggie didn’t speak. She just stood by Barbara, looking down at the two of them with a cold expression.
What is this scene that looks like being caught cheating? Feng Qingyu looked at Barbara, then at Maggie. Seeing the latter look at her with a hint of fear in her eyes, Feng Qingyu felt an indescribable emotion.
“Ahem, Barbara… Miss,” Looking at the woman in front of her, who had the appearance of a loli and a not-so-mature inner self, but was indeed older than herself, Feng Qingyu was afraid of accidentally blurting out “little one,” “I think you might have misunderstood. I am just a guest here and have no deal with Maggie.”
If Barbara had appeared during her first kidnapping, she might have considered accepting her terms. Unfortunately, the current Maggie was simply too honest, so honest that Feng Qingyu couldn’t find any reason to break the contract—of course, even for the sake of Mina and Hena, who were now half-friends, she wouldn’t agree to Barbara’s terms.
Hearing this, Maggie’s tense body noticeably relaxed. She walked over to Feng Qingyu’s side, sat on the sofa, crossed her arms, and glanced sideways at Barbara, looking ready to watch a show.
Barbara saw that Maggie was determined not to listen to her, and now Maggie had come in, ready to mock her. She clenched her fist secretly, but still maintained a smile. “Although I don’t know which planet Miss Feng Qingyu comes from, since you’ve come to the Star Kingdom, you are our guest. It wouldn’t be right for Maggie alone to host the Star Kingdom’s guest, would it? Why don’t you come and stay at my mansion for a few days? Maggie is so busy; she probably doesn’t have much time to spend with you, does she? I know she’s always very cold to people, even to me, her sister. Come to my mansion. I’ll take you sightseeing all over the Star Kingdom.”
“I appreciate your kind offer, but I haven’t fully adapted to your planet’s environment yet, so sightseeing should wait,” Feng Qingyu smiled faintly, polite yet distant. “When Maggie has time, I will visit your mansion with her as a guest.”
“Mmm, since you offered an invitation, I will make time to take her there.”
Barbara watched the two of them cooperate with each other, feeling a fire burning up her rationality. She sprang up, her right hand reaching for the scabbard at her waist.
Maggie saw her reach for the sword and slowly stood up as well, ready to draw her own.
However, Barbara’s hand on the sword hilt was put down again.
Seeing this, Maggie called out toward the door, “Nancy, see Her Highness Barbara out.”
Watching Barbara leave, once again thwarted, Feng Qingyu turned her focus inward. “What? Still didn’t trust what I said, so you came to monitor me?”
Maggie frowned at this. “Hena said she had a new conjecture.”
Feng Qingyu was momentarily stunned, then realized Maggie was explaining the reason for her visit. “I’ll take it that you weren’t here to monitor me. Where is Hena now?”
“The conference hall.”
While Feng Qingyu was meeting Barbara in the reception room, Hena rushed to find Maggie with a large amount of data.
“What is it?” Maggie asked, loading the projection of the information Hena had sent.
“Before you went to the lab, our experiment made a slight breakthrough but then stalled. Miss Feng Qingyu went to see Her Highness Barbara, so I searched for information on Earth and found a new, unique emotion that might help with our experiment.”
Maggie felt the communicator was agonizingly slow at loading the information for the first time. “What is it?”
“Love!” Hena saw the progress bar only reached 80% and just said it.
“Love?” Maggie was no stranger to the word, but the emotion itself was quite unfamiliar.
Hena nodded. “Yes, ‘love,’ a magical emotion possessed by Earthlings that we don’t understand. Furthermore, although all named ‘love,’ it seems to be divided into many different forms. Like Miss Feng Qingyu’s ‘love’ for her parents, which Earthlings call ‘familial affection.'”
“So, it’s ‘love’?”
“I think so. Perhaps we can confirm it with her.”
Perhaps having been disappointed too many times, upon seeing a glimmer of hope, Maggie couldn’t hold back and headed straight for the reception room.
Following Maggie to the conference hall, Feng Qingyu felt a sense of intimacy upon seeing the content projected by Hena. “Did you find this to help me pass the time? This is great!”
Hena was bewildered by her words. “This is the relevant information I found to help with the experiment.”
“Huh? Maggie said you had a new conjecture. Is it related to novels?” Feng Qingyu was equally confused. She was briefly touched when she saw the novels, thinking Hena had intentionally found them for her.
“Novels?”
“They’re a type of work on Earth, mostly for entertainment… Oh, I’ll explain that to you later. Tell me what new idea you have first.”
Hena repeated what she had told Maggie, but saw Feng Qingyu’s face was slightly flushed. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s… a bit hot in the conference hall today.” Feng Qingyu tugged at her collar, pretending to fan herself with her hand, and decisively changed the topic. “So, you think the emotion that can finally break the confinement is ‘love’?”
Although she didn’t know why Feng Qingyu was suddenly embarrassed, Hena was tactful enough to follow her lead. “Yes. However, what we still haven’t figured out is whether there was no breakthrough today because your love for your parents isn’t deep enough, or whether ‘familial affection’ is not the specific ‘love’ we need?”
She had actually overlooked the emotion that humans took the most pride in, and she had even thought of her parents’ love for her, only to have an alien point it out. “But besides ‘familial affection,’ the remaining types are ‘romantic love,’ ‘friendship love,’ and ‘universal love.'”
“The options aren’t too many. Perhaps we can try them one by one.”
“Impossible.”
This was the last thing Maggie wanted to hear, especially after the conversation had been going well. She immediately frowned. “Why?”
“I might be able to test ‘friendship,’ but I am incapable of doing the latter two: ‘romantic love’ and ‘universal love.'” Feng Qingyu shrugged.
“What’s the difference between the three?”
Feng Qingyu had a stomach full of questions but prioritized the explanation. “I’ve experienced friendship, so I can understand what it feels like. But I have absolutely no experience with the latter two. Even if I test them, I can’t conjure up the emotion!”
Yuna, who had been listening silently, said without thinking, “Then why not find a way to make you experience them?”
Hena strongly agreed. “For romantic love, let me see—it’s an emotion between people. That’s simple. Just tell us who you want when the time comes. Universal love, love without boundaries, having love for everything. For this, how about considering Planet Alpha as the object?”
Feng Qingyu finally couldn’t hold back her question after that sentence. “Do you Alpha Star people—not know what ‘love’ is at all?”
Maggie and the three “Na”s nodded in unison.
Sure enough, Feng Qingyu sighed. “Love is not something you can just have on command! Love between people, whether familial, friendly, or romantic, requires a process of accumulation, and this emotion is mutual, especially romantic love; it also needs a specific object. As for ‘universal love,’ that’s the realm of a saint. I admit I’m a petty person. I can’t even love everything on Earth, let alone an alien planet like Alpha Star.”
Mina was worried. “Then what should we do? What if it’s one of these two?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Since they exist, we must have a way.” Hena, seeing everyone’s low morale, encouraged them. “Since Earthlings can possess these emotions, why can’t we? Miss Feng Qingyu also said that this emotion is mutual, so let’s cultivate it! We still have time; everything is still possible.”
“Stop!” Feng Qingyu interrupted her fantasy. “I also said that ‘romantic love’ requires a specific object! I think you need to look at the Earth novels you found and carefully understand what ‘romantic love’ truly is. I’m tired. I’m going back now.”
Feng Qingyu stopped at the door and said to Hena, “By the way, were those novels you projected earlier official copies? If so, remember to send me a copy. I want to pass the time.”