Chapter 736: Chapter 736: Mutation
"No, it’s not like that. I can clearly distinguish between what is affection and what isn’t. I know my feelings for you are of affection," Ely replied, shaking her head.
"Since you claim to understand yourself so well, then tell me, what is it that you like about me? What about me attracts you? Do you think those qualities really exist? You don’t really know me. Have you ever considered that what you’ve seen might just be an illusion? So, are you still certain that you like me?" Xu Ke fired off questions one after the other, leaving Ely speechless, looking at Xu Ke with a mix of helplessness and grievance.
"Why do you say that? Why won’t you just believe that my feelings for you are genuine? Who dictates that liking someone requires knowing everything about them? And who can guarantee they completely understand another person? People aren’t static objects; they change constantly, so isn’t it impossible for one to fully comprehend another?" Ely said sadly, looking at Xu Ke.
"Why complicate something as simple as love? As long as there’s mutual affection, it’s enough. We might not understand each other now, but we can learn with time," Ely suggested her perspective.
This time, it was Xu Ke who was rendered speechless and didn’t know how to refute her point of view, so he had no choice but to remain silent.
"It’s okay if you don’t believe in my affection for you, but I still hope you could give me a chance to make you fall for me," Ely said, gazing directly into Xu Ke’s eyes, leaving Xu Ke with nothing to say in refusal.
"Please don’t reject me, okay?" Ely’s watery eyes looked directly at Xu Ke, making him swallow all his refusals and unable to utter them.
Xu Ke opened and closed his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing. Yet his reaction already pleased Ely greatly. Even though Xu Ke didn’t agree, he didn’t oppose either, which meant she still had a chance, didn’t it?
Ely smiled, her smile bright and resplendent, complementing her appearance like a blooming peony, dazzling to the eyes.
It was only after Ely left Xu Ke’s room that the sigh stuck in Xu Ke’s throat finally escaped.
Faced with this situation, Xu Ke truly didn’t know what to say. He felt that his earlier rejection was already quite hurtful. After all, the person liking him, he couldn’t bear to say anything more hurtful. He couldn’t meet someone else’s kindness with his own malice.
"Seems like I can only handle this with cold detachment for now," Xu Ke murmured softly.
The next morning, as soon as daylight broke, Xu Ke went to the Calvin Family, teaching his four students in the morning and Claude in the afternoon.
It wasn’t until Xu Ke was about to teach Claude that he found out Claude not only had different class timings but also a different location compared to other students.
Claude had his own manor, so the classes were held at Claude’s Manor.
Although Claude’s Manor wasn’t as large as the Calvin Family’s, it certainly wasn’t small. Moreover, the stable at Claude’s Manor was even bigger than the Calvin Family’s, indicating Claude’s love for horse riding.
"Please get on the horse and ride a lap first, so I can observe your riding skills and what you’ve learned," Xu Ke said as he familiarized himself with the stable at Claude’s Manor before starting the business-like teaching session.
Luckily, Claude had no questions about Xu Ke’s teaching attitude. He followed Xu Ke’s words, choosing a horse he often rode and started running in the stable, while Xu Ke observed from the side.
After Claude completed a lap and returned to Xu Ke, taking some water, Xu Ke finally spoke.
"From what I observed earlier, your horsemanship is really good, with solid basics. I might not have much more to teach you in that area, but if you’re interested in learning more, I can only teach you some fancy tricks on horseback," Xu Ke said.
"That’s exactly what I want to learn. I heard from the servants present that day that your horsemanship, especially the tricks on horseback, is really impressive, seemingly complex and difficult. I want to see and learn them," Claude replied, lightly flicking his leg with a riding crop intermittently.
"Sure," Xu Ke recognized this as Claude’s test to see if he was qualified to be his teacher.
If he passed, all would be well; if not, he might as well leave the way he came.
Fortunately, Xu Ke’s skills on horseback were solid and did not fail at such a critical time, allowing him to stay and continue teaching Claude.
Rather than teaching Claude, it felt more like assisting him. Teaching Claude could be said to be the happiest time of Xu Ke’s day.
With Claude’s strong foundation, Xu Ke didn’t have to instruct him on how to use the whip to make it crack sharply while also controlling the horse to advance or retreat at his will.
There was no denying Claude’s talent for horse riding was exceptional. Under Xu Ke’s demonstration a few times and explanation of key movements, Claude could perform almost all the actions Xu Ke had done, though the execution was still somewhat raw and immature, yet enough to make one exclaim at his remarkable talent.
By the third day of teaching Claude, Xu Ke even felt like he had nothing left to teach.
"I think I understand now why your previous teacher couldn’t continue teaching you. It’s probably because he had nothing more to offer," Xu Ke laughed as he spoke, accepting a towel from the servant.
Unexpectedly, Claude slightly frowned at Xu Ke’s words, scrutinizing him with a doubtful gaze before asking, "Do you want to leave?"
"What I have to teach, you’ve pretty much mastered in these three days. Just keep practicing, and it’ll be fine. Staying on and taking the pay feels a bit wrong," Xu Ke explained.
"No worries, just take what I’m giving you. Don’t forget to come by at the same time tomorrow," Claude replied, wiping his sweat with a towel taken from the servant.
Just as Claude was about to leave, a sudden change occurred. A silver flash shot from the servant’s hand, aiming straight for Claude’s neck.
"Watch out!" Xu Ke realized something was wrong with the servant immediately, shouting a warning for Claude to dodge and rushing towards the servant.
Reacting faster than he could think, Claude’s body instinctively followed Xu Ke’s warning due to the conditioning from the past three days of training.