"Miss Iliana has started playing the piano again," said a male servant who shared a room with him, looking in the direction of the music.
Little Star pretended to know nothing and asked, "Who is Miss Iliana?"
"The daughter of the owner of this castle," the servant replied. "She's only in her teens, very beautiful, but has a bad temper and is quite rebellious. She doesn't listen to her father much."
Little Star said indifferently, "Young ladies from wealthy families are all like that, it's not unusual."
The servant, as if privy to all the gossip, said, "Miss Iliana is different. She's the master's illegitimate daughter from outside. She was only brought back at the age of nine. Before Miss Iliana returned, the master and his wife had no children. And not long after Miss Iliana came back, the wife got pregnant and gave birth to a boy. This means Miss Iliana has lost her inheritance, and her status in the castle has plummeted."
"Oh, so there's a young master in the castle? Why haven't I seen him?" Little Star asked, feigning curiosity.
The servant said, "You've only been here a few days. Let alone the young master, with your status, you wouldn't even get to see the master of this place."
Little Star said indifferently, "Why would I need to see the master here? I just want to earn my wages from working. Nothing else concerns me."
"You're quite insightful for your age," the servant said, giving him a second glance. "The madam has taken the young master back to her parents' home and will return after some time. It's good that you won't see Miss Iliana. She has a strange and overbearing temper. The maids who serve her always complain in private."
Little Star asked curiously, "How is this young lady strange and overbearing?"
The servant lowered his voice and said, "I heard from the maids who served Miss Iliana that she often shouts loudly. When she's angry, she'll grab anything and throw it at people. The maids around her have all been injured by her."
Little Star put on an expression of disbelief, as if it were too terrible to comprehend.
Seeing his disbelief, the servant continued, "When the madam was pregnant, she was almost hit in the stomach by her. After the young master was born, he was also hit by her. The master and madam argued about this many times. The madam wanted to send Miss Iliana away, but the master disagreed. It was because of this that the madam took the young master back to her parents' home."
"Miss Iliana is so violent, she could have hurt the young master. Why did the master disagree to send her away?" Little Star asked again.
The servant smiled mysteriously and said, "This is something I secretly overheard from the butler. Once, the master took Miss Iliana to a high-society ball, and Miss Iliana caught the eye of the renowned Duke Augu. The Duke Augu's butler specially came to talk to the master and arranged that when Miss Iliana turns eighteen, she must marry Duke Augu."
Little Star clenched his fists secretly. So this was the value of Xiao Xiao in her biological father's eyes.
The servant sighed, "It's a pity that the young and beautiful Miss Iliana has to marry an old man as soon as she comes of age. Duke Augu is almost fifty years old now. Alas, the age difference is too great."
"Marriages between nobles are always like this. It doesn't matter how old that Duke Augu is, as long as his status is high," Little Star said, as if all this had nothing to do with him and not taking it seriously.
The servant smiled and said, "Yes, yes, we're just chatting out of boredom. Matters of the nobles are too far removed from us."
Little Star smiled and thought about continuing his walk around the lawn, but his mind was made up. He had to rescue Xiao Xiao and not let her marry a lecherous old man in a few years!
Seeing that the young man was full of energy and still wanted to exercise late at night, the servant let him be and went back to the servant's quarters to sleep.
After Little Star walked around the lawn for another lap, the piano music stopped. It should be the quietest time in the castle now.
Everyone was asleep, and the security guards wouldn't patrol for another two to three hours in the middle of the night.
Little Star returned to the servant's quarters, pretended to fall asleep, placed a pillow under the covers, and quietly slipped out.
He quickly ran across the lawn, avoiding cameras as much as possible, passed through the garden, and arrived at the main building. Under the streetlights, he observed the windows of each room in the main building, trying to determine which window would be Xiao Xiao's room.
Since he could hear Xiao Xiao's piano music earlier, she wasn't locked in the attic. She must be in her own room.
After careful observation and analysis, Little Star felt that a window with a faint light was likely Xiao Xiao's room.
Xiao Xiao was afraid of the dark and needed a light even when sleeping, so her room must have a wall lamp.
He picked up a small stone and threw it towards the window, then immediately hid. After a moment of silence, he threw another stone and hid again.
Before long, the window was finally opened.
Little Star saw someone poke their head out, and it was indeed Xiao Xiao.
He quickly whistled and waved at Xiao Xiao in the window.
Xiao Xiao finally saw him and looked surprised. Just as she was about to call out to him, Little Star made a gesture for her to be quiet, threw a crumpled piece of paper into her window, gestured for her to look at it, and then quickly left.
Fearing he would be discovered, he didn't dare to linger and ran back to the entrance of the servant's quarters before calming his breathing.
Only when his breathing was steady did Little Star enter the servant's quarters and quietly lie down.
Xiao Xiao closed the window, picked up the crumpled paper on the floor, and was overjoyed upon opening it.
She hadn't expected Brother Xing to still be here, still in this castle.
As she stared at the contents of the paper, she became even more excited.
Brother Xing had written, "Don't be afraid, I will take you out of here. Draw me a map of the castle and tell me, how do you usually sneak out of the castle to play?"
Xiao Xiao could no longer sleep. She knew that Brother Xing wouldn't abandon her and would take her away from here.
She quickly took out paper and pen and began to draw a map of the castle. In the corner of the map, she also wrote that there was a dog hole under the castle wall that a person could crawl through.
Every time her biological father forced her to learn this and that, and she couldn't bear it, she would escape through that hole and go to a bar to indulge herself and vent her emotions.
In the years since she returned to her biological father's side, she had been under extremely strict discipline and guidance.
In addition to specialized etiquette teachers, her biological father had also hired several foreign language teachers for her. She also had to learn deportment, dance, piano, as well as cultural and economic subjects...
Every day, apart from eating and sleeping, she was constantly learning various things. Every teacher she had was also very strict, and she had to reach a very professional level before her eighteenth birthday wedding.
Xiao Xiao felt like a learning machine, with no friends, no classmates, and no time for entertainment or relaxation. Her life had become utterly joyless.
If she was slightly disobedient or acted excessively, she would be punished. Slapping her palms and standing for punishment were considered minor. The most terrifying thing was being locked in a dark, windowless attic.
She already suffered from claustrophobia, and being locked inside was worse than death. Only when she begged for mercy and promised to be obedient would she be released.