A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

It was a coincidence indeed. She’d just wanted to get some information, and someone had come.

In that split second, she had replaced her anxious expression with a rather carefree yet overbearing facade.

She slowly replied, “So we meet again.”

Eagle acutely sensed something different about her, and half teasingly said, “Why, the mighty queen was too proud to speak to me at the deck a while ago, but now she’s interested to talk?”

Xia Ling casually fiddled with Li Lei’s leash. “It’s boring here.”

Eagle smiled. “Most first-timers on the cruise find it all too enticing.”

Under Xia Ling’s mask, her lips curled up a little as she made no effort to hide her despise. “That’s all there is to Paradise? There isn’t anything more… special?”

“Special?” Eagle narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?”

In the sunlight, he saw that the lady’s skin was fair and smooth, almost like a young girl. Her slave humbly covered her shoulders with a black shawl to prevent Eagle from eyeing on her flesh.

Eagle asked, “Don’t you find this unnecessary?”

He noticed that the slave couldn’t be bothered about how skimpy his dressing was as he kept his eyes on his owner in admiration at all times. Once he noticed that someone was potentially taking interest in his owner, however, he draped the fabric over her immediately. Now, almost every inch of her skin was covered.

Eagle looked at Xia Ling. “This slave of yours seems very jealous.”

Xia Ling didn’t seem bothered by it and even reached out to caress her slave’s face. “I just like the way he’s so concerned about me, every single moment.”

Eagle laughed. “He looks more like your owner.”

Xia Ling laughed as well. “Don’t say that, it makes me feel uneasy.” She pulled the leash and her slave knelt before her immediately, erasing Eagles suspicion. Xia Ling still sounded disinterested. “It’s so troublesome. I’ve to often come out to take walks to expose him to others so that he’ll be jealous of the attention I’m getting. So, in order for me to see him this concerned about me and at my convenience, I’ve decided—”

Xia Ling smiled all of a sudden. “I’ve decided to buy another slave.”

“You want to have two slaves who’ll vie for your attention? What a good idea.” Eagle was impressed. Most people around here only owned one slave, as it took quite a bit of effort and time to train even one. But there was a small number who owned two, or even more, slaves—that was a kind of fun too.

Xia Ling sighed. “I came to take a look because I heard that there’s a sale of slaves onboard. But what a pity…” She shook her head. “They’re all rather disappointing. None of them is even half as good as the one I have.”

Upon hearing that, Li Lei cooperated by looking up at her with gratitude.

Eagle truly felt that this owner-slave pair was meant for each other, and it would be way too hard to find another to come between them. He asked Xia Ling, “Have you seen all the slaves on sale?”

Xia Ling said, “I’ve looked at the slave chamber on the first floor, but there’s nothing good there.”

Eagle smiled. “No wonder you find this place boring. Those on the first floor are just ordinary slaves. If you want the higher grade ones… there’s a monthly auction here. Oh, you’re just in time, there’s one later at midnight.”

Xia Ling’s eyes lit up.

She asked Eagle, “What sort of slaves are put up for auction? Sex, weight, and age?”

Eagle said, “It’s different for each auction. There are males, females, sometimes even transgender ones. The oldest ones are probably in their 70s, while the youngest…” He tried recalling. “Last year, there was a four-year-old girl.”

Xia Ling’s heart skipped a beat. They were selling children!

She tried to conceal her disgust as much as she could. “Girl? Do they have boys?”

“Why not?” Eagle smiled again, but then looked at her slave a little doubtfully. Given his figure, he must’ve been well trained in combat, and would qualify as a bodyguard or for the special forces. “You like boys? Children are very fragile though, you can’t play with them in the same way you play with yours now.”

Xia Ling felt nauseous hearing that but hid it well. “It’s good to change my tastes every once in a while.”

Eagle shrugged. “Well, as you wish.”

They talked for a while more, and then Eagle divulged everything she needed to know, including the exact place of the auction as well as things she needed to take note of. He even remembered to remind her: “When your taste has changed and you’re done with this male slave,” he pointed towards Li Lei. “Remember to look for me.”

Xia Ling played along. “Sure.”

Eagle still felt that she was a newbie and added, “Oh, by the way, there’s this person here that you have to avoid at all costs—” He had to tell her about Li Feng. Otherwise, if Li Feng laid his eyes on this slave, nobody else was going to have a chance.

But before he managed to finish his sentence, someone called out to him.

“I’m coming!” He hurried off and left Xia Ling hanging.

But Xia Ling barely registered what he was saying. Once he left, she staggered a few steps back and turned around, puking in a corner.

There was nothing but bile.

Li Lei supported her. “Xiao Ling, are you alright?”

She panted for a while before weakly saying, “I’m fine.” The things Eagle had told her were far too disgusting. Although she already knew that there were children on board, it was a different matter to hear someone talk about the specifics.

Li Lei wrapped her in an embrace. “Our Shaohui will be alright.”

She prayed hard that Shaohui was well and fine. “What should we do next?” She asked Li Lei.

Li Lei was evidently better when it came to rescue. He had already thought of the next step when Xia Ling was talking to Eagle. “Eagle said that there’s a name list for the auction later. We’ll get a copy of it first and see if Shaohui’s name is on it.” If it was, then things were simple; they could simply buy him back.

But Li Lei felt that a second possibility was more likely—

“Since Grandpa told you that he’ll keep him safe as long as we’re not together, then it’s unlikely that he’ll be auctioned off. If my guess is right, he’s just being detained.”