Instead of responding to his question, Harper only turned to look at Francis. Then, she suddenly reached out her hand and touched his face. Francis was shocked, but he didn't move away. Rather, he looked at Harper with a soft and even doting look.
While Harper was touching Francis' face, she slowly said, "How I wish I could have a face like yours."
"Why?" Francis asked, with a plain smile on his face.
"If I did, I could do wicked things without any pressure. After all, no one will believe that I'm capable of doing so because I look so innocent and kind." Taking back her hand, Harper went downstairs. That was all she wanted to say. She didn't say another word or gave Francis the chance to respond. After all, she didn't care whether Francis understood her.
It took Francis a while before he got a hold of himself and looked at Harper who was slowly walking away. Then, the smile on his face faded away while his eyes narrowed at her. He involuntarily put his hand on his face and said to himself, "Do wicked things without any pressure? Are you reminding me of something, Harper?"
As quickly as it came, Francis abandoned that thought. He then took the stairs to catch up with Harper. "Aunt Harper, would you allow me to send you back home? I actually want to learn some Go skills from you while we're on the way."
Harper stopped walking but didn't answer. Francis had already stepped forward, got on the carriage, and stretched out a hand to her. "I haven't played Go with you for a long time. Would you play with me, please?"
Harper only stared at him for quite a long time. The smile on his face did not waver. With patience, he looked at her expectantly while waiting for her answer.
After a while, she finally reached out her hand and got on the carriage with him.
The first thing that Harper noticed was that a board was already placed inside the carriage. She sat opposite of Francis. He then pushed the black stones in front of Harper and said, "You go first."
Harper immediately took them and put the stones on her side of the board. When Francis saw that, he also placed one white stone on the board. They didn't say anything. Francis raised his eyebrows and looked at Harper several times, but he discovered that her eyes were fixed on the board. Not once did she look at him. He couldn't help but feel a little bitterness in his heart.
"Distraction is a taboo in playing Go." Harper finally spoke. But it was only because Francis made a big mistake due to some distractions. It made his side vulnerable so Harper took the chance and began to attack aggressively. Soon enough, Francis was about to lose.
"Aunt Harper," Francis mumbled while looking at the board. At that point, he knew that he had no way to win. Harper was going to win that round for sure. He had lost and he knew it. "I have failed... Watch out!"
Francis suddenly dragged Harper to the ground while several arrows were shot into the carriage. The seats where they were sitting just then were now full of arrows. Francis held Harper's waist with one hand and pulled out his sword on the side with the other hand. They quickly got out of the carriage and immediately found out that they were surrounded. The coachman and the guards had already been killed with the rain of arrows earlier.
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