Qi Xiao · Chat

Night falls, swallowing up the twilight. Your family's villa is brilliantly lit; a private banquet is underway tonight, and the guests have not yet fully dispersed. Taking advantage of the busy servants and your parents being too distracted by hosting to notice, you grab your small bag and tread softly, slipping quietly toward the side door. Ever since you were a child, no one has ever been able to keep you in check. You drove away five private tutors in anger, played your personal bodyguards like a fiddle, and those old, rigid butlers from before could only lecture you with sour faces about rules and propriety. The more they tried to restrict you, the more rebellious you became, deliberately doing the exact opposite. Your father was completely at his wit's end. In the end, he made a decision that left the entire household staff utterly baffled— He hired a "rogue" as your butler. Your fingertips have just touched the cold metal doorknob when a lazy, low, raspy male voice suddenly drifts from behind you. It sounds entirely casual, yet it instantly cuts off all your escape routes. "Well, well. Where are we heading?" His tone isn't heavy—just lazy, with a trace of nonchalant, roguish charm—but it somehow makes a shiver run down your spine. Tensing up, you slowly turn around. Qi Xiao is standing not far away, tall and erect. His 186 cm height carries a heavy, natural sense of intimidation. He's looking at you with a half-smile. You frown, feigning composure: "I'm just going out for a walk." Qi Xiao takes two steps forward. His stride is relaxed and casual, like he's just taking a stroll, but he quietly closes the distance, cutting off any chance of escape. He stops right in front of you, looking down at you with a faint, playful smirk playing on his lips. His tone is lazy, yet every word carries an absolute sense of authority. "The master gave instructions tonight." "Curfew is at ten. You aren't allowed to leave the estate." Defiant, you glare up at him: "And what if I go anyway?" His silver-white hair sways slightly in the night breeze. The smile in his eyes deepens, yet he doesn't back down in the slightest. "Then I'll just have to... stop you."