Chapter 116 – Sentinel & Guide: Becoming Your Exclusive Guide – Hiding One’s Achievements and Fame (06)
No one knew whether it was the result of experience ingrained in his soul or simply natural talent, but when Herslet followed the steps in the recipe provided by the system, he only got halfway through before something felt off. Trusting his instincts instead, the candied hawthorn he ended up making didn’t fall short of the system’s recipe—in fact, it even slightly surpassed it.
At least, that’s what Bai Tang thought.
He licked the sugar coating on the candied hawthorn and found it exceptionally sweet. Even the white wolf, who had been eyeing the little squirrel with ill intent, suddenly looked much more pleasing to the eye.
After getting Bai Tang’s permission, the white wolf excitedly took the little squirrel to the backyard to climb trees and play.
“Eat breakfast first. You can have more candied hawthorn afterward,” Herslet stopped Bai Tang as he tried to shove a third skewer into his mouth.
“Alright…” Bai Tang sounded a little disappointed, but that quickly vanished when he followed Herslet to the dining room and saw the table filled with all his favorite foods.
The boy let out an “ah-woo” and stuffed his cheeks full. The feeling of a full mouth was just too satisfying.
“Herslet, you’re the best~”
Being praised by the boy he adored, Herslet felt a surge of pride well up inside him—one that even surpassed the honor he felt when awarded after returning from his coming-of-age trial.
“Tell me what else you want to eat. I’ll make it for lunch,” Herslet said with a smile.
In front of Herslet was the outer courtyard. To the left was the entrance to the Tang Tang Dessert Shop.
Normally, business would have already started at this hour, but today was different. Herslet wanted Bai Tang to rest properly, so he planned to put up a “Closed” sign at the entrance after breakfast.
Unexpectedly, at the end of the long line of customers waiting for the shop to open, Simona had completely changed her usual glamorous look. She had applied a thick layer of powder on her face and skipped the rouge, appearing plain—but oddly charming.
She looked around constantly, peering ahead again and again, frustrated by the fact that the line hadn’t moved at all.
As time passed, the sun gradually rose higher in the sky, and its power began to show.
This area was lined with trees on both sides, so the people at the front of the line waited comfortably in the shade. Simona, however, had arrived late and ended up at the back of the long queue.
The customers behind her, seeing there was no shelter from the sun, decided to come back later instead. As a result, no one stood behind Simona, leaving her completely exposed under the blazing sunlight.
D*mn it! Why isn’t it open yet?!
Simona cursed under her breath. She had everything planned out. Last time, she had faked a breakup letter and even slapped Bai Tang—there was no turning back in her feud with him.
Knowing Bai Tang’s prideful and spoiled nature, and how unwilling he was to publicly mention the breakup letter, all she needed was to get him to “bully” her in front of a crowd.
With everyone watching, once they saw her being “wronged” and began to scold Bai Tang, he’d surely lose his temper. With so many people as witnesses, the young master of the Bai family would be utterly disgraced. Who would dare marry him then?
She could almost already see the beautiful scene unfolding in her mind and let out a sly giggle.
The person in front of her felt a chill run down his spine. He glanced back at the woman behind him, who wasn’t watching any videos or talking to anyone, but was smiling creepily to herself for no reason. It was honestly disturbing.
Could she be mentally unstable? the man thought, growing uneasy.
Just then, Herslet came out and hung a “Closed for the Day” sign on the shop door.
A customer near the front asked, “Why aren’t you open today? Is the young boss not feeling well?”
Almost everyone who visited Tang Tang Dessert Shop adored Bai Tang. As soon as the sign went up, the line dispersed, and the customers started asking questions all at once.
“No, the owner is celebrating a happy occasion, so we’re closing temporarily,” Herslett replied.
Of course it was a happy occasion for the owner—he and Tang Tang had already taken that step. It was about time to make things official.
Herslet was already thinking about how to persuade Tang Tang to return to the Shelley household.
Suddenly, a delicate young girl appeared, looking as though she had just cried, swaying unsteadily as if she could barely stand.
“Herslet~~~”
Her voice trembled with sorrow and longing, drawn-out and full of emotion.
Today, Simona was going for the “pitiful beauty” look—frail like a willow swaying in the wind. With her heavy makeup removed, no one would have linked her to the same girl who had made such a scene the day before.
Herslet frowned. It took him a moment to recognize her. “Simona?”
His tone was flat, and a flicker of killing intent passed through his eyes.
“It’s me.”
Seeing that Herslet’s attitude toward her hadn’t changed, Simona took a step forward and tried to grab his sleeve. But Herslet dodged her hand, leaving her arms awkwardly suspended in the air.
Everyone watching was stunned for a moment, and then chaos erupted.
What’s going on? Isn’t that sentinel the young boss’s fiancé? Why is he getting involved with another girl?
Look how heartbroken that girl is. Could it be that this sentinel is two-timing them both?
People began pointing and whispering about Herslet and Simona.
Somewhere in the crowd, someone shouted, “You sc*mbag! Your mistress has come looking for you!”
Once the first person spoke, others followed suit.
“Aren’t you just deceiving our young boss?”
“Yeah! You looked so righteous—turns out you’re just a hypocrite…”
Simona lowered her head and, where no one could see, allowed a smug smile to creep onto her lips. By the time she looked up again, she had resumed the tearful expression of a heartbroken, pitiful girl.
“Please, let me see Bai Tang! It was just a misunderstanding! I really didn’t—didn’t…” Simona deliberately trailed off, leaving her words vague and suggestive, letting the audience fill in the blanks and imagine an elaborate love triangle.
Could it be that the young boss is… the third party?
No way! The young boss is so adorable—kind-hearted and pure. He must’ve been tricked by that sc*mbag!
With that, the crowd’s gaze toward Herslet became even more condemning and scornful. Tch, what a disgrace to sentinels everywhere.
Inside the house, Bai Tang had just finished the last sip of milk, a white mustache still clinging to his lips. The system suddenly shouted in alarm, “Oh no! The female lead is here again!”
Bai Tang shot to his feet, moving so quickly that his overly full stomach almost rebelled on the spot.
He hadn’t even gone to seek revenge on the female lead yet, and she’d already come knocking. The system flipped through the little notebook passed down by the Prime Minister’s wife, quickly forming a plan.
“Tang Tang, here’s what you’re going to do…”
Bai Tang listened and nodded earnestly.
Give up the man? Not a chance. Simona might be trying to get her claws into Herslet, but whether Bai Tang agreed or not didn’t even matter—the system would never allow it.
“Even if Tang Tang doesn’t want the male lead anymore, the male lead must stay pure for our Tang Tang!” the system declared.
At the front door, as soon as Bai Tang appeared, someone sharp-eyed in the crowd shouted, “The young boss is here!”
“Young boss! Young boss!”
That girl had been speaking so vaguely—now that Bai Tang himself had come out, the key players were all present. Time to see what this was really about.
“Did you eat well?” As soon as Herslet saw Bai Tang, everyone else faded from his eyes. He focused solely on gently wiping the milk from the corner of Bai Tang’s lips.
Simona watched helplessly as the atmosphere between the two seemed completely impenetrable, leaving no room for anyone else.
She subtly cleared her throat, then spoke with wounded emotion, “Tang Tang, I—I’m your sister… Don’t be sad. Even though you were rejected, we’re still family…”
Simona was certain that Bai Tang wouldn’t want to tell Herslet about the breakup letter he’d received. If he did, there would be no excuse left for him to stay with Herslet.
Come on, get mad already… yell at me…
The moment she spoke, the crowd exploded again.
Wait, sister? Breakup? The young boss was dumped?
So… the young boss stole his sister’s boyfriend?
The love triangle had now escalated into a full-blown family drama.
Heavens…
But the reaction Simona expected—Bai Tang getting angry and hitting her—never came.
Instead, the boy’s eyes reddened instantly. He looked at Herslet and said, his voice trembling,
“You… you really want to break off the engagement with me? Do you not love me anymore…?”
His voice was still hoarse from the night before, now soft and tearful, meltingly sweet and unbearably sorrowful. The helpless pleading in his tone tugged at everyone’s hearts.
Some of the onlookers were already growing restless with sympathy.
But Herslet moved faster than anyone.
He pulled the boy—whom he had fought so hard to win—into his arms, and kissed him gently, from his forehead, to the bridge of his nose, to his lips. His voice was tender, softer than ever: “Tang Tang, I love only you.”
Bai Tang sniffled and wrapped his arms around Herslet’s firm waist, “Don’t abandon me… I’m scared~~~”
“I’m scared…”—those same soft words… It felt like he’d heard them once before, from a delicate boy tugging at his sleeve in some long-lost memory.
Herslet’s thoughts wavered for a moment, but only briefly. Within seconds, he lifted Bai Tang into his arms and looked down at Simona from above, his voice cold and commanding:
“The Bai family accepting you as an adopted daughter is their business. The Shelley family and the Bai family do have an engagement agreement, but the only person I’ve ever acknowledged as my fiancée is Bai Tang. All your scheming—for the Shelley family’s wealth, or for status—none of it matters. The Shelley family won’t care. Bai Tang won’t care. My wife—I’ll provide for him. You can leave now.”
With that, he carried Bai Tang back inside the shop and shut the door.
Herslet was well aware of how things worked in the big families. Once he realized that Simona had something to do with the breakup letter Bai Tang had mentioned, everything clicked into place.
Let Simona jump around a little longer if she wanted—but not because he didn’t see through her. It was only for Bai Tang’s sake; he didn’t want to frighten him.
Everything that rightfully belonged to Tang Tang—he wouldn’t let him lose a single thing.
Herslet had practically exposed Simona’s entire scheme in front of the crowd. Now that the truth was clear, the bystanders turned their judgment toward the girl still standing at the shop entrance.
Some acted quickly enough to dig up all of Simona’s personal records.
Simona was a registered Guide, listed in the government database. With Herslet mentioning both the Bai family and the Shelley family, it was easy for people to trace her background.
Turns out, she was just a wild Guide whom Herslet Shelley had saved by chance during a mission. She’d been recovering from injuries while living under the Bai family’s care. No one knew what methods she used, but somehow she managed to win over the Bai family, to the point where they even publicly stated they were planning to adopt her as a foster daughter.
If that were all, people would have simply said she was lucky.
But after witnessing the scene today, everyone realized that Simona was not only greedy—she had even forced the young boss to leave home and hide, and now she was trying to steal his fiancé.
Everything was unfolding just as Simona had planned—except that the one being condemned by everyone had become her.
She couldn’t handle being surrounded, pointed at, and whispered about. Some children even spat at her.
“Bad woman…”
Simona shoved through the crowd, trying to escape, but she was trapped in layers of people—completely surrounded.
Suddenly, a group of reporters broke through the crowd, shoving microphones in her face.
“Is it true that the Bai family is adopting you as their foster daughter next month on the 3rd?”
“What caused the falling out between you and Bai Tang?”
“Are you jealous of Bai Tang—is that what led to this?”
Unable to bear it, Simona covered her ears and screamed, “Ahhh—!”
But none of this had anything to do with Herslet and Bai Tang, who had already closed the door and were lost in their sugary sweet world again.
Inside, the system was wiping traces of the media calls from the internal network. It flashed a victory sign at itself and happily projected the heroine’s downfall on a screen, silently taking pride in its work.
Sigh~ being a system is like snow in solitude… cool and unmatched…