Chapter 1768: Summer in Fool's Village (17)

When Merkel placed the wine glass and the plate of cheese for the wine on the coffee table, Talia's arm shook obviously, and then she retracted her gaze somewhat unnaturally, covering up her embarrassed look without a trace.

In fact, Talia didn't quite know what she was doing now. She had been through so many storms and waves, she could think calmly when facing life-and-death crises, and she could grasp a glimmer of life in thousands of dead ends, and even turn defeat into victory. So why on earth should she appear jumpy when facing a man alone?

Talia distracted herself to examine the surrounding environment. This is a room with an overall deep brown tone. The clean herringbone floor reflects the refracted light of the gorgeous chandelier crystals. The huge floor-to-ceiling windows are separated into small squares by cherry wood window lattices. Thick curtain drapes are neatly hung beside the windows.

The wine cabinet on the wall opposite the window contains various famous wines and some strangely shaped sculptures. There is a thin bone china vase on the desk with a camellia inserted in it.

Of course, there are also many traces of life left by the manor owner here, such as the almost imperceptible footprints on the carpet, showing that Shiler had paced back and forth in front of the desk. There was one footprint that was particularly heavy, looking like Shiler had stood there for a long time.

There are also hidden fingerprints on the metal picture frame hanging on the door, looking like the picture frame was crooked and Shiler reached out to support it. A bit of black ash on the edge of the fireplace is still fresh. The fire was lit last night and extinguished this morning.

Talia is very good at observing these details. She can always find clues enough to outline a person's life trajectory in various details, and can piece together a person's personality and habits through scattered life trajectories.

But what makes Talia confused is that all the life trajectories presented in the room piece together a completely chaotic picture. Some of them contradict and conflict with each other, and some can be pieced together for a short time, but soon there is evidence to prove that they should have been separated.

This made Talia start to become more and more confused. How could anyone live such a fragmented life all the time? Or is this just a trap deliberately left by Shiler?

Why go to such trouble to set up a maze to confuse her judgment? What is the point of this?

And the first sentence Shiler said to her made Talia hear the sound of her sanity shattering.

"I called your father and told him truthfully about your behavior in Cat Getan."

"... What?!"

Shiler seemed not to have heard the shock and confusion in Talia's tone at all. He just poured wine into two red wine glasses by himself and said: "Your father, that is, the leader of the League of Assassins, Ra's al Ghul, once left his contact information to a mercenary I knew. I contacted him by phone. Just before you came, I talked to him on the phone."

Talia spent about a minute digesting this fact, but soon more questions flooded her mind. She stared at Shiler and asked: "Why did you call him?"

"Why can't I call him?"

A trace of confusion flashed in Talia's eyes again. She took the wine glass somewhat stiffly and said: "But there is no contact between the two of you. How could you think of calling him?"

"Your father is a public figure," Shiler said naturally after taking a sip of red wine: "At least in a certain circle, his identity is public. His recruitment commitment to a certain type of people is valid for a long time, so why can't I call him for consultation out of interest?"

"You are interested in his recruitment? But aren't you..."

Talia immediately realized her slip of the tongue. Before she left, Ra's al Ghul exhorted her that Shiler is now in the light and they are in the dark, and she cannot let Shiler detect that the League of Assassins has set its sights on him, otherwise all plans against this professor might come to nothing.

Talia almost revealed the League of Assassins' understanding of Shiler, which would inevitably arouse Shiler's suspicion. Talia's fear deepened, because she couldn't be sure if this was Shiler deliberately setting her up.

If Talia had some knowledge of psychological theory, she would understand that she is not such an incautious person. Years of killer training made her mouth tighter than anyone else's, and just now this situation is called "forced error" in psychological theory.

"I talked to him about you."

Shiler repeated the fact he had already said with just one sentence, and gave some extra information: "But your father's attitude made me feel a bit strange."

Talia had to start weighing again. Shiler bringing the topic to Ra's al Ghul, is it another attempt to make her reveal more news? She didn't know how much she should answer to get more information from Shiler without exposing herself.

Just when Talia was constantly weighing the wording of her answer, Shiler interrupted her thinking again and said: "I am surprised that your father doesn't seem to know very well what you are actually doing."

Talia's heart was instantly tightened.

Although she was ordered by Ra's al Ghul to come this time, she has never been obedient, and Ra's al Ghul is very clear about this. If Shiler exposed that she had her own plans during the call with Ra's al Ghul, what would Ra's al Ghul think now, and what would he do?

What a miscalculation, Talia thought, biting her teeth. How could Shiler call her father directly? No matter how you look at it, this call makes no sense, right?

But another doubt arose in Talia's heart. Before, when she was under the Cat Getan Cathedral, Talia was sure that she had appeased Shiler. Talia had great confidence in her judgment. She was sure that Shiler had accepted her conditions and would not come to find trouble for her for a period of time before taking the next step.

If not, Talia would not have rashly accepted Bruce's invitation to go to the Wayne Grand Hotel. Of course, she also knew very well that it would be difficult to deal with if she was attacked from both sides, so she must have decided to deal with one after making sure she had handled one first.

If Shiler didn't accept her conditions at all, then it would have been a better choice not to let her go at that time. Pamela's magical ability to control plants, the home-field advantage of the Cat Getan Cathedral priest, combined with Shiler's unpredictable fighting style, Talia would have no chance of winning.

If Shiler still intended to deal with Talia, then he should have made a decisive decision and captured Talia directly to negotiate with the League of Assassins.

This is also one of the reasons why Talia would judge that Shiler still didn't know the League of Assassins' plans. If Shiler had known that the League of Assassins wanted to deal with him, he should have captured Talia to negotiate with the League of Assassins when he blocked her.

But he didn't do that, which proves two points: Shiler doesn't intend to deal with Talia, and doesn't know that the League of Assassins has set its sights on him.

But whether Shiler intends to deal with Talia or not, and whether he knows that the League of Assassins has set its sights on him, this step of calling Ra's al Ghul makes no sense at all.

If Shiler has no hostility towards the League of Assassins, he should let it go. Calling is redundant. If he wants to deal with the League of Assassins, then not capturing the other party's important figures but calling the opposite boss, isn't that alerting the enemy?

Talia was puzzled. The only answer she could think of was that Shiler didn't call at all, just scaring her, so she asked: "What did my father say?"

But just then, Shiler shook his head and said: "I talked to him unilaterally about you, but he didn't respond at all. Regarding the part of your deeds I mentioned, he only replied with a slightly confused 'Hmm?', and then began to discuss the philosophy and working style of the League of Assassins with me."

Talia's fingers gripping her arms tightened. This description was really like her father. The only things Ra's al Ghul values most are his ideals. Apart from that, no one and nothing is the top priority.

Talia had already accepted this fact and had no feelings about it, but at this moment, she felt a kind of humiliation from Shiler's confusion, because she could see that Shiler's confusion was sincere.

It was as if Shiler assumed that a father should care about his daughter and treat his blood descendant as the apple of his eye, and Ra's al Ghul's complete indifference to Talia greatly exceeded his expectations.

Talia was not feeling humiliated because Ra's al Ghul didn't care about her, but felt ashamed that what exceeded Shiler's expectations so far was still not her, but her father.

She broke into the Cat Getan University laboratory and affected the school's normal teaching, but was let go lightly after just paying a verbal promise. She jumped down from the roof for no reason and appeared in this man's garden, but the other party didn't seem to care about her intentions at all, let her into the house, and even invited her to drink.

The only measure the other party took to deal with these things was to call her father, and only reacted to certain attitudes of her father.

Why is this so like a young child causing trouble in kindergarten, and the teacher understands that he is ignorant, so he doesn't scold him, but chooses to communicate with the parents?

Talia was trembling with this assumption.

But just then, Shiler showed a trace of confusion again, and Talia clearly felt that this trace of confusion was aimed at her, as if he had chosen the most normal approach, and Talia's anger was completely groundless.

This further angered Talia, even making her briefly forget the intuition that kept alarming in her heart. She put the red wine glass heavily on the table, making a "clatter" sound. The wine in the glass splashed out and spilled on the table, and even a few drops splashed on the cheese in the plate.

Merkel, who had already left, poked his head in from the door and asked with concern: "What's wrong, sir? Did something fall on the ground? Do you need me to come in and deal with it?"

But at this time, Shiler stood up. He took out a neatly folded handkerchief from his suit pocket, leaned his body forward slightly, and handed the handkerchief to Talia.

Talia shivered. Following Shiler's gaze to look at her hand, she found that the red wine that had just spilled had gotten onto the back of her hand.

Unexplained anger drove Talia to want to go crazy regardless of everything, because she knew that all this was clearly Shiler's fault. It was because of his ignoring that she was angry. What is he pretending to be a gentleman for now?

Talia, burning with anger, opened Shiler's hand with her other hand. The handkerchief fell to the edge of the table. Shiler paused, then bent down very calmly to pick up his handkerchief, then stood up straight, and while folding the handkerchief neatly again, said:

"If my words just now were offensive, please be sure to forgive me, miss. You came too suddenly, and I hadn't thought of a corresponding topic for this meeting. I hope you will forgive me." ===== CHAPTER 1769 =====

Talia, burning with rage, used her other hand to knock Schiller's hand away. The handkerchief fell to the edge of the table. After a pause, Schiller very calmly bent down to pick up his handkerchief, then stood up straight, and while folding it neatly again, he said:

"If my previous words were offensive, I must ask for your understanding, Miss. You arrived too suddenly, and I hadn't prepared a suitable topic for this meeting. I hope you will forgive me."