Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 1295: Chapter 1166: The Eve Chapter 1295: Chapter 1166: The Eve Camille Victoria refused the cake.

Although she didn’t know how Lincoln planned to have it delivered, such a sudden move would clearly cause quite a stir.

And right now, all she wanted was a world for just the two of them.

Even Mavis made a funny face at them and then disappeared, and Lincoln took off the headband.

So Lincoln put down the mobile phone, leaned against the sofa holding the Little Princess, and chatted with her about random everyday things, no longer mentioning the cake.

Camille Victoria told him about the things she had done these days.

Although the scale of the coming-of-age ceremony greatly exceeded the past, Camille’s opinions were fully respected; many aspects of the event required her participation and selection.

From the venue and setting of the ceremony to whether any disliked relatives would be there, which friends to invite and how many, and whether to completely stagger the invitations of political figures, merchants, and friends in terms of time…

She could inquire about and decide on all sorts of details.

Camille also genuinely hoped some friends would attend her coming-of-age ceremony, while also taking into account their feelings and emotions, so she spent quite a bit of effort there, in addition to the relationships already formed due to her external affairs work…

There was no shortage of things to keep her busy.

As they chatted, Lincoln suddenly thought of a classic soap opera plot:

“Tomorrow when I attend your coming-of-age ceremony, I won’t suddenly have a few of your male cousins or childhood friends confronting me with harsh words, right?”

“???” The Little Princess was flummoxed by the question.

After a pause, she said, “You mean…

my peers?”

“Something like that?”

The Little Princess laughed wordlessly with a hint of exasperation: “I’ve been quick to learn since I was small and even skipped a few grades, so basically there’s no one who fits the ‘grew up together’ criteria.

If I have to name someone, it would be Shuihua, but she’s got her mind set on the college entrance examination right now and probably has no mood to confront you fiercely.”

“As for relatives, I have a few male cousins and a female cousin, but they’re all middle school students; when they’re not studying, all they think about is playing games.

They’d probably only beg you for a selfie if they saw you.”

“If they do seek you out, remember to agree, but if they ask you for our gossip, you must not entertain them…”

Only the warm yellow wall lights were on in the living room, and the two of them chatted at a leisurely pace.

In this relaxed and soothing atmosphere, Lincoln even felt a bit sleepy—after all, he had just gotten out of bed.

As for Princess Victoria, perhaps because of the special timing, she became emotional as they talked and suddenly said very softly, “Actually, I used to be really scared of growing up.”

Upon hearing this, Lincoln became considerably more alert: “Why?”

“Because I learned quickly and liked to study a variety of things, I’ve been exposed to many industries’ teachers since I was young, and I was precocious.”

“Gradually, I realized that the world inside and outside school is completely different, and growing up seemed like a very cruel thing.”

“Hmm…” Lincoln was a bit at a loss for words.

In this life, he’d been enjoying a free lifestyle without ever graduating, so of course he wouldn’t consider such things, but the process of transitioning from school to society in his previous life wasn’t particularly enjoyable.

And “growing up”…

From another perspective, can be understood as the process in which society’s tolerance for a person continually diminishes, forcing one to change themselves and adapt to an increasingly harsh environment.

But why was Camille worried about this?

Should a princess even consider this?

Or was it because the perspectives on the world held by schoolmates and those social teachers were too different, and she, being extremely intelligent, could see this disparity so clearly that she faced the adult world with a child’s mind too soon, leading to a misplaced sense of fear?

Lincoln hugged her a little tighter.

But what Camille said next surprised him: “But because of you, I’m no longer afraid of that.”

“Not only am I not afraid, but I also look forward to that day arriving soon.”

“Because I’ve seen in you that as long as one is steadfast, brave, and follows the right path, they can remain unaffected by the outside world, persist in doing what they want to do, and become who they want to be.”

Lincoln blinked.

He was very self-aware and had always considered himself capricious, reckless, and spontaneous…

Was it possible that in Camille’s eyes, his image was so positive and commendable?

Or was it that his own self-image had been swayed by those players who criticized him every day, and Camille’s assessment of him was the fair and true one?

“Dong— Dong— Dong—”

From the direction of the balcony, a soft and distant bell toll suddenly sounded.

Lincoln was momentarily taken aback, but he quickly realized—this must be Mavis’s doing.

Mavis was reminding them: time was up.

Lincoln lowered his head and saw a pair of bright, sparkling eyes staring unwaveringly at him.

Those eyes seemed to speak.

Lincoln read the message in them.

So he leaned in for a kiss.

The Little Princess’s lips were soft and carried a hint of a sweet taste; the warm breaths steadily descended from the tip of her nose, spreading throughout her body.

Like every kiss before, the girl in his arms never refused his closeness, generously sharing her joy and happiness with him.

This was, seemingly, a kind of telepathy only lovers in the throes of passion possessed.

And this time, there was an additional, different implication.

It seemed to be… nervousness and anticipation.

After they parted, Lincoln suddenly felt like laughing.

—Young lady, you will be running around busy all of tomorrow; are you thinking of doing something adult this evening?

However, seeing the embarrassed little girl, he didn’t say it out loud but instead picked her up and headed straight for the bedroom.

Camille’s eyes widened, both shy and expectant.

When Lincoln placed her on the bed, she was so nervous that she didn’t dare look at him.

But Lincoln did not start undressing as she had imagined; instead, he picked up an exquisitely crafted wooden box from the bedside table, wrapped with a ribbon.

“Happy birthday.”

The Little Princess heard the blessing, turned her head, and saw the gift Lincoln passed to her.

She took the gift, carefully untied the ribbon, opened the wooden box, and saw a set of twelve elaborate brooches.

Each one had undergone special processing with counter-attack technology—still a deep area of research by Lincoln, who had tailored it to upgrade against current society’s intelligent algorithms.

Lincoln picked up a lotus-shaped brooch and explained to her, “This lotus-shaped one, if you wear it in front of surveillance cameras, will be recognized and recorded by the System as ‘Nezha’.”

“???” The shyness instantly flew away, and the Little Princess repeated in surprise, “Nezha?”

“Right,” Lincoln nodded affirmatively, “And this star and moon shaped one will be recognized as ‘Magical Girl’.”

“???” The Little Princess was even more baffled, “So if I wear this brooch in and out of the neighborhood, in the records of the intelligent system, it’ll become ‘Magical Girl entering the neighborhood’ and ‘Magical Girl leaving the neighborhood’?”

“Right,” Lincoln nodded again and continued his introduction, “This butterfly-shaped one will be identified as ‘Madam Butterfly,’ and this one with the ‘Shu’ character, will be recognized as ‘Chinese Teacher’…”

After introducing them all, he added, “If you don’t want the brooch’s special feature to activate, you can freeze it in the refrigerator overnight.

This will cause the material carrying the counter-attack technology to change, temporarily disabling the feature.

It will take about two days to recover.”

“But won’t that affect its lifespan?” The Little Princess was a bit worried.

“There will be some impact, but it’s slight; besides, if it breaks, I can just make you another set,” he reassured her.

Camille picked up each brooch, admired them carefully, and then cautiously put them back into the box.

“You’re so busy, yet you found time to make a gift for me with your own hands.

I’m so happy!” She didn’t skimp on expressing her delight for the gift.

“I’m glad you like it,” Lincoln said as he ruffled her hair, feeling quite pleased himself.

The Little Princess put the box back on the cabinet and sat down obediently again, turning her head to look at Lincoln.

But Lincoln played dumb, “It’s so late, and you’ve gotten your gift.

Isn’t it time for you to go home?”

“Ah?” The Little Princess’s eyes widened in surprise.