Laura turned her neck, caked in heavy makeup, at the sound of footsteps. Her peripheral vision caught Lorin, and the pastry box in his hand stamped with the Mosaat family crest.
A flash of arrogant smugness instantly flickered in the depths of her heavily lined eyes.
“Hah, I knew you’d come groveling to me, begging for forgiveness.” Laura crossed her arms, lifting her chin condescendingly. She knew this dog who’d licked her boots for months wouldn’t really change overnight. Even though she looked down on Lorin, without relying on his status, her life had taken a nosedive.
“At least you know what’s good for you. Leave that stuff on the stone table over there. Once I’m done here, I might just grace it with a bite.”
“Miss Laura, your self-importance is a bit too much.”
Lorin strode forward, expressionless.
He coldly sized up this gaudy woman in front of him, his voice as calm as still water: “I never expected that after just half a month, you’d already been released from the Inquisition. What, wasn’t the prison food enough for you? Come here to throw a fit?”
Lorin wasn’t the least bit surprised that Laura had been let go. After all, these days, even being a cultist required some standards. With her brain, it was a stretch. But for privately colluding with cultists and aiding their evil, a few days in prison was hardly unjust.
Seeing that the once-pathetic sycophant dared to speak to her like this, Laura burned with rage. Her heavily made-up features twisted in extreme shame and fury.
Lorin didn’t even acknowledge this buffoon. He walked straight past Laura, extended a broad hand, and offered it extremely gently to the commoner girl who had been bullied.
“Are you all right?”
The girl looked up.
The moment their eyes met.
Lorin’s breath caught instantly.
She was a beauty so breathtakingly flawless that words failed him. She stood calmly across from Laura, quietly leaning against the white jade railing at the edge of the corridor, her posture as straight and proud as a lone pine in the snow.
Pure white-gold hair, flawless as the first snow of winter, barely brushed past her sharp, spirited ears. Her skin was carved from ice and jade, outshining frost and snow.
What drew the most attention were those cold, clear golden eyes, like deep-sea crystal, yet burning with an immense, oppressive dignity in their very depths!
Beneath her simple, elegant long dress, her slender legs were tightly encased in matte black stockings.
Cold sweat instantly flooded from Lorin, soaking through the back of his shirt. The pastry box in his hand slipped dangerously, nearly crashing onto the white jade floor tiles.
Damn!!!
What kind of explosive, hellish surprise was this?!
How could he run into this female lead everywhere?! The death star above his head was shining brighter than an anti-air searchlight!!
Seeing that Lorin ignored her and instead fawned over a lowly commoner, Laura was furious.
“Lorin! You two deserve each other—a lowlife commoner and a pathetic loser!” The tall reserve knight beside her, with an annoying clatter of his armor and metal insignia, stepped forward in a false gentlemanly manner, shielding Laura behind him. He sneered down at Lorin:
“Young Master Lorin, we stand with Miss Laura. Are you really interested in some penniless girl with only her looks? Truly desperate.”
Lorin was frozen solid, listening to these two textbook villain death lines. His legs went weak, and his stomach churned in spasms.
No… Bro, if you want to die, I don’t!
Do you know who she is?! She’s the Phoenix Dominator who can plant all of you in the ground like potatoes!
Laura also pretended to go soft, nestling into the knight’s arms. “Mr. Ali, don’t be angry. Young Master Lorin is just sore that I rejected him, so he’s acting out like this… ah…”
Lorin swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing violently. Inside, he wailed frantically: ‘Lady! Please stop! My emotional intelligence was low in my past life, and this hellish start can’t be salvaged! If you want to die, don’t drag me to hell with you!’
Just as Lorin’s scalp was tingling and he was scrambling to organize his words.
Lucia moved beside him. Her beautiful face was still calm.
She straightened her skirt with extreme grace and poise, her golden eyes shifting slightly. The girl’s every gesture was utterly natural, like a breeze brushing across a lake, yet carrying an oppressive presence that could not be ignored.
“Miss Laura.”
Lucia’s voice was as beautiful as an orchid in a hollow valley, but she opened Laura’s old wounds with the most innocent tone.
“I only asked if you had a sister or a distant relative with the same name. There’s no need to be so angry, is there?”
She tilted her head slightly, the corner of her mouth curving upward.
“Oh, could it be that, since you’re an illegitimate daughter, you don’t even know your own family tree?”
Illegitimate daughter!
Those three words hit like a crystal bomb, stomping precisely on Laura’s deadliest spot.
“Shut up!!” Laura shrieked like a cat with its tail cut off. “You short little commoner, you just came to the palace to latch onto a noble, didn’t you?! Oh, you’re on the Sera Academy applicant list too! I tell you, Sera Academy is not a place for a lowly woman like you!”
Lorin trembled on the spot, barely daring to breathe.
Insane.
How is this woman so audacious?
This former princess of the Kareia Empire is known for being decisive and ruthless! Even if the empire was destroyed and she’s now just a commoner on the surface, she’s still not someone these cannon-fodder villains should provoke.
Aren’t you afraid she’ll bury you in the ground and plant potatoes later?!
Just then—
“Since when did flies get to buzz at guests in the palace?”
Cold. Noble. Bearing the undeniable authority of one above all others.
With just one sentence, the temperature of the surrounding air skyrocketed, like a heavy hammer slamming down, instantly silencing the chattering Laura and the reserve knights who had been laughing along.
Everyone turned stiffly.
At the end of the corridor.
Alice Akhia stepped forward gracefully, walking in her round-toe leather shoes.
Like cherry blossoms blooming in early March, her cherry-pink hair swayed in the morning breeze. Those pale cherry-colored eyes held a majesty that looked down on all.
Beneath her white-and-red lotus-leaf patterned feathered robe, her slender legs, tightly wrapped in pure white thigh-high socks, stepped with crisp, clear footfalls.
Around her, the air warped visibly from the extreme heat. Golden-red fire magic power flowed wildly, leaping around her and through her hair without any deliberate effort!
Alice made no move to attack, but as she stepped closer, the terrifying pressure of a Pureblood Phoenix crashed down like a physical weight.
“Urgh…”
Laura and the reserve knights couldn’t even scream. Their legs gave out under the terrible magic pressure, and with a few thuds, they knelt face-first on the white jade floor tiles. Heavy makeup mixed with instantly gushing cold sweat smeared all over their faces, a pathetic mess. Beneath that intimidating aura of a powerful figure, they couldn’t even lift their heads.
“How dare you be so arrogant in the palace.”
Alice looked down at the ants on the floor. “You reserve knights, don’t bother coming tomorrow. As for you, Laura Katherine…”
Alice gave a cold snort.
“From today onward, you are forbidden from setting foot in the palace. Get lost.”
After dealing with this eyesore, Alice strode over to Lorin.
She shot a fierce glare at the still-dazed Lorin. Then, dominantly reaching out, she grabbed his wrist—the one holding the pastry box—and pulled him forward forcefully.
“What, you still not leaving? Do you really have lingering feelings for that Laura?”
After saying this angrily, Alice gave Lorin no time to react. She dragged him along and strode deep into the corridor.