…almost no other sound.
The dining room returned to silence.
Aside from the sound of knives and forks touching ceramic plates, after Shu Yue’s self-introduction came to an end, as her voice faded, there was almost no other sound in the entire room.
Her ears were sharp, and she could still pick up faint breathing.
Mrs. Mei Er sat at the head of the table, dining elegantly, seemingly with no intention of joining the younger generation’s conversation.
Xiya lowered her beautiful eyes slightly, a faint, gentle smile lingering on her full, gorgeous face.
Her fair, jade-white hands used knife and fork to cut the food on her plate, then sent it into her mouth piece by piece.
She didn’t bring up another topic, letting the air grow cold and still.
Luolan sat there quietly the entire time, her gaze drifting dreamily toward the ornamental flowers at the center of the table.
Her attention wasn’t on the flowers at all.
She was just staring blankly at them.
Was she thinking about something?
Shu Yue realized no one was paying attention to her anymore.
‘Silent treatment? Hmph! I’m not afraid of the silent treatment at all!’
Since no one wanted to talk, she’d just keep eating.
That was what she thought, and her hands were already moving.
Shu Yue’s appetite was quite good.
She was in a great mood today.
Not only had she learned the Elf Dance Sword Art from Lady Elena and tested her skills to gauge how strong she’d become, but she’d also obtained a skill card from Eustia. Was there a better day than this?
After finishing everything on her plate, she moved on to what was set out on the table.
Shu Yue had never received a noble education, and she didn’t care what they thought of her.
She reached out and took food for her own plate.
There were five people at this dining table in total: Mrs. Mei Er, Xiya, Luolan, Shu Yue, and Lin.
That left only Lin.
Therefore, all the awkwardness shifted onto Lin.
Seeing Shu Yue bury her head in her food, Lin couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Mrs. Mei Er and Xiya.
Shu Yue wasn’t embarrassed in the least, but surely someone had to be embarrassed, right?
She caught a trace of displeasure in Mrs. Mei Er’s eyes.
Lin involuntarily shivered.
Shu Yue might not understand, but Lin knew all too well.
This was the expression her mother only showed when Lin had failed to meet her expectations.
Mrs. Mei Er was very dissatisfied with how Shu Yue had handled things!
Lin turned to look at Xiya’s smiling face and felt a chill in her heart.
Originally, she had thought that if it meant Cousin Xiya being with her sister, it wasn’t entirely unacceptable.
But now it seemed that this Cousin Xiya of hers had far deeper schemes than ordinary people.
Xiya noticed Lin’s gaze, lifted her head slightly, and turned her beautiful crimson eyes toward her.
The two girls’ eyes met, and Xiya gave a soft smile.
How terrifying!
Lin hurriedly lowered her head and poked at the small pieces of meat on her plate.
She didn’t dare look at Xiya anymore.
They ate in silence for three minutes.
The first round of confrontation came to an end.
Xiya had won.
Shu Yue hadn’t understood the rules.
In her heart, Mrs. Mei Er had ruled Shu Yue the loser.
click.
A faint, crisp sound.
It was the noise a steel dinner knife made when placed on a white porcelain plate.
Xiya put down her knife, adjusted her posture, and turned her head to seek Mrs. Mei Er’s approval with a look.
Mrs. Mei Er gave no reply, which in effect meant letting Xiya handle things as she saw fit.
Having received that answer, Xiya looked at Luolan, who was seated across from her.
Luolan still calmly stared at the table.
She showed no intention of eating anything and continued to daze off.
Xiya’s tone shifted from the elegant, dignified air of a moment ago to one of warmth and gentleness.
“Cousin, eat a little something.”
Luolan slowly raised her head to look at her, then lowered it again.
“I’m not hungry.”
Lin’s hair stood on end.
She could feel Xiya’s gaze, which was now fixed squarely on her.
“Little cousin, this is our first time meeting, isn’t it?”
“Your appearance, little cousin, makes me feel especially close. After the meal, would you accompany your older cousin for a walk?”
Lin grew restless in her seat.
“I…”
She stole a glance at Mrs. Mei Er and found that she wasn’t paying the slightest attention to her side, yet she still didn’t know how to refuse Xiya’s invitation.
She didn’t really like this cousin. Xiya’s thoughts ran too deep, placing enormous pressure on her.
If she had to describe it, it was like facing her mother…
Xiya and Mrs. Mei Er had the same hair color and eye color, and their bearing and temperament were also somewhat similar.
Moreover, one was the previous generation’s Crown Princess, and the other was the current Crown Princess.
Their origins were identical.
In other words, Xiya was a younger version of Mrs. Mei Er.
Facing a younger version of her mother, Lin, a 13-year-old girl, felt too much pressure.
In contrast, when she was with Shu Yue, Lin felt very relaxed.
In front of Mrs. Mei Er, as the fifth daughter of the Isolde Family, she had to maintain the proper image of a refined young lady.
Any slight deviation would earn her stern discipline from Mrs. Mei Er.
But when she was with Shu Yue, she could mess around freely, without caring about those tedious formalities.
Shu Yue never treated her like a young lady, and she didn’t even treat her like a girl!
Lin subconsciously wanted to glance at Shu Yue, but the thought had barely arisen when she crushed it herself.
What she thought was: ‘At this moment, Shu Yue can barely protect herself, so how can she help me?’
Shu Yue looked at Lin, who sat right beside her with her head lowered, her little face almost parallel to her plate.
She pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Xiya.
‘Or rather, Miss Love Rival?’
Well, whether she was an Imperial Princess or a love rival, Shu Yue didn’t care.
She spoke up:
“Your Highness, Lin has been playing outside all evening and is already very tired.”
“I see…”
Xiya maintained her fake radiant smile as she looked at Shu Yue, who had come to Lin’s rescue.
Mrs. Mei Er’s movements paused briefly, but she quickly returned to normal, quietly watching the events that followed.
At this moment, Luolan snapped out of her absent-minded state, tilted her head slightly, and stared at her sister beside her.
Lin’s whole body stiffened under Luolan’s gaze.
Was she tired?
Not at all! Lin had at least reached Tier 2 on the Path of Transcendence.
She had merely been playing outside for a day, not practicing sword arts all day.
How could she possibly be tired?
A hint of triumphant smile flashed through Xiya’s eyes.
She had seen from the moment Shu Yue and Lin entered together that the two shared a close bond.
That was why she had applied pressure on Lin to sound out Shu Yue.
She hadn’t expected Shu Yue to actually speak up for Lin and even help her out right in front of Luolan.
Since Lin couldn’t accompany her, didn’t that leave only Luolan?
“Since the little cousin is tired, then…”
“Then allow me to take Your Highness for a walk.”
Shu Yue still wore a calm, composed expression, as if she hadn’t said anything strange at all.
At this moment, not only Lin and Xiya but even Luolan and Mrs. Mei Er all looked at her at once.
Four pairs of eyes held distinctly different expressions.
None of them had expected Shu Yue to dare say such a thing.
Facing four pairs of eyes, Shu Yue blinked and thought:
‘Well, why is everyone looking at me?’
‘Did I get a grain of rice stuck to my face or something?’
After a brief moment of surprise, Xiya’s curiosity toward Shu Yue grew even stronger.
“Then I’ll be in your care~”
Shu Yue glanced at Lin out of the corner of her eye, thinking that she had done more than enough for her by now, right?
‘Accompanying this Imperial Princess for a few hours in her place will definitely raise a lot of favorability. Once her favorability is high, Lin will be willing to help me, and then I can ask her about Bloodline Power.’
‘Right, and I can also ask about the Tier 2 Control Realm, and even how to advance to Tier 3.’
‘Hehe, I’m such a genius!’
Shu Yue felt this move of hers was really slick.
If it weren’t for building Lin’s favorability, she wouldn’t bother wasting time accompanying a girl to stroll through a garden.
Cultivating in bed was far more reassuring.
Girls couldn’t give Shu Yue a sense of security.
Power could.
Lin felt like she was the real center of attention.
Clearly, she was the one who should have gracefully disappeared and let Shu Yue bear the pressure.
Unfortunately, Shu Yue didn’t absorb pressure, so naturally it fell on her by the principle of proximity.
The girl quietly broke out in a thin sweat, making her feel sticky and uncomfortable all over.
‘Ugh, I really want to run away…’
clatter!
Knife and fork fell onto the table.
Luolan stood up, turned toward Mrs. Mei Er, and performed a curtsy.
“Mother, I’m full. I suddenly have some insights, so I’ll head back to my room first. Please enjoy your meal.”
As she spoke, she gave a slight bow to Xiya and Shu Yue each, pushed back her chair, and quickly left the dining room.
Shu Yue watched Luolan’s departing figure and froze for a moment.
At this time, another figure beside her also stood up.
Lin looked flustered, as if she had done something weighing on her conscience.
She awkwardly performed a curtsy toward Mrs. Mei Er as well.
“Mother, I’m full too!”
Without waiting for Mrs. Mei Er’s approval, she ran off, chasing in the direction where Luolan’s figure had vanished.
Shu Yue glanced at the now-empty seat beside her.
The faint presence of the girl still lingered in that spot.
There had only been a handful of people at the table to begin with.
Now that two had left, only three remained.
Mrs. Mei Er showed no displeasure at her two daughters’ early departure.
She finally raised her eyes as well, and those crimson pupils turned toward Shu Yue, who sat in the third seat on her left.
The second round ended with Luolan and Lin’s departure.
The winner of this round was Shu Yue.
She and Xiya each held one win and one loss, temporarily tied.
Although Shu Yue was completely unaware of it, in Mrs. Mei Er’s eyes, what she had just done met her requirements.
Under Mrs. Mei Er’s gaze, Shu Yue straightened her posture.
The pressure she felt was no less than Lin’s.
After about three breaths, Mrs. Mei Er slowly spoke:
“You fought a match against Knight Ailikesi and performed quite well?”
Shu Yue answered honestly, hoping only that Mrs. Mei Er would let her off.
“Yes…”
Mrs. Mei Er questioned her as if conducting an interrogation:
“When you were at Saite Town, you were only an Official Apprentice. In such a short time, you’ve already reached the Tier 2 Soul Separation Stage?”
Shu Yue froze for a moment, then began to tell a lie.
“Auntie, you probably already know, right?”
As she said this, she took out the purple cross-star gemstone pendant from inside her collar.
The moment Mrs. Mei Er saw the pendant, her brow furrowed.
“A Dharma Artifact?”
The purple cross-star pendant didn’t exude any aura, but the instant her spiritual sense touched it, it was pushed away.
Something that could block her prying couldn’t possibly be a Magic Artifact.
Only a Dharma Artifact could do that.
Shu Yue didn’t dare study Mrs. Mei Er’s expression.
Every single one of her movements would be inferred upon by Mrs. Mei Er, so she had to minimize her movements as much as possible, not giving Mrs. Mei Er a single flaw to find.
She told a story as briefly as possible, roughly a localized adaptation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, ending with her having obtained a powerful person’s Legacy and gaining the ability to fight at Tier 3 while at Tier 2.
It was almost nothing but the skeleton of the story, told in fewer than a hundred words and taking very little time.
Mrs. Mei Er was silent for a long while before nodding, seemingly temporarily accepting Shu Yue’s explanation.
Why “temporarily”?
Because, just as Shu Yue was letting out a sigh of relief, Mrs. Mei Er added another sentence:
“After you finish your meal, accompany me for a walk.”
Shu Yue’s heart skipped a beat, and she nearly jumped out of her chair.
Just like Lin earlier.