Vol 3. Chapter 34: The First Meeting with the Child of Destiny
As expected, after Yumo entered the banquet hall under the identity of the eldest daughter of the Black Rose Family, she immediately became the new center of attention.
Representatives from every major faction came forward one after another to greet the mysterious young lady from the renowned noble house.
With the assistance of the Divine Artifact, the Veil of Deception, Yumo's aura was concealed flawlessly.
She responded to every greeting with practiced ease, playing the role of the noble young lady without leaving the slightest flaw.
The only reason she could perform so perfectly...
Was because of Saiboke-Baniya's hellish training the previous night.
Since she was appearing as the eldest daughter of the Black Rose Family, Yumo naturally had to play the role properly.
She didn't want her own mistakes to bring shame upon Xiao's family, even though he had repeatedly told her not to worry about it.
To Yumo, however, the Black Rose Family represented the fruit of countless generations of hard work by her children.
As their "parent,"
she naturally had to respect that.
At the very least,
she couldn't afford to make any mistakes while acting as this young lady.
Hmm...
Although Saiboke-Baniya called it hellish training,
it wasn't particularly difficult for Yumo.
She never needed sleep and remained energetic throughout the night.
Back when she lived in the Great Winter Forest, she had already received extensive etiquette and acting lessons.
This time she merely reviewed everything, memorized the prepared answers to several expected questions, and the job was done.
To Yumo,
it had all felt rather easy.
However...
Saiboke-Baniya, who had already been exhausted from traveling,
collapsed straight onto the bed after finishing her training.
He was so worn out that he practically fainted from fatigue.
Seeing that left Yumo feeling rather guilty.
After giving it serious thought,
she decided to reduce his punishment from ten spanks...
to only three.
Besides...
'Honestly...'
Xiao's predictions had been astonishingly accurate.
Every question these representatives from the various factions asked her...
had been anticipated by Xiao beforehand.
After memorizing all the prepared answers Saiboke-Baniya had given her the previous night,
she answered every single one elegantly and effortlessly.
She never even considered asking anyone else for help.
After all,
the six burly men behind her looked like the type who had absolutely no idea how to socialize.
As for Zhong Xizhi and Qiu Mingtong...
One completely shut down whenever too many people were around.
The other instantly transformed into an emotionless doll.
Expecting help from those two?
Absolutely not...
After finally dealing with the last gentleman who appeared impeccably refined,
Yumo was at last able to catch her breath.
She slowly walked over to a nearby window,
her gaze drifting thoughtfully toward the center of Skyvault City—
where the imperial palace stood.
She had heard...
Karina was being imprisoned somewhere nearby.
'I wonder how that girl is doing...'
The thought immediately dampened her spirits.
For now,
she had to suppress her power to maintain her disguise.
She couldn't allow the overwhelming Power of Shadow of Silence to activate Skyvault City's warning barrier.
If her identity as an Abyss Demon were exposed,
the entire Black Rose Family would inevitably be implicated.
Perhaps...
she could only wait for another opportunity to sneak into the palace herself.
Yumo desperately wanted to rescue Karina.
But remembering Xiao's warning—
that the moment Karina was rescued, the restriction left behind by the Child of Destiny might activate and endanger her life—
Yumo simply didn't dare act recklessly.
If she wanted to save Karina,
she first had to eliminate whatever restriction Xue Tianao had placed on her.
Which also meant...
she would have to deal with the Child of Destiny himself.
Sigh...
Let's see what Xiao finds first.
If he still couldn't discover a way to remove the restriction...
Then for Karina's safety...
she might have no choice but to pin the Child of Destiny to the ground and force the brat to remove it himself.
But...
She had heard the Child of Destiny was incredibly arrogant.
What if he would rather die than yield?
What if, in the end, he simply gave up completely and forcibly unleashed the divine power sealed within the sword...
killing Karina?
What then?
And if she ended up killing the Child of Destiny...
causing the trial to fail...
Just what exactly were the consequences the Goddess had warned her about...?
'This is such a headache...'
Yumo sighed inwardly.
Then,
her brows slowly furrowed.
Considering Karina's strength,
she still found it impossible to imagine how the Child of Destiny had managed to defeat her.
At present,
the Child of Destiny was only at the Middle Seventh Tier.
Karina, meanwhile,
was a terrifying Demon King-class existence capable of fighting three Heavenly Apostles at once.
How exactly...
had the Child of Destiny defeated Karina?
Could it be...
that he possessed some sort of cheat ability, just like Mengxi?
Forget it.
She would wait for Xiao's investigation.
Besides...
Would the Child of Destiny attend tonight's banquet?
She did rather want to see him with her own eyes.
While waiting for his appearance,
Yumo quietly observed her surroundings,
carefully studying the powerful individuals hidden throughout the crowd.
The ultimate objective of the trial was to invade the Great Winter Forest and destroy the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.
Naturally,
she cared a great deal about the strength of the experts from every faction.
After all,
if events unfolded according to plan,
the various powers of the continent would eventually unite into a grand alliance under the leadership of the male and female protagonists,
launching an assault on the Great Winter Forest.
Those experts would all become the protagonists' greatest allies.
However...
Only moments after beginning her observations,
a familiar silver-haired figure entered Yumo's field of vision,
causing her sapphire-blue eyes to narrow slightly.
'Mengxi...'
In truth,
the instant Yumo entered the banquet hall,
she had already noticed the beautiful silver-haired girl.
However,
being immediately surrounded by people,
she had been too busy to pay Mengxi any attention.
Looking at her now,
Yumo couldn't help letting out a quiet sigh.
The news of "Xia'er" being abducted had undoubtedly already reached the imperial capital.
As the Child of Destiny,
Mengxi surely knew about it.
Previously,
while disguised as Xia'er,
she had suddenly been captured.
And now she had supposedly been abducted once again by unknown individuals.
That girl was probably very worried...
She had always complained that she couldn't sleep without her body pillow.
During Yumo's absence...
Had she been getting any proper rest?
Thinking that,
Yumo carefully examined Mengxi's lovely face.
Just as she expected,
beneath the gentle smile,
there were unmistakable traces of exhaustion.
Seeing that,
Miss Yumo couldn't help showing a pained expression.
No matter what,
she still preferred seeing Mengxi full of life,
with bright, spirited eyes.
But now...
Within those beautiful pale violet eyes—
Hm?!
...Wait.
The instant she noticed Mengxi's gaze,
Yumo suddenly realized something extremely serious.
Their eyes...
had met?!
That girl...
was actually staring directly at her.
Not the brief, polite glance people exchanged out of courtesy.
She was simply...
staring at her without blinking.
In an instant,
Yumo's whole body trembled.
Could it be...
Had that girl recognized her?
No...
She shouldn't have.
When she met Mengxi in her Blood Butterfly identity,
she had been wearing a veil.
Now she was even protected by the Divine Artifact, the Veil of Deception, completely concealing her aura.
Mengxi shouldn't possibly recognize her.
Seriously...
Why had Xiao insisted she use this appearance and pretend to be some noble young lady?
Uneasiness quietly crept into Yumo's heart.
Meanwhile,
after noticing the slight panic on Yumo's face,
the corners of Mengxi's lips slowly curved upward.
A moment later,
however,
the silver-haired girl cooperatively gave Yumo a sweet smile and gracefully waved.
Then,
to spare Yumo any further embarrassment,
she calmly looked away.
Before doing so,
she even deliberately put on an apologetic expression,
as though she were apologizing for staring so rudely just now.
That finally allowed Yumo to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Phew..."
Was I overthinking it...?
She was probably only looking because of my appearance and identity.
After all,
everyone else had been staring at me like that too...
Still...
Should she...
approach Mengxi in this identity?
Perhaps...
she could use the opportunity to confirm something.
However,
just as Yumo was considering the idea,
the doors of the banquet hall opened once again.
As the attendant's loud announcement echoed through the room,
both Yumo and Mengxi raised their brows almost simultaneously.
"His Majesty Xue Tianao has arrived!"
The next moment,
under the complicated gazes of everyone present—
each harboring their own hidden thoughts—
a handsome man draped in a white-and-gold cloak, wearing an extravagant crown and sporting a long golden braid, slowly entered the banquet hall.
He was escorted by two Seventh-Tier commanders of the Royal Knights,
along with dozens of Imperial Guards.
As the elegant blond man appeared,
many young noblewomen throughout the hall instinctively covered their mouths,
their eyes sparkling brilliantly.
Clearly,
this young emperor—
who had already accomplished great feats,
ascended the throne,
and even defeated a Demon King-class Abyss Demon—
had become the dream lover of countless noble ladies.
Their idol.
Had they not been restrained by family members or attendants,
these overly excited young ladies would likely have transformed the banquet into a full-fledged fan meeting the moment they saw the man they had been dreaming about.
The people accompanying them couldn't help wearing expressions of utter helplessness.
However...
Although Miss Yumo had also been "thinking about" Xue Tianao for a very long time,
the moment she laid eyes on the blond man,
her beautiful face gradually darkened.
Long ago,
Yumo had constantly looked forward to meeting the Child of Destiny.
But now...
A faint crimson light slowly emerged within her sapphire-blue eyes.
'So... he's the one who injured Karina...'
After noticing Yumo's expression,
Zhong Xizhi,
who had been silently observing from behind,
revealed a faintly wicked smile.
Her orange-red eyes were filled with delight.
'As expected... Just as the Duke predicted, Lady Yumo's reaction is exactly as he expected~'