Vol 3. Chapter 40: Suspicion
Inside the banquet hall,
under the dumbfounded gazes of countless people,
the Child of Destiny of the Asumos Church was affectionately holding the Black Rose Family's young lady by the arm as they slowly walked back into the banquet hall from the balcony.
In an instant,
everyone nearby fell into an eerie silence.
Their eyes were filled with disbelief.
After all,
these two had supposedly never met before.
Just moments ago, they had even been "jealously competing" over Xue Tianao (or so it seemed).
So why...
had they suddenly become so close?
Walking arm in arm,
appearing before everyone together?
They looked just like a pair of close girlfriends.
No...
If anything, they gave off a feeling that subtly went beyond even that...
...
However,
Mengxi paid absolutely no attention to everyone's stares.
She simply ignored them and cheerfully led Yumo toward the dining area.
Then,
right before everyone's eyes,
Mengxi picked up a small dessert cake and brought it to Yumo's lips.
"Ah~"
Faced with Mengxi feeding her,
and those sparkling eyes filled with expectation—and an obvious attempt at acting cute—
Yumo hesitated for a moment before finally opening her mouth and accepting the bite.
That scene
filled quite a few of the surrounding men with envy, jealousy, and resentment.
The only problem was...
for the moment,
they honestly couldn't figure out which of the two they should be jealous of...
After swallowing the cake,
Yumo secretly glanced at the silver-haired girl still affectionately clinging to her arm.
Mengxi's earlier words unconsciously replayed inside her mind like scenes from a slideshow.
As the memories resurfaced,
the black-haired girl's beautiful face gradually flushed once again,
becoming as charming as a ripe cherry.
"I really like you, Sister~"
Like... me?
Hearing Mengxi say that,
Yumo couldn't deny that she felt incredibly happy.
She even experienced a faint, indescribable sense of happiness.
For some reason,
she rather liked hearing Mengxi call her "Sister."
However,
while feeling happy,
a trace of doubt also surfaced within her heart.
Like me?
We've only just met for the first time.
According to Mengxi,
it was Yumo's elegant mannerisms,
gentle voice,
and warm, affectionate smile
that made her feel an overwhelming sense of familiarity and caused her to develop strong feelings almost instantly,
as though it were love at first sight.
Although Mengxi's sincere eyes didn't look like she was lying,
and although things like that weren't completely unheard of...
Yumo still felt something was a little strange.
After all,
when she had first entered the banquet hall,
Mengxi had already been looking at her rather oddly...
Still,
despite the lingering doubts in her heart,
Yumo decided to continue getting along with Mengxi.
Partly because she simply couldn't resist the girl's adorable, puppy-like expressions,
and partly because of the Black Rose Family.
If she, while acting as the Black Rose Family's young lady, established a good relationship with Mengxi,
then after Mengxi eventually completed her trial and destroyed her,
perhaps the Black Rose Family would receive Mengxi's protection.
With Mengxi watching over them,
their future would be secured.
And if the Black Rose Family continued to thrive,
then those Demon King-class children living under the family's protection should also be able to remain safe...
Thus,
guided by those thoughts,
Yumo accompanied Mengxi while they leisurely enjoyed the exquisite food.
However,
although she appeared relaxed,
Yumo still remained somewhat cautious.
Every so often,
she secretly observed Mengxi out of the corner of her eye,
trying to find even the slightest clue from her expressions.
Unfortunately,
every attempt ended in failure.
Mengxi's behavior showed absolutely nothing unusual.
Am I... just overthinking this?
Does this girl... really have no memory of before?
She truly didn't recognize me...
However,
just as Yumo was lost in thought,
Mengxi noticed her sneaky glances.
The silver-haired girl immediately revealed a puzzled expression.
"What's wrong, Sister Yu?"
"Ah? N-Nothing. Don't mind me."
Yumo answered with a smile.
At that very moment,
the corner of her eye suddenly caught sight of the rows of bottles stored within an ice-element magic array behind Mengxi.
Those...
Were those bottles of wine?
Looking at the exquisite bottles filled with crystal-clear, enticing liquor,
Miss Yumo slowly raised an eyebrow.
The corners of her lips curled upward.
Oh...
I've got an idea~
At that moment,
a rather good plan emerged in Yumo's mind.
Meanwhile,
seeing the faint smile that had appeared on Sister Yumo's face,
Miss Mengxi quietly looked past Yumo's shoulder into the mirror behind her,
her gaze landing upon the bottles of royal vintage wine imported from the Crimson Leaf Empire.
Oho~
—
Elsewhere,
in a corner of the banquet hall,
Qiu Mingtong stared at the silver-haired girl shamelessly sticking herself to Lady Yumo.
Unable to restrain herself,
she crushed the wineglass in her hand.
Purple wine slowly trickled down her delicate fingers before dripping onto the floor.
Damn it!
the pink-haired girl cursed inwardly.
She had originally thought Lady Yumo would soon be provoked by Xue Tianao and simply erase the Son of Destiny on the spot.
Yet who could have expected this damned Child of Destiny to suddenly appear halfway through?
She had directly dragged Lady Yumo away!
Had it not been for the large number of spectators nearby,
Qiu Mingtong would have wanted nothing more than to roar in frustration.
However,
before long,
she forcibly suppressed the anger in her heart.
Calm down... Calm down...
Having Lady Yumo directly kill Xue Tianao with her overwhelming power had never been their optimal solution anyway.
Sigh...
She would let that fellow continue jumping around for a few more days.
The Son of Destiny...
Strictly speaking,
the Black Rose Family had already eliminated him twice.
Once thirty years ago.
Once thirteen years ago.
Yet every single time,
after he was killed,
the damned Son of Destiny would somehow appear again from who knew where,
over and over without end.
But this time,
they would not repeat the same mistake.
Taking a deep breath,
Qiu Mingtong coldly looked toward the silver-haired girl affectionately interacting with Lady Yumo.
For some reason,
even though the Child of Destiny was currently far weaker than Xue Tianao,
Qiu Mingtong instinctively felt that this woman posed a far greater threat than he ever could.
As for exactly what kind of threat...
even she couldn't explain it.
If not for the protective power Lady Yumo had left inside Mengxi's body,
Qiu Mingtong would have genuinely advised the Duchess to prioritize eliminating this woman first.
Forget it.
There was no need to rush.
Once Xue Tianao had been dealt with,
the next one...
would be you.
—
Meanwhile,
while the welcoming banquet was in full swing,
the Divine Armament Hall deep within the imperial palace was busier than ever.
The Divine Armament Hall
was the organization specifically responsible for forging weapons for Xue Tianao.
In order to secure the support of the Asumos Church,
everyone inside the Divine Armament Hall was working around the clock.
People cycled endlessly between brutal overtime schedules, working day and night without rest,
trying to complete the weapon orders His Majesty Xue Tianao had personally assigned as quickly as possible.
These newly developed weapons
needed to be delivered into the hands of the Asumos Church before the coronation ceremony.
However,
because Xue Tianao had taken many of his strongest confidants to attend the banquet,
and because most of the Divine Armament Hall's personnel were completely focused on forging weapons,
security around this remote section of the palace had noticeably weakened.
Taking advantage of a moment when the outer patrols weren't paying attention,
two tiny figures slipped past the nearby guards like ghosts,
instantly evading everyone's perception
before quietly sneaking into the Divine Armament Hall.
...
Some time later,
on the eastern side of the Divine Armament Hall,
near the weapon storage depot,
a squad captain of the Royal Knights stretched lazily,
his face full of exhaustion,
while gazing up at the brilliant night sky.
Damn it... More overtime again!
Helluo complained bitterly to himself.
Thinking about the lucky colleagues who had been chosen to accompany the Crown Pri—
No,
His Majesty—
to the banquet,
Helluo couldn't help feeling immensely jealous.
And remembering that his day off had been stolen by the captain,
who had dragged him here for overtime without even offering overtime pay,
made him even more depressed.
Still,
depressed or not,
as a member of the Royal Knights directly under His Majesty,
Helluo maintained complete vigilance despite working overtime,
carefully guarding the weapons depot behind him.
Just as he continued pacing back and forth on alert,
the brown-haired man's expression suddenly changed.
In an instant,
he drew the sword from his waist and pointed it toward a figure that had abruptly emerged from the nearby bushes.
"Who's there?!"
The moment Helluo shouted,
the dozens of Royal Knights behind him also drew their swords,
all staring warily toward the shadow that had burst from the bushes.
Powerful waves of battle aura instantly erupted from every one of them,
surging toward the figure ahead.
However,
the moment they finally saw what the shadow actually was,
every single one of them froze with bewildered expressions.
Because...
what appeared before their eyes
wasn't an intruder attempting to steal weapons,
as they had imagined.
Instead,
it was
a tiny,
adorably fluffy,
rather goofy-looking
little white wolf...
It was even sticking out its tongue.
Staring at the little white wolf, which looked more than a little silly,
Helluo and every Royal Knight present wore utterly baffled expressions.
Helluo & Royal Knights: "Huh? A snow wolf???"
Little White Wolf: "Myaoo~"