Chapter 85: Conflict at the Honor Ceremony

The castle hall.

“Fewer people than I imagined.”

Xia Mingyu, wearing a black top hat, found an empty long table and sat down, propping his chin as he watched the lords chatting with wine glasses in hand.

Though there were many people, most were servants attending the lords, or the lords’ personal attendants and family members; true lords, judging by the emerald noble aura above their heads, seemed to number only seven or eight.

Oh, right—they only invited the viscounts of the Southern Region; barons need not apply.

“Lord Mingyu, you’ve come too.”

A familiar female voice sounded beside him; Xia Mingyu turned to see Elise standing before him, slightly nervous.

Unlike her usual loose nightgown, this time the girl had clearly made a deliberate effort to dress up.

Her silver hair cascaded like moonlight, her petite frame clad in a deep purple velvet gown embroidered with silver vine patterns, as if moonlit vines were quietly growing along the hem.

The neckline was edged with delicate lace, revealing her fair, delicate collarbones.

Most striking were her eyes: the left crimson as blood, flawless as a gem; the right pale as ash, like winter frost—cold and distant.

These unique heterochromatic eyes lent her an ethereal aura, as if she were a spirit existing only in dreams.

“Elise, no matter how many times I see them, I still find your eyes as stunning as the first time I met you,” Xia Mingyu smiled gently, offering his praise openly.

“Shh.”

But this compliment did not please the girl; instead, she panicked like a thief, glancing around before signaling Xia Mingyu to be quiet.

“Lord Mingyu, praising my eyes so openly in front of so many people will make others look at me differently.”

She sat beside him and whispered an explanation.

After all, heterochromia is universally regarded as an ill omen; if not born into nobility, one is immediately thrown onto a pyre to be burned as firewood.

Even among nobility, heterochromatic infants are often marginalized by their parents—given money and cast out to fend for themselves, or imprisoned in some village to avoid bringing shame upon the family.

For a girl like her, with heterochromia, to be wearing a formal gown and openly attending her younger brother’s infant honor ceremony—there may not be a dozen such cases across the entire Sosia Kingdom. It’s clear how much influence Kallen had to expend to make this happen.

“Sigh,” Elise noticed several people in the hall casting her disgusted glances; she sighed, disheartened.

Though she’d faced such stares since birth, each encounter still brought a suffocating pressure that made breathing difficult.

She never wanted to come to a place filled with strangers, but her father insisted—as her younger brother’s elder sister, she must not miss the most important day of his life—and pressed her to attend.

One sister confined to the library, slowly rotting away; the other, born with every lord of the Southern Region coming to bless him, and even the Prince, ruler of the vast kingdom of 1.4 billion people on the Eastern Continent, naming him as his godson.

Could she, really, be the heroic sister destined to live in epic legend?

Elise couldn’t help but mock herself inwardly.

She slowly rose from her seat, preparing to hide in a corner so she wouldn’t drag the Prince into the same scorn.

At that moment, her hand was gently grasped.

“If being seen alongside such a beautiful you draws the same gaze from others, it would be my honor.”

Xia Mingyu gazed into her eyes and spoke softly.

Then he rose from his seat, bowed slightly, and gently kissed the delicate, boneless hand of the girl.

This scene instantly drew surprised glances and murmurs—people whispered in disbelief that someone would be so intimate with a heterochromatic girl.

Elise froze completely.

This was the first time she had ever been kissed on the hand in public.

And what the Prince had just said—wasn’t it too sweet?

Even though she knew deep down it was merely his kindness, not affection for her.

Yet for a sixteen-year-old girl, with a Prince who ruled 1.4 billion people and was nobler than any fairy-tale prince praising her, she felt a drunken, dizzy euphoria.

“Thank you for your praise.”

Elise steadied herself, lifted her gown, bent her knees, and performed the most perfectly executed curtsy of her life.

As she bowed, her silver hair slipped from her snow-white shoulders, shimmering softly in the candlelight.

Then she did not move away; instead, she stood quietly beside Xia Mingyu.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Viscount Victor of Nightshade stared at the heterochromatic girl across the hall, his pupils contracting sharply, like a beast fixated on prey.

What a beautiful, yet sinful pair of eyes!

The left, crimson as human blood, brimming with ill omen and slaughter.

The right, ashen as embers, filled with calamity and destruction.

This was not Victor’s first time seeing heterochromia; he could confirm that even among all heterochromatic individuals in the world, these eyes ranked among the highest tier.

He wondered why such a being had not yet been enlightened by Our God—but this was undoubtedly the greatest opportunity of his life!

If he could take this girl, subject her to endless torment, and offer her as a sacrifice to Our God, he would surely ascend immediately to the rank of Archpriest.

At that time, whether the Hughes family sucking blood from his back or the Martha family threatening him, all would kneel beneath him, controlled by the divine favor he had received.

He would become the uncrowned king of the Southern Region, then spread suffering throughout the entire Southern Region.

Imagining that glorious future, Victor’s eyes turned red as he stared fiercely at the heterochromatic girl; his breathing grew rapid.

This burning gaze naturally drew the attention of Xia Mingyu and Elise.

“He’s a lord, yet so impolite,” Xia Mingyu frowned slightly.

A middle-aged man staring so openly at a little girl—was he some pervert obsessed with children?

Elise felt a chill run down her spine; instinctively, she clutched Xia Mingyu’s arm.

Only when she realized how intimate the gesture was did she pull her hand back—only for Xia Mingyu to immediately wrap his right arm around her shoulders.

“Sir, staring so persistently at a young girl is exceedingly rude!”

Xia Mingyu fixed his cold gaze on the middle-aged man and spoke sharply.

These words jolted Victor out of his daydream; he walked over and glanced at the black-haired youth before him.

Pale skin, rare black eyes, decent looks—yes, a fine candidate for a sacrifice!

Wearing a hidden identity amulet—hah, probably a white noble pretending to be humble; he wouldn’t have played such games at fifteen!

“Little girl, what’s your name?”

Ignoring the black-haired youth, Victor forced a stiff smile onto his gloomy face and asked with a smug grin.

Xia Mingyu: “...”

Since arriving in this world, he had never been ignored—until now, by a pervert!

At that moment, he suddenly understood Boge’s importance; if Boge were here, he would’ve already roared, “How dare you!”

He couldn’t do this himself—he had to leave it to Boge, like Song Jiang’s Black Storm.

“...Elise Hughes.”

Though she despised the middle-aged lord, out of noble etiquette, Elise gave him her name.

“Kallen’s daughter? So the cold-blooded killer had a heterochromatic daughter hidden away.”

Having learned her identity, Victor nodded in satisfaction, then turned his gaze to the black-haired youth who now held Elise’s shoulder and glared at him.

“Boy, hold onto your girl tight—you won’t get to touch her again!”

Victor smirked at him, lips curling with amusement, speaking in the condescending tone of a middle-aged man.

Then he laughed loudly and turned away.

Xia Mingyu fell silent for a moment, then snapped his fingers.

A servant passed by, carrying a silver tray filled with goblets brimming with crimson wine.

As the servant neared Victor, Victor suddenly stumbled and knocked into the tray—crimson wine splashed all over him.

“You idiot, can’t you see where you’re going?!”

Seeing the large stain on his pristine white robe, Victor flew into a rage.

This robe was his finest possession; he would never have worn it unless every viscount of the Southern Region was attending this ceremony.

“I’m sorry!” The servant frantically apologized.

“Get out!”

“Yes, yes...”

Victor’s eyes burned with murderous intent; in his own castle, the servant would already be dead.

But seeing the lords around him staring—many of them old comrades from the Dragon Lion War—he had to maintain his composure and let the servant go.

“Phew.”

Watching Victor’s soaked, disheveled state and furious expression, Xia Mingyu exhaled deeply, feeling a surge of satisfaction.

Indeed, holding back anger only makes it fester—better to vent it immediately.

“Elise, remember that servant. Tell Old Xiao En to reward him—on my orders.”

“Yes, Lord Mingyu.”

If left unattended, the servant would face severe punishment from the steward.

Since he had helped him settle the score, Xia Mingyu would repay him in kind.

As time passed, the sunlight grew stronger, nearing noon.

Tap-tap-tap.

Amidst a flurry of footsteps, the main participants of the ceremony finally arrived in the hall.

Danielle, dressed in a light blue gown, entered carrying the sleeping Hayden; her face glowed with tender maternal radiance.

Her mother, Rosa Martha, walked beside her, smiling.

Roy and Roland, the two New Moon Knights, flanked them like guards.

Kallen Hughes trailed behind them, smiling wryly in silence.

There was nothing he could do; as a viscount, he had no voice before the count’s family.

“It has been a long time, honored Countess Marsha. May you be well.”

“This child is truly your granddaughter—those beautiful big eyes are identical to your daughter’s, the former Flower of the Southern Region!”

“Ah, I’m envious of that bastard Kallen! Back then, I served alongside him under the greatest knight of the Southern Region, Crimson Flame—how did Crimson Flame choose him and not me?”

Upon seeing the newcomer, the Southern Region lords who had just been chatting all rushed over to flatter Rosa.

The lord of the Southern Region responded with effortless grace.

“Is that old lady the legendary lord of the Southern Region?”

Xia Mingyu gazed at the elderly woman with silver hair at the center of the crowd, thinking to himself.

How to put it? It was a bit different from what he imagined—he had expected someone more imposing, but now she looked more like a kind-hearted grandmother.

As if sensing his gaze, Rosa smiled slightly at the black-haired young man wearing a black top hat, causing Xia Mingyu to feel, unusually, a touch of flattered surprise.

At the same time, Victor arrived before Kallen.

“Kallen, look at what your servant has done!” he barked angrily.

“Uh, I’m truly sorry, Victor. I will punish him severely and fully compensate you for your losses.” Kallen sincerely apologized, eyeing the stain on the other man’s clearly expensive robe.

Though he disliked Victor, since it was his own servant’s fault, as the master he naturally owed an apology.

Moreover, today was the most important day of his youngest son’s life—he would surely demonstrate his generosity and kindness, and would not show any anger, so the gods might favor his child.

“That’s more like it. By the way, I have something to discuss with you.” Hearing this, Victor’s anger gradually subsided, and he spoke.

“My comrade, speak freely.”

“Elise is your daughter, isn’t she? A child with heterochromia will tarnish your reputation. As your former comrade, I am willing to generously take her in and make her my concubine.”

Victor declared loudly, feeling he was being exceedingly generous by offering a heterochromic child the status of a concubine.

The next moment, a torrent of emerald-green magic erupted from Kallen, shaking the massive iron chandelier hung with countless candles from the ceiling.

“What did you say?!” Kallen forced the words through clenched teeth, barely suppressing his fury.

(End of Chapter)