Volume 2, Chapter 67 – An Uninvited Guest!

Upon hearing the word “slave”, Afnora was very angry.

To protect Xia’er’s reputation, Afnora had long ago issued a strict order within Windward City to completely suppress the news that Xia’er had been a slave. Not many people knew about this matter, and those from the Ashurmos Church and the Blackrose Family had expressed their willingness to cooperate, so the suppression of the information had gone quite smoothly.

However, Afnora never expected that she would actually hear such a word at today’s tea party.

Furthermore, it had come from the mouth of a baron’s daughter.

If even the children knew, did that not mean the news had already spread wildly throughout the territory? It had clearly been sealed off before, so why was it suddenly spreading so fiercely again?

While Afnora was angry, she also felt deeply perplexed.

Despite her thoughts, she was the first to step forward, walking in front of Yumo with the intention of defending her granddaughter’s reputation. If her reputation was ruined, she feared she would not be able to win the public’s respect when she inherited the title of Marquis in the future. Even if she did not inherit the title, no one would likely be willing to marry Xia’er.

“What nonsense are you talking about?! How dare you speak of such baseless rumors! Madam Alita, how exactly do you educate your children!”

Afnora looked toward one of the ladies with indignation.

A majestic battle aura erupted from within her body at that moment. Combined with Afnora’s already powerful personal presence, it directly intimidated the crowd into freezing in place, unable to say a word for a long time.

However, in that moment where a pin drop could be heard, an uninvited guest suddenly intruded into Count Hektor’s blue rose garden. This man, showing no fear of Afnora’s majesty, spoke with words full of disdain and mockery.

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“That young lady isn’t saying anything wrong, is she? The heir to our Duke Family is indeed a slave~”

Hearing this, everyone present instantly held their breath and focused their gaze on the pink-haired man dressed in a blue and white military uniform. Even Miss Yumo watched the man with curiosity.

This man was the original heir of the Marquis house, Benjamin Duke.

Benjamin, who had always been obedient to Afnora, was now blatantly contradicting her words, which truly left everyone in a state of utter shock.

A trace of resentment appeared on Afnora’s face. “Benjamin! What nonsense are you talking about!”

“No, no, Madam, I am not talking nonsense. Every word I say is the truth.”

Saying this, Benjamin looked around at the crowd with great arrogance. “Ladies and young misses, I, Benjamin, am not speaking nonsense. The heir of our Duke Family is no longer clean and is fundamentally unqualified to be any kind of heir! She is a slave. If you don’t believe me, look at her ankle! Oh, wait, there are bandages on her ankle now, right? Those aren’t meant to cover up any so-called burns! Those bandages are there to hide the slave tattoo branded into her skin by hot iron!”

After speaking righteously for a few moments, Benjamin locked his gaze onto the little girl being protected behind Afnora. “Miss Xia’er, I wonder if you would dare to take off the bandages and let everyone see?”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s eyes involuntarily converged on Yumo’s ankle.

Although they had not yet seen the slave tattoo, the rumors they had heard before, Benjamin’s serious tone, and the strange expression on Madam Afnora’s face had already led them to confirm Yumo’s status. Their gazes gradually became complicated.

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Seeing this scene, Afnora clenched her fists in anger. “Benjamin! What exactly are you trying to do?!”

“What am I doing?! I merely want everyone to know the truth. By deceiving the people and letting an unclean person who has been a slave inherit the territory, you are inviting divine punishment!”

Showing no fear of the pressure from Afnora’s battle aura, Benjamin pointed his finger fiercely at the space between Afnora’s eyebrows. At the same time, his gaze ruthlessly cut toward Yumo like a sharp blade. “And you! Don’t think a slave like you can inherit the Marquis house!”

‘I didn’t even want to inherit it anyway…’ Yumo complained silently, feeling quite speechless.

However, before Yumo could say anything, a burst of cold, murderous intent erupted in Afnora’s eyes. “This news, these rumors—did you spread them all?”

“What if I did?” Benjamin admitted without hesitation.

“Why would you do this? Xia’er is your cousin! How can you treat her like this!”

“Her? She is not my cousin! She’s just a fake!”

“What nonsense are you talking!”

“I am not talking nonsense. She is not Xia’er at all, just someone who looks similar!”

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“Benjamin! The Guardian Beast already verified her before. She is Xia’er!”

“Who knows what method she used to fool the Guardian Beast! The real Xia’er must be dead! It’s impossible for her to be alive!” Benjamin shouted somewhat hysterically.

His originally handsome face became increasingly distorted as he roared.

“I cannot believe anything you say!” Afnora, who already considered Yumo her granddaughter, naturally could not believe Benjamin’s one-sided claims.

“Heh,” Benjamin snorted coldly. “It doesn’t matter whether you believe it or not. You’ll understand soon enough anyway. In short, I will not let such a filthy girl of unknown origin snatch the title that belongs to me! I have worked hard for ten years for this title! I will never allow this position to be taken away!”

“You…” Looking at the hysterical man, Afnora narrowed her eyes. Clearly, this Benjamin, who was acting so differently from his usual self and appeared somewhat crazed, felt extremely foreign to Afnora. The anger in her heart reached a breaking point. “You have already failed the strength assessment twice. How could we possibly give this position to you?”

“I don’t need you to give it to me anymore.”

“Hmm? What do you mean by that?”

“As long as all you meddlesome old things are dead, the title will naturally be mine~” Benjamin’s azure eyes were now bloodshot, and his words carried a trace of chilling killing intent. “Oh, right, and my cheap little sister? I’ll send you to hell along with them. Since you look so much like Xia’er, you two should be able to be good friends in hell, right?”

Glancing at Yumo out of the corner of his eye, Benjamin shouted in a crazed tone.

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“You’ve lost your mind!” Afnora could no longer endure Benjamin’s repeated insolent provocations. The majestic purple battle aura within her body exploded, and she instantly transformed into a flash of lightning, arriving in front of Benjamin and swinging her hand down in a fierce slap!

The powerful lightning fluctuations and the erupting battle aura directly shook the nearby noble ladies and misses, causing them to retreat repeatedly as they watched Afnora with fear.

However, in the next instant, under everyone’s stunned gaze, just as Afnora’s palm was about to hit Benjamin’s face and slap some sense into the crazed man, a white-armored knight behind him suddenly flickered! With extraordinary speed, he blocked Benjamin!

He abruptly raised his hand and grabbed Afnora’s wrist, stopping her attack by force!

The violent white light surrounding the knight clashed fiercely with Afnora’s lightning-attribute battle aura, unexpectedly reaching a stalemate. Clearly, this knight who had been standing silently behind Benjamin was also a saint tier powerhouse!

“Heh, Madam, don’t be in such a hurry. Young Master Benjamin is right. That girl indeed isn’t your granddaughter.”

Saying this, the knight who had suddenly intervened slowly removed his helmet, revealing a slightly hideous face as withered as an old tree and filled with a gloomy aura.

The moment she saw this person, seeing that familiar face that had appeared on wanted posters numerous times, Afnora’s expression suddenly changed and her eyes shrank violently. “You… You’re an Archbishop of the Divine Punishment Holy Church?!”

In an instant, a terrifying killing intent and a powerful fire of revenge burst forth from Afnora’s eyes.