Volume 3, Chapter 34 – First Meeting with the Chosen Son (I)

After Yumo entered as the eldest daughter of the Blackrose Family, she unsurprisingly became the new focus of the entire room. Representatives from various major powers flocked to her side, offering friendly greetings to this lady from the mysterious and prestigious family.

With the assistance of the artifact ‘Veil of Deception’, Yumo’s aura was perfectly concealed.

In response to the crowd’s greetings, Yumo replied with practiced ease, playing the role of the high-born lady flawlessly. The reason she could do this so perfectly was none other than Saibok’s hellish training last night.

Since she was appearing as the lady of the Blackrose Family, Yumo naturally had to play the part well. She didn’t want any mistake of hers to bring shame to Xiao’s family, even if he had told her not to care at all. To Yumo, the Blackrose Family was the result of generations of hard work by those children, and as their ‘parent’, she naturally had to respect that.

At the very least, she couldn’t make any mistakes while playing this lady.

Ummm…

Though it was called hellish training, it wasn’t actually difficult for Yumo.

Yumo didn’t need rest at all and was full of energy even at night. She had already been trained in acting and etiquette back in the Deepwinter Forest, so a quick review combined with memorizing answers to specific questions was enough to complete the task.

Yumo felt it was quite easy to get everything done.

However, Saibok, who was already exhausted from the journey, collapsed onto the bed and fell into a dead faint from sheer fatigue after finishing Yumo’s training. This made Yumo feel quite sorry for him.

After much consideration, Yumo decided to reduce his punishment of ten spanks to three…

Additionally.

‘To be honest…’

Xiao had predicted things quite accurately.

The questions these envoys from other factions were asking her were all within Xiao’s expectations. After memorizing the answers Saibok provided last night, Yumo could practically recite them backward. She handled these people with an elegant posture quite easily.

As for asking others for help, Yumo hadn’t considered it at all.

After all, the six muscular men behind her clearly looked like the type who couldn’t communicate. As for Xizhi and Qiu Mingtong, one would shut down in a crowd, and the other had turned completely expressionless…

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There was no point in counting on those two.

After dealing with the last fellow who seemed to be a perfect gentleman, Yumo finally gained a bit of freedom. The black-haired girl then walked slowly to the window, looking thoughtfully toward the center of Sky Dome, which was where the imperial palace was located…

She heard that Karina was being held somewhere near there.

‘I wonder how that girl is doing…’

Thinking of this, Yumo couldn’t help but feel very dejected.

Right now, to hide her identity, she had to suppress her power and couldn’t let the dense Shadow Essence activate the alarm barriers inside the Sky Dome. Otherwise, once her identity as an Abyssal Demon was exposed, it would likely affect the entire Blackrose Family. Perhaps she could only find an opportunity to enter the palace and check later…

Yumo really wanted to go and rescue Karina.

But considering Xiao’s words, if Karina’s rescue triggered the restriction left by the Chosen Son and put her life in danger, Yumo didn’t dare to take the risk for her daughter’s safety. If she was going to act, she had to first resolve the restriction placed by Xue Tian’ao.

And that meant she would have to deal with the Chosen Son…

Sigh…

She would have to see how things went on Xiao’s side; if he still couldn’t find a way to lift the restriction…

For Karina’s safety, she might have to hold the Chosen Son’s head down and force the boy to lift it. However, she heard the Chosen Son had a very arrogant personality. What if he preferred death over submission and chose to go down in flames, forcibly activating the divine power within the sword to kill Karina? What would she do then?

If she accidentally killed the Chosen Son and caused the trial to fail, what would the consequences mentioned by the Goddess actually be?

‘Sigh, it’s really annoying…’

Yumo sighed helplessly in her heart.

However, in the next moment, her brows furrowed slightly. Considering Karina’s strength, Yumo still found it hard to imagine that she could be defeated by the Chosen Son. One must know that the current Chosen Son was only at the middle seventh tier, while Karina was a terrifying demon king tier existence who could take on three Heavenly Apostles at once.

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How did that Chosen Son beat Karina?

Could it be that he could activate some kind of cheat just like Mengxi?

Never mind.

She would wait for Xiao’s investigation results. Also, would the Chosen Son attend tonight? She really wanted to see him for herself…

While waiting for the Chosen Son to appear, Yumo also began to carefully observe her surroundings, scrutinizing the powerhouses hidden among the crowd. The ultimate goal of the trial was to invade the Deepwinter Forest and eliminate the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons. Therefore, Yumo was naturally concerned about the quality of the experts from other factions.

After all, if things went according to plan and the continental forces formed an allied army to invade the Deepwinter Forest under the leadership of the male and female leads, then the experts from other factions would become powerful aids to them.

However, just after a brief observation, a familiar silver figure suddenly appeared in Yumo’s vision, causing her deep blue eyes to shrink slightly.

‘Mengxi…’

Actually, the moment Yumo entered the hall, she had noticed that exquisite silver-haired girl.

However, because she was quickly surrounded by a crowd, Yumo hadn’t had time to focus on Mengxi until now.

Looking at Mengxi, Yumo couldn’t help but sigh. News of Xia’er being kidnapped must have reached the imperial capital, and as the Chosen Maiden, Mengxi likely knew about it.

Before, while disguised as Xia’er, she had been suddenly snatched away. Now she had been kidnapped again by an unknown person; that girl must be quite worried.

‘That girl always said she couldn’t sleep well without a body pillow, so had she been resting well during the time I was gone?’

Thinking of this, Yumo couldn’t help but look at Mengxi’s pretty face. As she expected, she could vaguely see the exhaustion hidden beneath Mengxi’s smile…

Seeing this, Miss Yumo couldn’t help but show a trace of heartache.

No matter what, Yumo still missed Mengxi’s spirited expression and her eyes full of vitality.

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And now?

In the beautiful light purple eyes of the silver-haired girl… hmm?! Wait…

The moment she observed Mengxi’s gaze, Yumo suddenly realized a very serious problem.

And that was, Mengxi’s eyes had met hers! Her gaze…

That girl was actually staring at her? It wasn’t just a polite visual greeting, but rather she was staring at her without blinking…

In an instant, Yumo felt her whole body tremble.

Could it be?

‘Does she recognize me?’

‘No, that shouldn’t be possible.’

‘When I met her as the Blood Butterfly, I was wearing a veil! Now I’m even wearing the artifact Veil of Deception to hide my aura, she shouldn’t be able to recognize me!’

‘Really, why did that guy Xiao insist on me being some young lady in this form!’

Yumo couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy…

On the other side, after seeing the faint look of panic on Yumo’s face, the corners of Miss Mengxi’s mouth curled up slightly.

However, in the next moment, the silver-haired girl cooperatively flashed a sweet smile at Yumo and gave an elegant wave. Then, to avoid making Yumo feel awkward, Mengxi looked away.

Before looking away, Mengxi also made an apologetic expression, as if sorry for her rude staring just now…

This allowed Miss Yumo to breathe a sigh of relief.

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“Phew~”

‘Was I overthinking it?’

‘That girl probably looked at me like that because of my identity and appearance, right? After all, people from other factions had looked at her with similar eyes before…’

‘But, should I…?’

‘Should I use this current identity to get in touch with Mengxi? And while I’m at it, confirm things…’

However, just as Yumo was considering this, the doors to the banquet hall suddenly opened again. As the shout of the greeting attendant reached her ears, Miss Yumo and Miss Mengxi both raised their brows in unison.

“His Majesty, Xue Tian’ao, has arrived!”

In the next moment, under the gazes of everyone, each with their own hidden agendas and complex thoughts, and escorted by two seventh tier Royal Knights leaders and dozens of Palace Imperial Guard soldiers, a handsome man wearing a white-gold cloak and a luxurious crown with a long golden braid slowly entered the banquet hall.

With the entrance of this elegant and handsome man, many young ladies in the hall couldn’t help but cover their mouths, their eyes sparkling with brilliant light. It was clear that this handsome man, who had achieved great things at a young age, become an emperor, and even defeated an Abyssal Demon of the demon king tier, had already become the dream lover of many noble women.

He had become their idol…

If not for their families or servants holding them back, these exceptionally excited ladies would likely have turned the scene into a fan meeting upon seeing the idol they longed for day and night. Their companions couldn’t help but show expressions of having a headache.

However, while also ‘thinking of Xue Tian’ao day and night’, Miss Yumo’s pretty face gradually darkened after seeing the blond man…

A long time ago, Yumo had been longing for the Chosen Son. But now, an imperceptible crimson glow slowly emerged within the girl’s deep blue eyes…

‘It’s this guy who hurt Karina…’

Noticing Yumo’s expression, Xizhi, who was silently observing behind her, revealed a slightly wicked smile, her orange-red eyes full of delight.

‘As expected of the Duke, Lady Yumo’s reaction is exactly as he predicted~’