Chapter 46: Sisters, Let’s Slack Off!

Christine’s voice wasn’t loud, but quite a few people heard it.

The reporters outside didn’t really hear it, but most people inside had good strength, so their hearing was naturally good.

This made the atmosphere a bit strange.

Earl Lied had originally intended to start with “Oh, my dear Duchess Leticia” and talk to Leticia, seeing if he could secure a small investment for the school.

But at this moment, all his attention was drawn to Christine’s words, as were Dean Morgan and Marquis Chekhov.

They all knew that Hall and Christine had a good relationship, but they didn’t expect it to be to this extent.

Even if it was a joke, a saintess candidate couldn’t make such a joke with someone they had a casual relationship with.

However, two people held different mindsets.

One was Young Master Andrei. He understood; he was just a foil, Hall was the protagonist.

No one really expected anything from him in the swordsmanship competition; they were all waiting for Hall to bring some surprise.

Christine, as a saintess candidate, could say such things to Hall. The potential implication was urging Hall, “You have to win.”

His self-esteem was once again struck, making him desperately want the competition to start now. Then, he could show everyone his powerful three-to-one winning ability in a special way, not only regaining his standing but also preventing Hall from performing at all.

Whether Hall was here to slack off or was genuinely highly anticipated, if he couldn’t perform, it would be useless.

There was also Himan. She wanted Hall to win today. If Hall truly had the strength to win this swordsmanship exchange competition, it could quickly suppress his past negative impressions.

But she also worried that if Christine said something like this, what if Hall actually made an excessive demand of Christine if he won?

Christine wasn’t Leticia. She had a special status as a saintess candidate, and having an affair with a saintess candidate would most likely lead to being branded a heretic.

So she hurried to Hall’s side and asked him what demand he would make of Christine if he won.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t won yet, have I?”

Hall, of course, knew what Himan was thinking.

He couldn’t possibly make any demands of Christine.

At most, he’d ask her to stay away from him.

At this moment, he could also feel Young Master Andrei’s somewhat hostile and eager gaze towards him.

‘Excellent, such a wonderful start.’

“I know, but you will win, right, Hall?”

Himan tested him, wanting to confirm his actual strength.

After a moment of silence, Hall shook his head.

“No, I won’t win.”

“Ah, what’s wrong?”

“If you and Young Master Andrei win, according to the diplomatic tradition of the Papal State, I am supposed to lose.”

“Oh… I didn’t expect you to notice these things.”

Himan felt that Hall made sense. She was surprised.

While she knew about this subtle rule, she didn’t pay much attention to it. Because this unspoken rule wasn’t always followed, and in the past, some noble youths who were eager to prove themselves had chosen to win.

Although it might have caused the foreign country to lose face, it didn’t have much impact on the winner themselves, at least proving their ability.

But she didn’t expect Hall to have made such preparations in advance.

“Well, alright. It’s good that you have this awareness, but I don’t necessarily have to win either.”

“?”

‘No, don’t say that.’

Hall thought, ‘Himan, did you have a fever?’

Himan couldn’t lose. In the game’s plot, the system determined whether Hall needed to appear based on the number of times the heroines were defeated or fled in battle.

“No, Himan, you must win. You are the only daughter of the Von Braun family. If you don’t win, what will you do? I’ve gotten by all these years, it doesn’t matter.”

He quickly advised Himan.

Himan, however, was stunned because she had heard the same words from someone else before.

In her childhood, her parents hadn’t put much pressure on her. Himan’s childhood was very happy.

As the only daughter of a duke, the apple of their eye, she was quite mischievous as a child.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have pestered Hall to call her “sister,” nor would she have competed with her noble circle of friends on who was more mature, even before they had fully developed.

Even then, she loved wearing stockings and high heels that were popular among adults, and used lipstick, flour, and eyebrow pencils to dress herself up vibrantly.

Although the finished product was often clumsy and comical, to Himan at that time, it was fashion, it was trends, it was growing up.

So who was it that caused Himan to change from her parents’ indulgence and pampering to becoming someone who was determined to make the Von Braun family proud?

She remembered it was Hall.

She remembered that day she had urgently asked Hall to call her sister, and after urgently trying to prove to this “little adult” in the eyes of the grown-ups that she was the real adult.

Little Himan lost to a classmate in a classical sword comparison.

The Von Braun family’s knightly swordsmanship had been famous in Saint Louis since her grandfather’s time, yet she lost to the daughter of a viscount.

What a disgrace! Her pride couldn’t accept it, and she started crying and making a scene.

When she cried, the teacher panicked. How could they coax the duke’s daughter?

After trying to coax her for a long time without success, the teacher could only dismiss the children who were watching, to prevent Himan’s self-esteem from being further damaged, and then went to find the principal.

But at that time, besides Himan, there was one other person who hadn’t left.

—Hall.

Little Hall had been standing by the door, watching Himan cry.

When Himan stopped crying from exhaustion, she saw Hall.

She found her cousin leaning against the wall, and suddenly felt like crying again.

But before she could have another outburst, Hall walked over to her.

“Stop crying. You are the only daughter of the Von Braun family. Have you ever thought about who will inherit the Von Braun family’s assets when your uncle gets old? You’ll get married in the future, and you can’t be inferior to your husband, or you’ll become a puppet. Fate is like this, you have to grasp it yourself.”

Little Hall’s voice was very cold, lacking much emotion, and offering little comfort.

When Little Himan first heard his words, she couldn’t even understand them.

How had she, step by step, become the daughter who was now determined to make the Von Braun family proud?

Himan heard familiar words as she looked at Hall now.

She felt, so familiar.

The current Hall, and the Little Hall of the past.

Memories flooded back.

He wasn’t so annoying when he was little.

Had he really never changed?

It was just that she hadn’t noticed?

If Hall himself understood the principles he had spoken of, then she didn’t need to worry about him.

So Himan thought for a moment and said.

“Okay, I understand. If you don’t get a chance to perform this time, there will always be opportunities in the future.”

At this, Hall felt relieved.

He thought, ‘If only the heroines were a little stronger now.’

Then he wouldn’t have to worry about them losing at all.

If he had reincarnated as Hall long ago, and lost his memory midway.

In the past, he would have had to pressure the heroines and make them progress faster than the normal game route, to get stronger sooner.

Forget it, Hall was too lazy to think about it.

He just had to get through this swordsmanship exchange.

As long as Young Master Andrei and Himan won, he could completely slack off!

Woohoo!

But just as he was about to make his final preparations for the match, he suddenly felt a chilling gaze.

At some point, a white-haired girl, exuding a cold wind, had appeared beside Marquis Chekhov.

“No way, is she one of Cateline’s chosen participants for the swordsmanship exchange?”

Hall was somewhat speechless.

Because he had seen this sister in the game before.