Chapter 78: Princess Daxia Also Turns Dark?

Hall shrugged, looking every bit the profligate son.

This left Ye Wangxue, standing behind him, somewhat puzzled.

‘What kind of person is this fiancé of mine?’

She couldn’t quite figure him out. She recalled the scene from last night and had thought Hall liked Leticia, deliberately creating a scene to make her break off the engagement.

But now, he had shown up at this critical moment to say such inexplicable things.

“I can be with another woman yesterday, but that doesn’t mean I won’t step up to defend my fiancée today.”

Hearing this outrageous statement, the old Ye Wangxue would have wanted to join Dylan and Lenny’s side and beat him to a pulp.

But now, she wasn’t too angry, just curious.

Curious about what Hall’s attitude towards her really was.

What kind of person was he? How could he say such things?

“Hey, fiancée, can you give me your sword?”

A hand reached out in front of Ye Wangxue, and Hall’s words interrupted the Eastern princess’s thoughts.

Ye Wangxue thought, ‘You stood me up last night, and now you’re asking me for my sword?’

But then she remembered that when she and Hall were in the Underground Street, because of that strange sword technique, her weapon had fallen at the same time Hall’s own weapon had shattered.

She was the culprit who had left Hall without a weapon.

“Fine.”

Ye Wangxue drew Moonbound from her waist.

But she reminded him, “This sword was forged for me by a master craftsman of Great Xia at my father’s request. It was baptized under the moonlight from the Winter Solstice to the Beginning of Spring every year, and placed in thousand-year-old mystical ice on other days, for a full seven years, before it was finally forged. An ordinary person cannot wield this sword, or they will be invaded by the cold qi within…”

“Alright, Master Ye, stop chanting.”

Hall interrupted her. Didn’t he know the quirks of Moonbound?

The game’s text had described it to him in clear detail. But he was Hall, and Hall’s weapon mastery talent was [S+].

Except for the top-tier, red-named, mythic-grade weapons like the Hero’s Sword, he could use any weapon with ease.

“Give it to me.”

“Fine, freeze to death!”

Seeing Hall’s relaxed expression, Ye Wangxue had originally intended to just give him the sword, but then she thought about him having to deal with Lenny and Dylan later, so she handed Hall the end of the hilt she was holding.

This would have less of an impact than directly gripping the entire hilt.

But Hall just grabbed the entire hilt.

‘Freeze to death, freeze to death! Still putting on an act in front of me. Weren’t you scared by what I just said?’

Ye Wangxue was so angry, but then her face showed surprise.

‘What’s going on?’ She noticed that Hall’s hand wasn’t even trembling.

“I never thought, Hall, you’re really good at flirting with women. I hope your duel with me later will be just as easy.”

Dylan was about to die of anger. In his eyes, Ye Wangxue and Hall were completely and utterly flirting in front of him.

From the very beginning.

‘Damn it, what’s with this princess of Great Xia? Your fiancé wasn’t there for your engagement yesterday, aren’t you even angry?’

Although he didn’t understand, comparing them still highlighted Hall’s charm to women.

In the circle of noble young masters, womanizing was also a topic of comparison.

He felt numb.

He had to get his face back.

“I said, you and Lenny come at me together.”

Hall held Moonbound, and a few wisps of moonlight fell on his cheeks.

Not only were the young masters of Saint Louis’s nobility present, but there were also young ladies.

Most of them weren’t very interested in the conflict between Dylan and Hall. They were here to prove that they were more beautiful than this Eastern princess, Ye Wangxue.

To prove that Western women were completely superior to Eastern women.

But now, looking at Hall, they felt their hearts beat a little faster.

So handsome. This calmness, this arrogance, this nonchalance, and this face.

Why hadn’t they noticed Hall was so stylish before?

“Hall, you are truly arrogant. Could it be that you’re scared and want to find an excuse for when you lose later, saying that losing one against two doesn’t count as a loss?”

Dylan was angry, but not stupid.

He had to use this opportunity to defeat Hall.

“That’s not it. Hurry up.”

The black-haired young man just urged them.

The crowd stepped back slightly, making a space for Dylan and Hall.

“Boss Dylan, just do it. He’s the one who proposed it!”

Lenny also really wanted to beat Hall up himself.

“Hall, you really have no objections?”

“None.”

Hall nodded.

Xiao Lu was a bit unhappy. She had almost no good feelings for Hall. Setting aside yesterday’s events, just that exaggerated sentence today.

Making him sound like some kind of Casanova. She hoped Ye Wangxue could have a husband who was devoted to her.

After all, her princess was born into the royal family, and the love she could directly feel from her relatives was extremely limited.

Now she felt that Hall was being stupid, just putting on a tough act.

But as an outsider, she couldn’t say much.

Ye Wangxue pulled her back, making space for Hall.

At this moment, Lenny and Dylan also drew their blades.

Lenny’s weapon was a rare knight’s sword. In order to show off at school, he had lied to his father about investing in stocks and had spent a lot of money to buy it.

As for Dylan, it was the sword he had received as his eighteenth birthday gift, a heritage-grade blade with an active special effect that could continuously cast fireballs without consuming the wielder’s own stamina.

This kind of weapon was actually not weak, especially in the early stages of pioneering or when everyone’s stats were not high.

A weapon with a built-in active damage skill was particularly convenient.

And Dylan planned to use the long-range attack characteristic of the small fireballs to catch Hall off guard.

But after glancing at his red sword body, the black-haired young man didn’t say much more.

He knew Dylan’s skills.

“Hall, since you’re taking on two of us, this young master will let you go first.”

Since he was going to win, Dylan planned to be generous.

Besides, the fireball spell of his sword was actually best used when Hall was attacking Lenny. Hall would definitely not expect a long-range attack.

“No need.”

The black-haired young man held Moonbound flat in front of his chest with his right hand, then blew a sharp breath onto the blade, and then ran his left index finger directly over the body of Moonbound.

Seeing this scene, Ye Wangxue thought, ‘What the hell are you playing at, Hall.’

‘You’re touching the body of Moonbound directly with your hand, aren’t you afraid something will happen?’

Last night, she was able to repel several assassins thanks to Moonbound’s [Moon Condensation] characteristic.

But soon, a scene that Ye Wangxue couldn’t understand appeared.

The Moon Condensation on Moonbound’s blade surged to an unprecedented degree.

That’s right, this was Moonbound’s active effect.

Hall was actually just imitating the way Ye Wangxue unlocked Moonbound’s active effect in the game, based on his memory.

He understood the value of [S+] swordsmanship talent and weapon mastery.

As for Moonbound’s active effect, it was similar to the Rainbow Sky Sword. The Rainbow Sky Sword caused mass blindness, while Moonbound caused mass slow.

Originally, one had to be touched by Moonbound to feel their body stiffen. Now, just being illuminated by this light would make one’s blood circulation feel sluggish.

Then, a scene that the noble young masters and ladies of Saint Louis found somewhat amusing appeared.

Hall walked straight towards Dylan with Moonbound, but Dylan couldn’t raise the blade in his hand.

This Young Master Howard still had the will to raise his sword, so this half-raised, half-not-raised appearance looked quite comical.

Unfortunately, due to the Howard family’s power, no one dared to laugh.

Lenny, on the other hand, was completely disconnected, unable to move from his spot.

Because he was only level forty-something, and the level difference with Hall was too great. Someone had once said that a ninety-nine percent slow was equivalent to a stun.

Then Hall didn’t say much more and easily gave Dylan a slash with the liberated Moonbound. This slash only slightly broke Dylan’s skin, and the wound didn’t look big.

It didn’t even bleed, there was only a red dot.

But Hall knew that the cold qi from Moonbound had entered his body. Without a few months of recuperation, he probably wouldn’t get better. Even if he did, there would be side effects.

It was impossible to kill him directly, so he would just cripple him a little first.

To eliminate the threat of the Howard family, he had to slowly trim their wings. He was in no hurry.

As for Lenny, he wasn’t so lucky.

He shouted, “Don’t come over.”

But Hall directly pierced Lenny’s thigh with his sword.

The pain made him scream and faint directly.

No one in the crowd dared to come up and stop him.

Young Master Howard wanted to stop him but couldn’t. His body was still stiff and he couldn’t move normally. He was even a little afraid that Hall would give him a slash like that too.

And, this Hall stirred his memory.

This guy, back when their summer camp was attacked by foreign terrorists.

Their group of noble young masters were scared to death and hid behind the instructor.

But Hall and the little girl sponsored by the Child family were able to achieve results and were even specially praised for it.

Dylan still remembered that a young master from another country’s ducal family had tried to flirt with the girl next to Hall and used some dirty tricks, but failed. Instead, Hall had pierced his palm with a dagger.

He had originally forgotten that bloody scene.

Now, looking at Lenny, it all came back.

Damn it, that little devil of the Faxtius family was back.

That’s right, they had all called Hall that back then. Hall was the devil that haunted their minds.

Making them fear and be jealous.

“Then, this Knight’s Rite ends here.”

Looking at the pained Lenny.

Hall knew this guy couldn’t cause any more trouble. Being pierced by Moonbound like this, unless he used some rare items, he was basically crippled.

Lenny’s family’s resources couldn’t cure him.

Until now, no one dared to speak.

Only a few young masters who were on good terms with Lenny quickly carried him away. If they didn’t send him for medical treatment soon, he might be gone.

Dylan was still recalling the fear of being dominated by Hall as a child, and Ye Wangxue was also silent.

It had happened too fast.

She couldn’t understand Hall.

She wanted to speak but didn’t know what to say. Her feelings were complicated.

“Apologize to my fiancée, Dylan.”

Hall hadn’t planned on letting this young master of the Howard family go. For a mid-game mini-boss like Dylan, if you weren’t ruthless to him in the plot, he would think you were a pushover.

He would think you were afraid of his status as a duke’s son, and would definitely come back for revenge after he recovered.

On the contrary, if the player went all out from the beginning, this guy would stay quiet until the Howard family’s noble faction suppressed the new nobles like the Faxtius and Von Braun families.

But that was usually in the mid-to-late game when the world was about to change and the situation between the East and West continents was extremely tense.

The enemy would naturally not be a clown character like Dylan.

“Hall, you!”

Dylan didn’t expect Hall to be so ruthless.

But the black-haired young man didn’t answer his words, just pressed the tip of Moonbound to his chest.

Feeling that coldness, Dylan didn’t dare to move.

He was afraid that if he didn’t apologize, Hall would really make a move.

No matter how much conflict he had with Hall, he couldn’t gamble with his own future. After all, he wasn’t the only son in the Howard family. If he was crippled or gone.

His younger brothers would probably be the first to pop champagne.

He had no choice but to bow his head to Ye Wangxue in front of the many noble children of Saint Louis who had come today.

He placed one hand on his chest and said with some reluctance.

“Today, I was rude to a beauty. If I have caused the princess any displeasure, Dylan is willing to apologize to you.”

When he finished saying this, Dylan’s first reaction was that it was over.

He knew he was finished.

Today, he had completely brought this upon himself. If he had challenged Hall to a Knight’s Rite alone without so many witnesses.

Losing wouldn’t have had much of an impact.

But now, tomorrow, even if their family invested money in the media of Saint Louis to control public opinion, the noble circles would all know that he had lost to Hall one-on-one.

He had been mercilessly crushed, and in the end, as the son of a Western duke, he had to apologize so humiliatingly to an Eastern princess.

This matter would almost make him forever suppressed by Hall, with no chance of ever turning things around.

And the family mission he carried, to one day unite the Black Knight Order and become its commander, was basically over.

“Alright, that’s it then. Are you satisfied?”

Hall looked back at Ye Wangxue as he spoke. He just wanted to go through the motions.

But he didn’t expect this princess with a plum blossom mark between her eyebrows to suddenly coo in a soft, flirtatious voice.

“I’m satisfied. I’ll listen to whatever you say~”

Actually, in the past, Ye Wangxue’s temper would have made Dylan kneel directly. If he didn’t kneel, this matter wouldn’t have been over.

But she didn’t want to be too assertive now. After all, she still had to make Hall like her, and most men didn’t like overly assertive women.

But it was Hall who was stunned for a moment, thinking, ‘What does Ye Wangxue mean?’ According to this girl’s personality, it was unlikely for her to become like this just because he had saved her once.

As for the other onlookers, their feelings were very complicated. Seeing that Hall had won and seemed to be showing affection to his fiancée, they all wanted to run away.

Staying here any longer would just be torture.

Dylan, on the other hand, let out a long sigh of relief. If he had really kneeled to Ye Wangxue today, it would have been better to just kill him.

So he carefully asked Hall if he could leave.

Hall just waved his hand. He had no interest in targeting Dylan anymore. Ye Wangxue’s strange behavior was much more terrifying to him than Dylan.

Then Dylan was helped away by a few of his lackeys. The other onlooking noble children didn’t dare to stay any longer. Seeing that their backer couldn’t hold up, they were afraid that Hall would remember them and seek revenge in the future.

Xiao Lu also looked at Ye Wangxue with a worried expression.

She was worried about her princess’s mental state.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Hall looked at Ye Wangxue. He didn’t need to be an actor with her. They had met in the Underground Street, and Ye Wangxue had definitely recognized him.

The Ye Wangxue at that time was the normal Ye Wangxue.

“What’s wrong with me?”

“You…”

Ye Wangxue opened her watery eyes wide and stared at him. It was unlikely for any man not to be moved.

If it weren’t for Hall knowing her personality, he would have really been fooled by her.

Ye Wangxue had always been a person of action. Once she set a goal, she would do it. She was very brave and had a strong personality, not a soft girl at all.

Especially in some plot lines, according to a certain player on the forum, Ye Wangxue even had a… line, but that player said that Hall had been used to replenish mana to level up the team not long after the start, and then Ye Wangxue had killed him. Later, the level couldn’t keep up, and the… line was halfway through when it was over.

“What’s wrong with me?”

“Can you be normal? Stop acting cute.”

“How am I not normal!”

Ye Wangxue was so angry she almost couldn’t keep up the act. She thought, ‘So you think I have nothing to do with cute, and only that duchess you kissed is cute, right?’

But the effect of the Ethereal Spirit Powder hadn’t worn off yet, and her fist hitting Hall’s chest was soft and weak.

This made Xiao Lu’s worldview crumble a little.

But she didn’t dare to speak up. It wasn’t appropriate to discuss the princess in front of her. At most, she could ask in private.

Now Hall was very embarrassed. He didn’t quite understand what Ye Wangxue wanted, so he could only say.

“Are you really going to enroll?”

“Of course, and I’m in the same class as you.”

“Then I…”

Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly heard another familiar voice.

“Hall, I knew you’d be here.”

…

The person who had arrived was Himan. The first class was already over.

Seeing that Hall hadn’t come to the classroom yet, she thought, ‘Could he have proposed to break off the engagement with Ye Wangxue?’ At that time, the public opinion in Saint Louis would probably explode.

So she was about to ask for leave to go find him.

But she saw a lot of people here from the top of the Swordsmanship Academy’s teaching building.

She grabbed a student who was returning and asked, only to find out that Hall and Ye Wangxue were here.

Through yesterday’s observation, she knew that this sister-in-law of hers who hadn’t even married into the family yet was not the type to suffer in silence.

She was afraid that Ye Wangxue and Hall would fight.

But when she arrived, she saw Ye Wangxue flirtingly punching Hall’s chest with her small fists.

This immediately made her heart beat faster and her mood inexplicably annoyed.

“There was just a small matter. I dealt with Dylan and Lenny.”

“What?”

Himan looked at Moonbound in Hall’s hand. She had seen this weapon before.

Although when she went to find Ye Wangxue last night, Ye Wangxue had already repelled the assassins, she had a deep impression of Moonbound.

It was Ye Wangxue’s personal sword, and now Ye Wangxue’s personal sword was actually in Hall’s hand?!

“It’s nothing. You’ll know by tomorrow at the latest.”

“Don’t keep me in suspense!”

“Cousin, Hall was very impressive just now. He won a one-on-two Knight’s Rite.”

Ye Wangxue had started.

She knew Hall wanted to break off the engagement, so how could she let the Hall who had fooled her have his way?

She could also see that Himan supported Hall in breaking off the engagement. So as long as she changed Himan’s attitude towards her and made Himan think she was not bad, it would be fine. It would be best if she could also win the favor of Himan’s mother.

According to the procedure, it seemed that she should go to Himan’s house for a visit tonight.

“Huh?”

Himan was very surprised. The noble student she had just asked hadn’t mentioned this at all.

“You won a one-on-two against Dylan and Lenny?”

“Yes, it was quite lucky. Thanks to Princess Ye’s weapon.”

Hall’s usual luck.

But Himan felt that he was being modest, and even got a little angry again.

She thought, ‘Can’t you tell the truth in front of your own family?’

It was the same in the Underground Street and when he defeated Tarasha.

And Hall had specifically mentioned Ye Wangxue’s weapon, which made her feel sour.

“How can you be so shameless? You abandoned the girl at home yesterday to go find Leticia, and today you’re using her weapon. What about your own personal sword?”

This made Hall a little surprised. He wondered what kind of temper Himan was throwing.

“It’s okay, cousin. There’s no need to be so particular between an engaged couple. If Hall wants to use it, let him. It’s no big deal.”

Ye Wangxue chose to defuse the situation.

But seeing Hall being unreasonably scolded, she still felt a little happy inside.

“That’s not the issue. The issue is…”

Himan wanted to continue, but she froze. She didn’t know why she was angry either.

Anyway, she just felt very unhappy about Hall using Ye Wangxue’s weapon.

“Sigh, cousin, his weapon seems to be broken, and he has no weapon to use. Let’s not blame him~”

This time, Himan was too embarrassed to continue targeting Hall.

But at this moment, she untied the pure white scabbard at her waist and then threw the knight’s sword [Oath of Purity], which was a family heirloom, to Hall.

“Use this for now. What kind of man relies on his fiancée? When your uncle gives you a new weapon, you can return it to me.”

“That’s not appropriate, Himan. Relying on a cousin and relying on a fiancée, it’s pretty much the same.”

Hall didn’t dare to accept it.

Although [Oath of Purity] was only a heritage-grade weapon, it was also a symbol of the Von Braun family’s hundred years of glory. Back then, Himan’s great-grandfather had been able to become an official and a duke not only because his swordsmanship was famous in Saint Louis and he was brave in battle.

It was mainly because in the war between the East and West continents a hundred years ago, he had protected the royal family. When the Eastern army broke through the Holy Cross army’s line, he had saved half of the royal family’s life.

And after the war, as a reward, this weapon, which had been specially blessed by that saintess, was bestowed upon the Von Braun family and passed down from generation to generation.

In the game, its attack attribute was not high, but it had visible recovery and negative status resistance effects. Although it was not as good as the weapon that came with Christine’s route, this kind of weapon was never too much to have when dealing with special situations.

And its appearance was very cool.

But what was even more fatal was that triggering the plot where Himan gave this sword to a certain heroine was basically equivalent to completing eighty to ninety percent of the攻略.

Ye Wangxue, on the other hand, was silent. She thought, ‘Doesn’t Himan hate Hall?’

But she always felt that something was a bit strange.

“Whatever you want. As a noble, you can’t be lax with your spare sword.”

Himan emphasized, “Anyway, whether it’s Leticia or your fiancée, you can’t rely on them too much.”

“I know.”

That was Hall’s original intention, but he always felt that Leticia was really going to turn dark, and this Ye Wangxue had also suddenly become strange today.

Then he continued, “The Seventh Princess Ye has just completed the admission procedures. Why don’t we go back to the second class now?”

…

Himan, Hall, and Ye Wangxue went to the teaching building of the Swordsmanship Academy.

As it happened, the class advisor was waiting outside the classroom. When he saw Ye Wangxue, he of course greeted her enthusiastically.

The class advisor was just a worker, and the other party was, after all, a princess of Great Xia.

Today, he was really terrified. Duchess Leticia, who had originally transferred to the class next door, had quickly transferred to their class this morning and was now sitting in the seat to Hall’s left.

Then he said that since this was Ye Wangxue’s first time in class, she might as well introduce herself.

Hall thought that wasn’t necessary. The nobles of the Western Continent were severely prejudiced against the Eastern Continent, and Ye Wangxue didn’t have the time for that.

But he didn’t expect Ye Wangxue to agree immediately.

Then the four of them entered the classroom. Hall, Himan, and the class advisor stood at the door, while Ye Wangxue went up to the podium to introduce herself.

“Hello everyone, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I am the Seventh Princess of Great Xia—Ye Wangxue. I came to Saint Louis yesterday to fulfill my marriage contract with Hall Faxtius. The current public opinion may suggest that our engagement is not going smoothly, but as the person involved, I would like to clarify to everyone here that these are all rumors from unscrupulous media…”

Hearing this, Hall suddenly felt that something was wrong.

But it was too late. He saw Ye Wangxue tilt her head, and with a smile that bloomed like a camellia, she looked at him and said.

“Right, darling?”

He was not bewitched by this smile that was enough to topple nations, because Leticia was in the classroom!