Chapter 88: A Royal Challenge: The Snow Princess’s Debut

On East Gate Avenue, Imperial Prince Kleiman greeted the Snow Princess with a warm smile, bending to kiss her hand.

“Finally, I meet you, Your Highness Snow. You are indeed as beautiful as the rumors claim,” Prince Kleiman said, looking up with a smile. “I wonder, for one who was once refused in marriage by you, is there still a chance today?”

“Thank you for your regard, Your Highness Kleiman, but I fear not. I have many matters to attend to and no leisure to consider marriage,” the Snow Princess replied calmly.

“Still as aloof as the rumors say,” Prince Kleiman sighed deeply.

“Does that displease you?” the Snow Princess inquired, her tone remaining chillingly detached.

“No, before your beauty, that is no flaw at all. Rather, it is precisely this temperament that perfects your unique allure,” Prince Kleiman chuckled heartily.

“Hmph, what a lavish display of flattery,” a female attendant behind Prince Kleiman suddenly muttered under her breath.

Her voice was faint, inaudible to the surrounding onlookers, yet Prince Kleiman and the Snow Princess heard it with perfect clarity.

The Snow Princess’s expression remained unmarred by the ill-timed remark. She merely raised a delicate eyebrow. “Your Highness, you’ve brought quite an interesting attendant today.”

“Such venomous words towards one’s master are inappropriate, Eve, especially on such an important occasion,” Kleiman admonished his female attendant without turning his head, maintaining his smile.

“I am always thus. If you knew I’d speak out of turn and still insisted on dragging me here, then surely, Your Highness, the problem lies with you,” the attendant retorted without a hint of deference.

“Be more open-minded, Eve. There’s no need to be jealous of me speaking with other girls; Her Highness Snow has already rejected my proposal,” Kleiman’s smile never faltered.

“To still be able to smile after being scorned to such an extent, can you just die, Your Highness?” The attendant uttered words that absolutely should not have been spoken.

Kleiman, however, merely offered the Snow Princess an apologetic smile. “My sincerest apologies, Your Highness Snow. My attendant is rather lacking in etiquette.”

“No, I truly find it quite interesting.” For the first time, the Snow Princess offered a faint smile. Though fleeting, as if a mere courtesy for the occasion, it was a smile nonetheless. “Is Your Highness here to test me today?”

His Highness Kleiman had never met her before, but in the past, he had proposed marriage to the Winter Kingdom through envoys, only to be rejected by the Snow Princess.

This incident had subjected the empire’s Second Prince to considerable covert ridicule. Everyone whispered that the ‘Happy Prince,’ a supposed good-for-nothing, had been blinded by his own optimism, foolishly attempting to pluck an ice flower from the Winter Snow Ridge with his bare hands.

Yet, the Snow Princess understood clearly that royal marriages were tools of power. The Second Prince’s proposal was less an expression of interest in the Winter Princess and more a blatant test of the Winter Kingdom itself.

The Winter Kingdom maintained its own intelligence network within the empire. The Snow Princess had once used it to investigate the Second Prince, only for the seasoned spy to mysteriously vanish during the process.

Therefore, the Snow Princess had long known that this Second Prince, who outwardly presented himself as a mere pleasure-seeker, was far from simple.

Just as now, regardless of whether the female attendant’s sharp tongue was an act or her true nature, it was likely a deliberate arrangement by the Second Prince. The Snow Princess, however, had yet to discern precisely what His Highness intended to achieve with this attendant.

“You flatter me,” the Second Prince continued to smile. “It is the Snow Princess of Winter who truly astounds, personally coming to fulfill our nations’ agreement. Such courage, I deeply admire.”

“After all, I have long yearned for the empire’s highest academy. Is Your Highness guiding my tour today?” The Snow Princess wished to bypass the elaborate pleasantries and get straight to the point.

“That is certainly no problem, but before that, I have something I wish to discuss with Your Highness Snow,” Kleiman said with unusual politeness.

“Please, speak.”

“Your Highness Snow is so young, yet already capable of serving as a lecturer at the Sacred Hall Academy. It is truly astonishing, though it is difficult to say…” Kleiman paused deliberately.

“Difficult to convince others?” the Snow Princess finished for him. “Someone is questioning me, aren’t they?”

“Oh dear, I never said that!” Kleiman quickly raised his hands in a gesture of innocence.

“But I did,” the female attendant interjected suddenly. “Although I work for this foolish prince, I also hold a兼职lecturer position at this academy. My rank is ‘Mage,’ Princess. To be frank, not only I, but many lecturers in the inner院, doubt your abilities.”

“Merely because of my age?” the Snow Princess asked.

“Something like that, Your Highness. After all, your age isn’t much different from the students here,” Eve stated, her gaze fixed on the Snow Princess’s eyes, her expression unfriendly. “Traditionally, the Winter Kingdom sends highly skilled mages here each year. Besides teaching students, they also guide us imperial lecturers. This is crucial for our agreement. I hope you aren’t simply here to draw attention by coming under such a pretense—”

Before she could finish, Prince Kleiman quickly raised a hand to interrupt her, then apologized to the Snow Princess. “My sincerest apologies, Your Highness. This subordinate is truly excessive; I will punish her severely later!”

“Aren’t these words precisely what Your Highness Kleiman intended for me to hear? Just tell me directly what you intend to do,” the Snow Princess said, her eyes fixed on Kleiman’s.

“Oh, Your Highness, how can you say that? I swear I never instructed her beforehand, nor did I expect her to be so insubordinate towards you,” Prince Kleiman chuckled innocently. “However, I do have an idea. Today is the enrollment day for new students at Sacred Hall Academy. According to tradition, to motivate new students to strive for the inner院, the Ivory White Tower sends three lecturers each year to perform the Miracles of the Blessed for them. Coincidentally, Eve is the representative lecturer for ‘Mages.'”

“So?” the Snow Princess asked.

“How about this: we change the ‘Mage’ solo performance into a more exciting combat demonstration? What do you say to you and Eve facing off? We’ll stop before any harm is done,” Kleiman proposed his long-prepared suggestion.

“So, you planned to use me as a pawn from the start,” Eve said, glancing at Kleiman with a huff. “Fine, whatever. I just wonder if Her Highness will care for her precious self.”

“Is this your true objective, then?” The Snow Princess nodded. “Very well, I have no objections.”

It seemed the Second Prince’s ultimate goal was to test her strength!

However, she didn’t mind showcasing it. In fact, such an opportunity was precisely what she needed.

“Excellent!” Prince Kleiman clapped his hands in praise. Then, he suddenly raised both arms, turning to the onlookers, and loudly announced that the Snow Princess would be serving as a lecturer at Sacred Hall Academy and would perform in a combat demonstration for the new students.

The surrounding crowd immediately erupted in excitement.

Alice’s side was no exception.

“Alright, looks like there’s some excitement to be had,” the leading senior student said, crossing their arms with a smile.

Only Alice’s expression grew solemn.

The Snow Princess was going to be a lecturer at Sacred Hall Academy? This was utterly baffling. When they had met by chance on the street that day, Alice had assumed the princess was merely on a routine diplomatic visit to the empire. She had expected to never see the princess again after a few days, once the news of the ‘Winter Kingdom Princess’s visit’ had passed.

Yet, this Princess was leaving her throne vacant to personally teach in a foreign country? What kind of logic was this?

However, after her previous lapse in composure, Alice was remarkably calm this time.

There was no need to panic. The witch’s intuition had not reacted significantly to the Snow Princess, indicating that this princess posed no immediate major threat to her destiny. Most likely, just as the Duchess had analyzed, the Snow Princess hadn’t remembered her, an insignificant nobody.

“Let’s go, we’re heading to the inner院 arena,” the senior student leading the tour announced with a wave of their hand.