66. The Air of Joy

First, with a wave of his hand, the bodyguards who received the order surged forward. For the leader of a family, this was indeed a bit impressive, a bit of a show of power, a sense of being unrivaled. But…

If the hand was waved, yet his subordinates remained unmoving, then both the onlookers and the parties involved could clearly feel the immense awkwardness. This was no longer just a matter of “looking bad.”

Jack and Mary’s movements immediately froze, followed by a surrounding silence that transformed their actions from “arrogant” to “ridiculous.” In the next moment, they turned to the “bodyguards” they had brought with them.

“What are you still doing standing there!?”

“Can’t you understand orders!?”

……

The scene quieted down after the two reprimands, met with the uniform silence of the rows of black-clad bodyguards. If one were to say these men were cowed and afraid to act, that would be one thing; however, their simultaneous disregard for Jack and Mary’s commands made the atmosphere among the bodyguards on Lin Ke’s side lively.

It was not often that the heads of two prominent families made such a spectacle of themselves.

After a brief moment of irritation, it was clear that these two, having risen to the position of family heads, were no fools. They quickly sensed a hint of crisis. So, it was time for me to speak up.

“What’s the matter, esteemed family heads? Let me guess—your bodyguards aren’t responding, are they? Not listening to you?”

Unbeknownst to me, Lin Ke had already stood up, making way for me, placing me directly in front of the man and woman before me.

“Care to guess whether it’s because you haven’t paid your bodyguards enough? Or perhaps it’s because we’ve already bought them off?”

At this, Jack and Mary, the heads of their respective families, were truly stunned into silence.

As for that question, they would never guess the answer, for it was the result of the fire fairy, Jias, after her “command.” I hadn’t brought Ke Fei Er and Ni Lu into this negotiation; this was something I could handle on my own without troubling the two big shots. All I needed was Jias, who had come along at Ni Lu’s behest.

Under her “command,” Jack and Mary’s bodyguards wouldn’t just fail to respond to orders; even if a fierce battle broke out, they would stand there like puppets. After all, their true “command” was simply to stand still like wood.

Such a bizarre occurrence would surely be detected immediately by enemies in places like the Great Yng Empire: it was caused by strange magic! But for Jack and Mary, who had never encountered magic in their novice village, it was no different from being haunted. So, before either of them could react, I added the final remark for Lin Ke.

“Also, don’t think about leaking any dirt on us. If you dare to speak, our family will speak too—let’s see who can say more.”

“Furthermore, do you two nouveau riche have any misconceptions about ‘royalty’ and ‘princesses’? No matter how down-and-out a princess is, she remains a princess and will be the first target for support from other nations. At the very least… she’s not someone like you two, who are just rich fools.”

Then, I patted Lin Ke on the shoulder, still in a daze, urging her and the accompanying bodyguards to leave swiftly and decisively. This left Jack and Mary, the two family heads, nearly recovering from their shock, now frightened by the wooden behavior of their own bodyguards.

Phew~ With this, Lin Ke could easily seize the territory of the Pig family, right? The earlier negotiation was essentially a “spoils-sharing conference,” and I had no intention of being polite with the heads of the other two families.

Leaving the Hexagon Building, located in the heart of the kingdom’s capital, preparing transportation was indeed troublesome and time-consuming. So, Lin Ke chose to walk both ways. Just as our group was marching along, which could be considered a “triumphant return,” I spoke up beside Lin Ke.

“Forget about the responses from those two families. Immediately take over the territory of the Pig family. If you encounter any difficult issues, just let me know.”

The advantage of the Pig family lay in their control over the most “territory” within the Meri United Kingdom among the four major families. This was a stroke of luck for me, as it meant that if Lin Ke successfully “seized the territory,” it would make my search for the bloodline of the white-haired elves much easier.

“Y-yes…”

Though she nodded in agreement immediately, Lin Ke’s face did not show the joy one would expect after gaining such a significant advantage. Instead, she kept staring at my profile, and when I glanced over, she revealed a bitter smile, one that suggested she was becoming flustered after lying.

I certainly know what Lin Ke is thinking right now.

“Sorry, Mr. Oujili De, it’s not that I intended to conceal anything; it’s just for the sake of confidentiality, and… this isn’t exactly a ‘secret’ that one can proudly share with others.”

【Lin Ke is an orphan.】

The script reveals more about Lin Ke’s “background,” but that’s no longer important, because at this moment, Lin Ke continues to speak to me, albeit a bit awkwardly.

“As you can see, I’m an orphan. Orphans like me are quite common in some of the poorer districts of the Meri United Kingdom. You could think of us as little bandits who will do anything to survive.”

“And then, when I was still a little girl, the head of the family ‘picked me up’ and said I was a ‘descendant of a princess’… Haha~ Even if someone tells me that, I don’t really feel anything. What royal family is there in the Meri United Kingdom?”

“So, I don’t have much to say about the head of the family’s teachings. After all, if he hadn’t taken me in, orphans my age would either be robbers or become cheap, low-quality prostitutes, not to mention anything about being a ‘supreme leader’~ Aha!”

Some scripts suddenly appeared in my mind. Now that Lin Ke has reached this point, I finally understand some of the “confusions” I had earlier. So…

“Alright, you don’t have to force yourself to continue. You don’t need to pay attention to what those nouveau riche heads of the family say. A person’s birth never represents everything; you just need to know that you are the supreme leader now, and that’s enough.”

“…Mm.”

Lin Ke’s eyes brightened considerably, and on the way back, she didn’t initiate any further conversation with me.

Although I had some questions, I thought… it would be better to protect Lin Ke’s sensitive girl’s heart today and not ask for now. Moreover, Lin Ke probably wouldn’t be able to answer those questions anyway.

While it’s certainly possible to explore the hidden truths about Lin Ke’s birth, that can wait. The key point right now is…

How was the “birth” secret, which Lin Ke and Rose would definitely want to keep under wraps, uncovered by those two seemingly powerless heads of the family, Jack and Mary? If it was merely a matter of coincidental “gossip,” then that would be an unreasonably precise guess, wouldn’t it?