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Chapter 304: Extreme Training Methods

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After walking two blocks, Anfey stopped and rented a carriage from a nearby shop. This was because the four elves walking next to him were too eye-catching. Even though elves were the most beautiful and brilliant creatures in the world, they had mostly retreated away from the spotlight and into the forests. In most places, elves were rare.

Due to the elves' beauty and rareness, most people had come to desire elves. Perhaps because people knew that they were inferior to elves, they would capture and enslave elves out of retaliation. Because of this, most people did not treat elves with friendliness.

Luckily, this was Sacred City, where no one was who they seemed to be. No one wanted to start anything for no reason. Niya could do whatever she wanted because she was Saul's daughter. Zeda could do whatever he wanted because his grandfather was Philip. It was a rare sight to see someone walking around carelessly with four elves. No one wanted to go near people with four elves, so Anfey made it to the carriage shop with no trouble.

This was proof that elves were no longer the most important species in the world, and instead were treated like slaves. If Anfey had four beautiful human women with him, he would not have attracted so much attention. This was because even though the human women were of low status, they were still human and had rights. Elves, on the other hand, would be considered properties. Killing a maid would be considered murder because she was a human, but killing an elf would be considered damaging property.

People with elves would always carefully hide them. Displaying elves the way Anfey did was very dangerous. According to official laws, if someone tried to attack the elves and Anfey fought back, he would not be charged. If he wasn't there, however, he could do nothing about it. Anfey's knowledge of this world was improving, but he was still ignorant of a lot of customs and unspoken rules. Unlike other people, he considered the elves to be human's equal and potential allies. He did not grow up in this world and did not have the prejudice that people in this world held against the elves.

When he left the carriage shop, he noticed that the streets were emptier than before. After seeing him disappear into the carriage shop, people had figured out who he was. A lot of people had run off to talk to their friends about who they had just seen.

After he killed Zeda and Shamash, he had made a name for himself. It seemed like he would brutally murder the children of whoever offended him, and that made people afraid of crossing him. Plus, he was still alive and was made a count. This showed that he was supported by not only the archmage Saul but also the king, Yolanthe. Most people did not want to do anything to offend their king. It was better to just stay away from Anfey than to accidentally offend him and have their entire family murdered.

The carriage was stopped by the palace guards when it came up to Saul's mansion. Anfey lifted the curtain and nodded at the palace guards. Seeing that he was authorized to be near Saul's house, the palace guards allowed the carriage through. The servants in the courtyard all frowned when they saw the elves. Even in Sacred City, elves were rare, and they had never seen anyone foolish enough to display elves like that.

The old butler hurried over and asked, "My lord, they are…?"

"My maids," Anfey said. "Find some rooms for them."

"There are two empty rooms next to the lady's room."

Anfey shook his head. "Aren't there empty rooms on the first floor? Put them there." He did not know the elves and did not trust them. If they lived close to Niya, they could become good friends with her. Since the elves' intention was still unclear, they might try to use Niya as an informant.

"There's only one empty room," the old butler reminded him.

"Try cleaning it up. We can't put them next to Lady Niya, can we? It's not exactly safe."

The old butler nodded. "I'll see it done."

"Where's Suzanna?"

"In your room, I believe. And Lord Entos is looking for you. He wants to meet you in his room."

"Did he tell you what he wanted to talk about?"

"No, but he seemed troubled. He even ran into a maid today. Almost pushed the poor girl down the stairs."

"You sure he's not just taking advantage of her?" Anfey asked with a smile.

"Lord Entos isn't like that," the old butler said.

"I'll go find him then," Anfey said. He saw the elves following him and waved his hand. "Go with him to clean up your room a bit."

"Come with me, my ladies," the old butler said, turning around and waiting for the elves.

The elves watched Anfey disappear; all four were frowning. None of them wanted to go to the human world. To these elves, just being around humans was degrading. However, they were pressured by their elders and had to sacrifice themselves. They had to learn more about humans in order to destroy humans and take back elves' rightful place as the most intelligent species. They were frustrated and angered that the man they had to serve would not even spare them a glance. Anfey's actions clearly did not help lessen the elves' hatred for humans.

Anfey stopped in front of Entos's room and knocked on the door. "Who is it?" he heard Entos ask.

"It's me."

"Come in."

Anfey pushed open the door and walked into the room. Entos was alone in the room and was sitting by a table. "I've been waiting for you," Entos said.

"I heard you tried flirting with a girl today," Anfey said, smiling.

"Not true," Entos said. "Sit down."

"Everyone's talking about it."

"Doesn't make it true," Entos said. "I thought you'd be smart enough to distinguish the lies from the truth."

"Is she pretty?"

"That is none of your business," Entos said. "Just like it is not mine. I have to talk to you."

"Tell me," Anfey said. He wanted to disrupt Entos's thought process and get more information, even though Entos was clearly not falling for it.

Entos frowned and said quietly, "I never thought magic and combat power could be a powerful combination. Do you really want to become a paladin?"

"Yes."

"I can teach you some of the things I learned about magic, especially about teleportation, but we have to settle two things first."

"What is it?"

"First, my methods are very extreme. You've only used teleportation once, so you won't understand the pain of using teleportation dozens, even hundreds, of times a day." Entos paused as if waiting for Anfey to understand his words. "Of course, you can use other methods, but you won't ever reach my level. I am confident to say that when it comes to teleportation, I am the best in the world."

"I see," Anfey said. "I don't mind extreme methods. That shouldn't be a problem."

Entos looked at Anfey, then nodded. "Call me curious, but if you want to be a paladin, why aren't you practicing combat power? You have Suzanna and Christian, both of whom would make great teachers. But you aren't practicing with them. You know another way to do it, don't you? And you know that whatever way you're doing it would be more powerful than combat power. Am I wrong?"

Anfey froze. He stared at Entos, shocked. He thought his secret was better guarded and never thought someone else would see through his lie so easily.

Chapter 305: Dadao

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Don't think too much about it. I was just curious; didn't mean to pry into your secrets. If you don't want to talk about it, we can switch topics," Entos said.

"It's not really a secret. Professor and Uncle Ernest know a little about it," Anfey said.

"Are you suggesting that they are not pressing you for your secrets like I am?" Entos said. He was quiet for a while, then said, "Anfey, you should know how important it is. Professor and Master Ernest did not ask you about it only because they respect you and did not want to make you feel offended. You cannot keep it secret forever though. No one knows how a brand new and unique practice method could benefit Pan Continent. Luckily, others do not yet know much about you. They only know that you have learned from a supreme power. Their curiosity stops there. However, if they found out that you know another way to train, you would have a lot more trouble."

"Well, I do not think my secret would get out, would it?" Anfey smiled.

"If I could tell you have a different training method, so can others." Entos shook his head. "There is never an absolute secret. Do you know why Evil Mist wanted you?"

"Sort of, but I'm not quite sure," Anfey said.

"You killed their people in Home of Roses Hotel in Tumen Commercial Union. King Yolanthe and Evil Mist investigated it at the time. They both targeted you at the end of the investigation," Entos said slowly. "King Yolanthe also talked to the professor about you. Master Ernest had already talked to Saul about the existence of supreme powers. He believed the mysterious old man who taught you sword skills in your hometown could very possibly be a supreme power. Ernest said your sword skills were very sharp and powerful. You had fighting ability even though you did not have any combat power. He believed that mysterious old man's power would be unimaginable. Professor did not want anyone else to know about your secrets, but King Yolanthe pressed him very hard. He was very suspicious about your background and even wanted to catch you to interrogate you. Professor had to tell the king about Master Ernest's speculation."

"I see," Anfey said,smiling bitterly. He finally realized why he had such doubts about the situation.

"It should be a secret, shouldn't it? Only the king, professor, and Master Ernest knew about it, but in the end, Evil Mist got to know about Master Ernest's speculation somehow," Entos said, smiling. "Don't think that any of those three sold you out. You know, no matter how trivial it could be, everything had to be recorded in the palace and kept on file. The person who was in charge of those files was the commander of Storm mercenary group. I do not know him, never saw him either, but I know his loyalty cannot be questions, otherwise, the king would not be alive today. Later, they figured out what went wrong. When the king found out your secrets had leaked out, he was furious about it. He ordered the commander of Storm mercenary group to do a thorough investigation. They found out at the end that the person whose job was to put words in magic crystals leaked your secrets out. Unfortunately, when secret agents rushed to his home, he was already dead."

"What happened afterwards?" Anfey asked.

"The professor got really mad and even advocated with the king on your behalf. Anfey, the professor has been nice to you because of who you are. It doesn't matter whether you are a fool or a smart guy with all the secrets. You are his student. He will do what is best for you." Entos sighed. "However, the king is different than our professor. If there were nothing of interest to him, would he protect you? In Violet City, you had a personal fight with someone in public and killed an heir of a marquis. If it were Philip, he would have thought about the consequences of doing that before he did anything. Just like right now, he did not dare trouble you. You had the excuse of managing the city. If you could find an excuse for your behavior, those government officials could have found hundreds ways to against you. Were you the city master of Violet City? Did you get your official appointment yet?"

"I know all of these things," Anfey said. "I killed Shamash for two reasons. One was to better control and manage Violet City; the other was to test the king."

"It's good that you considered these things," Entos said, nodding. "In fact, I agree with you. If I were you, I would never let Marquis Djoser live. Since you already had a conflict with him, why would you let him live if you knew he hated you with a passion? I heard Marquis Djoser had brought people to the military camp in Violet city. You should have killed him back then when it was in chaos, in case later he would make more trouble for you."

"He is a marquis no matter what," Anfey said, smiling bitterly.

"You are still a little timid," Entos said.

Anfey opened his mouth, wanting to ask if he was too timid or Entos was not afraid of anything, but he decided against it.

"He will be your pain in the neck. Marquis Djoser will definitely make trouble for you. As long as he is in Violet City, there would be no peace," Entos said.

"Don't you know?" Anfey was shocked for a second before he asked, "Didn't Master Mioritch tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Entos asked.

"Marquis Djoser asked someone to help him. He asked Master Jacob to help him," Anfey said.

"He must be a nut!" Entos was startled to hear that. He said, "Did he really ask Master Jacob to fight against you? He'd better kill himself right now. It's better than die from being too upset and angry later."

"I don't think he knows about the relationship between Master Jacob and our professor," Anfey said.

"Probably not! Almost no one knows his plans. He likes to do things on his own. Some people even think he died a long time ago," Entos said.

"Hagan was startled when he saw Master Jacob," Anfey said.

"Hmmm…" Entos raised an eyebrow. "Master Jacob should come to Sacred City soon. I need to remind our professor not let anyone know about Master Jacob coming. Marquis Djoser has been close with Prince Wester. It seems that Philip is on Wester's side now as well. If Master Jacob were seen by Philip, he would make trouble," Entos said.

"Brother Entos, that's incredible. You have thought about everything," Anfey said.

"Stop it!" Entos stood up, smiling. He suddenly paused and went quiet for a second. He turned to give Anfey a weird look. "Almost, I almost fell for it."

"Brother Entos, what do you mean?" Anfey asked.

"Anfey, I think you are good at distracting people." Entos sat back down. "You have not answered my question yet. Do you know another way to train yourself? I need a definite answer."

"Yes." Anfey could not dodge this question anymore.

"What kind of practice is it? Can you tell me about it?" Entos asked.

"How to put it?" Anfey thought for moment about how to put it into words, then said, "It seems similar to the practice of combat power but quite the opposite. That old man called this practice "Dadao". I learned quite a lot about combat power from Suzanna. Combat power is to push the power out to protect the practitioner and attack the opponents, while Dadao is more introverted power, which keeps the power in the body. The person who practices Dadao is a weapon himself. Weapons, such as spears, swords and other metal weapons are not necessary for Dadao practitioners."

"Can you talk more about it in detail?" Entos asked.

"In our bodies, there are three main energy channels, the conception vessel, the governing vessel, and the middle vessel. There are over a dozen subordinate energy vessels besides those three main ones. Energies are always flowing in these vessels. There also three places on the body called 'pubic regions,' where the energies are stored." Anfey took a look at Entos and smiled. "Brother Entos, I do not think you would understand it if I just talked about these vessels and energy flows. Never mind."

"A storage room for energy? Like magic beasts' magic crystals?" Entos asked in surprise.

"No, the energies stored in pubic area are not visible as magic crystals," Anfey said.

"Is your practice to control those energies? To control how they flow in the vessels?" Entos asked.

"Yes," Anfey answered.

"How do you control the energies?" Entos asked.

"It is too complicated. I could not explain very clearly. Once you reach a certain level, you need to switch your practice method. For instance, at the beginning, you could only store the energy in the lower elixir field, and then gradually control the energy flow towards the governing vessel. After practicing that for a long time, you could gradually induce the energy to the conception vessel," Anfey explained.

"What if my energy was in a different energy vessel instead of lower elixir at the beginning?" Entos asked.

"You would die from it," Anfey said.

"Die?" He had only heard that mages and swordsmen could die in battle, but never heard training could make people die, except for doing experiments in magic labs.

"I am not lying to you. It could cause people to die," Anfey said.

"As you said, this training method cannot be practiced by most people, can it?" Entos asked.

Anfey smiled. "If there were more and more people practicing Dadao, maybe in a hundred years, most people could practice it, but not now."

Entos watched Anfey's face as he said slowly, "Could most people practice the very basics?"

"Very challenging for right now," Anfey said.

"Ok, we will talk about whether it could be practiced by most people later. Did that old man tell you this training method could definitely help you reach supreme power level?" Entos asked.

"I do not know. He never told me how the levels are divided on Pan Continent. He had a very special way to define different levels," Anfey said in a low voice.

"What did he say about the power levels?" Entos asked.

"He told me once the practitioner could reach to the highest level, that person does not have to be constrained by 'Three Boundaries' and 'Five Elements.' He could do anything and go anywhere without any constraints," Anfey said.

"What is 'Three Boundaries'?" Entos asked.

Anfey shook his head.

"What is 'Five Elements'?" Entos asked.

Anfey shook his head again.

Entos frowned as he was in thoughts. "Do anything, go anywhere, without any constraints. Does this mean he could ignore the rules of the nature?" Entos asked.

"You may be right about that," Anfey said.

Entos went quiet for a while, but could not figure it out. He had to find answers from someone else. He slowly stood up. "Ok, we will stop here. Thank you for your trust. I will pass what you told me on to our professor. Don't worry. I will remind the professor to keep it secret for you and will not tell anyone else about it, not even King Yolanthe. There will be no more accidents."

Chapter 306: Apologies

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Anfey retrieved all the magic books from his dimensional ring and placed them neatly on the shelves in the library. This would be the last time he was in that library for a long time. Niya had told him earlier in the day that his appointment to be a count had already been finalized. That meant that he should head to Violet City in a few days. He did not feel sad about leaving the academy. Even though Steger had purposely placed Anfey in an elite class with all the best students, Anfey had not made any friends due to his introverted nature. If Anfey was more like Christian, he would make a lot more friends. Developing a network might sound easy, but it was much harder in reality.

After he returned all the books to the shelves, Anfey left the library. He looked around and saw Doris walking down the hall with another girl. Doris saw Anfey and waved at him. "Hey," she said, "how are you? This is Jenova. Remember her?"

"Of course," Anfey said, holding out his hand. Jenova was Doris's best friend, if his memory served him well. He had met her once before.

"Really?" Jenova asked dryly. "You remember me."

"Of course…"

"I've seen you in school before," Jenova said, shaking her head. "I know you don't remember me. You don't have to lie."

Doris smiled and tugged on Jenova's shirt.

Anfey turned to Doris and asked, "Doris, how are things going for you?"

"It's all done," Doris said. She retrieved something from her dimensional ring and handed it to Anfey.

It was a senior mage's badge. Anfey accepted the badge gingerly and clipped it onto his shirt. Of course, he needed his graduation diploma. He didn't know the school well enough and the only places he knew the location of were the library and his classes. He didn't know the teachers either and he didn't want to trouble Steger for such a minor thing. The only person he could turn to was Doris, who had already studied at the school for three years.

"And this is the document from the guild," Doris said, handing a piece of clear crystal to him.

"You got the document?" Anfey asked, surprised. "Thanks," he said. "I know it's a lot of trouble for you."

"Don't worry about it," Doris said. "The guild is right across the street."

"That building?" Anfey asked. "Really? I never noticed."

"You're the count of Violet City now," Doris said. "You have to help us when we go out and practice. Consider it repayment for me helping you get your badge and the documents."

"No problem."

"For real?"

"Of course. Not just Violet City. If you want to go to Country of Mercenaries, I have connections there as well. Just write me a letter and I'll talk to my people there. They will look out for you two."

"You're not bluffing, aren't you?" Jenova suddenly asked.

"I promise you," Anfey said sincerely.

"Don't you remember?" Doris said to Jenova. "Entos is the deputy leader of Brother mercenary group. Lord Marino is here as well. I'm sure they can help us."

"You seem to know Lord Saul's place very well," Jenova commented.

Doris blushed and lowered the head. There were people who wanted to stand out and be leaders, but there were also people who wanted to blend in and be followers. Doris was one of the latter. She wasn't very powerful and she was not as talented as Saul's students, but she wanted to stay with them even if it meant that she would become unnoticeable. She realized that leaving home and traveling was not the only way to learn new things. Plus, she felt very safe spending time with students of one of the greatest mages alive. Since it may appear that she was just staying at Saul's for no reason, she had tried very hard to help around the house. If the servants were too busy to take care of certain areas of the house, she would take it upon herself to do those chores. She would volunteer for other minor chores as well. It was difficult to juggle studying magic and taking care of Shally and her chores, but she managed. Luckily, no one had said anything about her presence in the house yet.

"You're going to leave the city again?" Anfey asked. "You just came back."

"Yeah," Jenova said, nodding. "After we take the test…" She suddenly paused after spotting something behind Anfey.

Anfey turned around. He frowned after seeing who it was and sighed. Then he walked over and bowed to the man. "Prince Grandon," he said.

Grandon reached over and helped Anfey up, but did not say anything. He looked at Doris and Jenova, who quickly walked away.

After the girls were out of earshot, Grandon turned to Anfey and said, "You don't have to be so rigid. I've been too busy lately, or else I would have already visited you. Hopefully you're not mad at me for that."

What Grandon said was cliche, but he couldn't have said anything else. After all, he had only met Anfey once, in Niya's carriage. If Grandon did not pick his words carefully, he would appear too friendly.

"Of course not," Anfey said with a smile. "I'm grateful that Your Highness can find time to visit me. It really should have been the other way around. I apologize for my inappropriate behavior."

"I know, I know," Grandon waved his hand and said. "You're busy too." He paused for a second, then asked, "How's Niya?"

"She's good," Anfey said. It was very awkward to talk about Niya with Grandon, and Anfey quickly changed the topic. "It seems like you're familiar with the academy."

"I graduated from this school," Grandon said. "I know most of the people here. If I had a better teacher… Of course, that's a story for another day." Grandon glanced at the badge on Anfey's shirt and sighed, "Is Niya angry at me?"

"Why would she be?" Anfey replied. He did not like the direction of this conversation. It was too hard to figure out what Grandon was implying. After all, Grandon was much better at masking his true intentions than Anfey. "Are you here alone, Your Highness? Isn't it dangerous?"

"My guards are all outside. I'm not worried about people in this school," Grandon said with a smile. "Anfey, don't lie to me. Is Niya really…" Grandon suddenly paused. Both he and Anfey suddenly realized that they were just replying to each other's questions. Even though they were not arguing, they were not having a friendly conversation, either.

Grandon sighed and opened his mouth again. "I know that you guys are angry," he said, shaking his head. "I am at fault. I am not going to deny that. Father had complimented me in front of the entire court that day, you see, and I was very happy and wanted to share my happiness. I forgot it was Christian's birthday. I apologize for making things awkward."

"You're overthinking, Your Highness," Anfey said. "But I'll tell them about this." He did not know why Grandon would keep making such elementary mistakes even though he was supposed to be the smarter one. First he held a feast on Christian's birthday, then he made such a half-hearted apology to an irrelevant person. Maybe how he apologized did not matter to Grandon. It was the fact that he did apologize.

"Don't worry about that," Grandon said. "I'll do it myself. Aren't you leaving the city soon? I'll hold a farewell dinner for you. I ordered a room at Night Elf Hotel, and I only invited a few people. Hopefully they will accept my apologies."

Anfey frowned and hesitated. "As you know, Your Highness, I cannot accept anything on behalf of Christian and Niya. I'll talk to them about it and get back to you."

"Of course, of course," Grandon said, smiling.

"If Your Highness doesn't mind, I have to go now. I still have another class."

"Alright," Grandon said. "Hopefully I'll see you tonight."

Grandon sighed as he watched Anfey and the two girls leave. As long as Anfey, Christian, and Niya agreed to have dinner with him, his plan was already half successful.

"You're too impatient, Your Highness," an old mage in a black robe appeared behind Grandon and said.

"You've already told me," Grandon said, shaking his head. "Lord Saul was my greatest supporter. Do you know how anxious I am now that Christian's real identity is revealed?"

"I'm not talking about that time," the old mage said. "I'm talking about this time."

"This time?"

"None of those three you've invited are people who can be easily convinced," the old mage reminded Grandon.

Chapter 307: Best out of 36 Strategies

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Anfey, should we go?" Christian asked quietly.

"Are we that hungry? Do we need this dinner that bad?" Anfey smiled.

"Of course not. Who cares about this dinner?" Blavi burst into laughter.

"Then we are not going to his dinner." Anfey looked firm about this decision.

"Is it appropriate?" Riska said hesitantly. "Prince Granden would feel embarrassed and get mad if we do not go."

"We are madder than him!" Blavi said. He looked like a person who just worried that the world might not be in a chaos. That way he would have no entertainment to watch.

"I agree with Blavi. Christian, if you go, Granden would look down upon you even more. We need to let him know that it is not that easy to make up for what he did. Next time, he would think more carefully before he made a similar mistake," Anfey said calmly.

"Right! If we just let it go and forgive him this time, he would ask us to forgive him again next time." Blavi was so excited that he jumped on the chair after he received support from Anfey. "We need act to show him he should stop dreaming that we would forgive him so easily."

"Ok. We are not going." Christian had decided not to go. His announcement meant everything.

"Send a servant to tell them that we got stuck with something right now and could not go. As for the reason we cannot go…just pick any reason." Anfey suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. Hagan, can you unlock an Element lock?"

"Element lock? Did you see an Element lock?" Hagan asked.

"Yes. Can you unlock it?" Anfey asked.

"Yes. In fact, it is pretty easy. As long as you have the spells, you can easily unlock it," Hagan said.

"Why would I ask you if we had the spells?" Anfey shook his head. "Can you unlock it without spells?"

"No. If Master Jacob is here, he may be able to unlock it. If we want to force it open, we have to know the permutation of the elements. Do you think I can do that?" Hagan smiled bitterly. "Where did you see the Element lock?"

"In a secret chamber," Anfey said.

"Secret chamber?" Hagan was intrigued. "What's in the chamber?"

"We have taken out all the other stuff. Only a big case is left. It is locked with an Element lock," Anfey said.

"What's in the case?" Hagan asked.

"Are you stupid?" Blavi could not help yelling at Hagan. "The Element lock is not unlocked yet, how could we know what is inside the case?" Blavi glanced at Anfey. In fact, he did know what was in the case. Suzanna had made it very clear that secrets should be kept among them and they should not let anyone else know about it. Anfey also stressed that they could not let anyone else know about it, so Blavi spoke before anyone else could because he was worried someone could have talked about the secret by accident.

"Hagan, can you unlock it?" Anfey repeated the same question.

"Without spells, we cannot unlock an Element lock, but I should be able to move the Element lock," Hagan said.

"If you can, say you can. If you cannot, then just say you cannot. What do you mean when you say you should be able to?" Anfey frowned. This was a big deal. He had to get an accurate answer.

"Don't push me too hard. I am just an alchemist." Hagan smiled bitterly. "Theoretically, I can make the volatility of elements freeze for a short amount of time, but I have never dealt with an Element lock before. How could I be too sure about it?"

"Will you possibly fail?" Riska asked.

"Yes," Hagan said.

"What would happen if you failed?" Riska asked.

"You will never see me." Hagan heaved a deep sigh. He chose to be an alchemist because the timing had been right and he was timid. He neither wanted to face death in battle nor see those evil-looking magic beasts. Being an alchemist was not only a safe job, but also had a lot of benefits. Alchemists received more respect than mages. They had poor ability to protect themselves. However, people rarely gave alchemists a hard time. Hagan never thought he would become an "EOD expert." The power of an Element lock would be the same as the power of more than a dozen intermediate magic arrays of Chaos together. He definitely would disappear if he failed.

"Anfey, do we have to move the Element lock?" Christian asked.

"Yes, this time is different than last time. We secretly left Sacred City last time, but we have received others' attention this time. There must be many people stalking us. The secret of the secret chamber will leak, so we have to move that case away from the chamber," Anfey said.

"Let's kill all those stalkers!" Blavi said with hatred. They used to be a group of kids only knowing about practicing magic, but now they talked about killing all the time. On the bright side, they had matured. On the other hand, it showed the pathetic side of human nature. This group of kids had learned sometimes it is better to kill others before they could get killed themselves.

"What if the king sent them? Do we kill them? Do you want to rebel against the king?" Zubin asked.

Blavi did not know how to respond for a second. "What good ideas do you have?"

"How about letting me read through Master Jacob's scripts to see if there is anything about the Element lock," Hagan said. "Even if there is nothing about an Element lock, Master Jacob is coming to Sacred City in a few days. I could ask him in person and learn something new. I would be more confident when I have to move the Element lock."

"Hagan, you have to be more alert. Ok? Don't mention anything about treasure. Just tell him you are interested in an Element lock," Anfey said.

"Don't worry. I am not a little kid." Hagan suddenly remembered something. "Anfey, are we leaving Sacred City for sure?"

"Yes," Anfey said.

"How about my lab?" Hagan felt pained when he thought about how much time and effort he had put into the lab. He spent a couple of sleepless nights building the lab. He finally built his first lab. Before he could enjoy it for a few days, they had to leave. No matter what others would think, Hagan really did not want to leave.

"It was not a long term plan to have a lab in Sacred City, because we have to leave here soon or later," Anfey said slowly. "Don't worry. Either in Violet City or Sword Tomb Principality, we definitely will build a new lab for you. For the next few days, you can take down anything you feel will be useful."

"Ok." Hagan helplessly nodded.

Anfey looked around. "I think you guys could tell Sacred City is getting more complicated. It would not do us any good to stay here. Prince Granden thinks we are causing trouble for him. Prince Wester thinks we would be his opponents and never get along with him. We will have trouble sooner or later if we stay here. Christian, if you have decided not to fight for the throne, you should make it more clear and look more determined. You'd better leave Sacred City and get away from the troubles."

Zubin cleared his throat, "Anfey, Wester is not quite like you think he is."

"Oh?" Anfey said.

"Today I met two mages. They were very nice to me and wanted to be friends with me. They also let me know they are with Prince Wester. It seems that Prince Wester wanted to make friends with us," Zubin said.

"Why didn't you say it earlier?" Blavi said, frowning.

"Anfey called us over and started talking about Granden's invitation right away. I did not get a chance," Zubin said.

"This only makes the situation even more complicated," Anfey said quietly. "We are not going to keep neutral in Sacred City. In addition, we might make our professor take on more weight. If something happens to us, the professor would have to take care of us. If we leave, the professor does not have to worry about us."

"I agreed with Anfey from the beginning. I think we all can agree on this. I just do not know what choice the others would make." Christian sighed. This conversation involved Suzanna, Hui Wei, and six others, not even half of the legion. It was hard to know what the other half of the legion would choose because they would not want to leave Saul. Choosing the right teacher was important in terms of magical study, and sometimes could be a determining factor.

"Christian, can you represent us and talk to the professor about how we see the situation. As long as the professor supports us, they would come with us," Anfey said.

"Ok." Christian nodded.

"If we leave Sacred City now, there is another benefit for us," Anfey said, smiling.

"What benefit?" Christian was shocked.

"Leaving Sacred City means you have no interest in the throne," Anfey said. "Right now the king should feel the most secure about you. I think he knows what happened on your birthday. We should not say Granden and Wester had any evil intentions towards you, but at the very least they were not nice to you. How would you protect yourself in the future?" Anfey said.

"Didn't you say we are going to build our own Sword Tomb Principality?" Christian asked.

"We think so." Anfey smiled. "The king should have made one, or even a few, plans for you, because he is your father. I think it will not take long after we reach Violet City for the king to ask you to take over Sword Tomb Principality. We have nothing right now, but once we are in charge of Sword Tomb Principality, we will be in much better shape."

"I see," Christian said.

"When we leave, we'd better ask Brother Entos to go with us," Anfey said.

"I overheard the conversation between Brother Entos and Marino. They were discussing the time to go back to the Country of Mercenaries. I do not think Bro Entos would come with us," Christian said.

"Christian, we need you to talk to our professor. You'd better make us look really sympathetic. If our professor asks him to go with us, then he does not have a say where he wants to go."

"Good idea." Christian's eyes brightened. "Brother Entos has been travelling for so many years. He is a lot more experienced than us. He has been senior magister for a long time, so we can ask him if we have any question about magic."

"Anfey, it would be even better if you could ask Master Ernest to join us," Blavi blurted out.

"Well…I will try." Anfey slowly nodded.

Chapter 308: Changes

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Yolanthe's court began to change when Sacred City welcomed the first snow of the year. After the war, Yolanthe and his cabinet had been debating how to reward those who had served the nation well. However, no decision had been made yet. Everyone had been waiting for the final decision.

Saul received the best reward. Saul had forced the leader of Dark Moon Magic Legion, Newyoheim, to fight with him and won the battle. He set up a large magic array that spanned a fifty miles radius. This saved Maho Empire's army from Newyoheim's forbidden spell and saved thousands of lives. Yolanthe decided to make Saul a marquis. This decision became the item everyone was talking about immediately after it was announced. There hadn't been a new marquis in a century. Even though a marquis title like Saul's could not be passed down to Niya, it was still a major event. A number of people thought perhaps the title was too great a reward, but no one objected, not even Philip. Saul was a popular person both among the nobility and among the commoners. Objection would not only alienate Saul, but also Yolanthe. No one wanted to offend their king.

Another one rewarded was Baery. He had led his Roaring Death Legion to cut off Ellisen army's retreat route and prevented Ellisen army from overpowering Maho army. Yolanthe did not give Baery a noble title. Instead, he made Baery a head general and placed him in charge of the legions. This decision shocked Yolanthe's court. Normally, the king would not give the role of general away until he was ready to pick an heir. This meant that Yolanthe was slowly giving up power. The legions could work together because the different legions respected each other. Now that all the legions had the same general, it would be harder for anyone to take the throne.

A lot of people had been trying to figure out why Yolanthe had named Baery the head general. In reality, Yolanthe's intention was very simple. There were only two people fit to become head general, Baery and Miorich.

Baery had spent most of his life fighting foreign enemies and was known for his mercilessness. He was very just and popular among his soldiers. He was experienced and knew how to use his power.

Miorich, on the other hand, was less successful than Baery when it came to strategizing. He did not have Baery's reputation, either. When Miorich arrived at Blackania City with his army, he actually fought the Shansa army. If Baery had been there, the Shansa army would not have fought him. This was because they all knew how good a general Baery was.

Baery was also well-known because he would spare any army that surrendered to him without a fight. If his opponent harmed even one of his soldiers, he would kill everyone he could capture. Of course, he would always spare the nobility because they were worth more than normal soldiers. After all these years, no armies would fight Baery unless they were certain that they could win the battle.

Due to Baery's reputation, the polarization of Shansa army became more and more apparent. Whenever there was a conflict, the soldiers who would fearlessly charge at their opponents tended to be of noble descent, but the commoners would be more hesitant. In the past, they had a general who was even better than Baery. Now, after the old general's death, Shansa Empire had yet to find a general who could defeat Baery. Even though Shansa Empire tried to restore its armies to its former glory, its soldiers were still terrified by the Maho general. Shansa Empire found itself more and more on the defensive.

Even though he did not have Baery's reputation, Miorich was still rewarded. Yolanthe made Miorich a count and turned him into a landholding noble. He also made Miorich vice general.

There were other countless heroes as well. For example, Huni, who was in charge of the army at Blackania City, fought for more than a week and a half and held off Shansa army's advance until Miorich's arrival. When he went to greet Miorich, he collapsed and died of exhaustion in Blackania City. Yolanthe made him a count posthumously and his son a viscount as a reward.

The former military affairs minister, August, was made general of Blackania City for his work coordinating supplies.

Prince Grandon had been in charge of supervising the armies and was able to calm the anxious soldiers in times of crisis. Yolanthe made him the new military affairs minister and placed him in charge of supervising the empire's military.

Former Finance Minister Constantine supported the military financially and subsidized families of dead soldiers. Yolanthe made him a viscount in charge of Swordbury Principality.

Prince Wester was able to take charge in Sacred City during Yolanthe's absence and was named the new finance minister.

Both princes were given positions of power and became part of Yolanthe's cabinet. However, Wester was given the better position. The military minister's job was to train new recruits and ready supplies. The real power lay with the generals. Military ministers tended to make more money, especially during wartime, but Grandon had no need for money, since he was a prince and was already rich. Wester's position seemed much more powerful to him.

The most interesting appointment went to Saul, who was named a marquis. He was a honorary marquis, and the only way he could become a hereditary marquis was to fight in another war. This meant that Yolanthe not only wanted another war, but he was actively preparing for a war.

Baery becoming the head general meant that Yolanthe was ready to pick an heir. This meant that those in court would soon find themselves facing the difficult choice of which prince to support.

Constantine becoming the minister of Swordbury Principality was the strangest appointment. Constantine was not well-known, but his older brother Baery was world famous. Now that it was revealed that Christian was the third prince, it was also revealed that Wester, Grandon, and Christian were born of the same father but not the same mother. Wester and Grandon had no relation to Baery and Constantine, but Christian was their nephew. This appointment was clearly meant to give Christian another chance.

There was an unknown power within Swordbury Principality as well. The army within Swordbury could only be activated when the empire was toppling. No one knew if Yolanthe would trust Christian with this legendary army.

Yolanthe took a step back and only made Anfey an honorary count. If Anfey did not continue to serve the empire, the right to Violet City would return to the king after his death. His descendants could become viscounts, but a viscount with no land was no different from a commoner.

Likewise, Duke of Swordbury could only be the king's brother and child. The king was free to name new dukes after the old Duke's death.

After the storm had calmed, Saul's home became very busy. Countless people came to congratulate him on his appointment.

Chapter 309: Grand Gathering

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"It looks busy in the front yard," Suzanna murmured.

"If you would like, we can walk around out there for a little while," Anfey said cheerfully.

"No, thank you." Suzanna shook her head. "This little guy seems anxious. Others have no control over him. If we go to the front yard, what would we do with the little unicorn?"

That day, Saul was hosting a grand party. He had prepared this party very early. There were so many people coming that Saul could not handle all of the arrangements. Luckily, Yolanthe sent about a hundred palace maids and servants to help, and some government officials also sent their family servants over, which barely succeeded in making the party run smoothly. The huge front yard and the main building were lit up. People were walking everywhere. Saul's house seemed to be highly secured. If today someone successfully attacked Saul's house, he could have destroyed almost the whole upper class of Maho Empire. No one could let anything slip this time.

In fact, the chance that anyone could successfully attack Saul's house was very, very slim. Even Philip, who did not see eye to eye with Saul, came for this party. The five top powers in Maho Empire were all here; Saul, Steger, Baery, Mioritch and Philip. In addition to the five top powers, Ernest, Bruzuryano, Manstuly, Jacob, and the old servant of Yolanthe were in the party. All top powers had gathered here. Facing such powerful opponents, even the craziest assassin would give up the idea of assassinating anyone that evening.

Maybe because so many top powers were present, the little unicorn had been looking nervous. He followed after Anfey closely. If the talking or laughter from the front yard were a little loud, the little unicorn would have a chill.

"This little guy is too timid. He should be better when he grows up a little bit more." Anfey smiled. His smile looked forced. He had been waiting for news from afternoon till evening. He had not heard anything yet. When he went to the front yard to take a look, no matter whether it was Saul, Bruzuryano, or Manstuly, they were all talking and laughing together. He could not tell anything from their looks. Anfey actually felt quite nervous at that moment.

"Too timid?" Suzanna could not help rolling her eyes at Anfey. "Top powers are gathering here. Like the little unicorn, I even feel nervous. As far as I know, it is rare to have three or five top powers at one party. Right now there are nine. It has been a long time since we have had such a grand party on Pan Continent."

Anfey was shocked for a second. He thought it was just a regular party. After hearing what Suzanna said, he suddenly realized perhaps Yolanthe had asked Saul to host this party to proclaim the power of Maho Empire to the whole Pan Continent. After thinking about this for a while, Anfey had a bitter smile on his face. It was really hard to understand what the king was thinking. There was no doubt that Yolanthe's skills at recognizing and taking advantage of good timing were brilliant. No one could be as good as him.

They heard steps coming from the right. Hagan walked around the corner. He looked normal, but his eyes were constantly moving, which showed he was actually nervous. Ernest walked behind him.

"Uncle Ernest, what are you doing here? Christian just told me he saw you drinking with Baery and Mioritch," Anfey asked in surprise.

"I did not pull myself away easily," Ernst said with a smile. He was serious as he sharply and carefully looked around the room.

"Hagan, what happened?" Anfey laid his eyes on Hagan and asked in a low voice. "I have been waiting for you since this afternoon. Why did you come out so late?"

"How could I get out?" Hagan had a bitter smile on his face. He turned to nervously look at Ernest.

"Nobody is around us," Ernest said calmly.

"They were watching so closely that I could only stay in the lab," Hagan said, relaxing a little bit.

"Did you do it?" Anfey asked.

"Of course. I am a genius alchemist," Hagan said.

"That's not what I'm asking about. I am asking whether they were suspicious of you," Anfey said. Hagan had promised to make the Sacred Spirit potion. He said it was not too complicated to make, and the recipe was flexible. He thought he definitely could make one. Anfey trusted him, but he cared more about another problem that went with it.

"I don't know," Hagan stammered.

"They should not suspect anything," Ernest answered on Hagan's behalf. "I was in the lab too. Hagan is a talented performer. He did very well."

Anfey looked Hagan up and down and noticed he still looked nervous. How could he be a talented performer if he did not even know where to put his hands, and his hands still kept moving? If Anfey had other options, he definitely would not have let Hagan do it. Unfortunately, Hagan was his only hope. If he failed, they would have a lot more troubles, even though they still would have a chance to settle matters with Bruzuryano and others.

Ernest seemed to sense Anfey's worries. "Hagan looked very scared and rambled to defend himself. Bruzuryano and Manstuly thought Hagan was afraid of being punished. They were not suspicious."

"How many experiments did you do?" Anfey heaved a long sigh.

"How many could I do? Just on, and then they collected all the ingredients back," Hagan said.

"They are so stingy," Anfey said.

"Stingy? Anfey, Bruzuryano was flexible, but Manstuly was hard to deal with. If Master Saul did not cover for me, I think they would have suspected me," Hagan said, grimacing bitterly.

"It is ok. Practice makes perfect. You will feel much better next time when you lie." Anfey smiled at Hagan. "How much Sacred Spirit potion did you make?"

"Only this little bottle." Hagan grabbed it with his hand.

"Where is the potion?" Anfey asked.

"Master Saul took it. I was not able to hide it on me." Hagan felt more scared as he recalled what happened in the lab. The whole time he was making the potion, Bruzuryano and Manstuly were next to him and watched him. It was really hard to play any tricks. Luckily, Saul taught him how to hide the magic surges of the potion and helped him with coverage, otherwise he would have been found stealing potion a long time ago. Hagan had felt the urge to use the restroom in the lab several times and had cold sweat on his chest and back. He knew how important this job was, otherwise he might not have been able to hold up.

"Ok. One bottle is fine. We should not be too greedy," Anfey said.

"Oh, right. Anfey, is Master Jacob one of our people?" Hagan asked.

"Yes." Anfey nodded.

"I wondered," Hagan sighed. "When I argued that the ingredients were not pure and resulted in failure, Uncle Ernest and Master Mioritch had left the lab. I saw Master Jacob walk in. I was startled. I did not expect Master Jacob would say those ingredients were not pure, although I knew the ingredients were fine."

"What happened afterwards?" Anfey asked.

"Then Master Jacob said he needed to purify them first. We should wait a few days before the next experiment," Hagan said.

"Ok. We should be fine then," Anfey said.

"Anfey, Master Jacob said the leftover ingredients were only good for three bottles of Sacred Spirit potion," Hagan said.

"That little? We should have more unicorn blood. Why could we only make three bottles?" Anfey asked.

"We do not have enough Spring of Life. The population of elves is declining. So is the Spring of Life. The Spring of Life they brought almost depleted all the Spring of Life that the elves have. We would not be able to get any Spring of Life in the next few decades," Hagan said.

"Who is in charge of the ingredients now?" Anfey asked.

"That guy named Manstuly. I did not give him the unicorn blood," Hagan said.

"Three bottles, too little," Anfey said bitterly. He expected a lot more than three bottles. Bruzuryano had said feeding the little unicorn with Sacred Spirit potion would not have any side effects. Whether the little unicorn could be his helpful assistant totally depended on the supply of the potion. Now Anfey's hopes were dashed.

"We cannot get all three of them. It seems that Master Jacob will take one bottle. Manstuly also will take one, so we can have one bottle at most," Hagan said.

"It's fine. Better than nothing." Anfey nodded. "Hagan, can you act normal for the next few days? Even though you have finished your job, I am just worried they still could be suspicious of you. How about hiding yourself in your room. Don't come out unless it is necessary."

"Sure. I definitely could use the time to copy Master Jacob's script. There are so many things I still do not understand, but I think I could comprehend them later." Hagan looked confident as he talked.

"It is great as long as you think so." Anfey took a look at Ernest and said quietly, "Uncle Ernest, do you think we are blameless, since the professor and I did this? I know Bruzuryano is our friend."

Ernest smiled. "I have asked Saul. Saul does not like to take advantage of anyone, not to mention his friends. Saul has told me that he does not feel bad for doing it. I trust him."

"Uncle Ernest, we indeed did nothing wrong!" Anfey said firmly. Now there was a queen among the elves. Anfey was not afraid of the consequence of not following his promise, but he did not want to pick a fight for nothing. He tried not to go against his promise.

"Are you saying we need be aware of Bruzuryano?" Ernest said, a bit angrily.

"No, Master Bruzuryano did want to work with us. He is a good man," Anfey replied.

"If Bruzuryano is a good man, are we the bad guys?" Hagan asked out of nowhere.

"It is too nave to label people as good and bad." Anfey patted Hagan's shoulder. "Ok. Go to sleep. You do not have to worry. Remember to hide yourself for the next few days."

"I got you," Hagan said with a nod.

Chapter 310: Whim

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Hagan hurried past Anfey and disappeared around the corner. Ernest turned to Anfey and asked, "Have you decided when you're leaving for Violet City?"

"In a few days," Anfey said. Everyone wanted Anfey to bring Ernest with him, but Anfey couldn't bring himself to ask the question. Ernest was a master swordsman, and if he went to Violet City, he could no longer influence the politics of the empire. Ernest would be much more valuable if he stayed in Sacred City. Not just Saul, but also Yolanthe wanted Ernest on his side.

"I talked to Saul yesterday. He thought that you guys should have left Sacred City by now. Philip is getting more reckless after his alliance with Prince Wester. Who knows what he will do? If it really comes down to it, Saul can't protect you."

"He can always go look for me in Violet City," Anfey said, shaking his head.

"Without an order from His Majesty, the magic array will remain closed. Philip doesn't know magic and can't open the portal even if he could get into it. If he tries to sneak out of the city, His Majesty would notice his absence. We can reach you faster through the portal."

"We're still at a disadvantage," Anfey said, shaking his head.

"There isn't another way."

"I can try and talk to Lord Bruzuryano," Anfey said. "The Wolf King should be able to take care of matters in Sacred City. He's too cunning to fall for any tricks. Bruzuryano doesn't need to be here."

"Bruzuryano will not leave, and I would advise you to save your energy. You don't know this, but his meetings with His Majesty could decide the fate of the druids." Ernest paused then said, "If my sources are right, the Eagle King should have arrived in the city already."

"Why isn't he showing himself?"

"He's too cautious for that."

Anfey frowned. He thought he would surely reach an agreement with Bruzuryano, but now he realized his hope was false.

"Don't worry," Ernest said. "As long as Suzanna and Entos are with you, you won't be completely helpless if Philip really does track you down." Ernest was hiding things. Yolanthe had promised that he would keep an eye on Philip, which meant that Philip's every move was under surveillance. However, he did not want to tell Anfey because he didn't want Anfey to let his guard down. If something really did happen, that would place everyone in danger.

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask," Anfey suddenly said, "I saw the remaining energy from the angel disappear into Suzanna. How would that affect her?"

"Do you know about dragon blood? People who are soaked in dragon blood are unusually strong, at least according to legend. I imagine the angel's energy works in a similar fashion," Ernest said. Suddenly, he turned around and said, "Hush. Someone's coming."

After Ernest's warning, Anfey heard the faint sound of talking. If Ernest hadn't said anything, Anfey would have missed it. An old man in white robes walked into view first. Saul was close behind. Another, older man was following them. The third man had long, silvery hair and looked very strong. He had a longsword and was taller than both of his companions.

The first man saw Anfey, Suzanna, and Ernest and smiled. "This must be Anfey and Suzanna."

"Yes," Saul said, nodding.

"Wonderful," the man said. "I've been meaning to meet them. Come here."

Anfey suddenly realized who the old man must be. He looked at Suzanna, and the two of them began walking towards the three newcomers. Suddenly, the unicorn bolted towards Anfey and jumped between Anfey and Suzanna and the three men. Then an arc of lightning appeared and struck the third man, who frowned but did not move to defend himself.

"How loyal," the first man said with a laugh.

"Stay down," Anfey ordered. Then he began walking again. The unicorn whinnied and grabbed Anfey's shirt with its teeth and stood firm. Magic beasts weren't intelligent and often relied on their intuition. It could sense the animosity and did not want Anfey and Suzanna to approach the three men.

"It looks like that thing doesn't trust you, Philip. Maybe you should go home for the day. Don't worry, Saul's here and nothing's going to go wrong."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Philip said. He bowed and walked away. He did not look at Anfey even once, as if he did not care for him.

Seeing the unicorn still did not let Anfey go, Yolanthe sighed and walked towards them, staring at the unicorn. He had seen a lot of things as a king, but observing a living young unicorn this close was a first.

"Your Majesty," Anfey said with a bow. Suzanna hurried and curtsied.

"No, no," Yolanthe said, waving his hand. "Let's just skip this formality, eh?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Anfey said with a smile.

"You seem unnatural," Yolanthe said. "Like I've said, I want you to be natural. Pretend I'm your friend." Yolanthe smiled, then he reached over to pat the unicorn. The unicorn craned its neck and gave a low whinny. The unicorn didn't care if Yolanthe was a king. It did not know him and did not want to be patted by him.

Yolanthe sighed and shook his head, straightening his back.

Saul coughed. "Anfey," he said, "you're a count now. You don't have to bow to everyone."

"He's right," Yolanthe said. "You've been busy with your academic work, but you should read a little more about common courtesy. Counts are very important, and I need them to lead the lesser nobility."

"Yes, my lord," Anfey said, nodding. He thought that everyone had to bow to the king, and he hoped he did not offend the king.

"Saul, I heard you're preparing for Anfey and Suzanna's wedding?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. But Anfey and Suzanna are leaving for Violet City soon. They want to wait until they get there." Saul smiled and said, "It seems like I can't officiate the wedding."

"Young people shouldn't be constrained by the rules," Yolanthe said, shaking his head. "Be more adventuresome. I had my wedding in Forest of Death. We had one guest who also officiated the ceremony."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Saul said. He turned to Anfey and Suzanna and said, "If you two want, you can have your wedding wherever, whenever you want. Even now."

Anfey and Suzanna glanced at each other. Anfey did want to have his wedding in Sacred City and have Saul officiate it, but the situation in Sacred City was too tense. They wanted to wait on the wedding and have it after they reached Violet City. Neither expected Yolanthe would propose such a plan on a whim.

"Anfey, Suzanna, what do you say?" Saul asked.

Both Anfey and Suzanna could only stare at Saul. Even though this plan was proposed on a whim, the men who proposed it were too powerful, and both felt uncomfortable about turning down the offer.

"Today is a good day for it," Ernest said. "Everyone's here."

"But we aren't ready," Anfey said hesitantly.

"What preparation do you need? Why don't we find the others and ask their opinion?" Saul asked. He knew that his other students would never oppose the marriage.

"I…" Anfey said, then turned to Suzanna, who was frowning. She couldn't say no, but she did not want to say yes, either.

"What do you think, Your Majesty?"

"I think it's a good plan," Yolanthe said, smiling.

"Master, can't we wait a few more days?" Anfey pleaded.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Saul said, completely ignoring Anfey.

Chapter 311: Getting Rich

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until you are parted by death." Yolanthe slowly put the scepter on Anfey's shoulder. "Anfey, would you like to marry this beautiful woman, Suzanna, as you wife, to love her for better or for worse, until death do you part?"

Anfey just stared at Yolanthe without any response. Christian, the best man, had to nudge Anfey and remind him what to do next. "Say it."

"I do." Anfey suddenly realized he needed to answer the question.

"Suzanna, would you…" Yolanthe asked.

"I do." She answered before Yolanthe could even finish his question. Suzanna was so nervous that she was stiff.

Niya was the maid of honor. She almost laughed out loud when she saw what happened. She immediately covered her mouth. Luckily, her back was to the crowd, otherwise the guests might have laughed along with her.

Yolanthe held Anfey's hand and gently said to Suzanna, "Relax, ok?" Yolanthe held his hand out to Suzanna.

Suzanna slightly bit her lip and put her hand on Yolanthe's palm. When Yolanthe let Anfey's and Suzanna's hands touch, they could not help holding each other's hand.

"May god bless this new couple." Yolanthe smiled and stepped back a few steps to allow Anfey and Suzanna to be the center of attention. They were greeted with long and thunderous applause.

Almost all the elites of Maho Empire had gathered here. Most of them had nothing to do with Anfey. They were being appropriately nice to Anfey. Ernest, Entos, the members of Alibaba legion were wishing the best for them from the bottom of their hearts. Everyone wore smiles on their faces, including Wester, Granden, and even Philip, who hated Anfey with a passion. No one would give Anfey a hard time right now. If anyone did, that person would be too nave. People could sit in this hall only if they had done something extraordinary. They might have made mistakes, but not basic ones.

When Yolanthe raised his scepter again, the whole hall went quiet. Yolanthe scanned the crowd and slowly said, "Do you know why we called them newlyweds? Because only with new responsibility can people grow. For Count Anfey and beautiful Miss Suzanna. Oh, no, please forgive me, it should be for our Count Anfey and beautiful Ms. Suzanna, they are separated from their former lives from this moment forwards. Their lives do not belong just to themselves anymore. They also belong to each other. In life, every decision they make has to consider the other, and be responsible for the other. I hope this new couple will never forget their responsibilities."

Anfey felt Yolanthe was hinting him something. At the same time, Suzanna held Anfey's hand tighter. Obviously, she felt what Yolanthe said.

"Saul has made a quick decision to hold this wedding, and I must be the host of the wedding. No matter what I am doing right now, I hope everyone can bear with me. In this area, I am a newbie as well." After Yolanthe finished his talk, he gave Saul and irritated glance.

Saul bowed and smiled, but said nothing.

"I have given them my blessing in the ceremony. As a king, I would like to give them a gift to express my blessing and keep this moment forever. I was not prepared for this. I guess I have to give them one of my favorites." Yolanthe hesitated for a second before he took a ring with a blue gemstone off his right index finger. He took Anfey's hand and put it on for him. "This will be your wedding ring. Are you happy with it?"

"Thank you, King," Anfey said respectfully, lowering his head. In fact, Anfey did not care about the gift. Even if Yolanthe had given him a regular stone, he would still need to keep it well.

Wester, Granden, Philip and other government officials all looked shocked. They knew what kind of ring that was.

"Since the king has given such a wonderful gift, I think I need show my blessing as well." Baery stood up and smiled. "I have had a female suit of armor for many years. Ms. Suzanna is a senior swordsman. I think she could make good use of it."

"General Baery, are you talking about the Azure Armor of Victoria, the temporary Princess of Shansa Empire?" Prime Minister Bryn asked, to see if his guess was right.

"Prime minister, you are very wise," Baery said, smiling. "You are right."

Suddenly the hall became loud with everyone talking. Victoria, a temporary princess of Shansa Empire, was the biological sister of the king of Shansa Empire. She was good at administration. She loved her citizens, and tried to do everything on her own instead of just ordering others to do it. She was a bridge between royals and civilians in Shansa Empire. When the two countries were negotiating, Baery went against his promises and lead his Death Roaring legion from hundreds miles away to attack the region where negotiations were being held. Almost the whole negotiating team from Maho Empire was killed by angry Shansa Empire soldiers. Baery definitely got what he wanted, but he also paid a high price for it. Victoria was caught by Baery.

Back then Yolanthe's father was the king of Maho Empire. He was furious when he heard what Baery had done. He ordered Baery to release Victoria immediately. Baery agreed to release Victoria but did not do as he agreed. He secretly kept her and killed her. Later, Baery was fired and all his military titles were removed. He was sent to jail. It was unclear what would happen after Victoria's death. As time went by, the effects started to show. First of all, the king of Shansa Empire lived a life of luxury like no other king enjoyed. The nobility in Shansa Empire followed him as an example, but they were even worse and made people hate them. As a result, the conflicts in Shansa Empire grew worse to the point that fights, battles and wars occurred throughout Shansa Empire.

In fact, Yolanthe's father later realized Baery was right, at least from the perspective of the country. However, he could not admit his own mistake and release him. After Yolanthe took the throne, his first order was amnesty. Baery was one of the people who benefited from this policy. Later, Yolanthe reappointed Baery to be the commander of a legion on the eastern border.

After the death of Victoria, the location of the Azure Armor became a mystery. Baery kept saying he did not know where it went. Back then, his influence was not as strong, but his family background was good; his sister was Yolanthe's queen. No one really dared give him a hard time.

He was fed and treated well in jail. Even though Yolanthe's father had ordered his guards to interrogate Baery to try to find out where the Azure Armor was, those officials kicked the ball to each other. In addition, Yolanthe had asked a favor of Baery. In the end, no one talked about the Azure Armor anymore. But here at the wedding, everybody found out Baery had it all the time.

"King, General Baery, you are giving us a hard time," Mioritch said bitterly. "I have nothing good to give Anfey and Suzanna. I only have a Dragon Shield. I hope Ms. Suzanna will like it."

Everyone was shocked and stared wide-eyed. Judging from the titles they held, the others did not have to give gifts better than those Baery and Mioritch had given, but Azure Armor and Dragon Shield were such amazing gifts, it would be impossible for their gifts to compare. Bruzuryano and Manstuly looked helpless. They stayed at Saul's house and attended the party empty-handed. They wanted to schmooze with other government officials on the party. When they were asked to give gifts, they could only give their best. Anything they brought with them was very precious, and they probably did not want to give them away.

"Steger," Yolanthe called.

"King." Steger stood up immediately.

"You are going to keep a record of the gifts," Yolanthe said. "You people do not have to give anything expensive. Price does not matter, thoughts matter."

No one could give just any random gift, even though Yolanthe told them price did not matter. They were in Saul's house now, and Anfey was a student of Saul. Yolanthe gave Anfey a gift first and set an example for everyone. The Dean of Sacred City magic academy was in charge of keeping a record of gifts. No one would dare give cheap gifts.

"Anfey, follow me." Yolanthe gave Anfey a look.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Anfey responded.

Suzanna unconsciously followed Anfey. Yolanthe held his arm out with a smile. "Ms. Suzanna, you should stay here. It is not appropriate for the bride and groom to leave together. You need to receive your wedding gifts in person anyway."

Suzanna had no idea what to do. She looked at Anfey. In fact, Anfey and Suzanna both liked to live quiet lives. Now they were pushed to center stage. She felt very uneasy.

Anfey nodded and followed Yolanthe to the side door. Saul called Ernest over and said something in a low voice.

A soundproof screen kept all the noises outside. The side room and the main hall became two different worlds. Yolanthe waited for a while as Saul released a magic array. Yolanthe said with a smile, "What do you think, Anfey? Are you happy? You are getting a lot of good gifts. Even if you do not do anything afterwards, you could just sell the gifts you got today and you will have a decent life."

"Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty," Anfey said humbly.

"You're welcome." Yolanthe shook his head. "You risked your life to wipe out a Griffin Aerial Unit, which determined the outcome of the war for the east boundary of the empire. Whatever gift I give you would not be good enough."

"Your Majesty, can I ask you something?" Anfey asked.

"Of course," Yolanthe said.

"Your majesty and the professor have made this wedding possible. You did not just want me to receive these gifts, did you? Do you have other reasons?"

"I do not want to hide it from you and have never hid anything from you, otherwise I would not have called you over." Yolanthe smiled. "This may be premature. Anfey, do you know who Suzanna is?"

"I know some of her past, but never specifically asked her."

Chapter 312: Methods

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Suzanna is the illegitimate daughter of Duke of Gruce Principality," Yolanthe said as he sat down in a chair. He waved his hand at Anfey. "Darius had a lot of illegitimate children, though. At least a dozen."

"Really?" Anfey asked, shocked.

"The dozen that survived," Yolanthe said with a sigh. "He is a paranoid man. He believes that only his own blood could protect him. He sent all of his illegitimate children off to train to become his personal guards. Suzanna is one of the ones who survived. Those that did became extremely powerful and fiercely loyal to Darius. Did Suzanna ever tell you any of this?"

"Some of it," Anfey said, shaking his head.

Yolanthe nodded. "Poor children. Their childhoods were taken away and they were forced to grow up with pain and tears. Even though Suzanna was Shally's half sister and they are very close, Shally is much higher in status. Shally is Darius's heir apparent while Suzanna was her maid. If the rumor is true, then he had more illegitimate children than we can ever imagine. Yet only a dozen survived to adulthood."

"What about the others? What happened to them?"

"You mean Suzanna's siblings?" Yolanthe asked, frowning. "I'm not sure. Darius was paranoid and mistrustful towards others, but in the end he still trusted the wrong person. He might be cruel, but his people didn't care. As long as they had food and the right to live, they would not challenge his right to rule. His minister, though, is another story. Darius should have died of old age in his principality in peace, but his minister, Turagin, usurped his throne. After Darius disappeared, his guards did as well. So far, Suzanna is the only that has surfaced."

"I never imagine there are things you do not know, Your Majesty."

"Hurricane is still too young an organization," Yolanthe said, shaking his head. "It is only thirty years old and still relatively small. Most of my men are in Ellisen and Shansa Empire. Gruce Principality is too far from here. It is not worth my time."

"Is Hurricane the only information system here? What about before?"

"The old organization was destroyed," Yolanthe whispered, his eyes downcast.

"Destroyed? By who?" Anfey asked, surprised. "It's not Evil Mist, is it?"

"No," Yolanthe said. "By me."

Anfey sat back, his eyes wide. He knew that Yolanthe grabbed the throne after a bloody civil war, but he did not realize the scale of the conflict. If he could destroy a nation's spy system, how bad was that war? Not just the royal family, Maho Empire itself must have been affected. Anfey knew that Yolanthe must not have forgotten what had happened to him. He had not chosen his heir, yet once he did, he might clear out a path for his chosen heir to minimize damage to the empire.

"It's a shame, really," Yolanthe said. "Good men died. A lot of them."

"Then why are you so interested in Gruce now, Your Majesty?"

"Because Darius's disappearance disrupted everything," Yolanthe said. He had answered all of Anfey's questions as if he weren't a king but Anfey's friend. "Three principalities existed to the north of Ellisen Empire. Northerners are fierce, reckless people, and their land is poor. Ellisen Empire has no reason to invade those principalities. As long as the principalities stayed out of their way, Ellisen Empire did not care about them. Of course, Ellisen didn't want the principalities to get too strong, either. So they would constantly try to evoke the principalities' anger towards each other. The three principalities had no reason to unite.

"The disappearance of Dairus changed the politics of the three principalities and gave them a chance to unite. Turagin is a newcomer. The other two aren't familiar with him yet. But whoever he supports will win."

"If Turagin is smart, he should know that staying neutral would be his best bet. Otherwise Gruce would be the next target," Anfey said. Yolanthe was telling him important information and he should not hide his thoughts anymore. He needed to find a balancing point between usefulness and uselessness. He couldn't be too helpful, but he couldn't be a complete idiot, either.

"That's exactly what he did," Yolanthe said. "That's why the other two principalities had reached an agreement to attack Gruce."

"It seems like I have been outsmarted," Anfey said, shaking his head.

"You're too young still," Yolanthe said. "I don't want them to maintain that balance. The situation in Ellisen Empire isn't any better. It's significantly weakened because of the damage we dealt to Dark Moon Legion. They had moved all of their armies to the south to defend its borders against us. They don't have time to prevent the war between the three principalities. Even if they do, I can gather my armies and pull their attention back to the south.

"For us, it is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We were always caught between Ellisen and Shansa Empire, but if the three principalities unit and ally with us, Ellisen Empire is cornered. I am confident I can destroy that country." Yolanthe narrowed his eyes. "It would take at least ten years to build an army like the Dark Moon Legion. It would not take as long for me to occupy their capital."

"That is wonderful, Your Majesty," Anfey said hesitantly. "But what does that have anything to do with my wedding?"

"Because we found Darius."

"What?"

"Darius escaped and somehow ended up with Archduke Kurigazu. My men had reported to me that they had reached an agreement. The Archduke would help Darius take back his throne, in exchange…"

"Is he stupid? Why would he believe that?"

"You'll be surprised what we will do when we are as desperate as Darius," Yolanthe said with a shrug. "The Archduke has his own condition, of course. He wants to marry Suzanna."

Anfey suddenly jumped up from his chair. "What?" he asked, staring at Yolanthe.

"His only condition is a marriage alliance to Suzanna."

Anfey took a deep breath to calm himself. "Why?" he asked. His fists were clenched tight. "If he wanted Gruce, shouldn't he be asking to marry Shally?"

"Shally's still too young," Yolanthe said. "He didn't want an heir. After he took Gruce, he only need an unfortunate accident to befall Darius and Shally. He would avenge their deaths and take the throne." Yolanthe paused, then continued, "He wanted Suzanna because she had made a name for herself. There are no top tier powers in the three principalities. If he could marry a potential top tier power, it would be extremely beneficial."

Yolanthe was acting natural, but in reality he was carefully observing Anfey. Anfey was clenching his fists so tight his nails were digging into his palms. His entire body was very tense as if he was trying very hard not to let his anger boil over.

"Darius agreed, of course, and signed an order. Suzanna is to return to Gruce with Shally as soon as possible," Yolanthe said.

This was all that was needed to rip away Anfey's calm facade. He felt his chest tighten and his ear ring. He had loved his parents very much and did not know how to cope with the pain after their sudden death. He did not want to love, because he was afraid to lose loved ones again. After everything they had been through, he realized that he had fallen in love with Suzanna. He did not want to lose the person he loves again. He knew Suzanna, and she would not turn away from her duty. Combined with the training she had gone through when she was young, Anfey knew he would soon face the pain of losing someone again.

"This is why I wanted you two to wed immediately," Yolanthe said. He knew that he was much more powerful than either Darius or the Archduke. He could solve Anfey's problem very easily.

"There's no use," Anfey said, his face pale. "Suzanna will go back. I know her."

"How do you know? Do you not trust your love for each other?"

Anfey frowned. "Did Darius's order reach her yet?"

"The messenger has just crossed our border."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Of course."

"Your Majesty, I am now requesting to use the transmission portal!"

"What, do you want to kill the poor man?" Yolanthe asked, smiling. "You can kill one or two messengers, but can you kill a dozen messengers? A hundred? Suzanna was the only thing between Darius and his throne. His order will not stop coming. Why do you think I told you after the wedding? She is your wife. You have to trust her. If Suzanna finds out, what will you tell her?"

Anfey froze. He stared at Yolanthe but could not say anything.

"Sit down, sit down," Yolanthe ordered. "Violence is not the solution. You're too excited. Don't worry. Suzanna is a human, is she not?"

"What?" Anfey asked.

"Darius isn't her only parent. Her mother is a maid and was very loyal to Darius. When Suzanna left to train, she even told her to protect Darius with her life. But Darius is a very paranoid person. Eleven years ago, his palace suffered a small mutiny. He was afraid that the situation would affect the mothers of his children, so he exiled them and ordered them to be drowned. Suzanna's mother was saved by a local hunter. She was heartbroken, of course, and started a new family with that hunter. After Darius's disappearance, she decided to keep a low profile and stay out of trouble. After the situation calmed down, she wanted to go look for Suzanna. Unluckily for her, Turagin was hunting for Suzanna as well. She was captured then."

"Is she alright?"

"Turagin announced that he had captured her mother and tried to get Suzanna to turn herself in. Of course, by then Suzanna is already in Maho Empire and did not know what was going on in Gruce," Yolanthe said. "My men delivered the news. I ordered a rescue mission and, thankfully, it was successful. Turagin was afraid that Suzanna's mother would die before she appeared, so he didn't want to torture her. I don't know if my men can get her back to Maho Empire alive, so I told them to help her leave a letter."

"What kind of letter?"

"She knew that Darius wanted to marry Suzanna off and was furious. She had revealed everything she knew about him, including the fact that he sentenced her to death. If Suzanna wasn't a senior swordsmaster, Darius would not hesitate at the fact that she was his daughter." Yolanthe sighed and shook his head. "Even if something happens, Hurricane would preserve the letter. I trust Suzanna to make the right decision as long as she reads that letter."

Anfey let out a sigh of relief. He sat back down onto his chair.

"I also ordered the assassination of Darius. As long as he is alive, he will always be an unknown factor. I cannot allow that," Yolanthe said. "Are you satisfied now?"

Anfey stood up and knelt down before Yolanthe. "Yes, Your Majesty," he said, his voice quivering. "Thank you so much." He knelt on his own volition. He had calmed down and his mind was working again. Turagin had Suzanna's mother, but Suzanna was a senior swordsmaster. He must be very prepared to defend his prisoner against the advance of a senior swordsmaster. This meant that Hurricane must have made great sacrifice to rescue her mother. Yolanthe had ordered them to kill Darius, which was another difficult task. Both of these tasks would lead to casualties. Without Yolanthe's help, who knows what would have happened to him and Suzanna.

Saul sighed as he watched. He had become Yolanthe's friend under similar circumstances many years ago. No matter, Yolanthe had always been a true friend.

"Don't worry about it," Yolanthe said as he helped Anfey up. "Come on, let's go back to your wedding."

Chapter 313: Room for the Wedding

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After the ceremony, Anfey took the gift list from Steger. Anfey was speechless when he looked at the neatly arranged gifts. People who came for his wedding had offered their favorite things to Anfey because of the example Yolanthe set. Even Philip gave Anfey a Faith of Messenger magic scepter.

Knowledgeable Dean Steger was in charge of receiving gifts. He even took time writing a short description for most of the gifts. Besides Azure Armor and Dragon Shield, Manstuly's Spirit pendant stood out the most, but it was also the most useless because the Spirit pendant had two parts that had been missing for many years. Only with the Spirit necklace and Spirit gemstone could the Spirit pendant maximize its power.

Bruzuryano gave Anfey a Wind Strengthened Glove. This was a practical gift for Anfey. It also showed Bruzuryano had given the gift a lot of thought. Anfey had hurt his finger in a battle when he tried to pulled the bow hard. He still had not recovered from it. The Wind Strengthened Glove would not only protect Anfey's hand, but also increase the power of Wind Blade arrows.

The Faith of Messenger magic scepter Philip gave Anfey was meant to be sarcastic. In fact, it was a mediocre magic scepter. Besides its magic power or instant magic power, it had nothing special. It had a long history, but that was it. It was just a coincidence that every owner of this magic scepter had been a mage and became a top power later. This magic scepter was not originally named Faith of Messenger. It was called White Bird because there was a vivid white bird carved on the handle. It was not known in which generation the owner had realized that every previous owner of this magic scepter had become an archmage, so decided to change its name to Faith of Messenger to better motivate himself. He hoped he too could become a top power some day. No matter whom this magic scepter was given to, it meant encouragement. However, giving it to Anfey meant something totally different. Everyone in the Sacred City knew Anfey was a paladin who was not too great with magic and still studying in the magic academy. It was obvious that Philip was being sarcastic about Saul having a student who was a paladin and not good at magic.

Compared with other gifts, the most worthless and funny gift was from Archalchemist Jacob. His gift looked like a normal bottle of chemicals. However, the description on the back was not normal. It said that it was an advanced-level aphrodisiac made from seven-winged magic fly. Thinking that today was his wedding and how Jacob and Mioritch "fought", Anfey felt helpless from the bottom of his heart. He could not even imagine what looks Suzanna would have if she found out about it.

"Dean, thank you for your help," Anfey said in a low voice.

"You are welcome," Steger replied. "I am going to check on the side room. If you need anything, you can find me there."

"Are Master Bruzuryano and Master Manstuly there as well?" Anfey asked.

"Yes," Steger said with a nod. Today Yolanthe had come for the negotiations with Bruzuryano and others. Attending Saul's party and hosting Anfey and Suzanna's wedding was just a side job for him. Saul enjoyed high social status, but he could not represent the whole of Maho Empire. Yolanthe had to approve important decisions. Yolanthe liked to pay attention to detail. He could have called Bruzuryano and Manstuly to the palace, but it seemed to aggressive. The power Bruzuryano presented was important to Yolanthe. Yolanthe believed that each party must be treated equally as a prerequisite to developing trust between two parties.

Steger slowly walked into the side room. Anfey looked back to survey the scene. He found all the guests had left. A few servants were cleaning up after his wedding ceremony. Suzanna, Christian and others were not there, just Entos. His job seemed to be to watch Anfey's gifts. He was walking around the big table with the gifts on it.

"Master Anfey, what do we do with these gifts? Do we keep them in the storage room?" Old servants hurried over to Anfey.

"Anfey, you'd better keep them in your Dimensional ring," Entos interrupted.

"Ok." Anfey nodded. He walked to the table. With his telepathy, gifts on the table disappeared one after another.

"Your wedding happened too quick. Master Marino's gift is just a magic knife. You should have seen it on the list. Please forgive him for an inexpensive gift. I have worked with him for over a dozen of years. I know him. He has been a commander of a legion but was never rich. Every time he got something nice, he would pass it on to his subordinates. He tried to make his legion happy but forgot about himself. He wanted me to tell you that he owes you this time and will make it up to you later."

"Why would I care?" Anfey shook his head and smiled. "Entos, where is Suzanna?"

"She was taken away by Christian and a few others. They said they were getting your room ready."

Anfey could not help but smile. There was no tradition of playing tricks on newlyweds, but all young people like parties. They definitely would do something to him.

***

At that moment, the side room looked grand and quiet. Yolanthe, Saul, Bruzuryano and a few others sat at a round table, which allowed them to sit without thinking of their rank. They talked one after another. Usually negotiations were tit for tat and involved altercation, but they did not argue. Yolanthe had showed the sincerity with his gesture. The main person in the other party was Manstuly. He was a people person and knew how to let things go. They were able to come to agreement on many sensitive issues because both parties knew they should let certain things go.

At the same time, a person in black jumped off the roof of the lower building to the ground. He was Anfey. He zigzagged in the grass to the front of the building. There was a shadow of an elf on the window facing Anfey. She looked like she was about to put out the candle and saw Anfey by accident. Anfey immediately put his finger to his lips to signal her not say anything. As Anfey's maid, she knew it was Anfey's wedding day. Seeing Anfey acting secretively, that proud elf could not help smiling. She waved her arm to put out the candle.

Anfey jumped with his hands holding onto the windowsill. With the momentum from pulling on the windowsill, we was able to jump high. In fact, he could have used a Wind Blade to go anywhere he wanted effortlessly, but it would have magic surges. He did not want Christian and his group to know he was there, so he used his martial art skills.

A barely-visible, grey shadow appeared on the other side of the grass, watching Anfey. Anfey's fingers were already grabbing the windowsill on the fourth floor. As he was about to open the window, he suddenly sensed something. He looked back to see what was in the grass, but he did not notice anything.

When the window was pushed open, Suzanna, sitting on the edge of the bed, looked up in surprise and saw Anfey jumping in. When their eyes met, they both felt somewhat awkward. Getting married was not an easy decision. Both Anfey and Suzanna thought so. They should have done something special to make this wedding romantic. They did not know why their wedding was done in such a hurried way. It was hard to tell if they were not ready for it or if it just happened too fast. They both looked uneasy.

Anfey awkwardly walked over and sat down next to Suzanna. He cleared his throat and hesitantly reached his hand out to hold Suzanna around her tiny waist.

Suzanna looked calm. She glanced at Anfey but did not say anything or do anything. When Anfey tried to hold her closer to him, Suzanna suddenly remembered something and said worriedly in a low voice, "They set a Magic Watch in the room."

F*ck! Anfey could not help cursing in his mind. Was this a battle? It was a little too late when he found out. There were sounds of steps in the hallway. Anfey gritted his teeth and walked to the door. He waited for a while and punched hard on it. With a huge crashing sound, the door started to shake vigorously. They heard a scream in surprise or possibly in pain.

Anfey pulled the door open quickly and saw about seven people running away. Only the weakest and wounded Hagan circled around with his hands on his ears. When he saw Anfey, he immediately smiled and tried to secretly moved to the side. Anfey did not know if he should laugh or be angry. He slammed the door closed.

Suzanna smiled as Anfey slowly walked back. He was looking for something to talk about. "These guys did not give you a hard time, did they?"

"No." Suzanna put her head down.

"They will get married some day. I will teach them a lesson then." Anfey put his hand on Suzanna's waist as he talked.

"They did not do anything. Huh!" Suzanna screamed in surprise. They indeed did not do anything, but Anfey did. He put more strength on his arm and rolled Suzanna on the bed.

Before Suzanna could react, Anfey lay next to Suzanna. He rolled her over quick, but still gentle. He did not rush to do anything to her. He waited for a while and kissed her cheek. He waited until Suzanna was not so nervous. If he rushed to put his hands on her breasts or between her legs, he would just be a horny guy with no class. If he did that, he would either scare Suzanna or make her feel like fighting against him. If such a horny guy could make his partner passionate about sex, it only meant his partner was as horny as him. Anfey was good in bed and controlling his desires. He would not make mistakes.

Suzanna bit her lips and stared at Anfey. She heaved a long sigh like a moan. She slowly closed her eyes to indicate she could accept anything happening tonight and she trusted Anfey.