Why must the devil be Defeated?
Chapter 368 - 365 has gone into negative distance, how is it not close?

Chapter 368: 365 has gone into negative distance, how is it not close?

As everyone was plunged into disarray, Yuri from the First Knight Order looked straight at Shane.

"You are Viscount Xi’en Beizitu, aren’t you?"

Yuri identified Shane’s identity in one sentence.

"I am." Shane likewise turned to face the other, looking at the knights of the First Knight Order who obeyed him without question, and at the now silent Lymco, he asked with curiosity, "And who might you be?"

"My apologies." Yuri responded with his name indifferently, stating, "I am Yuri Strim, the Knight General of Duke Sterling’s Domain."

"Ah, the esteemed General himself." Shane feigned a disrespectful demeanor but spoke with a tease of a smile, "Then, Duke Sterling is your...?"

"He is my elder brother." Yuri revealed without any concealment, even casting a deeper look at Shane as he said, "Therefore, Lymco is my nephew."

The meaning of these words was clear to Shane.

The other party was implying that he was on Lymco’s side.

And since he was on Lymco’s side, if Shane opposed Lymco, it meant opposing him as well.

Of course, on the surface, Lymco hadn’t shown any sign of opposing Shane.

"I didn’t expect to see you here, Lord Xi’en."

Lymco finally showed a smiling face to Shane.

That smile showed not the slightest malice, instead, it conveyed a familiarity as if greeting a close friend.

Clearly, upon noting Shane’s arrival, Lymco had adjusted his attitude in that brief period of silence, dropping any hostility towards Shane.

"I also hadn’t expected to find you here, Young Master Lymco." Shane returned with a broad smile, "The last time we met, wasn’t it when Luoqi and I went out on a mission together?"

Lymco’s mouth twitched slightly.

The reason being that Shane had emphasized the words "Luoqi" and "mission."

To the uninformed, these words might lead to misconceptions, suspecting Shane to have been involved in some private matter with Luoqi.

At least, that was the impression to everyone present, making their expressions quite colorful.

Undoubtedly, they all knew who the "Luoqi" Shane referred to was, right?

Not to know the name of the Kingdom Treasure would be beneath their status as part of the Human Race.

Lymco’s approachable smile inevitably became somewhat strained.

Yet, he knew Shane was deliberately provoking him.

Thus, restraining the hostility that almost surged forth, Lymco returned the smile.

"You really are forgetful, my lord." Lymco suggested good-naturedly, "Our last meeting was at your title conferment banquet, was it not?"

At that time, Lymco had indeed attended and so had Barry; it was just that there had been no conversation with Shane.

To this, Shane initially feigned realization, then appeared somewhat embarrassed.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn’t notice." Shane offered a full-faced apology, "As you know, the members of the Royal Family were all present at that time, I was busy entertaining Luoqi and really couldn’t attend to many people, please forgive me, huh?"

Upon these words, the hostility Lymco had just managed to suppress nearly burst forth once again, along with a surge of anger.

Simply because Shane had again stressed the words "Luoqi" and "entertaining," leading those unaware to speculate he had entertained Luoqi in some special way, inciting wilder fantasies.

It made Lymco truly want to swear out loud.

It was evident that Shane was deliberately using Luoqi to provoke him, repeatedly mentioning Luoqi and pretending to be overly familiar and intimate, causing Lymco to struggle not to erupt despite his self-control.

Yuri, who was observing from the side, saw everything clearly. Seeing his nephew no longer able to maintain his smile and his complexion turning exceedingly ugly, he signaled Sona with a glance.

Sona immediately understood.

"Hey, kid, don’t push your luck!" Sona stepped forward and rebuked Shane, "You’re just a viscount, stop casually mentioning Princess Luosilusti that way; it’s disrespectful to the Princess and the Royal Family!"

Sona appeared quite displeased with Shane.

But before Shane could speak, Yuri interjected.

"Don’t put it that way, Lord Beizut has a good relationship with Princess Luosilusti, and it’s quite normal for her to allow him to address her directly in private." Yuri spoke as if advising, but he smiled at Shane, "However, Lord Beizut should be careful – privately is one thing, but in public, such informality is not appropriate. Otherwise, people might suspect you’re exploiting the Princess’s name for your own gain."

This remark seemed like friendly advice but was actually sarcasm.

Sarcasm implying that Shane was exploiting the name of Luoqi to assert influence here.

Unfortunately, in the art of snide remarks, Shane had never feared anyone.

"Is that so?" Shane, as if educated, shamefully said, "In that case, next time I’ll be sure to mention to the Princess that members of the Sterling Family don’t let me call her informally. So, the fact that she asked me not to worry about the difference in our statuses, and that it was okay to call her by her name, maybe I should take it all back. After all, I, a mere viscount, can’t contend with a duke’s family."

Shane’s words caused a subtle shift in the expressions of the Sterling Family.

If Shane actually did this, the Princess’s impression of the Sterling Family would likely plummet.

They were hoping to marry Luoqi and through her, restore the Sterling Family to its position in the Royal Capital and regain entry into the center of power in the Kingdom, with the goal of one day reclaiming the throne – the centuries-old ambition of the Sterling Family.

Therefore, anything that might lower Luoqi’s opinion of them had to be avoided at all costs.

Though unaware of this plan, Shane knew these people certainly did not want to offend Luoqi or put themselves on her bad side.

Hence, Shane had bluffed his way through that bunch of nonsense, successfully fooling these folks.

Lymco was the first to speak up.

"You’re too serious, my lord. We were just making a passing remark."

Lymco laughed it off.

"...Since Her Highness has given such instructions, we naturally won’t meddle in unnecessary affairs."

Yuri also said this after a moment of silence.

However, both of them felt aggrieved.

There was no helping it, Shane’s behavior, to put it unpleasantly, was akin to tattling, wasn’t it?

As prominent figures within the Sterling family, Yuri and Lymco had to bow to the actions of a "tattler," how could they not feel aggrieved?

As for Sona, his resentment was even greater.

In his view, Shane was nothing but a person leveraging the Princess’s name to throw his weight around, and he couldn’t understand why Yuri and Lymco were so wary of him.

(He’s just climbed up a bit by associating with the Kingdom’s Treasure, and there will come a time when he’ll cry.)

Sona believed that Shane had become arrogant because he had formed some connection with Luoqi, but in reality, could the Kingdom’s Treasure truly be intimate with a mere Viscount?

That was utterly impossible!

(He must think he can win the beauty’s favor, that he can use this to climb higher, not knowing that the Kingdom would never marry off the most outstanding genius of a thousand years to a small noble of Adventurer origin.)

Sona felt that Shane would fall from grace sooner or later and had no right to feign powerfulness.

Because of this, Sona found Shane particularly displeasing and contemptible; had Yuri not forbidden it, he wouldn’t have minded teaching this fellow a lesson.

Shane’s gaze swept across the three men, as if he could see the resentment in their hearts, and with the satisfaction of adding insult to injury, he smirked.

"Since everyone has said so, let’s leave it at that; I also wish to grow even closer to Luoqi and wouldn’t want such trivialities to affect our feelings."

The words Shane cheerfully uttered made Yuri, Lymco, and even Sona clench their fists.

If they could, they really wanted to imprint those clenched fists onto that detestable smiling face.

Especially Lymco, upon hearing Shane’s words, felt completely unwell.

If possible, he would have killed Shane right then and there.

Become even closer?

Affect their feelings?

These were mere salt in Lymco’s wounds.

But now was not the time to lay hands on Shane.

Even if Shane appeared alone, who knew what the Demon would do if something happened to him here?

Lymco could only endure.

Endure!

Endure!

Endure!

Lymco once again practiced his Ninja Turtle fortitude.

If Shane knew Lymco’s feelings at this moment, he would certainly tell him cheerfully.

"When you play the pig, if you play too long, you become the pig; if you keep enduring, eventually, you’ll become a Ninja Turtle, you know?"

Poor Young Master Lymco had no idea that Shane and Luoqi were already close enough.

Sharing the same bed, how could they not be intimate?

Being so close, how could they not be near?

This man with ulterior motives really thinks his family can win Luoqi’s hand?

"I dare say you’re dreaming of peaches."

Shane couldn’t help uttering these words, causing everyone to be stunned.

"I mean, you all are good people, and someday, I’ll treat you to peaches."

Shane quickly flashed a smile at Lymco and the others, but his words made them feel that something was off.

But now wasn’t the time to delve into it.

On the side, Cappelen, who had been silently staring at Shane and watching his interactions with the Sterling family, finally spoke out.

"Why are you stopping us from going in?"

Cappelen, looking as if she were facing an opponent, pressed Shane with an aggressive tone.

"Could it be that you know what happened inside?"

Upon hearing this, Shane’s smile faded, and the attitude he had with Lymco and the others completely vanished.

That was only to be expected.

He might have been toying with Lymco and the others, but with this slightly neurotic Empire Princess, Shane only had one thing to say.

"So what if I know? Why should I tell you?"

Shane was blunt with his response.

"You...!"

Cappelen was instantly enraged.