The mining manager told Yinan that a higher-quality ore vein was certainly hidden behind this rock layer; he was willing to bet his entire career on it!
This prompted Yinan to immediately start writing a letter to the Fujin Fief, asking his Big Sister to send over some earth mages and a mining team to help.
After thinking about it, Yinan felt that wasn’t quite right. It was better to go in person. Writing a letter to order people around seemed like something only a superior would do to a subordinate!
He boarded a carriage and arrived at Nancy’s castle. The maids received Yinan in the main hall and informed him that Nancy had gone to the Imperial Capital and would not return for several days…
This made Yinan raise an eyebrow. With the situation in the north being so tense, that woman had actually run off to the capital? Was there some sort of major event?
Then, a young girl in a white dress slowly pushed open the hall doors and sat across from Yinan.
Yinan looked at the girl in the white dress and frowned slightly. “And you are?”
“Viscount Yinan, my name is Shirley. I am Countess Nancy’s daughter. You can just tell me whatever it is you need.” The girl smiled slightly, revealing two shallow dimples that were quite beautiful.
Her smooth, silver hair was particularly striking. If her eyes had been blue instead of black, Yinan would have mistaken her for a member of the Snow Race.
Wait… Nancy’s daughter!?
“She’s married!?” Yinan accidentally crushed the teacup in his hand, his face filled with disbelief.
Shirley watched Yinan crush the cup, a flash of surprise crossing her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure.
She gave a mischievous smile. “Yes. Are you surprised, Viscount Yinan?”
Yinan took a deep breath, trying to recover from the shock. After all, he had done some rather offensive things to Nancy before. If her husband found out, would he try to kill him!?
At that moment, Yinan felt that the ambiguous relationship between the two of them felt like an affair. That woman had a husband and yet she still seduced him!?
However, Nancy had an obedience progress bar, and it was already at 10%… It was impossible for him to give up now.
He would take Nancy for himself!
Yinan slowly opened his eyes, revealing a trace of murderous intent that vanished as quickly as it appeared.
But how could Shirley, a top-tier assassin, fail to notice it? She had only been joking around; she hadn’t expected this little rascal to take it seriously…
Nonetheless, she maintained a playful smile on her face. “Viscount Yinan, did you have business with my mother?”
Yinan told Shirley what he needed, and after receiving her answer, he left.
Shortly after, he returned to his territory with several earth mages and a mining team. After instructing his servants to take them to the mine, he headed back to the castle.
When he saw Freya holding Aurora in her arms and letting the girl act spoiled, he was completely stunned…
Shock, anger, helplessness… a cocktail of complex emotions surfaced in his eyes!
He could even see that Aurora’s obedience had slightly increased to 74%!
This was unacceptable to Yinan. What on earth had that woman done!?
“Dear, you’re back?” Freya noticed her husband had returned and couldn’t help but smile at him, her eyes full of tenderness and anticipation.
Then, she gave Aurora an encouraging look. “Go on…”
Aurora hopped out of her arms, ran to Yinan’s side, and looked up at him. She spoke a title that left him shocked: “Papa…”
Yinan felt as if he had been struck by lightning. Although he had been with Aurora before and it wasn’t like he hadn’t let her call him that, but…
What exactly did Freya do?! To make her shout it out like that in broad daylight??
Freya walked gently to Yinan’s side and wrapped her arms around him. “Dear, I saw how cute Aurora was and couldn’t help but adopt her as my goddaughter.”
She looked up at Yinan with doting eyes, as if she were looking at her own son.
Yinan was nearly petrified…
Did she even know what she was saying… Why was this relationship so messy?
Aurora was Yinan’s lover, and Freya knew this.
Although Yinan also had a relationship with Erin, he had never heard of a woman adopting her husband’s lover as her daughter.
If word of this got out, it would be explosive enough to cause a scandal anywhere!
Yinan felt as if he were trapped in an absurd dream. He stared at Freya, speechless…
Why had a perfectly fine woman become so abnormal??
“Freya, don’t worry. I will hire the best psychiatrist in the territory to treat you.” Yinan grabbed Freya’s hand, his expression looking a bit grim.
He thought he had played with Freya too much and broken her…
She treated him like a son and Aurora like a daughter—did she see the two of them as siblings now?!
Freya chuckled and stroked Yinan’s head. “Dear, are you confused?”
“So, you aren’t planning to accept treatment?” Yinan took a deep breath to stay calm. He was now absolutely certain that something was wrong with his wife.
“Silly child, Mother doesn’t need—” Freya realized she had said the wrong thing and quickly corrected herself. “Dear, don’t worry. I’m perfectly fine!”
Yinan brushed off the crazy woman’s hand and walked back into the castle on his own.
‘She’s a lunatic! Damn it!’ Even with Yinan’s usual composure, he couldn’t help but curse several times in his head!
This stolen wife of his was actually helping him increase the obedience of his taming targets. The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed…
It gave him the feeling that his sense of achievement was being snatched away…
In the end, he could only helplessly accept this outrageous wife. He pulled Freya’s past records out of a drawer and flipped through them several times.
Finally, he could only reach one conclusion: the problem was him!
***
Meanwhile, the nobles felt even more confident after receiving the rings bestowed by Earl Will.
At this moment, more than a dozen nobles were sitting together. The atmosphere was extremely serious. The noble who had been killed for making a lewd joke had been succeeded by his son, Hairol.
Hairol stood before the group of nobles covered in blood. He had just killed several disobedient old ministers in his territory. Having recently taken office, he was reeking of blood…
The others looked at this murderous beast with admiration in their eyes. This man was far superior to his father.
Hairol rubbed the ring bestowed by Earl Will and spoke slowly. “Everyone, I have thought of a good way to deal with the Hill family’s heavy armored warriors. We can begin our move now.”
Hearing Hairol’s words, the crowd immediately grew interested and gathered around, their eyes full of expectation.
One noble asked impatiently, “Hairol, tell us quickly. What is this great method?”
Hairol scanned the nobles present and slowly uttered a single word: “Virus!”
The crowd was stunned for a moment upon hearing the word “virus,” but then looks of realization dawned on their faces.
Hairol slowly produced a small green bottle. “This is a virus developed by the alchemists in our territory. Just one breath causes a viral infection of the internal organs. We just need to have our archers fire it out, and I guarantee they won’t be coming back!”