Life is always full of messy surprises.
The absurdity and absurdity of fate don’t change with human will.
2
Just like Yuna.
When she used her acting skills to grab the “Hero’s” collar, crying and begging for forgiveness—
“I’m sorry… Joen, I was too selfish… I deeply repent for this.”
But unexpectedly, the other party was indignant: “Right! You’re too selfish! You don’t consider others at all, making me lose face in front of so many people!”
“Ah?”
Yuna was dumbfounded.
On the other side, Margaret was also aggrieved.
She had worked hard to learn the elegant and dignified ladylike manners from her girlfriends, but the blockhead in front of her showed no reaction, sometimes even shivering and stepping back half a step.
‘Forget it, let’s get straight to the point,’ Margaret thought.
‘Forget it, let’s get straight to the point,’ Yuna thought.
The two women spoke in unison, then fell silent at the same time, each deferring.
“You go first, you go first.”
“Ah no, you go first.”
“You go first, I can wait.”
In the end, the more straightforward Margaret couldn’t hold back: “Want to take a walk by the lake?”
Yuna was startled, looked toward the lake, and had a sudden thought:
‘If… I accidentally fall in, wouldn’t Joen have to fish me out? And when he fishes me out, wouldn’t we have intimate contact, thus triggering [Forbidden Fruit Dew]?’
A perfect plan!
But obviously, this plan was too perfect—so perfect that she wasn’t the only one thinking it.
Thus, when the two arrived at the Lakeside Ferry and simultaneously “slipped” into the water, their gazes intertwined in midair, filled with confusion, bewilderment, and shock.
Both thought simultaneously: ‘Plop. Hey? Why are you—’
Plop.
Two very uniform splashes.
At the bottom of the river, Ananna couldn’t hold back anymore: What’s going on? Why two splashes? Why did two people fall in? Which one should I swim to?
Plans, as always, never keep up with changes.
Ananna had no choice but to swim toward the smaller splash, figuring the princess couldn’t possibly make a bigger splash than Joen.
“Pupu…”
She grabbed the “princess” as planned and pulled her underwater, but the other party struggled and forcibly pulled her up, forcing her head above the surface.
Ananna was completely stunned.
Caught off guard, and afraid of hurting the princess, she didn’t dare resist, so she had to be dragged to the surface.
“Pupu.”
Three heads emerged from the water one after another, and then… everyone saw two “Joens.”
After a long while, Margaret couldn’t stand it: “I think… one of us is a fake Joen.”
Ananna was silent for a long time, then nodded with a complicated expression: “M… maybe.”
She had a vague guess, especially a strong premonition that the careless “Joen” in front of her might be Princess Margaret.
Yuna also became suspicious, so she checked herself again.
Hmm… no illusion art; hmm… no abnormal demon drug in the body; hmm… mental state is normal.
No problem either.
Other than the Goddess Heart-Tempering Trial, what other explanation could there be?
—Unless someone really wanted to impersonate the hero?
“I’ll go first!”
Margaret raised her hand.
“I… I accidentally caught a glimpse one morning, Joen’s thing is very big! So whoever has a small thing is the fake!”
Without giving any time to react, she first grabbed between Yuna’s legs.
Yuna was stunned: “What do you mean by that? And why are you grabbing me to find the fake Joen?”
But Margaret was even more stunned.
After touching, she shuddered violently, slowly withdrew her hand, and couldn’t help murmuring in a daze: “N… no?”
The next second, she hurriedly grabbed toward Ananna, and after grabbing, she was struck by lightning: “A… also nothing?”
“What nothing—”
Yuna was halfway through her foolish remark when she suddenly realized and rushed to grab Margaret and Ananna, her face turning pale.
“Nothing, nothing, indeed nothing! There’s not a single Joen here!”
“Wah wah wah wah wah—”
Just then, a certain wailing elf traced a graceful arc through the sky and crashed into the lake.
Thinking of the various miraculous performances of “Elf Speech” and suspecting that it might disable the usual detection methods she was familiar with, Yuna’s apple muscles twitched stiffly.
“I think I know which troublemaker it is,” she said in frustration.
“I know too,” Margaret nodded deeply.
“Let’s go beat her up now.”
As Yuna was about to move, she suddenly noticed Margaret swimming in the completely opposite direction.
The other two looked at her with complicated expressions: “You… want to go beat up Joen? Where are you going?”
Margaret was confused and even more bewildered: “What’s wrong? Isn’t Joen the one causing trouble?”
“Never mind, go play,” Yuna waved weakly.
Losing the Demon God Mark was no small matter.
Although Margaret was carefree, Ananna immediately went to seek an audience with Second Prince Gibran to report the change.
“It’s fine.”
Gibran’s reaction was far calmer than Ananna had imagined, as if he had anticipated this result.
Wine glass swirling, the crimson strong liquor formed a vortex, the glass reflecting Gibran’s confident smile.
For a leader, the most important thing is to have a thorough understanding of his subordinates’ abilities, even better than they themselves do.
He had never held high expectations for his sister’s plan’s success rate.
In any case, as long as the mark was planted in the hero’s body, it would be considered a success.
Professional matters should still be left to professionals.
“Tell that fool sister that this is as far as her brother can help her,” Gibran said casually as he sorted through the brocade book in his hands.
“For the rest, her brother can’t help; she’ll have to figure it out herself.”
“Yes.”
Ananna bowed in acknowledgment.
As soon as Ananna left, Gibran summoned the inner attendant: “Someone, check the gifts on this list and send them to the Duke of White Wolf tomorrow.”
He emphasized seriously: “Especially those ten beast-eared female slaves; make sure they are pretty and delicate. Don’t give me any inferior ones. Since the hero likes to keep pets, he must be into this.”
“Understood.”
The attendant withdrew respectfully.
Gibran gazed at the lone star and waning moon, lost in long thought.
The hero’s arrival was an opportunity for his eldest brother and third brother, but for him, it was a hot potato.
In the Imperial Capital, the Emperor was the lofty arbiter.
He would not give clear orders, let alone take responsibility, always remaining the “Most Benevolent, Most Good, Most Righteous, Most Wise” Supreme Divine Emperor.
But only those who guessed and executed the Emperor’s will could sit steady in their positions.
This was also true for them, his children.
For instance, the third prince, merely because he had been a little too close to the Four Orthodox Church during a sensitive period, had to “hide his light” and endure until now.
Now, it was a fact that the treasury was deceptively full yet actually in deficit, and the disaster in Dry River Territory was beyond control.
As the man in charge of the Sage Emperor’s purse, Gibran knew well: he must find a way to make the hero abandon ideas that were harmful to the country, only then could he fulfill his duty as Minister of Finance, not neglect his duty, and not disappoint the Emperor.
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