Chapter 19: Someone Likes Her?

Shu Yue merely glanced at Emily’s expression and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
This noble young lady had been thoroughly shaken. Right now, her mind was completely occupied with processing the information Shu Yue had just delivered.

‘She probably won’t bother me anymore, right?’

From the corner of her eye, Shu Yue stealthily glanced at Vanessa. She knew very well that Vanessa was an extremely clever girl. Shu Yue wasn’t sure whether her meager acting skills had managed to fool her.

The reason she had agreed to come here was simply to take the convenient exit Vanessa had offered with that so-called “dragon blood” remark. Now that she had arrived and the conversation was over, it was time to seize this opportunity and leave.

After a moment’s thought, she decided to simply walk out directly.

Emily was still contemplating her own value, and Vanessa remained silent. Neither of them tried to stop Shu Yue.

Shu Yue walked out of the door step by step. When the click of the lock sounded behind her, the stone that had been hanging in her chest finally dropped. She gently exhaled a breath of turbid air.

What she had shown earlier was mostly an act, but there had been a few parts that were genuine. As for why she had chosen to handle Emily this way…

Shu Yue had acted purely on instinct. Her instincts told her this was the best way to deal with the situation.

‘Maybe I’m actually quite skilled at this?’

She had never been in a relationship before, and the people she had met hadn’t had many proper romances either. On the other hand, she had seen far more schemes, plots, and underhanded power grabs. Dealing with a young lady like this was probably the only way.

Shu Yue took a deep breath to calm her inner turmoil, then quickly left the corridor, afraid that Emily might chase after her.

She figured Emily probably wouldn’t. After swallowing so much new information, the girl’s brain would need some time to sort out what she actually wanted to do and how she should proceed.

At that moment, inside the room, the two girls remained trapped in an eerie silence.

Vanessa did not take the initiative to break the atmosphere. Instead, she stood behind Emily, carefully savoring the “scent” of emotion emanating from her best friend.

Emily’s emotions were now in complete chaos. From the conversation just now, she had gained an entirely new perspective.

Her engagement with Shu Yue was nothing more than a transaction. Her father had traded her away in exchange for something very important.

In that deal, Emily herself was the non-essential factor that could be replaced.

For Baron Lester to be willing to marry off his own daughter to a stranger for that item proved that the object was what Baron Lester needed most—its weight far exceeded that of Emily herself.

In other words, the one who truly carried “weight” was Liya White!

The question was no longer whether Liya White was worthy of her, but whether Emily was worthy of Liya White.

“Vanessa, you’re the smartest. In this engagement, I’m the one who’s dispensable, right?”

Although Emily had understood, she still found it a little hard to accept. Her pride made it impossible for her to acknowledge that she held no real value in this engagement—even though she herself had never liked it in the first place.

Vanessa had known this all along. Emily’s earlier tantrum had been nothing more than a young lady indulging in her own drama. What the higher-ups needed was simply a woman to marry Liya White; whether that woman was Emily or not didn’t matter.

“Yes.”

She did not deny it. Her tone was filled with certainty.

As a good best friend, having tasted the wonderful emotions flowing from her sister, she naturally had to offer some feedback in return. Seeing Emily doubting her own worth, Vanessa began to comfort her.

“Aren’t you trying to escape the marriage? Then just go. If it really doesn’t work out, I’ll marry him in your place.”

“……”

“Not willing?”

“No… I… I feel so awful, Vanessa. I feel so useless.”

“Then just run away from the marriage.”

“Why?”

“No reason. Since you don’t like it, then escape. My silly little sister, Liya made it very clear, didn’t he? You have no relationship with him. There’s no such thing as who is worthy of whom. If you want to pursue your own future, then go ahead. He won’t be your shackle, nor does he demand that you swallow your grievances and compromise.”

“But what if…”

Emily was afraid—afraid that her actions would implicate her family, even though the family had already sold her off.

Vanessa seemed to have seen through the silly girl’s thoughts long ago. With a playful tone, she said:

“I’m advising you to run, and you’d better actually do it.”

“Why?”

“Emily, have you ever considered why Liya White’s engagement could be exchanged for a treasure that would tempt your father? Perhaps Liya White’s value is even higher than we thought.”

“Ah?”

“Maybe Liya White originally had an engagement with someone else…”

“You mean… he already has someone he likes?”

Emily’s eyes widened. She recalled the completely indifferent attitude Shu Yue had shown toward her earlier. Perhaps it was because she already had someone she liked that she had appeared so cold.

She suddenly understood. So the other party already had someone she liked. She and Liya were simply a mistake!

Escaping the marriage was the right choice. Staying to get married would be wrong.

The young lady’s expression was no longer downcast. Once again, she revealed a smile in front of her best friend.

“Vanessa, you’re really smart!”

“Hehe~”

Vanessa neither confirmed nor denied it. She was indeed clever, and she had already figured out the relationship between Liya White and the Lester family quite clearly. From the earlier interaction, she had also analyzed quite a few useful pieces of information.

For example, was it Liya who had someone she liked, or was there someone who liked Liya?

However, even the clever can be misled by their own cleverness. Vanessa had never once considered the possibility that this Liya White might be fake…

On the other side, Shu Yue had already walked out of the guild hall. She could delay paying for the dragon blood for now, but she had directly used assets as collateral and even sold some materials used for refining alchemical potions.

This trip could be considered quite fruitful, and it left her feeling rather happy, even though there had been that small interlude in the middle.

But in the end, everything had passed without any real harm.

Just as she was thinking about going back to absorb the dragon blood and wondering to what extent her bloodline power would strengthen, Shu Yue’s expression suddenly turned cold. She stared fixedly at the effeminate youth in the distance.

In her eyes was unconcealed killing intent, like countless sharp needles stabbing into the back of the youth’s neck.

The youth, who had been gripping a maid’s wrist with a lewd,淫邪 smile on his face, was frozen by that chilling aura. His outstretched hand stopped mid-motion. He turned his head toward Shu Yue, looked her up and down, and then laughed casually.

“You’re this maid’s master? How about selling her to this young master? Name any price you want.”

After speaking, the youth once again let his gaze fall onto Anna’s ample bosom without the slightest restraint.

He liked women—especially women who already belonged to someone else.

Playing with such women was far more interesting, particularly those who still harbored feelings for their former masters.

Shu Yue did not speak. Instead, she strode directly toward him.

“Stop! Do not approach the young master!”

A guard saw Shu Yue approaching and immediately stepped forward to block her. His aura was quite formidable. Although he was still at zero-order combat strength, he had already reached the formal level. With such power, he could easily take on ten ordinary people by himself.

Shu Yue activated her full magical power almost instantly. She was now at first-order combat strength, and with the enhancement provided by the dragon blood to her body, both her strength and speed far surpassed what this guard could handle.

She accelerated in an instant and threw a punch. She didn’t give the guard any time to draw his weapon, aiming straight for his throat.

The guard, unable to draw his blade in time, could only raise his arm to block. However, that seemingly slender arm exploded with speed and power far beyond his imagination. One arm was brutally bent and smashed hard into his own throat.

Are spells useful? Of course they are!

Are they strong? They are strong, but also not strong. At low ranks, spells are too weak and can only play a supporting role in critical moments. Spell power is concentrated at higher ranks. At low ranks, magic mostly serves as the icing on the cake.

Whether at zero-order or first-order, the main way to fight is still to use magic power to amplify the body and replace truth with fists.

In this era, even mages have to know how to throw punches!