I raised stunning young ladies, but they all wanted to possess me.

She raised her eyelids, her icy pupils piercing through the long table and landing directly on Chiyomiya Hanyu's face.

"Lady Chiyomiya, where is your deputy?"

"Why is he, a key figure in the Battle of Nagoya Pass, absent from today's operational meeting of this level?"

Her voice remained extremely faint and cold, as if she were asking a question that had nothing to do with her.

But everyone present felt it.

She didn't ask "Why didn't you attend?" but rather "Where did you hide him?"

Chiyomiya Hanyu's eyelashes trembled so slightly that it was almost imperceptible.

But her fingers, resting on the hilt of the pheasant sword, tightened slightly for a moment, and her tone of reply remained calm and elegant.

"My deputy is unwell and is unable to attend today."

"I will convey the contents of the meeting to him in full."

"If Miss Pei has anything she needs to discuss with him, I can pass it on to her."

"Are you feeling unwell?"

Pei Yuran repeated these four words, the curve of her lips barely visible, as if she were confirming something with herself.

"He single-handedly controlled several S-class Calamities at the Nagoya Pass, saving the entire Seventh Legion. After the battle, he was able to enjoy the sea breeze on the deck all night."

"He's not feeling well now."

"Where do you feel unwell?"

"Does mental exhaustion require treatment?"

"If that's the case, the Chiyomiya family's sacred spring should be more suitable for recuperation, right?"

The entire long table was so quiet that you could hear the very faint rustling of Joseph's white gloves rubbing against the surface.

Yuzuru raised his eyelids and looked directly at Pei Yuran.

The gazes of the two S-rank powerhouses collided in the air.

One is a glacier that has never melted for thousands of years, and the other is a deep pool of an ancient temple that has stood for thousands of years.

"Miss Pei seems to pay special attention to my deputy."

"I will convey your concern to him."

"I'm not concerned about him."

Pei Yuran spoke at a steady pace, her fingers moving away from the sword tassel and resting very lightly on the hilt.

"I just find it strange."

"He was there during such a big battle at Nagoya Pass, but now he's not here for the meeting."

"Is there something that Lord Chiyomiya is unwilling to let everyone know, such as his true identity?"

"Miss Pei is overthinking it."

"My deputy has no identity to hide."

"Of course, if he experiences any inconvenience, I, as the chief priestess, will respect his personal wishes."

"After all, he is not only my deputy, but also the most distinguished guest of the Chiyomiya family."

Yuzuru's voice wasn't loud, but every word clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

Especially the phrase "most honored guest," which she pronounced with the calm tone typical of a chief priestess, sounded more like a declaration than any explanation.

Just as the atmosphere between the two became so tense that almost everyone held their breath, the main door of the conference room was pushed open from the outside.

The heavy alloy door creaked against its hinges, and a young man walked in.

She wore a plain white robe, a long sword at her waist, and her long hair was tied back with a blue ribbon.

His features were cool and handsome, with a kind of aloofness between his brows and eyes that seemed to have been weathered by time yet harbored a knot in his heart.

He wore a polite smile, but the emotions hidden in his eyes were not as composed as his smile suggested.

It's more like someone who has meticulously prepared for a long time and finally stepped into a game from which there is no turning back.

Xu Huan.

Chiyomiya Hanyu frowned very, very slightly.

She remembered that his name wasn't on the list of transfer orders from the Global Superpowers Association that she had seen before.

North America, South America, Northern Europe, and Central Africa.

She had checked the unit numbers of all the troops supporting the Eastern Theater Command more than once, and there was no such name as Xu Huan.

"Mr. Xu."

"I noticed that you were not included in the support fleet in this joint deployment order."

"What are your transfer orders?"

Xu stood at the end of the long table, gently placing the encrypted transfer order document in his hand on the table, still with a polite smile.

"I applied voluntarily."

"There happened to be a vacancy for a Kendo specialist in the Nordic theater, so I submitted my application and it was approved."

"Considering the heavy losses of senior combat forces in the Eastern Theater Command after the Battle of Nagoya Pass, I think I can be of some help."

"Also, I heard that my junior sister was transferred here from Northern Europe, and I'd like to come and see her."

"After all, we, the senior and junior brothers and sisters, haven't seen each other for a long time."

He spoke the words "junior sister" in a natural and familiar tone, as if stating a fact that no one had the right to interfere with.

Pei Yuran didn't look at him once from beginning to end.

She pushed back her chair and stood up, the hem of her plain white dress swaying slightly under the cold light, before turning and walking out of the meeting room.

The alloy door closed very softly behind her, but everyone present heard it.

Xu was still standing at the end of the long table, his hand still in the position of placing the transfer order on the table, his knuckles slightly white.

The atmosphere in the meeting room became extremely awkward at that moment.

General Joseph lowered his head and refolded his white gloves, while the old priestess Ikana remained silent with her eyes closed, and Marshal Andreyevich tapped his rough fingers twice on the table.

This time the pace was faster than before, as if it was urging something on.

Gu Qing clearly saw the way the representatives from the war zone exchanged glances.

The Chief of Staff of the Great Xia Expeditionary Force broke the silence first, his voice low and carrying the helplessness and tolerance that an elder has for a younger generation.

"Mr. Xu, you've had a long and tiring journey."

"Please take a seat, the meeting isn't over yet."

"That's just how Miss Yu Ran is; she's indifferent to everyone."

"Please don't take it to heart."

The commander of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces nodded in agreement and leaned closer, lowering his voice.

"Young people are inevitably impatient."

"But some things can't be forced, especially for someone like Pei Jianxian."

"However, Mr. Xu does have feelings for his junior sister."

"We can all see that."

"So much time has passed since then, you don't need to blame yourself too much."

Lin Jinyu sat at the other end of the long table, playing with a strand of her long golden hair that fell over her shoulder, the curve of her lips extremely subtle.

She said "Interesting" in a voice that only Han Jae-hee next to her could hear.

Han Jae-hee did not respond; she was still staring at the holographic defense diagram in front of her.

But judging from the very subtle curve of her eyes, she had also seen what had just happened and decided to pretend she hadn't seen anything.

Xu sat down next to where Pei Yuran had just been sitting, placing his longsword horizontally on his knees.

His smile remained polite and composed, but his grip on the sword tightened slightly more than usual.

Thank you all for your concern.

"My junior sister has always had this temper; I'm used to it."

He said this in a very calm tone, as if stating a fact that everyone already knows.

But his gaze quickly swept in the direction Pei Yuran had left, then returned to the holographic defense map in front of him that had not yet been activated.