You've found the Gusha-hime Knight, so put your hair up in a bun!

Nothing seemed to affect Otivia's state of mind in the slightest. She was always like this, as if she were detached from the world, quietly observing it.

It is precisely this extreme calmness and rationality that makes Otivia's scheming strategies all the more terrifying.

No one knew what she was thinking, but no one dared to underestimate her.

Zeno knew that Otivia possessed extraordinary talent, but she would never personally take action.

Rather than getting involved herself, Otivia prefers to work behind the scenes, guiding things toward the outcome she desires.

Two years ago, on the front lines of the fight against the abyss, a squad of knights was surrounded by a large number of demons and was about to be defeated, but the situation took an extremely sudden turn!

For some unknown reason, the demons suddenly began to fight amongst themselves, even neglecting the knight squads, as if they had encountered irreconcilable enemies, and launched an attack on the demon allies next door.

Ultimately, the knight squad managed to escape, and their story spread widely in the army as a tale of wonder. No one could analyze the specific reason for their escape, and they could only attribute it to "luck."

However, Zeno knew that during that time, Otivia left the capital and secretly went to the front lines.

That incident was merely a microcosm of the sudden collapse of a large-scale offensive organized by the Demon Alliance later on. When Zeno asked about it, Otivia simply said "uninteresting" and returned to the capital.

Therefore, Zeno was always wary of Otivia's scheming and manipulative tactics, and she almost despaired when she learned that Otivia was engaged to Shiloh.

So on the day his foolish sister suddenly went mad and broke off the engagement, Zeno was so happy that he destroyed three of the Demon Alliance's strongholds to celebrate, and decided that he had to act quickly and take down Shilo.

Now they're suddenly saying the engagement still stands? How can Zeno accept that?!

"Stop talking nonsense, Otivia. Now that you've publicly dissolved your engagement with the Wells family, a move that's tantamount to tearing off all pretenses, what face do you have to bring this up again?!"

Zeno squinted at the marriage contract in Otivia's hand, his fingertips twitching slightly as if he wanted to snatch it away with lightning speed.

Otivia, seemingly oblivious to Zeno's intentions, casually waved the engagement contract, her clear golden eyes returning the glance indifferently, and said, "It's all in black and white, a proper marriage, sister, it's legally binding. As for dissolving the engagement, that's just a temporary measure, I—"

"Otivia".

Shiloh's voice interrupted Otivia's narration, causing the girl to turn her gaze in confusion.

When she saw the familiar expression in those dark eyes, Otivia, who was always composed, stiffened slightly.

Unfamiliar gazes.

This was the first time in her life that Xi Luo had given her such a strange and unsettling look.

Otivia instinctively sensed something was amiss and parted her pink lips slightly: "Shh—"

"I don't accept this marriage proposal."

Shiloh spoke softly, his words floating lightly, but when they landed on Otivia's heart, they felt as heavy as a thousand-pound boulder.

His indifferent, clear golden eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a rare hint of human emotion.

Looking at the expression in Otivia's eyes, Shiloh smiled slightly and asked in return, "Why are you surprised, Otivia? You were the one who actively rejected this engagement, weren't you?"

Otivia's breath hitched, her snow-white fingertips unconsciously pressing a mark into the engagement agreement. Her usually calm and composed tone became somewhat hurried: "It's a temporary measure, I don't want to refuse, our union is definitely the best—"

"Otivia".

Shiloh interrupted her again, and then Otivia was somewhat alarmed to find that Shiloh's gaze held a hint of emotion that made her feel uneasy.

That's called...disappointment?

Silo pursed his lips, as if considering something, before speaking again, "Otivia... Your Highness."

Otivia's eyes glazed over, her thoughts slowed, and every change in her body became crystal clear.

Otivia could hear the sound of blood flowing and surging in her veins very clearly, and the beating of her heart was like the engine of a magic car, roaring incessantly in her ears.

dong dong dong...

"Perhaps you don't care much about this, but I still want to express my feelings."

"Your actions back then actually hurt me a lot. So I'm sorry, even if you didn't actually break off the engagement, in my eyes, it makes no difference."

After saying this, Shiloh bowed slightly to Otivia, then looked at Rodel, who was watching the scene with great interest, and said, "I haven't decided on the marriage alliance yet. But you don't need to worry, at least no one in the Empire dares to compete with the royal family for a son-in-law, right?"

"Hahaha—! You kid, what you said makes sense! It was my oversight in this matter. Anyway, you guys are still young, so taking it slow is not a bad thing."

Rodel stood up, his eyes darting back and forth between Shiloh and his two daughters, a knowing smile on his face.

In recent years, the front lines have been rife with conflict, and those damned demons are still trying to infiltrate the Empire. Moreover, the scoundrels within the Empire are not idle either, and they even caused the Ditch Incident involving the trade of alien slaves. Fortunately, Shiloh intervened in time, otherwise it might have really turned into a huge diplomatic incident.

With frequent violent incidents, Rodel was naturally overwhelmed and wished he could be used by ten people at once. Recently, he has even started treating the Imperial Study as his home.

Being able to see such a grand show during this rare moment of leisure is definitely worth the ticket price... I'm sure my beloved concubines would also enjoy hearing about this kind of thing.

Chapter 162, "Sisterly Love and Respect"

"Then, please allow me to take my leave."

After bowing, Shiloh led Elena and the others away.

Rodel himself had a lot of official business to attend to. Although he could tell that the atmosphere between his daughters was not right, they had always been like this since they were little, so Rodel was used to it. He simply left after saying, "You guys figure it out."

After everyone left, only the two sisters remained in the Lotus Pavilion, and the atmosphere became somewhat tense.

Zeno slowly crossed his arms, a mocking smile playing on his thin lips. He turned his gaze away from the direction where Shilo had left, then looked at Otivia, whose aura had completely dissipated, and chuckled, "Heh, it seems someone's been disliked."

Otivia's body trembled slightly, and her tightly clenched fists under her sleeves loosened, gently overlapping and resting on her lower abdomen, instantly regaining her ladylike demeanor.

He raised his head, his clear golden eyes unchanged, as if the shadow in his eyes just now was merely an illusion.

"You don't understand what's going on between me and Shiloh."

After casually uttering those words, Otivia added as if to further explain, "I am not hated by him, nor will I be hated by him."

Upon hearing this, Zeno raised an eyebrow and scoffed, "Why don't you deserve to be hated by him? Breaking off the engagement when he needed support the most, that's usually called 'backstabbing,' you know?"

"Why do you think that someone who actively betrayed and abandoned his ex-fiancée has the right not to be hated, my dear sister?"

From childhood, Zeno had always known that his younger sister's thought process was somewhat unusual, but that didn't mean that everything she did could be tolerated by others.

Even though Shiloh could still be friends with Otivia out of consideration for their past relationship, Zeno still couldn't forgive her for what she had done.

“Otivia…”

Zeno slowly stepped forward, and under Otivia's indifferent gaze, he reached out his hand and gently stroked her face.

Otivia's pretty face was cool and delicate, and felt like smooth, jade-like cold porcelain to the touch.

Zeno narrowed his golden eyes. Rather than calling his sister a "person," he thought she was more like an emotionless alien wearing human skin.

Even as her own sister, she found it difficult to communicate with her. The only person she could spend so much time with was Xi Luo.

But this is because Shiro himself is different from others. Just like at that time, he dragged himself, who was about to be locked up, and did something big in the capital—it was extremely enjoyable.

It was at that time that she developed special feelings for Shiloh.

This is due to Shiloh's own charm, not because of any destiny with Otivia.

Zeno pinched Otivia's cheek with a little force and said, "You really are... as annoying as ever."

“Each other, my clumsy sister.”

Although Otivia's face was being pinched, her expression remained unchanged, and her cherry-like lips retaliated without hesitation.

"Ha ha……"

Zeno smiled indifferently. His foolish sister seemed to have a strange filter on Shiloh, which, in fairy tale terms, meant that she thought he was her own knight of destiny.

Little did they know that such thinking would only lead to a crushing defeat.

After letting go, Zeno was too lazy to deal with his annoying sister anymore and turned to leave.

But perhaps this dismissive attitude annoyed Otivia. After gently stroking her slightly swollen cheek, Otivia lowered her eyes and murmured, "Siro... it's so good that he has always treated me as a woman."

Upon hearing this, Zeno's forward momentum instantly halted, her slender and strong fingers slowly clenched, and the veins on the back of her fair hand bulged out.

"...Whoa~?"

Zeno gave a chilling smile, slowly turned around, and said, "I don't know where you got that conclusion from, my foolish sister."

"The black-haired girl next to Shiloh... I think her name is Irene. Heh, you're even more 'regretful' than her?"

Zeno sized up Otivia's figure, his eyes filled with undisguised mockery: "Like a child, you dare to call yourself a 'woman'?"

Despite the harsh criticism of her figure, Otivia didn't mind; she had always been indifferent to such things.

If even the most sexually frigid woman has fantasies and curiosities about her future husband, then Otivia is the epitome of sexual frigidity, having never had even the slightest desire in that regard.

Smoothing her wind-blown hair behind her ear, Otivia looked up at Zeno, her clear golden eyes filled with a composure that made her uncomfortable.

“Siro will ultimately choose me. You… will definitely lose.”

And so, Otivia declared victory.

"Ha, so you've started talking nonsense in your sleep?"

Hearing Zeno's sarcastic remarks, Otivia shook her head and said, "There is only one reason for your defeat—that is also what you are most proud of: your domineering nature."

Otivia raised her hand slightly, interrupting Zeno, and said, "You want to completely possess Shilo, and you've already taken the corresponding actions, haven't you?"

? !

Upon hearing this, Zeno's pupils contracted, but he then fell silent, staring at Otivia, whose expression remained as unchanging as ice and snow, and remained silent.

To be honest, Zeno didn't think her plan could fool the other party, so when she learned that Meredith wanted to play dirty tricks, she didn't stop her. Instead, she fueled the flames from behind and used the opportunity to bring Shilo into the palace.

This wasn't because Zeno thought Shiloh's feelings for Elena were particularly deep, but because she knew Shiloh's style of doing things and that he would definitely use this opportunity to come to the palace to meet her father and achieve multiple goals.

Once Shiloh entered the palace, the rest followed naturally.

Zeno had always favored blitzkrieg tactics, so he seized the opportunity to finalize the engagement, thus stabilizing the situation.

As for whether Elena could resist the "temptation" of becoming the principal wife of a nobleman, Zeno didn't really care. After all, she had already made up her mind that after he and Shilo married, his little lovers would only serve them as maids, which was already the greatest favor he could bestow.

Of course, if Elena really agreed, Zeno would definitely break Hector's legs and then have her killed.

Even if she is a "maid," Zeno will never tolerate anyone tarnishing Shiloh's reputation.

Unfortunately, I never expected my silly little sister to be so shameless, having made two preparations...

"After we get married, I'll be enough for Xi Luo. I can satisfy him in every way. Others are insignificant."

Leave

While preparing for the exam, I'll also organize the syllabus and see if I can finish the character design for the elf princess in the next couple of days.

Chapter 163 Mysterious and Unpredictable

There's no point in talking to someone who doesn't see eye to eye. Otivia lost interest in talking to her muscle-bound older sister, lowering her eyes and remaining silent.

Zeno was too lazy to say anything more. After giving a cold laugh, he walked past the other person and left.

Since we can't gain the upper hand with words, let's see what we can achieve with actions.

After leaving the palace, Elena held onto Shiro's hand tightly in the carriage, but remained silent.

Shiloh shook hands with him, and after organizing his thoughts, explained, "Well... I'm sorry to have worried you. But this was also part of my plan. Meeting His Majesty was necessary, and beating up Meredith was not only to vent my anger, but also for my own political considerations."

Arya was actually quite open-minded about this matter. After all, the Wells family and the royal family had an extremely close relationship. Let alone beating up the Third Prince, even if it were the First or Second Prince who had real power, as long as there was a reason, His Majesty probably wouldn't say anything, at most he would just give a verbal reprimand.

"Yes, we know, but it happened so suddenly that everyone was taken aback."

Arya spoke with a smile, while gesturing to Shiloh with her eyes.

Silo nodded slightly. Even without Arya's prompting, he could tell that Elena was not in a good mood.

After thinking for a moment, Shiloh took Elena's small hand to his lips, kissed it gently, and said softly, "I'm out safe and sound, you know I'm always meticulous in my actions."

Upon hearing this, Elena trembled slightly as if waking from a dream. She bit her lip, silently moved closer to Shiloh's chest, and then hugged him tightly.

Seeing that Elena seemed to have no intention of speaking, a hint of apology flashed in Shiloh's eyes.

It seems this incident has had some impact on Elena's mental state. I'll talk to her again tonight...

creak-

As the carriage arrived at the Wells family mansion, Shiloh patted Elena on the back, and the group disembarked.

It was almost dinnertime, and after the family finished eating, Xiluo, her father, and her sister went into the study to discuss recent events.

Unlike her home in Maple Leaf Territory, the Wells Manor had many maids, so Cecilia didn't have to do any cleaning after the meal. After finishing her meal, Cecilia wanted to return to the villa to meditate and reflect.

Cecilia.

Just as Cecilia got up to leave, her sleeve was grabbed.

Looking back, he saw Elena pursing her lips, looking at him with a somewhat uncertain gaze, as if she were making a difficult decision.

After a few breaths, Elena seemed to have made up her mind. She took a deep breath, looked at Cecilia with a serious expression, and said, "Please... help me!"