The story of the black silk female knight

Chapter 146 The Coming-of-Age Ceremony is About to Begin

Are soul crystals really that dangerous?

Valensa almost threw the jewel in her hand away.

But then I thought, although this bald, drunken principal seems unreliable, he's probably actually quite reliable. At the very least, he certainly wouldn't knowingly push students into danger.

However, the bald-headed principal seemed to be keeping everyone in suspense. He suddenly stopped explaining and took out a bottle of wine from his desk, drinking it down in large gulps.

Valensa understood what he meant.

"Headmaster~~"

Smiling sweetly, and as if by magic, Valensa pulled two bottles of wine from her storage pouch under her skirt and placed them obediently on the desk:

"This is the wine I brewed last time. There are two bottles left, so I'll offer them to you as a token of my appreciation."

Actually, these two bottles were the best of the sauce-flavored liquors that Valensa had tried to brew before. She originally planned to keep them for herself and Tia to drink, but now it seems that she can't keep them.

"Hehe...you really are a very sensible and good student."

The bald man snatched the two bottles of liquor in one swift motion, grinned, and gave a thumbs-up:

"I like obedient and well-behaved children like you."

"……so what?"

Valensa said, half-coquettishly and half-complainingly, in a slightly annoyed tone:

"How can this soul crystal be disposed of in a harmless manner?"

"do not know."

The bald man shamelessly shook his head, and seeing that Valensa seemed ready to draw her sword and stab someone, he yawned and stretched.

"I really don't know... After all, I'm just a warrior... And purifying souls is something you paladins are best at, right?"

!

The Church of the Sun has a way to render the soul crystal harmless, turning it into a pure knowledge compressed package to give to Tia as a gift!

Valensa immediately understood what the bald man meant.

Her smile grew even sweeter, and she gracefully lifted the hem of her skirt in a ladylike gesture.

"Thank you for your guidance, Headmaster... Don't worry, after we celebrate Tia's New Year's gift, I will brew that wine again to honor you."

. . . . .

Time flies, and more than half a month has passed quickly amidst busy studies and daily life.

Tia's coming-of-age ceremony has finally arrived.

Starting at noon, carriages began arriving at the Britannia family residence in preparation for the grand ball that evening.

These were local nobles who were on good terms with Britannia, and they came from all over the kingdom. Some of them even set off from their territories half a month in advance.

Watching people constantly coming and going through the manor gates, Valensa swallowed hard, feeling quite nervous.

Tia's father was not only Valensa's father's direct superior, but also a good friend of Valensa's father. Valensa used to call him Uncle Bill very affectionately.

But that was before.

Tia has mentioned more than once that her father was very dissatisfied with Valencia's decision to give up her inheritance rights and run away overnight three years ago.

Although things are much better now, Valensa is still very anxious.

Because she came today intending to completely take advantage of Tia.

Oh well, I had to face this sooner or later.

I'll just get beaten up if I have to; Tia will definitely help me anyway.

Constantly encouraging herself, Valensa mustered her courage and stepped into the Britannia family estate.

As someone who often came to play when she was a child, Valensa was recognized by many of the maids in the manor, and soon someone took her to Tia's residence.

"Why did you come now?"

While being helped by several maids to try on her dress, Tia rolled her eyes at Valensa, and grumbled in annoyance at Valensa's paladin attire:

"You're not planning to wear this to the ball tonight, are you? I don't want to be dancing with some hard guy holding me."

"How could that be? I had the dress ready a long time ago."

Valensa quickly took out the blue evening gown she had obtained from the Nora Merchant Guild when she solved the Phantom Thief case in Clare City:

"It's just inconvenient to wear this on the road, so I plan to change here."

"This dress... is quite nice."

Tia gestured for a maid to pick up the dress so she could examine it for a few moments, and was somewhat surprised:

"The most popular design style from six months ago is still in style, and it's made by a top master craftsman... Even in the Nora Chamber of Commerce, you could only get this dress through an auction, right?"

"Yes, this is indeed the highlight of the auction."

Valensa smiled and nodded, then glanced at Tia's red evening gown:

"And the color matches your dress perfectly, is this what they call telepathy?"

"Who wants to be telepathically connected with an idiot like you? It's just a coincidence, don't flatter yourself, hmph!"

Tia proudly raised her little face:

"Don't think you've got me figured out... Tonight, all the best young men in the capital... no, the entire kingdom will gather at my house, bringing all sorts of treasures to pursue me... Aren't you worried at all?"

"Don't panic, don't panic at all."

Valensa was confident:

"No matter how precious the treasures others bring, I will be the ultimate victor."

"...So confident?"

Tia looked at Valensa suspiciously a few times:

"Speaking of which, you've been acting all mysterious for the past two weeks, constantly going to church, and even taking several days off... Could it be that you've actually gotten your hands on something good?"

"No, I haven't prepared anything."

As Valensa spoke, she leaned closer to Tia with a playful grin:

"But I'm sure I'll win... because my gift is myself~~"

"You really are a shameless idiot! What nonsense are you spouting!"

Tia's face turned even redder. She raised her white-stockinged foot and kicked Valensa, then pushed her away.

"Who would offer themselves as a gift?"

"Tia, just tell me if you want this gift or not~~"

Valensa nimbly turned and pressed herself against Tia again, without disturbing Tia's dress, simply blowing a breath into Tia's ear.

"I don't want it!"

Tia kicked Valensa again in annoyance, then, as if she had been expecting this, beckoned to a maid standing by the door:

"Bring that over here."

"Yes, Miss."

The maid turned and left, returning less than two minutes later with an exquisitely packaged gift box.

"Here, take it."

Tia nodded, gesturing for Valensa to take the gift box:

"I knew you wouldn't prepare a proper gift... You're not going to wear a ribbon wrapped around yourself to the ball, are you? There's a very powerful magical item inside, from the Sage's Tower. It should be more than enough to outshine most of the gifts tonight. Just give it to me."

Is it even possible to do it this way?

Valensa was stunned for a moment, then moved.

Tia, you're amazing!

Unable to contain her emotions, Valensa ignored the numerous maids in the room and pounced directly on Tia.

"What are you doing, you idiot! You've ruined your dress... Ugh."

Chapter 147 The Orange is Set

"Huh? What do you mean by 'don't want'?"

After their playful antics, Tia looked at the gift box that Valensa had returned, somewhat surprised:

"Could it be that you actually found something good?"

"Of course, you'll definitely like it, Tia."

Valensa nodded confidently, then smiled slightly.

"But I'll keep it a secret for now, otherwise there won't be any surprises."

"Pshaw, what's so surprising about that?"

Tia narrowed her eyes:

"You don't have much money right now, so the gift can't be bought. You also have to go to school and don't have much time to hunt yourself, so it can't be some rare material from a monster."

As for Pink Rose, you seemed to have visited it once at the end of last month, and you even brought a friend?

If I'm not mistaken, that must be the otherworldly person you met at the place of chance, right? So your surprise gift is an item from some otherworldly civilization? Is that why you're so confident?

"Wow, Tia, you're so smart! You analyzed so much in one go."

Valensa first feigned admiration, then smiled, pointing to the corner of her mouth with her finger.

"Unfortunately, you guessed wrong... What I'm giving you isn't some otherworldly artifact, but something that will greatly help your magical training~~"

"What on earth is that?!"

Tia became even more curious, and playfully kicked Valensa lightly with her white-stockinged feet:

"What's wrong with telling me beforehand? You're so stingy!"

"I already said it was a surprise. If you knew beforehand, how could you feel surprised?"

Valensa's legs also moved. She was very fast. Her two black-stockinged legs clamped down like hunting pincers, capturing the playful white-stockinged little feet, and then she pulled them towards her with a little force.

"Ouch."

Tia lost her balance and slid off the chair with a cry, falling into Valensa's arms.

"You're so annoying! You always bully me!"

In the end, Valensa was kicked out of the room by Tia... If the commotion continued, the two of them probably wouldn't be able to change into their dresses before the ball started.

After changing into her gown in another room and getting ready, Valensa didn't see Tia again until the ball officially began.

There were more young people present than Valensa had imagined; they were all promising young talents from various families.

Most of them were pursuing Tia with various motives, including connecting with each other and expanding their networks.

So even though everyone was theoretically a rival tonight, there wasn't much of a tense atmosphere. Instead, quite a few people had a good chat and reached preliminary agreements on cooperation.

Many people tried to talk to Valensa, but after learning who she was, they all had subtle expressions and politely kept their distance.

The Badr family is currently in a precarious situation, a very troublesome vortex, and none of these people want their family to get burned.

Valencia was too lazy to deal with those trivial matters and was happy to have some peace and quiet.

When it was exactly 8 p.m., Tia finally made her appearance, accompanied by a handsome man who looked very young.

No one showed jealousy towards the man; most people looked at him with respect and admiration. Valensa instinctively shrank back, trying to hide behind the crowd.

Bill Britannia, the current head of the Britannia family, the chief strategist of the Kingdom of Fran, and Tia's biological father.

"Welcome to my daughter's coming-of-age ceremony, everyone..."

After the usual opening remarks, the ball officially began.

The first dance of a noblewoman's coming-of-age ceremony is usually with her father, as a way of thanking him for his years of upbringing and love. Tia was no exception.