Sitting in the spectator stands, Li An stared at the arena with an awkward expression.
His father had suddenly announced his participation in the knight tournament, and had actually fought his way all the way to the finals.
To make things even more ridiculous, his opponent in the finals was none other than the imperial Crown Prince.
“If he wins this time, His Highness the Crown Prince will capture the championship for the third consecutive time! And standing before him is Arthur Adolf, who has burst onto the scene like a comet! Can this suddenly prominent knight stop His Highness the Crown Prince from completing a three-peat!”
By the way, the person currently commentating was by no means a professional commentator.
He was merely a drunkard.
He had pulled out a bottle of alcohol from somewhere and was chugging it down while passionately commentating on the match.
The finals were about to begin.
The Crown Prince looked up and gazed toward the spectator stands.
It was precisely in the direction of Li An.
As expected, the noble young ladies sitting near Li An immediately began whispering among themselves.
The Crown Prince suddenly raised his hand, pointed at the spot where Li An was, and said loudly, “I shall dedicate this victory to you.”
“Kyaaa!”
The surrounding noble ladies erupted in a wave of screams.
They clearly mistakenly believed the Crown Prince was referring to them.
“Prince Kane is looking at me!”
“No, he's clearly looking at me!”
“Get out of the way, all of you!”
Li An happened to lock eyes with the Crown Prince.
He immediately shifted his gaze away guiltily.
Yet, the Crown Prince revealed a meaningful smile.
His gaze seemed to say: “I haven't given up on you yet, Li An Adolf. No, I should call you Count Erindale now. I will definitely have you.”
Li An instantly felt an ominous premonition.
He prayed silently. Father, please be safe...
...
“The winner! Arthur Adolf!”
“Bwahaha! A loss is a loss,” the Crown Prince laughed.
The result was unsurprising.
Li An had never seen his father, Arthur, lose a fight.
Especially when on horseback.
Thanks to the generally robust physical constitution of the people in this world, Li An felt that even if the Mongol cavalry of his past life were to face him, they would probably have to take a detour.
No.
Rather than a battle between knights, it was pure brute force crushing the opponent.
This was Arthur Adolf.
“That was a splendid battle,” the Crown Prince said. “Are you truly that boy's father? It seems I still have quite a lot to learn from you people.” He humbly extended his hand.
Arthur grasped his hand and bowed slightly. “Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness.”
“For the empire to leave such a talent buried in the remote territories is a great loss,” the Crown Prince said with a smile. “It is a loss for the empire, and a loss for Baron Adolf as well. Are you interested in venturing onto a grander stage?”
“I will seriously consider it, Your Highness,” Arthur replied.
“Hahaha! I am the loser, yet I've been the one doing all the talking,” the Crown Prince laughed. “You must teach me more in the future.”
“Of course, Your Highness,” Arthur replied.
Watching their conversation from afar, Li An finally let out a sigh of relief.
At least during the tournament, his father hadn't accidentally broken the Crown Prince's arms or legs, let alone accidentally killed him.
The match just now had been absolutely nerve-wracking to watch.
Even though he had done nothing, Li An felt utterly exhausted.
He was about to head over to find his father.
However, there was something Li An didn't know.
Sometimes, the truly exciting part of a knight tournament wasn't the match itself.
It was what happened after the match ended.
“Baron Adolf! You were so handsome!”
“I didn't expect you to actually defeat His Highness the Crown Prince!”
“Lord Baron, please look over here!”
“Would you like to have tea together?”
Just after the match ended, Arthur, the newly minted knight star, was instantly surrounded by a crowd of noble ladies.
Before Li An could even get close to his father, Arthur was already being carried further and further away by the crowd.
Before leaving, Arthur gave Li An a big thumbs-up from afar.
His gaze seemed to say: “Son, this is what you call life.”
Li An fell silent.
He had absolutely no desire to learn this kind of life experience.
...
From then on, Arthur Adolf became a complete sensation in the imperial capital.
Just like the champion of a popular TV show who would get recognized walking down the street for months after the show ended.
Arthur enjoyed the exact same treatment.
Especially after everyone learned that he was Li An's father.
Countless young noble ladies began to extend passionate invitations to him.
Even some noble widows who wanted to find happiness again joined the fray.
Being widowed was absolutely no obstacle in the face of overwhelming fame.
Even today, Arthur was still enjoying his belated second spring.
At this moment, he was holding a tea party with a group of noble ladies and widows.
“Speaking of which, Count Erindale should already have a partner, right?” a noble lady asked casually.
After all, the current Li An was a highly sought-after figure in the empire.
The Light of the Empire.
The Minister of the Evaluation Department.
And recently, he had received a count title bestowed upon him by the Emperor himself.
If calculated by marriage value in the imperial noble circles, Li An was almost the top candidate for a husband, second only to the imperial family.
However, there had long been rumors in the noble circles that Li An had once met with a certain woman at the Adolf residence.
Thus, many noble ladies instinctively believed he already had someone.
“He doesn't,” Arthur replied calmly.
“Oh my?”
“We only heard about a marriage meeting taking place before, but never who the other party actually was. So that's how it is.” Lady Karen covered her face with a fan, smiling meaningfully.
...
“Son, Father is sorry.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Li An looked in the direction of his father's gaze.
In the distance, a group of noble ladies was walking toward them.
“Count Erindale, the weather is wonderful today. Would you like to go for a stroll together?”
“Lord Count, what a coincidence! Didn't we meet at the fountain last time? To think we'd meet again today!”
“My, is the gentleman next to you Baron Adolf?”
Now, among the noble ladies, the father and son pair of Li An and Arthur were known as the golden duo.
As long as one could snag one of them, it was possible to completely change one's life.
There was even a widow mother-and-daughter duo who actually planned to take both father and son down together.
That plan was chilling just to think about.
Arthur, however, was exceptionally calm.
“Take care of yourself,” Arthur said. “The imperial capital is far more terrifying than I imagined. With that, you're on your own.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he dived straight into the nearby bushes. His movements were so agile that he didn't look like an older noble at all.
Li An was dumbfounded.
Unfortunately, his long career as a civil servant had caused his physical capabilities to severely degenerate. That beast-like agility he once possessed had long since been lost.
Thus, Arthur got away, while Li An did not.
“Hehehe, Lord Count, please walk this way.”
“No, come with me.”
The heavy scent of makeup and pungent perfume assaulted his nostrils.
Li An felt utterly dazed.
A soft body pressed against his left side, and another leaned in from his right. That warm and soft sensation almost made his brain stop functioning.
Li An screamed frantically in his heart. No, I need to escape quickly...
“Hey, where do you think you're going?” A young lady noticed Li An trying to run and simply reached out to grab his arm.
“How sly.” Another lady embraced Li An from behind.
Under the natural physical stimulation, Li An felt as if all his strength was being drained away.
Wait.
It seemed... this situation wasn't as bad as he had imagined?
What exactly was life anyway?
Li An felt that he had been living very seriously all these years. What was wrong with enjoying himself once in a while?
“No!”
Li An snapped back to his senses.
“Wake up, Li An! Think about the effort you've put in over the years!”
In order to escape the current predicament, Li An hastily pointed at a nearby ancient tree.
“Look at that ancient tree rooted in the earth,” he said. “Li An's heart is just like that ancient tree. Rooted deep in the earth, and thus, still maintaining its silence...”
Crack!
“Kyaaa!”
Suddenly, dark clouds gathered, and a bolt of lightning cascaded from the heavens, viciously striking the ancient tree.
Li An instinctively took off his coat and shielded the noble ladies around him, fearing they might be affected by the lightning.
Fortunately, the lightning struck only once. The sky quickly cleared up again.
However, a crimson mark was left on the lightning-struck tree.
Seeing that mark, the young ladies' eyes instantly lit up.
“How romantic...”
The scar left by the lightning strike happened to form a heart shape. Of course, this was pure coincidence.
But in the eyes of those noble ladies, this was destiny.
“This is your heart.” The young lady's cheeks immediately flushed red.
“Ah... No, wait!”
Last time it was a meteorite. This time it was a lightning strike.
Please, could it stay a bit further away from him?
Looking at the noble ladies who were once again closing in on him, Li An could only scream in despair in his heart.
...
“Why are you avoiding me? Li An, why are you avoiding me? Don't hide, don't hide, don't hide, don't hide...”
Whoosh!
Li An, who was reading a letter, suddenly shuddered. The stationery in his hand fell straight to the ground.
Immediately after, something fell out of the envelope. It looked like a fingernail a woman had clipped off.
Li An's face instantly went pale. The contents of the letter were still gentle, yet chillingly creepy.
“I feel like you've been avoiding me lately. Why? You clearly still meet with other ladies, yet you avoid only me. I am truly deeply saddened. I am so disappointed that I even want to drive something under my fingernails.”
Hiss!
Li An sucked in a breath of cold air.
Hidden inside the stationery was actually a sharp razor blade. If his hand had been just slightly off just now, his finger would have probably been sliced open.
At this very moment, Li An was hiding in his room in the imperial palace. He didn't even dare to step outside.
However, a person couldn't go without food forever.
After his stomach put up a noisy protest, Li An ultimately could only brace himself and walk out of the room.
He prepared to head to the dining hall.
But he had barely taken a few steps before he was spotted.
“It's Li An!”
“Li An!”
“I missed you so much!”
He was instantly spotted. Li An bolted.
Unfortunately, his pitiful stamina couldn't sustain him for long. Before he had run very far, he was forced to stop and gasp for air.
If he had known things would turn out like this, he should have become a military officer back then. Why on earth did he choose the civil servant path? Why!
Li An once again felt deep regret for his past career choice.
“Hello.”
“Long time no see.”
Long purple hair, beautiful eyes like amethysts, and an exquisite face wearing a somewhat mischievous smile.
The person who appeared before Li An was none other than Serena.
“I hear you've been having a tough time lately?” Serena said with a smile. “So I say, a fool like you shouldn't play with women's hearts.”
“When did I ever play with them? This is too unjust.”
“If you want to escape your current situation, there is actually a way.” Serena extended her hand. “Want to give it a try?”
Li An was already completely out of breath, but he still nodded without the slightest hesitation.
Please, any way will do. As long as it can rescue him from this hell.
Not long after, the group of noble ladies caught up. Each of them stared at Li An, their gazes like beasts locking onto their prey.
However, when they saw Serena, their steps came to an abrupt halt.
“Your Highness?”
“My, quite a few people have gathered,” Serena said, sweeping her gaze over them. “Lize, Sonia, Ravina? You all seem quite impatient.”
She smiled, then reached out and hooked her arm through Li An's.
“But how regrettable,” she said. “This person currently has some matters to handle with me.”
One of the noble ladies said unwillingly, “Even if you are the Princess, you can't just ignore our previous agreement...”
“Agreement?” Serena smiled. But her smile went cold. “What agreement is needed?”
In front of everyone, she directly announced: “This man is my lover.”
...
◆ Light of the Empire, unexpectedly in a relationship with the Second Princess?!
Count Li An of Erindale, who was recently bestowed a title by the Emperor and has become a hot topic in the imperial capital, has reportedly been seen acting frequently with the empire's Second Princess, Serena Barba. The two are extremely close and do not look like ordinary friends at all...
...
Crush.
Elizabeth looked at the newspaper in her hand.
Before she realized it, her fingers had tightened so hard that she had crumpled the newspaper.
She slowly stood up.
Her long hair, which had been tied up, had somehow fallen loose.
Elizabeth's gaze gradually turned cold.
“Serena...”
“Again?”
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