Chapter 396, Chapter 190: Engagement
“Your sister, Shiel?”
Douglas seemed to recall it then. His “duel” with Ig, although more due to the young man’s persistence, had the direct cause of that engagement.
The red-haired youth suddenly tilted his head slightly, a mocking expression lifting on his face.
Ig felt inexplicably confused. But before he could ask, the red-haired youth raised his head, and under his magnificent, scattered, red silk-like long hair, a pair of crimson pupils stared intently at the young man’s face:
“So Young Master Ig truly cares about your sister? Very well, since that is the case…”
“Impossible!”
A middle-aged man’s voice rang out. Ig’s eye, as the eldest brother of the current Marquis, Sir Zier, Yagmein, had ascended to the arena that had been reduced to ruins. With a few steps, he approached Douglas’s side: “Douglas, your engagement with Shiel absolutely cannot be canceled!”
Ig let out a soft “yih”.
Although he knew that this “uncle” in front of him was undoubtedly in cahoots with Douglas, and might even be the so-called mastermind, Ig hadn’t expected him to appear even more anxious than Douglas.
Beside the young man, she slightly held her slender hands, her lifted, scorching gold eyes blinking a little.
She could vaguely guess some of the reasons:
Although Douglas and this Yagmein seemed to be allies, what connected them might not be entirely consistent interests, but rather the same goal.
As Agresti’s elder brother, Yagmein undoubtedly sought the position of clan patriarch that was taken from him and for which he had mourned to this day, even willing to trade the family’s territory with Douglas.
However, if Douglas were to abandon his engagement to Shiel, even if he deprived Ig of his inheritance, the next clan patriarch would only be another descendant of Marquis Mays, that is, Shiel, and it would absolutely not be him!
Verafia’s eyes blinked, a delicate curve lifting at the corners of her youthful lips.
However, the red-haired youth merely smiled slightly at Yagmein’s plea and did not immediately respond.
Yagmein also understood that with his status, he clearly was not qualified to point fingers at a provincial governor. He immediately turned his gaze and sternly reprimanded Ig:
“Ig, Miss Shiel’s engagement is a royal decree! If you insist on stopping it, I’m afraid you will only plunge the family and Lord Marquis into injustice!”
As he reprimanded, an imposing aura belonging to the Saint Rank rushed out, attempting to suppress Ig.
Suddenly, a slender girlish figure stepped forward, shielding Ig, letting out a muffled groan as she fully absorbed the Saint Rank aura that suddenly erupted with his reprimand.
“Veer!”
Ig tightly grasped her slender little hand. Verafia, with her slightly raised little head, shook it at him. A strand of silk-like golden hair slid down her pure white face.
In fact, she was now only one step away from the Star she had been at before, and it wasn’t impossible for her to confront a Saint Rank.
And this Yagmein, Verafia had met him before. Although, when he competed with Agresti back then, Yagmein could be considered outstanding, but over the years, he had only achieved the lowest-level Saint Rank. A mere aura could not cause much damage to Verafia.
“Yagmein!”
However, Yagmein’s actions made Ig even angrier, and he directly called out the opponent’s name. The black-haired young man, disregarding the other’s status and his own mere Gold rank, blocked with his arm, shielding the girl behind him, and reprimanded:
“‘Among Black Iron, the strong win,’ this is the teaching left by our ancestors, do you deny it? Moreover, in private homes and territories, ‘wind and rain are permissible, the king does not enter,’ this is the law written in the charter, even the king has no reason to force Shiel to get engaged!”
“Ig, you!”
Yagmein, anxious, was about to retort when the red-haired youth stopped him with his hand. Douglas’s previously flustered expression receded, and a decent smile emerged:
“Uncle Yag, Young Master Ig’s words are not unfounded. And I think… even His Majesty the King would not want to force a young girl into a decision against her will.”
Ig’s pupils trembled. He found it difficult to discern what the red-haired youth in front of him was thinking.
“Therefore, Young Master Ig, the matter you asked me to answer, let Miss Shiel decide!”
“Shiel?”
Ig noticed the girl, dressed in an exquisite long dress with long silver-blue hair, who had followed Flarn and Ophi, also walk behind him. The young girl’s slender fingers clutched the hem of her skirt, her teeth lightly biting her lips, her gaze directed at the hands that he and Verafia were gently holding.
Ig understood Douglas’s intentions. If it were in the past, he would not have been afraid to let Shiel choose. Knowing his sister, Ig was certain she would not be willing to fulfill the imposed engagement with Douglas.
But at this moment… he recalled Verafia talking about Shiel in the carriage.
What if Shiel, because of Verafia, suddenly acted out of pique and said she would accept Douglas…
“Shiel!”
Ig dared not think further and quickly called out.
But the silver-blue haired girl did not pay him any heed. Instead, she lightly moved her feet under her skirt. Her small, slender feet were like a shimmering snow lotus, and her exquisite high-heeled sandals seemed to touch a clear layer of ice.
Shiel raised her head and looked at the girl in front of Ig. Verafia’s exquisite eyes, as if brushed by golden flames, seemed to have a bit of interesting color, as if looking at her with some novelty.
She closed her eyes tightly. A faint, yet slightly trembling voice came from the girl’s thin lips.
“I am indeed very jealous of Sister Vera that she can stay by Brother’s side and be close to him…明明 (Clearly), it used to be Brother who accompanied me…”
A hint of crying entered Shiel’s voice. The girl’s fluctuating emotions could be easily seen from her exquisite features.
Ig reflected on his attitude towards his sister.
Of course, Verafia had seen quite a lot of this little girl Shiel’s feelings… Well, and besides, it was Ig and his sister’s business, so she had no place to intervene.
The girl rested her cheeks on her slender hands, then slightly turned her gaze. Not far away, Douglas stood with his hands behind his back, his face, once again full of spirit and luster, holding a smile, with not much expression recognizable.
“Shiel…”
Ig wanted to reach out and grab the girl. But Shiel suddenly took a step back, shaking her head at him, and said seriously: “Brother, I know.”
“So, Miss Shiel, regarding this engagement between you and me, what are your thoughts?”
—
I don’t know why this section took so long, the next chapter will conclude… and then the end of this volume. (Abba)
