Chapter 837: A Few Kowtows to the Heavens

About half an hour later.

In a corner of the royal palace, Shien appeared, his entire being in a state of existential questioning.

“It doesn’t make sense…”

Recalling his experiences over the past half hour, Shien murmured.

There was no other way to put it.

“Why does teleportation fail every time I try to teleport to Lucy’s room?”

Shien was speechless.

Indeed.

During this half hour, Shien’s Instant Movement kept malfunctioning. Not only did he not appear in Lucy’s room, but he repeatedly barged into places he shouldn’t have.

Lia’s private bath, Shien barged in.

The large public bath used by the female knights in the palace, Shien barged in.

The noble ladies’ dressing room, Shien barged in.

Even the rooms of Ancil’s several beautiful concubines, Shien accidentally teleported into, witnessing scenes worthy of being permanently saved on a mental hard drive.

“…If my father-in-law found out about this, even if it were me, he’d fight me to the death, wouldn’t he?”

Thinking this, Shien decided to permanently seal away today’s experiences, never letting anyone know.

However, there was another question Shien couldn’t help but ponder.

“Why did the teleportation fail again and again, and each time, I ended up in such places?”

Shien couldn’t figure out whether this was a disaster or a stroke of luck.

“I haven’t learned any skills like [Lucky Pervert]…”

If such a skill existed, Shien would actually want to learn it seriously.

Therefore, the current situation was a complete mystery to Shien, so much so that he was utterly baffled.

“Logically speaking, with my skill level, Instant Movement shouldn’t fail.”

As far as Shien knew, although Instant Movement-type skills and magic were extremely rare, and each had very specific learning conditions and usage methods, it wasn’t impossible for problems to arise during their use.

For instance, those with low skill levels, or those who had just learned such skills and magic, could experience teleportation errors.

But what about Shien?

His [Outer Manifestation of Heaven’s Decree] had long reached max level, and before fusing into a Heaven’s Decree skill, all the skills used for fusion were also maxed out.

Under the condition of having maxed out the skill, logically speaking, it was absolutely impossible for teleportation to fail.

Even if there were special barriers, magic, or even magic tools that could interfere with teleportation abilities, it would be extremely difficult for them to be effective against Shien’s maxed-out Heaven’s Decree skill.

At least, until now, Shien had never experienced a single teleportation failure or error, demonstrating the power of the Heaven’s Decree skill [Outer Manifestation of Heaven’s Decree].

The fact that he could freely enter and exit even the highest-level barrier protecting the Royal Capital and the palace was a testament to this.

Frankly, Shien’s current Instant Movement ability was no less powerful than Leisha’s, who could intrude into various places as she pleased.

Leisha’s spatial teleportation was considered the best in the world, and Shien’s [Outer Manifestation of Heaven’s Decree] possessed teleportation effects no less than hers. If it failed repeatedly like this, there was definitely a problem.

“Could someone be using a special Unique Skill to interfere with my teleportation?”

Shien couldn’t help but suspect this.

If it were the power of a Unique Skill, which was known to defy conventions, it wasn’t impossible for it to interfere with Shien’s level of Instant Movement.

Furthermore, a Transcendent Level existence could also achieve this.

“Has a Transcendent Level existence taken action against me?”

Shien had to consider this possibility.

But he couldn’t understand why a Transcendent Level existence would target him in such a…gentle way.

Repeatedly sending Shien to places filled with such…benefits, were they trying to harm him or help him?

“Or could it be Nien or Lucy?”

Shien also suspected them.

As the embodiment of the [Hero Summoning] ritual itself, and a goddess governing the concept of summoning, Nien had a close relationship and deep connection with Shien, the Hero she summoned. If it were her, she could definitely interfere with Shien’s teleportation ability, summoning him to other places.

The same applied to Lucy, who now possessed the power of fate, a power not immune to his blessing. It wouldn’t be difficult for her to achieve this by manipulating fate.

Furthermore, Shafney was also a possibility.

Through the power of [Ripple Heart Demon], Shafney definitely possessed Instant Movement-type abilities and could, through a mental connection, render Shien’s blessing, skill protection, and the Holy Sword’s protection ineffective, then inconspicuously send him to other places. This wasn’t impossible.

There was also Leisha. As someone proficient in teleportation, Shien didn’t doubt her ability to mess with him in her area of expertise.

These individuals also had reasons to do this to Shien.

“Nien is so jealous. Seeing me getting married and engaged recently, she’s definitely unhappy with me.”

“Lucy has been giving me the cold shoulder lately. It’s not impossible that she’s preventing me from going to her room.”

“Shafney… well, I just provoked her before running away.”

“As for Leisha, there’s no need to mention it. I almost angered her to the point of no return the day I came back.”

Thinking about this, Shien suddenly realized with great awkwardness that he had offended quite a few people, each more beautiful and willful than the last, all of whom were suspects, very likely to have taken action against him.

“I’m truly steeped in sin.”

Shien sighed, an air of “scumbag” emanating from him.

But this raised another question.

“If it were them, why wouldn’t they throw me into a volcano or the depths of the ocean, but instead send me to such visually stimulating places?”

This was the only point Shien couldn’t understand.

Logically, these women all had the ability to do this, and they all had reasons to target Shien, but they definitely wouldn’t refrain from messing with him, instead giving him such benefits and…eye candy.

Especially Lucy, how could she let him see her sister, subordinates, and friends like that?

“Alright, this is giving me a headache.”

Shien rubbed his temples, feeling more and more confused the more he thought about it.

“Forget it, I’ll just walk over.”

Shien decided to stop using Instant Movement and walk to Lucy’s chambers instead.

“If I encounter beautiful women stripping naked for me while walking on the road, I’ll kowtow a few times to the heavens and thank them today, no matter what.”

Thinking this, Shien started walking towards Lucy’s chambers.

Along the way, many people saw Shien.

“Greetings, Marquis Buztout.”

“Greetings, Marquis Buztout.”

Officials, nobles, and knights in the palace all saluted respectfully when they saw Shien.

Among them were even some sons of dukes, or even dukes themselves.

Despite being the highest-ranking nobles, true royalty, these people from duke families, every single one of them, acted as if they had seen the greatest existence in the world, saluting Shien with fear and trepidation.

After all, times had changed. Shien was no longer just an adventurer, nor just the princess’s fiancé, a promising young man from a newly risen noble family.

He was now not only the princess’s fiancé, but also a Marquis of the kingdom, his status no less than those dukes. Moreover, the power behind him and his own strength far exceeded the acceptable scope of the kingdom, and even the human race.

Coupled with being the Hero, and having recently asserted his dominance once more, showing everyone just how strong and terrifying he was, let alone dukes, even kings and high-ranking officials of the Divine and Demon Races wouldn’t dare to offend him casually.

Of course, there were also many who looked at Shien with strange expressions, showing fear and trepidation, but also some other complex emotions.

Among those emotions were admiration and fear, but also jealousy and hatred, a true reflection of the human condition.

Who wouldn’t be envious and hateful of Shien’s rapid rise in status, with all those admired and adored people surrounding him?

It was impossible not to attract jealousy and hatred.

However, Shien didn’t bother with these.

He nodded to those who were friendly and respectful, responding one by one, completely ignoring those who seemed sarcastic, not even sparing them a second glance, walking straight past them, making them grind their teeth in frustration.

“What’s so great about him…”

A luxuriously dressed noble youth couldn’t help but curse under his breath.

As a result…

“Boom!”

An invisible impact exploded on him, making him cry out in agony as he was sent flying, crashing onto the ground in pain.

“…!”

The surrounding people were greatly startled and immediately distanced themselves from the half-dead noble youth.

Shien, as if he hadn’t done anything, left without looking back.

The people present looked at each other, then at the writhing and struggling noble youth on the ground, their eyes filled with pity.

“At a time like this, there are still such foolish people?”

“He even dared to provoke the Hero. He truly doesn’t know how to spell the word ‘death.’”

“Does he think he’s more powerful than those important figures who were beaten black and blue by Marquis Buztout a few days ago?”

“He deserves it.”

Such pitying and sarcastic words reached the noble youth’s ears, humiliating him. He could only scramble up, embarrassed, and stumble away.

As for those who had looked at Shien with jealousy and hatred, they were naturally terrified. Every single one of them fled as if they had encountered a demon.

Shien didn’t bother with such a trivial episode.

He continued towards Lucy’s chambers, even taking a shortcut through a thicket of bushes.

As a result, upon entering the thicket, Shien froze.

“…Huh?”

In the bushes, two young women stared blankly at Shien, who had suddenly intruded.

They were completely naked.

“…”

Shien fell silent.

It seemed that he really did have to kowtow a few times to the heavens today.

“…”

“…”

In the bushes at the corner of the royal palace, the young nobleman and the two scantily clad young women stared at each other, speechless.

Shien was once again questioning his life choices.

The two young women were stunned by the sudden turn of events, frozen in place, unable to react for a long time.

They naturally recognized each other’s identities.

That’s right.

They happened to know each other, and they even had a significant history.

“Y-y-y-y-you…!”

Tilly pointed a trembling finger at Shien, looking both shocked and disbelieving.

Beside her, Capeline, holding a piece of clothing, was silent for a moment. Then she suddenly drew her imitation Holy Sword, shielding her body with the clothing in one hand and charging towards Shien.

“Swish!”

The tip of the imitation Holy Sword pierced through the air at an astonishing speed, aimed at Shien.

“Clang!”

Almost reflexively, Shien reached out, easily catching the tip of the imitation Holy Sword between two fingers, stopping it in its tracks, preventing it from advancing any further.

“…Isn’t that a bit harsh, Your Highness?”

Shien said, twitching the corner of his mouth.

Capeline glared at Shien and snapped in a low voice, “Then turn around quickly!”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Shien rolled his eyes, turning around while muttering, “It’s not like I haven’t seen it before.”

Indeed, in the High Priest’s underground prison, Shien had already seen this princess in her birthday suit.

Coupled with the ample beautiful scenery he had seen in the past half hour, seeing Capeline naked again, Shien was able to remain calm and composed.

Of course, Capeline, unaware of this, felt the urge to stab Shien on the spot upon hearing his muttering.

After barely suppressing this urge, Capeline shouted at the bewildered Tilly.

“Hurry up and get dressed!”

Saying this, Capeline quickly started putting on her clothes.

“~~~~~!”

Tilly finally reacted, her face flushing crimson as she fumbled with her clothes, her embarrassment almost overwhelming.

Shien could only hear a flurry of rustling and scrambling sounds from behind him, the sounds quite chaotic, telling him how flustered the two young women were.

Finally, after several minutes, the two young women managed to get dressed.

“…Alright, you can turn around now.”

Capeline said coldly.

Shien shrugged and turned around, seeing the two fully clothed women.

At this moment, both Capeline and Tilly were wearing court attire, looking like young ladies from noble families of the kingdom, not at all like a princess of the empire and a descendant of a knight family.

Beside them, armor and other equipment were scattered, those being their original attire.

This made Shien realize something.

“Are you two hiding here in disguise?”

Shien raised an eyebrow.

Tilly was still blushing, overcome by embarrassment, unable to utter a word. Only Capeline continued to glare at Shien.

“Is there a problem?”

Capeline’s tone was very sharp.

After all, she had been seen naked by Shien, so it was impossible for her tone not to be sharp.

Even though she had been seen naked by Shien once before, each instance was different and couldn’t be conflated.

After all, the last time was due to unavoidable circumstances, and it could even be said that Capeline owed Shien a favor. Being rescued by him was already good enough, so naturally, there was no reason to find fault with him for such a “minor detail.”

But this time was different.

This time, Capeline didn’t owe Shien anything.

Therefore, being taken advantage of by Shien again like this, Capeline was still very unhappy.

Unfortunately…

“Is there a problem? Doesn’t the current situation speak for itself?”

Shien crossed his arms, looking at Capeline with a smirk, making her hold her breath.

Shien’s meaning was simple. He was implying why Capeline didn’t find a proper place to change clothes, instead hiding in the bushes.

“In broad daylight, you two are changing clothes in a place like this. If someone sees you, can you really blame them?”

Shien wasn’t going to coddle these young ladies.

It was their own fault for doing inappropriate things in an inappropriate place, and now they wanted to blame others for the consequences?

Shien didn’t think that just because he had taken advantage of them, he was at fault and deserved their anger.

He hated this kind of plot in novels from his previous life. Because of taking advantage of someone, the protagonist would inexplicably feel guilty, allowing the girl to scold and hit him, feeling utterly wronged.

Even if someone was changing clothes in their room and you opened the door and saw them, although you were at fault for not knocking, they were also at fault for not locking the door.

Therefore, Shien wouldn’t pamper these young ladies.

He would address the matter directly. Right was right, wrong was wrong, and it had nothing to do with whether he had taken advantage or not.

If it were those women he had taken advantage of in the past half hour, Shien would feel guilty.

But this time, it was their own choice to change clothes in this place, and he had stumbled upon them while taking a shortcut. He couldn’t be blamed.

With this thought, Shien could be so righteous.

“You…”

Capeline was exasperated but couldn’t refute.

As for Tilly, she was almost on the verge of tears.

There was no helping it; she was the one who suffered the biggest loss.

Shien had never seen her naked before.

Therefore, this was the first time in her life that this young lady from the Bigusler family had been completely seen by a man.

Just thinking about it made her feel like she had suffered a great loss.

Seeing the two young women, one accumulating anger and the other full of grievance, Shien stopped provoking them.

“Seriously, what are you two doing?” Shien asked with a puzzled look. “Why are you changing clothes here? And changing into the kingdom’s court attire?”

Shien didn’t ask why Capeline and Tilly were in the royal palace of the Mitra Kingdom.

With the Tripartite Conference approaching, as the representatives of the empire, the leading military power among the human race, it was perfectly normal for Capeline and the others to be present in the Royal Capital to participate in the conference.

Presumably, the empire must have just arrived in the Royal Capital, which was why the news hadn’t spread yet, and Shien didn’t know about their arrival, right?

However, the reason why Capeline and Tilly were hiding here, secretly changing into the kingdom’s attire, was worth pondering.

“This…”

Tilly momentarily forgot her embarrassment, her expression turning awkward.

Not only Tilly, even Capeline averted her gaze.

“What?” Shien said with a strange expression. “Don’t tell me you’re planning to do something shady?”

As high-ranking officials of the empire, the kingdom’s rival nation, disguising themselves as citizens of the kingdom within the royal palace, if this were to be discovered, it would indeed make people think they were planning some sort of shady espionage.

Or even an assassination mission.

Thinking of this, Shien’s gaze towards Capeline and Tilly changed.

It became a gaze that seemed to be carefully assessing how to tie them up and take them back for interrogation.

Seeing this, both Capeline and Tilly shuddered.

Precisely because they knew Shien and had witnessed some of his terrifying actions, they became apprehensive.

Immediately, Tilly was the first to speak.

“We’re not planning to do anything suspicious!”

Tilly quickly explained.

“That’s right.” Capeline also stopped hiding it, saying straightforwardly, “We just want to see Roselucia.”

“See Lucy?” Shien was taken aback.

“Yes.” Tilly nodded vigorously, emphasizing, “We’re not planning anything shady.”

In order to avoid falling into Shien’s hands, this knight lady was doing her best.

The problem was…

“If you want to see Lucy, just go see her. Why disguise yourselves?”

Shien still looked suspicious.

Capeline and Tilly exchanged glances, one snorting coldly, the other looking helpless.

“It’s not that we don’t want to see her, but we haven’t received permission.” Tilly reminded him. “Neither His Majesty Ancil nor His Majesty Harvis wants to see Lady Capeline confront Princess Roselucia at this time.”

With Tilly’s explanation, Shien understood.

Capeline had always regarded Lucy as her lifelong rival and had a strong obsession with her.

Back in Cosmos, it was because of his close relationship with Lucy that Capeline had targeted Shien.

Now that Capeline had come to the Mitra Kingdom, to the Royal Capital, and even to the royal palace, how could she not seek out Lucy?

And when she sought out Lucy, it naturally wasn’t to make friends, but most likely to fight her.

But the higher-ups of the two countries definitely didn’t want to see these two princesses confront each other and fight to the death during the Tripartite Conference.

Therefore, Capeline’s desire to see Lucy naturally encountered obstacles.

But Capeline was clearly unwilling to compromise.

“So, you planned to disguise yourselves as kingdom citizens and find a chance to approach Lucy?”

Shien looked at Capeline, speechless.

“Hmph!”

Capeline snorted coldly again, turning her head away.

This was undoubtedly an admission.

Shien immediately rolled his eyes.

“I think you have too much free time.”

Shien mercilessly mocked her.

“You’re the one with too much free time!” Capeline retorted. “Roselucia is your fiancée, of course, you’d take her side!”

It seemed that Capeline believed Shien was mocking her because he knew she planned to cause trouble for his fiancée.

However…

“Of course, I’d take her side.” Shien said, curling his lip. “She’s my wife, you’re not.”

These words almost made Capeline explode with anger.

This damned man, he actually admitted so directly that he was on Roselucia Mitra’s side, showing blatant favoritism without any attempt to hide it?

Even though I’m not your wife, you’ve still seen me naked!

Twice!

For that reason, at least be a little tactful in front of me!

Jerk! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻