Chapter 198: How Old Is This Guy?

Chapter 198: Chapter 198: How Old Is This Guy?

The half-month training period flew by quickly, and soon it was the day of the New Year’s banquet.

This time, owing to a personal invitation from His Majesty the Emperor, all five members of Class 659 were present one after another.

Evelyn, in her capacity as a princess, appeared alongside His Majesty and the others.

Jeremy arrived with Lucius.

For no other reason than Lucius, who could have perfectly well attended as the heir to the Lunaris clan, insisting on attending the banquet as Jeremy’s partner.

For these three days of the holiday, Lucius also decided to stay at the Valmont Ducal estate.

Jeremy naturally couldn’t chase him away, so he just let it be.

Leon attended this time as the heir to the Magic Tower, just like last year, wearing a mask and a black outfit, concealing himself extremely thoroughly.

The only difference was that this time he appeared alongside Kathy.

Jeremy knew that after the incident in the Wasteland, the opposition from everyone in the Magic Tower regarding Leon’s succession had lessened somewhat.

But he hadn’t expected that this time the Magic Tower would let the two of them appear together. He also didn’t know whether to consider it good news or bad news...

When the attendees had all gathered, the banquet officially began.

Jeremy and Lucius casually danced the opening dance, then immediately slipped away before the others could swarm them.

Jeremy walked ahead, Lucius following behind at an unhurried pace.

Phoenix appeared this time with the heir of the Eastern family, who was also his older sister. They arrived earlier than Jeremy and Leon, so they didn’t have the chance to cross paths right upon arrival.

Jeremy scanned the surrounding area, then looked toward his family’s designated seating, but couldn’t find Phoenix anywhere.

Just as Jeremy was wondering if this guy had made an excuse to avoid showing up again, he spotted someone acting as timid as a large black cat hiding in the corner.

His hood was drawn as usual, his back turned to the crowd, and it was unclear what he was doing.

But looking at the back silhouette, one could immediately tell it was Phoenix.

Jeremy was just about to approach when he saw someone else step up a beat before him.

"Are you alright?"

The girl’s voice was clear and cold, carrying a gentle touch like early winter morning dew.

Hearing the sound, Phoenix looked up.

Upon seeing a stranger’s face, he furrowed his brows slightly, quietly inching to the side a bit.

After yielding a space just wide enough for one person to stand, he seemed to react sluggishly, slowly replying, "I. Am. Fine."

Every word was punctuated, as if he were chanting a spell.

The exact moment he looked up, Jeremy also clearly saw his face.

Phoenix’s skin was inherently very pale, but at this moment his entire face was flushed red; even his neck and exposed hands were a bright shade of pink.

And beside him sat a half-empty glass of a drink that looked like fruit juice at first glance, but was actually a Southern specialty liquor with an alcohol content even higher than typical wine.

Jeremy raised a hand to massage his forehead.

Clearly, this guy was drunk.

It wasn’t until the second semester of their first year that he learned Phoenix and Lucius’s alcohol tolerance was terrifyingly poor.

For people with low tolerance, one glass knocks them out; for these two, just a few drops and they’re dead drunk.

Normally Phoenix always stayed far away from these things; he didn’t expect him to fail to escape it today.

The young girl standing near Phoenix looked down at him for two seconds. Between supporting him and continuing to show concern, she chose to turn around. Her gaze shifted toward Jeremy, who was standing a short distance away observing, and she smiled, "Brother Jeremy, it seems your teammate is drunk?"

"...That’s right." The exact second he saw her features and hair color, Jeremy already knew the identity of the person before him.

Evelyn’s younger sister, the reigning Third Princess—Thalira.

For her to suddenly appear now... was she planning to lay her cards on the table?

Jeremy put on a thoughtful expression.

At the same time, whispers and discussions abruptly broke out all around them.

Almost all of them centered around the young girl in front of him.

"Aren’t those pupils the symbol of the White Tiger bloodline? Who is she, to possess Glazed Gold-Red Eyes?"

"Aren’t the current princesses only Her Highness Evelyn, Her Highness Asaro, and that foolish princess? Could it be she is also a royal bloodline of His Majesty wandering outside?"

"I don’t know, wait a minute... Her hair color is exactly identical to Her Highness Evelyn’s? Could it be..."

The crowd’s murmurs suddenly fell silent, everyone finding it hard to believe.

The eye color of the White Tiger bloodline was different from ordinary gold; within the glazed gold, a ring of orange-red encircled the pupil, and the iris patterns looked as if they were engraved with magic array lines inside. When meeting those eyes, one could see through the soul; upon reaching a certain realm, one could even bewitch and manipulate others.

The Glazed Gold-Red Eyes of the first-generation founding Emperor had reached a level that made the entire continent tremble in fear. However, subsequent generations gradually declined, to the point that the Glazed Gold-Red Eyes hadn’t reappeared in recent royal generations.

Yet now, one had abruptly sprung up.

Furthermore, it was... the foolish princess they had almost forgotten about.

The majority of the nobles simultaneously looked toward His Majesty the Emperor, only to see his expression exceedingly calm.

Jeremy also noted this point.

...It seems the war scrambling for the heir position officially began now.

Under everyone’s attention, the Emperor spoke up to call Thalira:

"Thalira, come here."

Thalira gave a sound of assent, walking toward the Emperor.

As she brushed past Jeremy, she paused slightly, using a volume only the two of them could hear, and whispered.

"See you later in the rear garden, Brother Jeremy."

Jeremy didn’t say anything, merely smiling in response.

Phoenix, standing beside them, hearing his captain’s name, acted as if receiving some command; he stood up, looked toward Jeremy, and stiffly called out, "Cap... tain."

Is he a robot?

Jeremy was somewhat speechless, ignoring Thalira who had just drifted past, and waved to him, "Come here."

Phoenix obediently complied.

At the same time, the Emperor also began to introduce Thalira to everyone.

"Today, on the occasion of the New Year’s banquet, I would like to announce some good news to everyone..."

Jeremy couldn’t see the situation clearly; after all, a large body blocking his front truly obstructed his view.

Fortunately, the sound was still clear.

When hearing His Majesty the Emperor announce that this obscure, nearly forgotten Third Princess was actually Holy Covenant 06, the reaction of the majority of the people was to turn their eyes toward the current number one genius possessing the same Mark—Kathy.

With her as an example, everyone understood the developmental prospects of Holy Covenant 06.

Recently, Jeremy had obtained information about Thalira through Evelyn, so he was not surprised at all.

Compared to these things, he currently cared more about Phoenix’s state.

If he remembered correctly, Phoenix’s initial stage of drunkenness was exactly this relatively obedient appearance right now. But hitting the second stage, it was like he completely transformed into another person.

As a precaution, Jeremy took out a bottle of hangover cure and handed it to Phoenix.

"Drink this."

Seeing the thick, pitch-black liquid presented before him, Phoenix’s brows instantly knitted tightly together. He turned his back to Jeremy, using silence to refuse.

Lucius, standing beside Jeremy, was speechless, "How old is this guy?"

Jeremy found it somewhat amusing, "Is your drunkenness any better? Besides, aren’t you the youngest one?"

Lucius: "..."

Currently the Emperor was giving a speech, so Jeremy couldn’t make too much of a commotion either. Just as he was about to pull Phoenix into a corner, a lazy voice rang out from behind.

"He told you to drink, so drink."

Just as these words fell, before Jeremy could even react, the potion bottle in his hand was snatched by Phoenix and downed in one gulp.

The speed was so fast it left people astounded.

Jeremy: "?"

Who could make Phoenix obediently listen to orders like that?

Jeremy turned around to look behind him.

It was a woman also wearing a black cloak.

Her features resembled Phoenix’s up to seventy percent.

Clearly, she was Phoenix’s older sister.

The heir to the Eastern Ducal family, the future Duchess—Divina Noir.

It was unknown whether it was thanks to the Angel bloodline or not, but just getting close to her, Jeremy felt the surrounding magic power become much denser, seemingly carrying a healing halo that soothed one’s spirit, making one calm and composed.

Only... getting close to Phoenix didn’t seem to give this feeling.

The feeling the two siblings gave off was completely different.

Near Divina there was a feeling of being healed, but the first time he saw Phoenix, it brought a gloomy, chilling sensation as if his soul was being seen through.

It was unknown whether it was due to the purity of the bloodline, or if the inherited bloodline abilities between male and female had a difference.