"So, there's still no reaction from the King's side, right?"
In the spacious and bright conference room, a group of Yilin's knights were holding a meeting. Pas was also present.
"Yes," Abi Robbs reported, "Not just the matter of the celebration, but His Majesty the King hasn't dealt with any state affairs for a whole week. Every day he's with Jones, claiming to discuss matters about the Beishier Duchy. But no orders have been issued."
"Just the two of them, holding a meeting for that long?" Huoersi laughed. "That Jones is just a kid around ten years old. Holding meetings? Couldn't he be the King's catamite? In which case, he'd be the most infatuated perverted old man in history."
In an instant, everyone burst into laughter.
Abi Robbs sighed and said softly, "In fact, it's not just us who think so."
"You mean... there are others who think the same?"
Abi Robbs took a deep breath and said, "My friends in Lion King City told me that the entire city thinks so."
"And are there people supporting him?" The knights laughed even harder.
"No one supports him. This matter is truly absurd. Even though he's the King, he shouldn't intervene in the inheritance rights of other families without any reliable evidence. But the fact that no one supports him, and he still insists on doing it, further proves his determination, doesn't it?"
At this, the laughter abruptly stopped.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Yilin, standing nearby, said softly, "This is both good news and bad news. The good news is that no one supports him. If we withstand the first wave of his pressure, the victory will be ours. The bad news is that it definitely can't be resolved through negotiation. Baird VI has reigned for fifty years. If he is determined to do something, he will mobilize all his forces against us. The coming month is critical. Everyone must be fully prepared psychologically. The matter at hand, do not slack off one bit! Is that clear?"
"Yes!" All the knights present pounded their breastplates forcefully before turning and leaving one by one.
Pas whispered, "By the way, why didn't you let Gray come?"
"Do you think it would be useful for him to come?" Yilin retorted.
"I guess not," Pas scratched his head.
After a moment's thought, Yilin turned to ask Abi Robbs, "By the way, where's Gray?"
"Don't know. He went out early this morning in a hurry, saying he wouldn't be back for lunch."
"Oh."
...
On the street, Shelley hurriedly got out of the carriage and pushed through the crowd surrounding Gray.
"Shelley! Running into you here is really quite a coincidence!" Gray quickly greeted her. After a moment's thought, he "gracefully" bowed. This was the result of last night's all-night training.
"Not at all!" Shelley was so mad she was trembling.
"So this is Shelley."
"Who would have thought, so wicked at such a young age."
"You don't know, nobles are generally bad from the womb. Baron Gray is an exception."
The people around started pointing and discussing, causing Shelley's eye to twitch.
Forcing herself to suppress her overflowing emotions, she smiled and said, "Baron, I think you should clarify to everyone what happened last night."
As she spoke, she made a meaningful glance at a nearby tabloid reporter.
Gray pretended not to notice anything, "Last night? What happened last night?"
"The dance last night."
"Oh, I remember now. Last night you invited me to dance!"
The tabloid reporter beside them whispered as he noted, "Write down, last night Miss Shelley actively invited Baron Gray to dance. The statement is confirmed by the person involved."
Shelley almost spat out blood.
"No! Not that! Don't write that! Gray! Quickly tell them, did you propose to me last night!"
"Did I?" Gray tilted his head, searching his memory.
"Didn't you?" Shelley was almost in tears. Everyone around had their eyes wide open, watching her. "Think carefully! Didn't you propose to me and get rejected?"
"Yes, I remember now! I proposed to you, and you rejected me!"
Upon hearing this, Shelley finally sighed in relief, feeling utterly exhausted, as if it had been ages.
Anyway, things could finally settle down. This guy was indeed a scumbag, but at least he wasn't that bad, right?
She raised her head high, ready to hear the crowd confess their misunderstanding of her.
However, she was wrong.
"Did you see that? This woman forced Baron Gray to admit he proposed."
"I saw it, shameless."
"Baron Gray is too good. He'd even help her with this."
"Wait! What are you all saying?" Shelley was dumbfounded.
The tabloid reporter on the side diligently recorded, "Miss Shelley flew into a rage, forcing Baron Gray to admit he proposed, trying to cover up her defamation of the Baron."
"Don't write that! What do you mean by 'forcing'? That's not how it happened! Do you think there's anyone in this world who would be so good-hearted as to ruin their own reputation to help someone who defames them? Is that possible?"
Just then, a drunkard staggered over and bumped into Gray.
"Hey, I've lost all my wages. Give me some money."
"How much?"
"Not much, a hundred silver coins should do."
In front of everyone, Gray fumbled for a while and only found ninety-eight silver coins.
"Sorry, I bought too much pigeon feed today. I'll give you the other two tomorrow, okay?"
"No, it's fine. Consider those two silver coins my gift to you! Hahaha!"
"Thank you, you're really a good man."
The drunkard walked away happily with the ninety-eight silver coins.
The crowd's gaze returned to Shelley. Looking serious, they said, "We believe Baron Gray is just that good."
In an instant, Shelley lost again. Wait, why say "again"?
Forget it. Anyway, she felt completely drained, collapsing in the street, tears dripping down as she sobbed uncontrollably.
"This is too much... you, you guys, how can you turn black into white like this?"
Everyone watched coldly, except Gray. Yes, only Gray walked over and extended his hand to help Shelley up.
In the sunlight, his newly shiny armor gleamed brightly.
At this moment, Gray's figure was undeniably majestic in everyone's eyes. In Shelley's mind, he had ascended from a villain to a demon.
...
As the sun set, the streets of White City were still bustling. Almost everyone passing by Gray, who was riding his Bone Horse, stopped to salute him. Gray, mimicking Yilin, waved to them.
Children leaning on balconies shouted loudly, "Baron Gray! Baron Gray! Baron Gray!"
In just one day, his popularity in White City had exploded.
This was thanks to his tireless efforts, helping "people who sought his help" everywhere and the newspaper's flattery.
In the carriage behind, Shelley was crying her heart out.
From childhood, she had been spoiled and had never suffered such grievances.
"What is Miss Shelley crying about?" Gray asked.
"You really don't know why she's crying?" asked the Black Cat, hidden inside the armor.
"No."
"Didn't you hear what people were saying around you?"
"They said Shelley defamed me. Although I don't know what Shelley defamed me about, Shelley is a good girl. I should forgive her."
"Oh, my god. You're really thick-headed. This isn't about forgiveness! Her reputation is damaged! Damaged reputation! Do you understand? These rumors say you didn't propose to her last night!"
"But I did propose."
"I know."
"Then why is she still crying? Is it such a sad thing that I didn't propose to her?"
"Wait, I'm getting confused. These people think you didn't propose, and she's very sad... which means not proposing to her is very sad... and then... wait, what am I thinking? The root of this is she's being wronged. They think she lied! Oh my god, I can't believe I summarized this complex logic so well. I am a genius!"
"But she didn't lie."
"Yes."
"And I already testified for her."
"Yes. But they don't believe us."
"So, they think I'm lying too?"
"Um... you could say that."
"Then I'm wronged too, right? But I'm not sad, which means being wronged isn't such a big deal. Human girls are really fragile."
The Lich's perspective was always so unique. The Black Cat didn't know what to say next and could only roll its eyes.
Gray stood outside the Gruglu family's estate.
Helping Shelley out of the carriage, Shelley was furious and slapped Gray on the helmet. With tearful eyes, she looked at Gray.
Gray blankly stared at Shelley.
"What did she mean by that? Was it some kind of etiquette?"
"No, she was attacking you."
"Why was she attacking me?"
Before Gray could figure it out, Shelley had already brushed past him and went into the house. Gray tried to follow, but the guard at the door stopped him.
With a bang, the door was shut, and Shelley collapsed on her bed, crying loudly.
"Miss! Miss! What's wrong!" Her maid rushed over.
Shelley choked out, "My hand hurts... check if that bastard has left."
The maid quickly peered through the window curtains.
...
Standing in front of the Gruglu family's mansion, Gray asked the Black Cat softly, "Should I fight back?"
"Hah..." Besides a cold sneer, the Black Cat had nothing more to say.