Chapter 20: Suspicion

On the surface, Zhe Zilin remained calm, but inside, a storm was raging.

From beginning to end, he had only said two words, yet the golden-haired girl in front of him had already called out his name.

The girl’s golden hair was loosely tied in a half-updo, with a few strands of loose hair falling beside her cheeks. Her face was as white as jade, her eyebrows and eyes gentle. When she raised her gaze, her eyes shimmered like a night-blooming cereus under the moonlight — breathtakingly beautiful.

He suddenly recalled the stable boy’s exaggerated praise from last night and immediately understood the identity of the girl before him — Princess Osha.

Her angelic appearance was truly stunning. Now that he thought about it, the stable boy had not exaggerated at all.

Zhe Zilin recalled Ailia’s evaluation of Osha. Facing the girl in front of him, he decided to hide his identity.

Osha took two steps closer and carefully examined Zhe Zilin’s appearance. She subconsciously reached out to touch him.

Griet saw this and immediately rode over, drawing the longsword at his waist to protect Osha.

“Be careful, Princess.”

Osha ignored him and gently touched Zhe Zilin’s bearded face with her hand.

“Ed, is it you?”

Zhe Zilin slightly leaned back, afraid that Osha would discover his fake beard. He avoided her hand.

“Princess, you’ve mistaken me for someone else. My name isn’t Ed.”

Osha withdrew her hand. The familiar feeling told her that the person in front of her was the one she had been thinking about day and night, but his appearance was different.

She became lost in thought and muttered softly, “Ed would never tolerate his face being covered in a beard…”

Griet saw this and put away his longsword, preparing to help Osha up.

Zhe Zilin also let out a breath of relief and sat up straight.

Just as the two relaxed, Osha suddenly reached out without lifting her head and accurately grabbed Zhe Zilin’s fake beard, yanking it off with force.

Rip!

Zhe Zilin covered his face. The fake beard had frozen and stuck tightly to his skin. Only hot water could gradually melt it off. Osha’s forceful pull had torn his fragile skin red.

“Princess, what are you doing?”

Griet was shocked. He had not expected Osha to act so decisively.

The moment Osha pulled off the beard, she clearly saw Zhe Zilin’s face. She could not hide the disappointment in her eyes. Although it was only for an instant, she saw a large mole on his chin. Without the beard covering them, his mouth and nose were not refined.

Meanwhile, Leibang Ed’s face had no flaws whatsoever.

Zhe Zilin covered his mouth and carefully glanced at Osha. Probably because he had spent so much time with Ailia, he had to be ready at any moment to deal with suspicion.

So before Osha made her move, he had already activated the skill Disguise, altering the features around his beard area.

The LV1 skill only lasted three minutes. Zhe Zilin had to retrieve his beard as soon as possible to avoid being exposed.

“Princess, I’m just an ordinary person gathering firewood. I really don’t know the Ed you’re talking about.”

Osha returned the beard to Zhe Zilin. “Why are you wearing a fake beard?”

“The wind and snow are too heavy. The beard can block the snow from hitting my face.”

Osha fell into thought, then stood up and gave an order to Griet.

“Give him two silver coins as compensation.”

With that, she mounted her horse with a disappointed expression.

Griet took out two silver coins from his pocket and threw them on the ground. He asked, “Princess, how should we deal with these five half-orcs?”

Osha looked toward the mourning cloth floating in the distant sky and said coldly, “The King of the North’s soul has not yet found peace. We cannot kill. Let’s wait until he is buried in three days before killing them.”

Griet turned to give the order. After walking two steps, he hesitated, then turned back and walked to Osha’s side.

“We received news this morning that the King of the North passed away only last night. I’m afraid the atmosphere in the city will be heavy these three days. We won’t be able to hold a grand welcoming ceremony for you, Princess.”

“Mm. I didn’t come to North City to be welcomed by them.”

Osha gripped the reins and rode forward two steps. Then she turned back and looked at Zhe Zilin, who had stood up.

“Come with me.”

Zhe Zilin quickly took two steps back, wanting to refuse. However, Griet’s sword was already pressed against his neck without hesitation.

“Princess, I’m just an ordinary commoner. I’m of no use to you at all.”

Griet shouted harshly, “Daring to disobey the princess — I can kill you with one sword at any time.”

Zhe Zilin glanced at the escort team beside him. He had no choice but to comply.

He picked up the firewood and walked beside Osha.

She rode her horse at a very slow pace. Rather than making Zhe Zilin follow her, it felt more like she was following him.

However, this did give Zhe Zilin a chance to carefully observe Osha.

From her appearance, she looked exactly like the fragile princess in his memories. Her beauty was even greater than the rumors, and every movement exuded the nobility of royalty.

Looking at her like this, Ailia’s description of her terrible personality seemed completely fabricated.

But Zhe Zilin touched his still faintly aching chin. That decisiveness and swiftness did not resemble a gentle princess at all.

He had been able to dodge Airigo’s sudden punch, yet he had not even seen Osha’s movement.

Moreover, Osha’s attitude toward North City was extremely cold. The death of the King of the North did not stir any ripples in her eyes.

Zhe Zilin increasingly felt that the Osha he saw was not the real her.

Perhaps he could let Airigo take a look and see what kind of person she truly was.

For a moment, he became lost in thought and walked straight into a large tree.

Bang!

The snow on the branches fell with a whoosh, landing on his head.

Zhe Zilin quickly ran a few steps forward and awkwardly patted the snow off his body.

At the back of the group, Scar, whose hands were bound with rope, laughed out loud.

“This guy is an idiot.”

“We’ve already been captured and you can still laugh? Hurry up and think of a way to escape,” One-Eye lowered his voice and scolded.

“Usually you’re the one giving us orders. What kind of ideas can we come up with?”

Scar’s smile did not fade. When he passed by the tree Zhe Zilin had bumped into, he also deliberately bumped into it, though only a few layers of snow fell.

A familiar scent entered his nose. Scar sniffed and his eyes lit up.

“One-Eye, smell this. Doesn’t this smell familiar?!”

Scar jogged a few steps and bent down to sniff the footprints Zhe Zilin had left.

One-Eye had an expression of disappointment, thinking about ways to escape. He did not respond to Scar.

But the more he ignored him, the more Scar urged him.

“Come here, One-Eye! I can’t remember this scent right now. You come and check.”

Gan, Wen, and Cui exchanged glances and, following Scar’s example, bent down to sniff while walking.

“It smells like… the witch’s scent.”

One-Eye was shocked. He pushed Scar aside and sniffed for himself.

“That’s right. It’s the witch’s scent.”

He turned his head and stared at Zhe Zilin’s back.

“This guy… is the person from the witch’s castle.”

At the very front of the group, Zhe Zilin’s hand tightened around his sword hilt as he pretended to stay calm.

He had been paying attention to the five half-orcs at the back the entire time. The noise they made was not loud, and with thirty people between them, only very faint sounds reached his ears.

But he still clearly heard them. Those guys had also recognized him.

Zhe Zilin casually glanced at Osha on horseback. She remained dignified and elegant, her eyes fixed on the city gates of North City that were about to come into view.

Such a quiet sound — unless one was paying special attention — would be carried away by the cold wind.

He felt slightly relieved and loosened his grip on the sword hilt.

Osha glanced sideways at Zhe Zilin. The corner of her mouth curved into a meaningful smile.