The main hall was deathly silent.
The crisp, dull thud of knees hitting the floor struck everyone like a bolt from the blue.
The sycophantic smile on Lucius’s face froze instantly — stiff, comical, and tinged with a sense of pathetic realization.
He remained hunched over, hand outstretched in the gesture of introduction, looking like a clown performing a strenuous act for an audience that didn’t exist.
Leah, the maidservant, was so shocked she reflexively clamped her hand over her mouth.
The Dragonborn envoy, a person of immense nobility to whom even the Second Young Master had to bow and scrape, was actually… actually performing such a grand gesture of respect toward her Master Luolin, the one everyone considered a useless failure!
Shen Luolin lowered his eyes, looking at the forehead pressed against the back of his hand.
That pious, slightly cool touch made him feel for a moment as if he had returned to that snow-battered mine.
That frail girl had also clumsily cradled his frozen feet in her arms, using everything she had to warm him.
“Lady Envoy!”
Lucius finally found his voice amidst the extreme shock. Jealousy and a sense of humiliation burned his internal organs until they ached, and his handsome face began to contort.
He forced out a smile and took a step forward, attempting to break the suffocating awkwardness.
“Lady Envoy, please, stand up! This is completely unnecessary!” Lucius put on a full display of concern, his tone laced with just the right amount of panic.
“My elder brother… sigh, his constitution is weak. He has spent years in quiet recovery and has never seen such a grand occasion. I fear he might startle you or offend your noble person. If there is any lapse in hospitality, I, Lucius, will take full responsibility!”
As he spoke, he shot a glare at Shen Luolin out of the corner of his eye. The warning in his words was barely concealed.
He deliberately emphasized the words “weak constitution” to remind the two envoys not to be fooled by this useless elder brother’s empty posturing.
More importantly, he wanted to tell Shen Luolin: ‘Don’t think you’re anything special just because someone bowed to you!’
However, Shyrna had no intention of even looking up. She remained in her kneeling position.
Instead, it was Lilith, the young Dragonborn girl standing behind her, who couldn’t hold back.
She looked at the unsightly Lucius, her clear eyes filled with innocent confusion as she asked, “Mistake him for someone else? How could we possibly be mistaken!”
“We Dragonborn would never fail to recognize one of our own!”
Lilith’s voice was crisp and melodious. In the silent hall, it rang out like a series of sharp slaps to Lucius’s face.
One of their own?
One of their own?!
How could this useless person, this shell of an eldest son who had been abandoned by the family and didn’t even have warm clothes for the winter, be “one of their own” to the noble Dragonborn?!
It was impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
While Lucius’s face shifted from pale to blue, and then to purple, Shyrna finally rose slowly.
She still didn’t look at Lucius. Instead, she took a palm-sized box carved from a single piece of dragon scale from her robes and presented it solemnly to Shen Luolin with both hands.
The box opened, and a soft glow radiated from within, illuminating Shen Luolin’s pale face.
“Master Luolin, my Sovereign is already aware of the crisis in the Northern Territory.”
“This is the ‘Heart of Serenity.’ It can protect Frostwolf Castle from being disturbed by Magical Beasts. Please consider it a small token of our respect. I hope you will not refuse it.”
Lucius’s eyes turned red instantly!
The Heart of Serenity!
This was exactly the supreme treasure he had exhausted his efforts for, promising countless benefits and acting humble just to beg the Dragonborn for it!
With it, the threat of Magical Beasts in Frostwolf Castle would be resolved, and he, Lucius, would become the savior of the entire Northern Territory!
But now, the very thing he dreamed of was being handed over so casually as a mere greeting gift to his most despised, useless brother — and the envoy hadn’t even spared him a glance!
Why?!
Shen Luolin accepted the box casually. It felt slightly cool and had a smooth texture.
He didn’t even give it a second look before snapping it shut and tossing it lightly in his hand.
His attitude suggested he wasn’t holding a treasure that could decide the fate of the Northern Territory, but rather a worthless stone.
Shyrna and Lilith seemed to have completed their task. They bowed deeply to Shen Luolin once more before turning to leave.
From beginning to end, they never spared Lucius even one second of their attention.
It was as if he, along with the vivid expressions on his face, was nothing more than an eyesore of thin air in the hall.
Lucius stood frozen in place.
The distinguished guests he had painstakingly invited, the capital he intended to use to show off and suppress his brother… in the end, they had come for that useless failure all along.
He was just an afterthought.
No, not even an afterthought. He was just the person responsible for opening the door.
Just as Lucius felt like he was about to explode with rage, a flat voice drifted over.
“These Dragonborn certainly understand social graces.”
Shen Luolin toyed with the box in his hand. Looking at Lucius’s expression, he spoke in a nonchalant tone.
“They even knew to bring a gift for their visit.”
*Pfft —*
This light jab was the final straw that shattered Lucius’s mental defenses.
He snapped his head up, eyes bloodshot. His handsome face became distorted with extreme rage.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself!”
He ground his teeth, the words forced through the gaps.
“The Dragonborn’s treasure might stop the Magical Beasts, but can it stop the Emperor’s Imperial Guard?!”
“Our dear Third Brother has long been fed up with an eldest son like you, who occupies the position without doing anything! He has already brought the Emperor’s executioner’s blade and stationed his troops at the border of our territory!”
“Now that the threat of the Magical Beasts is gone, guess who he will move against next?!”
A threat. A blatant, naked threat.
Shen Luolin finally looked up, no longer watching Lucius’s frantic face.
It was a secret known to everyone in the Empire that the current Emperor viewed the Duke of Frostwolf as his greatest enemy.
The Emperor’s malice wasn’t without cause. The current royal bloodline held the throne illegitimately, while “Frostwolf” was the surname of the former Empress who had once led the Empire to its peak.
As long as the name Frostwolf existed, the current Emperor would never be able to sleep peacefully.
Shen Luolin’s gaze moved past the main hall and landed on the massive Frostwolf Banner hanging on the high wall.
A black background, a silver wolf, and three interlaced stars beside the wolf’s head.
That crest…
It was almost identical to the family coat of arms that Aella had personally designed after she was crowned the “Frostwolf Empress” in the simulated world.
An absurd thought flashed through his mind.
‘A coincidence?’
‘No, impossible.’
It was just a simulated world. The system had likely referenced real-world elements during the simulation.
Even if there were Dragonborn named “Moyin” or a “Frostwolf Empress Aella” in the real world, they would be different people from those in the simulation.
‘Could people from the simulated world actually appear in reality?’
He quickly suppressed his chaotic thoughts. When he looked back at Lucius, the exhaustion and sorrow brought by fifty years of memories had been replaced by a cold decisiveness.
The crisis of the Magical Beasts already had a solution.
But a much larger crisis was already at the gates.
It seemed that if he wanted to break this deadlock, he would have to enter the Simulator again to find even greater power.
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