Looking at his younger brother's face, swollen on one side, with an expression that was two parts shock, three parts confusion, and five parts incredulous amusement, the Princess bit her lip tightly, her face turning red as she inadvertently let out a small sound from the corner of her mouth.
Etiquette! Mind your etiquette!
It was as if she heard the psychic transmission of some middle-aged noblewoman. The amused Princess pinched her own thigh hard, barely holding back her laughter with the help of pain, and then raised the back of her hand higher towards Leon, speaking softly with a hint of reproach:
"My dear Prince, how long must you make me wait here?"
Gazing at the Princess below the stage, her pretty face flushed (from holding in laughter), her eyes filled with allure (from stifling laughter), with a notably dazzling white chest (that part was real), Leon hesitated for a moment before finally bending slightly to take her hand voluntarily.
*It wasn't that I craved power, nor was I captivated by beauty, but... this was the Golden Badge!*
And moreover, the Princess was the first in line for the throne. As long as he maintained this superficial marital relationship with her, the moment the Old King passed away, the Golden Badge would be upgraded to abnormal color. How could anyone refuse that?
Grasping Leon's hand, simultaneously seizing the Ryan Family's legacy and the future of the entire Kingdom, Veronica felt a sudden release, as if a shackle that had been crushing her was instantly lifted.
Taking a step onto the main platform, intertwining her fingers tightly with Leon's and standing by his side, Princess Veronica's charming face couldn't help but flush with excitement once again.
With this one-of-a-kind opportunity, she could completely assimilate the inheritance left by the Ryan Family, ensuring the royal family and her own power could control the Department of Road Administration and the military, allowing her long-desired reforms to proceed!
Next, she would clear away years of accumulated issues, find solutions to the fiscal deficit, and rebuild the military that had nearly been eroded by the Ryan Family, leading the Kingdom back to strength!
The Kingdom of the future would never again be like it was six years ago, when it crumbled instantly on the battlefield, and an invading army forced the displacement of more than half a county's citizens, displacing nearly a million people...
With a Contamination Value that already exceeded 3, though Leon's physical conditioning wasn't enough to grant him completely non-human capabilities, his sensory abilities had already been significantly enhanced.
When the Princess stood by his side, aside from her increasingly rapid breathing, Leon vaguely heard her escalating heartbeat.
"Boom boom! Boom boom!"
Seeing the Princess with a somewhat unfocused gaze and increasingly flushed cheeks, feeling the humid warmth from her soft palm and her rapidly climbing body temperature, Leon couldn't help but frown slightly, softly inquiring:
"Your Highness? Are you all right?"
"You can just call me Veronica, or even Vini."
With nearly a decade of intense yearning about to be fulfilled, and the country she deeply loved finally on the brink of dawn, the intensely excited Princess gripped Leon's hand tightly, responding with eyes full of joy:
"I'm fine, really fine! I could even say I've never felt better than I do now!"
"Prince... no! Leon! I really must thank you, and on behalf of the entire Kingdom! Although I'm still unclear why you proposed to me, I can assure you, your choice was the right one! I... I seem to be a bit too excited..."
"Boom boom! Boom boom! Boom boom!"
Though still firmly clasping Leon's hand, as the heartbeat grew more intense, the Princess's body began to unconsciously lean against him, eventually looping her arm around Leon's and softly resting her head on his shoulder, speaking quietly with a blushing face:
"Support me, Leon... please support me? Perhaps... maybe I'm just too happy, I'm feeling a little dizzy now... and my heart is racing a bit..."
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, when the Princess leaned in, her glossy and full lips brushed slightly against Leon's earlobe, spreading searing warmth like contagion to Leon's ear, turning it red as well.
And her soft breath as she spoke tickled Leon's ear, causing his heartbeat to quicken as well. Leon felt his heart pounding like a drum, frenetically hammering against his chest and speeding up, the sound growing louder and louder...
"Boom boom boom! Boom boom boom! Boom boom boom!"
At some point, the entire hall fell silent again. Neither the whispering guests nor the Prince with eyes full of resentment made another sound. Instead, they all instinctively clutched their hearts.
*What's happening to me?*
Feeling the heat and flush rising in her cheeks due to the rushing blood, the Prime Minister's wife, standing in the front row like Prince Freckles, touched her unusually red face in confusion and looked toward the chamberlain at her side, hoping he could help her leave the increasingly stifling hall for some fresh air.
But before the Prime Minister's wife could speak, the chamberlain's legs gave way, and he stumbled forward a couple of steps before collapsing in front of the stage, struggling unsuccessfully to rise.
His collapse seemed to trigger some strange switch, as the hall was immediately filled with the thuds of falling bodies.
Like a collective drunken stupor, the hall's guests wore strange flushes, staggered a few steps, and then toppled in all directions...
"Poison! Someone's poisoned us!"
At that moment, someone finally perceived the anomaly. Prince Freckles, sprawled on the floor, flipped over, glaring at Leon on the stage like a hungry wolf, and roared with fury and despair:
"It was you! You poisoned us, didn't you?"
*Idiot! This has nothing to do with poison, it's clearly an attack from an Anomalous Object!*
Ignoring Prince Freckles's wild speculations, listening to the drum-like heartbeats resonating throughout the hall and sensing the ever-increasing blood flow within him, Leon, also feeling quite uncomfortable, took a deep breath, supported the now disoriented Princess to the side, and pulled out a small mirror from his coat, shaking it at himself.
Along with Young Ha's understanding bark, a shopping bag with a goat's head and a black broom with cat paw prints on the handle instantly appeared in Leon's hand.
'Kid, we've figured it out a bit and realized your luck seems quite bad indeed.'
Peering through the holes in the shopping bag at the scene of chaos in the hall, the Black Goat summarized reluctantly:
'You really are a magnet for trouble, just like that Conan Demon God you mentioned. Wherever you go, something has to happen. No matter what you plan, nothing goes smoothly.'
'Enough with the nonsense, let's get to work!'
Touching the Black Goat's horn, Leon quickly surveyed everyone's soul status in the hall, finding them all "normal," which deepened his frown. He issued a mental command via "direct message":
'I suspect this is an attempted assassination of the Princess by the Rebels, but I couldn't locate the person deploying the Anomalous Object. Their "range" might exceed my vision.
However, it's also possible they used some means to evade soul-detection abilities after acquiring my information, so keep watch for me!'