Chapter 43: A Clumsy Attempt at Friendship

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: A Clumsy Attempt at Friendship

Lomita did not expect the other person to be so perceptive. Having her slight hidden intentions exposed made Lomita awkwardly cough twice, but she still waved her hand to signal the maid standing in the corner to come over.

However, as soon as the maid stepped forward, before finishing the greeting, she hastily blurted out a string of words:

"Lord Jeremy, our young lady actually means no harm at all. A few days ago, after watching your match, our young lady has constantly been looking forward to an opportunity to meet you. Our young lady truly wants to be friends with you."

Lomita froze: "??!"

Around the observation deck, countless gazes converged in this direction. Especially Jeremy’s gaze; the end of his eyebrow twitched upward slightly, and his golden irises sparkled with a teasing smile.

He crossed his long legs, leaning back against the chair with elegant poise, and spoke in a low, magnetic voice that carried an alluring charm: "Is that so? You want to be friends with me?"

A brilliant red flush quickly spread from Lomita’s cheeks down to the tips of her ears and her neck. Lomita never expected her inner thoughts to be so bluntly laid bare in front of so many people. With her embarrassment reaching its peak, she frantically waved her hands to cut him off: "Ah ah ah! Don’t talk nonsense!"

"I... I don’t think he is talented at all! And I don’t like that face one bit either!"

After saying that, as if tens of thousands of needles were hidden beneath the seat cushion, Lomita shot up and ran away frantically without looking back.

Jeremy: "..."

The surrounding people: "..."

The maid Linna could only offer an extremely apologetic smile to Jeremy, bowing to apologize before hurriedly lifting her skirt to chase after her master.

Outside the corridors of the grandstand.

Lomita stopped in her tracks, staring gloomily at her maid: "Linna, you dared to betray me again. I will absolutely not forgive you this time."

Linna had heard this threat no less than a thousand times, and her facial expression remained calm without the slightest ripple: "Didn’t you really want to get along peacefully with Lord Jeremy, My Lady? With your attitude just now, it will only cause him to misunderstand you further."

Lomita frowned, her toes tapping in frustration against the stone floor: "Where was I wrong? He clearly holds the status of the sole young lord of the esteemed Valmont family, yet in the past, he was always extremely timid and cowardly. He was humiliated by that fool Amber time and time again without daring to utter a word. Now that he has finally cast aside his weakness, rising up fiercely to kick that Crown Prince away, is there anything wrong with me praising him for having a brain lately?"

Since childhood, Lomita had been extremely disgusted by Amber’s arrogant, domineering, unrestrained, and condescending demeanor. Furthermore, she could not understand why a rightful heir to the Valmont family would let himself be treated like such a laughingstock.

Back when they were studying at the Imperial Academy, simply because it irritated her to see the noble crowd ganging up to bully him, Lomita had secretly helped out "a little bit". As a result, not only did the teachers turn a blind eye, but even the letters Lomita secretly had someone send to the Valmont Ducal estate to report the news disappeared without a trace.

If that were all, it would have been fine, but what made Lomita’s blood boil the most was that the person involved himself—Jeremy—did not know how to fight back at all, and his back was always hunched, acting as if he didn’t care about his own miserable situation. That cowardice infuriated Lomita to death, so she decisively gave up meddling in other people’s business.

Thinking about it now, until today, she and Jeremy had only ever exchanged one brief sentence at a banquet. Who knows since when that person had transformed so completely...

His originally outstanding facial features had now shed their gloomy demeanor, exuding a sharp, confident aura. Not only did Jeremy know how to fight back, but his methods in the arena were astonishingly fluid, ruthless, and decisive. It truly felt as if another soul had just possessed that body.

Recalling Jeremy’s straight back and his radiant magic techniques during the match a few days ago, the corners of Lomita’s lips subconsciously curled up, drawing a smile that she herself was completely unaware of.

Seeing her young lady looking furious with a darkened face one moment, only to unexpectedly break into an incomprehensible smile the next, Linna silently sighed in helplessness. Linna decided to remain quiet.

Since childhood, the young lady had been obsessed with the color red, so when she attended the Imperial Academy, Lomita paid extreme attention to Lord Jeremy’s rare, brilliantly red hair. After finding out that Crown Prince Amber was enabling others to isolate and humiliate Jeremy, Lomita ran around busily for an entire year, racking her brain for hundreds of ways to help... but on the outside, she would absolutely never lower herself to approach him.

Later on, as Jeremy became increasingly withdrawn, the young lady also grew distant. Linna thought her interest had dried up, but who would have expected that from the moment the news of Lord Jeremy proactively tearing up his engagement with the Crown Prince broke out, the name "Jeremy" began to hang on Lomita’s lips every single day.

From secretly recording every match, to locking herself in her room to analyze Jeremy’s skills, all while muttering "he should have kicked that Crown Prince away much earlier." Early this morning, as soon as they arrived at the arena, Lomita enthusiastically dragged Linna to find Jeremy, making solemn vows that this time she absolutely had to make friends with him no matter what.

The result... the words leaving her mouth turned into daggers, and her antagonistic attitude did not match the sincere admiration hidden in her heart at all. If outsiders didn’t know better, they might have thought Lomita intentionally came to provoke and cause trouble.

Linna sighed again. Sure enough, letting the young lady go make friends by herself was still a task beyond her capabilities. Linna just hoped that Lord Jeremy was perceptive enough not to misunderstand further.

On the other side, while the master and servant were harboring a bellyful of thoughts, Jeremy was facing another storm of his own.

As soon as Lomita and her maid were out of sight, Lucius, who was sitting right next to Jeremy, narrowed his eyes, the corners of his lips curling up as he spoke in a mocking, passive-aggressive tone: "So the captain can utter sweet words to anyone he meets, huh? Are your eyes glued to her so tightly that they can’t look away? Your taste is truly diverse."

Yusha’s voice echoed in Jeremy’s head through the magical communication link: "Why do I smell a strong sour scent of jealousy coming from this kid? Whenever he gets the chance, his gaze clings to you. Could it be that he has developed feelings for you?"

The end of Jeremy’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

Developed feelings? What an absurd thought.

If an affection measurement system truly existed in this world, Jeremy would dare to bet his own life that the bar for Lucius’s affection level towards him might not even surpass 10%. Being fifteen or sixteen years old, Lucius’s mind was completely filled with slaughter and benefits; where would he find the capacity for romantic feelings?

Instead of using the term "developed feelings," it would be more accurate to say that this little fox with a flawless facade was acting too deeply in character, and his possessiveness toward a "possession" within the team was merely flaring up.

To prevent Lucius from continuing to drop sharp, sarcastic remarks, Jeremy slowly turned his face over. Cupping his chin, Jeremy’s golden irises, as tranquil as a lake without a single ripple, looked straight into the other boy’s eyes, and the corners of Jeremy’s lips curled up into a perfect, moderate smile: "I was just teasing casually back there. Sitting here, in my eyes, you are the most pleasing to look at."

If the other party liked to play out a scheme of deep affection, Jeremy did not mind accompanying him to act out the entire play. Of course, the prerequisite was that this little fox would not proactively bare its fangs to bite people.

Catching sight of Jeremy’s profound golden eyes, which were as radiant as molten sunlight, Lucius’s breath suddenly hitched for a split second. Lucius’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down slightly, and he hastily shifted his gaze away, letting out a cold snort: "...Nothing but cunning lies."

Jeremy shrugged, pretending not to understand the underlying meaning behind that fleeting fluster. The remaining three teammates seemed to have grown too accustomed to the heavily probing and domineering communication style between these two, so they all simultaneously maintained a state of silence like invisible people.

Not caring about the train of thought of others, Jeremy’s gaze once again swept toward the corridor where Lomita had just left, and a sharp glint of calculation flashed within his pupils.

Merely wanting to make friends?

Based on Lomita’s stiffly flustered reaction just now, it seemed like that was not a lie.

The current power structure of the empire was clearly delineated through four Great Ducal Families.

The Northern Realm – Clivein.

The West – Valmont.

The South – Bellagren.

The East – Sednepal.

Militarily, the power of the Northern Realm was naturally an unstoppable juggernaut. Regarding economic potential and trade networks, Valmont’s Western region was unrivaled in the world.

As for the South, the terrain favorably bestowed upon them abundant mineral resources and a plentiful population, and possessing countless unexplored Divine ruins, they were naturally hailed as the second lifeblood of the empire.

Meanwhile, the East was the lair of the most sophisticated diplomatic intelligence network; their true strength was always concealed beneath layers of fog, making them the most enigmatic existence among the four pillars.

The four sides growled, restraining and balancing one another. There was absolutely no absolute metric for who was stronger or weaker.

Lomita was the sole precious jewel of Sednepal, and would obviously inherit the title of the Duke of the East in the future. Building a network of connection with her would not bring about any negative consequences.

Although her personality was a bit eccentric and she easily bristled and bared her claws like a little cat, ultimately, Lomita harbored no malicious schemes.

If she proactively approached him again in the future... going with the flow and coaxing her a bit would also be a good strategic move.