Chapter 59: A High-Profile Appearance

When Julian and Ophariel appeared in the hall again, they immediately became the center of everyone’s attention.

Julian needed no explanation. The scene of his earlier action was still deeply etched in everyone’s mind. The incredibly powerful Soul Sword Light, combined with the utterly destroyed floor and walls as if a hurricane had passed through, made no one dare to underestimate this young man who was only about twenty years old and had a thin physique.

As for the gazes towards Ophariel, they were quite different. Even during the earlier conflict, many people had been secretly observing this young woman who deliberately concealed her face, guessing her identity and appearance. But now, when Ophariel appeared before everyone without any disguise, the first thing everyone noticed was not her beautiful face, nor her slender and graceful figure and fair, smooth skin, but that head of violet-colored long hair.

Royal bloodline!

In the entire Kingdom of Wester, everyone knew the characteristics of the royal bloodline. The founding emperor Tres was born into a now-extinct border tribe. In that tribe, everyone’s hair had a color as beautiful as violets. This color of life not only showed in the hair color, but under the sunlight, it would also shine with a lively, dancing radiance. The tribe Tres belonged to had suffered a catastrophic disaster because of this beautiful hair color, and in the end, only Tres survived. After that, to fight against those cruel and tyrannical enemies, Tres united the oppressed highland tribes, and after a struggle, overthrew the corrupt and degenerate regime, establishing the Kingdom of Wester. Since then, the violet hair color became the eternal banner and symbol of the West royal family. Not only did outsiders think so, but even within the royal family, those members born without inheriting this hair color received far less attention than those who inherited the violet hair color.

Of course, there had been people who dyed their hair to impersonate royal family members, but such dyed hair could be immediately distinguished from the pure West royal hair color upon comparison. Now, Ophariel’s beautiful violet-colored long hair danced lightly under the sunlight, like a beautiful transparent purple stream. This was absolutely a manifestation of royal bloodline!

Thinking of this, everyone was even more shocked. They clearly saw this young lady now holding Julian’s arm, walking down the stairs with him. Even faced with these scrutinizing gazes, she didn’t show a young girl’s shyness and unease, but faced them squarely. In her gaze towards everyone, there was even a certain undeniable majesty. It wasn’t a provocation deliberately made by a young girl to attract attention, but something more…

Thinking of this, the nobles present all began to ponder in their hearts. Judging from the relationship between the two, this young lady didn’t seem to be in the dominant position. That is to say, that young swordsman was the key figure! Ophariel’s aura and demeanor showed that her identity was far from ordinary, and such a royal member was willing to be subordinate to someone?

Holy Grace above, who exactly was this young man?

Well done.

Taking in everyone’s reactions, Julian nodded with satisfaction. Ophariel was indeed worthy of having been a princess; an experienced professional player was truly extraordinary. She obviously understood Julian’s intention. After all, Julian had already demonstrated his high-rank swordsman strength in front of everyone and could no longer hide it. Since they were going to be high-profile, they might as well go all out. So Ophariel dressed up elaborately and also let down her long hair that she had always been concealing. It should be known that even in the castle, she rarely lowered her hood. It could be said that except for Erin, Julian, and a few others, no one had seen Ophariel’s hair. After all, almost all citizens knew the characteristics of the West royal family. Except for young girls like Erin who didn’t understand yet, others would be able to guess eight or nine out of ten just by seeing Ophariel’s hair.

Thinking of this, Julian didn’t say anything more, but showed a gentle smile and made a gesture.

“Respected sir, is there anything you need help with?”

Seeing Julian’s gesture, the innkeeper hesitated for a moment, but finally approached with an enthusiastic business smile. However, deep in his heart, he was secretly lamenting. This was big trouble. On one side was a court mage, on the other a royal noble. He couldn’t afford to offend either of them, and he really couldn’t get compensation for this. He just hoped these two wouldn’t cause any more trouble and wouldn’t destroy his small inn.

“Where is the most famous restaurant in this city? I originally planned to dine here, but that troublesome affair really came uninvited… I wonder if you could recommend a suitable place for us?”

“This, this is certainly no problem,” Hearing this, the innkeeper immediately relaxed. He thought for a moment, then gave an answer.

“The ‘Light of the Lily’ in the south of the city is the most famous restaurant in our city. If you need, I can immediately prepare a carriage for you two!”

Please send these two away quickly, Holy Grace above, don’t let anything else happen!

“Very well.”

Hearing this, Julian didn’t say anything more. He left the inn with Ophariel, got into the carriage prepared for them by the innkeeper, and quickly departed. After the carriage disappeared, the people who had been staying in the hall immediately left. The situation was urgent now, and they had to report everything they had seen to their families and superiors. After all, no one knew exactly what Julian and Ophariel’s backgrounds were, but it was certain that a high-rank swordsman and a royal noble were definitely not forces to be taken lightly, especially since they appeared in the Zach family’s territory. To be fully prepared, they must find out their identities and backgrounds.

“I have to say, my lord, you’ve really harmed the Bird family badly this time.”

While everyone was busy trying to find out the identities of the two, Julian and Ophariel had already arrived by carriage at the restaurant recommended by the innkeeper. It must be said that the innkeeper did have good taste. This restaurant seemed to often receive noble dignitaries, so it was decorated particularly luxuriously. The restaurant owner had obviously already received the news and personally came out to welcome the two, arranging them in the VIP room on the highest floor. After everyone had withdrawn, Ophariel could finally put down the princess airs she had been putting on and smiled as she spoke.

After all, even for royalty, constantly maintaining airs would be exhausting.

“As the saying goes, it’s impolite not to reciprocate,” Julian raised his wine glass and smiled as he replied.

“Since the Bird family wants to investigate my background, I’ll let them investigate thoroughly… However, what they can actually find out is beyond my judgment.”

They both knew very well that with Julian causing such a stir, these nobles would definitely investigate. Their whereabouts along the way hadn’t been particularly secretive, and with just a little investigation, it could be found out that they came from Twilight Forest. Among nobles, much information was exchanged. If they investigated further, Julian’s “true identity” would also come to light.

However, this result was absolutely not something other nobles would believe. A high-rank swordsman being deceived by the Bird family, being fobbed off with a cursed territory? Who were they trying to fool? Moreover, even if they took a step back and believed the authenticity of this information, this high-rank swordsman wasn’t alone now; he had a royal member by his side. Although the Bird family was a great noble family, their power was in the local area rather than the royal city. How could they dare to risk offending the royal family by doing such a thing?

So, in the end, no matter how this matter was explained, there was only one conclusion – that the Bird family had staged this play for some unspeakable purpose, but their true intentions were unknown.

The Bird family would definitely be unable to cry. It could be foreseen that in the coming days, they would be subjected to endless probing by other nobles. After all, Julian’s territory was Twilight Forest, which was still within the Bird family’s sphere of control, and now Julian had received a noble fief. If all this had nothing to do with the Bird family, it would be absolutely impossible. Because of this, no matter how the Bird family wanted to distance themselves from Julian, it would be impossible to do so. This way, not only could they not make moves against Twilight Forest, but they would even need to curry favor with Julian. After all, Julian’s identity had now been revealed. If he had remained in his previous unremarkable state, the nobles naturally wouldn’t care. But now it was different; he was a high-rank swordsman! If the Bird family wanted to cause trouble for him and push him away, other families would welcome him with open arms. It could be imagined that if the Bird family pushed Julian away, other families would definitely take the initiative to curry favor with him. The Bird family naturally wouldn’t do something that would be like giving gifts to their enemies.

However, everything is relative. Julian’s actions would naturally bring great benefits, but they also brought considerable risks.

His status as a high-rank swordsman was not to be mentioned; although high-rank swordsmen were very rare, it wasn’t too troublesome. But Ophariel was a considerable problem. Royal bloodline was a very serious matter. Just like Ophariel, who was originally born to a maid and had no qualification to enter the royal family. But when she displayed that violet hair color, the situation took a 180-degree turn, showing how much the West royal family valued royal bloodline. And now, with such a royal member suddenly appearing, it was unknown how the West royal family would respond.

Acknowledge her? Acknowledge a royal family member in a muddle? This would mean one more enemy in future struggles for the throne. Would other royals be so foolish? If Ophariel hadn’t been ordered to be protected by the former king of West, she might have died long ago.

Not acknowledge her? This possibility was a bit higher, but Ophariel’s royal characteristics were real and tangible. Even if the royal family didn’t acknowledge her, others weren’t blind. In the future…

In any case, although Julian had avoided a collision with the Bird family, the upcoming confrontation with the West royal family was apparently unavoidable.

Thinking of this, Ophariel also slightly frowned. It was precisely for this reason that she had always hidden her appearance from being seen by anyone. Otherwise, if rumors spread, it would be very unfavorable for the development of Julian’s territory. After all, the Bird family was just a great noble family, and it wasn’t a problem to confront them. But the royal family represented a country. With Julian’s current strength, it wasn’t suitable, nor was it possible to confront a country.

But Julian chose to do this.

Through her observation, Ophariel could be sure that Julian’s actions were definitely the result of careful consideration. Of course, the sudden attack by the court mage was unexpected, but even without this incident, Julian would probably have found a time to make a strong appearance.

“As for the royal family, you don’t need to worry about anything,” Although Ophariel didn’t say much, Julian could guess her thoughts.

“Since I’m willing to push you to the forefront, I’ve naturally made preparations. You just need to cooperate with my actions. I don’t think this is a difficult thing for you.”

“Of course I will fully cooperate with you, my lord,” Having her thoughts seen through by Julian, Ophariel’s face reddened slightly, then she lowered her head and answered softly.

“Very good,” Looking at the young woman before him, Julian smiled, then raised his wine glass.

“Then, let’s not talk about these boring things today. We’ve found such a good place, shouldn’t we relax a bit?”