Chapter 177: Anger

As soon as those words left her lips, the atmosphere in the room rapidly soured, nearly plummeting into an icy silence.

Even the scattered students nearby, waiting to dine, cast curious glances, especially after Yulrin’s loud outburst that practically echoed throughout the bamboo house.

The blonde girl’s usually gentle gaze grew chilly, emanating a hint of danger and coldness. It wasn’t just Yulrin, even Vilyric was seeing this once pious and warm Holy Knight appear with such a terrifying expression for the first time.

Edwina Cecelia really seemed to be angry.

In the air, the low growl of the girl’s fury reverberated.

“What did you just say? Do you have the guts to say it again?”

Yet Yulrin, who seemed acquainted with her, still couldn’t shake off some previously established impression. Realizing he was in extreme danger, he widened his eyes and shouted.

“What? Did I say something wrong? Did I hit a sore spot? Aren’t you disregarding the bigger picture, abandoning your duties and responsibilities, and getting involved in some…?”

*Ding!!!*

A blade sliced through the air.

A long sword blazing with holy fire collided with a bamboo flute, just half an inch from the blonde boy’s neck, producing a sharp ringing sound.

The gust from their clash stirred the gauzy curtain by the door of the bamboo house, creating a whooshing noise.

The air felt tense, as if a pin could be heard dropping.

Only at that moment did the nearby students shake off their shock and gasp.

“They’re fighting! The sword is unsheathed!”

“Quick, quick, go find the Gale Supervisor, no, find the Arbiter! Someone’s going to get hurt!”

Some students hurried out of the bamboo house, but no one stopped them.

In the eye of the storm, the Holy Knight, now gripping the hilt of the holy sword, merely glanced at the green-haired landlady who had appeared out of nowhere, blocking her lightning-fast strike with the bamboo flute, and frowned.

“Sister Alwen, what do you mean by this?”

The green-haired landlady applied gentle pressure with her hand, nudging Edwina’s holy sword back, seemingly a bit exasperated as she remarked.

“This should be my concern, right, little stick-in-the-mud? Isn’t drawing blades a bit too much? You’re aware of Yulrin’s temperament; he may be a bit blunt, but he means no harm. Weren’t you two good friends once?”

“Just now, if I hadn’t appeared, what were you intending to do?”

“…”

As the brilliance on the holy sword gradually faded, the Holy Knight stored it back with her Holy Emblem. She looked at Alwen, noticing that the blonde boy, still pale and shocked from that sudden brush with death, was too stunned to say anything.

“He just needed a lesson; he should know that some words can be spoken, while others cannot. He shouldn’t think he can forever lord over others without consequence, and you overreacted, Sister Alwen.”

As if recalling something, Edwina turned her head slightly and added softly.

“Also, we’re no longer friends.”

“Oh dear… that earlier display didn’t seem like just a simple lesson, you know? You young folks…”

Seeing the blonde girl retract her aggressive stance, Alwen shook her head in resignation, skillfully putting away the bamboo flute as if turning a pen.

“Well then, you young ones handle your matters yourself. Little stick-in-the-mud has grown up and presumably has his own judgments. It’s just this old lady meddling too much.”

As she spoke, the earlier versions of Alwen were noticeably different; however, despite looking identical, she now wore an elegant outfit reminiscent of a cheongsam, her green hair meticulously styled, twirling the bamboo flute before entering the back room.

“Little stick-in-the-mud…”

Seemingly intimidated by the icy aura the blonde girl had exuded when she acted without hesitation, and as if witnessing some bizarre spectacle, Yulrin stood frozen for a while. It wasn’t until Alwen’s figure disappeared completely into the back room that he murmured these words.

However, the Holy Knight just coldly shot him another glance, correcting him.

“Please call me Edwina, Yulrin Ulysses. If you continue to use that condescending title, I will regard it as an insult to the Cecelia Family and the representative of the ‘Judgment Scale’. Do you understand what that entails?”

Taking a deep breath, Yulrin stared at her cold expression for quite some time.

“Is that so… You’ve changed a lot, become almost unrecognizable… But that’s good; that’s how an outstanding leader should be—decisive and imposing. It seems I misjudged… Edwina Cecelia, I apologize for the offense earlier, and I’ll make sure to apologize in person another day.”

With that parting remark, the blonde boy turned and quickly left, soon vanishing outside the bamboo house.

“Hmph… still that same arrogant demeanor. Who is he trying to lecture all day long?”

Listening to the Holy Knight’s complaints filled with disdain yet tinged with resignation, Miss White Fox, who had been a quiet onlooker alongside Eudora and hadn’t reacted even when called a “weird woman,” finally released the trembling Little Loli beside her and tentatively spoke.

“So, you were really old friends? You two seem quite familiar.”

“I’ve already said we’re no longer friends… well, okay, we used to be close for a period, but that guy is just like that. He always thinks he’s right and enjoys standing on high ground pointing out everyone else’s flaws. It’s truly a headache…”

“Ahaha… It does seem like such a personality, but I guess his background isn’t simple?”

If it weren’t, how could he casually dine here at the Bamboo House, a place even Edwina referred to as “expensive,” while maintaining such a familiar and equal rapport with the second daughter of the Cecelia family?

Even setting that aside, the four-winged white Holy Emblem hanging by Yulrin’s collar was enough to indicate his impressive identity.

Indeed, upon hearing this, the blonde girl nodded quickly and sighed as she shook her head again.

“Yulrin Ulysses, heir to the Ulysses family, a prominent family in the Holy Church, ranking right after the three divine offspring in terms of influence. His family maintains a close relationship with ours; the current patriarch is a close friend of my mother. The two families… essentially support each other as staunch allies.”

“Thus, I’ve known that guy since we were little, brought together under our parents’ guidance. Given our similar ages and entering the Academy at the same time, naturally, we helped each other out.”

“But how should I say this… Miss Xī must have heard how he addressed me, little stick-in-the-mud, little recluse… I was like that back then.”

“Before I met you, I had trained on my own for half a year, so Miss Xī may not know what I was like at first—I was shy, unsure how to communicate with others, rule-abiding, focused solely on my studies. While my grades were fine, I hardly had any friends in the academy.”

   

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