Becoming a wet nurse is not the end of the story.

"Little girl, what are you thinking about?"

His gentle voice, with the pleasant magnetism unique to men, only appealed to Lin Xueyin; it had no effect on her liking for him whatsoever.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about when I can stop stepping on your feet." Lin Xueyin lowered her head shyly. This gesture, when seen by others during the dance, was interpreted in a completely different light.

A fleeting chill passed through the air; many people only felt a slight coldness but couldn't pinpoint its source. Prince Ikux was no exception. However, at this moment, his attention was entirely focused on the girl in front of him, leaving him no time to ponder the faint chill he had just experienced.

"It's okay, just keep stepping on it, it'll only get worse... cough cough, you'll get used to it after a while."

When the music ended, Lin Xueyin could finally breathe a sigh of relief, but to her surprise, the other person still didn't let go of the hand that was tightly holding hers. She tried to break free, but couldn't for a moment.

"Yukine, how about we dance again?"

"Huh?"

"Don't even think about it, hurry up and find the other people. The ball has officially started now, don't cause trouble for Yukine."

Pushing aside the clueless prince, Irabelle took Lin Xueyin's hand and led the somewhat bewildered girl aside, leaving the prince, who was still staring blankly at her hand, behind.

She thought she had escaped the tiger's den, but unexpectedly, the princess led her to the small garden outside without saying a word. Seeing the somewhat helpless girl, the question she was about to ask suddenly softened.

How did it feel to dance with your brother just now?

"Huh? Dancing? I'm never dancing again. It's torture! They can't even walk properly. One step forward, one step back, and then they spin around for no reason. Can't we just have some fun?"

Seeing Lin Xueyin, who seemed to be pouring out her troubles to her, Irabelle suddenly felt a surge of joy within her.

"Little girl, alright, let's go back. They're probably already starting to dance. How about we go join them?"

"Eh? No, no, I absolutely, absolutely, absolutely never want to dance again. How can such a painful sport exist in this world?"

Somewhat unhappy, Irabel's usually calm face remained expressionless as she looked at the girl in front of her, who had unknowingly become somewhat guilty.

"Okay, okay, I got it. Can I dance with you now?"

Irabelle, who had finally heard those words, happily took Lin Xueyin's hand and walked into the hall. This was a chance to get closer to her and increase her favorability.

A moment later, Irabel's face darkened. Facing the gossiping noblewomen, if Lin Xueyin hadn't stopped her, she probably would have frozen the two women into ice pops.

"Do you think it's because that Lin Xueyin didn't prepare a gift for His Highness that she hid away?"

"I knew it. That kind of country bumpkin would never think of buying a gift. Humph, she's just a lowly woman with no substance. What does she have besides her face?"

"Hmph, that woman, I wonder what kind of bewitching drug she used to bewitch Prince Ikux like this."

Looking at the girl with her head down, taking her to dance at this moment would be like putting her on the fire, which completely disrupted Irabel's original plans.

"Irabelle, let's go outside, I think..."

“You wild girl, we all sent gifts to His Highness the Prince. I sent him a fine longsword made by a dwarf.”

"What I'm giving you is a silver-scaled breastplate."

"What I'm giving you is a BMW."

Seeing the somewhat bewildered girl, the surrounding noble ladies also revealed a hint of mockery. They were already very disgusted with Lin Xueyin, this woman who had suddenly appeared. Now that they had the opportunity, they didn't hesitate to vent all their previous jealousy on her.

"A country girl, just a country girl. She can't dance, and she doesn't even know to bring a gift to someone else's birthday party."

"Don't think too highly of this viscount who came from nowhere; nobles are not so simple."

The mocking, malicious gazes made Lin Xueyin take a deep breath. "Who told you I didn't prepare a gift? Can't I go out and have a chat with Princess Irabel?"

"Huh? That's ridiculous. You even said you brought a gift. Take it out and let me see. I want to see if a country girl can actually turn her life around."

"Ha, you think I'll just hand it over because you tell me to?"

Hearing Lin Xueyin still stubbornly insisting, one woman became even more certain that the other party had not brought any gifts.

"Yukine..."

“Irabell, this is their provocation.”

"Yes, yes, Xueyin, let's go out first, and I'll settle accounts with them later."

When Irabel first saw Lin Xueyin like this, she suddenly had a very bad feeling, but she didn't know exactly what was wrong.

He pulled a bottle of fiery red potion from his pocket; the transparent bottle was filled with a mesmerizingly vibrant color. This drew a gasp from those around him.

"This, this is, this is, the legendary Dragon Power Potion."

The surprised crowd gasped in astonishment. It has to be said that the gift Lin Xueyin presented had completely outshone everyone else's gifts.

The power of dragons requires dragon blood as an ingredient. She made this potion after returning home, taking a short time to complete a task. Fortunately, she made a few potions, otherwise, she would have been completely looked down upon by these women.

"What, isn't this potion good enough?"

The women looked at each other in disbelief, completely surprised that this woman would have such a potion in her possession—a potion that was extremely precious to warriors.

"Hmph, who, who knows, whether you stole this from someone else..."

"Outrageous! Are you implying that our royal family is also accepting bribes?"

When Irabel heard the other party still provoking her, she became furious and spoke up, which frightened the women into silence.

"Your Highness, they didn't do it on purpose, so let's let them go for now."

Prince Ikux, seeing that things were gradually coming to a conclusion, came here hoping to calm things down. However, he saw Lin Xueyin's indifferent eyes and his sister's cold gaze.

Suddenly realizing that his words, while they might have garnered more support from the surrounding nobles, had also left a bad impression on Lin Xueyin.

It made her sister even more dissatisfied with her. She was so stupid. She could have worked on winning her sister's favor, but instead, she turned that favor into dislike.

"Yukine, let's go."

Taking Lin Xueyin's hand, Irabel was about to walk outside, but Lin Xueyin stopped her. Irabel looked at Lin Xueyin with a puzzled expression and shook her head quietly. She glanced at the nobles watching the commotion and calmed down a little.

She glared fiercely at Ikus, who already knew he was wrong, and gently pulled Lin Xueyin to a table with many gifts on it.

"I left the gift here."

The voice was cold and clear, lacking its previous softness. Although Ikux still liked it very much, he had no time to think about it at this moment.

He opened his mouth, wanting to persuade her to stay, but he didn't know how to say it. However, his previous actions had given the other noble ladies a message: that the prince's feelings for Lin Xueyin were not as intimate as they had imagined.

"Your Highness, forget about that country girl. Are we really inferior to her?"

Hmm, so how stupid are these noble ladies? Don't they know that they just offended not only a viscount of the empire, but also the princess of the empire, the prince's own sister?

The other nobles who had been watching the spectacle shook their heads helplessly, while their parents, upon hearing the news, were devastated, never expecting their daughters to do something so foolish.

Prince Ikux looked at his sister, Lin Xueyin, and the two slowly walked towards the dining table. His heart was filled with bitterness, and his eyes were equally cold as he looked at the women around him.

"I have some other matters to attend to, so please excuse me."

Pushing the others aside, Ikux hurried towards Lin Xueyin. The socialites behind him, seeing Prince Ikux heading towards Lin Xueyin, began to blaze with intense anger.

"Damn Lin Xueyin, one day I'll make you regret this... Ah... Father, how could you..."

One by one, socialites were dragged outside by their fathers, who were all livid with their foolish daughters. They felt they had completely lost face that day.

"Father, why? What is going on...?"

"Shut up, haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?"

Although Irabel had noticed the commotion, she had no time to pay attention to them. She picked up a plate full of food and carefully cut the meat into small pieces.

"Xueyin, come and try this honey-glazed beef, it tastes really good."

"Mmm, mmm, it's delicious."

Looking closely at the girl who was slowly savoring the food in her mouth, I realized that she really didn't take what happened before to heart, and I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry, if I had known this would happen, I..."

"Don't worry, what happened before is in the past. Besides, I also prepared medicine as a gift, so there's no need to apologize."

Without turning around, Lin Xueyin simply stood with her back to the prince. Her cold voice made him feel uneasy, and the distance between them seemed to grow ever greater.

"Brother, please go and take care of the other guests first. If you keep focusing on Yukine, it will cause her a lot of trouble."

Irabel, too, stared coldly at the prince, her eyes filled with icy intent.

"I...."

"How was the food? I'll take you back to the academy."

Seeing that her older brother still wanted to pester her, Irabell simply pulled Lin Xueyin up and prepared to walk outside, only to see Prince Ikux's pleading eyes.

After all, he was her brother. Although Irabel was very unhappy with some of his actions, seeing his anxious and uncertain appearance, her heart began to soften.

"Your Highness, it's getting late, and I should head back now. If you have the chance, you can come find me at the academy tomorrow."

Knowing that Irabel's mood had reached a breaking point, Lin Xueyin still offered a reason that wasn't really a reason, giving both members of the royal family a way out.

"Brother, come to the academy tomorrow. It's too noisy here. Xueyin doesn't like it."

Prince Ikux looked at the two young women before him and could only sigh helplessly before stepping aside to let them leave.

Watching Lin Xueyin's pretty back, Prince Ikux hesitated and raised his hand, but in the end he couldn't bring himself to say anything to stop her. He could only watch helplessly as his sister pulled her slowly away.

“Hey, Irabelle, is this really okay? Even though we’re out here, it’s still your brother’s birthday party. It seems a bit rude of you to do this.”

"Hmph, is it rude of you? It's my brother who's rude. Those people were the ones who provoked us first, yet he..."

"Actually, you understand, right? It's because of your brother's actions that you're so conflicted."

Lin Xueyin gently turned her head to look at the girl beside her, whose face was tinged with sadness. As a princess, she was naturally aware of this political sensitivity.

This is so melodramatic, and there's foreshadowing here too! Let's see who can guess it. (*^▽^*)

Volume 7 The Collapsed Alliance: Chapter 4 Preparing to Play

Early in the morning, the day after Prince Ikux's birthday banquet, Lin Xueyin slowly opened her eyes in her sleep, her azure pupils gradually adjusting to the bright light.

"Hmm, slept well... Huh??????"

Lin Xueyin stared in horror at what she was seeing. She was actually sleeping in the same bed with Irabel, her clothes disheveled. Although this had happened before, this was the first time she had ever been so disheveled.

"Oh, you're awake, Yukine. You were really great last night."

"Pfft... What's going on? Explain yourself!" Lin Xueyin stared at the girl in horror, completely bewildered as to what had happened to her.

"What, what's going on? That's the situation."

Irabel was somewhat puzzled by Lin Xueyin's intense reaction, but then, as if suddenly remembering something, a knowing smile appeared on her face.