The Villain Saint is my secondary account

"The twin dragon bloodline within you may have sensed this harmful reaction and automatically activated its generative magic to fight it. However, because your consciousness did not intentionally guide this magic, it caused some unexpected damage to your body."

Ye Xiao gently helped the petite girl, who had slumped into his arms in fear and was trembling slightly, to her feet.

Despite her usual arrogant and haughty demeanor, when the eldest princess is afraid, she is like a little hedgehog that has lost its sense of security. After realizing that her quills are ineffective, she will instinctively curl up into a ball.

This made Ye Xiao feel apologetic, as he had unintentionally caused the other party to suffer such an undeserved misfortune.

Immediately, he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from the girl's forehead. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, I didn't think this through. I should have considered this when I saw your state while you were narrating, otherwise you wouldn't have been in this situation..."

Chapter Sixty-Five: The Opportunity to Enter the Game

However, Skadi didn't think too much about it. She was just surprised to find that this guy's embrace was warmer than she had imagined.

Her heart, which was initially filled with panic due to fear of her own situation, quickly felt calmed down under the soothing words and strong arms, and then a blush of shyness gradually appeared on her fair face.

But upon hearing Ye Xiao's apologetic words, she quickly interrupted softly, "No, no, Ye Xiao, it's not your fault... If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have even discovered that someone had tampered with me like this."

Now that she has calmed down and thought about it carefully, Skadi felt a chill run down her spine—as a member of the Loren Empire’s royal family, her mind had been tampered with, and yet no one had noticed it all these years.

What about the other members of the royal family?

When Skadi realized this, she also began to understand that there was probably much more hidden beneath this imperial selection than she had seen so far.

"Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness, but I was indeed slow to react just now, sigh."

With that, Ye Xiao gentlemanly helped Skadi back to the sofa, draped a blanket over her, and then sat back down alone at the coffee table.

It's clear that what happened with Ella had nothing to do with the statue. Even in this situation, Ye Xiao's eyes remained clear as he held Skadi's plump and soft body.

He even sat back on the sofa and immediately began thinking about the royal selection and the old king.

Of course, this made Skadi, whose face was slightly flushed after regaining her composure, pout slightly, somewhat dissatisfied—was this man made of wood? Given her condition, would it kill him to hug her a little longer?

But Ye Xiao noticed Skadi's subtle expression of reproach and thought that although she said she forgave him, she was still holding a grudge. He quickly added some more black tea to Skadi's empty teacup. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Your Highness. Please drink more hot tea."

Drink your big head!

Skadi cursed inwardly, but considering that Ye Xiao was just like that, there was nothing she could do.

She still had some girlish modesty; it would be rather embarrassing to yell something like, "Can't you hug me a little longer, you idiot?"

After all, she was just screaming in terror, and then she turned around and asked for a hug. Doesn't that make it seem like she was tricking this guy into hugging her?

She was really scared just now, so wanting a hug is...that's a different matter!

Seeing that Skadi remained silent, Ye Xiao assumed that she had begun to think about serious matters, so he reiterated his words and continued, "However, it seems that Your Highness should not think about this matter for the time being, so as not to cause any unexpected strange conditions to occur in your body."

Hmm? If I were to recall the purification ritual from my childhood every now and then, and the situation just now would occur, would that mean this guy would keep hugging me forever?

Skadi, who had just been worried about dying from a loss of control over her magic, immediately began to think about how to cleverly trigger a loss of control over her magic to gain Ye Xiao's care.

Ye Xiao had no idea that the girl in front of him, who looked dejected and pitiful, was thinking all sorts of nonsense. Otherwise, he would have definitely gone up and knocked on her head a couple of times to see if water had gotten inside.

"But in that case, we at least know that King Evans' coronation ceremony tomorrow is destined to be anything but peaceful."

If Isaac truly possessed evidence that the eldest prince had assassinated the king, Ye Xiao could understand why he insisted on delaying the revelation until the coronation ceremony.

Because the coronation ceremony is completely public and open to the public, in other words, early tomorrow morning, all the people in the city will witness the historic moment of the King's coronation in the palace through a magical projection at the foot of Mount Vallond.

The first round of recommendations took place inside the palace, and it's hard to say how many of the high-ranking officials and nobles present were completely obedient to Evans. Revealing the incident at that time would likely have been buried as a palace scandal by a group of "far-sighted" nobles.

The influence is on a completely different level. Even if it could be used as a bargaining chip for Prince Raymond to win the royal election, Prince Raymond might choose to secretly deal with the matter of the eldest prince for the sake of the stability of the royal family.

Even if the eldest prince loses his eligibility for the imperial selection, he may not necessarily be truly punished.

But for all this reasoning to hold true, it must be based on the fact that Isaac did all these things to ensure that the murderer Evans received his due punishment and confessed.

But Prince Raymond also has witnesses and physical evidence of the First Prince's assassination attempt. Could the evidence that Prince Raymond will use to turn the tide tomorrow be the same as the evidence that Isaac used?

Thinking about this, a question mark popped into Ye Xiao's mind.

Prince Raymond only showed Ella the physical evidence at the ball, but said he would not reveal the witnesses for the time being for the sake of confidentiality, since everyone would know the next day anyway.

Could this "witness" happen to be Isaac Eugene?

Ye Xiao felt that wasn't the case.

If Isaac Eugene was indeed working with Prince Raymond to expose the Crown Prince's crimes, then he wouldn't have needed to wait until the final moment of the coronation ceremony.

The commander of the Imperial City Guard, one of the key figures in the investigation within the First Prince's faction, publicly betrayed Evans. Coupled with Prince Raymond's testimony, this coordinated effort, in theory, could directly lead to Evans' capture in the first round of recommendations.

There's no need to wait until the coronation ceremony to take greater risks and expose royal scandals to the public.

The fact that they didn't do that suggests that the information between them is very likely not transparent to each other.

Another point also proves that this assumption is more in line with the reality.

If Isaac was working with Prince Raymond, then he wouldn't need to worry so much about what would happen after exposing Evans's crimes.

It wouldn't take much effort for Prince Raymond, who had just seized the throne, to protect him, or to protect this noble member who was a key witness. It wouldn't require Isaac to risk having his affairs leaked prematurely, as if he were making his final arrangements, and to have that heart-to-heart talk with Skadi.

This is why Ye Xiao always felt that something was off about the matter, because subconsciously he thought that the same group of people were the ones who "exposed Evans' assassination attempt," which made it difficult to explain Isaac's dying words.

Ye Xiao had a gut feeling, an intuition derived from a fleeting impression, that this question would be a very important key.

If we assume that Isaac Eugene, as a member of the First Prince's faction, spoke at the recommendation ceremony, he might be unable to stand alone without support, so he chose to postpone the revelation until the coronation ceremony. Then why did Prince Raymond insist on revealing it only at the coronation ceremony?

"Hiss... Your Highness, I have a question for you."

"Ah! What's wrong?" Skadi, who was still lost in thought, suddenly responded when she heard Ye Xiao's voice.

"Um... in the history of Loren, are there any laws or cases that state that a prince who commits regicide is necessarily not allowed to become king?"

“What kind of question is that? Of course it’s impossible…” Skadi subconsciously wanted to answer, but then seemed to suddenly remember something. “Hey, I remember that in the family’s hidden history, you mustn’t tell anyone… A hundred years ago, although he wasn’t a prince, he had a younger brother who killed his older brother, the king, in public in the palace hall.”

"However, the elder brother who was the king was extremely cruel and unpopular. People had long been dissatisfied with him and his group of extravagant and decadent members. Therefore, after his younger brother killed him, he was not only not executed, but was instead put on the throne by the other faction officials who seized the opportunity."

"In other words, the act of regicide only affected the thoughts of a group of noble officials, but it was not stipulated in the imperial law."

“Although it’s a bit much for me to say this, the laws were originally made by the royal family and nobles.” Skadi curled her lip. “If I become a king supported by everyone, changing the laws will be a piece of cake.”

If that's the case, then what about the life of the incompetent old King Harold Betis... to put it bluntly, do those nobles really care that much?

Wouldn't they have been hoping that useless king would die long ago?

Ye Xiao suddenly realized the problem.

So why does Prince Raymond think that just because he has proof of the assassination, he can definitely bring down Evans, whose approval rating is nearly 70%?

Is this also why Prince Raymond chose to reveal his intentions during the coronation ceremony? He wanted to use public opinion to force the prince to abdicate. In other words, even with this tactic, he still lacked the confidence to win over all the nobles.

Thinking of this, Ye Xiao suddenly slapped his forehead.

So, isn't this sudden appearance of Isaac the perfect opportunity for Skadi to stop being a fringe player and officially join the Royal Selection game?

Chapter Sixty-Six: Ambush

"Your Highness, are you feeling well enough to move around?" Ye Xiao immediately stood up.

"Huh?" Skadi was a little confused, but still answered, "Does 'action' mean where we're going now? That's fine. I was just a little frightened. Physically, I might have only suffered some burns to my skin, but it's nothing serious."

Ye Xiao nodded, "Yes, Your Highness, we need to go find Mr. Isaac right away. I just realized that he may be the key to you gaining the support of the nobles within your faction."

"Is...is that so?" Skadi, wrapped in a small blanket, stood up as well. Although she didn't quite understand Ye Xiao's meaning, since he had said so, she chose to believe him. "Then shall we go? Are we going outside the academy? If so, my attendants will come along to be responsible for my safety according to royal regulations...Although I don't really want them to come with me. It's hard to say whether those guys are responsible for my safety or just monitoring me..."

"It's alright, Your Highness, but we must hurry." Ye Xiao felt that if he could think of this, the other princes might too.

And a crucial point is that Prince Raymond, as the head of his faction, was confident he possessed evidence that wouldn't leak out. But Isaac was fighting alone within the First Prince's faction, and it was difficult to say whether the intelligence he possessed wouldn't be leaked by his subordinates or others.

In any case, now that he understands the nature of those royals, Isaac's current actions could be dangerous for him.

Although he was quite skilled as the commander of the imperial guards, the things hidden behind the royal family were far beyond what ordinary people could handle.

……

After a while, Ye Xiao and Skadi were already ready to go at the academy gate.

The First Princess's guards acted relatively quickly in public; Skadi notified them via text message scroll and they immediately assembled at the academy gate.

In addition to Skadi's guards, Ye Xiao also used the community communication system to summon Li Cheng and hand him over the Slaanesh demon statue he had found under his roommate's bed.

“Investigate the origin of this thing, right? No problem, Brother Ye.” Li Cheng took the statue and glanced behind Ye Xiao. “Wow, that carriage behind you is quite impressive. Is that pretty girl staring at you by the carriage your new lover?”

"You can't just say things like that." Ye Xiao punched Li Cheng in the chest, then rushed back to Skadi's guard convoy and boarded the carriage.

Having already experienced the trip to the royal palace, Skadi's guards were quite used to this knight who could sit in the same carriage as the princess, and they showed little surprise. The group immediately set off for the western city, to the residence of the commander of the royal city guards.

Although it wasn't quite midnight yet, it was probably around eight or nine o'clock.

Unlike the modern metropolises of Earth, this is already quite old for a society like Loren that still relies on oil lamps.

Therefore, there were hardly any pedestrians on the road. In the pitch-black night, only oil lamps hanging by the roadside could be seen flickering on the empty streets.

The cool, white moonlight shone on the guards clad in light armor, their silvery light shimmering as they moved through the desolate, dark streets. Before long, Isaac's house, with its tightly closed doors, came into view.

Although it wasn't early, most citizens were still awake at this time.

When Ye Xiao saw the tall mansion standing alone in the darkness, without a single lit window, he had a bad feeling.

Ella had already activated the raven familiars scattered throughout the city to patrol the nearby streets, while Ye Xiao, Skadi, and her guards walked to the door.

He knocked gently on the door, and after waiting a moment without receiving a response, he no longer hesitated and kicked the door open with all his might.

If it's a misunderstanding, he can simply pay for the gate later. He would much rather it's just that the servants of the mansion didn't notice the commotion at the gate.

However, the scene that came into Ye Xiao's view in the dimly lit hall behind the door told him that what he had been worried about had finally happened.

On the glossy, gold-red tiles, glaring blood was slowly flowing, and corpses lay scattered throughout the hall like rag dolls cut to pieces.

If it weren't for the fact that some of the limbs were still covered with the arm armor exclusive to the imperial city guards, Ye Xiao wouldn't even have been able to recognize the origin of these dismembered corpses.

It looked as if a horrific massacre had taken place here.

Princess Skadi had never seen such a horrific scene before. The dark red entrails scattered on the ground made her face turn even paler: "What...what happened here!?"

"Defensive formation, protect Your Highness!" the captain of the guards immediately ordered, and a group of guards surrounded Skadi in the center.

Ye Xiao gripped the sword at his waist and stood protectively in front of Skadi. Looking at the still-wet blood on the ground, he frowned slightly. "Everyone, be careful. The blood hasn't clotted yet. This might have just happened recently..."

Before the words had even finished, a slightly alluring young girl's voice suddenly rang out: "Oh, it seems we have a new guest."

"Ah!!!" A piercing scream from deep within the mansion immediately drowned out the whisper, and at the same moment, the door behind the group slammed shut without warning.

The hall, which had been bathed in a little moonlight from the entrance, suddenly became pitch black.

"What's going on? Where are the guards?" the captain of the guards shouted in astonishment.

Ye Xiao immediately turned his attention to what was behind him. Logically speaking, the Crown Princess's royal guards should have professional skills, so they wouldn't enter a room full of danger without leaving anyone to guard the entrance.

But since the door was still closed, it means that the person guarding the door has probably met with misfortune.

However, Ye Xiao was only a mortal, and his vision was limited in the dim light. The chaotic footsteps and the sounds of armor and weapons clashing made it even more difficult for him to detect any unusual movements.

But if there's no light source, just create one. He immediately drew his staff from his back, chanted a spell, and a large fluorescent bullet shot into the towering sky.

The azure glow illuminated the entire hall, and Ye Xiao's mastery of the fluorescent spell had long surpassed the previous level where he could only see a small patch of the ground.

"A master mage?"

Ye Xiao heard the female voice that had appeared before ring out again. This time, he pinpointed the voice's location and turned his gaze to the carved wooden railing on the upper floor.

On the wooden railing along the second-floor corridor, a figure wearing a black and red cloak sat with his legs crossed, seemingly leisurely observing them in the lobby downstairs.

The dark cloak with red, claw-like patterns almost completely covered the person's upper body. Only the long, slender legs wrapped in black stockings peeking out from the hem, and the voice just now, suggested that this was a woman.

The moment Ye Xiao saw the other person appear, he immediately launched a fireball.

After all, he didn't have the habit of listening to the enemy's nonsense.

A burst of fire accompanied by a violent explosion erupted where the dark figure had been, but before the smoke and dust had even cleared, the cunning and teasing voice rang out again: "Oh dear, you're really in a hurry, Master Mage. Shouldn't you be protecting your princess at a time like this?"

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Samuel's Patient

Ye Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly, but he did not panic and look behind him because of the other party's words. Instead, he immediately touched his sword with his right hand and leaned down, ready to unleash a sword slash.

Although he wasn't looking at her with his eyes the whole time, his attention was always on Skadi. He knew very well whether Skadi was in danger or not, and he wouldn't let her trash talk distract him.

Sure enough, although no one appeared in front of them, a shallow claw mark suddenly appeared in the pool of blood on the ground.

Without the slightest hesitation, Ye Xiao drew his sword, channeling his power into the blade's edge and unleashing a devastating strike.

With a crisp, clean "snap," a figure appeared in the air, cleaved in two by Ye Xiao's blade.