Chapter 001: Conditions

The kind-hearted Priest Du Fan slowly stood up to everyone’s astonishment. He didn’t even glance at Emily again, as if just seeing her would be a blasphemy against the gods. Such disregard for others filled Emily with extreme anger and sorrow. After all, she wasn’t a fool—she had some intelligence—and it didn’t take her long to realize that although Du Fan’s actions seemingly admitted to what he had done, his expression and demeanor, along with his usual impression, only made everyone more convinced of the truth of what they had just witnessed.

That bastard!

Watching Du Fan’s hypocritical face, Emily bit her lip until it bled. Instinctively, she pulled out her wand and pointed it at him, already thinking about which spell to use to reduce him to ashes.

Upon seeing her action, Princess Nina’s expression changed instantly. Without hesitation, she rushed in front of Emily and whispered, “Miss, don’t you think the trouble you’ve caused is already enough? Do you really want to continue with those violent and abusive tactics? You should know that Du Fan’s old servant is by no means an ordinary person… And besides, didn’t you say you couldn’t move at all? How do you have the strength to hold a wand now?”

Emily was stunned, unable to figure out when she had regained her strength. In this impossible situation, her fragile nerves were on the verge of breaking. Trembling, she stared at Du Fan.

“I’ll kill you!”

Shoving aside Princess Nina and Mia, Emily rushed at Du Fan without even having time to cast a spell.

Du Fan sighed lightly. His holy face showed no emotion as he closed his eyes and murmured, “If I had known this would happen, why did I do it in the first place?”

Smack!

Halfway through her charge, Emily was struck hard in the face with a loud slap. Princess Nina, with a dark expression, glared at her and said softly, “Enough! How long will you keep going crazy? Do you really want this to become known to everyone?”

Holding her face, Emily’s eyes were filled with tears. “Why? Why? Why don’t even you believe me? Why? When have I ever lied to you?”

Princess Nina’s expression was icy. Straining to keep her voice low, she spoke in an unimaginably deep tone, “Even if I believed you, so what? What would that change?”

“Mia, take her outside and go to the dressing room to change into another set of clothes,” Princess Nina sighed softly. “As long as as few people know about this… Emily, you still have a long life ahead of you…”
Mia was momentarily stunned, but she still grabbed Emily’s arm and pulled her hard outside. Emily said nothing and stopped struggling either; she merely stared at Du Fan with a cold gaze, like that of a venomous snake.
“If you don’t kill the snake, there will be endless troubles later,” Du Fan sighed softly, muttering to himself. “But I suppose someone else will come to deal with those troubles for me, right?”
It wasn’t until the door closed again that Princess Nina turned around. She sized Du Fan up from head to toe and said, “Young Master Du Fan, I’ll go have someone prepare a set of clothes for you. Then we can talk about the rest, okay?”
Du Fan shook his head slightly and pondered for a while before saying, “I know what you’re trying to say. It’s basically asking me to keep today’s secret and not spread it, right?”
Princess Nina smiled awkwardly but nodded anyway.
“You two seem to be quite close,” Du Fan said, his tone indistinguishable between sarcasm and envy. “I promise you this—after all, it’s not good for me either. Let’s just act like nothing happened. But… I have one request, and I hope Princess Nina will agree to it.”
Princess Nina was stunned for a moment but still nodded. Looking at this white-robed priest who was slightly taller than her, she had no idea what difficult condition he might propose.
Du Fan smiled slightly and said, “I know Princess Nina will do everything in her power to prevent this from leaking out today. I’m on the same side in that regard—after all, it’s not a pleasant thing for a man to be… assaulted by a woman. But I hope you can be kinder.”
Princess Nina was taken aback and asked, “What do you mean, Young Master Du Fan? Why not just say it plainly?”
Du Fan glanced at the two servants who were still dazed on the ground and sighed bitterly. “To put it plainly, I hope Princess Nina will spare the lives of these two servants. Although they know about this, given their status, they probably won’t dare spread it around, right?”

Princess Nina glanced at Du Fan with some surprise. In the eyes of someone from her royal family, the lives of these ordinary servants were utterly insignificant. She had indeed planned to get rid of the two servants right away, but after hearing Du Fan’s words, she frowned and said, “Very well, I’ll agree to this. But if those two dare to go out and spread rumors, I assure you they’ll die a horrible death.”

“Then thank you,” Du Fan said with a slight smile. He then looked at the two servants on the ground and said gently, “Did you hear that? As long as you don’t go out and spread nonsense, no one will blame you.”

The two servants broke into cold sweats. They weren’t stupid and naturally understood that, from Princess Nina’s and Du Fan’s words, their necks had already been cut down countless times. Immediately, they knelt down and said, “Thank you! Thank you, Lord Du Fan…”

Du Fan quickly bent down to support them and said with a smile, “If you want to thank me, go get me some clothes to change into right now. And… if you have time, go pray at the chapel. Before the God of Light, all citizens are equal.”

The two servants left, filled with gratitude, leaving only the three of them in the study.

Princess Nina sighed and said, “Is this the kindness of a priest?”

Du Fan shook his head slightly and said, “This isn’t kindness—it’s just reluctance… Enough about this. Let’s forget this unpleasant incident and continue the banquet.”

Princess Nina nodded slightly, gave another greeting, and then slowly left.

When Old Mark saw the door close again, he immediately knelt down and said, “Third young master, I’m incompetent. I let you suffer such humiliation… It’s really… really…”

Du Fan quickly helped Old Mark up. Looking at his serious face, Du Fan felt a rare sense of guilt. “Grandpa Mark, it’s not your fault… And nothing serious happened to me either. You don’t need to blame yourself.”

Hearing Du Fan’s words, Old Mark sighed slightly and said, “But third young master, wasn’t the condition you proposed at the end a bit regrettable? Why not take this opportunity to ask for other things, like the Milak potion? If I’m not wrong, even in this situation, if you asked Princess Nina to give you the Milak potion right away, she would agree.”

“It’s not worth missing at all. No matter how important the Milak potion is, how can it compare to a human life?” Du Fan forced a hypocritical smile, inwardly sneering. Under such circumstances, proposing such terms might bring many benefits, but it would easily arouse suspicion that one had ulterior motives—far less effective than sparing a few lives. In this way, not only would Princess Nina owe him a great favor, but it would also be advantageous for his next plans. After thinking for a moment, Du Fan sighed slightly and changed the subject. “By the way, Grandpa Mark, what exactly is the relationship between Princess Nina and these two others?” Old Mark naturally knew his young master rarely paid attention to such things. After some thought, he explained, “That Emily is the daughter of the Finance Minister, while Miss Mia is the granddaughter of the Prime Minister. Due to their family connections, they have had a very close relationship with Princess Nina since childhood. Plus, through family marriages, there is also some degree of blood relation between them.” “The daughter of the Finance Minister? The granddaughter of the Prime Minister? And a princess of the royal family?” Du Fan shook his head slightly. “No wonder. If these three didn’t have a close relationship, it would be strange. I bet Princess Nina is already struggling to figure out how to explain what just happened. But that has nothing to do with us. Let’s focus on finding a way to get our hands on the Milak potion.” “Yes, Third Young Master,” Old Mark replied, bowing slightly. Du Fan handed his clothes back to Old Mark and said with a faint smile, “Grandpa Mark, are you still angry, planning how to help me take revenge on Miss Emily later?” Old Mark was stunned and said, “I wouldn’t dare!” “What’s there to dare or not dare?” Du Fan laughed. “Grandpa Mark, you must know that although I’m a priest, I’m also the Third Young Master of the Green family. If we just let this go… it would be too embarrassing if others found out later, right?” “So, what do you mean, Young Master?” “If we leak it, arrange it tonight—spread the word about today’s incident and ensure the entire empire is abuzz within a day. As for how many versions there will be, that’s up to you. But remember, the key point of the propaganda should be that a second-level mage assaulted a priest in white.” Old Mark looked strange and said obsequiously, “But Third Young Master, didn’t you promise Princess Nina…”

“I did agree,” Du Fan clapped his hands. “But… you didn’t agree…”
Old Mark froze for a moment before a strange smile appeared on his face.