Chapter 007: Shameless Hardening

Chirping voices surrounded him constantly, along with flirtatious glances, intentional or not. The young ladies all wore sweet smiles, giggling no matter what Du Fan said, as if he had indeed told some joke. Their bodies kept leaning closer to him—whether to take advantage of him or to be taken advantage of by him, it was unclear.
Du Fan was both amused and exasperated. In another setting, would he have been polite with these noble ladies? But he knew full well that these ladies were out of his reach; they clearly wanted to swallow him whole, yet he was still handing himself over—wasn’t that seeking death?
Although most of these noble ladies were quite attractive, they were merely so. Compared to the women around Du Fan—Chenchen, Lingyun, Tasia, and the rest—they paled in comparison, turning into mere ordinary beauties. Thus, Du Fan really had no great interest in them.
But right now, he was the host here, and leaving without permission was absolutely out of the question. He could only stay reluctantly, careful not to let these noble ladies take advantage of him, to avoid future complications—truly a tough situation.
Du Fan had grievances he couldn’t express, but to others, the situation took on a different meaning.
Some of lower status couldn’t help but sigh secretly. Though Du Fan was a priest, he was by no means abstinent. Judging by his flirtatious tactics, few in the capital could compare to him.
Those of higher status, though accompanied by one or two noble ladies, also envied Du Fan’s “luck in love.”
As for those who considered their status no less than Du Fan’s, they grew annoyed and jealous upon seeing this—after all, such gatherings were meant for courting women, yet Du Fan alone had claimed all the best ones. What was there for them to do? Just eat alone?
“Lord Du Fan, it seems you’re having a great time chatting with these ladies!” A leisurely voice came from behind him. Turning as the voice came, he saw a young man in his twenties standing there. He was tall and fair-skinned, with golden hair that seemed to glow, softly shimmering. He wasn’t wearing noble attire but rather knight’s armor—clearly custom-made.

A decorative knight’s sword hung slantingly at his waist, and with his attire on, he indeed appeared valiant. Yet the half-smile on his face made Du Fan feel somewhat uneasy. With his sensitive abilities, he had long realized that this stranger who had suddenly approached him likely held no goodwill toward him. But since it was rare to have someone help him out at this moment, Du Fan was too happy to care whether the other person had good feelings or not. He took a slight breath before addressing the newcomer, “Sir, please forgive my ignorance, Du Fan… I’m not sure who you are…” An expression of displeasure flashed across the stranger’s face. After all, at such a banquet among nobles, the host should be extremely familiar with all the guests he invited. So, he didn’t think Du Fan didn’t recognize him out of ignorance, but rather because he had ruined Du Fan’s plans and deliberately asked such a question. Yet this man wasn’t simple either. The displeasure on his face vanished quickly as he raised his wine glass and said calmly, “I am Randy of the Lionheart Family. I’ve been working in the military all these years and just returned from the south recently. You serve the gods in the capital, so naturally we’ve had no contact… It’s understandable that you don’t know me. This is our first meeting, after all… I hope Duke Du Fan will take good care of me in the future!” Upon hearing the name Randy of the Lionheart Family, Du Fan immediately remembered him. This Randy seemed to be the eldest son of Duke Wade, the military minister of the Lionheart Family, and thus Jerome’s elder brother. It was said that this young Randy had considerable military talent, and with his powerful family background, he had thrived in the military. He seemed to already be a major general, and it wouldn’t be hard for him to become a general soon… But this Randy served in the southern army… In other words… Thinking of this, Du Fan couldn’t help but smile slightly. No matter how capable this man from the southern army was, he probably wasn’t that impressive after all.

The few noble ladies present naturally knew Randy’s identity. In fact, if they hadn’t known that Du Fan had already been made a duke, they might have considered this young master Randy to be the real target. After all, the Lionheart family was one of the founding families in the military, wielding great influence in the empire. Moreover, it seemed that this young master Randy was likely to succeed as the family head in the future—meaning, barring any accidents, he would become Duke Wade. On top of that, this young master Randy had tens of thousands of troops in the south, a force that certainly couldn’t be underestimated.

As for Du Fan, although he had been made a duke, he currently held no real power. Though he was favored by Prince Fischer, a few astute noble ladies had already begun to wonder: if a conflict arose between Du Fan and Randy, which side would Prince Fischer take?

That question was indeed worth pondering…

Thinking of this, the noble ladies couldn’t help but worry secretly for Du Fan.

Du Fan’s expression remained unchanged. If he hadn’t known the purpose of the other party’s visit earlier, hearing his words now, even the dumbest person could understand that this Lord Randy had come to stir up trouble.

Immediately, he raised his glass as well and replied without hesitation, “So it’s young master Randy… I hear you’ve been quite successful in the south—going from an ordinary soldier to a major general in just a few years. Your military achievements must be astonishing! I, Du Fan, have always admired heroes like you… How about this? I’ve heard you’ve won several battles in the south. Why not share your stories with us? I’m sure the ladies here, just like me, would love to hear about your heroic deeds.”

The noble ladies, not very interested in politics, thought Du Fan was trying to flatter Lord Randy out of fear. The more quick-witted among them immediately cooed and moved closer to Randy, saying playfully, “So Lord Randy has won battles too! Please tell us about them so we can brag about them later… The invincible Lord Randy himself told us about his achievements!”

Hearing this, Randy almost spat out the drink he had swallowed. He was so choked that he was both amused and embarrassed, his expression utterly awkward…

Others might not know, but this young master Randy was well aware that all his so-called “victories” in the South were nothing but exaggerations by his family… In fact, over the past few years, the Southern Army had not won a single battle against the Lanny Empire.
If it were a more cunning person, they might have smiled slightly and started boasting as planned. But this young master Randy still had a bit of a youthful heart. He knew that Du Fan mentioning this meant he already knew Randy had never won a battle in the South. If he were to boast now, Du Fan would surely laugh his head off.
Randy snorted coldly, pushing away the noble lady who had approached him, and simply said, “Lord Du Fan is joking. What heroic deeds could I, Randy, possibly have? Even if there were any, compared to Lord Du Fan—who single-handedly killed the imperial capital’s genius Aldas and drove back the Sword Saint of Silver Sheaths, Francis—I’m practically nothing!”
At these words, Randy felt somewhat embarrassed… He had come here to save Du Fan’s face, but instead, to avoid embarrassing himself, he had to say such insincere words. Thinking of this, he wished he could slap himself…
Although his words carried an air of self-promotion, Du Fan wasn’t about to let him off so easily. He smiled slightly and said, “What’s there to special about a one-on-one fight? There are so many ways to outsmart your opponent. Besides, Francis was already slightly injured before fighting me. If we really counted, I definitely wasn’t his match… And even if I were, what’s the point of such a ‘victory’? In my view, only a true hero like Lord Randy, who has fought his way through countless enemies, is a real hero!”
Seeing Du Fan’s mocking expression, Randy wished he could shove the wine glass into his mouth to silence him.
The noble ladies around them were completely confused. Hadn’t Randy come here to save Du Fan’s face just now? Why did it seem like the two of them were now praising each other?
Only Randy knew he had suffered a great loss in front of Du Fan. He was filled with resentment but couldn’t think of any counterargument right away—his embarrassment was extreme.
Just then, a melodious and charming voice rang out softly.

“Lord Randy, it seems you and Lord Du Fan are quite close… I wonder what you’re talking about? May I… join you?”
The voice was extremely delicate and charming, like a lover coquettishly speaking or an elf softly singing, instantly making one’s bones melt to half…
Even Du Fan couldn’t help but be secretly surprised—just hearing the voice… he had shamelessly become erect!?