Chapter 011: Troubles Abound

My… my man!?
As soon as Angel said those words, Du Fan felt cold sweat pouring down his back.
Under other circumstances, if Angel had said those words, Du Fan might have felt somewhat happy, even considering having a friendly fight with her… But now, in this quiet surroundings with everyone watching, those words from Princess Angel… it was probably… quite bad…
Everyone’s gazes fell on Du Fan, filled with complex emotions, including jealousy and resentment.
Du Fan felt as if a thousand needles were stabbing into his back; he really felt extremely uncomfortable.
Seeing Du Fan’s strange expression, Angel seemed extremely satisfied. She glanced around, pushing back all those strange looks, before turning to him and lowering her voice. “What? Are you unhappy? Do you think I’m not beautiful enough? But even if you think I’m not beautiful enough, you’re still my man… Our marriage was promised by the Emperor before he passed away. I doubt you have the courage to refuse…”
The Emperor? Promised before his death?
Du Fan’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. He immediately realized that this Princess Angel before him was the youngest daughter mentioned by Austin III… It seemed… it seemed like he hadn’t refused back then, so what she said wasn’t entirely wrong…
But marrying such a naturally charming woman as his wife… probably… probably his life would be in trouble from now on!
Seeing Du Fan’s extremely complicated expression, Angel seemed extremely happy. A smug smile appeared on her delicate face. Suddenly, she gently slapped Du Fan’s face and said, “Alright, my man… I really snuck out tonight. Now, I should go back… But I’m quite happy tonight, after all, my man does have some skills…”
After saying that, she giggled again, suddenly leaning close to Du Fan and whispering, “I’ll be in the palace these next few days… You know better than I do what to do, right?”
After saying that, Angel lightly jumped away, waved at the people present from afar, then slowly left the scene.
Soon, several guards-like figures came over and took away the silver basin in the garden. From afar, it could be seen that a dozen guards surrounded Angel—definitely not like someone who had snuck out…

Everyone looked in the direction Angel had left with complex expressions on their faces. The man’s gaze was filled with regret, while the woman’s seemed to carry a hint of relief…

Although Du Fan frowned slightly, he quickly composed himself and said loudly, “Everyone, it seems our banquet still needs to continue…”

…

“Are you saying? Princess Angel came to our family’s banquet on her own today?”

In Duke Green’s quiet study, the duke stood with his hands behind his back by the wall, examining a map on it. After hearing Du Fan’s account, he couldn’t help but ask.

Du Fan gave a bitter smile and said, “Yes, I was completely unprepared. Princess Angel appeared out of nowhere and declared in front of everyone that I was her man. This will surely cause a lot of trouble in the future.”

Duke Green nodded and said, “Of course, it will cause trouble. Princess Angel is famous for her beauty throughout the capital. It seems even the noble young masters are her admirers, and even that special envoy from the Laney Empire, the Fifth Prince, fell in love with her at first sight… If this had happened secretly, it wouldn’t have had much impact. But now that Princess Angel declared it openly, it won’t take long before the entire noble circle in the capital knows about it… By then, no matter how skilled you are, you won’t know how many nobles will challenge you to a duel…”

At this point, Duke Green couldn’t help but smile slightly. “But most of those nobles are useless. They probably aren’t even your match… Still, if this happens…”

“What then?”

“Well, those with broad minds might be fine, but those with narrow minds who lose to you will likely end up with countless enemies for no reason.”

At that, Duke Green suddenly sneered and said, “Princess Fischer really has incredible tactics… She doesn’t even need to give orders. Just sending a woman to say a few words can create several potential enemies for our Green family out of thin air… What clever tactics! What clever tactics!”

Du Fan sighed and spoke in a low voice as if to himself, “I told you… If a princess can’t go out casually, she probably can’t leave without Prince Fischer’s permission.”

Duke Green nodded again before saying, “But this is also fine… Since Prince Fischer resorted to such tactics against us, it means he himself knows that he can’t use other methods to deal with us in the short term… Finish what you’re doing quickly, then take up your post in the south… As long as we stay away from the imperial capital, its troubles won’t reach us…”
“Yes,” Du Fan bowed slightly. “But these next few days…”
“You shouldn’t go out these days,” Duke Green smiled. “It may sound a bit bad, but it’s better than making countless enemies… For example, Randy from the Lionheart Family will probably hate you to death from now on. The fewer enemies we have unjustly, the better!”
Du Fan smiled faintly and said, “Yes… Father… Since there’s nothing to do, I’ll just use these days to rest at home…”
With that, Du Fan bowed and quickly left.
In the study, only Duke Green remained. He looked up at the map on the wall again, suddenly drew the sword at his waist, and tapped it lightly on the province of Siluo. Then he sighed softly and murmured to himself, “The province of Siluo, a land without chaos… Will this place be a new starting point for our family? Or a complete end!?”
“Someone!” Duke Green suddenly shouted sharply. “Order the Northern Legion to send ten thousand cavalry south… I refuse to believe the Lanii Empire won’t withdraw! I refuse to believe… that ten thousand cavalry can’t take down the province of Siluo!”
As expected, in the following days, nobles flocked to Duke Green’s residence every day. Those with some decency would send a battle notice through servants, writing things like, “On the night of the full moon, atop the imperial capital, I shall fight you to the death.” Those with more aggressive tempers would shout loudly, “Du Fan! Come out and duel me!”
“Du Fan! Princess Angel is mine! If you refuse to admit this, come out and duel me!”
There were countless such remarks…
Some even became angry with the nobles around them before Du Fan even came out, leading to fights breaking out immediately. In no time, the once peaceful noble district turned into a scene of shouting and fighting.

Though these nobles shouted loudly, their actual combat skills were quite mediocre. Although some claimed to be warriors of the fourth or fifth rank, in reality they hadn’t even developed any combat energy. Their fights made a lot of noise, but no blood was seen for ages. Meanwhile, those who truly had some skill simply watched coldly from the side; in their eyes, these people were no match at all—only Du Fan was a real opponent. Some even had other motives… If they managed to defeat Du Fan, naturally he would lose the face to even think about Princess Angel anymore. Moreover, if they defeated him, his grand title would likely fall to them… Such a good opportunity was rare! Although everyone knew the chances of such a thing happening were low, people still harbored a bit of hope. After all, more and more people were challenging Du Fan now. If Du Fan fought back, the first few would surely not be his match… But if this continued, even if Du Fan had excellent combat energy, it would likely run out soon. If they struck then and took advantage of the situation, wouldn’t money, beauty, reputation, and fame all fall to them? And there were probably quite a few people with such thoughts… Such people considered themselves clever—how would they risk suffering losses before reaping benefits? Thus, the situation turned into those without skill acting recklessly, while those with skill actually fought… As for the Green family, they had already received orders: “Go ahead and make a fuss… Do whatever you want… As long as they don’t come here, we won’t see anything!” After a few days of chaos, Du Fan still hadn’t appeared… Outside, people were waiting for him to duel, but what was Du Fan doing at this moment?