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Chapter 460 – Are You Feeling Unwell?
Hardy felt that Claire was different than usual, her speaking style was completely different, and her maturity and stability in her speech was faintly like king George…
No, it was nowhere as relaxed and easy-going as king George, it was more professional, precise, and watertight so that no one could find any faults with it.
How did such a straightforward tomboy turn into such a crafty politician? There was no doubt that brat Lin Xiao was involved!
From the beginning Hardy noticed that every time Claire was having trouble, she would look towards Lin Xiao and he would always give her some strange hints, then Claire would confidently and easily defuse their pressure.
Earlier, he reminded Claire and allowed her to find the issues in the plans… in other words, if it wasn’t for this meddling kid, they would have already succeeded!
Hardy underestimated him in the beginning and thought he was useless, but after that, Hardy raised his evaluation to a rock that trips people and he started to think of ways to deal with him!
But was Lin Xiao just a rock?
Hardy didn’t realize, even if Lin Xiao was a rock, he was far larger and stronger than he could imagine… nothing good will come out of trying to compete with this rock! But some people will never learn until they experience the pain themselves. Right now he finally thought of a way to make a fool out of Lin Xiao, so he put it into action right away!
“Right princess, speaking of grand marshall Barrett… you should know him, right?”
“I’ve heard of him often from father and I met him a couple of times when I was younger, but I don’t remember it much anymore…”
Barrett wasn’t just the Grand Marhsall, he was also a childhood friend of the king so they had a good relationship, he’s even carried Claire before, but she herself doesn’t remember it too much.
“I imagine he must have changed a lot?”
“Yeah, you might not even recognize him.”
Hardy laughed then lowered his voice and spoke seriously to Claire.
“Princess, there’s one thing I must remind you, Barrett is a peak seventh-level warrior and is extremely strong!”
“What are you trying to say? Are you afraid he’ll…”
“Princess Claire, you might not know but he’s constantly fighting and all that killing has given him a fearful aura!”
“Aura?”
“That’s right. Every time he becomes anxious, or uneasy, or when his emotions fluctuate, he would emit a terrifying aura! Anyone who becomes enveloped by the aura would feel an oppressive fear.”
“Oppressive feeling? Uh… so what?”
“Different people have different willpower and will have different reactions. People with strong willpower might just feel anxious and perturbed, but people with weak willpower would be gasping for breath! In the worst case, some might even pass out!”
“Is it that strong…”
“Yes, now that he’s late half an hour, he’s probably pretty anxious and won’t be able to control his aura well, so princess you should be prepared for when he comes in.”
“Okay, I will…”
Claire nodded, but she didn’t sound that confident. She already hasn’t met Barrett for a while and based on everyone’s description of him, she felt like she was a terrifying person.
But even if he were a monster, Claire had to make him listen and couldn’t be scared! When she thought about it, Claire slapped her own cheeks and got ready!
“Hehe, but princess Claire, you don’t have to worry. Since you’re a princess, whether it’s your willpower or temperament, it can’t compare to normal people, so you definitely wouldn’t be suppressed.”
“I-is that so?”
“Of course! But, it’s hard to say the same for other people…”
Hardy finally got to the point as he set his gaze on Lin Xiao.
“Princess, your advisor Lin Xiao is still young, it might be hard to endure the grand marshall’s aura, so I recommend him to leave temporarily or go take a break in the gallery, what do you think?”
“Ah? Get him to leave?”
Claire paused and realized Hardy was trying to use this opportunity to chase Lin Xiao away!
“Lin Xiao, what do you think?”
Claire turned to ask him but felt a bit uneasy. It was like Hardy said, Lin Xiao was still young, although he was strong and smart, he might not be able to endure it, so it was best for him to lie low.
“Me? It’s fine.” Lin Xiao yawned, “If I left, who’s going to help you?”
“But…”
“Don’t worry about me, worry more about yourself, I… yawn… I’m fine.”
“Okay, I trust you.”
Claire could only accept it, then silently pray that nothing happens.
“Young man, I know that you have some skill, but showing off is not a good habit!”
When Hardy heard Lin Xiao responding lightly, Hardy snorted disdainfully.
“I recommend you hide for a while, otherwise, when you pass out and start frothing at the mouth, you aren’t just humiliating yourself, but you’re smearing the princess as well!”
“Hehe, I appreciate your concern general Hardy, but it’s unnecessary, even if you start frothing at the mouth, I’ll still be fine.”
“… Don’t blame me for not warning you, let’s wait and see.”
Hardy didn’t bother arguing and just crossed his arms and waited to watch the show! At that time, there were familiar footsteps from outside the door, along with the rattling of metal, it sounded like there were a lot of people!
They were coming!
“Princess Claire, my apologies, I’m late!!!”
“Is it uncle Barrett?”
“Haha, princess, I can’t believe you’re still willing to call me uncle, it’s my honor!”
A middle-aged man with a sturdy body and stubble appeared at the door followed by several fully armed generals.
After his greetings, Barrett didn’t forget his etiquette and called for the attendants and took off his armor and weapons with everyone else before entering.
“Sorry princess, our horses died before making it to the city so we were delayed! … What, no one was talking bad about me during that time, right? Hahaha!”
Barrett was hailing his subordinates to disarm themselves while he was laughing and apologizing.
His laugh was fine, but it was hard for the people inside the room!
Because the grand marshall felt guilty for arriving late, he couldn’t control his aura well and it was released into the room. Everyone inside was enveloped in an instant and they couldn’t breathe!
The one who bore the brunt of it was of course Taike, as a finance official, he was just a normal person. Being unable to breathe he could only clutch his chest and was leaning over the table with his mouth agape like a dead fish. Claire wasn’t much better, she may be a princess, but also found it hard to breathe and she had to dig her fingers into her palms to stay awake.
The only one who remained unmoved at the table was Hardy!
He was fully concentrated and sat upright and still, his breathing was still normal but he just flexed his muscles and the veins in his arms were bulging along with some sweat dripping from his forehead, but compared to everyone else, he was already doing well!
Hmph, how about it? Only I can endure Barrett’s aura, you people aren’t even worth mentioning!
Hardy clenched his teeth and was immeasurably self-satisfied at his own performance, then he suddenly remembered that black-haired youth and suddenly felt schadenfreude.
That kid’s legs must have already gone limp from fear and he’s probably already collapsed, right?
Hardy turned to look with that in mind and tried to enjoy Lin Xiao’s humiliating appearance, but what he saw shocked him!
“Yawn… hm? General Hardy, why are you glaring at me with those dead fish eyes and sweating so much? … Strange, are you feeling unwell?”
Lin Xiao covered his mouth and yawned again while looking blankly at Hardy like he didn’t understand what he was playing at.
When Hardy heard those words that were filled with mockery, he instantly exploded in anger! He who was using his own aura to suppress the atmosphere around them suddenly went into disorder and some aura that couldn’t be controlled rushed to his lungs and messed up his internal organs. He could only look down and spit out a large mouthful of blood.