Chapter 53: The Fallen Genius

The bedroom remained the same bedroom. Following Ron's repeated assurances, Count Yan still closed the door with a worried expression.

The afternoon sunlight pierced through the golden patterned glass, spilling onto Eugene Yan, who lay on the bed, panting heavily and clearly still shaken.

The makeup on his face was thoroughly smeared. At that moment, he buried the greater part of his face in the quilt to hide from Ron's gaze.

Now, despite all his smooth talking, he had managed to frighten away a priest, but facing the golden-haired youth, he had no idea what kind of methods to employ to scare him off.

At this thought, he suddenly let out a shrill scream, threw off the quilt covering his face, and moved to give Ron a fright.

Yet the next moment, Eugene Yan suddenly felt a slight chill on his forehead, only to discover that a menacing gun barrel was pressed right against it.

This gun barrel was completely different from the priest's; under the sunlight, the muzzle reflected a piercing, soul-chilling coldness.

"Don't shoot, friendly forces, I am not possessed by a demon."

Eugene Yan was on the verge of tears.

What kind of people were these? An exorcism was an exorcism, why did everyone go around brandishing guns and rods?

"You say you aren't a demon, so you aren't a demon?"

The golden-haired youth curled his lips, then fished a small piece of white candle from his pocket.

"Here, eat this, and I'll believe you aren't a demon."

*Darkness Exception Quick Leave 3.0*. Ron had heard from Sider that this candle was made from a wide variety of materials and could emit a stench that even dark creatures found unbearable.

Naturally, this included the demons that mages frequently dealt with.

And since this thing tasted like excrement to a demon, if the fellow in front of him could actually swallow it, it would prove that he was not possessed by a demon.

With this thought, Ron untied the thick rope binding Eugene Yan's right hand and handed the candle to him.

Then, pressing the menacing gun muzzle hard against his forehead, he said coldly:

"Eat it!"

Eugene Yan's expression turned bitter. Under the youth's coercion, he had no choice but to pick up the white candle and sniff it gently.

What kind of blasphemous smell was that...

It was like a three-year-old, unwashed, airtight riding boot that had been trodden on, its interior interwoven with acidic, foul sweat and thick, intensely stinking black grime.

"Ugh..."

"Big brother, I beg you, please take the gun away. I'm really not a demon..."

Eugene Yan's words were now laced with a crying tone.

However, Ron, single-mindedly focused on the exorcism, hardened his heart and pressed the muzzle even harder against the eldest son of the count's forehead.

"Eat!"

Am I even worthy of being a demon? You're the real demon!!!

Seemingly sensing the threat of death, Eugene Yan's face twisted. Gritting his teeth, he tremblingly tossed the white candle into his mouth.

He didn't even dare to chew, swallowing the small segment of candle whole down into his stomach.

Seeing this, Ron's hanging heart finally dropped back into his stomach.

Although some powerful demons were difficult to detect, a Great Demon of this caliber really wouldn't stoop to eating a turd just for the sake of a disguise.

"So you really aren't possessed by a demon. You scared me to death..."

The youth said with a sense of relief, then, as if remembering something, raised his hand-cannon once again.

"No wait, you should be a student at the Enlightenment Academy. The files say your classmates and teachers solved the problem for you, but it ultimately led to a worsening of the condition..."

"Who on earth are you?!"

"Fess up honestly!"

Is this any way to perform an exorcism!

The heart that Eugene Yan had just settled in his stomach rose back up again as he shouted in a near-collapse:

"It was all an act, it was all an act! I agreed with my mentor and classmates to let them stage a play for me, just to blow up my engagement with the princess!"

Blow up the engagement?

Ron was greatly surprised, never expecting to overhear such gossip.

He pondered for a long moment, upholding the basic integrity of an investigator as he asked:

"Then... the witch's curse, and the white paper balls on the floor..."

Hearing this, Eugene Yan went black before the eyes, as if he could already envision his reputation in aristocratic circles of late.

"That was, that was..."

He stammered and struggled to speak, but finally gritted his teeth and abruptly raised his tone:

"That was because I already have someone I like!"

"She is a commoner girl, and the gap in our status is too great. My parents would never agree to let me be with her,

so the only thing I could do was try to ruin my engagement with the princess on one hand, while longing for her at night..."

"..."

Ron suddenly fell into profound silence. He thought of Princess Miss, who had recently suffered a kidnapping and missed out on the throne, and then looked at Eugene Yan as he tentatively asked:

"Uh, if—I'm just saying if—you fail to ruin the engagement with the princess, what will you do?"

The count's eldest son flickered his gaze, but still said firmly:

"Then I will take my mentor and my classmates from the Enlightenment Academy to Hainault Castle to call off the wedding!"

"I will not marry someone I do not like, nor will I marry a paralyzed cripple."

Ron twitched the corner of his mouth, dismissed "Holy Swordsmanship," and used the longsword in his hand to slice through all the thick ropes binding Eugene Yan.

Faced with such personal family matters, as an outsider, it was not his place to say too much.

However, this increasingly familiar sense of déjà vu still made it difficult for him to suppress the curiosity in his heart.

"Aren't you afraid that the princess won't sink into despair, but instead have her potential stimulated by you, rise all the way to become a legend, and finally come looking for trouble with you?"

To his surprise, Eugene Yan straightened his body and smiled with confidence:

"How could that be? Setting aside the fact that the probability of such a guess is one in ten thousand, even if she does become a legend, so what?"

"My teacher is also a legend. He is the one closest to the Enlightenment God-Lord, and he is more than enough to protect me."

Precisely because of that, the problem is even more serious!!!

The golden-haired youth twitched the corner of his mouth, feeling that he still needed to guide this fellow before him onto the correct outlook on life and values.

Even if you don't like each other, you should still find an opportunity to seriously discuss it with the princess in private, rather than hurting her self-esteem.

Ron felt that although Princess Miss came with her own unlikable attributes, deep down she wasn't actually a bad person.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to say something, however, Eugene Yan suddenly smiled and said:

"Brother, I know you were sent by my father. You don't need to try and persuade me."

"Besides, I consulted my teacher about this matter of calling off the engagement. Even though he has gone out to sea to search for the New Continent, he still gave me a revelation."

As he spoke, he pointed to an inconspicuous dark-black crystal placed on the bedside table.

"I sealed my teacher's revelation inside a canned container so I can summon more inspiration whenever I need it."

"Look, using the witch's warning letter to fake being cursed was the inspiration given to me by that revelation."

The next instant, Eugene Yan stepped right up in front of the golden-haired youth and said:

"If you don't tell anyone else what I just told you, I'll give it to you!"

"The 'revelation' of a legendary-level mind scholar is enough to fetch a sky-high price of hundreds of thousands of gold lions on the underground market."

Hearing this, the golden-haired youth stood dumbstruck, with only a single thought echoing wildly in his mind.

A legend...

That foolish woman Olivia was actually worth this much!