Although Sam was both cold and fierce when dealing with outsiders, she was nothing but a paper tiger in front of people she was close to.
Of course, Emilia could tell at a glance that Noelle wanted to teach her big sister a lesson, but there was no way she could cold-heartedly ignore the girl’s pitiful look and just watch.
But the crimson-haired girl knew that if she wanted to take Sam out of the hole she had dug herself, she would have to jump into it as well. Otherwise, it was likely that Noelle would school her later in private.
”I really wanna look at those photos too!”
Noelle turned her reprimanding gaze to the younger girl, but she couldn’t help but soften her stance unconsciously. “Are your little fangirls being a bad influence on you? It’s not nice to take pictures without someone’s consent!”
Emilia stuck her tongue out cheekily. “It’s okay if the one doing it is cute! Besides, I promise she won’t share it with strangers. So… can we please keep them?”
Being complimented like that, Noelle felt like she really didn’t mind being photographed so much anymore. But given her hard stance before, it was a bit too shameful to change her mind so quickly, right?
Seeing how the older girl didn’t argue about it anymore, it was clear to the two sisters that she had already compromised.
When Noelle hesitantly nodded to express her agreement, Emilia couldn’t help but lean forward to peck her cheek playfully.
”You’re so cute when you’re bashful~”
The older girl pushed Emilia away, feeling like she had lost all face in front of Sam today. “B-Be serious!”
Emilia giggled. “Alright, alright~ I won’t mess around.”
Noelle couldn’t tell from the younger girl’s attitude just how seriously she actually took her warning, and she couldn’t help but frown. “Even if I do my best, what if something goes wrong and they ally together against us? We can’t—”
A soft, gentle press of a finger against her lips stopped her words short, and when Noelle looked into Emilia’s eyes again, the previous playful and casual attitude was nowhere to be found.
The crimson-haired beauty’s smile at this time resembled that of a confident monarch, and Noelle couldn’t help but feel her previous insecurities vanish like a cloud of smoke.
”Don’t worry, Noelle, I won’t give them the chance to think about it too much. By the time we return from the Golden Crown… you will see what I mean.”
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Since Alexander’s face was beaten into a purple pig’s, there was no way he would leave the hospital and risk being spotted outside by one of his admirers.
No one must know what happened, and everyone who knew… must die!
Naturally, there was no way he would tell Jake about the ‘truth’, and after making sure that he hadn’t actually seen anything, he waved the blonde boy off with a perfunctory attitude.
Even if he was unconvinced… so what? As his ever-loyal lapdog, it was already a great grace on Alexander’s part to spare his life by not letting him know the truth. What was there to be so dissatisfied about?
Fortunately, Jake was still a little self-aware and didn’t dare to insist on it too much, regardless of how curious he really was.
After being left alone, the first thing Alexander did was, of course, to call his father.
”Dad! I…” The dark-haired man paused, unsure how to tell his father that he was beaten up to look like a pig without losing face.
A somewhat tired sigh came from the other side of the phone. “Alex… how are you feeling now?”
The dark-haired man’s eyes widened in shock. “Dad… y-you… already know?”
Another tired sigh came from the other side. “How can I not know? Just rest well these days. Leave this matter to your dad. This matter is more complicated than you think, but I’ll make sure that the people who dared set their sights your way will regret it till their intestines turn green!”
Alexander already knew that someone must be pulling the strings from behind the scenes. After all, it made no sense for a man sent by his parents to attack him out of nowhere. If someone didn’t buy him out, was he supposed to believe that the old man spontaneously went senile and hit him regardless of the consequences? Impossible.
The dark-haired man clenched his fist tight, barely managing to keep his voice from trembling. “W-Who was it?”
There was a short pause from the other side, as if his father was wondering whether he should tell him or not.
Just as he was about to speak up, however, his father seemed to have already made up his mind.
”The Black Tiger.”
Alexander couldn’t help but grit his teeth in hatred as the name rang in his head. ‘Black Tiger! For this humiliation… I will make sure that you’re paid back a hundredfold!’
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The Old Snake finally breathed a sigh of relief after he finished listening to their conversation.
Although he could already be considered a snake in a jar, there was no way that someone like him would actually resign himself to his fate.
Unlike the people in the martial arts alliance and the White Deer, he knew the psychology of both the Gray’s father and son quite well, and cleverly guiding their words and opinion was well within his capability.
Of course, there were still many flaws in his plan. For example, if Alexander had explicitly mentioned being beaten up by him to either of his parents, the Old Snake would have had no choice but to knock him out and think of something else.
Fortunately, Alexander was too confident in his father’s ability, and thought that he must already know all the ins and outs of the matter.
And his father was equally conceited, never suspecting that one of his dogs could ever dare bare their teeth at him.
”Heh… I guess this can be considered a small part of the interest for making our Nightingale clan toss and turn to your whims all the time!”
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