Grimm Andersen guiltily set Felt's foot down.
"Judging by the force of that kick just now, your sprain shouldn't be too serious."
To maintain order in the venue, Captain Marchosias looked at Felt with his hands behind his back.
"Lady Felt, allow me to interrupt your reunion with your friend. Please come this way."
"Tch!"
Felt turned around and scanned the room with disdain, then jerked her thumb back, pointing at Grimm Andersen.
"I only came to this boring assembly to fish this idiot Grin out of prison. Now that he's fine, why am I still here?"
With that, the blonde loser took her royal selection badge out of her bosom.
At that moment, the blood-red gemstone at the center of the insignia glowed, powerfully proving that Felt possessed the qualifications of a Dragons Miko.
Everyone present nodded repeatedly and whispered among themselves, confirming that Felt met the requirements for the Royal Selection.
But this girl didn't take out the royal selection badge to prove anything.
"Hmph, go to hell, you shitty assembly! Whoever wants to participate can go right ahead!"
With that, Felt threw the insignia onto the ground in disgust, stomped on it several times, and then kicked it away with great force.
"Oh my god, what is she doing?"
"That's simply barbaric!"
"To throw the Dragon History Stone insignia on the ground and stomp on it... this is sacrilege!"
...The knights didn't react much, but the nobles were beating their chests and stamping their feet as if they themselves had been insulted.
"Let's go, Grin, let's go find Old Man Rom!"
Felt called out to him to leave, just like how she used to lead Grimm Andersen around to cause trouble.
Grimm Andersen quickly leaned into Felt's ear and said, "Old Man Rom broke into the Astrea Mansion today and was caught as a thief. He's in prison."
"Huh?"
Felt's foot, which had just stepped out, hung in mid-air as if someone had cast a binding spell on her.
After several deep breaths, she turned around decisively and began searching for her royal selection badge among the crowd.
That kick just now was too hard; the badge had vanished without a trace.
"Where's my precious insignia? You, move! Lift your foot, you bastard! Reinhard, help me find it!"
The red-haired knight shook his head helplessly, gave Grimm Andersen a grateful salute, and then joined the search for the insignia.
After retrieving the insignia, Felt pretentiously wiped the dust off it with her dress.
Finally, with extreme reluctance, she stood in the lineup of the Royal Selection candidates.
Although the noble who liked to seek attention had been beaten unconscious by the Rachins, there were still other nobles in the hall who were dissatisfied with Felt's words and actions.
It wasn't until Miklotov, the representative of Sage Council, spoke that everyone fell silent.
"Silence. Knight Reinhard, could you please tell us how you found her?"
Reinhard knelt on one knee and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Through the guidance of a friend, I discovered Lady Felt in the Slums."
Surprise and doubt immediately spread through the noble section.
"Can an orphan from the Slums participate in the Royal Selection?"
"This is simply an act that brings shame to the Kingdom!"
Felt grew furious hearing this.
"What does me being an orphan have to do with you? Dammit, if it weren't for having to save Old Man Rom, I would've left long ago!"
Priscilla, one of the Royal Selection candidates, looked somewhat weary. She waved her folding fan and said with dissatisfaction:
"Always chattering on, how truly boring. But it is precisely because you only talk about boring topics that orphans and their ilk from the Slums are drawn to the selection."
Sensing the provocation in Priscilla's words, Felt, with her personality, naturally wouldn't back down.
She immediately met her with a cold face.
"Huh? If you want to fight, I'm game."
Priscilla also grew angry, a fierce light flashing in her eyes. As someone who stood at the center of the world, she allowed no one to overstep their bounds.
"You insolent brat, who do you think I am?"
With that, she raised her folding fan and swung it down toward Felt's head, carrying a majestic surge of Yang-attribute mana.
Whoosh!
A dark shadow suddenly darted out.
Looking again, Priscilla's wrist was firmly locked by a beast-like claw.
The folding fan in her hand was less than two fingers' width away from the top of Felt's head.
"You've got quite the grip, Sun Princess."
Grimm Andersen was controlling his semi-beastified body, his muscles bulging, showing signs of bursting through his clothes.
Priscilla sneered, "Heh, little moth, are you sure you want to make an enemy of me?"
Grimm Andersen's strength gradually gained the upper hand, pulling her wrist further and further away.
"I, Grin, survive in this world by three things: seducing my brother's wife... I mean, protecting my brother's wife, then betraying my own... wait no, how does it go?"
"Whatever, the point is loyalty! This girl is under my protection!"
Felt was slightly surprised by Grimm Andersen's Beastification ability, but she quickly adjusted her mindset and showed an excited expression.
This seemed no different from when they used to fight over territory in the Slums together.
"Well done, Grin! Quick, throw the lime! Let her know what it means to look at the dog before hitting the master!"
Whoosh!
She grabbed Grimm Andersen's shoulder, using it as a springboard to perform a spinning kick in the air, aimed straight at Priscilla's face.
She thought: I must teach this damn woman a lesson.
Hearing this, Grimm Andersen subconsciously reached into his pocket, then suddenly realized he seemed to have been insulted. He looked up speechlessly, "You brat, are you trying to get me killed?"
"I'll kick you to death, you old woman!"
Just as Felt's toe was about to touch Priscilla, Reinhard finally acted, grabbing Felt by the back of her collar and pulling her back.
Emilia couldn't watch any longer either. She shielded Felt behind her and said, "What are you all thinking in such an important setting?"
Priscilla put her left hand on her hip, elegantly retracted her folding fan, and said from her high horse:
"I merely wished to educate an ill-bred orphan so she might see her place."
Emilia couldn't stand seeing the weak bullied and took an angry step forward.
"You should apologize to her."
"Haha, in that case, are you going to apologize and say [I'm sorry for being born into this world]? You silver-haired Half-Elf!"
Priscilla's sharp words made Emilia shrink back timidly.
"I... I have nothing to do with the Witch..."
A silver-haired Half-Elf was exactly the appearance of the Witch, Satella.
"Please watch your words!"
With his princess being insulted, Grimm Andersen, as her knight, naturally couldn't stand by and watch.
"Priscilla, by slandering our candidate based on her bloodline, do you believe you'll lose to her in every other aspect?"
Emilia soothed her racing heart, only then remembering that she was no longer standing here alone.
Under her command, there was now a knight who could clear the path for her.
The bold, offensive words drew Priscilla's gaze.
"A sharp-tongued fellow. To jump into a bonfire to self-immolate after being abandoned by the sun... how truly foolish."
Grimm Andersen ground his teeth unpleasantly and responded, "Abandoned? It was me who dumped you unilaterally, okay?"
When faced with Priscilla's recruitment before, Grimm Andersen had rejected her decisively.
Priscilla's knight, Al, quickly came over to break up the fight. He grabbed Grimm Andersen's shoulder and pulled him back slightly, then shouted to Priscilla:
"I say, Princess, can we leave it at that? Making too many enemies is quite a headache."
Only then did Priscilla restrain herself, turning her head away haughtily.
Once the group's argument had settled, Marchosias spoke up to continue the meeting.
"Now, candidates for the Royal Selection, please come forward and state your reasons for becoming King."
"First, Lady Priscilla Barielle and her attendant, Sir Al."
Priscilla looked down at the crowd and proclaimed loudly.
"The Royal Selection is meaningless; I alone am fit to be King. You only need to bow down and follow me!"
"Next, the head of the Karsten Family, Lady Crusch Karsten, and her attendant knight, Felix Argyle."
Crusch stepped forward with her hands behind her back, standing tall with a serious expression.
"When I become King, I will make the Dragon forget the ancient covenant. The Dragon-Friendly Kingdom of Lugnica does not belong to the Dragon; it belongs to our nation."
"Next, Lady Anastasia Hexin of the Hoshin Merchant Guild and her attendant knight, Julius Juakulius."
The purple-haired girl wearing a white velvet dress stepped forward, speaking with the unique accent of Kararagi.
"I am greedy, so I want everything. No matter how successful I am in business, it cannot satisfy me. I want a country of my own!"
"Next, Lady Emilia and her attendant, Grimm Andersen."
Emilia walked out calmly and said sincerely, "I have only one wish: fairness. I want to create a country where all people are treated equally."
Grimm Andersen nodded to himself. Today, they came here to do three things.
Fairness, fairness, and goddamn fairness.
Throughout the whole thing, only Crusch and Emilia's speeches were relatively normal; the others were all problem children.
"What! Grin, you bastard, you're actually not coming to help me?"
Felt loudly protested Grimm Andersen's act of following Emilia.
She sized up the Half-Elf girl's figure; in comparison, she was indeed a bit flat.
This filthy guy must have been lured away by her body.
"Hurry up and come over to my side. After I become King, all the red-light districts in the capital will be under your management. How about it?"
"Cough, cough. Mind the occasion, Felt. That kind of thing should be enjoyed in small circles. Don't be so unrefined."
Grimm Andersen guiltily hid behind Emilia.
Emilia, seeing someone trying to poach her person right in front of her, Felt quite upset.
She quickly shielded Grimm Andersen like a mother hen protecting her chick.
"Aren't you satisfied with having Reinhard following you? Why are you trying to steal my knight!"
After saying that, she quickly turned around and gently coaxed Grimm Andersen.
"I can also buy you red-light districts, Grin. It doesn't matter how expensive they are."
Grimm Andersen fell silent, cursing Puck, her guardian, in his heart.
Could you at least let Emilia finish high school before coming to the Royal Selection?!