"Here comes the little flying stick!"
Stacking a five-layer tower of ice cream, Aisha staggered as she charged straight toward Miles.
To rescue Miles from a strange woman's clutches, the simplest and most brutal method was to create an accident.
"Aisha?"
By the time Miles noticed Aisha rushing over, the five scoops of ice cream in her hand had already flown into the air from inertia.
One hand caught the charging Aisha, while the other snatched the cone. With exaggerated reflexes, Miles precisely caught all five scoops midair and successfully stacked them back together.
"Ohhh, that's amazing!" Like a dazzling acrobatic act, the flashy display made the banquet attendants who witnessed it unable to resist breaking into applause.
"What are you doing, Aisha?" Miles scolded her irritably.
"Hehe, I wanted to stack a big ice cream to show you, but I got a little too excited by accident."
This was a tofu-block-level lie.
Sylvia's expression was filled with shock, the corner of her eye twitching uncontrollably. "Aisha, Royal Duel Knight of Livorden, Aisha Carlos…."
A legendary figure in the duelist world was actually appearing so casually before her, holding… a five-layer ice cream?
And if Sylvia hadn't misheard, if her ears weren't malfunctioning, wasn't Miles just scolding the Royal Duel Knight?
Scolding a lofty Royal Duel Knight, with the mere status of a small guard.
What Sylvia found hardest to understand was that after being scolded by Miles, the legendary Royal Duel Knight not only didn't get angry, but looked even happier.
Does Livorden really have no gaps in status hierarchy?
Talking back to a superior… forget the Empire, that was a serious crime in any country.
"Do you not watch where you're going? On such an important night, you actually splashed red wine on me!"
Not far away, the Gate family's eldest son, Ryan Gate, seemed to be angrily berating the maid in front of him.
The maid who had accidentally spilled red wine on Gate's sleeve, even though it was only a small stain, could only bow her head and silently endure the scolding.
Yes, this was the strict class hierarchy commonly seen in noble society. Sylvia felt that people like Miles and Royal Duel Knight Aisha Carlos were truly far too abnormal.
Wait… wasn't the one being scolded by Ryan Gate her own family's maid?
Her younger sister Korys's personal attendant, the maid Tali.
She had provoked someone she shouldn't have. Given the current water-and-fire relationship between the Diane family and the Gate family, this couldn't be allowed to continue unchecked.
Everything had priorities. The little boy could wait for later.
Sylvia rushed over to Tali and Ryan at once.
"What happened?"
"Oh, it's Sylvia."
Seeing the Diane family's eldest daughter step in, Ryan Gate's furious expression eased slightly.
After all, with a beauty of Sylvia's level, just seeing her improved one's mood. Ryan naturally gave her some face.
"The fine maid your family raised poured red wine straight onto my clothes. What, was this meant to vent your family's dissatisfaction?"
"Is that really what happened?" Sylvia asked Tali to confirm.
By her understanding, Tali was an experienced professional maid. She shouldn't have made such a low-level mistake.
"I'm sorry, Miss." Tali was full of apology, her eyes gesturing briefly toward Miles' direction.
"That young man's midair ice cream catch just now was far too eye-catching. I got distracted watching it and didn't notice what was in front of me, so I spilled the red wine I was holding."
In the end, the blame was actually dumped onto Miles' head. Miles felt truly innocent.
However, Miles was, after all, a distinguished guest. This level of blame was certainly not something he would be made to bear. The one who would still be punished was the maid who made the mistake.
"This was indeed our discourtesy. I'm sorry, Ryan. When we return, I'll properly discipline Tali."
What Sylvia could do now was give Ryan Gate enough face, protect Tali, and hope to turn a major issue into a minor one, and a minor one into nothing.
But before Ryan could speak, a voice came from behind Sylvia—the Gate family head, Bach.
"This way of handling it is inappropriate."
Sylvia inwardly cried out that this was bad. Once this matter caught the old fox's attention, it wouldn't be easy to resolve.
"At such an important occasion, deliberately letting the Gate family lose face is no small matter. If you simply take her back for discipline, I'm afraid it would damage the Gate family's dignity."
This was the very definition of refusing to let things go when one had the upper hand.
If it had been some other servant making such a low-level mistake, whether beating or punishing them, it would have been entirely up to the Gate family to decide. Sylvia wouldn't even want to get involved.
Just as Sylvia had said before, defying one's superiors was a grave crime anywhere—especially in the Empire, where the class system was even stricter.
But it just had to be Tali—her younger sister's personal maid. With her special status and the long time they'd spent together, there was a bond there. Sylvia truly couldn't bring herself to abandon her.
Seeing through her daughter's thoughts, Duchess Karina also stepped forward.
"At such an important occasion, is it really necessary to fuss over a mere maid, Duke Gate? Acting this way will instead make the distinguished guests feel that an imperial duke lacks magnanimity."
After tearing into Gate for so many years, as the family head, Karina knew best that showing weakness to the other side would only result in greater losses in the end.
Moreover, Karina could guess Bach Gate's true purpose. Was it really just to punish a lowly maid? Of course, it wouldn't be that simple.
"This concerns a matter of face. It can't be brushed aside just because of a word or two about magnanimity. The Empire has its own way of handling problems. Why not let the distinguished guests witness it?"
"Heh, so that's your plan after all." Closing the rose folding fan in her hand, Karina had long since seen through the other party's temperament.
The Empire's way of handling problems. For the warlike Varian Empire, when faced with conflicts that were hard to resolve, the simplest and most brutal method was naturally combat—or rather, a duel.
"Huh, so what, are we playing cards?" Miles suddenly became interested.
Compared to political exchanges so dull they put one to sleep, and arguments over conflicts that couldn't be resolved, playing cards was far more entertaining.
Even if he couldn't take the field himself, just watching while eating would be wonderful.
"It's been a long time since we've felt the strength of the Diane family's faith in their god. With distinguished guests present today to bear witness, Ryan, you're up."
Bach gestured for his eldest son, Ryan Gate, to take the field.
In situations like this, the family head would never personally step in. Once a family head dueled, the nature of the matter would turn into a contest representing the entire family.
No matter the outcome, it would likely be widely publicized and turned into fodder. There were too many uncontrollable factors—it was far too dangerous.
Thus, such duels were generally fought by the younger generation of the family.
First, the strength of the young often represented a family's future.
Second, whether they won or lost, it wouldn't escalate to the level of public opinion concerning the victory or defeat of the entire family.
This could be considered an unspoken rule of duels between great families.
"Since that was the original purpose anyway, why bother laying out extra trouble?"
Duchess Karina pointed her folding fan toward her eldest daughter, Sylvia.
"If we're going to fight, then fight. Show them some color, Sylvia."
"..."
"What's wrong, Sylvia?"
Seeing her daughter fall inexplicably silent, Duchess Karina's gaze filled with confusion.
Things were developing in the worst possible direction. Sylvia rubbed the dim Spirit Eyes on her wrist. In her current state, she simply couldn't duel at all.
It had been explained before that duels between duelists, even without Shadow Games on the battlefield, could still endanger lives. This was because of the Duel Fatigue system.
After losing a duel, the defeated party would be unable to summon Duel Monsters again for a period of time.
In this way, the victorious side could use monster summoning to unilaterally slaughter the loser.
As for how long this summoning-inhibited fatigue lasted, it varied from person to person.
The less mental power a monster consumed to summon, the shorter the post-defeat fatigue period would be, usually ranging from thirty minutes to one hour.
Conversely, the more mental power the monsters consumed, the longer the fatigue period after defeat would be.
For example, a Malefic deck where every single monster was a top-tier powerhouse. After losing, Sylvia would need to wait at least twelve hours before she could summon monsters again.
And Sylvia, who had lost to Miles just that afternoon, was currently right in the middle of that twelve-hour summoning fatigue period. She simply couldn't duel at all.
So for Sylvia, this was undoubtedly the worst possible situation.
Unable to duel, and yet she couldn't exactly come clean and say she had just lost once this afternoon, could she?
If she really told the truth, the Diane family's face would be utterly disgraced.
Hesitating, words caught at her lips, a soft blush creeping up her snow-white cheeks—Sylvia Diane might well be facing the greatest crisis of her life.
An awkward atmosphere instantly spread throughout the banquet hall.
Miles, however, had already guessed the reason for Sylvia's hesitation.
Having personally experienced the vast and exaggerated power of the Malefic deck, it wasn't hard for Miles to reach the answer. At this moment, Sylvia was unable to duel because she was in summoning fatigue after losing to him.
This was, indeed, his fault.
On top of that, the root cause of this incident seemed to be his midair ice cream catch, which had drawn the maid Tali's attention and led to the accident.
Although Miles had no intention of taking the blame for the latter, with the two matters combined, he couldn't simply stand by and do nothing.
"What's wrong, Sylvia? Could it be that you don't dare accept this duel?"
Unlike Sylvia, who had been concealing the dimness of her Spirit Eyes, Ryan Gate had already lit up the Spirit Eyes on his arm.
"If you don't intend to duel, you can choose to surrender directly. I can treat it as if nothing ever happened."
Sylvia's strength was fairly well known among the Empire's noble circles. Ryan knew she wasn't the kind of opponent one could defeat casually.
Even so, compared to Sylvia choosing to give up outright, Ryan still hoped she would accept this duel.
If one had to say why, it was probably a mix of goodwill and idle pride.
Having at one's side a super beauty close in age, well-matched in status, and comparable in dueling strength; saying it didn't stir one's heart would be a lie.
But being clear-headed, Ryan knew this was impossible.
The water-and-fire hostility between the Diane and Gate families meant that even if there were some feelings, they paled in comparison to the seriousness of the positions both sides stood on.
"Only this matter of the duel—don't disappoint me, Sylvia."
"I…"
"A duel? Can I do it?"
"Huh!"
Cornered with no way out and just about to declare surrender, Sylvia suddenly heard an extremely 'ill-timed' voice.
"M-Miles?"
This boy, whose soul was entwined with demons, actually jumped out at such a moment, being extraordinarily 'tone-deaf.'
Though tone-deaf and possessing a demonic soul that ran counter to holy faith, at this moment, as Sylvia looked at the little boy standing before her, she actually felt a hint of surprise and relief.
Lacking all sense of etiquette and interrupting an important exchange, Miles' actions naturally drew Ryan Gate's displeasure.
"You… I remember you. You're the Third Princess's guard, right?"
Even though everyone present had arrived together with Crown Prince Homar, the position of a guard was unquestionably not one of much status.
From the tone of Ryan's voice when he spoke to Miles, the disdain and arrogance were unmistakable.
"Step aside. This isn't something you're qualified to meddle in."
Out of respect for the guests—especially for Crown Prince Homar and the Royal Duel Knight—even with the imbalance in status, Ryan did not lash out angrily at Miles.
"What are you trying to pull here, Miles?" Alice's slender brows furrowed slightly.
Faced with Miles's sudden intervention and recalling Sylvia's earlier predicament, Alice also sensed that something was off.
From within the concealed Millennium Ring, Elra's voice sounded. "That girl's Spirit Eyes can't be used right now. I think Miles has seen through that as well."
Having seized countless Spirit Eyes and destroyed countless Spirit Eyes as well, Elra understood better than anyone whether a Spirit Eye was in a usable state.
"So that's how it is." Her eyes turned, and Alice fully grasped the situation.
After a brief moment of thought, Alice stepped forward.
"Well, now, I truly didn't expect this. Is this what the Empire calls hospitality?"
"Count Carlos?" Facing the head of the Carlos family, Ryan Gate's attitude noticeably softened, carrying far more respect.
"Leaving the guests to the side while your two families settle matters through a duel? I can't find any enjoyment in that. Since this is a banquet meant for mutual exchange, why not let us join in as well?"
"Count Carlos, what exactly do you mean?"
"I've long heard that the Gate family's son is as fierce as a lion. His Highness Prince Homar and I would also like to experience that strength firsthand. Since we're all young people, why not let the Third Princess's guard broaden his horizons as well? It can count as a friendly exchange with the Gate family."
A social veteran in no way inferior to Homar Kaiser, the shrewdness of Alice's words lay in her technique of first suppressing, then elevating.
She first pointed out the Empire's flawed hospitality, then praised the Gate heir's strength, and even invoked Homar Kaiser's name—hoping to conduct a friendly exchange with the Gate family through a duel.
Such was the art of language. After Alice's smooth mediation, the displeasure on Bach Gate's face all vanished.
Instead, it seemed as though he had seized an opportunity to put on a strong performance before the Crown Prince.
Bach Gate said, "Ahem. Since Count Carlos has proposed it this way, then in keeping with prioritizing our guests, we can allow Her Highness the Third Princess's guard to take part in this duel instead."
"Nice, Alice!" Even Miles couldn't help giving Alice a mental thumbs-up. No wonder she was the reliable big sister Aisha had depended on since childhood.
Casting Miles a glance, Alice seemed to be saying that this was as far as she could help him; the rest would be up to him.
Thanks to Alice's maneuvering, the duelist was switched at the last moment, and Sylvia finally let out a breath of relief.
Relief aside, the complexity of Sylvia's feelings hadn't diminished in the slightest.
To think she had been bailed out by a demon boy… this was practically a stain upon her identity as a member of the clergy.
Yet Sylvia had no other option now. Even if she were forcibly defiled by Miles, she had no room to resist at all.
The body, after all, was very honest.
"Be careful, Miles," Sylvia warned in a low voice. "Even though you're very strong, if it's your first time facing Ryan's Rank-Up Magic and Disaster Leo, there's almost no chance of winning."
"Don't worry. It's not my first time encountering it."
The two brothers used the same deck. That Disaster Leo, with its special victory condition—Miles had personally witnessed its terrifying power during the Synchron Academy Turbo Duel Tournament, where it had utterly crushed Lost without reason.
Albeit once you knew it in advance, there was no tactic that couldn't be dealt with, just like Exodia when facing Homar.
"Aisha, come over here for a moment."
Before the duel officially began, Miles called over Aisha, intending to use her as a secret weapon.
"What is it, Mr. Miles?"
Aisha obediently moved closer, like she was carrying out a covert mission.
"Lend me a card."
"Lend you one of my cards?"
The white ahoge atop Aisha's head curled into a question mark.
"Mr. Miles, you still need to borrow my card?"
With the Millennium Puzzle's latest ability, if Miles wanted to use Aisha's deck, all he needed to do was open the deck gateway within the Soul Room and switch to Yuyu Form.
That way, he could directly copy Aisha's deck into his Spirit Eyes for use.
"No choice. I already tried. Even the Millennium Puzzle has its limits. There's only that one card it can't copy."
"There's actually a card whose power can't be copied by the Millennium Puzzle? Then which card is it?"
"The God Card—the Winged Dragon of Ra."
Only the power of the God Cards couldn't be copied. Not even the Millennium Puzzle's soul-related abilities could manage it.
And because Ra had been personally summoned by Aisha, Miles also couldn't just add it to his own deck like other God Cards.
"Ra!" Upon hearing which card Miles wanted to borrow, Aisha sucked in a sharp breath. "Mr. Miles, you're going to summon a god here?"
One of the families present was the Diane family, who believed in gods and advocated divine authority.
"Isn't that… kind of inappropriate?"
"Think about it. I'm fighting on behalf of the Diane family. Summoning a god on behalf of a god-believing family is perfectly appropriate."
"(.oˇ?ˇo.) Oh… that's true."
Easily fooled, Aisha was thus simply tricked into handing over the Winged Dragon of Ra.
Meanwhile, having lost the chance to duel Sylvia—whom he held some fondness for—and now being replaced by a mere guard, the increasingly displeased Ryan Gate had no idea what fate awaited him next.
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