Chapter 27: Bear Witness


    "Sister! Evelyn! Are you alright?!"


    The pink haired girl didn''t know when her aunt had arrived, nor when she had snatched her over from the protector''s arms into her own.


    It was only after snuggling into her aunt''s warm embrace for a few moments that the rapid beating of her heart slowed down.


    Until this moment, she had never realized just how much she had changed.


    Evelyn had spent most of her first life wondering why she had been abandoned by her parents. And her mother back then had not simply abandoned her, but also ruined her face before throwing her away.


    To someone who could do so to a newborn child, Evelyn would never recognize them as her mother, regardless of their reasons.


    Even if she ended up discovering who she was, she would have not felt an ounce of love for that woman. Instead, perhaps her hatred could only bepounded.


    But in this life, she realized that the same rtionship of mother and daughter held a vastly different weight in her heart.


    As she had wondered for a mere few moments whether her mother was safe or not, it was as if her soul was being held tightly in a monster''s grip, ready to be ripped apart at any moment. Only when she realized that the danger had passed without anything going wrong did she breathe a sigh of relief.


    But along with that relief, came a burning fury. It rushed through her veins along with a desire to tear apart the insolent fools responsible for putting both herself and her mother in danger. If the cloaked protectors were just a little slower, who knows what could have happened?


    Her thoughts were interrupted by an unknown man''s arrogant and snarky voice.


    "My my, you ran off so suddenly, young people sure are whimsical these days!"


    It was only now that she realized that Bree hadn''te to them alone, but there was someone else with her.


    It was a white haired middle-aged looking man in a pure white three piece suit along with an equally white overcoat with silver borders. There was a prominent purple shield badge proudly pinned on his chest.


    Even Evelyn could tell that it was not an ordinary essory, and contained a remarkable amount of power from the aura alone.


    But from the tightening of her aunt''s arms around herself, she could tell that Bree was burning with a fury much simr to her own.


    "Bastard! I swear if a single hair on either of them is harmed!"


    The man adjusted his pristine white overcoat leisurely, as if to show how little he cared for the blondedy''s threats.


    "How amusing! To dare talk to one of the royal guardians like this, I must say you''re either very brave, or very stupid. The second prince simply wished to go sightseeing, but to think you actually tried to stop us from entering I wonder what the punishment should there be for your insolence?"


    "You!"


    Bree looked ready to explode, but it was Isabe who held her sister''s hand to calm her down. The two looked into each other''s eyes, and Bree finally seemed to give up and lowered her head.


    Isabe stepped forward and made a short bow towards the man.


    "It seems there was a misunderstanding. My sister does not often stay in the Lavinian Empire, so she''s unfamiliar with things here. I would like to request lord guardian to please overlook this matter."


    The man appeared as if he was taking her words into consideration, as if the decision of whether or not Bree deserved to be punished depended entirely on his mood.


    Seeing him remain silent, Isabe grit her teeth. "Since the second prince of the Lavinian empire has graced us with his presence, please continue on with your duty to protect him to make sure nothing goes wrong."


    The white haired man smiled. "Hoho we certainly hope nothing goes wrong, because all of you dogshit ancient familiesbined aren''t even worth a single hair on the head of his highness, got it?"


    Isabe clutched her sister''s hand, but maintained her smile as the guardian jumped into the air and flew in the direction of the ceremonial grounds.


    Bree burst into tears the moment he left.


    "S-Sister I-I''m sorry. I tried to stop him, but I felt something was wrong so I rushed here a-and"


    Isabe held her distraught little puppy in her arms, rubbing her back in constion. Her shoulder was soaked with tears within seconds.


    "Shh! Why is my little puppy crying? Look at you, if you look so pitiful, how will little Evelyn feel during her ceremony?"


    Evelyn''s fists were clenched tightly as she stared in the direction that the man had flown off in. To the adults, it appeared as if she didn''t fully understand what happened, and was simply confused.


    Bree sniffed as she tried to control herself. "S-Sorry"


    "It''s alright now. Bree Evelyn, both of you, look at me."


    Evelyn turned to her mother, looking quite calm on the surface.


    Isabe smiled, somewhat d that perhaps her daughter''s young age and duller perception allowed the event to pass without causing too much trauma. It would truly be a disaster if she ended up mentally scarred due to such a mishap.


    "None of us were hurt. We''re not in any immediate danger. Let''s put this behind for now, and focus on what we should be doing."


    The two of them nodded.


    "Bree can you make sure those people don''t interfere anymore?"


    The blonde nodded furiously, as if trying to convince herself. "I-I''m not weaker than him! I swear he won''t be able to do anything anymore."


    Although it was truly impossible for her to chase after a treasure on the level of that carriage and hold off that royal guardian at the same time, she didn''t believe they could harm Evelyn right under her nose.


    "Good girl."


    ----------


    The rest of Evelyn''s journey to the ceremonial grounds was safely and quickly carried out in Bree''s arms.


    With the presence of the Lavinian royalty, Evelyn knew that Bree hadpletely abandoned the thoughts of protecting the Knox mansion and maybe even the ceremony, and was focusingpletely on her niece''s personal safety.


    But she did not have any thoughts of abandoning the ceremony.


    The more those people wanted to ruin it, the more she wanted to shine today.


    As for whichever bastard it was who had the idea of hurting her mother like that, even if they didn''t even know who she was, Evelyn swore topletely and utterly destroy them one day.


    She may not be able to do it now, but she knew her chance wille one day. As long as she continued to grow stronger, she would be able to dole out the punishment that they deserved.


    And that was exactly why she must take every opportunity that she had at growing stronger.


    Her aunt knelt down on the ground and allowed Evelyn toe out of her embrace once they reached a colosseum like building.


    As she followed after her aunt towards the internal gate, Evelyn knew from the noise alone that there must be thousands of people sitting inside. But once she came out into the inner open arena, she was still shocked by the sheer scale of the event.


    It was definitely not on the scale of those roman colosseums that could seat a hundred thousand people easily, but there were still thousands of people waiting for her to enter the arena. She couldn''t help but shudder at the thousands of gazes that seemed to focus on her body at once.


    Evelyn turned her gaze upward as she looked for the most ''outstanding'' people in the crowd. How could the pompous Lavinian royalty remain inconspicuous aftering all the way here like that?


    And as expected, the main podium with the most luxurious seats seemed to be empty except for a teenage boy and a girl. With silver streaks running through the purple hair, Evelyn was sure that she wouldn''t mistake them for anyone else if she ever saw them again.


    Of course, given that she had so thoroughly burned their image into her mind, she wouldn''t ever forget them anyway.


    The white haired man from earlier was standing guard behind the two, despite the abundance of empty seats.


    The murmurs of the crowd grew louder as she neared her grandfather and the other elders in the center of the arena.


    All of them appeared to be in theirter stages of aging, with only one man who appeared to be quite young. Although it seems his standing among them was perhaps the lowest, as she stood the furthest back with his head lowered.


    Her grandfather received Evelyn''s hand from Bree with a smile, and the blonde retreated behind the other elders but did not leave the arena despite the obviously dissatisfied hinting eyes of the other elders.


    Osmond could only force a smile on his face and continue, hoping that the other ancient family heads would also cooperate.


    He picked the pink haired girl up from her waist, and raised her above his head as if showing her off to the world.


    "I, am Osmond Knox, the patriarch of the ancient Knox family. This is my youngest granddaughter, my pride and joy, born from a supreme tier blessed spirit egg! We shall witness her test of talent today!"


    The patriarchs and matriarchs also put aside their dissatisfaction with Bree''s presence, and came forward to begin the ceremony.


    "I, as the Patriarch of the Ventura family, shall bear witness to this test of talent!"


    "I, as the Matriarch of the Fulbright family, shall bear witness to this test of talent!"


    "I, as the nominal leader of the Coleman family, shall bear witness to this test of talent!"


    "I, as the Patriarch of the Reynolds family, shall bear witness to this test of talent!"


    Bree also stepped forward at this moment, although her cheeks were red with some embarrassment as the others looked at her weirdly, but her voice was surprisingly stable and full of confidence.


    "And I, as the nominal leader of the Devaughn family, shall bear witness to this test of talent!"