"Stelle, you traitor!"
Seeing Stelle so brazenly accept Hysilens's bribe, March 7th glared at her, her eyes filled with indignation.
Stelle flinched at March 7th's sudden outburst. The smile on her face slowly faded as she nonchalantly tucked away the golden honey wine and turned to face Hysilens with a frown.
"Indeed, Miss Hysilens. You think you can just use a little something like this to undermine my relationship with March? She is my dear sister-in-law from another mother and another father!"
The crowd of onlookers couldn't help but inwardly roll their eyes at that line.
Wouldn't it be a problem if your sister-in-law wasn't from another mother and another father?
Hysilens also hadn't expected Stelle's attitude to flip so quickly. Just a moment ago, the smile on her face when she received the golden honey wine had been completely genuine.
"But you already accepted my gift. What do you mean by this now?"
The stern expression on Stelle's face suddenly melted away into another grin. With her back to March 7th, she furtively rubbed her thumb and index finger together.
"Gonna cost you extra!"
At this, both the fuming March 7th and the baffled Hysilens were left completely stunned.
March 7th was so angry she started to laugh.
"Stelle! Do you have any idea what you're doing? You're treating your brother like a commodity!"
Fu Zhu also shot Stelle a speechless look. In response, Stelle turned her head back and flashed him a fifty-fifty gesture. He was so exasperated he almost laughed. Do I look like I'm short on that little bit of money?
Noticing her brother's displeasure, Stelle began winking at him frantically, requesting to open a private team chat.
Fu Zhu received her signal and used a command to start a private chat.
[Fu Zhu: What are you doing? Aren't you just roasting me over a fire?]
Stelle didn't answer his question, instead getting straight to the point.
[Stelle: Bro, you wanna live or you wanna die?]
Fu Zhu was getting angry. When did this precious little sister of his become so rotten? Every other word out of her mouth was about life and death.
[Fu Zhu: Keep talking in riddles, and next time you need money for gacha pulls, see if Himeko will give you any allowance!]
With her lifeline threatened, Stelle immediately caved and honestly explained her plan in plain language.
[Stelle: Bro, this shuraba is your problem. It really has nothing to do with me! But your loving, caring little sister has come up with a plan for you. I take her money, openly betray March, and help Hysilens with her 'attack.' But secretly, I'll help you sabotage everything and muddle my way through this whole mess... Wouldn't you say that's a beautiful plan?]
Fu Zhu thought it over. What his sister said actually made sense.
[Fu Zhu: Makes sense.]
Just as he sent the reply to Stelle, he suddenly had another thought. Wait a minute!
He could end this shuraba himself, directly!
All he had to do was go over and tell Hysilens he wasn't interested, right?
But over on Stelle's side, having received Fu Zhu's "approval," she immediately straightened her back with confidence.
Hysilens understood Stelle's meaning as well and took out a night pearl the size of a fist, handing it to her.
"I think this pearl would suit you very well."
"I think so too!"
Stelle accepted the gift with a wide grin.
March 7th, watching from the side, was so angry her chest felt tight. But in the next second, Hysilens suddenly produced a gift box carved from coral and presented it to her, a smile still on her face.
"This is a local specialty skincare product from Phagousa. Its moisturizing effects are absolutely unparalleled by any other product."
March 7th was dumbfounded, looking at Hysilens in disbelief.
Isn't she here to steal my man? Why is she giving her rival a gift?
Hysilens paid March 7th's reaction no mind, directly placing the gift in her arms. Then, she took out several well-packaged ancient books and gave them to Dan Heng.
Dan Heng, who didn't have as many complicated thoughts as March 7th and Stelle, simply thanked her and accepted them.
Finally, Hysilens took out one last gift and walked up to Fu Zhu. Her eyes, as gentle and limpid as water, gazed at him, and even her tone of voice was softer than before.
"It has been a long time. This gift is a small token from the Sea Siren tribe. The other is a token of my own."
Hysilens handed a box and an exquisitely packaged bottle of honey wine to Fu Zhu.
Since everyone else had accepted a gift, even though he knew this was a shuraba, Fu Zhu couldn't very well refuse.
"Thank you."
Fu Zhu accepted the gifts. He didn't need to open them; a quick glance at their item names was enough. The box contained another Coreflame that the Chrysos Heirs had not yet collected, the [Earth] Coreflame!
As for the other bottle of honey wine, the system's name for it was also very direct.
[Hysilens's Honey Wine]
The bottle in Stelle's hand, also from Hysilens, was named [Sea Siren Honey Wine] by the system. There was clearly a subtle difference between the two.
As Fu Zhu accepted the honey wine from Hysilens, Phainon, who was watching from the side, was a little lost. He felt that the atmosphere was a bit off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong. He could only turn to the two most intelligent people in the spectator crowd.
He turned to the equally enthusiastic spectators, Aglaea and Anaxa, and asked, "Aglaea, Teacher Naxy, why do I feel like something is off with them?"
Aglaea was speechless. If she weren't blind right now, she would have definitely rolled her eyes at him.
Anaxa, standing beside her, shot Phainon a look of utter disdain.
"First, don't call me Naxy. Second, don't tell people you're my student when you go out. You don't even know something so famous about the Sea Siren tribe. I shouldn't have let you graduate from the Grove of Epiphany back then!"
Phainon scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly, not daring to say another word. He could only look at the two of them with pleading eyes.
Aglaea explained softly, "Among the Sea Siren tribe, two things are most famous. The first is their song, and the second is their honey wine. When a Sea Siren wishes to express their love for another, they will often invite their intended to sing a duet with them, while sharing a special honey wine they have personally brewed."
Phainon blinked, then his face relaxed with a smile.
"Oh, that's good. I thought Fu Zhu was caught in some kind of shuraba! Lady Hysilens can't sing because of the side effects of the Golden Blood, so this doesn't count as a confession of love to March 7th, right? Phew, that's a relief. For a moment there, I almost thought they were going to start fighting!"
As soon as he said this, both Anaxa and Aglaea looked at him as if he were an idiot.
Anaxa buried his face in his hands, shaking his head in exasperation.
"After this is all over, Phainon, you're coming back to the academy with me for remedial classes. And while you're at it, have the doctors check your brain. Could it be that the price you pay for being a Chrysos Heir is losing all your emotional intelligence?"