"Why?" Selene furrowed her elegant brows.
"Alex laid out his conditions crystal clear."
"If I do not offer this, how can I save the Duke of Hale's life?"
"Princess Orchid, a scoundrel like Daven Hale who commits such deeds deserves to die anyway!" Knox urged desperately.
"The reason Alex proposed this condition is solely to scheme against you!"
"If you give it to him, you'll be falling right into his vicious trap!"
"Let's just leave! Whether this old geezer is killed or sliced to pieces, leave it entirely up to the Hale family!"
"You... what did you say?"
Selene appeared incredibly shocked.
The way she looked at Knox became completely foreign.
She simply couldn't fathom that such cold-blooded, ruthless words could come from the mouth of the kind, righteous youth she had developed favorable feelings for upon their first meeting.
"Princess Orchid, am I wrong?" Knox asked anxiously.
"Your cultivation at the first level of the Supreme Realm relies entirely on the spiritual energy of the Heavenly Heart Unregretful Orchid for support."
"If you lose this treasure, your cultivation will regress by several times over, if not more."
"Daven Hale is just an old bastard of their Hale family anyway. Why should we weaken our own strength for his sake?"
Selene's expression darkened. Her body trembled slightly from anger.
"No matter how bad Daven is, he is still a Duke of our Heavenly Flame Dynasty!"
"He came to the Hale family's holy land this time specifically at our request to help us."
"Now that he has lost his power and is in mortal danger, you want us to turn our backs on him, refusing to acknowledge him and discarding him like a worn-out shoe?"
"Is my entire Heavenly Flame Dynasty made up of such ungrateful, profit-seeking, treacherous villains?!"
[Ding! The host has successfully sown discord between a female supporting character and the Chosen One. The Chosen One's Providence has decreased by 300. The host gains 600 Providence Points.]
Hearing Selene's furious reprimand, Knox was left speechless.
Alex stood to the side, maintaining an entirely expressionless face.
In reality, having eavesdropped on Knox's beastly remarks through their mental transmission, and hearing the system's notification chime in his ear, his heart was practically blooming with joy.
"Ah, Knox, Knox. If you're so good at talking, then please, speak some more."
He knew exactly why Knox was so frantic. It was because the Heavenly Heart Unregretful Orchid he was demanding wasn't just bleeding Selene dry.
It was directly impacting Knox's own future bottom line.
The Heavenly Heart Unregretful Orchid could deliver the souls of the deceased and revive withered flora.
If refined into an Unregretful Pill, its massive medicinal efficacy was enough to save two thousand human lives.
In the original novel, with Knox's help, Selene successfully refined the Unregretful Pill. However, the medicinal power meant to save two thousand lives was almost entirely used up on Knox alone.
For a very long stretch of the story, Selene acted as Knox's personal, exclusive Revive Coin.
No matter how much he jumped around, no matter how much he actively courted death, even if his enemies shattered every bone in his body and left him gasping for his last breath like a pile of mud, as long as Selene took out the Unregretful Pill, he would instantly make a full recovery.
Then he'd go right back to courting death.
Knox definitely already knew about the Heavenly Heart Unregretful Orchid's potent medicinal power.
He had already mentally claimed this infinite revive coin as his own property.
Now that Alex was demanding to snatch it right out of his hands, Knox was definitely even more frantic than when Isolde lost her Seven Orifices Divine Heart.
But in Alex's eyes, Knox's current actions were no different from actively digging his own grave.
Great Protagonist Knox, do you truly not know why so many Saintesses, Princesses, and Empresses are willing to revolve around you?
Do you think it's just because you have a tragic backstory and look somewhat handsome?
With the Heavenly Flame Empress's power and status, what kind of handsome men hasn't she seen?
Your protagonist halo relies entirely on your persona of possessing a righteous and kind heart.
In the original novel, Knox had maintained it perfectly.
The early-game Isolde and Iris.
The mid-game Heavenly Flame Empress Aurelia and the Four Great Princesses under her command.
The late-game Immortal Race Saintess and the Demon Race Empress.
All of them had been deeply attracted and infatuated with Knox because of this very trait. They had willingly abandoned their statuses and power, becoming members of his harem without a single regret.
But now? After this series of operations, Knox had directly and repeatedly exposed his true, selfish, profit-seeking, and hypocritical nature right in front of these female leads and supporting characters.
As long as Alex continued to implement this strategy, the Providence on this brat's body would be stripped away bit by bit. Until he completely lost his Providence buff, transforming from the radiant Chosen One into an ordinary, face-in-the-crowd mob character.
"Princess Orchid, have you made your decision?"
Alex remained expressionless as he lifted Daven up by the collar like a little baby chick. Seeing Selene hesitating, he decided to play hard to get.
"To tell the truth, I do not recommend that you save him either."
"This guy relies on inside theft and opportunistic embezzlement. He stole my Hale family's spirit stones and usurped the position of Duke in the Heavenly Flame Dynasty."
"With such conduct, he is an out-and-out despicable villain."
"Using a Heavenly Heart Unregretful Orchid to exchange for his cheap life..."
"He isn't worthy."
A wisp of purple mist lingered at Alex's fingertips. He summoned a sharp dagger and pressed it against Daven's neck.
"Princess Orchid, you should head back first."
"After my Hale family eradicates this treacherous villain, I will personally go to apologize to the Heavenly Flame Empress."
Enveloped by the absolute terror of death, snot and tears came crashing down Daven's face. He poured all his remaining hope onto Selene.
"Princess Orchid, save me! Save me!"
"I beg you, this old man doesn't want to die!"
Facing Daven's desperate pleas, Selene finally couldn't help but be moved. She took a deep breath.
"Saint Lord Alex, please stay your hand!"
"No matter what happens today, I must bring the Duke of Hale back safely."
"To atone for his sins, this Princess is willing to offer this Heavenly Heart Unregretful Orchid to the Saint Lord."
Selene ignored Knox's attempts to stop her and slowly walked up to Alex.
She respectfully presented the icy-blue, glowing Heavenly Heart Unregretful Orchid, which exuded a chilling aura, offering it up with both hands.