Chapter 14

Ye Zheng’s explanation was flawless. As a result, she no longer needed to kneel in prayer at the church on weekends. Ye Di not only assumed her duties but was also required to pray an additional hours to demonstrate the Ye family’s sincerity.

Escaping that torment was certainly gratifying. The price, however, was that she truly had to attend the Royal team’s training.

Ye Zheng stood atop the high platform, gazing down at the hunting grounds below. A horde of monsters battled fiercely, blood of every hue splattering across the ground like an overturned palette.

She turned toward Sykes. The youth, dressed in a dark crimson uniform, watched with an impassive expression, his fingers tapping the railing in visible impatience. He did not appear particularly satisfied with today’s spectacle.

“May I ask when we will begin training, Your Highness?”

Ye Zheng inquired. They had already watched for half an hour, and her time was not meant to be squandered accompanying the crown prince.

The moment her words fell, several gazes converged upon her. The other Royal team members remained silent, observing her with unreadable expressions.

Sykes finally let out a low laugh, as though he had discovered a lamb willingly walking into a pack of wolves.

“Indeed. We should demonstrate our standard training routine for our new teammate.”

“Ryan, go down.”

The boy called Ryan lost his usual arrogance. He irritably ran a hand through his hair and reluctantly headed toward the stairs.

Ye Zheng watched the hunting grounds. The monsters locked in combat paused, then uniformly turned their heads toward the new intruder.

“Ryan’s ability is aberrant beast control. The creatures here have all been injected with berserk agents, greatly increasing the difficulty of managing them.”

Sykes explained with exaggerated consideration.

Ye Zheng observed the figure below as aberrant beasts nearly tore off Ryan’s leg, leaving him bloodied and disheveled.

If readers witnessed this scene, they would likely stop calling Ryan a cute tsundere.

『No no no. You still do not understand the mommies. A scene like this only excites them more.』

The system suddenly interjected, sounding disturbingly enthusiastic. Ye Zheng’s expression turned solemn. Though the system had explained the term “mommy” to her previously, she now realized she had not truly understood it.

She would need to continue studying the vocabulary of the higher-dimensional world. Only by understanding reader preferences could she accumulate greater popularity.

Sykes observed the girl’s increasingly grave expression. Pleasure slowly awakened in his once-dormant golden eyes.

The compassionate Saintess who could not bear to see even a stranger suffer must be deeply distressed by this sight. That brat Ryan was already badly injured.

“Saintess, are you satisfied with our training method?”

“Cleaning the hunting grounds afterward is the most troublesome task. Human bones and monster bones get mixed together. Out of humanitarian concern, I still sort out the human remains. My subordinates find it exceedingly tiring.”

Sykes spoke casually, his golden eyes never leaving the girl. Yet Ye Zheng paid no attention to him at all.

『If this scene were published, there would definitely be dark, extreme doujinshi. Very heavy human-beast material.』

『You do not know dark doujinshi, right? It starts like this, then ends like that.』

Ye Zheng’s gaze gradually lost focus. The ever-curious Saintess realized that not all knowledge was worth acquiring.

“N-no, stop.”

“To subject Ryan to something like this…”

She attempted to stop the system internally but spoke aloud by mistake. Her expression was blank, resembling a fragile glass ornament placed under unbearable pressure.

“Your Highness, let us call Ryan back. He has clearly made great progress today.”

Yu Tianming hurriedly intervened. Sykes shot him an irritated glance. Only then did Ye Zheng regain her composure and look toward the crown prince, whose expression had darkened.

“Today is the day our new teammate joins. Ending Ryan’s training early would be dull.”

Sykes leaned closer. His tall frame blocked the sunlight, casting Ye Zheng entirely into shadow.

She lifted her gaze, puzzled.

It was the system’s fault. For the first time, the gentle Saintess found it unbearably noisy. It had caused her to miss Sykes’s words and filled her head with strange, unnecessary knowledge. With him leaning so close, he was surely not attempting to shade her from the sun.

“If you want Ryan brought back, then you will complete his training in his stead.”

Malicious delight flickered in Sykes’s eyes.

“Me?”

By now, Ye Zheng had cast aside the unwanted information. Her mind returned fully online. The gaze she directed at the crown prince held faint skepticism.

“Your Highness, I am a healing type. Surely you do not expect me to descend and heal the monsters.”

The girl's tone was helpless, yet Sykes caught the subtle contempt beneath it, as though she found the proposal profoundly foolish.

Sykes stared at the girl, his golden eyes gradually darkening as a trace of puzzlement surfaced. Where was the Saintess’s famed integrity and backbone? Just a few days ago, when she had offended him over that attendant, she had not behaved like this at all.

In truth, Ye Zheng did consider him rather foolish, but for the moment, the disparity in status and power prevented her from voicing it outright.

Ryan was merely a friend of her younger brother. Even if the one thrown down there had been Ye Di himself, she would not have offered herself in exchange.

『Didn’t you even save random passersby? Ryan is at least a named character with an established role.』

At this moment, the system was just as perplexed as Sykes.

In her mind, Ye Zheng calmly replied, “Sykes is tyrannical, but he is not brainless. Those who enter the Royal team are all elite heirs of powerful noble families. They are his future allies in his struggle against the church and other ambitious factions.”

“He might casually throw an attendant who displeases him into the hunting grounds to feed the monsters, but with someone like Ryan, at most he would allow him to suffer a minor setback.”

“People in positions of power are far more opportunistic than any ordinary commoner.”

Ye Zheng turned her head and saw Ryan, covered in blood, limping his way up from below. A healer who had been prepared in advance immediately stepped forward, supporting him while beginning treatment.

She let out a soft laugh, then performed a graceful curtsy toward the crown prince. “Your Highness is truly merciful. You even arranged healers in advance. It appears my assistance is unnecessary for now.”

“The church still has matters awaiting me. Please forgive me for being unable to continue accompanying you today. I shall see everyone again next weekend.”

Under the crown prince’s gaze, now so dark it seemed as though it might pierce straight through her, and amid the stunned looks of the other Royal team members, the girl departed with impeccable composure.

Even after Ye Zheng’s figure had completely disappeared, a dead silence lingered atop the hunting grounds’ high platform. Not even Yu Tianming, the one closest to the crown prince, dared to break it.

After a long while, as the oppressive atmosphere thickened, Yu Tianming finally heard the crown prince release a strange laugh.

“Very good. So the church’s Saintess is no different after all.”

Yu Tianming adjusted his glasses and lowered his head, not daring to reply. From his perspective, Ye Zheng’s actions had been entirely reasonable.

“Let her remain on the substitute bench permanently. Our team has no need for a weak, bloodless woman like that.”

Hearing Sykes’s decision, thick with suppressed anger, Yu Tianming quietly exhaled in relief. Allowing Ye Zheng to hold the title without participating in combat was, in truth, a good outcome. Otherwise, given the crown prince’s volatile temperament, he might very well have crushed this insolent church mascot to death inside an Aberrant Realm.

The following day, Ye Zheng received a tactfully worded message from Yu Tianming informing her that she would not need to participate in competition activities for the foreseeable future.

Upon reading it, the corners of the girl’s lips remained faintly upturned all day long. She reflected that the crown prince’s foolishness did occasionally have its uses.

It was time for Zhao Mei to further deepen her ties with the protagonist team.

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Authors Note

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I have been out of town recently and suffering from fever and vomiting, so updates have been shorter. Please bear with me for now.