Chapter 226: You Still Have Much to Learn

Chapter 226

You Still Have Much to Learn

“Y-You! You!” Prince Jason had been listening, his face flushed with anger and embarrassment. He had been ready to retort from Ellie’s first sentence, but there was nothing in her words he could dispute.

He knew the truth. His attempts to annul the engagement had been dismissed without consideration, often leading to punishment from his father. He had rebelled against this since childhood, continuously acting out it became accustomed, thinking with the hope of one day that he could defy the nobles. However, Ellie’s words forced him to confront his true self.

No one had ever dared speak to him this way. Everyone saw him as the future emperor and didn’t want to cause trouble. But the lack of criticism had only deepened his obsession, making him believe that hurting Vida was a way to hurt the Jarlon family. Yet, upon consideration...hurting a woman was all he could do because he couldn’t directly harm the Jarlon family.

The ugly truth wasn’t so bad when unspoken, but hearing it aloud...made his heart tighten. He felt a mix of suffocation and anger, but also a sense of being released. No one had ever voiced this before, no one ever known his thoughts and he had buried his own weakness under his hatred. In truth, he hated himself the most!

His eyes turned red. Ellie’s harsh words could have warranted punishment, but Jason only looked at her with an inexplicable feeling.

Ellie stood her ground, not walking away this time. She knew she had to take responsibility for her harsh words. The two stared at each other for a long time, while those around them held their breath in fear.

Seeing the small girl brave enough to speak and stand by her words, Jason felt that the person in front of him was like an unyielding rock. No wonder this rock never spared him a glance—he was merely a small creature trying to destroy it. How could it ever tremble?

From pain, suffocation, and anger, Jason’s expression slowly turned into a smile, a self-mocking smile. His eyes that expressed relief made Ellie raise her eyebrows.

“Today...I’m not surprised why Young Lord Owen wants to bind you to him so strongly. Duchess Ellie truly deserves her title. Perhaps...your ability isn’t just in using botanic magic but in seeing through people.”

“And yes...I admit that I’m weak. But that doesn’t mean I’ll remain weak forever. One day...I’ll make you call me “Your Highness” not because of my bloodline, but...because of who I truly am.”

“And another thing...I won’t give up on your brother either. If I intend to make you call me Your Highness from your heart, then...I’ll make your brother genuinely consider me a friend as well.”

Prince Jason said no more and walked away. Initially, he had planned to approach Ellie to uncover the secrets of the hunter Luke, thinking he could use the cowardly method of talking to her when Aman wasn’t around. But after being harshly beaten some sense into him, he knew he needed to prove himself quickly. He had to...demonstrate his strength.

In the future, when he stood on equal footing with Eldest Young Lord Owen, perhaps...he won’t need to worry about the judgment of others. It’s no wonder Owen could offer such comfort and power to his loved ones. Jason realized that Ellie wasn’t afraid of punishment, even if she had insulted a prince.

Such confidence...someday, he would offer the same to those he loved!!

As the prince walked away after his intense exchange with Ellie, everyone looked at her with slightly altered perceptions. Who would have thought that this seemingly quiet Duchess Ellie was quite fierce?

"In that case, I’ll leave the cooking to you all," Ellie sighed in relief. It was fortunate that the prince still had some sense and didn’t act rashly. If he had wanted to be aggressive, Ellie would have had no choice but to call on Owen’s people for help, which he seemed ready to provide.

"Y-Yes, my lady."

"Indeed, Duchess Ellie, you should go rest now, hehe," they all hurried to chase away, ah...it should be said that they were eager to please her. Who would dare face someone who had just narrowly escaped severe punishment? Ellie understood the atmosphere had changed, so she decided to leave.

It didn’t take long for Aman and the others to return. The sky was growing dark. It turned out that Second Young Lord Aman had gone on a rampage, hunting down more than 10 deer beasts. He even mentioned that if he had a storage device, he would have gone deeper to hunt an even larger group.

Zoey was in a bit of a state, covered in wounds from the intense battle. As a first-year student, she wasn’t supposed to undertake such grueling tasks. First-year students only learned basic knowledge, without specialized instruction. But like Ellie, Zoey had a special awakening of her powers. With her deep understanding of her power and the specialized training from Wint, she managed to create a massive earth wall, which proved useful in the fight.

However, an earth wall alone wasn’t enough for combat, so Wint had also trained Zoey to fight with a sword. It was no wonder her small frame was covered in bloodstains and visible wounds on her clothes.

Ellie wanted to reprimand Wint for pushing Zoey too hard, but seeing Zoey’s proud expression, she swallowed her words. She had to remember that Zoey came from a rural background as well. She had come here to learn and bring benefits back to her family and village. So, training hard might have been Zoey’s goal from the start.

"Senior. Ah!! My lady!" Upon seeing Ellie come out to check on them, Zoey immediately rushed over to greet her. If it weren’t for Wint’s prior instruction, the girl would have continued calling Senior Ellie as usual. However, after understanding Ellie’s true status and becoming her female guard, Zoey knew she needed to adjust her speech accordingly.

Ellie didn’t particularly like being called Duchess Ellie, but her status had changed. In the future, if Zoey continued following her and accidentally called her "Senior" in front of others, it would be Zoey who’d get punished. So, Ellie didn’t want to make Zoey seem disrespectful just because they were close.

"How many beasts did you take down?" Ellie smiled softly, looking at the girl who was trying so hard with affection. She felt that someone like Zoey, who came from a rural background, was more fitting to be the heroine. When compared to that Nara...she was just a glitch, wasn’t she?

"My lady, I wasn’t able to take down any beasts on my own, but my power was very useful," Zoey said proudly.

"You still need a lot of training if you want to protect the duchess. What you did today isn’t enough," Wint walked to them, his face showing a hint of pride but his words remaining stern.

"Yes, Senior! I will work hard and follow all your instructions."

"Good, that’s the right attitude." Watching the two interact, Ellie couldn’t help but be a bit surprised. Previously, her Professor Medik and Professor Lucien, the Sage hero, had an odd but good relationship. Now, not long after, she was seeing a similar gaze to Professor Lucien from Wint.

Could it be that...even Aman or Prince Jason might have a chance to change and look at someone else with such eyes? If so, wouldn’t that be great?

Seeing the changes in Professor Lucien and Wint, Ellie couldn’t help but think they seemed happier than in the original storyline.

In the original storyline, Professor Lucien the Sage, Wint the guardian knight, and Aman the top noble Demon were 3 pitiable characters who couldn’t escape Nara’s orbit. Despite not being chosen, they still had to live in her shadow, supporting Nara’s life.

It didn’t seem fair to the 3 of them, did it? As for Nara...she only cared about the prince. He was the one destined for the highest position in the kingdom, making him the most suitable choice. The three men were just good supporters who couldn’t be easily discarded.

The entire storyline was fundamentally flawed. Yet...when she read the novel, it felt like nothing was wrong. This was all because she never thought the characters had real lives, and she never thought that they deserved their happiness. But now...after living with them, Ellie couldn’t help but change her perspective.

“Did you catch a lot today?” Ellie asked.

“Of course, but I heard the prince came to bother you?” Aman, who had just walked in, asked seriously, his brows furrowing. He couldn’t believe the prince had the nerve to trouble Ellie while they were away.

“Who told you that?” Ellie raised her eyebrows in response. Aman stared at her small face, which showed no signs of defeat, and then laughed.

“Well, it seems I got the wrong information. Looks like the prince didn’t bother you; it was you who gave him a hard time. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stormed off to hunt so many beasts that his follower was crying because he cannot carry them back.” Aman laughed heartily with contentment. He wished he had returned in time to witness the prince’s expression. He didn’t know how harsh the prince had encountered, but he’d heard loud noises outside when he came back and wondered what had happened, only to find out...it was the work of his eldest brother’s beloved.

After all...even he had been seriously challenged by her, so let alone the boring prince!

“Now the prince’s follower is asking for help to carry the beasts back. Should we...?”

“Should we what? We’ve done enough work. There’s no need to help them,” Aman waved his hand dismissively. Koross nodded in agreement, while Wint’s expression turned uneasy. He was just an ordinary person, and following Ellie around didn’t mean the Setter family would protect him if he angered the prince.

“Don’t worry. You have Duchess Ellie as your boss, don’t you? If the prince couldn’t even handle a verbal sparring with her, do you think he’d dare to mess with you?” Aman laughed. He didn’t care about the childish prince’s behavior. Compared to his eldest brother, the gap was so wide it made him laugh.

Wint hesitated but, after looking at Zoey’s small frame covered in injuries, sighed.

“Alright, I’ll take my disciple to wash up first.”

“E-Eh, th-this...” Zoey felt nervous upon hearing his words. She was overthinking Wint’s words, and he just realized what he had said too.

“Ahem, I meant...I’ll keep watch while you wash up, and then we’ll switch. You’ll keep watch for me.”

“B-But...”

“We’re mentor and disciple. If you’re going to follow Duchess Ellie everywhere, situations like this will happen. Or do you want the duchess to stand guard while you bathe?”

“Ah! I...No. But actually, I can wash up alone.”

“Hmm? You’re worried your mentor might spy on you, but not concerned about others around here?”

“S-Spy...” Zoey was even more flustered. She only felt it was inappropriate, but the idea of spying made her face burn even hotter.

“I, I am not going to spy on you! This child! Do you still want to consider me your mentor? How can you think such improper thoughts!!” Wint, realizing he had startled the little rabbit, uh, caused a misunderstanding, used a stern tone to assert control. Seeing her mentor getting annoyed, Zoey quickly agreed, as if fearing Wint might stop teaching her altogether in the future.

Seeing the two of them walk away like that, Ellie sighed. The sight of her little girl being bullied made her want to step in and help, but...wasn’t this...a classic love scene?!!

Goodness. Who would have thought that her initial intent to enjoy the heroine’s love story would turn into delighting in the romantic scenes of the former hero and a new junior instead!!

“Heh, heh, as a senior, instead of stopping your junior, you’re showing that you want to support them...or do you want my brother to do the same to you...?”

“What was it...spying, huh?”

Seeing Ellie’s cheeks turn red, Aman couldn’t help but laugh. However, after being teased like that, Ellie’s face quickly returned to a serious expression.

Was Aman out of his mind? Who would want someone to spy on them? Secretly fantasizing about others was far better than anything. As for her own matters, they should be within acceptable limits!

And...the idea of being spied on by that expressionless man—just him not radiating murderous intent was already a blessing!!