Chapter 116: A Challenge
Whispers erupted across the docks.
"It’s her..."
"How could Missy Snow be here?!"
Evelina, who had been standing idly, straightened slightly. She narrowed her eyes when she heard the surname accompanying those nervous whispers.
’Snow’
She hadn’t even gone looking for them and they had already started seeking her out.
Railley Snow, from the Royal High House of Snow, was a high-ranking noblewoman of the Jade Dynasty.
With her family overlooking the luxury laws and the inner circle of capital politics, she was used to looking down on all and treating those beneath her like dirt.
Railley stepped onto the wooden deck and looked around the crowd. Her proud, piercing gaze locked directly onto Evelina, the sole person who seemed to have all the limelight.
"I wondered what all the annoying noise was," Railley said, her voice dripping with condensation. "It turns out it is just another useless foreigner running a circus to get some attention here. How pathetic!"
The crowd of wealthy tycoons instantly went dead silent. Railley Snow was a supreme noblewoman whose family controlled the inner-circle politics of the court. One word from her could ruin a merchant house overnight, so they didn’t dare to offend her.
"To think the sacred Jade Harbor would be desecrated by such shameless street tricks," Railley continued, her voice echoing across the deck. "Selling rodent pelts for inflated prices, screaming like a common beggar in the marketplace... You are causing unnecessary chaos, girl. This harbor is not for backwater trash like you."
The snobbish local officials in the crowd began to whisper, nodding their heads in agreement. They desperately wanted to please Railley.
Behind Evelina, Ace’s gaze turned cold.
The man did utter a word but he stepped forward,and the pressure that rolled off him was unavoidable.
He was a seasoned Duke and a man who had spent most of his life battlefield. Be it the people at the harbor, or the guards, or Railley Snow, no one could remain calm in the face of his aura.
"The words should be reflected upon before they are uttered or I don’t mind dealing with the tongue," Ace’s voice was softer than a whisper but each word carried across the people present.
The guards immediately stepped forward but Railley blocked them, a hint of interest catching her eyes.
However before Railley could take a clearer look at the, the woman appeared in her view, commanding attention as she did so.
"A circus, you say?" Evelina chuckled softly.
"Master Lu and his entire harbor guild tried to extort me for a exorbitant tariff, breaking your own legal codes," Evelina started "So you probably have some misunderstandings with me. I didn’t cause chaos, Lady Snow. I simply corrected what was wrong.
If the Supreme Director of your harbor is so incompetent that a ’backwater trash’ can take his entire market in ten minutes, perhaps you should check the quality of your own nobility first."
The people gasped.
No one had ever dared to spout such insults to Railley Snow’s face before.
Evelina continued with a smile on her face, "Your richest shipping moguls just practically begged on their knees to hand me half a million gold pieces for my items. If you consider it a circus, I believe you have must never have seen such a magnificient one before, hmm?"
Railley’s face turned an ugly shade. From the look on her face, it was obvious that she had never been spoken to with such a tone in her entire life.
"You insolent woman!" Railley’s voice turned cold, "You think because you made a few coins today, you are a god?"
Railley marched up the gangplank, her guards instantly drawing their swords to follow her.
Railley stopped at the top of the deck, glaring at Evelina with pure venom in her gaze.
"Listen to me carefully," Railley sneered, "Many arrogant outsiders like you come and go through these waters once in while. They bring their strange goods, they display their loud mouths, and they think they are special.
But to this day, nobody has thought of messing with me."
Railley tilted her head, "Ride the wave while you can woman but remember every wave will drop just as fast. So, remember not to be smug with the ones you can’t afford to mess with."
As she spoke, Railley felt like she had established her point and intimidated the woman. So, she turned around.
At this moment, Evelina’s voice resounded in the place, "For someone who has experienced waves, I might just be here to give you the taste of a storm. Even after a storm is gone, people remember it forever."
A collective gasp rippled through the gathered crowd.
They couldn’t deny... the woman in front of them just kept gathering their expectations on after another.
Railley’s breath hitched when she heard the whispers discussing how somebody dared to confront her.
She raised her hand, her fingers trembling with rage as she prepared to order her thirty something guards to tear the ship apart.
But before she could utter a single command, a heavy pressure slammed down on the entire deck.
Railley’s gaze involuntarily shifted. Her words caught in her throat as her eyes suddenly landed on the man standing a half-step behind Evelina like an invincible god.
He stood tall, his muscular frame completely dwarfing every imperial soldier on the deck.
Railley’s heart skipped a beat.
The imperial guards instantly took a step back, their hands shaking against their spears in sheer fear. Railley had never witnessed such a scene before nor had she ever felt a thrill like this when seeing a man.
A man of this supreme stature... Railley thought, her eyes raking over his broad shoulders. How can he be just a guard for some random woman? If he works for me, I can give him a far better position.
But Railley Snow was no fool.
From the fiercely loyal look in Ace’s eyes, Railley could easily tell it wouldn’t be simple to pull him away from the woman beside him.
Railley’s eyes narrowed. Hmm, what if I take the woman down? Wouldn’t he just come to me willingly then? Two birds with a stone, huh!
"Prove it then," Railley completely turned, meeting Evelina’s gaze head on as threw down the challenge, "I give you ten days... Ah, consider me gracious and take a month instead. Earn a whole sum of hundred million gold. Prove yourself to be a storm, and I will grovel at your feet.
But if you fail, you must get on your knees and apologize to me..."
The crowd gasped.
A hundred million gold? Impossible!
A hundred million gold in a month? Outrageous!
It was a staggering amount that might make even the royal family flinch for a second.
But Railley wasn’t done with her shocking words, "And my second condition after your defeat is... you will hand this man over to me permanently as my property!" Railley Snow’s fingers pointed straight at Ace.
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