Xu Xiaoyue followed the address for quite a while before finally arriving at her destination.
Staring at the luxurious courtyard mansion, she couldn’t help but feel restrained.
Her real-life family was moderately well-off—no worries about food or shelter, but nothing extravagant either.
Buildings like this were usually something she only saw on TV.
But then she remembered—this is just a game. They could design anything here. With that thought, she relaxed.
This place was deep in the residential area, a spot players normally wouldn’t bother visiting.
Jade City was enormous. Even just the outer districts had plenty of locations most players never set foot in.
After some hesitation, she decided to knock.
Before long, the door creaked open halfway, and a man peeked out.
“Hm?”
“Uh…”
The moment she saw him, Xu Xiaoyue felt an overwhelming bloodline suppression.
Just standing in front of this man made her feel an involuntary guilty conscience.
“H-Hello.”
Steven responded indifferently. “Do you need something?”
He vaguely recognized this outsider, though not in a good way.
“I-I’m here to see someone.”
“Who?”
“I’m here for…”
Crap, what do I call her? What should I say?!
This NPC seemed to know Xiaofeng, but under the oppressive aura, Xu Xiaoyue completely forgot she could just private message her.
“She gave me this address, so I came.”
But to Steven, Xu Xiaoyue’s stammering made her look extremely suspicious.
As a senior member of the Dark Moon Knight Order, he was highly skilled at reading people’s expressions—he had dealt with all kinds of characters.
“You’re looking for the young lady?”
“Huh? Young lady? Oh! Y-Yes! Her!”
“Fine. But first, you’re coming with me to the Knight Order. I suspect you’ve been stalking her—possibly even abducting underage girls.”
“Wha—NO! I’m not!”
“Guilty or not, the Knight Order will decide. Based on my judgment, you fit the profile.”
“I swear it’s not like that! That was before—I mean, I’ve never done that!”
“We’ll see.”
If this had been a man, Steven would’ve dragged him off as a pervert without a second thought.
But since it was a woman, things were trickier.
Plus, as a noble, Steven had to maintain his gentlemanly demeanor—he couldn’t be too rough with women.
“Wait! Steven! She’s my guest!”
Luckily, Yulia appeared just in time, shoving Steven aside.
She took Xiaoyue’s hand and looked her over. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little pressured.”
Xu Xiaoyue hid behind Yulia, not daring to meet Steven’s gaze.
The pressure was real.
This NPC is insanely strong, with an intimidatingly high level—just a hint of his aura was enough to make my skin crawl.
And, well… she truly felt guilty.
But Yulia wasn’t fazed at all. She pointed at Steven defiantly.
“Steven! You scared my guest!”
“She is Miss’s guest?” Steven glanced at Xu Xiaoyue. “But she was acting suspiciously. I just asked a few questions, and her responses were equally suspicious.”
To be fair, even Yulia had to admit that Xu Xiaoyue did look quite shady when she first saw her…
She remembered how Steven had single-handedly blocked Xu Xiaoyue before and awkwardly coughed.
“Ahem, it’s fine! She’s my guest now. There were some misunderstandings before, but we’re super close now—like sisters!”
Xu Xiaoyue nodded vigorously. “Yeah! Sisters!”
Then she immediately shrank back when Steven glared at her.
“Young lady, you can’t just call anyone your sister. Especially not some outsider with no clear background.”
That was unavoidable. To local NPCs, players naturally came off as suspicious—no history, no roots, no reason to trust them.
“Relax, I know what I’m doing. Trust me!”
Trust you? Yeah, right.
Steven internally rolled his eyes.
The more Yulia said that, the more suspicious it seemed.
With your status, why would you need to call some outsider your sister? Compared to Her Highness Aria, what does this girl have to offer?
Her Highness Aria was clearly your older sister—why look for another?!
If Yulia knew what he was thinking, she would scratch her head and say: But I’m looking for a little sister, not a big one.
Seeing Steven’s skepticism unchanged, Yulia sighed.
Nobles and their rules… So annoying. Gotta come up with an excuse.
Then—she had an idea.
If nobles are the problem, use royal authority!
Aria had already struck some kind of deal with Xiaoyue anyway—borrowing her name wouldn’t hurt.
“Steven, come here.”
She gestured for him to step aside, whispering:
“Actually, I’m working with outsiders on something… for Sister Aria.”
Steven’s pupils shrank.
Princess Aria’s business?! Outsiders?! Is the young lady planning to harness their power?!
Hiss—this is indeed an unconventional move!
The number of outsiders in Jade City is uncountable—estimates put them at over a hundred million. That’s a force no one could ignore!
And technically, these outsiders fell under the Adventurers’ Guild, which is within Her Highness Aria’s scope of authority.
But it’s also a risky gambit.
Outsiders were hard to control, their origins unknown. Whether they could be organized, how much combat power they would provide—these were all uncertain. Not to mention the risk of it backfiring.
“Young lady, you must be extremely careful with this! You must maintain proper control!”
“Uh… Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”
No idea what’s going on, but I’ll just play along.
“If you’re confident, then fine.”
When it came to major matters, Steven still trusted her.
She had a way of turning her wild ideas into reality—what seemed impossible for others, she achieved effortlessly.
Though she did need supervision on the finer details.
“Steven, your presence is making her uncomfortable, so…”
Steven suddenly spoke up loudly. “Ah, young lady, I just remembered an urgent business I have to attend. May I take my leave?”
“Oh? Go ahead.”
“Very well. May everything go smoothly for you.”
With that, Steven left without another glance at Xu Xiaoyue, his aura completely suppressed as he passed by like a gentle breeze.
He was a knight. His duty wasn’t to question the bigger picture—just to follow orders.
As for Jade City’s political situation? He would observe, but he had no intention—or ability—to interfere.