Dance Of The Phoenix
157. Debutante Preparation

The soul stone lit up, floating above the palm of Gu Yuena who was exerting her strength.

Gu Yuena's soul power was enough to control the soul stone completely. He did not need soul stones to cultivate like everyone else in Linghun Palace, but he could utilize them for other purposes.

Deceiving Alfonso and the Emperor.

Alfonso wanted three soul stones to be put together and form a great power. The soul stone belonging to the Ye Clan was the first soul stone, disappearing in his hands by a certain thief.

The second soul stone was in Gu Yuan's hands, Alfonso wanted it. That was why Gu Yuan left the soul stone on Duke Elberg to be safe from Alfonso's quest. As a result, Alfonso did not get a single soul stone to increase his strength.

Now Gu Yuan's soul stone was in Gu Yuena's hands. Gu Yuan left this as a weapon against Alfonso and the Emperor. The man had been considering it for a long time.

Lately, news of the death of the princes kept popping up and causing unrest. Gu Yuena appears as Valentina, taking over some of the tasks that were supposed to be left to some of the removed princes and helping the Emperor.

Instead of being an imperial princess, she played Miss Elberg to take on the Emperor's sympathy and pit Alfonso against her. The Emperor would think that Valentina was on the Emperor's side.

Gu Yuena always looked like a harmless young lady. Even as his hands were filled with the black fog of soul stones, he still looked pure.

"Mrs Valentina, Miss Vale came to see the Madam." The waiter in front of the room called out after knocking on the door.

Gu Yuena withdrew her soul force, then moved up and opened the door. In front of him was a woman with a pair of matching irises that looked gloomy. She had lived in Duchy for a long time, but her aura still felt like an exiled young girl.

"Vale's? Is there something?" Gu Yuena smiled sweetly at him.

Vale looked up for a moment and said timidly, "Miss, is there a message from my family?"

"No."

Vale's gaze dimmed and became sad. It made Gu Yuena find it difficult to take advantage of this clumsy, meek brat. How could he send Vale to Alfonso? He still had to disguise himself as Vale until now.

"Viscount I handled it well. Your position in your home is already quite stable thanks to Alfonso. It seems Alfonso is interested in you, making the Viscount unable to ignore you."

Vale smiled wryly. "Mrs, don't joke. Vale the Madam meant was the Madam herself."

"I'm just replacing you." Gu Yuena's gaze was full of calculations. "Because I've helped you get what you should get, you should help me in return. Did you forget?"

Vale. "I can forget it. Madam take it easy. I-I'm ..I'll work fine."

Gu Yuena sighed, then looked towards the waiting servant. "Help him get ready. We're going to meet with Norway."

Vale looks nervous. But he was unable to say anything as the maids lined up to prepare. He did not understand why Gu Yuena brought him back to that house again.

After Vale's departure, Xiao Hei appeared to comment on Gu Yuena's overly harsh ways.

"Miss, aren't you being too hard on a 17-year-old girl?"

"I've been in her position, but I won't be that soft" Gu Yuena sneered as she walked into the room.

"Vale is a normal girl who lacks affection. He's different from you, so don't treat him like you treat yourself. He could die of fear!"

"...." - ".Gu Yuena fell silent for a moment, then felt disbelief and replied tightly, "What do you know? I took him back to Norway to get to know the family and learn. He doesn't even know the faces of his parents. The harder the pressure, the more his personality could be improved. My time isn't much, so have to make the most of my time."

Gu Yuena could not continue to disguise herself as Vale and was at Alfonso's side while acting. He still had to withdraw the Emperor's trust. Vale has learned quite a lot in this place, staying to improve his personality.

Until the time comes, he will exchange with Vale again. Vale would be a spy on Alfonso's side, whereas Gu Yuena only needed to take all of the Emperor's trust and pit the sheep. At that time, the battle for the throne will occur.

"I'd be scared if you taught your son to be this horrible. A boy who is just looking at the world, must realize how dirty this world is." Xiao Bai muttered in the corner while sighing. Gu Yuena actually taught Vale to be like himself.

Gu Yuena glanced at him a glance, then threw away a face. "Isn't that good?"

"Yes, very good." Xiao Bai did not know what else to say. It's up to the nona.

...ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ...

In some time, the number of Death Troops was increasing. They roamed the Mitian Plains and controlled various regions, putting pressure on two empires at once.

The borders of the two empires were engulfed in waves of high-level monsters. Many casualties fell. In addition, the fallen victims left no trace as if they disappeared from the world.

Bai Youzhe arrived at the last place of the massacre at the border of Yi Empire. Huang Jingtian behind him looked extremely frustrated like he was about to faint at the dead city leaving a void.

Previously, the sky above the city had become blood red. It was a demonic bone reaction. Bai Youzhe had guessed, that Yang Xinyuan had already obtained more human blood. The movement is very fast and well hidden.

"Linghun Palace has really gone too far. They didn't even leave a single child!" Huang Jingtian was too furious. As a future emperor, he failed to protect his people from threats. This is already the 5th city that has been wiped out.

Several months ago, he met Yang Xinyuan who gave a warning. The next day, the first city was destroyed. Bai Youzhe came before Huang Jingtian arrived and said that Linghun Palace would not spare a single one.

Huang Jingtian had evacuated his people to the Capital and other major cities for protection. But according to Bai Youzhe, it was still not enough. In fact, it has been 5 cities to die in less than a year.

Yang Xinyuan could always avoid unnecessary battles. He finished off one of the cities randomly before Bai Youzhe came. None survived either.

Bai Youzhe alone had trouble finding him, let alone Huang Jingtian who wanted to protect his people? If it continues like this, the Yi Empire will be destroyed!

"Is Wyvernia also having the same problem?" asked Huang Jingtian.

Bai Youzhe replied, "No."

Huang Jingtian was getting frustrated. If it was like this, Wyvernia would get a chance to attack the Yi Empire. The Yi Empire is over.

"At least not yet," continued Bai Youzhe. He thought the fate of Wyvernia would be worse than that of the Yi Empire. As Gu Yuena had said, Li Hua had targeted Wyvernia directly.

He missed Gu Yuena. What is he doing right now?

"King Bai, I heard that Yang Xinyuan is the King of Hell in the Underworld."

It seemed like Bai Youzhe understood the intent of Huang Jingtian's words. "He only intended to kill on the Mitian Plains. He can't touch the Underworld."

If Yang Xinyuan touched the Underworld, Bai Youzhe would always know of its existence and fight with it until now. Yang Xinyuan completely avoided the battle and completed the task from the Queen as soon as possible. It really did not look like Yang Xinyuan that Bai Youzhe knew.

"Good." Huang Jingtian sighed and looked at Bai Youzhe with a horned bow. "King Bai, Tianshuang Palace has helped the Yi Empire to this extent, this prince is saying a lot of thanks."

Bai Youzhe had no intention of helping them. He just wants the devil's bones. He couldn't possibly tell that to Huang Jingtian so chose not to respond to him.

The demon bone is something dangerous. He cannot let such a thing remain. If the demon bones continue to be fed, the Demon King will rise. It was not Gu Ying who got up.

He should have taken the demon bone while it was in Gu Yuena's hands, but he couldn't do it. Back then Gu Yuena wanted her father to come back to life, she did not want Gu Yuena's hopes to break up just like that.

Since the demon bone had fallen into the hands of a certain dragon, he had to spend a lot of time searching in return for the weakness of his heart.

...ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ...

"This is your home." Gu Yuena stood side-by-side with Vale who had already been groomed in such a way. In front of the Viscounty Norwegian, he brought the real Vale.

The current appearance of Vale looks more like Gu Yuena when meeting Alfonso. His face was slightly altered using Gu Yuena's transformation magic. While Gu Yuena will act as herself in this place, Valentina.

It's troublesome indeed. But he had no other choice but to take Vale straight into the field to learn more. Vale had learned from him some magic tricks and general knowledge and politics, but Vale still did not have 'normal' behavior'.

Vale is very clumsy and easily lied to. Actually he is smart, but only smart in lessons. Social? Result zero.

Gu Yuena as a good teacher, would accompany him to practice what he had learned.

An honor can be recognized by the candidate of the heir to the throne. Vale became the subject of conversation in every corner of the residence upon his arrival. It made Vale even more nervous as he stepped inside.

"Miss, the Prince doesn't like me, but likes you. What ... do I have to be like this?" Vale was so scared. His heart felt like it wanted to explode from beating too fast. He even trembled as he entered the courtyard of the mansion.

This did not include meeting with the Viscount.

Gu Yuena could rarely be this patient facing a boy as innocent and as stupid as Vale. He only put on a face full of patience despite wanting to kick this clumsy boy very far to the end of the mountain.

Patience, he still needs Vale as one of the pawns. If it is well honed, all plans will go smoothly.

"I have a husband, how can I accept the Prince's proposal? If my husband had known, the Prince might have stayed by name without my knowledge."

Vale understood his point and immediately lowered his head. "Sorry."

"Don't behave like that if I don't want your soul to be controlled so as not to tremble."

Vale felt better that his soul was being controlled like a puppet. He really could not stop his trembling body!

He was afraid of the Viscount. He was afraid to be in Viscounty. Before meeting Gu Yuena, he was just a scourge that exiled his own family and locked up in a dark place.

At that time he was sickly and very dirty, no different from a skinny little mouse. When he saw Gu Yuena coming like a life-seeking angel, he thought that he was going to die. But it turns out that Gu Yuena took him to Duchy and gave him some care and food.

Vale was so grateful that he was willing to do anything. He would not be angry if his soul was controlled just like Gu Yuena had said.

Looking at the girl who had already resigned herself to life, Gu Yuena could only sigh. "Work well as pay. I'm not a nice person who treats you well for free."

Vale nodded. Gu Yuena touched her forehead, before finally her entire tensed nerves began to calm down. He no longer trembled, only felt empty as usual.

"Thank you." Vale smiled.

Gu Yuena ignored his thanks and continued on. Nobody welcomed them in this place, everyone was just gossiping. Until someone finally recognized who Gu Yuena really was, then they called Lord Viscount.

Gu Yuena was asked to wait in the living room. A tall man in luxurious clothes appeared from behind the door, welcoming him respectfully. Looking at that pair of red irises, he was actually made to submit.

Moreover, Valentina has received many blessings from the Emperor for her contribution in recent months. He had to respect the woman in order to see a bright future.

But when his gaze was directed at Vale who seemed to be very silent on Gu Yuena's side, his gaze darkened. Why does that woman have to be here?

"Daughter of Valentina, what's the matter in coming here? Can I help you?" ask Viscount Norwegian politely.

Gu Yuena smiled and placed the cup of tea she drank onto the table. "My visit here is none other than for Miss Norway. I heard that Prince Alfonso will propose to Miss Norway after his debutante. But unfortunately, Miss Norway has not made a mandatory debutante for the nobility when she reached adulthood. Miss who makes a debutante must be accompanied by a female noble with a higher position. Her mother was no longer there, so I came to be her companion."

Debutante is a maturation ceremony held annually for noble ladies who have not yet debuted in socialite circles. Gu Yuena has chosen the perfect time to visit Vicounty to apply as a debutante escort to be held right at the winter dance.

It takes a lot of time to find the right companion. The higher the escort position, the more famous and honorable the lady will be. Even if the Viscount disagreed and wanted to replace it, it could not be done. Because Gu Yuena's position was the highest other than the queen among the nobles.

In other words, if Vale managed to debut with Gu Yuena, he would be the center of attention and should be officially accepted as a Norwegian. It was a difficult decision for the Viscount who had thrown away his own daughter. Vale was an out-of-wedlock child with a servant, of course the whole family would disagree.

"We can't accept this kind of excessive honor. Princess, what if you withdraw the decision? Your position is not suitable for a debutante escort." The viscount objected so as to have no other choice to persuade Gu Yuena.

"I've been watching Vale for quite a while. I'm unemployed too, so it's no big deal." Gu Yuena then narrowed her eyes. "Do you doubt me because I just came to Wyvernia?"

"It's not .. It's not like that, Princess."

"Then we have agreed. From today, your daughter will be staying at Duchy to prepare for debutante." Gu Yuena felt relieved that there was no need to go back and forth to this place anymore.

His gaze was directed at Vale who had not said anything since. Or rather, the girl was looking down without any courage to look at her father.

Gu Yuena could only sigh.

As the Viscount gave accommodation for a day's stay, Gu Yuena left Vale alone to face the residence like a missing child. This is his first test.

And sure enough, Vale became a statue all day and was filled with anxiety. When the legitimate children of the Viscount came, the girl lowered her head in fear and reduced the presence. He doesn't even laugh when he's laughed at.

This destroyed the image of Gu Yuena once disguised as Vale.

When Gu Yuena became a Vale, no one dared to bully her. Gu Yuena had always been a stoic and aloof figure, not appearing much let alone talking. There was a time when the Viscountess was bullying him, Gu Yuena was replying using the hands of others.

Right now, Vale was really very weak. This made Gu Yuena sigh often.

"If anyone talks about you, cut off his tongue. If anyone hits you, break his hand. If you don't want to make more enemies, kill them all." Gu Yuena was already too upset and said cruel things to Vale.

Vale just lowered his head in front, sitting like an obedient and shrivelled child. "Mrs .. sorry." He doesn't feel right with all this.

"You want to live well, right? Then listen to me. Your blood is fed by noble blood. Even if you're not a legitimate princess, at least you shouldn't waste your life and be a coward like this. You still have the right to be recognized as the Viscount's daughter. You have to think of yourself and the people who are useful to you."

Vale's getting nervous. "But—"

"You're weak, very weak. Even with just one finger, you could die on my hand. Think about why I gave you the ability to manage magic. Think about why I gave you a magic trick. Think also about what you learned desperately in Duchy. You want to say you don't want all that? All right, then just die. Didn't I spoil you too much?"

Gu Yuena who was angry like that made Vale even more unable to dwell. In fact, he was more afraid of the enraged Gu Yuena than they were. He just doesn't know how to deal with it.

"Your debut is coming soon. At that time, you should be ready and get along with the other nobles. Prepare yourself mentally, be confident. At least, don't make me feel embarrassed and make Alfonso suspicious. If not, then I don't care if you end your own life." Gu Yuena sighed for the umpteenth time, then left with annoyed steps.

Vale clenched his palms, enduring the emotional turmoil in his heart. His feelings are mixed. This is the first day of my stay in Viscounty.

Gu Yuena was right, she should not behave like this. But he himself could not control his fear. If afraid, he could do nothing and could only remain silent with his head bowed.

Vale raised his head, looking towards Gu Yuena's departure. His gaze became complicated. This is his fault.

As Vale introspects himself after being left behind, Gu Yuena returns to the room to calm a chaotic mind like a tangled thread. Taking care of people's children is not easy.

"Miss, you have inked black on a white paper." Xiao Bai suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?" Gu Yuena looked at him in confusion.

Xiao Bai laughed suddenly. "Miss, what did you do to a boy who never saw the world? I'm getting scared if you really have a child in the future."

"Did Vale start introspection?" ask Gu Yuena.

"Your words are too cruel for her. He went back to the room and cried," Xiao Hei replied.

"But at least, I can feel his emotions improving. A person must be given maximum pressure to reach their potential. Vale, like a newborn, does not yet understand the world. You come to him and change him."

"You could say, your upbringing would make him heartless. If you had him holding a knife and killing someone, he would have done it and liked it even if he had to cry at the beginning."

"Ah, this is really terrible."

"...." - ".Gu Yuena was silent.

Is it that loud and cruel? Gu Yuena only said what she had heard as a child. Coupled with all his principles and knowledge, that was it.

Xiao Hei said, "Vale's desire to live is very strong. You told him to die if he failed, then he would try not to fail. You've been spoiling him all this time, so the white paper stays white."

Gu Yuena frowned and bit her nails restlessly, "It seems I have to make a lot of restrictions in order not to create monsters."