Chapter 311: The Blood-Stained Engagement Banquet
"Guards, quickly, seize these people!"
A sharp, ghostly shriek suddenly pierced the air, breaking the tense standoff between the two groups.
In an instant, a large number of guards swarmed forward, surrounding them completely. Just as they were about to take action—and just as Alpha also prepared to move—another voice rang out.
"Step back in the presence of our honored guests!"
It was Li Xingke.
Li Xingke suddenly appeared at the entrance of the grand hall, striding forward to stand before the crowd. He locked eyes with the Britannians, then coldly addressed the soldiers: "By the authority of Li Xingke, commander of the Imperial Guard, I order you all to step back in the presence of our honored guests!"
The soldiers exchanged uneasy glances. Hadn't Li Xingke recently pledged allegiance to the eunuch faction? Why was he suddenly opposing them now?
"Li... Li Xingke! How dare you rebel!"
From the moment Li Xingke appeared, the eunuchs knew things had taken a turn for the worse. Although Li Xingke had indeed submitted to them earlier, he had never relinquished his military authority, remaining in a semi-independent state. Even with their wealth and influence, they had only managed to sway a portion of the soldiers to their side. They still couldn't completely eliminate Li Xingke—unless they relied on the intervention of Britannia's distinguished guests.
At this thought, the eunuchs' gazes involuntarily shifted to Odysseus, seated in the place of honor, and Schneizel, who was currently facing off against Shadow. As if reassured, they let out a slight sigh of relief.
But before they could speak, a cold, detached voice drifted into their ears.
"The Ten Attendants, is it? You eunuchs wield quite the authority. Is this how you treat honored guests from the EU? Do you think that by becoming Britannia's dogs, I can no longer touch you?"
As he spoke, Mahiro's eyes flickered, narrowing into slits as they swept over the crowd. Those caught in his gaze couldn't help but shudder, as if targeted by a top predator.
Monica, in particular, involuntarily took a step back, as though afraid of being scorched by his gaze. Only Schneizel remained motionless in place, though his hands were clenched tightly.
The eunuch faction of the Ten Attendants was complex and deeply entrenched. Although Shadow Garden had obtained Penglai Island from the Ten Attendants, not all of them were inclined to foster friendly relations with the EU. Mahiro's words made the eunuchs present look as though they had swallowed something foul.
Britannia's dogs?
It wasn't entirely wrong, but such things were not meant to be spoken aloud!
Just as they were about to react, Schneizel suddenly stepped forward, a gentle smile gracing his lips. He remained poised and friendly as he spoke: "Mahiro-sensei, today is my elder brother's wedding. Please do not be angered. How about we play a game of chess to ease the tension?"
Schneizel's voice was not loud, but it carried clearly to everyone present.
To be addressed as "sensei" by His Highness Schneizel? There could only be one person—the elusive imperial tutor from ten years ago?!
In an instant, the gazes of everyone looking at them changed, becoming filled with shock. When they recalled Shadow Garden's reputation as terrorists a year ago, their astonishment reached its peak.
"Very well, let's have a game then. It's been a while since I last played chess with you, after all."
Mahiro raised an eyebrow, then withdrew his dangerous aura. With a faint smile, he gladly accepted Schneizel's invitation.
The chess variant they chose was not the original's international chess, but rather the game of Go from the Chinese Federation.
And the opponent had shifted from the original Lelouch to him.
Could it be because he had undergone subtle changes?
Mahiro pondered this as he took a black stone from the bowl and placed it directly in the center of the board.
Tengen!
Seeing his first move, the expressions of the others turned somewhat unpleasant.
Although none present were Go masters, as nobles, they all had some understanding of the game.
As the saying goes, "Gold for the corners, silver for the sides, straw for the center." Occupying the corners, which require fewer moves to surround, is the wise choice. But placing the first stone at Tengen was clearly disrespectful!
He didn't take His Highness Schneizel seriously at all!
In contrast, Schneizel showed neither anger nor irritation. With a faint smile, he unconcernedly took a white stone and placed it in a corner.
And so, between them—stone by stone—the empty banquet hall echoed with the crisp sound of stones meeting the board.
Watching the situation on the board, the surrounding people gradually began to break out in a cold sweat.
Even though the opponent had started with Tengen, which should have given Schneizel the advantage, the current situation remained evenly matched...
No, it should be said that the man opposite was still handling the game with ease, even occasionally picking up his teacup for a light sip, appearing comfortable and at leisure, matching His Highness Schneizel's grace and elegance without the slightest difference.
At this moment, they acknowledged Mahiro's identity. To possess such skill on the board, he was fully qualified to serve as a royal tutor.
But why had he fallen out with the Britannian royal family?
Their gazes continuously shifted between Mahiro and Schneizel, occasionally landing on the several young ladies waiting nearby.
Just as they were perplexed, Mahiro suddenly spoke:
"Not bad, Schneizel. After all these years apart, your Go skills have improved quite a bit."
Hearing the praise, Schneizel couldn't help but reveal a bitter smile.
"No, Mahiro-sensei, you are still the more skilled one."
This was not flattery from Schneizel, but a genuine belief from the bottom of his heart. If anyone in the vast royal family could command such respect, aside from his father Charles, it was only this unfathomable teacher before him.
Moreover, in this game, only he himself knew clearly that he was being led by the nose, like prey being toyed with by a predator.
To this, however, Mahiro showed little reaction, merely smiling.
"Enough, when I praise you, just accept it. Besides, this dry game isn't very interesting. How about we add a wager to make it more engaging?"
Hearing this, Schneizel finally shifted his gaze from the board, looking up with an inscrutable gleam in his eyes as he asked, "What kind of wager did you have in mind, sensei?"
"Hmm, how about this? I happen to have some skill in matchmaking. If I win this game, you take your people and leave, and the engagement is annulled. If I lose, I'll cede all EU territory to Britannia and won't interfere with the marriage between Odysseus and Jiang Lihua. How about that?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire room gasped in shock.
Had they heard correctly?
Cede all EU territory?
Though the EU's land area isn't large, ranking only third in the world, it is still one of the world's three great powers. To give it away just like that?
All just to cancel this engagement between Britannia and the Emperor of the Chinese Federation?
Jiang Lihua, seated in the main position, naturally heard their conversation, and her crimson eyes quickly welled up with tears once more.
She never expected her teacher to go this far for her...
Schneizel also looked at Mahiro with some surprise. Although he had long guessed that the teacher had come here for this matter, he never imagined he would stake all his chips on the chessboard.
However, recalling the events of the past year, Schneizel quickly concealed the astonishment in his eyes and shook his head with a gentle smile.
"I'm afraid that won't do. This engagement was personally arranged by His Majesty the Emperor. In two days, His Majesty will also remotely observe the ceremony, so I have no authority to make such a decision."
"Is that so?"
Mahiro's eyes were filled with a smile, but it looked dangerously sharp.
He had anticipated this response from the start, so he said nothing more. Instead, he continued to take pieces from the bowl and quietly placed them on the board.
But this time, the guests were shocked once again.
"Two... two moves in a row?"
Normally, placing two pieces signifies surrender, but they must be placed at the edge of the board.
Yet Mahiro openly took pieces and placed them methodically on the intersecting grid lines.
And it didn't end there. He continued placing pieces until he had completely removed the white stones and replaced them with his own.
Schneizel's expression finally lost its composure, gradually turning grim.
"What, not pleased?"
"No, it's just that this violates the rules you once taught me."
Schneizel's tone was remarkably calm.
If there was one thing he had learned the most during his time at Aries Palace, it was chess—Chinese chess, international chess, Go, military chess... he had studied nearly every type.
According to Mahiro, he was clever enough that he didn't need to learn much else; playing chess alone could teach him many things.
And indeed, it had.
Through chess, he learned how to maximize the use of his pieces and when to abandon certain ones.
In terms of overall strategy, he was stronger than Lelouch.
But he never expected that, in this first game with his teacher upon their reunion, the teacher would break the rules. And when questioned, he merely responded with a casual "Oh."
Then, in a leisurely tone, he added:
"You're right, I did break the rules. But so what? Don't you know that when someone is powerful enough, they can not only break the rules but even overturn them..."
"Is it really okay to trample on them like this?"
Schneizel's heart skipped a beat, and he slowly lowered his once-proud head, looking exactly like a student being reprimanded for a mistake.
Even his sister, who wanted to stand up for him, was secretly grabbed and held back by him.
Among all the princes and princesses, no one understood Mahiro better than he did, his most unwelcome student.
He knew very well that although Mahiro always appeared amiable on the surface, with a perpetual smile at the corner of his lips, deep down, he was a person who acted entirely on his own whims.
His favorite thing was to trample on rules and break them.
And Mahiro indeed possessed the capital to do so. Even their father probably least wanted to face this Mahiro.
Just like the events in the EU, Schneizel had also received battle reports and had even conducted countless simulations on the sand table, but the result was always the same: impossible to defeat.
Whether it was covert infiltration and intelligence warfare or direct confrontations on the battlefield, they were utterly defeated.
The Shadow Garden under his command seemed to possess the power to sweep across the entire world.
Even if it were Britannia, they probably wouldn't be able to withstand such an onslaught.
Moreover, this was a situation where Mahiro hadn't even taken the field himself, with Alpha merely commanding.
As far as he knew, on the day of the Black Rebellion, the Guardian Deity Mech had appeared on the battlefield in its true form.
With just one strike, it had directly defeated Anya, a Knight of Rounds, who remained missing to this day.
After a long silence, Schneizel seemed to have come to a realization. He stood up and bowed to his former teacher, saying, "Mahiro-sensei, I understand. This wedding shall be considered null and void."
Schneizel's voice reached the ears of everyone present.
There was surprise, bewilderment, but most of all, shock.
What had Prince Schneizel just said?
The engagement banquet, already halfway through, was now null and void?
"..."
Odysseus wanted to say something, and the eunuchs also tried to speak, but Schneizel directly raised his hand to cut them off.
Without even acknowledging the eunuchs, he led Odysseus and the Britannian guests away in disgrace.
Kallen was naturally among them, but she said nothing.
She merely glanced at Mahiro from afar before following the other guests as they left.
"Prince Schneizel, why? Are we just going to let those terrorists go like this?!"
The speaker was Suzaku Kururugi, his expression agitated, as if he had just let his father's murderer escape.
However, Schneizel merely gave Suzaku Kururugi a deep look without saying a word, then strode out of the banquet hall's doors.
The moment they left the banquet palace, Suzaku Kururugi finally understood the reason.
His pupils contracted sharply as he stared in disbelief at the scene before him.
In the dim courtyard shrouded by night, corpses now lay everywhere. Aside from a few soldiers from the Chinese Federation, most of them were their own Britannian people!
Like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, they stretched to the walls and even beyond.
Not a single living soul remained in the entire area.
He couldn't believe it—the soldiers guarding this place had all been killed, and even more unbelievable was that not a single sound had been heard from the banquet hall during the entire process.
But immediately afterward, a piercing eunuch's voice echoed from the palace behind him.
Suzaku Kururugi turned around in a daze, about to go back and help, only to hear Schneizel speak:
"Let's go. There's no need to concern ourselves."
Even with immense reluctance in his heart, Suzaku Kururugi could only strictly follow Schneizel's orders.
Faced with such a bloody scene, the others had already turned pale and were vomiting uncontrollably. Even the First Prince, Odysseus, was so frightened he nearly curled into a ball.
But Schneizel acted as if nothing had happened, stepping over the corpses without the slightest change in his expression.
Still graceful and composed, his expression remained gentle, yet a chilling, thought-provoking sharpness flashed in his eyes. Bathed in moonlight and set against the sea of blood, his smile appeared utterly frigid.
Meanwhile, inside the banquet hall.
After seeing Schneizel and the others off, Jiang Lihua could no longer restrain herself. She jumped down from her seat of honor, ignoring the eunuchs' attempts to stop her, and with her short legs clad in white stockings pattering across the floor, she threw herself into Mahiro's arms, burying her face in his neck and crying.
Mahiro held her like this, softly comforting her while standing up and heading to the banquet food area, where he began eating on his own.
From the moment he arrived in the Chinese Federation until now, he had indeed grown a bit hungry.
The taste wasn'tt bad, quite similar to the eight major cuisines from his previous life.
However, his enjoyment was interrupted by the voice of a eunuch.
"What are you all standing around for? Arrest them! Then hand them over to Britannia to apologize!!!"
Whoosh!
In an instant, the soldiers in the palace once again closed in around them.
Even with Li Xingke present, it was useless, as the soldiers had now been replaced by the eunuchs' men.
Seeing this, Mahiro set down the plate in his hand and gently placed Jiang Lihua down. He wiped the grease from his fingers on a napkin and, under Jiang Lihua's tearful gaze, tenderly ruffled the girl's hair before letting out a soft sigh to the crowd.
"Can't you fools just stay quiet for a while? Can't you see I'm eating? You don't even understand simple etiquette like 'no talking while eating or sleeping'... Sigh, Alpha, teach them what etiquette means."
Mahiro waved his hand, and his companion Alpha immediately stepped forward toward the surrounding soldiers, her narrow eyes coldly sweeping over everyone present.
Jiang Lihua seemed to want to see what would happen next, but her vision suddenly went dark as a large hand covered her eyes.
"Good children shouldn't watch what happens next."
Before Jiang Lihua could respond, the inhuman, ghostly voice of the eunuch Gao Hai echoed—
"What are you all waiting for? Hurry up and seize them!"
But as soon as the words were spoken,
Jiang Lihua heard the sound of shattering glass, followed by the noise of sharp weapons piercing flesh, mixed with the panicked screams of the eunuchs.
The voice made the white-haired little girl shrink closer to Mahiro again, her small hands clutching his clothes tightly, as if only this could give her a sliver of security.
"You... you can't treat me like this, I even gave you Penglai Island... ah—"
After a scream, the banquet hall finally fell silent once more.
The soldiers who had once surrounded them had turned into corpses, and the once-arrogant eunuch's head had rolled onto the floor, his face frozen in the fear of death.
The Holy Sword in Alpha's hand was still stained with dripping blood, and Nu's black high heels were inevitably splattered with even more blood.
This added a touch of allure and wickedness to their originally cold and aloof demeanor, making them even more strikingly captivating.
Aside from them, there were dozens of girls in black, form-fitting combat suits inside the palace.
They were all members of Shadow Garden.
And thus, this engagement came to an end.