Han Shuo was stunned. He was not quite sure what Sophie meant. He took a moment to think before he said, "You mean take you away from the Kasi Empire?"
Sophie's bright eyes stared at Han Shuo, glowing as she studied every detail of his face. She continued, "You are the Lord of Brettel City in the Lancelot Empire! You're powerful enough to fight even the Ice Shrine! Of all my friends, you're the only one I know who could possibly help me, or at least I hope you think of me as a friend."
Sophie had told Han Shuo everything he needed to know. He understood that his identity was no more a secret than the fact that he existed. After a moment's hesitation, he smiled and said, "Of course you and I are friends. Brettel City will very much welcome your arrival."
Hearing this, Sophie let out a small smile of relief. However, before she could say anything else, Sulo exclaimed, "What nonsense!"
He revealed himself to Han Shuo and Sophie. His expression said it all, he was not pleased. He glared at Sophie and snapped, "Fifi, you are no longer a child! You should know the consequences of your actions."
Sophie was clearly frightened by her father's glare. But then she remembered the suppressed frustration she had felt over her betrothal to Braque and looked back at him with a stubborn stare. "Father, you have no right to make decisions that will affect the rest of my life, especially without my consent!"
As the angry Sulo looked at his unyielding daughter, a feeling of helpless depression suddenly rose in his heart. Shaking his head helplessly, he conceded, "Daddy has indeed acted brashly in this matter. But everyone knows how fond Braque is of you. Considering the power of the Pillon family, there was never any hope of refusal. I may be a sacred knight and have a certain amount of fame and power in the Kasi Empire, but when it comes to the Pillon royal family, my hands are tied.
Han Shuo had known for a long time that Sulo would come. As he listened to the argument, Han Shuo looked at Sophie, then at Sulo, who seemed to have aged considerably. "Mister Sulo, if you don't mind, I actually have a solution to your problem."
Sacred Knight Sulo had briefly exchanged blows with Han Shuo a few days earlier. After being informed of Han Shuo's identity and strength through his own channels, Sulo had been rather intimidated by the youth, even though he was much younger than he was. Upon hearing Han Shuo speak, Sulo trembled slightly and looked at Han Shuo as he exclaimed, "Youth breeds heroism, and that expression is most appropriate for one such as yourself. Sophie's imprisonment was partly to keep her out of trouble, and partly to wait for you to come here."
Han Shuo stared blankly. Unable to make sense of Sulo's words, he asked, "What do you mean?"
"Bryan, I'll take the liberty of calling you Bryan, I know more or less about your relationship with Sophie. As far as I know, no one really knows about this thing between you two. Given your status and strength, you are more than capable of protecting us. To Han Shuo's surprise, he could sense traces of an old fox-like cunning coming from Sulo, even through his relaxed expression.
Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, Sophie blushed. She seemed to know what Sulo was going to say next. Still red in the face, she quickly defended herself, "Dad, it's not what you think, we're..."
"It's all right, you don't have to say anything, I know what you mean," Sulo interrupted. With his usual self-assurance he said, "Daddy has been thinking about it for several days and has decided to respect your decision. You and Bryan seem suitable enough. I've even made some arrangements for the reassignment of our family clan members. Now that Bryan is here, we can discuss things. Then we'll be able to leave the Kasi Empire as soon as possible and start our new life in Brettel City.
Sophie turned even redder, waving her hands frantically and shouting, "No, no, that's not it, Father, you've misunderstood."
"Hmph!" Sulo glared at Sophie and said, "Why are you even trying to hide it now? Our house is on the brink of destruction because of you. Stop fooling around!"
Sulo then turned to look at Han Shuo with the eyes of a father-in-law and smiled slightly as if in great satisfaction. Sulo nodded and said, "Oh yes, you are certainly much more pleasing to the eye in every way than Braque, that cunning fellow. Fifi does indeed have good taste." He took a deep breath and his expression became serious as he said, "Bryan, even though my Sophie can be quite stubborn at times, she is still very kind-hearted, you must not mistreat her under any circumstances."
Han Shuo stared dumbfounded at Sulo, who had completely given in to his own assumptions. Han Shuo was simply at a loss for words.
It had to be said that this Sacred Knight Sulo was indeed an amazing character. His misunderstanding of the relationship between Han Shuo and Sophie was nothing to write home about. After all, the two of them had been quite intimate over the past few days. Add to that the fact that Sophie had recently reacted to her engagement to Braque with such vehement objections, and it wasn't without reason that her father had come to such a conclusion.
Sulo, however, was still a man of astonishing strength and dastardly cunning. By imprisoning Sophie, he had been able to prevent anyone from finding out about her relationship with Han Shuo, while at the same time testing Han Shuo's loyalty to Sophie. Unbeknownst to anyone, he had also been quietly moving the forces within his clan, preparing to leave for Brettel City at any moment.
Sulo might have mistaken the relationship between Han Shuo and Sophie for something else, but he was still quite a remarkable character!
As a series of thoughts flashed through Han Shuo's mind, he watched Sulo with a sharp glint in his eyes. A sacred knight was no small power for any country to possess. Even if Sulo had left the Kasi Empire without Han Shuo's help, he would still have been able to find a place for himself, Sophie and the rest of his family in another country.
A sacred knight! No empire would refuse such a person, especially one that was at odds with the Kasi Empire.
This old man was no simpleton, in fact, he was quite something, Han Shuo thought to himself. He had originally intended to clear things up, but a thought suddenly struck him. With a modest smile, he said to Sulo, "How could I? I can't even spoil Fifi enough, how could I want to be mean?"
Sophie, scarlet faced and impatient to tell her father the truth, looked as if Han Shuo's words had dealt her a deep blow. She shot a fierce glare at Han Shuo, then said with even more panic than before, "Father, Father, don't listen to the drivel coming out of his mouth, we are..."
With another wave of his hand, Sulo cut her off once more and said, "This is not drivel. I believe he will take good care of you. Bryan is not like Braque, he's a warrior, not a politician. I can take the word of a warrior, especially one who is stronger than me!
Sophie was beside herself with anger. All her attempts at explanation had been abruptly cut short by Sulo, only leading to more misunderstandings, and his blatant self-confidence left her speechless. What infuriated her even more was Han Shuo, playing the role of dutiful son-in-law with all his heart, nodding earnestly over there as he swore, "Yes, I will".
Sophie was both embarrassed and angry, feeling as though she had somehow been sold without even realising it, as her two traffickers continued their merry discussion of the details right in front of her. It was an indescribably strange feeling, but somehow there seemed to be a slight sense of joy. It was a tiny glimmer of happiness that Sophie herself was quick to overlook in the face of all the anger and humiliation.
How could this be? How could it be?! Sophie screamed inwardly over and over again. After Sulo had finally finished speaking, she shot another angry glare at Han Shuo, softened her expression and prepared to explain the situation properly.
"Well, I'll let you two chat. I'll arrange the clan's relocation right away and have our forces transferred to Brettel City as soon as possible. When the time comes, I will have to ask my dutiful son-in-law, since you are the lord of Brettel City. With your help, we will be able to leave the Kasi Empire. " Before Sophie could string her words together, Sulo had dropped another bombshell.
"Of course, of course," Han Shuo said with a friendly smile, pleased to have gotten a sacred knight on his side without any effort. As for what would happen later, Han Shuo decided not to worry about it for the time being, as long as he could get Sacred Knight Sulo to Brettel City first. Once he and his family arrived there, even if the truth came out, Han Shuo was certain that they would not be able to leave easily.
Sulo seemed very pleased with Han Shuo, beaming broadly as he walked up to him. He patted him on the shoulder and nodded as if a great weight had been lifted from his back. He walked away, taking much lighter steps than when he had come in, looking as if he was actually going to make arrangements to leave the Kasi Empire.
Sophie had wanted to stop Sulo and explain everything, but Han Shuo signalled her with his eyes not to. Once Sulo was gone, Sophie immediately placed both hands on her hips and, looking more like a little hen about to start a fight as she glared, she shouted angrily, "Bryan, you idiot, what exactly did you mean by that?"
Han Shuo shrugged and smiled. "I'm doing this for you and your family. If I didn't play along, would your father leave for Brettel City so easily?" Han Shuo made a great show of playing innocent, as if he had done all this for Sophie's own good.
Sophie, who had intended to give him a good talking to, stopped at those words. She was no fool. After thinking about it, she knew that what Han Shuo had said made sense.
However, when Sophie thought about how Han Shuo had used such a thing as an excuse to her father and saw his cheerful, punchable face, she remained furious. She ran up to him in a fit of rage and scolded him, "That doesn't mean you can joke about such things, I swear I will teach you a lesson!"
Merry Christmas🎄⛄ To Y'all Fam.....
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