The War Bride

34 | Nightfall Isles

In the hunting competition, seven representatives from each clan would form a team. However, with Luwen's abrupt appearance, the arrangement had changed for the Dai clan. Their clansmen were astonished to see her walking out of the weaponry tent with the lord trailing after her with a dark, sullen expression. She heard their confusion as they took her place at the front.

She wouldn't blame them for talking out loud around her, especially when it seemed like she was the only wife of a lord present. The remaining wives stayed behind on the estate.

"Is that really...her?"

Behind her, Yerong threw his arm across the broad shoulders of a young man. "Of course it's the Lady of the House!" he exclaimed. "Now that we're here, we're changing some members of the team. You wouldn't want to suffer in the lord's wrath when he's furious, would you?"

"Angry?"

"Apparently, he is, because he can't seem to refute his wife's words." Yerong sighed out in pity and gave his comrades a pointed look. "If I were you, I'd step aside."

They exchanged looks of confusion, before the three of them eventually offered their spots to the new joiners and remained in their main encampment.

Biyu slinked up to Luwen's side, still guarding her back. In a low whisper, she asked. "Are you sure about this?"

Luwen replied without an ounce of hesitation. "Yes."

"It's dangerous out on the Nightfall Isles, and we don't even know everything about the type of demons roaming there. None of us have been there before." Biyu observed her expression solemnly, shaking her head in disbelief, before turning to Dai Yichen with a reproachful look. "It's all your fault, my lord. She doesn't know how to fight, but she's doing this because of you."

He grunted in response, staring off into the crashing blue waters against the shore. The muscle in his jaw ticked where he clenched it in frustration after his failed attempt to dissuade Luwen.

Hearing Biyu's words, Yerong's face lit up immediately. "She doesn't know how to fight? But she–"

He tried his best to keep his promise, but he was so excited that it was difficult for him to hold back and keep the secret. He pivoted on his heels and shot Luwen a begging look, asking for permission. "Are we still keeping it a secret?"

Biyu swung her head between them several times, confused. "What secret?"

"No." Luwen answered Yerong's question, pulling her shoulders back and standing tall in a posture which she hoped radiated confidence and grace. She had no reason to conceal her skills from the team, particularly in a competition. She needed them to know she wasn't a liability to them. "Not anymore."

"Oh, thank the goddess!"

Yerong cried out in gratitude before turning around to Biyu. The excitement in his tone heightened, drawing in curious ears from the rest of their comrades. "You don't understand how frustrating it was for me to keep mute for months about our lady's heroic act!"

"What act?"

"Remember the night we went out to the tavern on a business trip and the matriarch's assassins ambushed us? She saved me."

As Yerong recounted his story of Luwen's help during their fight, including how she threw herself between the lord and the assassins to shield him, their faces morphed from bewilderment to sheer disbelief and admiration. She felt eyes on her, and slowly, embarrassment crawled up her neck.

Fortunately, Lord Yue's announcement about the hunt pried the attention away from her.

From the wooden dais, he surveyed the gathered crowd. His eyes widened in surprise when he spotted her in the crowd, before nodding his head in her way in acknowledgement.