He knew?

"Why? Why hide something like this from me?! Why would my father hide something so delicate?!" Amelia's voice echoed in Leon's head as he walked out of the house.

He clenched his fist, no longer seeing Amelia's father in a good light. But he had to go to the Viscount's office and meet her father quickly; it was likely only he knew what to do in this situation.

As he ran, he heard a ding from his system.

```

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

Affinity extraction... COMPLETE!

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

You've gained two affinities...

Shadow Affinity... 60%

Ice Affinity... 30%

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

```

Leon, running with all his might to the Viscount's office, couldn't help but frown. "Why only 30% Ice Affinity?" he wondered.

With the abnormality of her ice affinity, it was clear it must be too high for her to control, likely stronger than her shadow affinity. Since the Yin Harmony Harvest skill copied her affinity, why didn't he get a higher ice affinity from her yin essence? It didn't make any sense.

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

Sorry for the inconvenience, Leon.

The Ice affinity is merged with Amelia's physique, making it extremely hard to extract. Therefore, only 30% of her overall affinity could be extracted from her yin essence and copied.

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

Leon nodded, now understanding what was going on.

As he ran, he heard murmurs from people around him.

"Isn't that Lady Amelia's fiancé?"

"Yes, it is. He looks exactly like he was described."

"His silver hair looks so cool. He's even more handsome than I thought."

"But why is he running towards Viscount Nightshade's office?"

"What are those powdery things on his face and hands?"

Leon heard multiple voices tinted with admiration, shaking him out of his reverie. 'Those are definitely new faces,' he thought as he ran past them. His memory was sharp, so he knew he hadn't come across these disciples before.

He couldn't believe how fast rumors spread here. It hadn't even been an hour and thirty minutes. 'Women gossip like there's no tomorrow in this world as well. What should I expect?' Leon shook his head, focusing on the task at hand.

More gossip reached his ears. "I heard he's training under some secret master. Maybe that's why he looks so intense."

"He's probably going to report something urgent to the Viscount."

"What could be so urgent, he looks so mysterious."

After speeding past the maids, Leon saw a man with sleek black hair tied in a ponytail, dressed in a majestic robe. The man was handsome and looked noble, but his handsomeness couldn't compare to Leon's. It was like comparing heaven and earth. The man was followed by a male servant, and as he saw Leon speeding towards him, he waved his hand.

But Leon sighed, ignoring the man completely, shaking his head silently.

The man was instantly annoyed. "To think I had a good impression of him. He's already acting high and mighty just because Lady Amelia spread her legs for him. I'll make sure to teach him a lesson he'll never forget."

'I've definitely annoyed him,' Leon thought with a sigh, glancing back at the man he had just sped past. 'I need to stop thinking of trivial matters like this and meet the Viscount quickly.'

With his speed increasing, he sped into the Viscount's office.

Meanwhile, the man frowned as he saw Leon run wildly into the Viscount's office, his thoughts unknown.

Inside, Leon saw a man standing in front of the desk opposite the seated Viscount, engaged in a deep discussion. From the man's attire—a formal butler uniform with a crisp white shirt, black vest, and neatly pressed trousers—Leon identified him as the Viscount's butler. The butler was tall and lean, with a stern face that reflected years of disciplined service.

Leon didn't know whether it was wise to reveal things with the butler present, but he guessed it shouldn't matter much since the butler worked under the Viscount. Besides, he was in a hurry and couldn't afford to waste time.

When they saw him barge into their conversation, the Viscount and his butler frowned, their impressions of him dimming instantly.

'He has no respect. Maybe I should reconsider giving Amelia to him,' the Viscount thought with a frown.

'It looks like Amelia's fiancé is a bad choice,' the butler thought. He had already heard news of Leon and recognized him instantly. Leon's unique silver hair and handsomeness made him easily distinguishable.

They were both thinking negatively of him, but what Leon said next made their thoughts and impressions vanish instantly.

"Lord Viscount, it's Amelia. Something has gone terribly wrong. Her ice essence has gone wild!" Leon said aloud, visible panic on his face. He made sure his gaze was intensely focused on the Viscount's face, wanting to know if he really knew about his daughter's affinity. 'If he doesn't know, he'll be confused. But if he knows, he'll be in shock and in a state panic.'

Thanks to his training from his assassin parents in his past life, studying subtle signs and changes in expressions was trivial for him.

Leon was shocked by the result he got. Not only was the Viscount panicking, but his butler was as well. It meant that both of them knows something.

Leon's mind raced as he observed the panic in both the Viscount and the butler. This situation was more complex and dire than he initially thought. 'Why would they both be so alarmed?' he wondered. 'If they knew about Amelia's ice affinity, why hadn't they prepared for something like this? Was it a secret even from most of the household, or did they underestimate the power she held?'

His thoughts shifted to the Viscount's potential motivations. 'Did he send Amelia to the Glacial Frost Lotus Sect because he suspected her latent ice affinity? And if so, why keep it a secret from her? This wasn't just negligence; it felt deliberate, almost as if he was protecting her from something or someone. But what could be so dangerous that her own father wouldn't tell her about a fundamental part of herself?'

His thoughts shifted to the Viscount's potential motivations. 'He sent Amelia to the Glacial Frost Lotus Sect because he knew of her affinity and also knows of the danger it poses, But if so, why keep it a secret from her? Wouldn't it had been better if he had told her so that she'll be mentally prepared for situations like this? What kind of father is he?'

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AN:

The story surely took a dark unexpected turn that no one expects right? right?

I hope you guys are enjoying the novel as much as I am...

And vote with your powerstones please 🥺

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