Silent Crown

“A failure? Even if he is one, he’s a failure I’m protecting.” Bai Xi reached out, jabbing at the boy’s chest, forcing him to stagger back. “Say one more word and I’ll rip your lips off. Just try…”

“Useless trash!” Bart thought angrily. He pushed the idiot away and stood before Bai Xi. He smiled, looking like a gentleman as he gazed down at the little girl. He could not help but glance over her white skin, lowering his gaze to her beautiful face and delicate neck. He wanted so badly to reach into that collar.

But Bai Xi’s eyes pierced him, causing his smile to go stiff, turning into a cold grimace. “What use are your words? Where is he?” Looking behind Bai Xi, and not seeing the white-haired youth, he could not help but snicker. “I bet he’s too scared. We’ve prepared an amazing show today, but it’s a pity we met a coward.”

“What does this have to do with you?” Bai Xi side-eyed him. “You talk like you’re the boss. If you’re so powerful, why are you still Edmund’s dog? Do you bark when he ignores you to get attention?”

“You!” Bart’s face darkened and he glared at Bai Xi. Looking at the delicate beauty on her young face, and her slightly protruding chest, his eyes became angry and greedy. That stupid b*tch was willing to offend him over a mutt? He had even resisted his savage urges so many times! He studied the girl, wanting to find panic hidden in her eyes. But greeted by her stubbornness, Bart’s heart actually skipped a beat. His gaze softened, filling with pity and lust.

Reaching toward her shoulder, he said gently, “Do you still believe that he can protect you? Do you know just how many people he has offended? Come with me. As long as you’re obedient, I won’t let anyone touch you…”

“Too bad she’s with me.” A hoarse voice sounded behind him, causing his hand to freeze. Bart turned around like he had seen a ghost. Behind him, a tired white-haired youth smiled toward Bai Xi. “Sorry, there were a lot of tests and it took some time.” Finally, his gaze landed on Bart’s frozen hand, and his eyes became cold as if he were looking at a heap of garbage. “Can you take your dirty hand away now?”

“Didn’t you know you had the guts to come.” Bart suppressed his fury and smiled without moving his facial muscles. “Hopefully you won’t be scared. We prepared a long show and I promise it’ll be fascinating.” He slit his neck with his finger. “We’ll see.”

“As you please.” Ye Qingxuan bent over and wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulder to taunt Bart. Smiling, he watched as fury filled Bart’s eyes, and the boy stormed away.

And then his smile stiffened because Bai Xi had stepped on him where no one could see. “I’m going to bite you if you don’t let go,” Bai Xi said through clenched teeth in a voice only the two could hear.

Ye Qingxuan chuckled quietly. “I’m just playing with him. It’s so interesting.”

“How come you get to hug me?” Bai Xi glared at him. “Next time, you stand in the front and I’ll carry you bridal-style. How about that?”

“…Cousin, with your strength…how about no.” Ye Qingxuan stroked her hair tenderly and Bai Xi nearly exploded.

“I’m gonna kill you!”

—

“Okay, that is all for the general rules. Next, we can begin practicing.” At the front, Brian had finally finished explaining the rules and paused. His gaze swept past Edmund and, seeing the boy’s expression, he nodded, revealing a chilling smile. Raising his voice, he looked around the crowd. “Next, which student will voluntarily demonstrate a duel between musicians?”

He emphasized the word ‘voluntarily.’ It was clear that Edmund had talked with him beforehand. Nothing could be said, even if Ye Qingxuan was injured later.

“Sir, I want to challenge the student beside me. I believe he will voluntarily demonstrate for everyone,” Bart said, raising his hand.

The crowd split immediately, forming two separate circles around the two. Whispers spread throughout. It was clear everyone knew what would happen.

Bart looked back at Ye Qingxuan. The youth stood quietly and just nodded, not revealing anything else. “I will make sure you lose your dignity in front of everyone.” Bart talked as he smiled, his voice menacing and deep. “Something like Music History should never have existed in the Royal Academy of Music.”

“Don’t brag about things that you have no control,” Ye Qingxuan said quietly. “My father taught me this when I was three years old. It seems that elites start their education late.”

“It seems that you want to die.” Bart wiped the smile off his face.

—

“Please come forward.” Before the crowd, Brian stood in the center of the square. A carving of a snake was under his feet. The long snake eating its own tail wrapped around the heart of the square, the fierce struggle displayed on the stone floor. The exaggerated yet detailed design made it seem not like an inanimate object, but like the corpse of a terrifying creature, its pain preserved in the stone.

“Do you have anything else to say?” Brian stood between the two and asked, seeming fair and just.

“No need.” Ye Qingxuan shook his head. “I don’t like trouble, so if we can solve this in one blow, then let’s do it.”

Bart blanched. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that today, I’m going to fight ten students.”

The entire square fell silent at that. Ten?

In the shadows, Dominic thought of something and laughed. “I thought it would be boring to see a bunch of kids play around, but I didn’t expect that there would be a wolf today. Challenge to be the concertmaster in the first practice lesson?”

—

“Concertmaster challenge?” When everyone finally processed what Ye Qingxuan meant, chaos erupted like boiling water.

“He’s going to challenge to be the concertmaster within the first ten days of school? This is too much.”

“Is it possible?” The person behind the speaker shook his head.

“Probably just go big or go home,” someone murmured. “At least he’ll lose with more honor this way.”

Even Brian, as the judge, was shocked. “Concertmaster challenge?”

He turned to look at Ye Qingxuan, carefully studying this quiet youth for the first time. Humble clothes, lack of alchemy equipment, no elite emblem, an Easterner. He furrowed his brows, as if he was looking at an idiot.

“You?” Someone in the crowd snickered and laughter scattered throughout mockingly. Clapping, someone said, “Maybe it’ll work and Music History is going to make a comeback! The day of reunification is here!” His voice was full of mockery.

Edmund’s expression was twisted. He clenched his fist, running a finger over his thumb. His evil eyes said, “If this guy is allowed to speak freely, he might cause more trouble.”

“We can’t keep a curse like him around,” said a cold youth beside him.

Edmund shivered at the voice and finally set down his determination.

—

“Student, you need to pass the school office’s assessment to qualify for the concertmaster position.” At the front, Brian finally resisted the urge to laugh. With slight mockery, he said, “It’s always good to dream big, but it’s most important to focus on reality.”

Laughter rang through the crowd again, but Ye Qingxuan did not move.

“Really? Here’s the pass from the school office. Take it.” Ye Qingxuan pulled out a certificate stamped by the school office from his pocket. “It took so much work and there were a bunch of tests to take. I was almost late.”

Brian’s face turned as white as a sheet. Looking at the certificate in his hands and seeing the red stamp, he felt as if he was hallucinating. How many days had it even been? Someone passed through the school office? What did they even do all day? They just let a downtown redneck pass the tests? Little did he know, the school office was upset too.

The dratted Easterner appeared at the door before the sun had rose, saying that he wanted to pass the test for the concertmaster challenge. He did not give them any time to prepare. They had wanted to skirt around the problem, but who knew that this guy would take out the school regulations and cases of past requests to fight back!

Unable to refuse, the school office grudgingly called over all the teachers of the office and gave him six tests that a first level student should never be able to pass. They included the Battle of Asgard and Burgundy, music history of the Sacred City and other subjects that were notoriously difficult, labeled as “immediate fail” subjects. They even added in an Advanced Number Theory final exam question. The concertmaster challenge included many academic things too, so they decided to make this fool give up once and for all.

But they had not known that this misguided white-haired guy had grown up in the hidden archive room of the Church library. Even theological debate would not be a problem for him. He even received full marks on the test problem that had been created just to eliminate students.

When he received the test, Ye Qingxuan was ecstatic.

In the end, the school office had no choice but to accept it, and give him the certificate. This guy was looking for death anyway.

He was merely a student, while there were others who had already reached Rhythm Level in the first year. There were people who were close to becoming an official musician!

—

“Are you crazy?” Bart cast a look of disdain at Ye Qingxuan. “This is a friendly fight between musicians, not crude fighting between commoners. If you do what you always do, you’ll get expelled.”

Ye Qingxuan glanced at him. “I think that I know the rules much better than those who don’t even flip through the student handbook.”

“This, this doesn’t follow the rules.” Brian was completely taken aback by the school office’s certificate. As if grabbing onto the last bit of protection, he said, “Even if you passed the test, you still need to notify the entire Academy. Now, you…”

“Please don’t worry about this.” Ye Qingxuan took out his pocket watch and glanced at the time. “I think that everyone knows by now, right?” As he said this, he turned back and glanced at the crowd. The troll senior whistled and gestured that everything was going as planned.

“Spread rumors? I’m the best…” Charles thought, laughing.

Before he could finish laughing, a commotion sounded from the entrance of the square.