Chapter 519: Chapter-519
He couldn’t even process what had just happened. A tutor? Striking a prince of the imperial bloodline? It was punishable by death!
By the door, the terrified eunuch fell to his knees, his entire body trembling violently as if he were witnessing the end of the world.
Heena casually dusted off her leather gloves, looking down at the stunned boy with an expression of pure, innocent concern.
"Oh, thank the heavens," Heena sighed dramatically, looking at the shattered porcelain on the floor. "I was just saving His Highness. If that vase had fallen directly onto his foot, it would have surely broken a toe. What a tragic accident that would have been."
The eunuch stared at her, horrified. Everyone in the room knew exactly what she had just done—she had just mercilessly beaten a prince of the realm. But who was going to speak up? Who dared to correct the terrifying Madam of the Vanguard?
Besides, Heena already had her invincible Plan B fully loaded. If anyone dared to utter a word to the Emperor, she would simply quote the Empress herself. Hadn’t the Empress explicitly told her to use ’whatever means necessary’ to ensure her dear son grew into a proper, disciplined heir? Heena was simply following royal orders.
"You... you!" the Ninth Prince finally sputtered, tears of humiliation and rage pricking his eyes. "How dare you strike me?!"
Screaming in pure, unadulterated fury, the prince scrambled to his feet. He lowered his head and charged directly at Heena, throwing his fists wildly to hit her.
Heena simply sighed. As the prince rushed her, she effortlessly sidestepped.
With his momentum entirely unchecked, the prince stumbled forward, tripping over the hem of his own extravagant golden robes, and faceplanted spectacularly onto the hard floor.
"Uh-uh, dear Prince," Heena mocked softly, looking down at him. "You missed."
Internally, however, Heena was slightly irritated. ’’Wasn’t this brat performing relatively well for the last few days? He was actually doing his homework. What on earth triggered this sudden regression into a rabid dog?’’ She narrowed her eyes. Given his explosive anger, it looked like someone in the palace had definitely provoked him before she arrived.
The prince pushed himself up off the floor. His golden crown was askew, his robes were a mess, and his face was entirely red with absolute fury.
"You dare to dodge me?!" he screamed, pointing a trembling finger at her. "I order you, you completely insolent bitch! Stay exactly in your place and take your punishment!"
Heena raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Is that so, Your Highness? Sure."
She stood perfectly still, crossing her arms behind her back.
But as the prince let out a battle cry and charged at her again, Heena didn’t look at him. She glanced slightly to the side, looking directly at the hovering, translucent blue form of the digital System.
She gave the System a very deliberate, pointed ’blink’.
The System immediately shook its holographic head in rapid protest. ’’[Host, absolutely not! I am a highly advanced digital intelligence, not a physical brawler!]’’
Heena’s eyes darkened, shooting the floating screen an icy, terrifying death glare that promised absolute hell if it didn’t comply.
The System digitally gulped. It gave a stiff, reluctant nod.
As the prince closed the final few feet, Heena didn’t move a single muscle.
Suddenly, the blue hologram of the System surged forward. Ramping up its physical manifestation protocols to the absolute maximum, it flew directly into the prince’s path with all its power.
’’BAM!’’
To the terrified eunuch and the prince, it looked entirely like dark magic. The prince suddenly stopped dead in his tracks in mid-air, as if he had violently slammed into an invisible brick wall.
"URGH!" the Ninth Prince choked, his eyes practically bulging out of his skull. He clutched his stomach, the wind completely knocked out of his lungs, and collapsed onto his knees, gasping for air.
Off to the side, completely invisible to the humans in the room, the System was floating erratically in circles. Its usually crisp blue holographic body was violently flashing a bright, warning red like a ripe tomato.
’’[Warning... sensory feedback overload...]’’ the System stammered digitally, holding its virtual head as it spun dizzily in the air. ’’[Target... neutralized... System requires a reboot...]’’
Heena looked down at the gasping prince, then glanced at her dizzy, red-faced System, and allowed a thoroughly satisfied smirk to cross her face. Discipline was truly an art form.
Heena glanced out of the corner of her eye at the translucent blue System, which was currently stumbling erratically through the air, completely failing to fly in a straight line.
She had to admit, the digital entity was really putting its all into acting like a physical being. ’’What the heck is all this rebooting nonsense?’’ Heena thought, rolling her eyes. ’’You don’t even have a physical stomach. Stop being so dramatic.’’
Her attention snapped back to the floor as the Ninth Prince let out a loud, pained groan.
He was still clutching his stomach, his knees pulled up to his chest. He glared up at her, his face red with a mixture of pain and pure outrage. "What the heck did you do?!" he shouted, gasping for breath. "It felt like a solid metal rod just flew directly into my stomach!"
Heena tilted her head, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Well... considering the shape of the impact, I would say it felt much more like a metal ’ball’, wouldn’t you agree?"
Off to the side, the spherical blue hologram of the System violently beeped in offense.
The prince’s eyes widened as the realization hit him. "I knew it!" he screamed, pointing a trembling finger at her. "I knew it! It was something you did! You used some kind of dark martial arts on me!"
Heena simply shrugged her shoulders, her face falling into a mask of perfectly innocent, mocking reverence. "How would I ever dare, Your Highness? This humble servant would not dream of harming a hair on the imperial prince’s head. You simply tripped over your own anger."
"I am telling you to get out!" the prince roared, ignoring her obvious sarcasm. He weakly raised his arm, pointing a shaking finger directly toward the heavy wooden doors. "Get out of my pavilion right now!"
Heena looked at him calmly, entirely unbothered by the royal tantrum. "Well, I certainly can get out. I would love to, in fact. But what about the paper?"
The prince scowled, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead. "Paper? I don’t need any paper! I am not taking one of your stupid exams today! Just leave!"
Heena clicked her tongue, gently shaking her head. "No, no, my prince. It looks like you have gotten one fundamental thing wrong here. It is not an exam paper for you to take. It is a paper that ’I’ need."
Without waiting for his permission, Heena snapped her fingers and pointed at the terrified eunuch hovering near the doorway. "You. Go fetch a fresh sheet of imperial paper and an ink brush. Now."
The eunuch squeaked in terror, practically tripping over his own robes as he scrambled out of the room. Exactly three minutes later, he scurried back in, completely out of breath, and placed a pristine white sheet of paper, an inkstone, and a brush onto the low side desk before retreating to the wall.
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