When Shane descended from the sky riding on You Lin and landed on the Beast Riding Square specifically prepared for those who held Ride Beasts, the surrounding knights, civil servants, servants, and even the nobles all bowed to him in greeting.
Shane leapt down from You Lin and, while patting You Lin’s head, he used the skill "Tame" to infuse Magic Power into its body, making You Lin emit a comfortable cry as he looked around at the respectful people bowing to him, feeling inevitably moved.
It seemed his treatment had truly changed completely.
Having revealed part of his own power, as well as the existence of Ai Yi and Lilith, his status in the eyes of others had become completely different from the past.
At least, Shane did not believe that these people were respecting him with such reverence just because he was an earl.
While the earl was indeed an upper-level noble, he was merely at the very bottom of upper-level nobles and was not due such attention and respect that merited everyone bowing to him upon arriving at the Royal Palace.
There was also the fact that he had become the Kingdom’s fiancé-to-be, betrothed to Luoqi, but merely being a fiancé should not warrant such treatment so easily.
Not to mention, wasn’t Elder once the Princess’s fiancé?
Would he have received such treatment?
Probably not only did he not receive it, but he was also largely ignored by many.
Part of it might be because Liya’s influence was not as high as Luoqi’s, but more so because Elder himself had no significant status, little capability, and even notorious, leading people to look down on him.
What? You say he is a son of a duke?
That’s just being a duke’s son.
Bluntly put, those so-called young masters of nobility are arrogant and proud only because they have the backing of respectable families, not because their own statuses are particularly high.
Because their fathers haven’t yet retired, and they haven’t inherited the title, except for a few heirs who are already designated, the rest of the noble progeny may either be dispatched to the frontiers or be given a minor official position if they fail the competition for inheritance—it might seem impressive now, but the future is uncertain.
Elder was still in a better situation; as the only heir of the Lucica family, he was destined to inherit from Duke Lucica’s family. Although many people were not optimistic about him, they wouldn’t necessarily offend him to his face.
But to make others bow to him with such deference was impossible.
In the Royal Palace, probably only ordinary knights, servants, and minor nobles would bow to someone like Elder with such reverence.
As for guard knights and upper-level nobles higher than an earl, they might be polite in a few words to this young master who hasn’t yet inherited his title, but truly flattering him was out of the question.
In contrast, Shane’s current treatment was not only far superior to Elder’s but also incomparable to those dukes and marquises.
This wasn’t only because Shane was Luoqi’s fiancé; it was also due to the powerful support behind him, and because Shane was not just any young noble lord, but a true earl with a title.
One could say that in the Kingdom, Shane’s status had completely surpassed those of his peer noble young masters, exceeded most of the nobility, and had reached a level comparable to Luoqi.
Now, even Anxi wouldn’t speak to Shane too casually, showing how special his status had become.
"The looks of envy and jealousy outnumber those of respect and fear by far..."
Feeling those gazes from all around and seeing envy and jealousy in the eyes of some in the crowd, Shane couldn’t help but smile inwardly.
It seemed, he, the earl who had claimed the Kingdom Treasure, was still seen as the public enemy in the hearts of many.
Shane didn’t put on airs, nor did he appear too accessible and briefly nodded back to the bowed heads before softly instructing You Lin to stay put, then proceeded to Luoqi’s chamber amid the watchful eyes of the crowd.
Along the way, everyone respectfully bowed to Shane, many faces filled with envy and jealousy.
However, Shane had already stopped paying them any attention and directly entered Luoqi’s chamber.
It’s worth mentioning that in Luoqi’s chamber, there were no longer those "lickspittles" who had been waiting there every day.
They seemed to have all vanished, leaving the outer hall completely empty, which Shane found somewhat unaccustomed to.
But it couldn’t be helped; Luoqi was already promised to someone, and how could those noble young masters serve as lickspittles now without blatantly offending Shane—certainly, their families would not agree.
"I won’t be bothered by those guys anymore!"
As soon as Shane entered Luoqi’s room, she joyfully rushed over to him, her elation apparent at a glance.
Shane, however, was taken aback by her enthusiastic reaction.
"Is it necessary?" Shane said irritably, "After all, they’re a bunch of noble young masters who have been fawning over you for years; keeping them as backups wouldn’t be bad, right?"
"What do you mean by backups? I don’t need them!" Luoqi wrinkled her little nose and huffed a few times, saying, "I’d rather they all disappear. They guard my room every day, making it so that whenever I go out, I get mobbed, and those coming to see me repeat_attempts to ingratiate themselves, desperately trying to push their way in. If it weren’t for them, I definitely would have found many opportunities to sneak out and have fun."