Hidden genius: Black belly snake

Chapter 129: Disciple fees Part3

Xander coldly gazed at the blathering woman, the grin on his face being one part warm and ten parts evil.

She had after all wasted almost 40 plus hours of his time, so he decided to let her suffer a little longer.

And when he finally opened his mouth to respond to her, it was an absolute fatal one-shot blow.

"Weren't you expelled from the alchemy association recently?" He asked, his voice drenched with mockery.

"Y..Yes?" Tang Yue hesitantly mumbled.

"Tsk. Tsk. It would be such a pity if a talented genius of this caliber is not able to continue studying alchemy." He shook his head in regret, albeit an obviously fake one.

Tang Yue gulped. Was he going to reinstate her back in the association?

That wasn't quite what she had wanted. The money would have been better. But it was not too bad of an outcome either

Thinking that her problems were finally about to be resolved, the snake let out a small sigh of relief. Her heart calmed down a little and her nervousness as well reduced.

But just when she breathed in relief, Xander's deep and husky voice sounded once again.

"I have decided. I will be taking you in as my personal disciple." The mad man grinned and declared.

Huh? Huh? Tang Yue blinked and stared at the hateful guy with her jaw touching the ground.

Personal disciple? What? What the hell?

If she thought of four ways that he could screw her over, the jerk always picked the fifth unexpected way and screwed her over even worse.

Damn it all! Tang Yue clenched her fists tightly to support herself.

I knew it! This bastard has it in for me! She bit her lips in frustration.

Who knows what this personal disciple business is? I don't want to be a lackey to this hateful jerk! She cried inside but could only helplessly nod outside.

Not waiting for her to accept or deny the offer, Xander coolly waved his hand at her and continued on with the next task at hand.

The snake, who was at the center of attention, was now left alone to contemplate by herself. 

What am I supposed to do now? That was the big question on Tang Yue's mind. 

After hesitating a bit, she decided to err on the side of caution.

If she left the courtroom just like that, the man would probably not even contact her in the next few lunar cycles.

He was after all the ruler of Eldoria, the Crown Prince of the biggest elven settlement. Surely, he had other things to attend to than keeping track of her whereabouts.

Besides everyone knew that the Crown Prince did not have any personal disciples even though he was one of the three alchemy grandmasters in Eldorian land.

So there was no pre-established system for her to follow and no set rules holding her back. 

This could actually work! This is just a title. Who would even care about it? The snake grinned after having figured out a loophole in this debacle.

She silently prayed to her ancestors to not let her down again and tried to casually slip out of the courtroom.

But of course how could it be that simple?

"Where are you headed to, my dear disciple?" Xander's cold voice resounded behind her. "You have a long list of tasks to finish."

Ah~ Tang Yue stood frozen in her tracks and turned around. He is still paying attention to me? Her head hurt. She bowed slightly and waited. 

"Since we are in the middle of the courtroom, you can pay respect to your master later. For now, take this jade slip and prepare everything written on it."

Before Tang Yue could respond, something flew into her hands. She silently gripped it and held back her tears. 

Damn you bastard! Who is whose Master?! I already have a deviant as a Master! Why would I need another asshole? She could only silently curse her bad luck.

"What are you staring at?" Xander chuckled. "Because of you, I have to personally prepare Devil Awakening pills with the original formula and compensate for the different clans."

"Don't you think you should at least take some responsibility for the mess you created?"

"Yes, your highness. I apologize for the inconvenience." Tang Yue smiled bitterly and bowed.

"Hinata will fill you in on the details," Xander muttered, pointing to one of his palace aides.

Tang Yue nodded and followed the palace aide out of the courtroom. But she almost forgot something and turned around to ask. "Your highness, my 200 billion gems?"

She already knew it was useless to ask but things have come to this extent, so why not clarify this money matter also?

"Oh of course. I do owe you 200 billion gems, don't I?" Xander chuckled wryly.

Tang Yue's eyes lit up and a slight hope sparked in her heart.

But alas it was quashed the next instant when the mad man blurted out bluntly. "Consider it as your disciple fees."

Tang Yue gaped in astonishment. She felt as if she had just been struck by a bolt of tribulation lightning. Her body trembled and her heart was raging with fury!

My 200 billion gems! My pampered princess life! 

You bought my pills damn it! Now, why are you not giving me 200 billion gems??? 

Wahhh! This is cheating!!! 

Tang Yue gnashed her teeth and cursed the asshole on the gigantic crystal throne, but what could she possibly do?

She could only turn and silently follow the palace aide, as the royal courtroom chamber doors closed behind her back.

Damn it all Tang Yue rubbed her temples as she walked.

She was a survivor. She didn't mind selling out if the dice rolled her way but this damned thug he was eating the cake without paying for it!!

What bullshit! Damn you bastard! See how many tabs I open under your name! Hmph! I am going to spend every last bit of your wealth!!

She mumbled to herself and continued following the elf Hinata.

They had already met up with Lotte who was also following Hinata now.

Tang Yue was busy cursing a certain someone in her mind that she didn't exactly pay attention to where they were headed towards. 

But Lotte sure did and he had a wide jubilant smile on his face. Finally things were working out for the princess! He happily walked along feeling very elated on behalf of Tang Yue.

The trio walked for a while and then Hinata stopped. "Your highness, please come this way. This will be your chamber from now on." She bowed and respectfully spoke.

Tang Yue absent-mindedly nodded and smiled weakly. "Meh. Whatever. These days my living arrangements are changing every day." She sighed inwardly.

She indifferently looked around and observed her new surroundings, when suddenly her emerald eyes widened like boiled fire chicken eggs. "What the heck?" She cursed out aloud.

The walls and the floor around her were no longer the palatial marble white. They were instead a pale shade of gray. And this was not because of some random impurity or lower grade stones! 

This particular corner of the palace had a special array set up around it with the help of high-grade runes. Hence the background color of this side of the palace was a light shade of gray.

Everyone knew this. This was not the most important fact about this chamber.

The most important thing was

"This This Are we in the Crown Prince private quarters?" Tang Yue stuttered, her voice visibly shaken.

"Yes, your highness. As his majesty's person disciple, you are required to stay here in one of the chambers and be available to him at all times of the day."

The palace aide elf answered flatly as a matter of fact. She couldn't help but feel slightly surprised by the reactions of this Princess.

Previously she had to suffer from head to toe just to keep Lady Charlotte and the other consorts away from this side of the palace, but now this princess was acting unexpectedly sad and aggrieved? even though she was just given an all-access permit??

Why are all these consorts crazy? Hinata sighed.

"Can't I continue to stay at the Zither palace?" Tang Yue asked again.

Xander hadn't given any specific instructions to this elf in front of her. So she wanted to make sure that the middle-aged woman was not making up rules on the spot.

"Sorry, your highness. But his majesty already informed me about this yesterday night."

"You are required to stay here and work from here at all times, except when heading out for chores or missions."

"In case of missions, they have to be reported to his majesty first and have to be pre-approved by him."

"Wait, did you say yesterday night?" Tang Yue asked, completely appalled and enraged.

Realization suddenly dawned on her. This bastard was never planning on paying her!

Hinata nodded solemnly, slightly wondering if she had let slip some unnecessary information.

Tang Yue remained silent for a long time. She then muttered indignantly. "Fine, good. Good. I will play this game."

"I will pay you back for this one day! You swindler!" She silently resolved in her heart.