To Be Crown, How Could Terrence Surrender Quietly

No one—not even Serena nor Zuo An—truly knows how powerful Dorian Owen is. His identity within the Assassin Alliance is a closely guarded secret.

Zuo An only knows one thing: Dorian Owen must not be harmed. If Serena causes anything to happen to Dorian, those fiercely protective old monsters of the Assassin Alliance would stop at nothing—even at the cost of their own lives—to kill her.

Of course, after Serena learned what kind of person Dorian really was, she couldn’t bring herself to kill him either. He may have come to assassinate her, but she genuinely couldn’t sense any malice from him at all.

Most likely, Dorian came after her either for fun or just to compete with Zuo An. Whatever the reason, Serena only planned to teach him a lesson—killing him was out of the question.

She’d considered it at first, but now she truly couldn’t do it. What kind of monster would she have to be to kill someone so foolish, so thick-skinned, and so utterly defenseless around her?

“I don’t know much about Dorian Owen either. His background in the Assassin Alliance is known to very few. But you don’t have to worry—as long as Zuo An is around, Dorian isn’t a threat. In fact, Dorian seems to be quite afraid of Zuo An. Plus, he needs something from me. As long as I’m still useful to him, he won’t try to kill me.” Serena said to William.

Seeing that Serena had already calculated the risks, William didn’t press further—he just urged her to stay alert. After all, money moves people’s hearts, and Serena’s head was worth tens of thousands of gold taels. There would always be someone tempted by that kind of fortune.

William’s concern was completely genuine, without a trace of self-interest. Remembering how he had begged favors for her everywhere not long ago, Serena felt her nose sting. Not wanting William to notice, she forced a careless smile and joked, “Don’t worry, William. Evil lives a thousand years—someone like me isn’t going to die so easily.”

“As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters.” William noticed Serena’s odd mood but didn’t say more, naturally changing the subject: “By the way, Serena, you sent someone over with an invitation early this morning—there must be something important?”

Serena quickly nodded. “I do have something I need your help with.”

“If you need anything, just say it.” William didn’t even ask what it was before agreeing—there’s no one else in this world he’d drop his guard for like he does with Serena.

Serena didn’t hold back; she explained Zed’s situation in full detail. William’s just-relaxed brow furrowed once again.

“Zed, the Young Lord of the Demon Sect, is not someone to mess with. I’ve heard things are unstable in the Demon Sect lately. If he’s run off from your place, and you can’t find him, things could get ugly.” The Wang family may not meddle in Jianghu affairs, but that doesn’t mean they’re without connections. Any clan that’s survived on the Nine Provinces for centuries is never simple.

“Something happened with the Demon Sect?” Serena asked. She had grown a bit over the past few years, but her foundation was still shallow. Building an intelligence network takes time, and compared to these great families, she was far behind in manpower and resources.

William nodded. “Apparently, the Demon Sect’s location has been exposed. The big orthodox sects in Jianghu, along with those who suffered at the Demon Sect’s hands years ago, have joined forces to wipe it out. The ones leading the charge are several sects whose names start with ‘Xuan.’” He was just short of saying outright that Skyvault Palace was targeting the Demon Sect.

Outsiders didn’t know about Serena’s connection to Skyvault Palace, but William did.

The Demon Sect had always hidden in the shadows, and the orthodox sects hated them with a passion—but could never find their lair.

Centuries had passed, and every year someone vowed to destroy the Demon Sect, but no one ever managed to break in. This time, though, the Demon Sect sent their Young Lord to Feng Manor, and right after, Skyvault Palace somehow learned their location. No one would believe that was just a coincidence.

At least, William didn’t believe it. There are no coincidences in this world—what people call ‘coincidence’ is just the result of someone’s careful planning. Once a trigger is pulled, everything unfolds in sequence, and to outsiders it looks random.

Serena understood the implication behind William’s words, but she truly knew nothing about it. She gave a bitter smile and looked at William. “I swear, I had no idea about any of this. Do you believe me, William?”

“Of course I believe you. I know your character, Serena—even if you disliked Zed, you’d never do something like that.” Most importantly, Serena would never cause trouble for Sean Xuan.

Serena had always felt indebted to Sean Xuan and would never drag him into a mess like this.

But outsiders don’t know that. If the Demon Sect is destroyed, it’s fine—but if it survives, I might end up as their enemy.” Serena genuinely felt unlucky; she was getting caught in the crossfire for no reason.

“Don’t worry, Serena. Now that I know about it, I’ll erase any traces that could lead back to you. No one will be able to connect you to this.” William brought it up mainly to remind Serena to stay cautious.

Getting mixed up with those bloodthirsty Jianghu killers is trouble. They don’t fear death, most have no family ties, and for the sake of revenge, they’ll keep coming one after another.

“Sorry to give you more work. I’ll look into it myself when I get back.” Serena swallowed her thanks before she could say it.

William smiled, picked up his tea, and took a sip. “It’s nothing, really. As for Zed’s disappearance, don’t worry—I’ll send people to look for him. You stay out of it; things aren’t safe outside right now.”

“What’s going on outside? Has something happened?” Serena thought of Ninth Royal Uncle’s late-night visit to the palace, and the fact that Prince Samuel and Dominic Zhai were both in the palace for talks. Her expression grew serious.

She’d thought only Eastlyn was in trouble, but now it seemed there was more to it.

“Have you heard anything about Westlyn?” The situation between Westlyn and Liancastle is well known among the upper echelons and the great families—anyone with influence has heard about it.