Kelly had known for a long time that William Carter was a “golden finger”—he never tired of reminding her of this fact and took great pride in it. Kelly had also witnessed William Carter’s pickpocketing skills firsthand: when they were heading north to the Free City, William Carter had once demonstrated his “golden finger” technique for her—right in front of Kelly, he took the hair ornament from her head with such incredible speed that for a moment, Kelly thought an extra hair ornament had appeared out of thin air. It wasn’t until she reached up to touch her hair that she realized it was the very one she’d just been wearing!

Even now, Kelly still felt that only the phrase “unparalleled skill” could describe William Carter’s craft.

So when Ethan Green flew into a rage over four chess pieces turning into three, Kelly immediately guessed that it must have been William Carter’s doing. Although she didn’t know how he’d managed to bypass the rules of the chessboard and forcibly remove a piece, there was only one person present who could pull off such a feat: William Carter.

And the ensuing chaos was clearly orchestrated by him as well. Those two angry shouts were obviously ventriloquism meant to stir up trouble, and in the midst of the brawl, Kelly saw clearly that William Carter kept sneaking around behind the crowd, taking cheap shots—just from what Kelly saw, he kicked Ethan Green at least twenty times.

With William Carter’s skills, he was simply too much at ease in a scuffle among kids his own age. Maybe he had no talent for dreamweaving, but when it came to fighting, no one could match him… Still, even Kelly hadn’t expected that William Carter would stir up such a farce all for the sake of Ethan Green’s Tower Chess set!

“Aww, don’t make me sound so devious. I just wanted to win the game, that’s all. Who told that spoiled rich kid to have no sportsmanship and start throwing punches after losing?”

William Carter shrugged nonchalantly, then grinned as he held up a huge chessboard. “Here, let’s use this one from now on.”

Kelly sighed, knowing there was no way she could talk this easygoing Penglai boy out of his thieving ways. She could only say, “This chess set is too conspicuous. People will recognize it.”

“No problem. We just won’t let outsiders see us playing.”

“As if it’s that easy! There are so many students and teachers at Yangcheng Academy. Go ahead, find a place where no one else will see us.”

William Carter blinked. “Isn’t this place good enough?”

Kelly snapped, “Are you planning to come to my dorm every day from now on!?”

“Why not? Or you could come to my dorm. I have a single room anyway—just lock the door, and who’s going to see?”

“Are you kidding me! What would people think if they saw us!?”

“What would they think?” William Carter asked, holding the chessboard, looking completely baffled, with no idea why Kelly was upset.

Kelly glared at William Carter for a while, but realized he truly didn’t get what she meant. She wanted to explain further, but suddenly her face flushed for no reason, and the words that had been on the tip of her tongue died away, never to be spoken.

“This idiot…”

Looking at William Carter’s still youthful and delicate face, Kelly remembered that he was really just an eleven- or twelve-year-old child, and had spent the past decade locked in an underground maze undergoing harsh training. While he wasn’t completely ignorant of the world, he did suffer from a severe lack of common sense.

During the week she’d traveled north with him, Kelly had often been troubled by this. Fortunately, after entering Yangcheng Academy, life was relatively simple and William Carter hadn’t caused any more trouble—until today, when he’d stirred up such a mess… “He really is a troublesome idiot…”

She sighed inwardly, but as she quietly met William Carter’s gaze, Kelly found she simply couldn’t stay angry with him. So, before her cheeks could get any hotter, she said firmly, “In any case, there’s absolutely no way we’re playing chess behind locked doors in the dorm. Just give up on that idea!”

“Sigh…” William Carter put the chessboard away with a look of disappointment, then pulled out a money pouch. Opening it, he revealed a pile of forty or fifty gleaming gold coins.

“Or you could use this money to buy a new set. I heard they released a new version of Tower Chess last month.”

Kelly asked curiously, “Where did you get this money…? Never mind, forget I asked.”

Because the pouch was clearly embroidered with a blue “Green” character.

“Ethan Green really has terrible luck running into you. Losing something this valuable, he’s probably going to go crazy.”

Though she spoke as if she pitied Ethan Green, when she thought of that blue-blooded noble’s arrogant demeanor, Kelly couldn’t help but feel a bit of schadenfreude. For honorary nobles, watching the high nobles suffer had become a rare daily amusement.

Although Yangcheng Academy claimed that all students were equal, that was only in theory. In reality, over eighty percent of the students came from noble families—not honorary nobles, but true aristocrats. And among them, a full ten percent were members of the most exalted blue-blooded families. So, in terms of talent, background, and even numbers, the honorary nobles and commoners were at a clear disadvantage, making them the biggest targets for bullying. Even though Kelly had achieved results on par with most of the great nobles, in the eyes of people like Ethan Green, she was still someone unworthy of notice.

It was impossible for the honorary nobles not to harbor resentment about this.