Everyone watched as their Young Miss intimately pulled Xiao Mo to sit next to her at the large main table. A few people wanted to speak up, but they eventually chose not to.
No matter how their hearts boiled with dissatisfaction, there was no way they could voice it to their Young Miss. Their Cult had a strict hierarchy that was determined by one's personal strength and background. Their Young Miss had both, being the daughter of the Cult Leader and the most talented individual in their generation.
They couldn't possibly tell her how to behave without suffering the consequences.
Bae-min was the first one to recover. She shot her Big Sis a curious look and wondered why she was acting so differently towards this Young Master from the Han Clan.
By different, she didn't mean her Big Sis had never shown such emotions to someone before, but rather because she had stayed inside her courtyard for two weeks after the marriage announcement. Everyone thought she was against it.
So, to see her acting so casually towards Xiao Mo now, she indeed seemed to be acting differently.
'Did she perhaps take a fancy to him because of his appearance?'
Bae-min thought to herself as she stole a glance at Xiao Mo's face across Bai Luo.
'Well, he is handsome. Even Big Sis' other suitors are leagues below him. But was Big Sis so superficial? Even if he's handsome, who knows how many times he's been with those brothel girls.'
Bae-min wasn't the only one who had these thoughts, everyone was wondering if their Young Miss had been bewitched by this good-for-nothing's appearance.
Thinking back on how she had complimented his looks, everyone couldn't help but become dazed.
The three who were more affected by this were Joon-sik, In-ho, and Baek-hyun, the three male Young Clan Heirs.
But especially Joon-sik, the leader of them.
His usually calm and self-assured expression was crumbling under the scene of Bai Luo picking up a few side dishes and placing them in Xiao Mo's bowl unprompted.
Joon-sik's heart burned with jealousy so much so that he openly glared at Xiao Mo.
As if sensing his intense stare, Xiao Mo paused eating and glanced up to meet his gaze.
But after a mocking snort, Xiao Mo ignored Joon-sik's attempts at seeking attention and went back to burying his head in his bowl of rice.
A faint sound of snapping echoed out amongst the chatter of the disciples. A few people looked over at Joon-sik's position at the large table and saw that his chopsticks had become fragmented pieces in his clenched fist.
They didn't say a word and instead continued their conversation like they hadn't seen anything.
The main table was rather large, able to hold nearly a hundred people at once. However, there were at least two hundred fifty youths of the younger generation attending this banquet. So, while the stronger Clans sat at the main table, the weaker Clans sat at the somewhat smaller tables temporarily situated around the main table.
Bai Luo's unexpected attitude towards Xiao Mo was momentarily forgotten as the banquet went underway. A few disciples chose not to use their cultivation bases to dissolve the alcohol in their systems and ended up becoming drunk. Thus, the hall quickly descended into a noisy mess, with even a few people getting up onto the table before being quickly dragged off.
Xiao Mo and Mei-Mei, who were unaccustomed to the Demonic Cult's unrestraint behavior, were mentally taken aback.
Perhaps noticing his discomfort, Bai Luo leaned over to whisper into Xiao Mo's ear.
"Young Master Xiao Mo, I hope you can forgive them for their unsightly behavior. It's not common for them to get a break from cultivation since most of the teachers in the Academy are extremely strict. So, when they do, they tend to become like this."
Xiao Mo felt a tingling sensation enter his right ear and worm its way down his spine. That tingling sensation even made his right shoulder twitch a little, almost causing him to flinch back. However, he forcefully controlled himself and instead paused eating to scratch his right ear while saying.
"It's fine, I didn't particularly expect people from the Demonic Cult to have proper decorum. However, it does ruin one's appetite."
Xiao Mo placed down his bowl and chopsticks before making a sweeping glance over the boisterous disciples. A frown slowly formed on his face.
Xiao Mo wasn't speaking low so a few people at the table heard him.
Joon-sik was the first one to react. He snorted before rebutting derisively.
"For someone who's been so openly disrespectful since coming to our Demonic Cult when we've humbly invited you as a guest, it's ironic you speak of having proper decorum."
Xiao Mo casually gave Joon-sik a side-eyed glance, before completely ignoring him.
Upon seeing this, Joon-sik's jaw visibly clenched. It would have been better if Xiao Mo had retorted so he could voice his discontent, but after getting blatantly ignored, it caused him to become stifled by his bottled-up grievances.
"Young Master Xiao Mo, since you've finished eating why don't we visit my courtyard?"
Joon-sik, who was stirring in his anger, had his eyes almost pop out of his head when he heard those words. He wondered if his ears had suddenly malfunctioned.
Not only Joon-sik but Bae-min and the others close by were shocked.
Their reaction was not because their Young Miss had never invited someone to her courtyard before, but rather, it was because of the implications of her doing so with someone like Xiao Mo. Especially when it was so late into the night.
Even Xiao Mo was taken aback by his fiancée's bold suggestion, which resulted in him not giving an immediate answer.
But before Xiao Mo could even refuse or agree, Bai Luo got up and then dragged him by the sleeve toward the exit.
Joon-sik watched with envy burning in his eyes as they went, while the others at the main table silently looked on. Out of them, only Sung-il, who had been sitting next to Xiao Mo, wore a thoughtful expression.
Soon, the silence spread to the entire hall as the other disciples situated at the smaller tables paused to observe with confused expressions as Bai Luo left the hall pulling Xiao Mo, while Ha-yoon and Mei-Mei followed in tow.
After these disciples asked around for the reason why their Young Miss left with that playboy, their confusion turned into dumbfoundment when they were told that she had invited him back to her courtyard.
Outside, Xiao Mo was still being pulled by the sleeve, and needless to say, he was baffled by this girl's behavior towards him.
After canceling his initial plan to cripple a few of those disciples from the Heavenly Demon Academy and cause enough chaos to annul the marriage, he concocted a backup plan that he thought would be difficult to carry out since he had to be alone with the daughter of the Cult Leader when they're in the main hideout of the Demonic Cult.
However, here he was with everything going according to plan without him even having to spare a brain cell worth of thought on how to do it.
With that said, Xiao Mo was far from complaining. He was just… confused.
Xiao Mo glanced down at his sleeve which was still being gripped by this girl with a thoughtful expression on his face, and for the first time, his mind wavered.
'I… Should I really go through with this plan just to annul the marriage?'
As Xiao Mo thought about his somewhat extreme plan, he unconsciously touched his chest to feel the small vial in his robes.
Truth be told, he wasn't entirely against this marriage. After all, like his Elder Brother and Father said, it didn't mean he couldn't find love elsewhere.
In fact, he didn't even have to live in the same household as this girl after they were married. He could continue to stay in his Clan and visit the Azure Pavilion, while she remained in the Demonic Cult.
Their marriage was just a means to an end to getting a paper that would symbolically solidify the relationship between the Demonic Cult and the Heavenly Murim Alliance.
Nothing more, nothing less.
There was no pressure for Xiao Mo to have kids since he was the third son. His older brother is the one who will become the Han Clan Patriarch, and with his talents, he will also be able to secure the Leader position of the Heavenly Murim Alliance, which was chosen by a strict set of criteria, with talent and background being the main ones.
Truly, Xiao Mo didn't have to be so averse to this marriage.
The only reason he was, was due to his Second Older Brother.
Thinking back to his brother Yoon-min and the incident surrounding his death, Xiao Mo's heart became filled with pain and unwillingness.
He didn't want to dance in the palm of his father's hand like some puppet. No, he absolutely refused to follow his father's wishes pertaining to anything that relates to his future.
Suddenly, Xiao Mo's mind cleared up and his hesitation to annul this marriage was completely wiped away.