"This... this feeling is...?!"

Although Catherine averted her gaze, that familiar closeness lingered on Andrew's heart.

The first time seeing his sister's sister, he felt a "close familiarity", and the other person seemed to look at him implicitly (it's not wishful thinking! Andrew was sure it wasn't his imagination), which inevitably gave rise to some guilty thoughts.

And Andrew...

Alright, the moment Andrew locked eyes with the other, a strange sensation indeed rose in his heart.

But now, as that familiar closeness spread like dye in water, it grew stronger and stronger! How could Andrew be bothered by that guilty ambiguity?

Because this sense of closeness was precisely what he felt when he first met Barbara while treating her after she was injured by Humboldt.

It was clearly... the closeness that only the Owner of Strange Fire would bring to this Water Magic Lord!

"But this Princess Catherine is a Crimson Knight!"

Andrew felt the "Water God Mark" on his brow happily pulsing with that familiarity, as he exclaimed inside, "Could it be that a Crimson Knight also has some way to acquire the Eight Strange Fires? Just like how Capella cultivated the new version of Dragon Transformation Combat Technique?"

Andrew's thoughts spun rapidly, and he quickly thought of the first step of special training he received on the airship not long ago, the "Dragon Awakening Potion"—

The "Dragon Awakening Potion" originates from the Magic Guild's "Blood Refining Plan".

The Blood Refining Plan was to enable the Flame Warrior to acquire the Eight Strange Fires.

President Beiru managed to obtain relevant data on that plan, initially creating the "Dragon Awakening Potion" to see if it could enable a Crimson Knight to gain the Strange Fire!

So could it be that this Princess Catherine in front of him also underwent 'Dragon Awakening Potion' training like him?

Did the "Dragon Awakening Potion" developed by President Beiru truly allow a Crimson Knight to acquire the Strange Fire?

"Ah!"

Suddenly, Andrew cried out in pain, feeling a sharp pain in his waist.

He turned his head in astonishment and saw that at some point, Barbara had silently approached him, pinching a piece of soft flesh on his waist, and said fiercely, "If you keep staring at my second sister with that weird look, I'm going to get angry."

It was only then that Andrew came back to his senses.

After briefly exchanging pleasantries with Barbara, Dean Charlie, and others, Princess Catherine turned around again to look at the Dragon Taming Madam, Flame Turtle, and Capella across from her.

The Warrior Chief had fallen, but the matter wasn't over yet.

Andrew had various thoughts swirling in his mind just now, his gaze fixed on Catherine. Now, Catherine faced the three from the Magic Guild across from her, with her back to his group.

So, in the eyes of others, it seemed that Andrew's unblinking stare was precisely focused on Catherine's incredibly captivating back!

"Uh, this..." Andrew was momentarily dazed and hurriedly said, "I... I wasn't staring at your second sister's butt. Really!"

But he saw that not only Barbara but Susan and Havier also looked over. Susan showed a bit of dissatisfaction, while Havier looked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, extremely annoyed: "You bastard, what exactly are you looking at? I'm warning you, she's my second aunt!"

Clearly, nobody believed Andrew's explanation of "not looking at her butt"!

"..." Andrew moved his mouth but ultimately said nothing more, just forced a smile, knowing that explaining further would only make things worse at this moment.

The main issue was that when he was staring at Catherine, his gaze indeed unconsciously fell on her lower half.

Well, it's human nature...

"Alright, everyone focus, the matter isn't over yet," Dean Charlie said. "Be ready to support the second miss at any time, if there's a need for support."

This finally got Andrew out of his predicament.

Andrew let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Barbara came close to his ear again, snorted softly, and whispered, "It's normal that you couldn't help but look a few more times since my second sister is so beautiful. Not looking at all would seem too deliberate. But... don't be so blatant next time! Even if you look, do it secretly!"

"..." Andrew was left speechless once more.

He twitched his mouth a couple of times, thinking that now there's no washing this off even if he jumped into the Yellow River or the Lake of the Ocean under the Wildfire Territory.

Shaking his head, Andrew didn't respond to Barbara, instead softly asked, "Is your second sister—"

"Congratulations, Princess Catherine." A voice interrupted Andrew.

Barbara didn't pay much attention to Andrew's unfinished question and looked across again.

Andrew also temporarily suppressed the questions in his mind and looked over.

He saw the Dragon Taming Madam across from them, after being stunned by Catherine's strength, once again spoke up, with amazement, admiration, and a hint of jealousy, a very complex expression: "Congratulations, it seems you haven't quite reached Peter's level, but you're not far off either. And Peter at your age, Your Highness, certainly didn't have your level of prowess."

Saying this, the Dragon Taming Madam shook her head, suppressing the complex emotions on her face and in her heart, and continued, "So, Princess Catherine, are you planning to tacitly allow the Warm Fire Commerce Association to detain our Magic Guild's Third Saint Son?" Finishing, she looked earnestly into Catherine's eyes.

This phrasing had already become normal diplomatic language. The Dragon Taming Madam's previous attitude and words were anything but courteous.

But despite the change in tone, the meaning was still very clear—

They still didn't want to give up on Yorkshire!

This wasn't entirely unexpected to Andrew.

He held tightly onto the unconscious Third Saint Son in his hands, also looking at Catherine's back.

Andrew was also a bit curious about how Catherine planned to resolve the situation at hand? How would she respond to the three from the Dragon Taming Madam's side?

He only heard Catherine saying, "Oh, I'm not intending to tacitly allow the Warm Fire Commerce Association to detain your Saint Son."

Upon hearing this, the Dragon Taming Madam's face lit up with joy.

But then Catherine continued, speaking calmly, "Just now, Yorkshire violated our Royal Court's no-flight decree, naturally, our Royal Court will handle and punish it. Is there a problem with this? And..." Catherine said this, looking into the Dragon Taming Madam's eyes, "just now, apart from this unruly Yorkshire Saint Son, did anyone else from your side violate our Royal Court's flight ban?"

Dragon Taming Madam: "..." Her elderly face turned extremely unpleasant for a moment.

If before, after Andrew defeated Yorkshire, the Warm Fire Commerce Association was able to take the initiative.

Then now with Catherine seemingly speaking slowly and steadily, in reality, she was incredibly forceful! It was as if she was plainly telling the other party: I have detained the Saint Son, and with just cause! So stop with the endless babbling.

If they still didn't recognize the situation, then it would be more than just Yorkshire's violation of the no-flight decree that would be pursued—Catherine's final question clearly conveyed this intent!

At this point, Andrew finally understood why Barbara every time she mentioned her second sister, had that look of admiration like a little fangirl.

Andrew himself now even had the impulse to go from bystander to fanboy!

Because whether or not Catherine had the Eight Strange Fires, or how she acquired them... all of that could be set aside. What Andrew now confirmed was: in this Royal Court negotiation trip, the true leader on their side was not Dean Charlie, but Catherine.

Compared to Peter, who was at the level of a War God, Andrew didn't know who was stronger. But Catherine was probably a notch above Dean Charlie! This could be glimpsed from the different attitudes of the Dragon Taming Madam towards Dean Charlie and Princess Catherine.

Thinking of this, a thought suddenly flashed in his mind, "Between Barbara's second sister and the female assassin from the Magic Guild, who is stronger? In terms of strength, the female assassin is naturally stronger, but in terms of speed, even the rapid burst of the Warrior Chief seemed to fall short of Princess Catherine's speed just now?"

The thought of comparing the two flashed quickly through his mind, but Andrew brushed it aside.

He looked towards the other side.

The question now was, he thought, could the Magic Guild accept Catherine's assertiveness, and under the condition of Yorkshire being captured, continue the Royal Court negotiations?