The secretary hurried over, urgency in his voice. “Minister, it’s already nine o’clock. The Royal House of Albion and the Goryeo Kingdom are starting to complain.”
“Leo must have encountered something urgent. Tell them to wait a bit longer!” Brennen said in a deep voice, taking out his phone to call Leo again. However, just like before, the call didn’t go through.
After nine o’clock, the audience in the exhibition center hall began to stir.
According to the announced schedule, at nine o’clock sharp, representatives from both sides were supposed to give brief speeches and then announce the start of the competition between Atrarian traditional medicine and Korean Medicine.
But now, Brennen’s seat on the podium was empty, and the Minister of Atrarian traditional medicine research was nowhere to be found.
“Neither the representative of Atrarian traditional medicine nor the Minister of Atrarian traditional medicine research is here. Are they both chickening out?” A representative from the Goryeo Kingdom mocked into the microphone.
His words immediately drew laughter from the Goryeo audience and some international supporters of the Goryeo Kingdom.
“Reliable sources say that people from the Goryeo Kingdom approached Leo before the competition!”
“I bet the Goryeo Kingdom promised him huge benefits to make him give up today’s competition.”
“That’s possible. It’s already past nine, and he’s still not here. It looks like Atrarian traditional medicine is going to be a joke today.”
The Atraria audience was anxious and buzzing with discussions.
In the front row, Sophia and her companions were also worried. Jessica kept urging Sophia to call Leo repeatedly.
“Minister, it’s already ten minutes past nine. If you don’t go in now, things might get out of control,” the secretary reminded Brennen again after running out from the hall.
Hearing this, Brennen craned his neck to look outside before turning and walking quickly into the hall.
On the podium, Brennen apologized loudly, “Dr. Leo is stuck in traffic and will be late. Please be patient and wait a little longer.”
“What do you mean, making all of us wait for one person? He must think he’s very important!” Seung Kim finally spoke up. “I despise people who have no sense of time. If he doesn’t show up in ten minutes, it will be considered a forfeit!”
Faced with Seung Kim’s harsh words, Brennen was momentarily speechless, his face extremely awkward.
Listening to the audience’s discussions, Brennen’s trust in Leo began to waver.
As time approached 9:20, the hall grew increasingly restless, with more and more jeers from the Goryeo audience.
With one minute left until 9:20, Seung Kim spoke again, this time directly addressing Prince George. “Your Highness, it seems Leo isn’t coming. There’s no need to wait any longer. You can announce the competition results now.”
Prince George nodded, glanced at Brennen, and seeing his bitter expression, took the microphone and said loudly, “Given that Mr. Bloomer from Atrarian traditional medicine has not arrived at the competition site according to the rules, I hereby announce that this competition between Atrarian traditional medicine and Korean Medicine is now…”
“Dr. Leo is here!”
Before Prince George could finish his sentence, a louder voice interrupted him.
The audience turned almost simultaneously towards the entrance of the hall.
Sure enough, Leo, whom the Atraria audience had been eagerly waiting for, appeared.
Amidst the cheers of the Atraria audience, Leo took a deep breath and walked straight to the podium.
“Dr. Leo, you’re late. I thought you wouldn’t come,” Seung Kim’s eyes narrowed. “If you’re scared, there’s no need to force yourself. The result will be the same anyway.”
Leo ignored Seung Kim and smiled warmly at Sophia when he saw her.
Leo’s disregard made Seung Kim’s face darken.
Brennen let out a long sigh of relief, took the microphone, and announced loudly, “The representative of Atrarian traditional medicine, Dr. Leo, has arrived! Now I announce that the exchange competition between Atrarian traditional medicine and Korean Medicine will begin…”
“Wait a minute!” Seung Kim suddenly shouted before Brennen could finish his sentence.
Everyone turned their eyes to Seung Kim.
“Dr. Kim, what’s wrong?” Anyone would be annoyed if interrupted so suddenly. Brennen suppressed his anger and asked.
“This competition between Korean Medicine and Atrarian traditional medicine is unprecedented and likely won’t happen again. I think we should make it more interesting,” Seung Kim said with a glint of cunning in his eyes as he looked at Leo. “Dr. Leo, if it’s just about winning or losing, it would be too dull. Since we have so many renowned media outlets and spectators here today, shouldn’t we make this competition more memorable?”
This old fox is really cunning.
Leo looked at him with a half-smile and asked, “Dr. Kim, what do you have in mind?”
“My idea is to raise the stakes a bit to make the competition more exciting and interesting. What do you think?” Seung Kim’s smile was insincere.
However, Seung Kim’s proposal played right into Leo’s hands. After a moment’s thought, Leo asked, “What kind of stakes?”
Seung Kim immediately replied, “The stakes are that if I win the competition, you will bow to me as your master in front of Prince George and all the international media and renounce your Atraria citizenship to join the Goryeo Kingdom!”
His words caused an uproar.
Although Leo knew that nothing good would come out of Seung Kim’s mouth, he didn’t expect him to propose such a humiliating bet.
If he lost, not only would he be humiliated, but Atrarian traditional medicine and his country would also be disgraced.
Before Leo could respond, Brennen immediately objected, “Dr. Kim, this bet is inappropriate.”
“Why is it inappropriate? I think it’s great. Does even the Minister think you’ll lose?” Seung Kim said smugly. “You don’t need to worry. Even if Dr. Leo loses and becomes my disciple, it won’t disgrace him.”
“Of course, if Dr. Leo really doesn’t want to be my disciple, he can just admit defeat without placing a bet.”
Seung Kim’s words were unbearable for the Atraria audience below; many couldn’t help but hurl curses at him.
The Goryeo audience also became agitated, voicing their support for Seung Kim while retaliating against those cursing him from Atraria.