thanks for the chapter! Always appreciate the work you put in
wonder what's stopping Yiyoung from showing up... last minute talk with someone or a gambit to push her fame up that last bit...? Would be tragic to miss out on Lian info so close to clearing that quest lol
Her reputation doesn't need her to win to rise.
I said similar thing in the other version, but this is basically her shooting first.
The Duke is trash and won't care about resorting to dirty tactics to get what he wanted (like claiming the brother is the one who got the kill even though it was the 'mysterious sword master')
That's why she can pull this, because the reputation of the family is bad enough for the people to lean into the suspicion.
If she fight and win, sure the people will talk about her for a bit but afterward they'll lose interest and move on because the tournament ended (and it's not like she'll show off her full power)
But by ending it this way, not only will the rumor mill still talk about her strength (since the opponent resorted to tricks instead of fighting fair) but it'll also make people keep eyes on the family to see if they'll try anything.
Because Yi-young is using the Cassieu name, the Duke might try to target them especially when they've got 2 vulnerable targets.