Before the sun set, Celeste followed the same path that Ji Zhaoxi had taken him last time and arrived at the palace gates once again.
He looked at the soldier again: “I am Celeste. You can tell the king; he will confirm my identity.”
The soldier found this man, who hadn’t even set a single gem, utterly insufferable. It was normal not to afford precious stones, but at least he could have set some tiny diamonds.
To show up without even a single ant-sized diamond set somewhere was extremely rude. Even an ant-sized diamond would sparkle dazzlingly in the sunlight.
Seeing that the soldier wouldn’t answer him, Celeste pressed on: “Which prince are you checking on now?”
The soldier lifted his chin high and looked down at him with only the tip of it.
Celeste: …
Sunlight spilled across the water’s surface, shimmering. The river was so clear you could see the smooth, rounded pebbles at the bottom, and now and then, fish swam by.
Ji Zhaoxi sat on the riverbank, washing gems while soaking up the sun.
As she washed, a little duckling suddenly wobbled over to her.
“Miss Dragon, have you seen my mom and my sisters? I got separated from them,” the duckling quacked.
“Can you take me home?”
Ji Zhaoxi certainly didn’t want to—she was exhausted and had no intention of escorting some ugly duckling home.
Seeing that Ji Zhaoxi ignored it, the Ugly Duckling started quack-crying. Ji Zhaoxi’s head throbbed, so she decided to be spiteful.
“You’ve got it wrong. You shouldn’t be looking for ducks. You should look for the swans on the Seine River, because you’re a swan.”
The Ugly Duckling stared at her in disbelief: “Miss Dragon, how could I be a swan? I’m so ugly!”
Ji Zhaoxi brushed it off: “That’s exactly it—because you’re an ugly swan. Go find your real flock now.”
She hated ducks more than anything in the world.
Because during her first fight with Lorian, she had lost without a doubt, and the ducks in the river had kept quacking and mocking her.
From that day on, she hated every single duck equally.
The Ugly Duckling swam off toward the Seine River. Maybe Miss Dragon was right—maybe it really was an ugly swan?
Celeste came back, carrying a few fruits, a few gems, and a catch of game. He needed meat.
He washed the fruits and placed them in Ji Zhaoxi’s hands, dropped the gems into the basket she hadn’t finished cleaning, then silently went to handle the roasting meat.
Ji Zhaoxi knew he had gone to the palace again. She was starting to seriously wonder if Celeste had delusions—why else would he be so convinced he was a prince?
After eating, Celeste went into the woods to practice swordsmanship. His face showed no emotion, but his movements betrayed his mood.
His blade slashed through leaves, sending them raining down.
“My hair!” the tree cried out in utter distress.
These were newly grown baby leaves—it was still a little sapling. What was this awful man doing?!
The veins on Celeste’s forehead bulged slightly, and his breathing was heavy. He had been so close to achieving his goal—why did something unexpected have to go wrong?
“My hair… could you stop hacking at it?”
“Those are my baby wisps!”
“Enough—you’ve ruined my whole look!”
The tree was utterly losing its mind, but unfortunately, Celeste couldn’t hear it.
The sky gradually darkened. The moon directly kicked the sleeping sun out of its place, taking over the position itself, while stars began darting through the clouds again.
The clouds actually hated the stars—a bunch of unruly kids pestering them all day—but the moon didn’t care, so they just had to put up with it.
Sigh.
That night, rain fell. The wind kept blowing into the cave, but Ji Zhaoxi slept on her soft bed, bundled up warmly.
Celeste lay with his eyes closed at the cave entrance, where wind and rain kept battering him. Exhausted from overtraining during the day, he was very tired.
He felt cold on his body, but not cold enough to wake him from his sleep.
Ji Zhaoxi, half-asleep, listened to the rain outside and slept more soundly—rainy days were the best for sleeping.
But the next morning, when she got up.
She was startled by Celeste, who was completely flushed red. His clothes were soaked through and clinging to his body. She touched his forehead—it was burning hot.
She dragged him onto a large stone slab, lit a fire beside him, and thought she’d dry off her servant first.
Then she immediately flew off to find the Firefly Brigade.
When the Firefly Brigade learned of Ji Zhaoxi’s purpose, they promptly pushed their mobile medical cart and set out.
This was the first time she had seen the Firefly Brigade in daylight. At night, they carried little lanterns like angels.
In the daytime, without their glow, they looked like small beetles wearing cloaks.
The Firefly Brigade fell silent for a moment when they saw that the person lying there was a human.
“We can’t treat humans, but he should be lying somewhere soft right now—he doesn’t look comfortable.”
Guiltily, Ji Zhaoxi dragged him over to that soft bed.
She didn’t understand why he refused to stay in that little wooden cabin. Sure, it was called a little cabin, but it was actually enormous—Wangwang had said it was the best cabin he’d ever stayed in.
For a homeless guy, having a place to sleep should be good enough.
When Celeste woke up, his throat was very sore. Just then, something damp splashed onto his lips. He instinctively opened his mouth, and his throat eased a little.
He felt something tickling his hand, as if something was rubbing against it.
After a while, he finally opened his eyes. Nearby were a few leaves covered in dewdrops.
He looked to the side. It seemed like he was lying on top of something of hers—she kept reaching under the mattress. Her hair brushed against the back of his hand, tickling him.
“If you don’t give it back, I’ll make everyone know you’re a thief!”
Ji Zhaoxi finally pulled out that glowing orb: “I’m not a thief—I picked this up. If it were yours, why didn’t you take it back in a whole month?”
She had waited a full month before taking it. She wasn’t a thief.
The frog was furious: “I forgot, alright? Just give it back—that was for attracting a princess!”
He planned to use that bead to lure a princess to kiss him, so he could regain his original form.
Ji Zhaoxi pulled out another huge glowing orb, many times bigger than the first. The frog was stunned.
“I picked up two orbs. Is the big one yours, or is the small one yours?”
The frog quickly spoke up: “Both are mine!”
Two orbs would be even better for attracting a princess—and that big one was so bright.
Ji Zhaoxi snorted, directly knocked the frog unconscious, and kicked it flying away with one foot.
Damn frog. That big one was her medical fee after Lorian beat her up—he had paid her with it.
That was the price for its lies!
