The glowing ball was placed in the most conspicuous spot on the path. He wanted to find a beautiful princess—if the princess was ugly, he wouldn't take her.
He waited for a long time, and finally a princess wearing a princess dress and a crown came along.
The frog observed her carefully. This princess was pretty, but not as pretty as he had hoped. Still, he could accept it.
"Wow, what a beautiful glowing ball," the princess said as she picked it up.
The frog immediately hopped out. "This is my glowing ball. I can give it to you."
The princess's eyes lit up. "Thank you."
The frog bounced around on the ground. "But you have to kiss me, because I am a prince cursed by a witch. If you kiss me, I will turn back into a prince."
The princess looked at the green, slimy frog before her, disgust plain on her face. "I can't do that."
She wasn't about to return the glowing ball either—it was hers now, since she'd found it.
The frog was furious. "You greedy princess! The contract is already in effect. If you don't kiss me, you will—"
"Splat—"
The princess stared at the frog flattened by a stone, then cheerfully carried the glowing ball back home.
Kiss a frog? Was she joking?
The squashed frog lay under the scorching sun, its eyes filled with despair. Why had it encountered such a vicious princess?
In the morning, the palace had been shrouded in a sense of despair, but by the afternoon, fireworks exploded across the sky above it. Amid the dazzling bursts of light, a giant crown symbol appeared.
This was the signal—the prince had been found.
The entire kingdom erupted in celebration. Every commoner rejoiced at the good news.
Ji Zhaoxi was no exception. She could finally go and capture the real Celeste.
As for the false Celeste...
Ji Zhaoxi turned her gaze to the person beside her. He stood silently, watching the fireworks in the sky, his fists clenched tightly.
Ji Zhaoxi thought his addiction to power was even worse than hers. He absolutely had to be the prince.
"Don't even think about it. The real prince is back now. Just settle into being my servant."
The treatment of a dragon's servant wasn't much worse than that of a prince.
Ji Zhaoxi felt a bit like a boss paying her employees a low salary while gaslighting them.
But clearly, her servant wasn't buying it—he looked like he was about to die of anger.
To celebrate Celeste's return, the king would hold a parade the next day. During the event, Celeste would remove his mask and let the entire kingdom see the prince's face.
This news spread instantly throughout the kingdom—even the animals in the forest were gossiping about it.
The next morning, Celeste got up early to pack. He planned to meet his father, the king, but he wasn't very confident. The king was too old—he hoped the old man would remember to wear his reading glasses today.
Ji Zhaoxi was sleeping soundly when she felt her hair being gently brushed. It was so comfortable. "Why are you brushing my hair so early?"
"Miss Dragon, I need to leave for a while," Celeste said, brushing her hair carefully.
He was worried that if he came back, the cave would be in ruins—at least for now, he had nowhere else to go.
Celeste ran the brush through her hair from top to bottom, then gathered his things and left.
The stone streets were scattered with flower petals, and the surrounding commoners cheered as the False Prince rode on a carriage pulled by four horses. He wore a long silk robe, a flawless smile on his face.
"Wow, so this is what the prince looks like. He looks exactly like the king," a commoner whispered in surprise.
"Looking exactly like the king isn't exactly something to be excited about."
Though the commoners cheered, disappointment flickered in their eyes. They had heard that the legendary Celeste was a handsome man, but this one just seemed like an ordinary male.
The False Prince waved to the crowd, leaned down, and took a flower from a young girl, kissing her hand.
Ahead, the king sat completely naked on the parade ground. Beside him, the queen looked mortified.
Ever since the king had accidentally appeared naked in public last time, he seemed to have developed a strange obsession with it.
He even claimed that only smart people could see the clothes he was wearing. The queen shuddered to think how embarrassing this would be if it spread to other kingdoms.
A beautiful queen, married to a naked, blind, deaf old fool?
Ji Zhaoxi had also come. She perched in a tree, watching, ready to snatch the prince at any moment.
"But this prince isn't very good-looking..."
Her servant was much better-looking than him.
Ji Zhaoxi thought that if she brought this prince back, Lorian would definitely mock her.
But in this day and age, catching any prince at all was already a stroke of luck.
As the prince was finishing his parade and heading back to the palace, Ji Zhaoxi flew straight toward him.
The garrison commander in the tower smirked and made a gesture.
Countless arrows suddenly shot toward Ji Zhaoxi—and these arrows were even more upgraded than before. The sky was filled with them, all aimed at her. Several arrows grazed her body. Furious, Ji Zhaoxi breathed fire at the nearby soldiers, burning off all their hair.
Panicked, she dove down from the sky and sprinted through the forest. The trees could block most of the arrows, but this time there were too many.
The thundering hooves of horses approached from behind—elite pursuers sent by the commander. She had mobilized nearly all the palace's forces, determined to finish Ji Zhaoxi once and for all.
Just then, a sudden, unexpected downpour swept in. The sunlight was completely cut off, plunging the forest into dark gloom.
The glowing mushrooms shook off the rain and whispered, "Miss Dragon is really scared."
The birds were too soaked to even preen their feathers. "It's so dark in here—can she even find her way home?"
The grass coughed as water flooded over it. "I'm drowning!"
It was always the grass that got hurt the worst.
The soldiers' warhorses were startled by the thunder, their armor weighing heavily under the rain. They lost their direction, cursing under their breath.
The rain grew heavier, so heavy that it was impossible to see ahead. Ji Zhaoxi's heart pounded frantically—she had to find a chance to kill that commander.
Steady hoofbeats echoed through the forest. The commander squinted into the rain. "Keep searching. We can't see, and neither can she."
She had played with that dragon long enough.
Just as Ji Zhaoxi was running blindly ahead, a hand suddenly grabbed her waist. She yelped in fright, instinctively trying to spread her wings and strike, but the huge momentum flung her forward. The next second, she collided into a solid embrace.
Arrows flew chaotically through the rain. Celeste frowned deeply, pressing her into his soaked shirt. His horse stepped precisely through the confused crowd, charging into the dark depths of the forest.
Fighting in the rain was something that every heir to Auerickra Kingdom had to learn—because some dragons had strong control over rainfall.
But Celeste had never imagined he would use that skill to save a dragon.
