The Second Prince’s naming day banquet had formally begun.
In a courtyard adorned with exquisite decorations, the place was abuzz with voices, filled with constant laughter and cheerful chatter. On one side of the courtyard stood a delicate little stage, the area designated for performances. And now, standing on that small stage was the Joker that Debbie had summoned. His performance continually elicited waves of hearty laughter.
The Joker was still that same Joker, but to avoid drawing attention, Ye Dui had given this Joker some disguise. He had made alterations to the outfit, changing it to a long skirt, which instead created an unusually comical effect.
Ye Dui hid behind the stage, his eyes scanning the numerous nobles who had accepted the invitation. Among these people, there were indeed several familiar faces.
First was Prince Geller. As the person with the highest status present, he sat in the most prominent position, seemingly very interested in the Joker’s performance on stage. He occasionally let out several loud bursts of laughter.
On either side of him sat two middle-aged men. One of them appeared to be around forty years old, with a face full of sorrow. Ye Dui knew this was the empire’s First Prince, the one known as the Merciful Prince.
He was the old emperor’s youngest son, the only one among all the princes who was of the uncle generation. He himself was also the father of the Ninth Prince. His current sorrowful expression was probably due to the Ninth Prince’s death.
He seemed utterly indifferent to the banquet’s joyful atmosphere, lost in his own heavy thoughts.
Sitting on the other side of Prince Geller was a man in his thirties, a large fat fellow with a full beard, who was laughing heartily. This man was undoubtedly the protagonist of today’s banquet, the Second Prince, the one also known as the Idiot Prince.
Judging by the seating, in a position a few seats away from several nobles and court officials dressed in luxurious attire, there sat a cold man together with the Fourth Prince. This man looked slightly older than the Fourth Prince. He was holding a glass of wine and drinking with his head lowered, exuding an aura that kept others at bay. Undoubtedly, this was the Third Prince, renowned for his cold demeanour.
The Fourth Prince had a similar expression, but he was not drinking. Instead, he sat with his head drooped in a manner that set him apart from the others.
On the other side of the Fourth Prince sat a handsome youth. The youth was anxiously looking around to left and right. He wore a long robe embroidered with a golden snake pattern. Ye Dui knew this person’s identity, because the one who had been sitting in that seat just moments ago was not the youth, but rather the Flower Prince with whom he had crossed paths once before.
At the start of the banquet, the Fifth Prince had been sitting with the Fourth Prince and occasionally teasing the golden snake youth standing by his side. The golden snake was the emblem of the empire’s foremost family, the Raen family. This golden snake youth was evidently the current generation’s eldest son of the Raen family.
Ye Dui had long heard the rumours that the Flower Prince was engaged to the Raen family’s eldest daughter, but what he truly fancied was his fiancée’s younger brother… Now, it seemed those rumours were indeed true.
The Flower Prince had just left for some matter, leaving the golden snake youth to sit in his seat. The youth’s current anxious appearance was precisely because he was awaiting the Flower Prince’s return.
In addition, Ye Dui also spotted the Sixth Prince, the Beggar Prince. He was still dressed in ragged clothes, sitting alone in his seat and gnawing on a roast chicken without any decorum. Soup and juices were splattered all over him, causing the guests sitting beside him to reveal expressions of disgust one after another. Yet he savoured it with relish.
Not far from the Sixth Prince sat a youth who looked sickly and frail. Among the princes, the Seventh Prince had been weak and ill since childhood. This was evidently the Sickly Prince.
Beside the Seventh Prince was a youth with a somewhat inferior and timid expression, who looked utterly cowardly. He was speaking softly to the Seventh Prince, his eyes occasionally darting timidly around. Undoubtedly, this was the Glass Prince, known for his cowardly nature.
The Ninth Prince had already passed away, while the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Princes were still too young to appear at such an occasion.
From the time Ye Dui had set out from Fengyan City until now, he had basically encountered all twelve princes of the empire one by one, and had more or less become entangled in some stories with them. And Ye Dui himself was now playing the role of the Thirteenth Prince. Thinking that he had become embroiled in the succession struggle among these princes, he suddenly found it rather amusing.
“Xileth is planning to assassinate the Flower Prince, but now that Flower Prince has gone who knows where.” Debbie’s small head poked out from below Ye Dui, also surveying the numerous banquet guests outside. Her voice carried a puzzled tone.
“The Flower Prince just left for some matter. I wonder if it is because of Xileth.” Ye Dui said, equally curious.
At that moment, someone suddenly entered this simple room.
This room was originally prepared for the performing artists. After the Golden Lion Animal Taming Troupe left, only Ye Dui’s group and a few bardic poets holding harps remained here. The one who now walked into the room was an attendant. He scanned the crowd, then suddenly approached Ye Dui.
“You must be Mr. Jobs, right? There is a lord who wishes to see you. Please come with me.” The attendant said to Ye Dui.
“Someone wants to see me?” Ye Dui was stunned. He instinctively thought it might be Xileth, so he asked, “Is it your chief steward?”
The attendant seemed to pause for a moment, then a strange smile appeared on his face as he nodded. “Yes, that is correct. Our chief steward wishes to see you. Come with me.”
Ye Dui furrowed his brows. What did this attendant’s smile mean?
However, he had no time to think too much about it. He nodded to Debbie and the others, telling them to be careful on their own, then followed the attendant out of the room.
Following the attendant, Ye Dui passed through a series of pavilion corridors, heading deeper into the vast Second Prince’s residence.
Along the way, Ye Dui would occasionally catch the attendant turning his head to glance at him, his brows and eyes seeming to hold a smile that was hard to fathom… Bloody hell, this was starting to feel increasingly strange.
Soon, under the attendant’s guidance, Ye Dui arrived outside a room in a pavilion decorated with elegant furnishings. The attendant’s face still bore that strange smile as he pushed open the door. “Mr. Jobs, the chief steward, heh, is waiting for you inside. Go on in.”
“…” Ye Dui hesitated for a moment, but from the map in his magic guide book, he could detect no malice from this attendant. So he nodded and entered the somewhat dim room.
The door clicked shut behind him.
“Hm?” Ye Dui surveyed the room and suddenly caught a whiff of a strange fragrance. It seemed to be… the scent of roses?
He saw that this room appeared to be a bedroom. On one side hung layers of gauzy curtains. Through the curtains, he could vaguely make out a large bed on the other side. On that bed… Ye Dui’s body trembled slightly. It seemed to be a reclining figure, with flesh faintly visible.
“Bloody hell…” Ye Dui was secretly alarmed in his heart. What kind of development was this?
He asked aloud, “Hello… Chief Steward?”
“Chief Steward?” A man’s voice came from the bed. “What chief steward? Heh heh, you are truly amusing.” As he spoke, the person on the bed beckoned to Ye Dui. “What are you standing there for? Come in quickly. I noticed long ago that the beard on your face is fake, right? You must be a beautiful youth. Come, let us have a good chat about life~~”
“…”
At that moment, Ye Dui’s body jerked as if electrocuted. Bloody hell, this was the Flower Prince’s voice!
His body immediately felt utterly rigid, and he prepared to turn and run.
However, just at that instant, the room’s door was suddenly flung open, and another person burst in with great haste.
“Fifth Prince!” That person shouted in grief and indignation, with the pained look of discovering one’s lover cheating… However, crucially, this was a youth, none other than the golden snake youth with the golden snake pattern on his clothes!
The scene of Ye Dui being led away by the attendant earlier had apparently been witnessed by him, so he had followed along and come here.
“Lorras, why have you come here!?” The Flower Prince exclaimed in surprise, hastily jumping up from the bed. Ye Dui hurriedly averted his eyes to spare himself the sight. Fortunately, the Fifth Prince still had a towel wrapped around his waist.
The golden snake youth named Lorras angrily tore open those gauzy curtains and walked up to the Fifth Prince. “You, you actually went behind my back with someone else. You…”
“Lorras, it was my fault.” The Flower Prince hurriedly embraced Lorras.
Lorras said with a touch of coquettish resentment, “You are so bad. Boo hoo hoo, I will never speak to you again.” As he spoke, he lightly pounded the Flower Prince’s chest with his small fists.
The Flower Prince then hurriedly comforted him in a gentle voice.
At this moment, goosebumps covered Ye Dui’s body. Where could he dare to linger here any longer? He feared that staying a moment more might leave him with some psychological trauma. He hastily fled the room.
Walking along the corridor after leaving the pavilion, he kept rubbing his eyes, thinking that the scene just now was truly an eyesore…
At that moment, a guard in full armour suddenly approached his side.
“Ye Dui, what are you doing here?” Xileth’s voice emerged from the guard’s mouth.
“Eh?” Ye Dui was stunned, then a joyful expression appeared on his face. “Xileth, I have finally seen you.”
The armoured guard removed the visor from his face, revealing Xileth’s beautiful countenance. “I was just about to go look for you, but could not find you. I knew the Fifth Prince was here and was planning to go find him, yet I did not expect to run into you… The Fifth Prince is in that pavilion, right?”
“Correct.” Ye Dui knew Xileth intended to assassinate the Fifth Prince, so he admitted it.
“Very well…” Xileth then said with some resolve, putting the visor back on his face. “You should leave here first. I do not want what happens next to implicate you.”
“Wait a moment!” Ye Dui hurriedly grabbed Xileth. “For the sake of your eyes, I think it best if you do not go up there just yet…”
Xileth: “?”
