There were many times when I made the wrong choices.
Though looking back on them, even if time was rewound, I would make the same mistakes once again.
Since in reality, I had no other choices at all.
—Gong Hua
When Yin Qie Zi stepped out of the carriage, he had expected to see a swarm of people, since Warlord Paladin had his own spiritmancer regiment—the Racing Flame.
The warlord’s son Owen was also the only student of Chris, the commander of the other Xia Lan corps, which meant that two of the country’s spiritmancer regiments were under the warlord’s control. Due to this, the Warlord Paladin was like the shining sun in the sky, even the king himself didn’t dare invoke his anger.
Warlord Paladin was known for spoiling his daughter Mila; so if one wanted to ingratiate oneself, Mila’s influence couldn’t be ignored.
Yet the carriages in Yin Qie Zi’s sights were sparse; the amount of guests were even fewer than the ones attending a War-Glaive’s birthday banquet.
“There don’t seem to be many people?” Yin Qie Zi turned to Owen with doubt.
Owen nodded, and explained, “Only some of the family members were invited. Mila doesn’t like crowds or strangers, so we don’t usually invite a lot of people to birthday banquets.”
Yin Qie Zi nodded.
It might be easy for normal girls to celebrate their birthday in peace, but that was not the case for Warlord Paladin’s daughter. For his daughter to celebrate her birthday quietly, Warlord Paladin would have to turn down many important officials, and those important people were definitely not accustomed to being rejected.
Warlord Paladin really did dote on his daughter. Yin Qie Zi couldn’t help but smile.
Yin Qie Zi walked up the staircase and, in doing so, attracted many people’s attention. Everyone stared at his silver-purple hair, though the noises they made were mainly sighs of awe.
The attendant at the door said respectfully, “Please hold out your invitation.”
Though Owen did give him an invitation, Yin Qie Zi hadn’t brung it…When the young master came especially to pick him up, was there still any use for an invitation?
Owen walked up hastily, and said, “He’s with me.”
“Master Owen.” The attendant suddenly noticed, and immediately said, “You’re finally here; just a few moments ago, Miss Mila sent someone here to see if you were back yet.”
Owen cried out “damn it”, and immediately grabbed Yin Qie Zi. “Yin Qie Zi, come with me quickly!”
Usually, Yin Qie Zi would have definitely slapped away Owen’s hand due to his dislike of being touched by others, but this time he allowed Owen to drag him inside. He was pulled all the way to the grand hall, and along the way they aroused the attention of almost everyone. Many people called out Owen’s name, but he only continued to reply “My sister’s looking for me; I have to get over there quickly”.
All the people who heard his reply smiled. They didn’t mind Owen’s discourtesy; instead they glanced curiously at Yin Qie Zi.
Yin Qie Zi maintained a placid face while being dragged away. After being led into the hall, even though many people stared at him, he continued to act indifferent. Instead, he studied the hall itself. Even though it was a birthday banquet, the decorations weren’t sumptuous, only white roses were placed around the hall.
With the white roses, light blue table cloths, and matching curtains, the hall was very refreshing and cozy.
Yin Qie Zi only looked up again when Owen yelled “Mila! I’m back!” As Yin Qie Zi was dragged away, he turned his head in the direction that Owen was walking. He saw a golden-haired girl in a wheelchair, who was smiling while talking with a man.
After hearing Owen’s shout, Mila turned around and looked at her brother. She then looked curiously at the person beside her brother…Upon seeing her, Yin Qie Zi stopped and stared blankly.
Many years had passed since then. In addition, he had been quite clueless about everything at that time. He had long forgotten Mila’s appearance, but there was one feature of hers he could never forget: Mila had a head of sun-flower colored hair.
The Mila in front of him suddenly laughed. Her hair was the color of sun-flowers, and even her smile was bright like the sun-flowers. Smiling, she said, “Hello, it’s nice to meet you, I’m Zhan· Mila ·Paladin.”
Owen nudged him with his elbow, and said in a low voice, “Hey, answer her! My sister’s talking to you, are you deaf for something?”
Yin Qie Zi finally came back to his senses. The first thing he saw was the man beside Mila sniggering quietly. Seeing this, Yin Qie Zi realized his discourtesy and immediately felt somewhat awkward. “Hello, I’m Lin· Yin Qie Zi ·Omi.”
Mila first looked at her brother in surprise, then immediately replied to Yin Qie Zi politely, “Oh? I have long since admired your name.” After replying, she smiled at Yin Qie Zi, as if waiting for something.
This made Yin Qie Zi hesitant, and he couldn’t help but look towards Owen, but Owen was also in shock. Mila could only desperately glance at the man beside her, hoping to signal her brother…Owen blinked a few times before raising his hand to greet the man. “Hi Edward. What have you gotten my sister this year?”
Edward replied teasingly, “Really! Mila, you don’t need to specially signal your brother! I thought that I had finally succeeded in become transparent, and I was truly enjoying my rare moment of transparency.”
…Prince Edward?
Yin Qie Zi blinked, and then finally really noticed the gentleman beside Mila. The other’s clothes weren’t particularly splendid; they were even plainer than the ones he had on…so that was why so many people had been staring at him along the way!
Yin Qie Zi secretly cursed Owen in his mind, and hastily bowed: “Nice to meet you, Your Majesty Prince Edward, I…this humble civilian…am Lin· Yin Qie Xi ·Omi.” He had thought about it for a while, but still couldn’t figure out what he should refer to himself as in front of the prince, so he only managed to put a “humble civilian” in.
Edward smiled mildly, and replied, “You don’t have to be so polite, it’s fine to just call me ‘Edward’.”
Yin Qie Zi didn’t really think that he could call the prince by name, but he also didn’t know the right way to speak with royalty, so he could only remain silent.
Thankfully, at that moment, Owen opened his mouth and said, “With your title as Your Majesty the Prince, who could act as if you were transparent? Answer my question, what did you end up getting my sister?”
Edward replied somewhat helplessly, “Isn’t the gift already in Mila’s hands?”
Mila held up the hand mirror in her hand with a smile. The hand mirror was white, and emitted a gentle glow. The circle frame had white roses carved around the edge, and in the center of the mirror’s back was a water-blue, round gem.
Owen sized up the mirror, and said, “Well, I guess this gift is acceptable.”
Edward heard him, and said ill-humoredly, “‘Acceptable’, really! This mirror was carved from the tooth of the Snow Beast of the North. And in order to buy it, ‘Your Majesty the Prince’ will probably have to pass the entirety of the next month by only eating porridge.”
“As if eating porridge is pitiful…Back in the days when I went training with Mr. Chris, we could only eat the prey we hunted, and if we didn’t catch anything, there wouldn’t be anything to eat!”
“Okay, okay! You only went training with Commander Chris once, but you’ve been talking about it for three years!”
Owen and Edward’s quarreling surprised Yin Qie Zi. Even though he had heard that Mila, Owen, and the crown prince were childhood playmates and very close friends, he didn’t think they were this close.
Would this affect my plan? Yin Qie Zi pondered with a frown.
“Isn’t it astonishing?”
Yin Qie Zi paused, and turned his head to look at Mila puzzledly. Mila smiled at him. “Isn’t elder brother close with Edward?”
“We’re not close!” They spoke simultaneously.
“Right?” Seeing them oppose it vehemently, Mila grinningly said. Yin Qie Zi could only nod in agreement.
Seeing Yin Qie Zi’s silence, Mila deliberately brought up a topic that he could discuss. “After seeing all the efficacious medicine that you made, I believed that you would be an old, experienced spirit binder! I didn’t think that you would be so young, perhaps even younger than Owen and I am.”
Yin Qie Zi said hastily, “I’m already 23 years old.”
Owen continued, “But because he has such a childish face, he looks like he’s only 18.”
Mila laughed, while Yin Qie Zi rolled his eyes at Owen.
Edward asked somewhat curiously, “So you’re a spirit binder? Ah…are you the spirit binder who created the orchid flower hair dye?”
Yin Qie Zi nodded.
Now Edward was curious; but just when he was about to speak, Owen pulled on his arm. He turned around, puzzled, to look at Owen. The young master only winked at him, which made him even more bewildered.
“Is it okay if I consult you about some knowledge on spirit binders?” Mila started, then hastily explained, “I only want to know some general knowledge. If it’s a secret recipe or a special proportion, you don’t need to tell me. I know that only spirit binders’ students can ask their teachers about such things.”
“I don’t have any special proportions,” Yin Qie Zi said straightforwardly. “Spirit binding, in truth, is only about the differences of comprehension and control of the spirits. As long as your spiritual vision is powerful and you have enough knowledge about the natural spirits’ colors, you just need to adjust the quantities of the different spirits slowly. You will definitely be able to recreate the color of the orchid flower.”
Mila nodded, and inquired, “So in contrary, even if you know the proportion of the spirits, if your spiritual vision isn’t powerful enough, you still won’t be able to create the orchid flower hair dye medicine?”
Yin Qie Zi thought about it for a moment, and then answered earnestly, “Not necessarily. Some spirit binders don’t have the power to continuously test the type and quantity of the natural spirits that are needed to create the color of the orchid flower. But if they knew the proportion in advance, it’s possible that they could just make it directly. The proportion of natural spirits for the orchid flower is not very difficult.”
“So we only need to know the proportion to make any kind of medicine?” Mila’s expression was somewhat confused, since Yin Qie Zi’s explanations were a bit different from traditional spirit binding knowledge.
Yin Qie Zi shook his head, and said, “No, it’s not like that. Some proportions are very meticulous, so meticulous that someone without a powerful enough spiritual vision wouldn’t be able to adjust the natural spirit binds and links to the correct amounts.”
“So that’s how it is. Thus, in the end, we still have to return to the differences in the strengths of one’s spiritual vision?”
“There’s also the ability of binding and linking spirits…”
“I’m completely lost.” Seeing the two chatting vigorously, Owen couldn’t help but scratch his head and mutter complaints. But in reality, he didn’t have any actual complaints and was truly happy to see the two chatting so energetically.
However, while happy, he didn’t plan to stay beside the two of them and continuously listen to their incantation-like “chatting”. Owen called the prince over, and they snuck away together. “Come on, Edward, let’s get some food for Mila and Yin Qie Zi! Looking at them, if we don’t get them anything to eat, they’ll probably chat till they starve to death.”
Although Edward followed Owen, he couldn’t help but protest, “Haven’t you made a mistake? I’m the crown prince, not an errand boy!”
“For the sake of the birthday girl, please help me get some food. Is this okay now?”
Hearing this, Edward finally nodded. “Fine, for Mila’s sake.”
“Hey! I’m Mila’s twin!”
“Wait, if you say it like that, then…ah! It’s also your birthday today?”
“…”
After Owen and Edward were out of sight, Mila immediately apologized. “Sorry, my brother must have forced you to come, right?”
Yin Qie Zi hesitated, not knowing how to reply.
Mila clapped her hands together, and asked with an imploring expression, “Please don’t get mad, Owen has been telling me many things about you for the past year, so I had guessed that you’re someone who didn’t like crowds. You must’ve been forced by Owen to come.”
Yin Qie Zi was silent for a moment, he then asked, “Does my appearance here make you happy?”
Mila stared at him for a moment. Although she thought that the person in front of her was rather abrupt, it matched Owen’s descriptions of Yin Qie Zi: direct, blunt, antisocial, and etc.
Mila nodded. She didn’t dislike his abruptness.
“That’s good.” Yin Qie Zi said directly. “If you have any questions about spirit binding you can ask me. I’ll definitely reply, so long as I know the answer. You can treat it as my birthday present to you! I’ll also give you a bottle of medicine, whatever kind you choose.”
“One bottle of medicine and whatever questions I want to ask?” Mila couldn’t help but smile. “Generally speaking, wouldn’t medicine be gifted, and secrets be kept instead? Or is it because it’s my birthday today, so I’m allowed to ask whatever I wish?”
Yin Qie Zi thought about it for a moment, then answered honestly, “I’ll only give you a bottle of medicine today, but you’re free to ask any questions anytime you want, not only today.”
“You’re really strange!” Mila smiled faintly. “If every spirit binder was as gracious as you are with their secret techniques, then no one would want to be a spirit binder’s student anymore.”
Yin Qie Zi scratched his face, and said somewhat confusedly, “Owen also says that a lot, but I don’t understand what’s so strange about me…”
Mila said teasingly, “Isn’t someone who ignores the Prince strange enough to begin with?”
“I didn’t recognize him……” Yin Qie Zi replied awkwardly, his reason somewhat far-fetched. Since this was the capital city Qi Feng, the king and the prince’s portraits were visible everywhere, so it would be hard not to recognize them.
Mila smiled but didn’t speak; she had asked the question intentionally. When they first met, she had clearly seen Yin Qie Zi’s blank expression when he looked at her carefully.
“I heard that you created the orchid flower colored hair dye that the queen wanted? It seems like dyeing your hair is very popular right now! Perhaps I should ask you for a bottle of special hair dye.”
Yin Qie asked confusedly, “But your golden hair is very beautiful. You don’t need to dye your hair. Owen always says that no one has hair color prettier than yours.”
“Really? I think your silver-purple hair is prettier.” Speaking of hair, Mila remembered another question that she was curious about, “I heard from Owen that you’re a descendant of the Leaves?”
Yin Qie Zi nodded.
“I heard that the Leaves are all very beautiful, is this true?”
“I don’t know…” Yin Qie Zi said uncomfortably. “I’m only their descendent; I’ve never met them.”
“Oh”, said Mila, then asked confusedly, “But your Leaf ancestors should still be here, right? Aren’t the life spans of the Leaves very long? Ah…your ancestor couldn’t have left in the Leaf migration 20 years ago, could they?”
“Probably. I’m not so sure about the details; both of my parents are dead.”
Mila blinked, then hastily said, “I’m very sorry…”
“It’s okay.” Yin Qie Zi shook his head.
“Mila.”
Hearing the call, Mila and Yin Qie Zi turned around simultaneously to look at the person. Mila immediately cried, “Father!”
The human that came was wearing a military uniform with a style similar to Owen’s, but it was black in color, and there were also many gold and silver medals hanging on the front. His face had many wrinkles, and his hair was already in the grey-white vicissitudes of life. He looked as if he was over 50 years old. His stature was thin and his back was straight, so it wasn’t difficult to guess that this person had surely once been a spirited young man.
West…?
Yin Qie Zi froze. Though he was someone whom Yin Qie Zi had not forgotten for the past 20 years, the other’s face was so different from the one in his memories that it left him unable to react.
Mila tried to rotate her wheelchair to be next to her father, but Paladin was faster, he had already walked to his daughter’s side, and lowered his head to hear her speak.
Mila, for once, acted like a little daughter, and said somewhat flightily, “Father, you’re so slow! I almost thought you weren’t coming!”
A trace of a smile appeared on Warlord Paladin’s serious face. He laughed and said, “Today’s my two children’s birthday, even the king’s command couldn’t have stopped me.”
Mila said grinningly, “Father wouldn’t really disobey the orders!”
“That may be difficult to say.” While Paladin smiled and chatted with his daughter, he didn’t fail to notice the head of silver-purple hair beside her. Pausing, he asked, “Mila, who is this guest?”
Yin Qie Zi felt his heart skip a beat heavily.
“It’s brother’s friend!” Mila replied happily, and then looked towards Yin Qie Zi.
In her knowledge, this would be the part where Yin Qie Zi introduced himself. However, Yin Qie Zi didn’t respond. When Mila saw that her father was frowning, she immediately said, “Father, this is Yin Qie Zi, the spirit binder that created the orchid flower hair dye medicine.”
“Oh, you mean him.” When not facing his daughter, Warlord Paladin’s expression immediately became much more serious. He nodded at Yin Qie Zi. “Your medicine made the queen very happy.”
Paladin’s voice wasn’t very warm, but for the average person to obtain such praise from his mouth, a heavy price would need to be paid, so they would usually react ecstatically. However, Yin Qie Zi only fell quiet for a moment, before replying faintly, “It’s my honor.”
Hearing Yin Qie Zi’s indifferent response, Paladin wrinkled his brow. With his status, he wasn’t used to being treated so indifferently.
Seeing Yin Qie Zi’s cold attitude, Mila was first shocked, before beginning to worry secretly. She spied Owen and Edward carrying a pile of food towards them, and despite the fact that they were still a few dozen steps away, she hastily said, “Father, Prince Edward and Owen are here.”
There was no way that Warlord Paladin hadn’t seen through Mila’s words. But as a doting parent, there was no way he would unveil her thoughts. Instead, he looked towards Edward and Owen’s direction cooperatively.
Seeing that his father was looking at him, Owen jogged quickly up to him. A call of “Father” was just out of his mouth when he received a reprimand from Warlord Paladin, “You’re 18 years old today yet you’re still running around so carelessly, not acting like an adult at all! Look at His Highness Edward, and learn from him!”
Edward leisurely walked over, and said courteously, “Warlord Paladin, I wish you success in all your battles and wars.”
Warlord Paladin nodded, and answered, “And I wish you victory too, Your Highness Edward.”
Edward handed over a small pastry to Mila. Doing so in front of her own father was usually considered both insolent and inappropriate, but the prince knew that the military-born Paladin didn’t care much about etiquette. Compared to manners, he’d rather that his daughter eat more, instead of being so thin that she looked as if she could be blown away by the wind.
Mila took the cake, and after discovering that it was her favorite gooseberry plum tower, she smiled at Edward and began eating the pastry.
At this time, Owen also passed some food to Yin Qie Zi, but he wasn’t as attentive as Edward. He didn’t even know what the other liked to eat, and simply stuffed a plate of meat into Yin Qie Zi’s hands.
Yin Qie Zi rolled his eyes at Owen. The opposite party had eaten with him so many times, yet still didn’t remember the fact that he didn’t eat meat. He eyed the juicy, roasted pigeon on the plate, and suddenly felt sick. He immediately handed the plate back to Owen, who finally remembered that the other didn’t eat meat, and smiled apologetically.
Paladin’s serious expression relaxed when he saw his daughter eating. He looked around and said, “Most of the guests have already arrived, but why haven’t I seen Commander Chris yet?”
Owen said awkwardly, “Teacher said that he’s not coming, that he’s not used to these social occasions…” He saw his father’s face darken, and immediately added, “But Teacher has already given his gift to Mila, and he also gave me a sword.”
Hearing this, Warlord Paladin’s expression lightened, and directed his attention to the silent Yin Qie Zi. “What has this young man given you?”
Mila said smiling, “Yin Qie Zi said that I could ask him any question about spirit binding, and even when my birthday passes, I can still ask him anything!”
The crowd marveled at this. A spirit binder’s most precious treasure was always their spirit binding techniques. As a spirit binder, Yin Qie Zi’s present was equal to giving his everything to Mila.
Warlord Paladin nodded, satisfied.
At this time, the butler Yehv walked over, and reported respectfully to Paladin, “Master, the cake is ready. Would you like to host the cake cutting ceremony?”
Warlord Paladin looked at his daughter. Seeing that she had finished eating, he told Yehv, “It’s rather late, so let’s begin.”
“Yes.”
Yehv signaled the servant at the door, and then handed over a glass cup and a silver fork to Warlord Paladin.
Warlord Paladin tapped on the glass to attract everyone’s attention. He then walked towards the middle of the hall. Owen and Mila followed closely behind him.
Edward walked beside Yin Qie Zi. With his status, he should have been walking side by side with Warlord Paladin, but he knew that today’s star wasn’t him, so he willingly stayed behind. In order to not to raise any disputes, he even pretended that he hung back to talk with Yin Qie Zi.
Although it was pretend, Edward couldn’t help but turn his head to look at Yin Qie Zi curiously. Owen’s gossip partner wasn’t only Mila, there was also him. So he was also someone who had also heard the name “Yin Qie Zi” for a year. Now that he had finally seen the individual in person, how could he not be curious?
The person beside him had a head of silver-purple hair. The first thing everyone always noticed was the silver-purple hair, but Edward noted instead, that the other’s eyes were a dark red color. He had thought it was black at first. Humans’ eye colors were more varied than thier hair colors: blue, green, brown, and naturally, black.
He had thought that Yin Qie Zi’s eyes were an ordinary black, but looking from up close, he discovered that they were actually a dark red. Yin Qie Zi’s hair color was very light in color, his skin was even paler, but his eyes were such a dark red that it looked kind of strange.
At this time, Yin Qie Zi turned to look at him. He wrinkled his brow slightly, as if he couldn’t understand what Edward was looking at.
Edward smiled, and said, “Your skin’s really white. I thought that Mila’s skin was already as white as snow, but only after meeting you do I realize what snow white truly looks like.”
“I don’t get much sun.” Yin Qie Zi said lightly.
“Owen also mentioned it. He said that you spend all day at home making medicine, and that he’s never went to your house and found you away.”
Hearing this, Yin Qie Zi said icily, “What else did he say about me?”
“Oh…that depends on how much he knows about you,” Edward said smilingly, far too happy to get his best friend in trouble.
Yin Qie Zi scoffed.
Meanwhile, Warlord Paladin stopped in his tracks. Behind him stood his children, and in front of him was the cake that the servants had placed.
The servants handed him a large silver knife to cut the cake. Warlord Paladin took the knife, raised it high above his head, and then yelled loudly, “May the Goddess of Victory forever bless the kingdom of Zhan Yan.”
Everyone in the room yelled after him, “May the Goddess of Victory forever bless the kingdom of Zhan Yan.”
Warlord Paladin sliced the cake, and swiftly cut away a few pieces. According to tradition, the birthday star was always the first one to get a slice, and the cake was then distributed according to the social status of the guests.
After Warlord Paladin had cut off slices of the cake for the servants to put on plates, he took a plate, and looked in Owen’s direction. The latter immediately stepped forward.
Warlord Paladin handed him the plate while smiling, “Owen, His Majesty and your teacher Chris have agreed to let you become a War-Glaive today.”
Owen took the cake, and knew exactly what he should say. Immediately, he said respectfully, “I give my thanks to His Majesty, to father, and also to Teacher Chris. I’m only able to become a War-Glaive today because of your guidance.”
After finishing, everyone clapped loudly with smiles on their faces. Now, Owen really was the kingdom’s youngest War-Glaive.
Even so, everyone had already guessed what his present would be. What they were more curious about was what present Warlord Paladin was going to give to his beloved daughter Mila. Some people even wondered if it would be engagement papers. Going by Mila’s age, she should already have a love interest in mind.
But much to everyone’s surprise, Warlord Paladin didn’t say what present he was giving to Mila. Instead, he just handed a slice of cake to her. He quickly cut another for Prince Edward, and then told the servants to cut and distribute the rest of the cake.
Finally, Warlord Paladin put his hands, one each, on Owen and Mila’s shoulders. The commander who had led armies said with rare emotion in his voice, “Owen, Mila, you two are my prides.”
Hearing those words, Owen and Mila both smiled. But Yin Qie Z, who was standing nearby, looked as though he had been hit hard. His originally pale face was now far paler and bloodless.
“Mr. Yin Qie Zi, are you alright?”
Yin Qie Zi turned around, Yehv was looking at him worriedly. He tried to smile, but couldn’t manage it no matter how hard he tried. He said with a strained voice, “I don’t feel well.”
Yehv looked at Yin Qie Zi’s face, and immediately cried, “Your face is very pale! Please come with me, I’ll take you immediately to the doctor…”
Yin Qie shook his head, “It’s fine. It’s an old problem. I just need some rest.”
“Is that so?” Yehv was still very concerned, “Then I’ll prepare a guest room for you immediately. If you truly don’t feel well, please don’t try to hide it, and come tell me right away.”
Faced with Yehv’s concern, Yin Qie Zi nodded his head calmly.
“Please come with me.”
Yin Qie Zi followed quietly behind Yehv all the way out of the great hall. While he was leaving he turned around, and happened to see Owen glancing at him worriedly. He shook his head at Owen to indicate everything was fine, and continued with Yehv to the guest room.
Yehv opened the guest room’s door, and said respectfully, “Please wait here a moment, I’ll send a maid around to attend to you.”
“No, it’s all right.” Yin Qie refused. “I’m not a noble. I don’t need any one to serve me!”
“Then…please allow me to check on you after an hour, okay?” Seeing Yin Qie Zi frown, Yehv added hastily, “I’ll only come once. Once I’m sure you’re fine, or if you’re asleep by then, I won’t disturb you.”
Yin Qie Zi was silent for a moment, but then nodded his assent.
“Then please rest well.”
After saying this, Yehv bowed, and slowly exited the room, closing the door behind him.
Owen…Mila…
After the door was closed, Yin Qie Zi slowly knelt down, and buried his face in his hands.
He would have never have guessed, that even after so many years, he would still feel his heart twist whenever he heard those two names. Back there in the hall, he had to grit his teeth to keep himself from…keep himself from grabbing the dagger on his waist and letting his hatred explode in West’s face!
“West…” No! Yehv might still be outside the door.
With that thought, he managed to calm his writhing emotions enough to keep quiet. His restraint made his chest hurt.
After waiting a while and thinking that Yehv had left, Yin Qie Zi couldn’t help but shout quietly, “Zhan· West ·Paladin! You don’t have the right to speak Owen and Mila’s names! Who gave you the right to call your children by these two names…I won’t allow it!”
West, I’ll make you pay the price. You took Owen from me…you took everything from me!
Yin Qie Zi clenched his fists so tight that his nails dug into his flesh. His dark red blood oozed out and stained the white gloves…After a while, he finally noticed, and hastily took them off. But the elegant white gloves were already ripped and dyed red, no longer usable.
He still needed to return the clothes to Owen!
Yin Qie Zi sighed, took his gloves off, and looked around. The guest room was arranged quite elegantly. The color theme was light purple, and many of the decorations were silver. Purple and silver…clearly this wasn’t a coincidence, maybe this guest room was specially prepared for him?
Maybe Owen had already decided to invite him to stay for a few days after the banquet. He didn’t know what Owen planned to do, but this suited his wishes. He had spent a lot of time thinking of a way to get into Warlord Paladin’s mansion.
He just didn’t think it would be that hard…He had spent a whole year before finally receiving an invitation to come in the Warlord’s house legally.
Actually, getting Owen’s trust wasn’t hard; it was his father that was far too careful with things. Strangers couldn’t even think of coming close to his family, especially when trying to get close to the defenseless Mila; that was even harder than getting near the king!
But it was entirely his fault.
Back then, he had been far too hasty, too eager to get revenge that it caused him to fail. The result of his failure back then caused West to become wary. Since then he hadn’t found a single opportunity…However, even the most meticulous person becomes lax after a long time.
Twenty years had passed since then. This period of time may seem long to humans, but to him, the wait was short.
The mistake back then made him wait for a full twenty years. It taught him to not be hasty, but to go slowly. Before long, he’d make West just like him…
Empty-handed!
***
It was only when Owen stumbled into the room that Yin Qie Zi returned from his thoughts. He looked at Owen with a frown.
Owen rushed forward and grabbed his shoulders. “Yin Qie Zi, are you alright? I knocked for a long time but you never answered. I almost thought you fell over dead…You really scared me!”
“Who fell over dead?” Yin Qie Zi snapped, and then remembered he used “not feeling well” as an excuse to leave early. He immediately added, “It’s fine, just an old problem.”
But Owen frowned and said, “Fine? You’re even paler than usual. If you were lying on the bed, I would definitely think you were dead.”
“I’m fine, don’t randomly curse me!”
Yin Qie Zi retorted angrily, but upon seeing Owen’s stunned expression, he realized that his emotions were too out of control.
He suddenly said “Owen” and took out a small bag, and threw it to the other. “Your birthday present.”
Owen fumbled with the bag, and opened it. Inside were three thumb-sized bottles, two white and one red.”
“Drink one bottle a month, but save the red bottle for last. Using these will make your physique better, but not by a lot. You’ll probably just run faster, jump higher, and be a bit stronger.”
“That’s ‘not a lot’?” Owen widened his eyes, and cried, “There is really such medicine? How come I didn’t know about it?”
“Don’t expect me to make more for you. I’ve only just made this one set.” Yin Qie Zi rushed to explain. “Some really rare spirits are required to make this, and the success rate is also really low. Litelli helped me look for materials for half a year, but I only managed to make this one set of spirit medicines. It’ll probably be even harder to find the materials now, so I can’t guarantee that I’ll have more to give you.”
Hearing this, Owen looked disappointed, and mumbled, “A spirit medicine that even you can’t give out… This must truly be hard to make, other spirit binders probably can’t even make it.”
After mumbling this, he scratched his head, “I originally thought that your presence at the banquet was your birthday present to me…in short, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Really…you’re welcome.
Yin Qie Zi glanced at the red bottle, and then said promptly, “I’m sleeping.”
Owen said hastily, “Let’s eat breakfast tomorrow, okay?”
“As long as you don’t forget that I don’t eat meat, and put another pile of meat on my plate again!”
“Ah, hahaha…”
There were many times when I made the wrong choices.
Though looking back on them, even if time was rewound, I would make the same mistakes once again.
Since in reality, I had no other choices at all.
—Gong Hua
When Yin Qie Zi stepped out of the carriage, he had expected to see a swarm of people, since Warlord Paladin had his own spiritmancer regiment—the Racing Flame.
The warlord’s son Owen was also the only student of Chris, the commander of the other Xia Lan corps, which meant that two of the country’s spiritmancer regiments were under the warlord’s control. Due to this, the Warlord Paladin was like the shining sun in the sky, even the king himself didn’t dare invoke his anger.
Warlord Paladin was known for spoiling his daughter Mila; so if one wanted to ingratiate oneself, Mila’s influence couldn’t be ignored.
Yet the carriages in Yin Qie Zi’s sights were sparse; the amount of guests were even fewer than the ones attending a War-Glaive’s birthday banquet.
“There don’t seem to be many people?” Yin Qie Zi turned to Owen with doubt.
Owen nodded, and explained, “Only some of the family members were invited. Mila doesn’t like crowds or strangers, so we don’t usually invite a lot of people to birthday banquets.”
Yin Qie Zi nodded.
It might be easy for normal girls to celebrate their birthday in peace, but that was not the case for Warlord Paladin’s daughter. For his daughter to celebrate her birthday quietly, Warlord Paladin would have to turn down many important officials, and those important people were definitely not accustomed to being rejected.
Warlord Paladin really did dote on his daughter. Yin Qie Zi couldn’t help but smile.
Yin Qie Zi walked up the staircase and, in doing so, attracted many people’s attention. Everyone stared at his silver-purple hair, though the noises they made were mainly sighs of awe.
The attendant at the door said respectfully, “Please hold out your invitation.”
Though Owen did give him an invitation, Yin Qie Zi hadn’t brung it…When the young master came especially to pick him up, was there still any use for an invitation?
Owen walked up hastily, and said, “He’s with me.”
“Master Owen.” The attendant suddenly noticed, and immediately said, “You’re finally here; just a few moments ago, Miss Mila sent someone here to see if you were back yet.”
Owen cried out “damn it”, and immediately grabbed Yin Qie Zi. “Yin Qie Zi, come with me quickly!”
Usually, Yin Qie Zi would have definitely slapped away Owen’s hand due to his dislike of being touched by others, but this time he allowed Owen to drag him inside. He was pulled all the way to the grand hall, and along the way they aroused the attention of almost everyone. Many people called out Owen’s name, but he only continued to reply “My sister’s looking for me; I have to get over there quickly”.
All the people who heard his reply smiled. They didn’t mind Owen’s discourtesy; instead they glanced curiously at Yin Qie Zi.
Yin Qie Zi maintained a placid face while being dragged away. After being led into the hall, even though many people stared at him, he continued to act indifferent. Instead, he studied the hall itself. Even though it was a birthday banquet, the decorations weren’t sumptuous, only white roses were placed around the hall.
With the white roses, light blue table cloths, and matching curtains, the hall was very refreshing and cozy.
Yin Qie Zi only looked up again when Owen yelled “Mila! I’m back!” As Yin Qie Zi was dragged away, he turned his head in the direction that Owen was walking. He saw a golden-haired girl in a wheelchair, who was smiling while talking with a man.
After hearing Owen’s shout, Mila turned around and looked at her brother. She then looked curiously at the person beside her brother…Upon seeing her, Yin Qie Zi stopped and stared blankly.
Many years had passed since then. In addition, he had been quite clueless about everything at that time. He had long forgotten Mila’s appearance, but there was one feature of hers he could never forget: Mila had a head of sun-flower colored hair.
The Mila in front of him suddenly laughed. Her hair was the color of sun-flowers, and even her smile was bright like the sun-flowers. Smiling, she said, “Hello, it’s nice to meet you, I’m Zhan· Mila ·Paladin.”
Owen nudged him with his elbow, and said in a low voice, “Hey, answer her! My sister’s talking to you, are you deaf for something?”
Yin Qie Zi finally came back to his senses. The first thing he saw was the man beside Mila sniggering quietly. Seeing this, Yin Qie Zi realized his discourtesy and immediately felt somewhat awkward. “Hello, I’m Lin· Yin Qie Zi ·Omi.”
Mila first looked at her brother in surprise, then immediately replied to Yin Qie Zi politely, “Oh? I have long since admired your name.” After replying, she smiled at Yin Qie Zi, as if waiting for something.
This made Yin Qie Zi hesitant, and he couldn’t help but look towards Owen, but Owen was also in shock. Mila could only desperately glance at the man beside her, hoping to signal her brother…Owen blinked a few times before raising his hand to greet the man. “Hi Edward. What have you gotten my sister this year?”
Edward replied teasingly, “Really! Mila, you don’t need to specially signal your brother! I thought that I had finally succeeded in become transparent, and I was truly enjoying my rare moment of transparency.”
…Prince Edward?
Yin Qie Zi blinked, and then finally really noticed the gentleman beside Mila. The other’s clothes weren’t particularly splendid; they were even plainer than the ones he had on…so that was why so many people had been staring at him along the way!
Yin Qie Zi secretly cursed Owen in his mind, and hastily bowed: “Nice to meet you, Your Majesty Prince Edward, I…this humble civilian…am Lin· Yin Qie Xi ·Omi.” He had thought about it for a while, but still couldn’t figure out what he should refer to himself as in front of the prince, so he only managed to put a “humble civilian” in.
Edward smiled mildly, and replied, “You don’t have to be so polite, it’s fine to just call me ‘Edward’.”
Yin Qie Zi didn’t really think that he could call the prince by name, but he also didn’t know the right way to speak with royalty, so he could only remain silent.
Thankfully, at that moment, Owen opened his mouth and said, “With your title as Your Majesty the Prince, who could act as if you were transparent? Answer my question, what did you end up getting my sister?”
Edward replied somewhat helplessly, “Isn’t the gift already in Mila’s hands?”
Mila held up the hand mirror in her hand with a smile. The hand mirror was white, and emitted a gentle glow. The circle frame had white roses carved around the edge, and in the center of the mirror’s back was a water-blue, round gem.
Owen sized up the mirror, and said, “Well, I guess this gift is acceptable.”
Edward heard him, and said ill-humoredly, “‘Acceptable’, really! This mirror was carved from the tooth of the Snow Beast of the North. And in order to buy it, ‘Your Majesty the Prince’ will probably have to pass the entirety of the next month by only eating porridge.”
“As if eating porridge is pitiful…Back in the days when I went training with Mr. Chris, we could only eat the prey we hunted, and if we didn’t catch anything, there wouldn’t be anything to eat!”
“Okay, okay! You only went training with Commander Chris once, but you’ve been talking about it for three years!”
Owen and Edward’s quarreling surprised Yin Qie Zi. Even though he had heard that Mila, Owen, and the crown prince were childhood playmates and very close friends, he didn’t think they were this close.
Would this affect my plan? Yin Qie Zi pondered with a frown.
“Isn’t it astonishing?”
Yin Qie Zi paused, and turned his head to look at Mila puzzledly. Mila smiled at him. “Isn’t elder brother close with Edward?”
“We’re not close!” They spoke simultaneously.
“Right?” Seeing them oppose it vehemently, Mila grinningly said. Yin Qie Zi could only nod in agreement.
Seeing Yin Qie Zi’s silence, Mila deliberately brought up a topic that he could discuss. “After seeing all the efficacious medicine that you made, I believed that you would be an old, experienced spirit binder! I didn’t think that you would be so young, perhaps even younger than Owen and I am.”
Yin Qie Zi said hastily, “I’m already 23 years old.”
Owen continued, “But because he has such a childish face, he looks like he’s only 18.”
Mila laughed, while Yin Qie Zi rolled his eyes at Owen.
Edward asked somewhat curiously, “So you’re a spirit binder? Ah…are you the spirit binder who created the orchid flower hair dye?”
Yin Qie Zi nodded.
Now Edward was curious; but just when he was about to speak, Owen pulled on his arm. He turned around, puzzled, to look at Owen. The young master only winked at him, which made him even more bewildered.
“Is it okay if I consult you about some knowledge on spirit binders?” Mila started, then hastily explained, “I only want to know some general knowledge. If it’s a secret recipe or a special proportion, you don’t need to tell me. I know that only spirit binders’ students can ask their teachers about such things.”
“I don’t have any special proportions,” Yin Qie Zi said straightforwardly. “Spirit binding, in truth, is only about the differences of comprehension and control of the spirits. As long as your spiritual vision is powerful and you have enough knowledge about the natural spirits’ colors, you just need to adjust the quantities of the different spirits slowly. You will definitely be able to recreate the color of the orchid flower.”
Mila nodded, and inquired, “So in contrary, even if you know the proportion of the spirits, if your spiritual vision isn’t powerful enough, you still won’t be able to create the orchid flower hair dye medicine?”
Yin Qie Zi thought about it for a moment, and then answered earnestly, “Not necessarily. Some spirit binders don’t have the power to continuously test the type and quantity of the natural spirits that are needed to create the color of the orchid flower. But if they knew the proportion in advance, it’s possible that they could just make it directly. The proportion of natural spirits for the orchid flower is not very difficult.”
“So we only need to know the proportion to make any kind of medicine?” Mila’s expression was somewhat confused, since Yin Qie Zi’s explanations were a bit different from traditional spirit binding knowledge.
Yin Qie Zi shook his head, and said, “No, it’s not like that. Some proportions are very meticulous, so meticulous that someone without a powerful enough spiritual vision wouldn’t be able to adjust the natural spirit binds and links to the correct amounts.”
“So that’s how it is. Thus, in the end, we still have to return to the differences in the strengths of one’s spiritual vision?”
“There’s also the ability of binding and linking spirits…”
“I’m completely lost.” Seeing the two chatting vigorously, Owen couldn’t help but scratch his head and mutter complaints. But in reality, he didn’t have any actual complaints and was truly happy to see the two chatting so energetically.
However, while happy, he didn’t plan to stay beside the two of them and continuously listen to their incantation-like “chatting”. Owen called the prince over, and they snuck away together. “Come on, Edward, let’s get some food for Mila and Yin Qie Zi! Looking at them, if we don’t get them anything to eat, they’ll probably chat till they starve to death.”
Although Edward followed Owen, he couldn’t help but protest, “Haven’t you made a mistake? I’m the crown prince, not an errand boy!”
“For the sake of the birthday girl, please help me get some food. Is this okay now?”
Hearing this, Edward finally nodded. “Fine, for Mila’s sake.”
“Hey! I’m Mila’s twin!”
“Wait, if you say it like that, then…ah! It’s also your birthday today?”
“…”
After Owen and Edward were out of sight, Mila immediately apologized. “Sorry, my brother must have forced you to come, right?”
Yin Qie Zi hesitated, not knowing how to reply.
Mila clapped her hands together, and asked with an imploring expression, “Please don’t get mad, Owen has been telling me many things about you for the past year, so I had guessed that you’re someone who didn’t like crowds. You must’ve been forced by Owen to come.”
Yin Qie Zi was silent for a moment, he then asked, “Does my appearance here make you happy?”
Mila stared at him for a moment. Although she thought that the person in front of her was rather abrupt, it matched Owen’s descriptions of Yin Qie Zi: direct, blunt, antisocial, and etc.
Mila nodded. She didn’t dislike his abruptness.
“That’s good.” Yin Qie Zi said directly. “If you have any questions about spirit binding you can ask me. I’ll definitely reply, so long as I know the answer. You can treat it as my birthday present to you! I’ll also give you a bottle of medicine, whatever kind you choose.”
“One bottle of medicine and whatever questions I want to ask?” Mila couldn’t help but smile. “Generally speaking, wouldn’t medicine be gifted, and secrets be kept instead? Or is it because it’s my birthday today, so I’m allowed to ask whatever I wish?”
Yin Qie Zi thought about it for a moment, then answered honestly, “I’ll only give you a bottle of medicine today, but you’re free to ask any questions anytime you want, not only today.”
“You’re really strange!” Mila smiled faintly. “If every spirit binder was as gracious as you are with their secret techniques, then no one would want to be a spirit binder’s student anymore.”
Yin Qie Zi scratched his face, and said somewhat confusedly, “Owen also says that a lot, but I don’t understand what’s so strange about me…”
Mila said teasingly, “Isn’t someone who ignores the Prince strange enough to begin with?”
“I didn’t recognize him……” Yin Qie Zi replied awkwardly, his reason somewhat far-fetched. Since this was the capital city Qi Feng, the king and the prince’s portraits were visible everywhere, so it would be hard not to recognize them.
Mila smiled but didn’t speak; she had asked the question intentionally. When they first met, she had clearly seen Yin Qie Zi’s blank expression when he looked at her carefully.
“I heard that you created the orchid flower colored hair dye that the queen wanted? It seems like dyeing your hair is very popular right now! Perhaps I should ask you for a bottle of special hair dye.”
Yin Qie asked confusedly, “But your golden hair is very beautiful. You don’t need to dye your hair. Owen always says that no one has hair color prettier than yours.”
“Really? I think your silver-purple hair is prettier.” Speaking of hair, Mila remembered another question that she was curious about, “I heard from Owen that you’re a descendant of the Leaves?”
Yin Qie Zi nodded.
“I heard that the Leaves are all very beautiful, is this true?”
“I don’t know…” Yin Qie Zi said uncomfortably. “I’m only their descendent; I’ve never met them.”
“Oh”, said Mila, then asked confusedly, “But your Leaf ancestors should still be here, right? Aren’t the life spans of the Leaves very long? Ah…your ancestor couldn’t have left in the Leaf migration 20 years ago, could they?”
“Probably. I’m not so sure about the details; both of my parents are dead.”
Mila blinked, then hastily said, “I’m very sorry…”
“It’s okay.” Yin Qie Zi shook his head.
“Mila.”
Hearing the call, Mila and Yin Qie Zi turned around simultaneously to look at the person. Mila immediately cried, “Father!”
The human that came was wearing a military uniform with a style similar to Owen’s, but it was black in color, and there were also many gold and silver medals hanging on the front. His face had many wrinkles, and his hair was already in the grey-white vicissitudes of life. He looked as if he was over 50 years old. His stature was thin and his back was straight, so it wasn’t difficult to guess that this person had surely once been a spirited young man.
West…?
Yin Qie Zi froze. Though he was someone whom Yin Qie Zi had not forgotten for the past 20 years, the other’s face was so different from the one in his memories that it left him unable to react.
Mila tried to rotate her wheelchair to be next to her father, but Paladin was faster, he had already walked to his daughter’s side, and lowered his head to hear her speak.
Mila, for once, acted like a little daughter, and said somewhat flightily, “Father, you’re so slow! I almost thought you weren’t coming!”
A trace of a smile appeared on Warlord Paladin’s serious face. He laughed and said, “Today’s my two children’s birthday, even the king’s command couldn’t have stopped me.”
Mila said grinningly, “Father wouldn’t really disobey the orders!”
“That may be difficult to say.” While Paladin smiled and chatted with his daughter, he didn’t fail to notice the head of silver-purple hair beside her. Pausing, he asked, “Mila, who is this guest?”
Yin Qie Zi felt his heart skip a beat heavily.
“It’s brother’s friend!” Mila replied happily, and then looked towards Yin Qie Zi.
In her knowledge, this would be the part where Yin Qie Zi introduced himself. However, Yin Qie Zi didn’t respond. When Mila saw that her father was frowning, she immediately said, “Father, this is Yin Qie Zi, the spirit binder that created the orchid flower hair dye medicine.”
“Oh, you mean him.” When not facing his daughter, Warlord Paladin’s expression immediately became much more serious. He nodded at Yin Qie Zi. “Your medicine made the queen very happy.”
Paladin’s voice wasn’t very warm, but for the average person to obtain such praise from his mouth, a heavy price would need to be paid, so they would usually react ecstatically. However, Yin Qie Zi only fell quiet for a moment, before replying faintly, “It’s my honor.”
Hearing Yin Qie Zi’s indifferent response, Paladin wrinkled his brow. With his status, he wasn’t used to being treated so indifferently.
Seeing Yin Qie Zi’s cold attitude, Mila was first shocked, before beginning to worry secretly. She spied Owen and Edward carrying a pile of food towards them, and despite the fact that they were still a few dozen steps away, she hastily said, “Father, Prince Edward and Owen are here.”
There was no way that Warlord Paladin hadn’t seen through Mila’s words. But as a doting parent, there was no way he would unveil her thoughts. Instead, he looked towards Edward and Owen’s direction cooperatively.
Seeing that his father was looking at him, Owen jogged quickly up to him. A call of “Father” was just out of his mouth when he received a reprimand from Warlord Paladin, “You’re 18 years old today yet you’re still running around so carelessly, not acting like an adult at all! Look at His Highness Edward, and learn from him!”
Edward leisurely walked over, and said courteously, “Warlord Paladin, I wish you success in all your battles and wars.”
Warlord Paladin nodded, and answered, “And I wish you victory too, Your Highness Edward.”
Edward handed over a small pastry to Mila. Doing so in front of her own father was usually considered both insolent and inappropriate, but the prince knew that the military-born Paladin didn’t care much about etiquette. Compared to manners, he’d rather that his daughter eat more, instead of being so thin that she looked as if she could be blown away by the wind.
Mila took the cake, and after discovering that it was her favorite gooseberry plum tower, she smiled at Edward and began eating the pastry.
At this time, Owen also passed some food to Yin Qie Zi, but he wasn’t as attentive as Edward. He didn’t even know what the other liked to eat, and simply stuffed a plate of meat into Yin Qie Zi’s hands.
Yin Qie Zi rolled his eyes at Owen. The opposite party had eaten with him so many times, yet still didn’t remember the fact that he didn’t eat meat. He eyed the juicy, roasted pigeon on the plate, and suddenly felt sick. He immediately handed the plate back to Owen, who finally remembered that the other didn’t eat meat, and smiled apologetically.
Paladin’s serious expression relaxed when he saw his daughter eating. He looked around and said, “Most of the guests have already arrived, but why haven’t I seen Commander Chris yet?”
Owen said awkwardly, “Teacher said that he’s not coming, that he’s not used to these social occasions…” He saw his father’s face darken, and immediately added, “But Teacher has already given his gift to Mila, and he also gave me a sword.”
Hearing this, Warlord Paladin’s expression lightened, and directed his attention to the silent Yin Qie Zi. “What has this young man given you?”
Mila said smiling, “Yin Qie Zi said that I could ask him any question about spirit binding, and even when my birthday passes, I can still ask him anything!”
The crowd marveled at this. A spirit binder’s most precious treasure was always their spirit binding techniques. As a spirit binder, Yin Qie Zi’s present was equal to giving his everything to Mila.
Warlord Paladin nodded, satisfied.
At this time, the butler Yehv walked over, and reported respectfully to Paladin, “Master, the cake is ready. Would you like to host the cake cutting ceremony?”
Warlord Paladin looked at his daughter. Seeing that she had finished eating, he told Yehv, “It’s rather late, so let’s begin.”
“Yes.”
Yehv signaled the servant at the door, and then handed over a glass cup and a silver fork to Warlord Paladin.
Warlord Paladin tapped on the glass to attract everyone’s attention. He then walked towards the middle of the hall. Owen and Mila followed closely behind him.
Edward walked beside Yin Qie Zi. With his status, he should have been walking side by side with Warlord Paladin, but he knew that today’s star wasn’t him, so he willingly stayed behind. In order to not to raise any disputes, he even pretended that he hung back to talk with Yin Qie Zi.
Although it was pretend, Edward couldn’t help but turn his head to look at Yin Qie Zi curiously. Owen’s gossip partner wasn’t only Mila, there was also him. So he was also someone who had also heard the name “Yin Qie Zi” for a year. Now that he had finally seen the individual in person, how could he not be curious?
The person beside him had a head of silver-purple hair. The first thing everyone always noticed was the silver-purple hair, but Edward noted instead, that the other’s eyes were a dark red color. He had thought it was black at first. Humans’ eye colors were more varied than thier hair colors: blue, green, brown, and naturally, black.
He had thought that Yin Qie Zi’s eyes were an ordinary black, but looking from up close, he discovered that they were actually a dark red. Yin Qie Zi’s hair color was very light in color, his skin was even paler, but his eyes were such a dark red that it looked kind of strange.
At this time, Yin Qie Zi turned to look at him. He wrinkled his brow slightly, as if he couldn’t understand what Edward was looking at.
Edward smiled, and said, “Your skin’s really white. I thought that Mila’s skin was already as white as snow, but only after meeting you do I realize what snow white truly looks like.”
“I don’t get much sun.” Yin Qie Zi said lightly.
“Owen also mentioned it. He said that you spend all day at home making medicine, and that he’s never went to your house and found you away.”
Hearing this, Yin Qie Zi said icily, “What else did he say about me?”
“Oh…that depends on how much he knows about you,” Edward said smilingly, far too happy to get his best friend in trouble.
Yin Qie Zi scoffed.
Meanwhile, Warlord Paladin stopped in his tracks. Behind him stood his children, and in front of him was the cake that the servants had placed.
The servants handed him a large silver knife to cut the cake. Warlord Paladin took the knife, raised it high above his head, and then yelled loudly, “May the Goddess of Victory forever bless the kingdom of Zhan Yan.”
Everyone in the room yelled after him, “May the Goddess of Victory forever bless the kingdom of Zhan Yan.”
Warlord Paladin sliced the cake, and swiftly cut away a few pieces. According to tradition, the birthday star was always the first one to get a slice, and the cake was then distributed according to the social status of the guests.
After Warlord Paladin had cut off slices of the cake for the servants to put on plates, he took a plate, and looked in Owen’s direction. The latter immediately stepped forward.
Warlord Paladin handed him the plate while smiling, “Owen, His Majesty and your teacher Chris have agreed to let you become a War-Glaive today.”
Owen took the cake, and knew exactly what he should say. Immediately, he said respectfully, “I give my thanks to His Majesty, to father, and also to Teacher Chris. I’m only able to become a War-Glaive today because of your guidance.”
After finishing, everyone clapped loudly with smiles on their faces. Now, Owen really was the kingdom’s youngest War-Glaive.
Even so, everyone had already guessed what his present would be. What they were more curious about was what present Warlord Paladin was going to give to his beloved daughter Mila. Some people even wondered if it would be engagement papers. Going by Mila’s age, she should already have a love interest in mind.
But much to everyone’s surprise, Warlord Paladin didn’t say what present he was giving to Mila. Instead, he just handed a slice of cake to her. He quickly cut another for Prince Edward, and then told the servants to cut and distribute the rest of the cake.
Finally, Warlord Paladin put his hands, one each, on Owen and Mila’s shoulders. The commander who had led armies said with rare emotion in his voice, “Owen, Mila, you two are my prides.”
Hearing those words, Owen and Mila both smiled. But Yin Qie Z, who was standing nearby, looked as though he had been hit hard. His originally pale face was now far paler and bloodless.
“Mr. Yin Qie Zi, are you alright?”
Yin Qie Zi turned around, Yehv was looking at him worriedly. He tried to smile, but couldn’t manage it no matter how hard he tried. He said with a strained voice, “I don’t feel well.”
Yehv looked at Yin Qie Zi’s face, and immediately cried, “Your face is very pale! Please come with me, I’ll take you immediately to the doctor…”
Yin Qie shook his head, “It’s fine. It’s an old problem. I just need some rest.”
“Is that so?” Yehv was still very concerned, “Then I’ll prepare a guest room for you immediately. If you truly don’t feel well, please don’t try to hide it, and come tell me right away.”
Faced with Yehv’s concern, Yin Qie Zi nodded his head calmly.
“Please come with me.”
Yin Qie Zi followed quietly behind Yehv all the way out of the great hall. While he was leaving he turned around, and happened to see Owen glancing at him worriedly. He shook his head at Owen to indicate everything was fine, and continued with Yehv to the guest room.
Yehv opened the guest room’s door, and said respectfully, “Please wait here a moment, I’ll send a maid around to attend to you.”
“No, it’s all right.” Yin Qie refused. “I’m not a noble. I don’t need any one to serve me!”
“Then…please allow me to check on you after an hour, okay?” Seeing Yin Qie Zi frown, Yehv added hastily, “I’ll only come once. Once I’m sure you’re fine, or if you’re asleep by then, I won’t disturb you.”
Yin Qie Zi was silent for a moment, but then nodded his assent.
“Then please rest well.”
After saying this, Yehv bowed, and slowly exited the room, closing the door behind him.
Owen…Mila…
After the door was closed, Yin Qie Zi slowly knelt down, and buried his face in his hands.
He would have never have guessed, that even after so many years, he would still feel his heart twist whenever he heard those two names. Back there in the hall, he had to grit his teeth to keep himself from…keep himself from grabbing the dagger on his waist and letting his hatred explode in West’s face!
“West…” No! Yehv might still be outside the door.
With that thought, he managed to calm his writhing emotions enough to keep quiet. His restraint made his chest hurt.
After waiting a while and thinking that Yehv had left, Yin Qie Zi couldn’t help but shout quietly, “Zhan· West ·Paladin! You don’t have the right to speak Owen and Mila’s names! Who gave you the right to call your children by these two names…I won’t allow it!”
West, I’ll make you pay the price. You took Owen from me…you took everything from me!
Yin Qie Zi clenched his fists so tight that his nails dug into his flesh. His dark red blood oozed out and stained the white gloves…After a while, he finally noticed, and hastily took them off. But the elegant white gloves were already ripped and dyed red, no longer usable.
He still needed to return the clothes to Owen!
Yin Qie Zi sighed, took his gloves off, and looked around. The guest room was arranged quite elegantly. The color theme was light purple, and many of the decorations were silver. Purple and silver…clearly this wasn’t a coincidence, maybe this guest room was specially prepared for him?
Maybe Owen had already decided to invite him to stay for a few days after the banquet. He didn’t know what Owen planned to do, but this suited his wishes. He had spent a lot of time thinking of a way to get into Warlord Paladin’s mansion.
He just didn’t think it would be that hard…He had spent a whole year before finally receiving an invitation to come in the Warlord’s house legally.
Actually, getting Owen’s trust wasn’t hard; it was his father that was far too careful with things. Strangers couldn’t even think of coming close to his family, especially when trying to get close to the defenseless Mila; that was even harder than getting near the king!
But it was entirely his fault.
Back then, he had been far too hasty, too eager to get revenge that it caused him to fail. The result of his failure back then caused West to become wary. Since then he hadn’t found a single opportunity…However, even the most meticulous person becomes lax after a long time.
Twenty years had passed since then. This period of time may seem long to humans, but to him, the wait was short.
The mistake back then made him wait for a full twenty years. It taught him to not be hasty, but to go slowly. Before long, he’d make West just like him…
Empty-handed!
***
It was only when Owen stumbled into the room that Yin Qie Zi returned from his thoughts. He looked at Owen with a frown.
Owen rushed forward and grabbed his shoulders. “Yin Qie Zi, are you alright? I knocked for a long time but you never answered. I almost thought you fell over dead…You really scared me!”
“Who fell over dead?” Yin Qie Zi snapped, and then remembered he used “not feeling well” as an excuse to leave early. He immediately added, “It’s fine, just an old problem.”
But Owen frowned and said, “Fine? You’re even paler than usual. If you were lying on the bed, I would definitely think you were dead.”
“I’m fine, don’t randomly curse me!”
Yin Qie Zi retorted angrily, but upon seeing Owen’s stunned expression, he realized that his emotions were too out of control.
He suddenly said “Owen” and took out a small bag, and threw it to the other. “Your birthday present.”
Owen fumbled with the bag, and opened it. Inside were three thumb-sized bottles, two white and one red.”
“Drink one bottle a month, but save the red bottle for last. Using these will make your physique better, but not by a lot. You’ll probably just run faster, jump higher, and be a bit stronger.”
“That’s ‘not a lot’?” Owen widened his eyes, and cried, “There is really such medicine? How come I didn’t know about it?”
“Don’t expect me to make more for you. I’ve only just made this one set.” Yin Qie Zi rushed to explain. “Some really rare spirits are required to make this, and the success rate is also really low. Litelli helped me look for materials for half a year, but I only managed to make this one set of spirit medicines. It’ll probably be even harder to find the materials now, so I can’t guarantee that I’ll have more to give you.”
Hearing this, Owen looked disappointed, and mumbled, “A spirit medicine that even you can’t give out… This must truly be hard to make, other spirit binders probably can’t even make it.”
After mumbling this, he scratched his head, “I originally thought that your presence at the banquet was your birthday present to me…in short, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Really…you’re welcome.
Yin Qie Zi glanced at the red bottle, and then said promptly, “I’m sleeping.”
Owen said hastily, “Let’s eat breakfast tomorrow, okay?”
“As long as you don’t forget that I don’t eat meat, and put another pile of meat on my plate again!”
“Ah, hahaha…”
