Cody stared at him for a long moment before letting out a soft laugh. “If you like Elina that much, I can give her to you. After all, you did chase her for quite some time.”
In Kathy’s mind, a figure in a pristine white palace flashed by. Human nature was inherently greedy. Once someone had tasted the very best, whatever they used to pursue suddenly seemed worthless.
His past pursuit now felt like a temporary madness. Looking back, aside from her looks, that woman couldn’t hold a candle to him in any aspect. In fact, even her looks paled in comparison.
It was maddening to realize that while the treasure had been right under his nose all along, he had chosen the glass bead and overlooked the pearl.
Kathy feigned composure as he walked over to sit down, his back stiff and rigid. “I simply pity Elina since she hasn’t recovered from her illness. We’ll talk after she gets better.”
That kick from Cody had cost Elina half her life. Yet, compared to her former radiant beauty, her current frail state gave her a delicate, pitiful allure—a different sort of charm altogether.
“Is that so.” Cody stood up and casually adjusted his robes. “Then I’ll make sure she prepares well for marriage.”
As Cody’s figure receded into the distance, the number of guards stationed outside the palace doubled, all of them unfamiliar faces. Breaking out wouldn’t be difficult, but getting another audience with that person would be virtually impossible.
“Cody.” Kathy lowered his head and clenched his fists tight.
His eldest brother had always outperformed him at every turn, and now he was forcefully keeping that person all to himself.
Kathy’s eyes burned red with a suppressed rage he didn’t know how to vent. He seemed to selectively forget that the moonlight-like beauty had once willingly stood beside his brother to hold their wedding.
“Your Highness,” Kathy’s personal guard rushed over, whispering urgently into his ear. “Princess Elina has been taken to His Majesty’s royal quarters.”
Though Cody had restricted their movements, he hadn’t stripped them of their privileges. Perhaps he still harbored some expectations for their morbidly obese father, but unfortunately, just like him, the King also lusted after the beauty Cody was keeping so fiercely guarded.
Elina had once been precious only because she was unattainable and unique. Now that a far superior alternative existed, her value had plummeted.
It was painfully obvious why the King had summoned her now. Unable to claim the finest prize, he was settling for a lesser substitute—better than nothing at all.
“Why bother reporting something like this to me? A gift is just a gift. Only the master gets to choose the gift; the gift has no right to choose its master,” Kathy sneered, intending to ignore it.
A moment later, however, a sinister smile crept onto his lips. His emerald-green eyes flickered like glowing fireflies in a dark cave, radiating a strange, twisted light. “Actually, no. Let’s go take a look.”
Since both he and his father were currently suppressed by his eldest brother, they were, in a sense, on the same side. If he couldn’t have the absolute best, he could at least vent his frustration on the woman he had once pursued—and now thoroughly despised.
The white palace was quiet. Cody sat by the edge of the bed, gazing at the peaceful sleeping face of the person resting on it. The priest’s brow was smooth and relaxed, as though nothing in the world could ever disturb him.
His long eyelashes curled slightly. When closed, his eyes were as breathtaking as moonlight; when open, they seemed to cradle an entire galaxy of stars.
The common people of Onassis had never seen him, but rumors circulated among the nobility, praising his skin as softer than moonlight and his long hair as more stunning than a cascading waterfall. He was like the bright moon rising above the ocean—even as the moonlight danced upon the waves like shimmering gems, he remained exquisite, yet forever out of reach.
Gentle, kind, and pure, he was nearly flawless. But could a truly perfect person actually exist in this world? Utter perfection, in itself, was a flaw.
Cody recalled the look in his eyes when he had watched Kathy leave—cold, emotionless, laced with a subtle languor. He seemed affectionate on the surface, but was more heartless than anyone.
That side of him—the side that seemed to look down on everyone as if they were nothing—was it just another facade, or his true nature?
Cody didn’t know. Yet that very side astonished him, stirring a deep, primal excitement and craving from within his bones. He was already hopelessly entangled, fallen beyond redemption.
A gentle kiss landed on the priest’s forehead and vanished in an instant. Though the person on the bed remained fast asleep, Cody stood up and turned to leave.
Once the palace was completely empty, Lin Yao slowly opened his eyes. There was not a trace of drowsiness in them. Yet, even as his eyes opened, his breathing remained as smooth and calm as if he were still asleep, keeping his heartbeat perfectly steady.
Pretending to sleep was an art in itself—it often revealed things that would otherwise remain hidden.
Cody rarely came here during the day. His visit meant he had discovered something.
Lin Yao sank into thought, only to realize that the system was unusually quiet today. He couldn’t help asking with a smirk: [Why so quiet? Binge-watching a show?]
The system’s aggrieved, sniffling voice resonated: [No, something happened.]
[What is it?] Lin Yao was usually quite accommodating when it came to his pet’s moods.
The system sounded thoroughly disheartened: [That Elina girl was dragged away by the King, and then Kathy went too, and then I got censored.]
The system was usually censored during primal human acts to protect the host’s privacy and well-being.
Although Lin Yao didn’t think there was any real need to censor natural human desires, he remembered that the system wasn’t human and let it slide.
Being censored meant Elina had undergone the transition from a girl to a woman. Except under these circumstances, it had unfolded in the most humiliating way possible, inflicting maximum harm.
[What a pity.] Lin Yao paused for a moment, letting out a soft sigh, though he made no move to intervene.
It wasn’t that he was heartless. Compared to the women who had been reduced to slaves, Elina was considered fortunate. Her beauty had granted her opportunities, yet she had ruined them with her own hands. No one else was going to pay for the choices she made.
Such was the nature of this era: a person could only rely on themselves.
Lin Yao didn’t bother following Elina’s ultimate fate. Though she was merely a gift, if a gift were deliberately ruined, it was hard to say how its former owner—who had once cherished it like a treasure—would react.
The King’s retaliation came quickly. He might have been old and senile, but he had a venomous viper like Kathy by his side. When a person desperately wanted something and couldn’t have it, the burning obsession could unlock an immense amount of dark potential.
First, Cody grew increasingly busy—so busy he could only spare a brief visit to Lin Yao once a day. Then it became once every three days, and eventually once a week.
Despite such blatant political scheming, Cody didn’t stage an immediate revolt. Instead, he simply tightened the guard around the Priest’s Palace.
Days trickled by. Lin Yao kept count; a full week had passed this time, and Cody still hadn’t returned.
It seemed the King’s plan was working.
Stripping power from a loyal subject was absurdly simple. Executing small, subtle schemes one after another might not cause fatal damage at first, but compounded over time, the damage was unpredictable.
Lin Yao sat before the mirror, combing his long hair, which flowed through his fingers like liquid silk.
Clamor broke out outside—the clashing of blades sounded almost like a crisp melody, intermingled with occasional screams and the sickening sound of metal plunging into flesh.
A blade dripping with blood intruded into the palace first. The crimson liquid dripped onto the floor, blooming outward into a stain far more vivid than a blossoming Posuo flower—just like the blood that had dripped from Cody’s sword in the treasury long ago.
Blonde hair fluttered in the air. The intruder’s footsteps were hurried, but his face was not one Lin Yao recognized. He swung his sword toward the figure seated by the mirror, only to freeze the moment Lin Yao turned his head.
His fingers trembled. The young man, who still possessed a hint of baby fat on his features, bore a fifty-percent resemblance to Cody. He was handsome and spirited.
His face was a storm of rage and bewilderment. Though he had halted his swing, the tip of his blade remained pointed directly at Lin Yao’s nose as he demanded, “Are you the priest my eldest brother wants to marry?”
“I am.” Lin Yao acted as though he didn’t even notice the blade pointing at him. Resuming his motion, he continued to comb his long hair.
The comb was made of tortoiseshell and encrusted with precious jewels, yet such lavish luxury somehow felt unworthy of the person holding it.
“So you’re the one who drove a wedge between my brother and Father?” the youngest prince of Onassis interrogated.
Having finished combing his hair, Lin Yao stood up quietly and smiled softly. “I did no such thing.”
He truly hadn’t done anything. It was simply that once you understood human nature thoroughly enough, you didn’t need to lift a finger—events would naturally fall into their intended places.
“Liar!” The third prince glared at him, yet his blade did not descend.
It wasn’t that he lacked the desire, but standing before someone so pure and ethereal, he found himself desperately wanting to believe the man was innocent.
“Then why don’t you kill me?” Lin Yao took a step forward.
Startled, the young prince took a step back with his sword, shouting with feigned bravado, “Have you lost your mind?”
Before Lin Yao could tilt his head and answer, a stern, harsh bark resonated from outside the hall: “Put your sword down!”
The King’s uniform was also stained with blood. He rushed in almost recklessly, knocking the young prince’s sword aside without giving the child he hadn’t seen in ages a single glance. Instead, he marched straight up to Lin Yao, his voice filled with burning concern. “Yao, are you hurt? Let me see.”
His eyes were filled with pure obsession and greed. His frantic movements didn’t look like an attempt to check for injuries, but rather an urge to strip the clothes right off him.
“Your Majesty, I am fine,” Lin Yao retreated swiftly, dodging his reach and speaking in an unsteady voice. “You don’t need to worry.”
“I’d feel better if I checked myself,” the King pressed closer, his heart surging with intense excitement the moment a slender hand pressed against his chest to hold him back.
He had never felt his desires inflamed to such a degree. Looking at this person, he wished he could crush him into his arms and swallow him whole.
No wonder Cody kept such a tight guard over him. He, too, would have to guard him just as fiercely.
“Your Majesty, there are so many people here, I—” Lin Yao trailed off hesitantly, his gaze drifting toward Kathy—who had followed the King inside—and the soldiers whose eyes were staring without the slightest restraint.
An alliance required a shared objective. But if the coveted prize could only be given to one person, then the alliance was already teetering on the edge of collapse.
“Kathy, all of you, get out!” The King barked at the people beside him, his voice trembling with impatience and raw excitement.
What he intended to do next required no imagination at all.