“Is that the reason?” Cody reclined back onto the plush cushions, his narrow eyes half-lidded as he murmured softly, “You wrapped it well. It’s getting late, and it might rain tonight. Go back and rest early.”
The young priest gave a gentle nod, stood up gracefully, and pulled his collar tight as he departed, leaving in a hurry.
At that moment, an attendant entered, dropping to one knee in deferential homage. “Prince Cody, Prince Kathy sends his regards and extends his gratitude for your gifts. However, he respectfully requests to return those treasures and double them in exchange for a single treasure of yours.”
The attendant waited after speaking, but no answer came for a long time. Looking up, he thought Cody had fallen asleep. Just as he prepared to rise and leave, a sudden question broke the silence, making his leg buckle so sharply he landed back on the ground with a dull thud.
“What does he want? As his elder brother, if I have it, I will give it to him.”
The voice sounded heavy with wine. The attendant stammered, “His Highness wishes for Lord Yao.”
“A priest belongs to the Sanctuary. Though I brought him back,” Cody said indifferently, “he is not my personal property. Tell my second brother that if he wants him, he should go ask Yao himself. His elder brother cannot help him with this.”
Looking in the mirror, Lin Yao noted that the red marks on his neck wouldn’t fade for several days. If someone with malicious intent saw these traces, there was no telling how much trouble it would cause.
The system, as if possessed by a chatterbox demon, nagged and shrieked in his mind:
［Host, it only takes 888 Star Credits to completely erase those marks!］
［Besides, he bullied you! He’s definitely not a good person!］
［Too bad he has such a handsome face. Sigh, he’s not even as nice as the Second Prince.］
［Do you only judge people by their faces?］ Lin Yao retrieved a small container and applied the white ointment inside onto his neck. The marks were concealed, but if one looked closely, the skin tone was still subtly uneven.
The system rubbed its hands together sheepishly:
［No, no, how could I?］
Lin Yao lowered his eyes, applying a thicker layer of cream before slowly removing his mask. He offered a faint, breathtaking smile—as if to himself, or perhaps to someone else.
The beauty in the mirror possessed a peerless elegance. His brows and eyes were like clear moonlight softly parting the clouds, pristine and exquisite. Yet, the crimson lined the corners of his eyes acted like a seductive hook, capable of stealing one’s soul with a single glance.
The system covered its face and shrieked:
［Aaaaah! Host, you are so beautiful! I’m completely swooning over your looks! The best thing I ever did in my life was becoming your system! Pure bliss.］
［Heh. If you’re so blissfully happy, how about giving me that pair of Sound-Transmission Stones from the Star Credit Shop for free?］ Lin Yao spoke softly, his smile carrying an ethereal, almost demonically enchanting charm.
［Uh, sure.］ The system suddenly caught itself and panicked: ［No, no, no! Prices are fixed! I don’t control the store pricing! Waaah. Host, why are you bullying me?］
［Because you’re easy to bully,］ Lin Yao replied, putting his mask back on. The system was soft, squishy, easily duped, and gullible. Whenever he was in a bad mood, picking on it provided a nice little stress relief, even if it brought no real sense of accomplishment.
The system felt deeply wronged, yet it loyally persisted in promoting its products: ［So, do you still want the Sound-Transmission Stones?］
Lin Yao’s posture froze slightly, his lips pressing into a thin line: ［Yes!］
A pair of Sound-Transmission Stones cost one thousand Star Credits. By his previous standards, that was dirt cheap, but in the Revenge Division, payouts dropped drastically depending on the mission completion grade.
An S-rank was the highest at ten million Star Credits. An A-rank plummeted straight down to one million. A B-rank dropped further to one hundred thousand, C-rank to ten thousand, and D-rank to a mere one thousand. Anything below a D-rank resulted in no payout and hefty penalty deductions instead.
Although Lin Yao had never scored below an A-rank in his previous missions, a thousand Star Credits was still a significant sum right now. If he spent it without making a return, Lin Yao lay on his bed, eyeing the reduced balance in his account, pondering how to recoup the investment exponentially.
Eight years ago, when he first arrived in this kingdom, the Chade Royal Court had just been annihilated, but the young prince’s body was never recovered. With the threat not fully eradicated, panic lingered over the royal palace. Even under the protection of his identity as a priest, Lin Yao had faced life-threatening dangers multiple times.
Back then, he had worked tirelessly to cultivate the Posuo Flower and used the pretext of Cody bringing him back to offer his allegiance—appearing as a member of the Sanctuary on the surface, but operating as Cody’s subordinate in reality.
Given his young age at the time, he had deliberately allowed himself to be harassed a few times whenever Cody passed by. The prince had intervened to aid him, giving rise to the apparent warmth and devotion in Lin Yao’s eyes.
It was a smooth, natural transition.
Unfortunately, that man seemed inherently paranoid about everything around him. Even though Lin Yao had shown zero suspicious behavior over the years, Cody had never fully dropped his guard.
The Kingdom of Onassis was ruled by three princes: the eldest, Cody, excelled in warfare; the second, Kathy, excelled in civil governance; and the third, George, managed trade. They complemented one another perfectly, but the continuous expansion of their territory was entirely Cody’s doing. Once he stepped onto the battlefield, he fought as if putting his own life on the line. Even after sustaining a severe injury like the recent one, he could still sit there calmly as if it were nothing.
Killing a man like that with a simple blade would bring no real satisfaction whatsoever.
For a truly perfect revenge, the enemy had to die when he least desired death—to lose everything only after attaining it all.
With the ointment applied to his neck, Lin Yao tied a delicate ribbon over it, its long ends fluttering gently in the breeze.
Yet his steps as he walked out of his bedchamber held a rare trace of hesitation. When servants offered their greetings, he merely brushed past them in haste.
Normally composed and unhurried, his unusual demeanor caused several servants to exchange uncertain and worried glances before bowing their heads back down.
The consequence of walking too hurriedly was colliding with someone at a sharp corridor turn without time to dodge.
With a soft gasp, Lin Yao instinctively stumbled backward. Just as he tripped over his own robes and was about to fall, a firm arm caught him around the waist. Deep green eyes flashed with amusement, holding him in that dipped position without letting go.
“Prince Kathy,” Lin Yao tried to straighten up, but the pressure on his bent waist prevented him from rising. “Thank you. You may unhand me now.”
The waist within his grasp was so slender it could almost be encompassed by a single hand—more intoxicating than that of the finest court dancer. In this intimate position, with Lin Yao so close, the delicate, cool fragrance of the Posuo Flower hovered near Kathy’s nose.
The Posuo Flower burned like fire, renowned for its decadent brilliance, yet it clung to this cold, detached priest. It made one desperately yearn to see him lose his composure, drowned in waves of desire. That pristine white neck would surely turn a gorgeous shade of pink, covered in crimson marks far more captivating than the flower itself.
Kathy’s gaze drifted downward, lingering on the youth’s neck. Seeing the ribbon tied there, he reached out to touch it, only for his hand to be firmly intercepted by pale, jade-like fingers. Even the water-glistening eyes behind the mask flickered with a trace of panic.
“Your Highness, you are crossing the line!”
Following that sharp, alarmed rebuke, Lin Yao pushed him away and retreated several steps to regain his footing. However, his hand remained tightly clamped over the side of his neck, making his stern reprimand sound more like flustered defensiveness.
He’s hiding a secret.
Kathy maintained a smile on his face, though it lacked its usual gentle warmth. Taking a few deliberate steps forward, he asked, “Yao, I asked my elder brother for you yesterday. Do you know what he said?”
Lin Yao’s hand clutching his neck paused slightly, his voice betraying a barely perceptible trace of anticipation. “What did Prince Cody say?”
“He said,” Kathy leaned down, leaning close to the youth’s ear under that expectant gaze, “that as long as you agree to it, he doesn’t mind at all.”
A long, powerful hand forcibly pulled away the fingers covering his neck. Before Lin Yao could react, the ribbon was snatched away, causing the young priest to retreat in complete disarray. Yet Kathy gripped his arm tightly, preventing any escape.
Compared to a body trained from childhood in horsemanship and swordsmanship, a priest’s physical strength was like an egg against a stone.
“Let go!” Lin Yao twisted his wrist. Looking to the side, he saw the nearby attendants initially preparing to step in, but upon seeing Kathy’s face, they all hurriedly backed away.
Lin Yao’s eyes glinted with unshed tears of anxiety. Kathy scrutinized his neck, brushing a finger over the skin. Spotting the faint red marks beneath the ointment, his grip tightened further: “I never expected our pure and holy High Priest to have such a scandalous side.”
Those marks were definitely not left by a woman. They were saturated with possessiveness and masculine violence—vividly sensual. To have something he had set his sights on sampled by someone else first was deeply displeasing.
The moment Kathy wiped away the ointment, the body in his grasp froze completely. Lin Yao’s eyes drooped, as if he were facing an impending death sentence.
“Who did this?” Kathy studied his expression, his gaze darkening subtly.
Such marks had never appeared before. No one dared lay a hand on the people of the Sanctuary, nor did anyone dare touch Cody’s possessions. Yet the moment his elder brother returned, these marks appeared on the priest’s body.
Who did it was practically self-evident.
His elder brother was a brilliant warrior and a sharp strategist, but he had never shown particular interest in women. Though he appeared arrogant, he never desecrated those who were useful to him.
Unless he had genuinely developed a desire for the youth. Otherwise, how could he have been careless enough to leave such obvious marks?
“It was Elder Brother,” Kathy stated with absolute certainty. Although a faint trace of doubt lingered in his mind, feeling the unnatural stiffness and trembling of the body beneath his grip confirmed his suspicion.
The young priest kept his head lowered. His usually cold voice carried a hint of pitiful, dying struggle, like a trapped young fox pinned by its neck: “It, it wasn’t.”
“I won’t tell anyone. Don’t be afraid, Yao,” Kathy said gently. The reassurance in his tone caused the priest to let out a small sigh of relief, but the very next sentence made his heart leap into his throat again. “You like my elder brother, don’t you?”
“No.”
“If you like him, I can help you. Love is the most beautiful thing in Onassis; it shouldn’t be forbidden,” Kathy’s eyes were strikingly gentle, filled with a hypnotic allure. Maiden across the kingdom referred to his eyes as the Sacred Lake atop Mount Plis.
That lake sat at the highest peak of Onassis, emerald green, crystal clear, and gentle. Legend had it that if lovers climbed to the summit and drank its waters, they would be granted the most sincere love.
And eyes resembling that lake truly seemed capable of drowning a person. He whispered, “Don’t you want to win my brother’s love? Or do you want to stand by helplessly and watch him end up with someone else one day?”
Lin Yao’s eyes flickered with apparent hesitation.
Yet beneath his panicked facade, his heart remained coldly composed. This man before me is truly dangerous.