At the end of each day, King Edric and Queen Mira convened in the study adjacent to their bedroom to go over that day’s matters. One of today’s matters was the recent rumour.
“How ridiculous,” King Edric scoffed. “It’s impossible for our son to be infatuated with Earl Rosewood.”
Queen Mira agreed. Even the newest version of the rumour—that Rian was enamoured by Earl Rosewood’s power—didn’t ring true for Queen Mira. The way Rian acted was more like a young boy being excited over a new toy, like a growing young man who wanted to rebel a little against his parents.
As for the other version of the rumour that Rian was being controlled by psychic magic? They had already secretly checked for malicious psychic magic and found nothing.
“The source of the rumour has been traced,” Queen Mira said, lightly tapping a slim report on the study table. “It appears to be wild speculation that took hold. The original speculation was a comment that Prince Rian liked Earl Rosewood and it changed from one ‘like’ to another. The spread occurred purely through word-of-mouth.”
The fact that Earl Rosewood gave Rian roses, and that Rian ran to the Rosewood fief multiple times over the last few months, gave the rumour some credibility.
If the rumour had been disseminated through the Royal Postal Service, they could have controlled it and destroyed the relevant letters. But unfortunately, the rumours had spread by word of mouth, and the aristocracy had dared to spread it—hundreds of nobles who were too free for their own good.
“Find a suitable rumour to release,” King Edric said.
“Yes.”
“I recall that Rian had wanted to find the source of those accusations against Earl Rosewood.”
Queen Mira smiled wryly. “He’s getting close to uncovering that information.”
They both thought about Rian’s new people, some of whom were less than desirable. Rian was someone also clearly not busy enough given that he had time to develop a magical product with Earl Rosewood in-between all his studies and duties and hires.
“Then let him. Let’s see how he’d deal with it.”
“Very well.”
Cassiopeia had tried talking to her father again about the latest rumours and the possibility of Prince Rian being affected by malicious psychic magic, but Duke Schauss frowned at her, his eyes complex.
“My daughter, you must separate important matters of aristocratic politics and embellished torrid rumours. It’s clear that Prince Rian respects Earl Rosewood’s power. Earl Rosewood is one of the strongest mages of his—your—generation.”
Cassiopeia lowered her head, unhappy.
Duke Schauss relented a little. “Cassiopeia, don’t worry about this. You only need to focus on your studies.”
“Yes, Father…”
“There is the late-autumn ball coming up. Shall I ask your mother to accompany you to buy something new?”
Cassiopeia tried to brighten up. “Yes, Father.”
Duke Schauss patted Cassiopeia on the arm. “Very good.”
Despite her brave face, when Cassiopeia was alone again, she wanted to break something.
There was definitely something wrong, but why couldn’t her father see it? Why didn’t he believe her? Was it up to her to deal with Ayden somehow? But Ayden was violent and unreasonable, carried out actions without consulting anyone else, and didn’t conformed to proper social norms.
Cassiopeia just couldn’t understand Ayden. Ayden was either ignorant or just straight-up trying to take over and make himself the main character!
She had a sudden chilling thought.
What if Ayden had murdered Alyssa? And somehow used her blood to fake the blood lineage test?
Cassiopeia felt suffocated. She looked at her hands. She had magic now, yet she was still weak. She still felt trapped, no one was listening to her at all.
The rumours mostly circulated among the upper echelons of society. Any of the Rosewood staff who heard the rumours easily disregarded them. Infatuation? Power? Why make friendship so complicated? Did young boys need such reasons to be friends these days?
The Rosewood staff didn’t have time for such things anyway: tax collection and census data collection were finished and now it all needed to be processed.
As the weather grew colder, winter preparations continued with greater urgency, not just from the Rosewood estate, but also by the common people. The heralds hired by the Rosewood estate had started to spread the word about Earl Rosewood’s plans and current initiatives, prompting many to begin their own winter preparations. Markets were bustling, and these plans and initiatives became the biggest talk in the Rosewood fief.
After a long day of meetings, Ren Xiyang was able to relax in bed. He opened his communication mirror, connecting with Rian.
Rian gave a quick hello and then launched straight into—“You wouldn’t believe the latest rumour about you and me! the aristocracy seems to suspect that I’m infatuated with your power!” His voice was a mixture of both amusement and indignation. “It’s quite ridiculous! But given how fast this rumour has spread, what kind of person would believe such a rumour, are they looking down on my magical strength?!”
“I’m powerful,” Ren Xiyang said modestly.
“…If I didn’t know better, I would think that you were the source of the rumours.”
“You’re the most gossipy person I know. It wasn’t you?”
“If it was me, the rumour would be that Earl Rosewood was infatuated with Prince Rian’s gold.”
“Okay, I’ll know it was you in the future.”
Rian huffed on his side; Ren Xiyang had a faint smile.
“On the matter of the heating charms, my Imperial Parents have given their preliminary approval,” Rian said.
The two of them talked about the next steps, before exchanging a brief update about what they had done recently.
“—And the next Imperial Council gathering and Imperial late-autumn ball are coming up. I assume you’ll come to the Capital and attend both this time?” Rian asked.
“Are you threatening me?”
“You should be honoured that I spend time with you, Earl Rosewood! Aside from my Imperial Mother and tutors, there is no one else I talk to near as frequently.”
Ren Xiyang’s lips curled with some mischievousness, that Rian couldn’t see. “Though I don’t talk to her via crystal ball, I’ve sent a few letters back and forth with Florence. I was thinking that once I have some more time, I should visit the Sage fief to learn some of their agriculture techniques myself.”
“…Alternatively, you can come to the Capital and I’ll show you the Imperial Palace library, we have many magical theory books that you may be interested in. Why, I could even call in a magical theorist specialist to speak with you.”
Ren Xiyang laughed lightly. “Oh, thank you for offering, Your Highness.”
“If you come to the Capital earlier ahead of the next events, or if you stay for longer, then you can have these offerings even earlier,” Rian enticed.
“I’ll think about it,” Ren Xiyang said. “It’s getting late now, we both have a lot of work to do tomorrow.”
Both of them lapsed into a shared silence, in tribute to their workloads.
“Good night, Prince Rian.”
“Good night, Earl Rosewood.”
The flurry of work made the days pass quickly. The autumn leaves in the Rosewood fief had fallen from their branches, leaving bare trees. The short-term housing area started to take shape.
In a blink of an eye, it was time for Ren Xiyang to head to the Capital once more.
A few days before the late-autumn social ball, Ren Xiyang and a large group headed off. Aside from Kel and Maria and Otto and the two ‘guard’ knights, there were the Rosewood managers who had come down for the tax collection period, plus the very large group of carriages and carts carrying the Imperial taxes, consisting of both harvested grains and coins.
The trip to the Capital was smooth, arriving in the late afternoon. They headed directly to the Imperial Palace first, to drop off and lodge their taxes, before going to the Rosewood Capital House for dinner.
Then, after dinner, Ren Xiyang went back to the Imperial Palace to meet with Rian.
“Welcome, Earl Rosewood.” Rian ushered Ren Xiyang into his quarters.
He smiled meaningfully at Ren Xiyang and then looked pointedly at the tailors standing to the side with large clothing boxes.
Ren Xiyang sighed in his heart. “I understand. I’ll wear them at the ball, thank you for your generosity, Your Highness.”
“I’ve also called my dancing instructor, she’ll be coming tomorrow to teach you,” Rian added with an angelic smile.
Ren Xiyang grimaced. “And if I’m busy tomorrow?”
“But are you?”
“…” Ren Xiyang was silent for a moment. “And who would I dance with? Florence? Adrienne?”
Rian’s lips thinned. “You’ll dance with a variety of people for a short amount of time. You can’t solve everything by duelling with them.”
“A shame, I’d lose a lot of gold. I suppose I shouldn’t duel with you anymore either.”
“Into my study, Earl Rosewood,” Rian said, very restrained.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The moment after Rian closed the study door and cast the sound-blocking spell, he opened his mouth to complain, “You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?”
“You’re doing it on purpose too,” Ren Xiyang replied with a shrug.
Rian narrowed his eyes intimidatingly, leaning closer to Ren Xiyang.
“—Wait until you’re a bit bigger for that to work,” Ren Xiyang helpfully advised. “It would also help if you were stronger than me.”
Rian huffed. “We’ll duel again to settle that.”
“Wouldn’t it be more fun to fly over the Capital on swords?”
Rian’s eyes lit up. He grinned impishly. “It would. But I’ll have to get permission from my Imperial Mother first.”
“Fly first, ask for forgiveness later,” Ren Xiyang said.
“You’re becoming the bad influence that my Imperial Mother is worried about.”
“But first…” Ren Xiyang cleared his throat. “On the topic of growing bigger…”
Rian was delighted to realise that Ren Xiyang was being hesitant. “Ye-es?”
“I believe I have a method for my transition,” Ren Xiyang said. “I need to examine your body.” He made vague gestures down his body. “The easiest way for me to use direct healing magic manipulation is to copy the goal structure onto the target structure.”
Rian raised his eyebrows as he realised the implications. He puffed up. “I see. Do you want to have a body as great as mine? In the future, I’ll be tall and strong.”
“Congratulations,” Ren Xiyang deadpanned. “If you don’t agree, then I’ll ask Alexius. As the male lead of this novel, I assume he’ll become the most handsome man.”
Rian: “…”
Rian turned and reclined decadently on one of the sofas. “You can never give me pure, unadulterated praise, can you?”
“If you were a true twelve-year-old, I might have,” Ren Xiyang said.
“If I was a true twelve-year-old, we wouldn’t be friends.”
“True.”
Rian made a gesture down his body. “Well, come on, examine.”
“—Wait until you’re a bit bigger for that to have any hope of working.”
Rian’s lips twitched. “And what are you thinking about, Earl Rosewood? Are you trying to fuel the rumours?” He laughed. “There’s an even more ridiculous version of that rumour, that I’m infatuated with you!”
Ren Xiyang sat down on the edge of the sofa by Rian, looking down at the reclining prince. “I’m too busy for rumours. Anyway, don’t talk and let me focus.”
Ren Xiyang didn’t expect to do this now, but since Rian had presented himself, Ren Xiyang went for it.
He held his hands over Rian’s body, starting at his legs. He pulled magic out from his chest, transforming it into a probing healing magic, and started to explore. Multiple times, he compared back with his own current body.
“Can I?” Ren Xiyang asked as his hands started towards Rian’s groin.
Rian’s lips quirked up. “Go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
The room was quiet but for the sound of their breathing and the rustling of clothing.
Rian watched as Ren Xiyang worked. Ren Xiyang’s lips were slightly parted, his brows slightly furrowed.
Inevitably, Rian’s mind wandered. Production of the heating lamps was already underway and Rian needed to contact sellers and distributors next. Communication with Viscount Obsidian was going well. There something else about the anonymous letter writer that he needed to tell Ren Xiyang. Alexius had been annoying lately.
Presently, Ren Xiyang shifted up on the sofa as his hands travelled up Rian’s chest, and to Rian’s head. Their gazes met, red eyes to blue eyes. Ren Xiyang’s eyes shifted first as he focused on the magic.
Finally, Ren Xiyang shifted back.
“How was it?” Rian asked, straightening up.
“Interesting,” Ren Xiyang said. “Complicated. Let me think about it later, and we’ll have a longer session before I leave the Capital again. Next time, you can bring a book to read.”
“And there’s nothing I can help you with?”
“I don’t think you can. Aren’t you already dealing with many matters?”
Rian gazed at the other for a moment. “Do you know, I’ve heard that another noble can cook, similar to you.”
“Is it so weird?” Ren Xiyang deadpanned. “Are you going to be friends with this other noble instead now?”
Rian smiled slightly. “Cassiopeia Schauss likes to bake desserts and other treats.”
Ren Xiyang’s eyes narrowed. “You imply that she didn’t in your first life?”
“By the way, my people have been tracing the source of those anonymous letters. It’s taken a while, but I wanted to confirm the information first.”
“Hm?”
Rian’s gaze turned dark. “The sender appears to be Lady Cassiopeia Schauss.”
^_^
- Author smiles meaningfully
Also, sorry for misleading people in the comments about who the true anonymous letter writer was . It was indeed Cassiopeia!!!
At the end of each day, King Edric and Queen Mira convened in the study adjacent to their bedroom to go over that day’s matters. One of today’s matters was the recent rumour.
“How ridiculous,” King Edric scoffed. “It’s impossible for our son to be infatuated with Earl Rosewood.”
Queen Mira agreed. Even the newest version of the rumour—that Rian was enamoured by Earl Rosewood’s power—didn’t ring true for Queen Mira. The way Rian acted was more like a young boy being excited over a new toy, like a growing young man who wanted to rebel a little against his parents.
As for the other version of the rumour that Rian was being controlled by psychic magic? They had already secretly checked for malicious psychic magic and found nothing.
“The source of the rumour has been traced,” Queen Mira said, lightly tapping a slim report on the study table. “It appears to be wild speculation that took hold. The original speculation was a comment that Prince Rian liked Earl Rosewood and it changed from one ‘like’ to another. The spread occurred purely through word-of-mouth.”
The fact that Earl Rosewood gave Rian roses, and that Rian ran to the Rosewood fief multiple times over the last few months, gave the rumour some credibility.
If the rumour had been disseminated through the Royal Postal Service, they could have controlled it and destroyed the relevant letters. But unfortunately, the rumours had spread by word of mouth, and the aristocracy had dared to spread it—hundreds of nobles who were too free for their own good.
“Find a suitable rumour to release,” King Edric said.
“Yes.”
“I recall that Rian had wanted to find the source of those accusations against Earl Rosewood.”
Queen Mira smiled wryly. “He’s getting close to uncovering that information.”
They both thought about Rian’s new people, some of whom were less than desirable. Rian was someone also clearly not busy enough given that he had time to develop a magical product with Earl Rosewood in-between all his studies and duties and hires.
“Then let him. Let’s see how he’d deal with it.”
“Very well.”
Cassiopeia had tried talking to her father again about the latest rumours and the possibility of Prince Rian being affected by malicious psychic magic, but Duke Schauss frowned at her, his eyes complex.
“My daughter, you must separate important matters of aristocratic politics and embellished torrid rumours. It’s clear that Prince Rian respects Earl Rosewood’s power. Earl Rosewood is one of the strongest mages of his—your—generation.”
Cassiopeia lowered her head, unhappy.
Duke Schauss relented a little. “Cassiopeia, don’t worry about this. You only need to focus on your studies.”
“Yes, Father…”
“There is the late-autumn ball coming up. Shall I ask your mother to accompany you to buy something new?”
Cassiopeia tried to brighten up. “Yes, Father.”
Duke Schauss patted Cassiopeia on the arm. “Very good.”
Despite her brave face, when Cassiopeia was alone again, she wanted to break something.
There was definitely something wrong, but why couldn’t her father see it? Why didn’t he believe her? Was it up to her to deal with Ayden somehow? But Ayden was violent and unreasonable, carried out actions without consulting anyone else, and didn’t conformed to proper social norms.
Cassiopeia just couldn’t understand Ayden. Ayden was either ignorant or just straight-up trying to take over and make himself the main character!
She had a sudden chilling thought.
What if Ayden had murdered Alyssa? And somehow used her blood to fake the blood lineage test?
Cassiopeia felt suffocated. She looked at her hands. She had magic now, yet she was still weak. She still felt trapped, no one was listening to her at all.
The rumours mostly circulated among the upper echelons of society. Any of the Rosewood staff who heard the rumours easily disregarded them. Infatuation? Power? Why make friendship so complicated? Did young boys need such reasons to be friends these days?
The Rosewood staff didn’t have time for such things anyway: tax collection and census data collection were finished and now it all needed to be processed.
As the weather grew colder, winter preparations continued with greater urgency, not just from the Rosewood estate, but also by the common people. The heralds hired by the Rosewood estate had started to spread the word about Earl Rosewood’s plans and current initiatives, prompting many to begin their own winter preparations. Markets were bustling, and these plans and initiatives became the biggest talk in the Rosewood fief.
After a long day of meetings, Ren Xiyang was able to relax in bed. He opened his communication mirror, connecting with Rian.
Rian gave a quick hello and then launched straight into—“You wouldn’t believe the latest rumour about you and me! the aristocracy seems to suspect that I’m infatuated with your power!” His voice was a mixture of both amusement and indignation. “It’s quite ridiculous! But given how fast this rumour has spread, what kind of person would believe such a rumour, are they looking down on my magical strength?!”
“I’m powerful,” Ren Xiyang said modestly.
“…If I didn’t know better, I would think that you were the source of the rumours.”
“You’re the most gossipy person I know. It wasn’t you?”
“If it was me, the rumour would be that Earl Rosewood was infatuated with Prince Rian’s gold.”
“Okay, I’ll know it was you in the future.”
Rian huffed on his side; Ren Xiyang had a faint smile.
“On the matter of the heating charms, my Imperial Parents have given their preliminary approval,” Rian said.
The two of them talked about the next steps, before exchanging a brief update about what they had done recently.
“—And the next Imperial Council gathering and Imperial late-autumn ball are coming up. I assume you’ll come to the Capital and attend both this time?” Rian asked.
“Are you threatening me?”
“You should be honoured that I spend time with you, Earl Rosewood! Aside from my Imperial Mother and tutors, there is no one else I talk to near as frequently.”
Ren Xiyang’s lips curled with some mischievousness, that Rian couldn’t see. “Though I don’t talk to her via crystal ball, I’ve sent a few letters back and forth with Florence. I was thinking that once I have some more time, I should visit the Sage fief to learn some of their agriculture techniques myself.”
“…Alternatively, you can come to the Capital and I’ll show you the Imperial Palace library, we have many magical theory books that you may be interested in. Why, I could even call in a magical theorist specialist to speak with you.”
Ren Xiyang laughed lightly. “Oh, thank you for offering, Your Highness.”
“If you come to the Capital earlier ahead of the next events, or if you stay for longer, then you can have these offerings even earlier,” Rian enticed.
“I’ll think about it,” Ren Xiyang said. “It’s getting late now, we both have a lot of work to do tomorrow.”
Both of them lapsed into a shared silence, in tribute to their workloads.
“Good night, Prince Rian.”
“Good night, Earl Rosewood.”
The flurry of work made the days pass quickly. The autumn leaves in the Rosewood fief had fallen from their branches, leaving bare trees. The short-term housing area started to take shape.
In a blink of an eye, it was time for Ren Xiyang to head to the Capital once more.
A few days before the late-autumn social ball, Ren Xiyang and a large group headed off. Aside from Kel and Maria and Otto and the two ‘guard’ knights, there were the Rosewood managers who had come down for the tax collection period, plus the very large group of carriages and carts carrying the Imperial taxes, consisting of both harvested grains and coins.
The trip to the Capital was smooth, arriving in the late afternoon. They headed directly to the Imperial Palace first, to drop off and lodge their taxes, before going to the Rosewood Capital House for dinner.
Then, after dinner, Ren Xiyang went back to the Imperial Palace to meet with Rian.
“Welcome, Earl Rosewood.” Rian ushered Ren Xiyang into his quarters.
He smiled meaningfully at Ren Xiyang and then looked pointedly at the tailors standing to the side with large clothing boxes.
Ren Xiyang sighed in his heart. “I understand. I’ll wear them at the ball, thank you for your generosity, Your Highness.”
“I’ve also called my dancing instructor, she’ll be coming tomorrow to teach you,” Rian added with an angelic smile.
Ren Xiyang grimaced. “And if I’m busy tomorrow?”
“But are you?”
“…” Ren Xiyang was silent for a moment. “And who would I dance with? Florence? Adrienne?”
Rian’s lips thinned. “You’ll dance with a variety of people for a short amount of time. You can’t solve everything by duelling with them.”
“A shame, I’d lose a lot of gold. I suppose I shouldn’t duel with you anymore either.”
“Into my study, Earl Rosewood,” Rian said, very restrained.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The moment after Rian closed the study door and cast the sound-blocking spell, he opened his mouth to complain, “You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?”
“You’re doing it on purpose too,” Ren Xiyang replied with a shrug.
Rian narrowed his eyes intimidatingly, leaning closer to Ren Xiyang.
“—Wait until you’re a bit bigger for that to work,” Ren Xiyang helpfully advised. “It would also help if you were stronger than me.”
Rian huffed. “We’ll duel again to settle that.”
“Wouldn’t it be more fun to fly over the Capital on swords?”
Rian’s eyes lit up. He grinned impishly. “It would. But I’ll have to get permission from my Imperial Mother first.”
“Fly first, ask for forgiveness later,” Ren Xiyang said.
“You’re becoming the bad influence that my Imperial Mother is worried about.”
“But first…” Ren Xiyang cleared his throat. “On the topic of growing bigger…”
Rian was delighted to realise that Ren Xiyang was being hesitant. “Ye-es?”
“I believe I have a method for my transition,” Ren Xiyang said. “I need to examine your body.” He made vague gestures down his body. “The easiest way for me to use direct healing magic manipulation is to copy the goal structure onto the target structure.”
Rian raised his eyebrows as he realised the implications. He puffed up. “I see. Do you want to have a body as great as mine? In the future, I’ll be tall and strong.”
“Congratulations,” Ren Xiyang deadpanned. “If you don’t agree, then I’ll ask Alexius. As the male lead of this novel, I assume he’ll become the most handsome man.”
Rian: “…”
Rian turned and reclined decadently on one of the sofas. “You can never give me pure, unadulterated praise, can you?”
“If you were a true twelve-year-old, I might have,” Ren Xiyang said.
“If I was a true twelve-year-old, we wouldn’t be friends.”
“True.”
Rian made a gesture down his body. “Well, come on, examine.”
“—Wait until you’re a bit bigger for that to have any hope of working.”
Rian’s lips twitched. “And what are you thinking about, Earl Rosewood? Are you trying to fuel the rumours?” He laughed. “There’s an even more ridiculous version of that rumour, that I’m infatuated with you!”
Ren Xiyang sat down on the edge of the sofa by Rian, looking down at the reclining prince. “I’m too busy for rumours. Anyway, don’t talk and let me focus.”
Ren Xiyang didn’t expect to do this now, but since Rian had presented himself, Ren Xiyang went for it.
He held his hands over Rian’s body, starting at his legs. He pulled magic out from his chest, transforming it into a probing healing magic, and started to explore. Multiple times, he compared back with his own current body.
“Can I?” Ren Xiyang asked as his hands started towards Rian’s groin.
Rian’s lips quirked up. “Go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
The room was quiet but for the sound of their breathing and the rustling of clothing.
Rian watched as Ren Xiyang worked. Ren Xiyang’s lips were slightly parted, his brows slightly furrowed.
Inevitably, Rian’s mind wandered. Production of the heating lamps was already underway and Rian needed to contact sellers and distributors next. Communication with Viscount Obsidian was going well. There something else about the anonymous letter writer that he needed to tell Ren Xiyang. Alexius had been annoying lately.
Presently, Ren Xiyang shifted up on the sofa as his hands travelled up Rian’s chest, and to Rian’s head. Their gazes met, red eyes to blue eyes. Ren Xiyang’s eyes shifted first as he focused on the magic.
Finally, Ren Xiyang shifted back.
“How was it?” Rian asked, straightening up.
“Interesting,” Ren Xiyang said. “Complicated. Let me think about it later, and we’ll have a longer session before I leave the Capital again. Next time, you can bring a book to read.”
“And there’s nothing I can help you with?”
“I don’t think you can. Aren’t you already dealing with many matters?”
Rian gazed at the other for a moment. “Do you know, I’ve heard that another noble can cook, similar to you.”
“Is it so weird?” Ren Xiyang deadpanned. “Are you going to be friends with this other noble instead now?”
Rian smiled slightly. “Cassiopeia Schauss likes to bake desserts and other treats.”
Ren Xiyang’s eyes narrowed. “You imply that she didn’t in your first life?”
“By the way, my people have been tracing the source of those anonymous letters. It’s taken a while, but I wanted to confirm the information first.”
“Hm?”
Rian’s gaze turned dark. “The sender appears to be Lady Cassiopeia Schauss.”
^_^
- Author smiles meaningfully
Also, sorry for misleading people in the comments about who the true anonymous letter writer was . It was indeed Cassiopeia!!!
