"King Jongliean's eldest son... he means the Crown Prince?"
"Isn't the Crown Prince supposed to be studying in Dawnbreak City?"
"..."
King Jongliean's public plea left the gathered townspeople frowning in confusion. Who the "Crown Prince" was had never been a mystery or a secret in the first place.
But as far as anyone had heard, the Crown Prince had not lived in Moondrift City for years now. Wanting to study the art of governance, he had gone to apprentice himself under a renowned scholar living in Dawnbreak City, only returning home to visit once in a great while.
"..."
King Jongliean paid no mind at all to the murmuring around him. He remained kneeling on the ground, unwilling to rise, his resolve showing just how much his son meant to him.
"..."
But seeing that Bai Fanxian still had not spoken, King Jongliean began to panic. He quickly lifted his head, his expression full of contrition.
"If you're still angry over what happened before... all of it was my own mistake, my own lack of manners. I beg you. What becomes of me, whether I live or die, does not matter. Even if I had to kneel here in penance all day, I would accept it gladly. But please, help my son!"
The way he carried himself made it clear that he had already resigned himself to death, stripping away the last trace of the pride that came with being one of the Three Kings.
What could have changed him this much?
It had only been a short time since Bai Fanxian had last met him in the throne room. King Jongliean now looked like an entirely different person. His graying hair and the new lines forming on his face showed just how much his own qi had declined of late.
A mysterious light flickered in Bai Fanxian's eyes as she met King Jongliean's gaze. This was beyond anything she had expected. At first, she had meant to make him beg for mercy to save his own life. But this man showed not the slightest fear of death at all.
Willing to die for his son?
...At the very least, she was beginning to see some good in him now. The distaste Bai Fanxian felt toward King Jongliean had eased, if only a little.
Just barely, at that...
"Let's hear it."
That single line alone was enough to give King Jongliean hope. He did not even bother rising to his feet, rushing to speak for fear Bai Fanxian might change her mind.
"My son... he used to live in Dawnbreak City...!"
As he began to tell the story, something changed in King Jongliean's eyes. They filled with a pain as though his very heart were breaking apart.
"But about a month ago, during the war with the demon tribe, while he was hurrying back to lend his strength here..."
"...he was ambushed!"
"...He came back in a terrible state. The worst of his wounds nearly took his life. All we could do was use the power of treasured artifacts and medicine to keep him stable. To this day, my son has never once regained consciousness."
Tears streamed down King Jongliean's face. Luo Qingyan, who had been listening the whole time, frowned and asked, puzzled.
"You never told me any of this?"
"At first, His Majesty did not want to cause a panic among the people... your own condition was already dire enough as it was. If word got out that the Crown Prince was in trouble too..."
Sage White-Beard let out a sigh, his feelings clearly mixed. As both a friend and a close aide to King Jongliean for so long, he knew better than anyone how deeply this man loved his family. Ever since his wife had passed, King Jongliean had promised himself he would care for his two sons, living symbols of his bond with the woman he had loved, as best he possibly could.
The sight of a father, however exhausted, forcing himself to check on his son's condition nearly every single day was something Sage White-Beard had witnessed time and again. The grief and sorrow of waiting for his son to wake had been eating away at King Jongliean's body, leaving him worse off with each passing day.
"If the Celestial Path Elixir was able to heal my own injuries... then it should be able to heal my son too, shouldn't it?"
King Jongliean looked up to meet Bai Fanxian's eyes, full of hope. Ever since the Crown Prince had been lying unconscious in bed, no better than a living corpse, he had used every personal connection he had to procure the finest medicine available. But no matter what, the highest-grade medicine he had ever managed to obtain in this era was only Grade 6.
On top of that, there was a truth he still had not mentioned — one of the people who had bought high-grade medicine from the Goddess Alchemy Palace was a government official himself!
So the moment the words "Grade-7 medicine" left Bai Fanxian's mouth, it was as though he had glimpsed an opportunity he had thought had all but faded, enough to make him forget the pain in his own body for a moment.
"May I ask something?"
The Greybeard Alchemist stroked his beard in a steady rhythm. He tilted his head and asked, plainly interested.
"So who has been looking after the Crown Prince? I mean, even if you have kept it hidden from the public, there must have been some doctor or alchemist keeping his condition stable enough to survive nearly a month like this, right?"
What the old man asked was really just a personal habit of his whenever he came across someone talented. Because if even Luo Qingyan did not know about this, it meant whoever it was had to be at least more skilled than Luo Qingyan herself.
He wanted to have a conversation with them, just once. Perhaps the other party was some hidden master who had kept themselves concealed all this time.
"That's..."
King Jongliean looked hesitant. But in the end, he admitted the truth honestly.
"...it's Wild Bloom."
"..."
"The medicine they made for us cannot be found anywhere else. It has kept my son's body stable, almost like a miracle. I have never seen medicine like that in my entire life..."
Unmistakable admiration colored King Jongliean's voice as he spoke. From a state so close to death that even he had thought there was no chance of survival, the other party had managed to keep his son alive. For a father like him, there was nothing more he could possibly be grateful for.
But he had no idea that his open display of admiration was starting to irritate someone.
...And it was the very person he was currently begging, no less.
"..."
"...Lady Heroine. Is something wrong...?"
King Jongliean, who suddenly felt Bai Fanxian's gaze turn abruptly cold, actually began to tremble. He still did not understand what he had done wrong. The old man clasped his hands together and pleaded once more.
"So please... even if the Celestial Path Elixir cannot save my son, at least let us try, just once. Whatever the outcome, both I and all of Moondrift City will count you as a benefactor for the rest of our lives!"
"At first, I nearly softened."
"...But not anymore. Go ask that 'Wild Bloom' you admire so much to refine the medicine for you instead."
Bai Fanxian brushed aside King Jongliean's request without a shred of sympathy. Her action was the very last thing anyone had expected. Even Luo Qingyan herself had been certain that her own Lady Bai would surely lend a hand this time.
Was this not exactly what she wanted?
Then why go through all the trouble of carrying King Jongliean here from the palace in the first place!?
"Wait! I'm begging you! Whatever you want, just name it! Just save my son's life...!"
*Thud!*
Bai Fanxian, who had been walking back toward the central hall, stopped short. She turned to look at King Jongliean, who was trying to scramble after her. But his body, in no state to keep up, very nearly sent him sprawling, forcing Sage White-Beard to rush forward and catch him.
"Whatever I want?"
"...If it is within my power."
King Jongliean hesitated at first, but the moment he met Bai Fanxian's cold gaze, he had to decide quickly. If he kept dragging his feet, the opportunity now returning to him would certainly slip away again.
"In that case..."
Bai Fanxian turned back to face King Jongliean, raising three slender fingers toward the old man.
"I have three conditions."
"Th-three?"
"First!"
Bai Fanxian's sudden emphasis made everyone gathered there flinch, which was surely exactly what she had intended from the start.
So many witnesses...
"From this day forward, the Goddess Alchemy Palace will no longer answer to Moondrift City."
"...That's—!?"
"No authority or order of yours, whatever it may be, will ever be forced upon the disciples of the Goddess Alchemy Palace again."
"...!"
This was one of the things Bai Fanxian had learned after spending days poring over records and documents.
In the earliest days, the relationship had been one where the Alchemy Palace needed Moondrift City's protection to survive the hardships of this brutal world. And that arrangement appeared to have made the Goddess Alchemy Palace one of the city's own pillars of power, with both sides signing a formal record of consent.
There was no telling which generation's Alchemy Empress had been the one to sign it.
But Bai Fanxian herself was not angry about it. If anything, she felt grateful that the decision was what had let the Goddess Alchemy Palace survive for thousands of years since.
But now that she had returned, everything had to change!
And she had no intention of using force like some uncivilized brute, because, to be fair, Moondrift City had genuinely helped the Alchemy Palace a great deal over the years. So she would take the Goddess Alchemy Palace back through proper means.
If the two sides had once been bound together by a contract before—
...then she would make him the one to tear up that contract himself!