After a pleasant dinner, Luke left the Crownguard estate under Miss Crownguard's resentful, lingering stare.
Then he climbed into the carriage Augatha had arranged and rode all the way back to the royal palace.
Jarvan III already knew Luke would be dining with House Crownguard, so he hadn't waited for him at dinner. After Luke returned, they exchanged a few words, and the king reminded him to rest well.
Once Luke got back to his quarters, he washed up and prepared to sleep.
A lot had happened today, and overall, it had been a pretty good experience.
Lying in bed, with moonlight spilling in through the window, he drifted off not long after.
At the same time…
In Xin Zhao's room.
All the white-clad guards from earlier were gathered there, and the familiar-looking bodyguard was reporting Luke's entire day step by step.
Xin Zhao listened while sipping hot tea.
"Not long after His Highness left the palace this morning, he attracted a group of thieves who tailed him. But somehow, His Highness noticed them and lured them all into an alley, then handed them over to us to deal with.
"At midday, His Highness went to a noble restaurant for lunch. However, because he didn't bring money, he found this subordinate and took ten gold."
As he said that, the white-clad bodyguard looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole, but he still forced himself to continue—just speeding past that part as quickly as possible.
Xin Zhao, however, picked up on it immediately and gave him a surprised look. "He found you? How did he find you?"
"According to His Highness… it was pure luck."
The bodyguard gave a bitter smile and continued. "After lunch, His Highness seemed to notice something interesting and then found a swordsmanship training camp. Entry required buying a mask, and he was short on money again—so he found this subordinate a second time and took five gold."
Xin Zhao lifted his eyes and looked at the bodyguard again.
The bodyguard didn't quite dare meet his gaze as he hurried on. "After leaving the swordsmanship training camp, His Highness remembered he should give Miss Crownguard a thank-you gift. Third time short on money—he found this subordinate again and took one gold."
The more he spoke, the lower his head dipped.
Xin Zhao set his teacup down and couldn't help saying, "Couldn't you have just given him more at once?"
This kid… why is he so honest?
He asks for an amount and you hand over exactly that amount?
"So when His Highness found this subordinate the fourth time, he directly took all the money on this subordinate—forty gold in total."
The bodyguard practically couldn't lift his head anymore.
He hadn't expected to be this unlucky.
And after they got back, he was the one who had to report it.
Was this a report?
This was a full-blown public execution.
The other white-clad guards around them were all on the verge of losing it—Xin Zhao was here, so they wanted to laugh, but didn't dare.
Xin Zhao's expression turned strange after hearing it all. He sighed with emotion. "I have to say, His Highness had a pretty eventful day."
For one person to go out for a day and run into that much… it wasn't easy.
At that, the bodyguard seemed to recall something and said, "Seneschal, this subordinate feels His Highness may have an unusual talent. His perception is extremely sharp."
He wasn't saying this to excuse the fact that he'd been found four times in a row!
He genuinely felt His Highness was… not ordinary.
"I can tell," Xin Zhao said, gazing at the still surface of tea in his cup, thoughtful. "Looks like after surviving at the bottom for so many years, His Highness has some real ability. Perhaps His Majesty's worry for him is unnecessary."
In Xin Zhao's view, it was a good thing for His Highness to have secrets.
It meant Jarvan III would have less to worry about.
And those secrets were not something Xin Zhao had any need to investigate—no matter what, Luke was Demacia's second prince.
Investigating would be overstepping.
"Alright, that's enough. I've got a general picture." Xin Zhao slowly stood and said, "As for the money you fronted, go collect reimbursement from the treasurer."
"Yes."
The bodyguard answered immediately.
"And one more thing," Xin Zhao added, raising a hand to pat the bodyguard's shoulder. His tone grew heavier. "Train your stealth properly too. Don't embarrass the royal guard."
The bodyguard's face went awkward. He nodded again. "Yes."
The next day, by late morning—
Luke was woken by a knock at the door. Sunlight poured through the window and warmed the bed.
He sat up, yawned, then rolled out of bed.
After getting dressed, he went downstairs and opened the door.
"Your Highness, His Majesty was worried you'd wake too late and miss breakfast, so he had me bring it to you,"
A servant stood outside pushing a small cart with several breakfast dishes on it.
"Is that so? Thank you," Luke said, stepping aside and offering his thanks.
"It's my duty."
The servant smiled, pushed the cart into the sitting room, arranged everything, then said respectfully, "When you're finished, call for me. I'll wait at the door."
With that, he withdrew.
"Mm."
Luke sat on the sofa, breathing in the aroma rising from the food, appetite surging instantly.
Sleep as long as you want. Wake up and someone brings you delicious breakfast.
Wasn't this exactly the life Luke had always dreamed of?
In a good mood, he finished breakfast, called the servant in to clean up, then got up to go pay his respects to Jarvan III.
It was basic etiquette—he couldn't neglect it.
He chatted with his kingly father for a while, then used "I don't want to delay your work" as an excuse and slipped away again.
Back on the sofa, he lay there thinking about whether he should go out today.
After thinking for a bit, he decided to forget it.
Going out alone… without that blonde girl, it felt like there was less fun in it.
Besides, Luke wasn't planning to see Miss Crownguard for the next few days.
As for the reason—
"Check in."
Remembering another day had passed, Luke opened the system interface and selected today's check-in.
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining movement skill: Gecko Wall-Crawl LV3]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining rare exotic fruit: Odd-Flavor Fruit *1]
[Skill detected—Gecko Wall-Crawl. Learn?]
Today's check-in only popped two notifications before ending. But it was just a normal daily check-in, so the rewards naturally couldn't compare to yesterday's.
Luke hadn't been expecting much.
Still, he'd gained another skill. Looking at the prompt, he chose to learn it.
In an instant, a strange sensation washed through his body, especially gathering in his lower half, as if it were strengthening him bit by bit.
A flood of experience appeared in his mind. After a while, the sensation faded.
"A movement skill, huh…"
Luke stood up thoughtfully.
He'd heard that if Gecko Wall-Crawl was mastered to the highest level, you could run along walls like a gecko as if walking on flat ground—absurdly powerful.
And it also strengthened his footwork to a certain extent.
He tested it inside the room with a few nimble leaps, and he really did feel lighter than yesterday.
Not because his weight had changed—because of Gecko Wall-Crawl's effect.
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