“Hey, Tenth Prince?” I hugged him tightly. The moment I did, I felt his body was nothing but bones, light as a feather, with no weight at all. I was startled and lost my composure. Looking around, I saw a sign for a medical hall deep in the alley and hurriedly carried him over. I knocked on the door, and the physician, seeing that the Tenth Prince was dressed in fine clothes and appeared very young, didn’t dare be negligent. He immediately helped me lay him down on the bed inside.
“Your Young Master has a heart condition,” the old physician said, pulling his hand back from taking the pulse. “It can’t be cured. He’ll have to rely on medicine to hang on to life. How long he lives depends on fate. If he makes it to thirty, that would be considered good luck already.” The physician shook his head with a helpless sigh. My heart sank as I looked at the Tenth Prince, unconscious and lying on the bed behind the curtain.
Can’t be cured? Only live until thirty?
Are the descendants of the royal family so pitiful?
I felt so much pity in my heart that I squatted beside the physician and fanned the medicine stove with a fan. When the medicine was ready, I quickly brought it to the bed.
Perhaps it was the pungent smell of the medicine that woke him. Naluo slowly opened his eyes, gazing at me with a hint of confusion. I imitated how my mother used to take care of me when I was sick, scooping up a spoonful of medicine and holding it to his lips. I pursed my lips, blew gently on the spoon, and smiled at him. “Come, drink the medicine.”
He stared at me for a moment, as if regaining his senses, and then his face suddenly flushed bright red.
Turning his face away, he said, “I won’t drink the medicine. It won’t help anyway. The imperial physicians have already said it, I’ll live at most another ten years.”
As expected of a prince, noble and precious, yet when sick, so difficult to soothe.
I raised my voice, “If you don’t drink it, then I won’t be your friend anymore.”
He froze for a moment, then turned his head toward me. Seizing the opportunity, I pressed the spoon to his lips. “Open your mouth.”
“…It’s hot.”
I sighed helplessly and leaned in to blow on the spoon. Seeing him gaze at me with a dazed expression, he finally opened his mouth and drank the medicine.
By the time I finished feeding him the entire bowl of medicine, my hand was sore and almost couldn’t lift anymore. Yet, he still stared at me, as if he hadn’t had enough. I found it a bit strange and thought to myself, Could it be that the medicine is just unpleasant to smell but especially tasty to drink?
Unable to resist, I licked the edge of the medicine bowl, then gagged a little, almost throwing up. “Aren’t you bothered by the bitterness? This is so disgusting, yet you drink it without batting an eye. Truly, you are a warrior.”
“I’ve gotten used to it. The medicine in the palace is even worse, though they add candied fruits to it. But it still can’t cover up the bitterness, so I just stopped taking it.”
“That won’t do, you have to take it!” I remembered what the physician had said earlier. “Don’t you want to come see me often in the future? If you don’t take your medicine and your health gets worse, how will you come find me? I like to go sketching everywhere, running through the mountains and fields…”
“Then I’ll drink it, I’ll drink it!” He seemed to panic a little upon hearing that.
Seizing the moment, I raised my hand and showed him my pinky. “Then it’s a deal. You must keep taking the medicine, and… you must live for at least ten more years. We’ll be friends for life!”
He froze for a moment, staring at me. Slowly, his eyes brightened, and he nodded firmly.
Suddenly, with a creak, the door was pushed open. The doctor entered and bowed to him. “Young Master, it’s getting late. This medical hall can only accommodate those seriously ill and unable to move; we cannot allow anyone to stay overnight.”
The Tenth Prince covered his mouth with one hand and coughed a few times, then reached to his waist and handed something to the physician. I saw that it was a small pouch, heavy with coins. I quickly grabbed it, saying, “There’s no need for so much money.”
I caught a glimpse of the pouch, and when I saw that it was filled with gold coins, I sucked in a sharp breath. I took out a coin and handed it to the physician, then returned the pouch to his waist. “Lucky for you, you know me. Otherwise, if you were wandering around out here all alone, you’d probably get scammed until you didn’t even have your undergarment left.”
He coughed and laughed at the same time, his face turning bright red.
We had just stepped out of the medical hall when it suddenly started to rain heavily. Holding hands, we ran to seek shelter and ended up in a nearby tavern that was still open late into the night. Inside, there were singing and dancing courtesans. I had never been to such an adult place before, feeling both curious and shy. But the Tenth Prince seemed completely accustomed to it. With his wealth, he pulled me inside, ordered a private room, and requested a dancer along with some late-night snacks and wine.
As I ate the fried cicada pupae, something I’d never tried before, I watched the Tenth Prince lightly tap the table to the rhythm of the music, perfectly in sync. I couldn’t help but ask, “Ah Luo, do you come here often?”
“Not often, maybe two or three times,” He hummed a tune, looking lively and full of energy, no longer showing any signs of the serious illness he had. “The singing and dancing here are much more interesting than in the palace.”
I had never seen the singing and dancing in the palace, so I didn’t know how to respond to his words. My attention was soon drawn to the masked dancer spinning gracefully, and I noticed that she, too, had blue eyes. The sight of those blue eyes tugged at my heartstrings, pulling my thoughts away from the tavern. For a moment, I could no longer hear the music.
At this moment, what would Nalin be doing? Would he, like I do, think of me?
A hand waved in front of my eyes. “What are you thinking about?”
I was startled, snapping out of my thoughts. I looked up to see the Tenth Prince very close, his eyes dreamy as he stared at me.
His cheeks were flushed, but it wasn’t the pale, sickly red from earlier, it seemed like he might be a little drunk. I had seen my father drink before, and when he was close to getting drunk, his eyes looked just like the Tenth Prince’s. They say that alcohol makes people speak the truth, so I couldn’t help but ask him about Nalin: “Ah Luo, are you close with your Ninth Brother usually?”
He paused for a moment, then shook his head. “Ninth Brother? He’s the one we’re most distant from.”
“Why is that? Is it because he’s the Young Saint Lord?”
The Tenth Prince nodded. “Partly, yes, because of that.”
“Then, what’s the other part?”
“Another part is because he’s not even considered a true member of the Gugu royal family. He’s not the blood of our father. He was already conceived when the Saintess fled from the Modaluo Kingdom, not born of our king father’s bloodline. He’s not really our brother. But since our king father values his mother, and he’s naturally endowed with divine abilities, our king father gave him the title of Ninth Prince to prevent the royal family and noble children from looking down on him. We’ve all been warned since we were young to avoid him, to keep our distance, and that includes me.”
No wonder Nalin has never had friends since he was young.
He chuckled lightly. “He’s the most favored one, but when I look at him, for some reason, I feel like he’s just as pitiful as me, the sickly one who gets no attention. No one cares about me, but he’s treated like a clay puppet, unable to even drink a cup of wine or eat food with a bit of oil or salt. Haha, once, I secretly took some grape wine from the Western Regions and tried to get him to drink it. When Mother found out, she made him spit it out immediately, saying it was an impure thing that would defile his sacred body. King Father was furious and punished me severely. After that, Ninth Brother stopped paying attention to me. Looking at it this way, it’s better to be an unloved, sickly child; short-lived, but at least free and unrestrained.”
After saying this, he took another sip, then immediately began coughing.
I snapped out of my daze and grabbed his wine cup. As I did, his head slumped onto my shoulder. He smiled and said, “But here’s the irony, both Ninth Brother and I ended up with a friend like you. In that sense, doesn’t it mean we’re brothers united in spirit? Haha!”
My heart fluttered.
Nalin, do you also feel that meeting me was a stroke of luck?
Recalling the scene from earlier on the street, a wave of bitterness swept over me. I downed the remaining drink in my cup. To my surprise, this wine was much stronger than the plum wine my mother brewed. As soon as it hit my stomach, I felt a burning sensation in my blood, and dizziness started to take over.
I leaned on the table, my gaze fixed on the carnelian ring that Nalin had given me. Gradually, my consciousness began to blur.
In a daze, I heard the sound of hooves drawing closer, eventually stopping downstairs.
“Nine… Nine Brother, how did you come here? How could you leave the palace?”
In my daze, I seemed to hear the startled voice of Tenth Prince.
Nine Brother? Doesn’t that mean Nalin? Am I dreaming?
I blinked groggily, my blurry vision making out a slender figure standing in the doorway of the private room, followed by a large, imposing figure. As they entered, Tenth Prince stumbled to his feet and staggered toward the slender figure, extending his hand. “You’re just in time! You know MiJia too, right? Come, let’s drink and have some fun together!”
“Enough!”
Nalin scolded coldly, brushing his hand away. With a loud crash, Tenth Prince bumped into a chair and fell to the ground. The large figure behind quickly stepped forward and helped him up.
“Aiya, Your Highness the Tenth Prince, why did you sneak out to drink in the middle of the night again! It’s so hard to find you!”
“Nalin… what are you doing here…” I blinked hard, unsure whether this was a dream or reality. As I pushed myself up to stand, a wave of dizziness hit, and I stumbled forward, falling into a slender embrace. The familiar, calming scent of sandalwood enveloped me. I inhaled deeply, savoring the scent I had come to long for, and wrapped my arms around his waist. My entire body felt light, as if floating through the clouds. If this was a dream, it was too beautiful, too perfect. I didn’t want to wake up, I wanted to drown in it, to stay lost in it just a little longer.
The next moment, my body felt light, as if I were being lifted and carried horizontally.
“Shopkeeper, is there a place here where one can bathe and stay for the night?”
