Henpecked, a Non-Solution of a Solution

Prince Damien of Southlyn did not actually come to 'pay a sick call.' He didn't care whether Prince Nolan saw him or not. This visit was purely a signal, meant to set things in motion.

His action was to tell Southlyn's officials that it was true: Prince Nolan was kicked down at the gate by a woman. There was no need to hide it, and no reason to preserve Prince Nolan's dignity by pretending ignorance.

Any Southlyn noble with half a brain understood that Prince Damien was deliberately trying to embarrass Prince Nolan, and as subordinates, of course they would act according to their superior's intentions.

Not long after Prince Damien left, waves of Southlyn officials and nobles arrived at the villa, each bringing expensive medicines and tonics.

Since Prince Nolan refused to see Prince Damien, naturally he would not see these people either. They didn't care—they wore worried expressions, asked after Prince Nolan's health, showed concern for his mood, and between the lines, probed about his relationship with Serena.

Of course, their main purpose was to tell Prince Nolan that there was no need to cover up yesterday's incident—they all knew about it.

The adviser sent off one batch of 'sick callers' after another, until he was nearly sick himself.

"This really is endless," the adviser muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead. He had just caught his breath when the gatekeeper reported yet another arrival.

"Well, these people aren't going to let this chance slip by," the adviser finally understood the mindset of Southlyn's officials—they were rushing over to watch Prince Nolan's humiliation.

No matter how noble, how arrogant, how disdainful you are, in the end, you can't even control your own woman. To be knocked flat by her in public—now that's losing face in all of Southlyn.

Even if these people weren't as highborn as Prince Nolan, at least they weren't completely ruled by a woman. Most just wanted to feel superior to Prince Nolan—seeing him humiliated made them happy, even if they gained nothing from it.

The rumors outside grew nastier by the minute: henpecked, gutless, not a real man, lacking all manliness—every insult was thrown at Prince Nolan.

The servants reported all the gossip to Prince Nolan and Serena. Serena kept wiping sweat, filled with regret.

If only she'd held back and waited until they were inside to kick him. But in that moment, she didn't know what came over her—just seeing Prince Nolan made her angry, and she lashed out without thinking.

After the servant finished, he left without waiting for orders. Prince Nolan looked at Serena, half-smiling, and asked, "Are you satisfied now?"

Now he'd been branded a gutless man by all of Southlyn. Prince Damien was so petty—he wished he could pin every ugly word on Prince Nolan.

"I didn't mean to," Serena said pitifully, looking at Prince Nolan while cursing Prince Damien in her heart from top to bottom.

Damn it, Prince Nolan hadn't even held it against her, but that bastard had to stir things up and make Prince Nolan dredge up old grievances.

"I never said you did it on purpose. Prince Damien just wants to use this chance to ruin my reputation. So, what do you think we should do?" He insisted Serena solve the mess herself, so she wouldn't make trouble again.

Some things didn't matter to him, but outsiders—and his own subordinates—cared. He had to maintain authority; this kind of thing couldn't happen again. At least in public, Serena couldn't embarrass him anymore.

"That's easy. As long as you accompany me to the welcome banquet tonight, and let the Southlyn officials see there's no conflict between us, the rumors will collapse on their own." Serena had barely finished when Prince Nolan shot her a look of disdain: "Are you sure that if I go with you to this banquet, the rumors won't get even worse? At that point, it won't just be 'henpecked'—they might say I live off a woman."

"Uh... you really don't seem like the type who lives off a woman." Serena drooped her head, admitting Prince Nolan's concern was valid.

She had just kicked Prince Nolan to the ground, and then he'd turn around and publicly dote on her—outsiders would look down on him even more, maybe even say he was shameless.

"Do I look like someone who's henpecked?" Rumors, true or not, just get more popular the more outrageous they are.

"Then what should we do?"

"You made this mess, so of course you have to fix it yourself." Prince Nolan picked up his tea and took a sip. "I'm going back to my room to rest. Once you've figured out a solution, let me know—I'll cooperate fully."

He admitted he was being mean, but it was a rare chance—he wanted Serena to sweat a little.

Face isn't always about what you care about—it's about what others care about. For the sake of others, they had to protect their own dignity.

Prince Nolan left coolly, leaving Serena alone to rack her brains.

Back when she faced all those messy rumors, her strategy was always to ignore them. After enough time, and with something new happening, people lost interest in her scandals. But...

Prince Nolan wasn't like her. Unless some scandal broke out about the Southlyn royal house, this mess wouldn't die down anytime soon—especially with Prince Damien still fanning the flames.

So what was she supposed to do?

If Prince Nolan's adviser were here, he'd tell Serena: you don't need to do anything. Let the Southlyn people gossip all they want—just keep your cool and act dignified. The Southlyn royals wouldn't dare offend you anyway.

Unfortunately, Prince Nolan's adviser was busy entertaining Southlyn officials and had no time for Serena. She spent the whole day thinking and still couldn't come up with a useful plan. In the end, she gritted her teeth and decided to persuade Prince Nolan to attend the palace banquet with her that night.

As for the rumors outside... whatever. Nobody would dare say anything to their faces anyway.

Serena told Prince Nolan her decision. He looked her over and said, "You spent all day and came up with a non-solution of a solution?"

"I don't have any better ideas. If you do, say so—I'll cooperate." Serena was frustrated. It wasn't that she couldn't think of anything, but...

This was Southlyn—Southlyn! She had no connections, no power. She couldn't do much, and when it came to spreading rumors, she was no match for Prince Damien.

"Since I left it up to you, we'll do it your way." Prince Nolan didn't offer any solutions, just pushed the responsibility back onto Serena.

Serena was furious, but she couldn't dodge it—she'd caused the mess herself. All she could do now was pray the banquet went smoothly and that William Wang's prestige would keep the Southlyn royals in check.

But Serena forgot: the Southlyn royals might hold back out of respect for William Wang, but that didn't mean others would. For example, William Wang's own mentor—the Palace Master of Jixia Academy.

At that moment, Princess Mingwei was at the Palace Master's residence, inviting him to attend the banquet that night...

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