The Yuan Family is one of the Four Great Houses of the Blue Moon Kingdom.
Grace’s third aunt is from the Yuan Family—she’s Sam Yuan’s biological aunt.
So, Sam Yuan and Grace are basically half-relatives.
But when they were kids—not just when they were kids, even before the Royal Selection was set—everyone loved to pair them up.
Some nosy ladies even talked about matchmaking for them.
Because, believe it or not, they were born on the exact same day.
That’s totally unheard of among the elite families in Danyang City.
So, people who didn’t know the real story loved to joke that the two of them were fated to be together or something.
Whenever that happened, Sam Yuan’s parents would get super awkward.
It wasn’t that they looked down on Grace for not being a spiritual cultivator—it was just... Sam Yuan had been made a eunuch.
When Sam was eight, he went out of town to visit relatives and was kidnapped by human traffickers.
Those heartless monsters castrated him, planning to sell him for five thousand taels of silver and send him to the palace as a eunuch.
[Note: There are two kinds of eunuchs in the palace—ordinary eunuchs, and spiritual cultivators who were castrated and made eunuchs. The latter are usually victims of traffickers, or sometimes harmed by stepmothers, relatives, or desperate families who need huge sums of money.]
But those traffickers had no idea the boy was actually from one of the most powerful families in Danyang City.
During the palace inspection, members of the Yuan Family spotted him and rescued him.
His parents almost had those traffickers executed by slow torture.
But what he lost could never be recovered...
Only his parents and a handful of relatives knew this secret.
But Grace knew, too.
Because, in her previous life, when she was in the palace, Colin Gu’s other consorts accused her of having an affair with Sam Yuan.
So... Sam got so mad he dropped his pants right then and there, and the whole crowd found out.
Maybe it’s because Grace and Sam were born on the same day, or maybe it’s because they both have scars you can’t fix—they actually get along really well.
In her previous life, he was pretty much her only friend in Danyang City.
Seeing him again now, Grace actually felt her eyes getting a little hot.
“Sam.” She stood up and pulled him aside to talk privately. “Why did you come alone today? Where are Uncle and Aunt?”
“They went to my aunt’s place in Taosville. They won’t be back for a few days,” Sam said.
“Haven’t seen you in ages. What’ve you been up to?” Grace asked.
“Guess what? I joined the Spiritual Alchemist Guild!” Sam said, looking super excited.
Grace wasn’t surprised. In her last life, he’d joined the Guild too—as a gofer.
He wasn’t actually a spiritual alchemist.
But he’s got a super powerful cousin who holds an important position in the Spiritual Alchemist Guild (let’s just call it the Guild), so she got him a spot in the Blue Moon Kingdom’s branch—mostly running errands and doing odd jobs.
Since the Guild is basically the most powerful organization on the continent, even as a gofer, nobody dares treat him badly.
Even the military officers act all friendly and try to cozy up to him.
So right now, he’s feeling pretty proud of himself.
Grace lowered her eyes and said, “That’s pretty good.”
“Heh, even though I’m just running errands, the Guild is the Guild! I’ve only been there a few days, but people already look at me differently,” Sam chuckled.
“Look at you, so smug!” Grace said, her smile a little stiff.
In her last life, his cousin eventually fell from power.
After that, things got really bad for him. Word was, he was bullied to death by people in the Guild...