Lucian Vane dashed anxiously through the pitch-dark palace, desperate to check on those two black-clad assassins. But in the end, he forced himself to sprint for the rear gate. Deep down, he knew there was no way they'd get taken out so easily. So he chose to trust them—and that meant he had to reach the back gate ASAP to make sure they were safe.
Swish, swish—Lucian Vane kicked off the rooftop, zipping across the palace buildings at lightning speed. Thanks to his sharp memory of the map, he quickly found the rear gate's direction, dodged patrol guards with a flashy sidestep, and landed outside in a graceful spin.
"Lucian, are you okay?" Clara Night hurried out from behind the tree the moment she saw Lucian finally emerge.
"Clara, you’re safe!" Lucian Vane rushed forward and hugged Clara Night tightly, like if he let go, she’d vanish. That panicky feeling was seriously the worst.
"What’s wrong?" Clara Night frowned, noticing Lucian’s hands trembling. Did something happen?
Just then, Night Willow stepped out too. Lucian let go of Clara, glanced at Night Willow, and breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, you’re both okay!" Ever since he’d accepted Night Willow as family, he couldn’t stand the thought of any of them getting hurt.
"What happened? Did something go wrong?" Night Willow couldn’t help asking when he saw Lucian looking so tense.
"I overheard in that psycho’s palace that two assassins were killed. I freaked out, I thought—" Lucian cut himself off, because Clara and Night Willow both shook their heads with exasperated looks, basically saying, ‘You seriously underestimate us, huh?’
"Huh? And who’s this?" Just as the mood was getting cozy, the shadow behind the tree finally stepped out. Night Willow’s expression immediately darkened, like a storm was about to hit.
"I’m Ethan Chu." He nodded at Lucian, introducing himself.
Lucian squinted at him, then blurted out, "Wait—aren’t you the Second Prince of Chu?"
"You’ve seen me before?" Ethan Chu looked genuinely surprised. Honestly, if he’d ever met someone this gorgeous, he’d definitely remember.
"Girl?" Lucian repeated, then burst out laughing. "Seriously, look at me—" he pointed at his own chest, "Does this look like a girl to you?"
"Wait, you’re... a guy?" Ethan Chu was floored. Was it possible for a man to be prettier than a woman?
But yeah, there really was someone like that—Lucian Vane, so beautiful he could outshine any woman or man!
That’s Lucian Vane, the dazzling serpent!
Clara Night couldn’t help but smirk on the side—thank goodness this snake was a man, otherwise who knows how many guys he’d drive crazy!
But honestly, with that face, he’d probably wreck a bunch of girls too. Good thing I’m the kind one who’s collected all these troublemakers, so they don’t go out and wreak havoc on the world.
Seeing this, Lucian suddenly looked confused at Clara. "Clara, how is he with you guys? Wasn’t the rumor that he was dead? How did he just show up here, and looking totally healed? If I’m not mistaken, those chains went straight through his bones—there’s no way anyone could recover that well in just half a year. Seriously, what happened?"
"Enough, let’s talk about this back at the inn." Clara Night cut in, seeing there was no way to explain everything here. She just wanted everyone to regroup first.
Chu Kingdom, inside a random inn—
"What?!" Night Willow and Lucian Vane shouted at the same time, turning to glare at Ethan Chu. "You’re seriously making things difficult for us!"
Ethan Chu looked at them and said, "I know it’s hard for you to accept, but this is the most important promise I made to my mother. That bracelet represents my heart, my person, my everything—so I’m hers!" His bold announcement made it clear: I’m already hers, you guys just have to deal with it!
"Wow, who knew the Second Prince of Chu had such thick skin? It’s just a dumb bracelet, do you really have to make such a big deal out of it? I’m telling you now, I don’t agree to you joining!" Lucian Vane shot Night Willow a look. "What about you?"
"Same!" Night Willow replied coldly. He’d never liked this prince, and now he realized how sneaky he was—using the bracelet as an excuse to stick to Clara Night, how shameless!
"This is between me and her. I don’t need your approval!" Ethan Chu snapped, seeing how unfriendly these two were and wanting nothing to do with them.
"Excuse me?" Night Willow got mad, grabbing Ethan’s collar and spelling it out, "We’re her husbands. We have the right to object!"
"That’s right!" Lucian Vane chimed in, tired from arguing and just taking a bite of his pear as he nodded in agreement.
"The final say is hers," Ethan Chu said calmly, looking straight at Night Willow.
Clara Night quickly stepped in, "Night Willow, don’t get angry." Then she turned to Ethan Chu and sighed, "Prince Ethan..."
"Just call me Ethan," he said as Night Willow let go of his collar. Ethan Chu hurriedly straightened his clothes.
"Alright, Ethan, let me say this again: I really had no idea that bracelet had such a backstory. If I’d known, I definitely wouldn’t have accepted it. But now that I have, I’m not planning to give it back. As for you, I’m not accepting you." Clara Night looked at him seriously. Three official husbands were already exhausting enough, and if she added one more—who might become Chu’s emperor someday? What kind of mess would that be?!
"Alright, I get it." Ethan Chu surprised everyone by not arguing. Night Willow and Lucian Vane both stared, subconsciously sure he’d never give up that easily.
"I know you don’t accept me, that’s your choice. But I already see you as my wife, so you don’t get to stop me from feeling that way." Ethan Chu said it word by word—he was totally sticking to her now!
"Why are you so stubborn?" Clara Night’s frown deepened at his words.
"My mother always said so too. She said I’ve always been just like that man—stubborn in everything. That’s why I was named Meng; actually, Meng is his surname." Ethan Chu explained, tossing in his mother’s story too. He wanted her to know—after all, she was family now.
"That’s just ridiculous! Your mom married the emperor but gave you her old lover’s name? Isn’t that kind of a diss to the emperor?" Night Willow couldn’t help gossiping. He just didn’t like Ethan Chu and would never let him join, period.