Prince Nolan and Serena were dining at the Flower Viewing Terrace when, out of nowhere, a gust of wind blew in, carrying an overpowering wave of floral fragrance. Even Serena, who was never allergic to pollen, was nearly choked to death—let alone Prince Nolan.
"Achoo, achoo..." Serena's eyes reddened as she rubbed her nose. She was about to ask what was happening when another wave of scent hit, making her sneeze several more times until tears streamed down her face.
"Acting like a child, are you?" Prince Nolan, looking completely unaffected, picked up a handkerchief and began wiping Serena's face, not bothered by the fragrance at all.
Serena was thoroughly frustrated. "What is going on?"
The scent was so strong, it was impossible to believe no one was behind this. Serena would never buy that, not even at gunpoint.
"The wind picked up!" Prince Nolan looked up at the slightly darkened sky and smiled.
Someone was getting impatient.
Serena tossed her chopsticks onto the table, annoyed. "What a mood killer. I'm done eating."
With dust covering the table, neither Prince Nolan nor Serena could stomach another bite. Luckily, they'd almost finished anyway, so they had the maids and old servants clean up before heading back to their rooms.
At least the wind wouldn't follow them indoors.
There was no wind in the room, but trouble found them anyway. Just as they reached the courtyard, the driver reported that the horses had eaten the wrong fodder in the back hills—all of them now had diarrhea and were too weak to run.
What a clumsy trick!
Prince Nolan immediately knew it was the Third Prince's doing. He didn't panic, just ordered the driver to return to the Capital and have a fresh batch of horses sent over. The driver, relieved not to be blamed, wiped his cold sweat and counted himself lucky.
Honestly, who would expect healthy horses to suddenly start grazing on random grass and end up with diarrhea? The driver didn't suspect anyone from Moonwatch Nunnery—after all, he thought nuns wouldn't dare mess with Prince Nolan.
The driver had barely left when Prince Nolan started feeling off.
"You've got a rash," Serena paused in the middle of unfastening Prince Nolan's clothes.
"It's fine—doesn't hurt." Prince Nolan was glad he'd doubled up on protection, using medicine from the Master of the Mystic Healer Valley and Serena's own remedies. Otherwise, he might really have fallen for the Third Prince's scheme today.
For someone allergic to pollen, a place like this flower field is pure torture.
"Wait here, I'll have someone draw water to clean you up." Serena knew exactly why Prince Nolan had broken out in a rash—thanks to that sinister wind just now.
Furious inside, Serena silently vowed to burn that whole flower field to ashes so no one could ever use it against Prince Nolan again.
"No need. Just put the ointment on and help me change into clean clothes." Prince Nolan refused flatly.
Some things can be tolerated, but some are absolutely off-limits. Who knows how many people have used Moonwatch Nunnery's bath tubs? He would never share a tub with anyone.
Just imagining using a tub that a nun had bathed in made Prince Nolan shudder, his skin crawling as if bugs were crawling all over him.
Sharing a bath tub was worse than a pollen allergy.
Serena couldn't help but laugh. "You really are ridiculously picky."
Prince Nolan's disgust was so obvious that Serena couldn't even pretend not to notice. His obsession with cleanliness was acting up again. She remembered how even the dishes they'd used for dinner had been brought from his own household, and she could only shake her head.
Good thing Prince Nolan was born noble—an ordinary family could never afford someone like him. This was no ordinary level of fussiness.
Prince Nolan's ears reddened. Meeting Serena's teasing gaze, he turned away in embarrassment.
That was an accident, but it's a debt he'll remember to settle with the Third Prince. He'd already planned to stay overnight at Moonwatch Nunnery, but the Third Prince just had to stir up trouble with all these pointless tricks.
The moment Prince Nolan's allergy flared up, the Third Prince found out. He didn't say much, but the Blue-robed Scholar could tell the Third Prince was delighted. After losing to Prince Nolan so many times, finally gaining the upper hand was too good for him to pass up.
Because of everything that happened, Prince Nolan and Serena ended up staying at Moonwatch Nunnery. In the end, everyone seemed satisfied with this arrangement.
That night, after Serena finished tending to Prince Nolan's medicine, she returned to her own room. Left alone, Prince Nolan tossed and turned, unable to sleep—for a very simple reason...
Prince Nolan was thoroughly dissatisfied with the bedding at Moonwatch Nunnery.
"A pampered good-for-nothing," the Third Prince thought, listening to Prince Nolan nitpick everything, jealousy burning in his heart.
They were both royal brothers, but while Prince Nolan lived in luxury and privilege, the Third Prince had to hide in the shadows. At his lowest, he even spent seven days among corpses, surviving only by eating human flesh...
Could Nolan Dongling have survived that?
How could someone so much less than him live more nobly, more gloriously? He couldn't accept it. He should have been the one on the throne, ruling the world, but one wrong step had changed everything forever...
"My lord," the Blue-robed Scholar sensed the Third Prince's mood souring and quickly spoke up to warn him.
The Third Prince shut his eyes, hiding his jealousy and hatred. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he said coldly, "Change of plans. If possible, take Nolan Dongling out too—burn Moonwatch Nunnery to the ground."
The Third Prince was willing to risk exposure just to drag Prince Nolan down to hell with him. Clearly, his anger was out of control.
"My lord, that won't benefit us at all. In the end, it'll only help that dog Emperor." The Blue-robed Scholar tried to reason with him, but the Third Prince was blinded by rage and snapped, "Do as I say."
"My..."
"Just do what the Third Prince says."
The Blue-robed Scholar tried to argue further, but was cut off. Both he and the Third Prince jumped in surprise and turned around...
"Nolan?"
"Prince Nolan?"
"Serenity?"
Both the Third Prince and the Blue-robed Scholar cried out in shock. Wasn't Prince Nolan supposed to be tossing and turning in his room, unable to sleep? How had he ended up here, holding Abbess Serenity hostage?
"Third Prince, we meet again." Prince Nolan withdrew the sword from Serenity's neck. Serenity immediately threw herself at the Third Prince's feet. "My lord..."
"Get out." The Third Prince didn't even let Serenity finish before kicking her aside. "Useless wretch—always ruining things."
Serenity coughed up blood and collapsed, unmoving on the ground—a sign of just how hard the Third Prince had kicked her.
At this point, if the Third Prince still didn't realize he'd fallen into Prince Nolan's trap, he might as well have lived his life in vain.
"Ninth Brother Nolan, you really do have guts," the Third Prince said with a chilling smile.
"You're too kind, Third Prince. I had no choice—your hideout is truly hard to find." Prince Nolan took the lead, sitting at the head of the secret chamber. When the Third Prince signaled to the Blue-robed Scholar, Prince Nolan's sword swept up, blocking the scholar instantly.
"Third Prince, I'd like to speak with you alone. I don't want any interruptions."
Their eyes met. The Third Prince forced down his anger and nodded coolly, "Fine."
At this point, could he really refuse?