Going to Play with The Little Imperial Grandson
He watched his mother carry the flower away, abandoning him without a single glance back.
For a second, the Emperor wished he could be more like his young cousin Ashworth and just throw a full-on tantrum.
He wanted to grab the Empress Dowager's leg, wail, and beg her to let him borrow the flower for just a few days.
But an emperor has to have his dignity.
Sharing his pain was Physician Miller, who stared at the pot of flowers like he was watching his one true love walk out the door. He desperately wanted to ask the Empress Dowager for a single petal to study. With that, he might even be able to recreate the legendary Ninefold Soul-Return Elixir.
Unfortunately, the Empress Dowager knew exactly what kind of men she was dealing with. Leaning on her walking stick, she picked up her pace, moving with a speed that defied her age.
The Emperor's gaze finally shifted to Cassidy, and a bitter feeling settled in his chest. Just yesterday, he'd been bragging to his mother, the Imperial Consort, about how Solana had grown up and was finally showing some filial piety by giving *him*, her uncle, the Emperor, a bit of money.
Now, in the blink of an eye, the girl had given the Empress Dowager a flower that could extend a person's life. He was sick with envy.
As for Cassidy, the object of all this jealousy, her mind was completely preoccupied with her newfound wealth and had no room for anything else.
The System, noticing that its host hadn't given the mission target a single thought during the entire Grand Floral Banquet, started to get anxious.
Host, do you remember the little prince?
Cassidy's hand, which had been stroking a stack of bills, paused.
Right. Her lifespan. What was the point of having all this money if she wasn't going to be alive to spend it? That just wouldn't do.
She quickly had her rewards sent back to her courtyard before turning to a nearby servant. "Where's my little nephew?"
I don't know, the System cut in. I didn't see him at the banquet.
Cassidy spotted the Fourth Princess standing nearby and changed course. "Hey, do you know where Miles is?"
The Fourth Princess shot her a weird look. "Why are you looking for him? Did my brother do something to you?"
"I want to play with him, obviously," Cassidy said. Why did everyone have to make it sound so complicated? Couldn't a girl just be a doting aunt?
The princess looked wary. "What are you going to 'play' with a six-year-old for?"
"Can't I show a little concern for my nephew?!" Cassidy huffed, giving her a light shove. "You're not my sister anymore! We're done!"
With that, their five-minute friendship was apparently over.
The Fourth Princess just stared at her, completely baffled. *Wait, why is she mad at me?*
She quickly grabbed Cassidy, who was already starting to storm off. "I'm sorry, okay? You want to know where Miles is? I'll tell you."
Seeing her sincere apology, Cassidy instantly forgave her.
The princess took Cassidy's hand and leaned in, whispering, "I don't know what happened, but my brother, the Crown Prince, suddenly sent Miles to the Royal Academy to study."
"Isn't he supposed to go there eventually anyway?" Cassidy asked.
"Okay, so, listen," the princess explained.
"Miles is... a little strange. He's hated being around people since he was a baby. He just shuts himself in his room all day and won't see anyone. The Empress had no choice but to hire a private tutor to teach him at home in the Dawnspire."
She lowered her voice even more. "Now that my brother suddenly sent him to the academy out of the blue... don't you think that's weird?"
*I think you're the weird one,* Cassidy thought. "What's so weird about a father sending his son to school?"
The Fourth Princess sighed. She really hated talking to Cassidy while she still had amnesia; she had to explain everything from scratch every single time. "But my brother never cared about Miles before."
"What, was he adopted or something?" Cassidy asked, curious.
"Of course not!" The princess glanced around, then pulled Cassidy closer. "The marriage between the Crown Prince and Crown Princess was arranged by our father, the Emperor. But my brother's heart has always belonged to some woman from the martial world, so he's always been cold to his wife."
She took a breath, getting into the gossip. "The Crown Princess was desperate to win him over, so she schemed to drug him and spend a night with him. That's how she got pregnant with Miles."
"She thought having a child would finally make my brother notice her, but it just made him hate her more. And he hates their son just as much."
"And now," she finished, "the Crown Princess feels like Miles is the reason the Crown Prince resents her, so she's cold to him, too. She just left him with a nanny."
Cassidy blurted out, "What a pair of psychos."
It all made sense now. She finally understood why Miles had developed such severe social anxiety. He was stuck with two parents completely obsessed with their own romantic psychodrama.
"See? You think my brother is in the wrong, too," the Fourth Princess said, relieved to have found someone who got it. "Everyone else at the palace talks about how tragic it is that the Crown Prince can't be with the woman he loves, and they all call the Crown Princess shameless for trapping him."
"But I always felt like he was at fault, too," she admitted, looking a bit down. "I just could never put my finger on why."
Cassidy patted her on the shoulder. "You're not wrong. Everyone else is."
"If the Crown Prince really loved that woman, he should have either broken off the engagement or just run off with her. But he didn't have the guts to defy the Emperor, and he didn't have the courage to give up his life at the palace for her," Cassidy said bluntly.
"He wants the power, and he wants to grow old with his true love. You can't have it all."
"The fact that he married the Crown Princess proves that woman from the martial world means a lot less to him than his title."
The princess scratched her head. "So... who's really in the wrong here?"
"They're both messed up," Cassidy stated. "But the biggest mistake they made was taking it out on their innocent son."
A perfectly good kid, turned into a recluse by those two.
Hearing Cassidy say it so plainly made the Fourth Princess feel a sudden, sharp pang of sympathy for her little nephew.
"Cassidy, I'm coming with you. Let's go find him."
The Emperor had been about to ask Cassidy if her mother had left her that flower, but by the time he looked over, she was already gone. He could only return to his chambers, stewing in a foul mood.
Meanwhile, Cassidy and the Fourth Princess were on their way to the Royal Academy. Just as they rounded a cluster of decorative rocks, they heard a burst of loud, jeering laughter.
Not far away, by the water lily pond, several children in expensive clothes were gathered in a half-circle, cornering a small figure by the water's edge.
The two of them exchanged a look. The princess pointed at a small, thin child in an apricot-yellow silk robe. "That's him," she whispered. "The one crouching on the ground."
Cassidy followed her gaze. The boy was huddled down, tightly clutching an old book with a torn cover. His head was bowed, and he seemed completely oblivious to his surroundings, as if he'd sealed himself inside an invisible shell.
Standing over him was an arrogant-looking kid about the same age, hands on his hips, a smug look on his face. Cassidy couldn't hear what he was saying, so she pulled the princess closer.
"And who's that?" she asked, pointing at the loudmouth.
A look of disgust crossed the princess's face.
"Who else? Cade Sterling, the Second Prince's son. That kid has been trouble from day one. He throws his title around and bullies the younger palace staff. No one can say a word because he always gets away with it."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't you go picking a fight with him. His mother is super protective."
As they watched, Cade forcefully shoved Miles's shoulder.
"Hey! Little mute! I'm talking to you!"
The push sent Miles tumbling onto his bottom, but he still held that book tight. He didn't react at all, not even with a flicker of his eyes.
"Your Highness, maybe we should just go," a slightly older boy whispered, glancing nervously back toward the Empress's quarters. "He is, after all..."
Cade shook off the hand that tried to restrain him. "Hmph! He's just a mute whose own parents don't even love him. What's there to be scared of? He usually hides in the Dawnspire and never comes out. Now that I've finally caught him, I'm going to have some fun."
With that, Cade reached down to snatch the book from Miles's arms. "What's so great about a beat-up old book? It's not like a mute can read!"
The other kids went pale. They wanted to stop him but were too scared of angering the little tyrant and getting their families in trouble.