"Whoever the mastermind behind this is must be insanely bold, because they actually planned to assassinate five princes and throw the blame entirely on the last one standing. This prince cannot think of anyone who would dare to come up with something so ridiculous. Dammit, this prince is furious! Why can't they just let this prince be the one who survives?"

Leyvi almost lost his footing. That's the part you are upset about?

"I hate to break it to you, but you are probably the one they most want dead," Leyvi said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Huh? And how exactly do you know that? There was nothing in the jade slip that said anything like that," Dastan demanded, frowning.

"Because you are probably the most annoying one out of all of them. Hahaha!" Leyvi replied without hesitation.

"Dammit, Leyvi! You are the annoying one here. Annoying country bumpkin! You should be on the list instead!" Dastan snapped.

"Hahaha!" Leyvi laughed even louder, clearly enjoying himself. "Good thing I am a country bumpkin, which means I do not have to deal with royal headaches like this. Anyway, Dastan, I have delivered the news, so now it is no longer my problem. I am going to start my cultivation."

"Oi, Leyvi! Wait! How can you just say it is not your problem? Aren't we in this together now? You cannot just walk away and leave this prince hanging like this!" The crown prince's tone had taken on a sharp edge of desperation.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. We are merely traveling companions. Do you not know my family motto? It is 'Do not be a busybody.' Which is why I am not going to get myself tangled up in the politics between your kingdoms," Leyvi said with a straight face.

"Are you serious right now?"

"Dead serious. Which is why you should probably find your royal guards before someone else finds you first."

"Where and how does this prince even look for them? That's impossible," Dastan said.

"With this." Leyvi brought out two celestial clouds. "These are for you and Tantan. You can use these to find your royal guards to protect you. They most likely went to the colossal tree."

Leyvi had not given one to Victor yet because he did not want him to go somewhere away from the island on his own for whatever reason. If Victor went missing, it would be a pain in the ass to find him again, especially now that there was no more worldwide spiritual sense to assist in searching for him. Even if the cloud could contact each other, he didn't trust Victor's personality to reply or contact him. So, Victor would get his cloud after returning to the Cloud Continent.

Dastan stared at the clouds. These celestial clouds should have made him delighted since he had been waiting for them so he could fly around freely, but right now they only made him feel annoyed.

The island was most likely the safest place for him right now, so why would he leave? Furthermore, after becoming aware of the current situation, he felt as if he could not even trust his royal guards anymore. He had not seen them for a while already, and the thought that one of them could be involved in the plot or be an imposter gnawed at him. He did not dare take the risk. It felt strange to him that at this moment, he trusted Leyvi more than anyone else.

"This prince will not go find them. This island is much safer." He put away the celestial clouds.

Leyvi raised an eyebrow. He fixed Dastan with a pointed look. "Then what about later? We won't stay here forever, you know," he reminded.

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Dastan's eyes lit up with a hopeful glint. "You can protect this prince, right? This prince will pay you with treasures later," he offered.

Leyvi shook his head. "Not interested," he replied without missing a beat.

Dastan's face flushed with frustration. "Dammit, Leyvi, aren't we friends?" His voice carried a mix of desperation and irritation.

Leyvi placed a firm hand on Dastan's shoulder. His expression turned serious. "Dastan, you know me. I am indeed your friend. But you know what's more important than my friend?" he asked.

Dastan hesitated. His gaze dropped. "Your… family?" he answered.

Leyvi nodded. "Correct. That's why I don't want to get involved. If it were just me, I'd help. But I need to ensure my ladies are safe first," he said with a convincing sincerity.

Dastan fell silent. He couldn't counter Leyvi's reasoning. He understood Leyvi's stance. Yet a pang of sadness and loss tugged at him.

Leyvi gave Dastan's shoulder a final pat. Then he turned to walk away.

He sighed and walked away, his thoughts already drifting elsewhere.

Anda, it is your turn now. I should probably receive an award for my acting performance, although if I am being honest it is hardly an act at all, since I genuinely have no desire to get involved. Unfortunately, Anda had other ideas. She had already begun crafting another one of her evil plots. Poor Dastan was about to find himself manipulated by a panda. As a supportive husband, I chose to go along with it, especially since it concerned our family's interests as well.

A few seconds later, Leyvi passed by and exchanged a knowing glance with Anda, who wore a mischievous smile as she strolled toward Dastan, fully prepared to set her evil plot into motion.

The evil plot itself was deceptively simple. While Dastan remained mired in helplessness, Anda would arrive like a sudden ray of hope, lifting his spirits just enough to direct him where she wanted. It was a perfect example of her style, the art of playing with emotions.

Even so, Leyvi felt a flicker of unease. Was it truly wise to become entangled in Dastan's troubles? Anda insisted it would be fine, but he wasn't so sure.

Oh, my family motto, forgive us once again, for we are about to betray your wisdom. It is not that I wanted this, but the circumstances have pushed us onto this path yet again.

"What are you thinking, making that goofy face?"

Leyvi snapped out of his thoughts and realized he had walked to where Valenia, Lilian, and Slashy were waiting, with Ava now among them as well, probably having just arrived.

"Oh, it's my lady, Val. Are you worried about your husband? Come and give me a kiss," Leyvi teased.

"That crown prince looked sad when you left. I think he really thought of you as a friend," Valenia said, ignoring Leyvi's attempt to tease her.

She had once believed that Leyvi was being ordered around by the arrogant crown prince, in much the same way she herself had been treated before, but she had come to realize she was wrong. It seemed her husband was the one in control instead, and she could not help but wonder how such a situation had come to be.

"Well, you could say it is exactly because he is my friend that Anda had to come up with this plan," Leyvi replied.

The alternative Anda had suggested was to simply kill everyone else so that the secret about the spiritual vein would never be leaked, a solution that was as simple as it was brutal, and because of that, he had immediately chosen to go along with her elaborate plan of manipulation instead, rejecting the far more terrifying killing option.

"Oh right, speaking of friends, what about yours? You were traveling with some women, right? What happened to them?" Leyvi asked, as the thought suddenly came to him.

Valenia's eyes widened for a moment. She was about to ask how he knew, but then remembered his story about finding them through his lucky one-time worldwide spiritual sense.

"Ah, them? I invited them, but they voted no since they wanted to keep going toward the tree, so we parted ways. That's too bad, since I've grown to like those girls. I just hope they'll be safe," Valenia replied.

"Is that so? What about the one who likes to stick closely to you? Isn't she your best friend?" Leyvi asked.

Valenia's mouth twitched. "She's not my best friend! Not even a friend! She's a stalker with ulterior motives. I don't know what she was planning, but thank goodness I could finally get away from her. It's so exhausting. I didn't know getting stalked could be that taxing."

Leyvi chuckled inwardly. He had already known Valenia was annoyed with her and had asked on purpose just to see her reaction.

Some time later, Anda returned to the group with her usual mischievous smile.

"How is it?" Leyvi asked.

"Hehe. I've laid down my proposal and given him some time to think about it. After all, this would be a long, long cooperation between our Leyan Family and the future king of the Howling Kingdom. This is our first step to go beyond the Cloud Continent," Anda replied.

Next, Tamina will help me convince him. Anda continued in her mind.

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