“What are you scheming again?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. But earlier you were upset that our first outing was at Lining’s wedding. Today, we’ll be able to have a good time.”

“Who said I was upset?”

“You must have been watching the play.”

Veronica changed the subject to the play that Cassian and Asher had just watched.

Cassian looked at her in disbelief as she boldly sat down in the spot Asher had left.

“Look, Your Highness. That male actor seems to be playing the Sun God.”

On the stage, an actor playing the Sun God was showing off his solemn performance.

Veronica quickly focused on the play. Cassian had no choice but to sit back down.

“Do you like plays?”

“They’re just watchable.”

“So you don’t like them.”

“…”

“Still, it’s quite popular. Everyone seems happy to see a god incarnated.”

“It’s just acting anyway.”

Veronica looked surprised at his words.

“Oh my. Your Highness. That’s blasphemy. You should always believe that the gods are by your side.”

“If we’re going to mention faith at a street play, it’d be better to pray.”

“Your Highness, you’re really no fun.”

He turned his head. His eyes seemed to be saying, ‘I don’t want to be fun for you!’ Veronica smiled and stood up.

“Then shall we go see something else? Look, there’s an acrobatic performance over there.”

Veronica led him towards where the acrobatic performance was taking place. In the center of the square with the angel statue fountain, an acrobat was in the midst of a performance.

As they approached, they could see the acrobat’s impressive skills.

Throwing twin swords and breathing fire, he captured people’s attention, while another acrobat showed off his skill by walking on his hands while holding onto another acrobat’s hands.

Next to them, a male acrobat appeared in a strange posture with his limbs twisted, causing screams to erupt from all directions.

Following that, dancers in sparkling costumes came out and performed an exotic dance.

For Veronica, it was a performance she had seen countless times, but it was still somewhat enjoyable after a long time. Looking to the side, she noticed Cassian’s face looked bored.

While people were mesmerized by the smooth dance lines of the inhuman-like dancers, he alone was not.

“You don’t find this entertaining either?”

“It’s entertaining.”

“Your face says otherwise.”

“…”

“Then should we look at some shops instead? They’re selling sculptures over there.”

She pulled him to the nearest shop. On the sales counter were large wooden sculptures.

After examining those, she took him to look at other shops. Then they came across a particularly crowded spot and approached it.

“Haha. They say these accessories grant wishes.”

“They sell all sorts of things.”

On the counter were various accessories with jewels attached. Looking closely, they weren’t jewels but stones.

They were crafted to look like jewels, giving off a sparkling light. Moreover, they came in various colors, making them appealing to women. Most of the customers were indeed women.

Veronica picked up a bracelet with a blue stone. Then she took Cassian’s wrist, who was looking puzzled, and tied the bracelet on him.

“I hope Your Highness’s wish comes true.”

“I don’t believe in such things.”

“Why not? It’s cute. You never know. Your wish might really come true.”

“If wishes could come true with such trinkets, there would be no need for gods.”

“The power of the gods might be imbued in this bracelet.”

“The gods aren’t fools to grant wishes without a price.”

“Don’t be like that. Don’t you really have any wishes?”

“I do have one. For you to disappear from my sight right now.”

“Unfortunately, that’s a wish I can’t grant.”

“Then I definitely don’t need this.”

Cassian immediately took off the bracelet and put it back in its place. He really never made things easy.

Putting aside her disappointment, Veronica turned her head. Then her eyes met with a man sitting alone under a canopy on the opposite wall.

He waved at her. It was a rude gesture, but given the crowded place, she gladly reciprocated. She needed something to pass the time with Cassian.

“I’ll read your love fortune.”

“How about it? Shall we try?”

“I didn’t know you liked these things.”

“I went to see one recently and it wasn’t bad.”

“I don’t like it.”

Leaving him who disliked it, she decided to have her love fortune read. Since it was a passageway, there was no proper place to sit, so they stood.

“How’s the compatibility between this person and me?”

The fortune teller laid out cards in front of them and had them choose five. Then he checked each chosen card one by one.

“It’s the worst. Fire and fire.”

“That can’t be. Look carefully.”

“You don’t match at all, not at all. I wonder how you two met.”

If the previous fortune teller’s problem was being too pushy, this one lacked tact. Couldn’t anyone see they looked like a couple?

“He sees very well.”

The man with the least tact suddenly showed interest.

After glaring at him, she calmly scolded the fortune teller.

She gave him another chance to read properly, but the fortune teller kept rambling on about how incompatible the two were.

It was more infuriating that Cassian was listening intently next to her.

Before the mood worsened further, Veronica threw some money and pulled Cassian’s arm. He followed her obediently.

“Fortune-telling really isn’t worth it, right?”

“It seemed quite accurate to me.”

It was the most positive response of the day. Of course, it wasn’t welcome at all. Veronica swallowed her irritation and headed to another shop.

As they were looking around the shops in the square one by one, Cassian suddenly called one of his guards and gave some instructions. The guard headed somewhere.

When she turned her head in that direction, she saw a group of young beggars beating up an even younger child in a narrow alley.

Everyone was too busy enjoying the spectacle to notice, and even if they did, they didn’t intervene.

Cassian’s guard went there and stopped the children from beating. The children quickly ran away.

The beaten children seemed to be siblings, as a girl uncurled her body to reveal a boy. The guard checked their condition.

Watching this, Cassian took out a small money pouch from his chest and handed it to another guard. The guard took it and offered it to the girl.

“That’s unexpected.”

“What is?”

“I thought you weren’t interested in people’s livelihoods.”

“I’m not that irresponsible.”

“Well, as a prince, you wouldn’t be uninterested in state affairs.”

Cassian turned to look at her.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly what I said. Was there something wrong with my words?”

“…”

Veronica smiled brightly. Cassian looked at her face with displeasure.

Meanwhile, the child didn’t accept the money pouch.

The guard looked flustered as the child stood there, tightly gripping their ragged clothes.

The guard held out the money pouch even closer, but to no avail.

Feeling like time was being wasted unnecessarily, Veronica instructed a nearby guard to buy some bread.

When the guard hurriedly bought bread from a nearby store, she took it and approached the children.

Veronica handed the bread wrapped in a handkerchief to the girl.

The girl hesitated for a moment before taking the bread. The bread was immediately eaten by the boy behind her.

Veronica snatched the money pouch from the guard and took out a few silver coins. Then she held them out to the child.

“Take these and you can buy a lot of bread. You can go to that bakery over there.”

“…”

Veronica pointed to the store where the bread had just been bought. The girl looked in that direction and nodded slowly. Then she carefully took the silver coins.

Veronica straightened up and returned to Cassian.

“Giving a large sum to a child like that will only scare them. They prefer food like bread instead. Hunger comes first. In a crowded place like this, it won’t be easily taken away.”

“You seem to know well.”

He had a strange expression on his face. It was an unexpected sight, not at all welcome. However, he showed a diligent response, saying ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’

“There are too many people.”

“It’s the busiest time now.”

In a short while, the crowd in the square had doubled.

The already bustling square was now swarming with people, bumping shoulders and bodies, making it chaotic. Even the guards seemed to have difficulty keeping up.

“Do you dislike crowds?”

“Everyone dislikes complexity.”

“Then shall we go somewhere less crowded?”

Veronica pointed to the outskirts of the square. It seemed difficult to find a place without people inside the square.

Cassian agreed. He had set a separate time and place to meet with Asher, so there was no need to worry.

The two immediately left the square. However, it was just as crowded outside.

Cassian frowned involuntarily. Veronica took the lead and pulled him along.

“This way.”

With Veronica’s guards clearing the way in front and Cassian’s guards watching the rear, the two managed to move.

Walking through the dense crowd made it hard to breathe.

Perhaps because they were moving away from the square, the crowd seemed to be thinning slightly.

“This way.”

Following her directions, they moved bit by bit.

When they finally left the road leading to the square and reached a distance with a moderate crowd, they could catch their breath for a moment.

Meanwhile, Veronica’s finger pointed in another direction.

“This way.”

And so they entered another alley.

Then they walked and walked some more.

“…?”

Was it his imagination? Why did it seem like there were fewer and fewer people?

As he followed Veronica, the alleys gradually became emptier.

Eventually, when there were no people in sight at all, Cassian stopped walking. A warning went off in his head.