Woden received the news through a friend of his companion. At that time, he was sitting on the sofa with his friends, discussing the recent situation.

Just then, the boy who seemed only concerned about his friend ran over, saying that Young Master Ye could not stand his companion and had already pushed someone into the water.

As he spoke, he also made sure to show Woden his kindest, most helpless, most in-need-of-help side. Woden, however, had seen this scene too many times and did not even look at him. He started thinking: what was really going on?

Woden’s first reaction was disbelief. Ye Bai had been targeted by the companions around him many times, but never once did it affect them—this time, it was fully directed at him.

Every time, Ye Bai cried, which annoyed him.

This time, it was probably his companion’s little scheme, Woden thought.

But he was willing to indulge a little. This companion fit his tastes, and a few of the companion’s family companies had dealings with him recently. Woden did not mind showing some favor.

Anyway, Ye Bai had the Minister of Finance to protect him, so he would not suffer any losses. A few kind words and some coaxing would be enough.

With that thought, Woden stood up and hurried with his friends and brothers toward the scene.

But…

The situation at the scene was not what he had imagined.

He had expected to see Ye Bai and his young companion causing a commotion at the pool, with only his intervention able to resolve it.

But the opposite happened. Ye Bai and his young companion stood silently by the pool.

However, the companion’s friend had not been wrong, someone had caused a scene over a romantic issue, and someone had been pushed into the water.

—but it was not just one person.

It was two.

Woden stared blankly at the two people sitting on chairs by the pool.

Both were soaking wet, with water dripping from their hair. They had not been pulled out of the water long, and their clothes clung to their bodies.

If the situation had really been as the companion had said, Woden would not have stared so dumbfounded at the two before him.

—but what if the ones in the water were Prince Janus and General Ortas?

And General Ortas had been pushed into the water by Woden’s little uncle, whom he had always been wary of.

Woden’s mind was a tangled mess. He did not know whether to suspect that the dispute over military power had been discovered by his uncle, causing an argument, or if his uncle had simply lost his mind and started a scene in this public place.

While Woden, the crown prince, was processing all this, the scene remained quiet.

Even the two sitting on the chairs were unusually silent.

General Ortas, suspected of coveting military power, sat on the chair, drenched. His black shirt clung tightly to him.

The high-quality fabric was not see-through, but the way it wrapped snugly while outlining his curves made all the surrounding men and women blush.

‘So big…’

Alina’s eyes widened.

She had indeed been startled when these two fell into the water. She knew it probably involved jealousy, but seeing it played out physically was something she had never witnessed before.

Now she suddenly felt that the previous fright had been worth it.

However, she noticed that General Ortas did not seem to be in a good mood, which made sense. Anyone would be upset if they were suddenly pushed into the pool while talking with their flirtatious partner.

—Especially if the one who pushed them had no remorse.

Alina shifted her gaze to Prince Janus.

The young man’s build looked nearly as large as General Ortas, perhaps slightly smaller.

And due to royal nutrition, his height was considerable. Sitting there, he seemed only a few centimeters shorter than General Ortas.

Normally, such a figure in a white shirt would not look worse than General Ortas.

But…

Even sitting on the lounge chair, Prince Janus straightened his back, lifted his chin, and carried an expression as if a noble person were reluctantly speaking to the man beside him.

His glacial-colored eyes looked askance at the other, expressing maximum disdain.

‘Your Highness, this really does not look smart!’

Alina groaned inwardly.

Couldn’t Prince Janus imitate General Ortas by simply looking aggrieved and doing nothing?

Hadn’t he noticed that Young Master Ye had not looked at him even once, only at General Ortas? That gaze was genuine concern!

While Alina groaned internally, Woden, as the host of the banquet, finally remembered what he should do amidst all the schemes and plots in his mind.

“Ahem, don’t you two know what happened?”

Woden stepped forward and spoke.

In front of the two, he straightened his chest and tightened his stomach, trying his best to maintain the image of a royal heir. Unfortunately, Alina and the others noticed that Woden’s presence still fell short compared to the two.

‘No, Woden looked pretty good when he was younger, didn’t he? Just when did he turn into this ugly mess?’

Alina even noticed that Woden’s appearance seemed diminished in front of the two.

He was not ugly, but compared to them, he was certainly not handsome.

Martha seemed to notice as well, she furrowed her brows.

Woden, unaware that people were judging his looks behind him, tried to mediate the conflict between the two.

However…

It seemed the conflict only intensified the more he tried to mediate.

“…Little uncle, this is your fault. Why did you suddenly rush out and collide with General Ortas?”

Woden turned toward Prince Janus, who still wore a disdainful expression, and added some reproach. His expression immediately ignited Janus’s anger.

“Why don’t you ask him what he was doing when I pushed him into the water?”

Prince Janus said, furious: “His hands were almost around Ye Wangxing’s waist, and his mouth was close to their face! They just arrived at the Capital Star, and he treated them like nothing, knowing nothing about social etiquette! I was just saving an innocent person!”

Prince Janus’s argument sounded reasonable, and the onlookers who did not know the truth nodded.

Indeed, in noble social etiquette, physically touching someone or invading such close personal space was far from proper. Even if one liked someone, they should pursue them for a few days—this was not feudal times.

But those who knew the truth…

“Martha, I think Prince Janus will be glad about his actions once he knows the truth,” Alina said softly. “At least he beat up a rival in love, and General Ortas, even knowing the truth, will have no reason to retaliate.”

Martha nodded in deep agreement.

Ye Bai finally reconnected to the network at this moment. He first frowned at Woden, who stood in front of the two.

He noticed how Woden seemed somewhat dim in front of them but began to convince himself otherwise.

After all, these two were among the most attractive in the empire. For Woden to compete with them was like a cripple running against a sprint champion.

Once he had convinced himself, Ye Bai gradually realized what had happened and looked at Prince Janus with an expression of mixed feelings.

‘I hope once he knows the truth, he will remember that he fought for my brother and won’t feel ashamed enough to jump into the river’ Ye Bai thought despairingly.

If only he could apply these thoughts to himself, it would be even better.

After hearing Prince Janus, Woden suddenly acted as if he had caught a lever against General Ortas.

“General Ortas, you are acting quite ungentlemanly. Even if Prince Janus acted impulsively, he was only protecting the citizens of the empire,” Woden said, wearing the worried-for-the-people expression of someone willing to oppose power for the good of the empire.

General Ortas, sitting across, first sneered and then barbedly revealed his sharp teeth: “If His Highness the Prince had opened his noble mouth to ask us, he would have realized that Mr. Ye Wangxing and I are friends, not what he assumed.”

He lifted his deep green eyes and glanced at Woden.

“Of course, I speak this to Crown Prince Woden—because changing one’s stance over a few words is not a good omen for the empire.”

Woden felt stabbed by this remark. His face flushed as he stared at General Ortas, wanting to retort, but his little uncle spoke faster.

“Oh? Friends? Close proximity? When I collided with him, if I hadn’t helped Ye Wangxing, he probably would have fallen in too. So may I ask, if your social distance with him wasn’t too close, why did I drag him along when I pushed you into the water?”

The young man in a white shirt caught the loophole in General Ortas words and spoke rapidly.

General Ortas did not reply, he merely looked at the young man with a mocking expression.

“We were reminiscing about our first meeting. Wangxing was still quite naive then. As for the details…”

The man raised his eyebrows and said: “No comment, Your Highness.”

The moment he spoke, Prince Janus’s already furious expression intensified.

Seeing the tension between the two rise, Woden, frustrated, also felt helpless.

‘It really has to be me. Without me mediating, they’d probably start fighting again.’

Woden’s usually straight back tensed further. He tried to mediate and signaled his assistant to take a few photos of him mediating, planning to post them on social media for image-building.

But… the more he tried to mediate, the hotter their anger became.

Eventually, both seemed on the verge of fighting again.

Alina, however, understood why. She exchanged a glance with Martha and sighed heavily.

“…When will Woden realize that with his language skills, if everyone didn’t protect him behind the scenes, he would have been beaten long ago?”

Alina whispered, and Martha shook her head and muttered quietly as well.

“It’s difficult, after all, he is His Majesty’s own son.”

“Indeed, the watershed of life is amniotic fluid. It must have been tough for His Majesty to keep him alive until today.”

Alina spoke softly while clicking her tongue at Prince Woden.

Look at the things he said to mediate.

“Give me some face, and let this matter go.”

“Uncle, we were just chatting as friends, it’s fine, you weren’t invited, don’t be so petty. Let it go.”

“Ortas, my uncle meant well. Besides, my uncle’s friend is also Mr. Ye. A friend of a friend is still a friend, don’t be so stingy.”

Honestly, Alina got furious hearing these words and didn’t understand how Prince Woden genuinely thought these words would mediate the conflict.

Ye Bai watched Woden, supposedly mediating, and felt speechless. He knew this conflict couldn’t be mediated, especially in the current situation—it could only make everyone angrier.

Reality confirmed this. Ye Bai also lost count of how many times Woden had done this—showing off without the ability, insisting his face was valuable.

By Woden’s status, his face was indeed valuable—but that was only if he didn’t sell it to every person he met.

Ye Bai, having been by Woden’s side the longest, knew that few people now cared to give him face.

Especially after his investment losses, if His Majesty hadn’t backed him, Woden the prince might have been on creditors’ lists.

Now, Woden’s name meant “rich fool” to ordinary money-seekers, and a shining but foolish target to investors, who threw money at any project that pleased him.

No, he had to pull Woden out first. Even if Woden scolded or hit him this time, he couldn’t let him truly fall into danger.

Ye Bai had just thought this and took a couple of steps forward when a faster figure jumped past him and said,

“Your Highness, I’ll handle this here.”

Better to stop fanning the flames.

Ye Wangxing smiled as he passed Woden.

[If you keep fanning the flames, 19 will have to fight you himself to smooth things over.]

Woden didn’t know this and almost ruined Ye Wangxing’s backup line.

He got increasingly flustered while mediating, but when the voice appeared, his first reaction was that someone was trying to steal his credit.

When he looked up and saw it was just Ye Wangxing, the culprit, standing in front of him, he wanted to get angry.

“Mr. Ye, the incident just now seems to have started because of you.”

At that moment, the two people who had been in a heated argument both looked at Ye Wangxing.

“Brother Ye! Did that person just make a move on you?!”

“Wangxing, I really couldn’t explain to Prince Janus.”

They both shook off Woden simultaneously, as if his tiring mediation never happened, without saying a word to him.

Woden’s face immediately showed disbelief.

Alina rolled her eyes in her mind, thinking, What is your relationship with those two? What is theirs with them? You didn’t even gather the basics, yet you try to meddle in their matters—you can’t mediate, and you get ignored, who else would get ignored?

Luckily, Woden lost face but still stood aside. Judging from his mouth’s twitch before leaving, he probably thought a fight could break out without him.

This also worried Alina, not because she feared the two would fight without him mediating, but because she feared jealousy might spark a fight on the spot.

If one wrong word came out, it could explode into chaos.

Others didn’t know, but they knew that recently these two might reconcile with Ye Wangxing. If they realized the other’s presence early…

Alina moved closer to Marsha, silently gripping the disposable protective cover in her sleeve.

She feared that if a fight broke out, someone could get hurt.

However, Alina soon realized her worry was unnecessary.

—He really deserved to have dated four boyfriends without a disaster.

“You two have argued so long, aren’t you cold?”

The young man, looking like a timid little animal, sighed longly at the two formidable figures, then waved at the nearby steward robot.

“You’re soaking wet. If you don’t change soon, are you trying to experience an ancient flu because your body is strong?”

The young man took two towels from the steward robot, shook them open, and draped them over the two, one in each hand.

The two, who had looked like drowned chickens, were instantly covered by the wide towels, their expressions hidden.

“Hurry and dry yourselves, change clothes.”

The young man patted their shoulders as naturally as if it were nothing. Alina and Martha leaned together silently, watching intently.

“…If my mom had this man’s ability, last time she wouldn’t have been caught having dealings with a male model by other lovers, causing such a scandal,” Alina said in astonishment. Martha nodded deeply without averting her gaze.

“What do you think about me discussing opening a class with this Ye family heir? With his ability, he would surpass so many training programs.”

Martha expressed amazement, and the others nodded.

However, only those who knew the truth were amazed, those unaware breathed a sigh of relief seeing the two finally calm down.

Just as everyone thought it was over, General Ortas’ voice rang out.

“Wangxing, can you help me dry off?”

The man with deep green eyes grabbed the towel covering his head, revealing his wet hair and those eyes, staring straight at the young man.

He smiled, hoarsely saying: “I think I hit the pool edge and can’t lift my hand.”

Everyone present: “…”

Those who knew the truth, including Alina and Ye Bai: “…”

Finally, the most experienced, Marsha, murmured a summary.

“…Admiral, you really know how to play.”

“Oh my god…” Alina muttered, completely dazed, yet nodded at Martha words.

Seeing him drenched, the mischievous glint in his eyes when handing the towel to Ye Wangxing, and his movements showcasing his muscles as much as possible—

It would be a shame not to move a Pinru wardrobe for him.

Those unaware gawked, shouting exclamations of shock.

But General Ortas ignored everyone else, holding the towel, focused entirely on Ye Wangxing.

His chest rose and fell rhythmically with each breath, the clinging shirt tight to his body.

Next…

The young man, blushing, pulled the towel to dry Ortas’ head, while Ortas smiled triumphantly.

“No one can resist that body, especially when he actively tries to entice,” Martha whispered to Alina.

Alina nodded again.

Before Ortas could grab the young man’s wrist, a shocking shout came from the side.

“Ah! Brother Ye! I hit the pool edge too, can’t lift my hand, can you help me dry off as well?”

Everyone turned their eyes to Prince Janus.

They saw him, who had been drying his hair obediently, now pretending his arm couldn’t lift, handing the towel to the young man.

Prince Janus imitated Ortas, arching his body to make the young man help dry him.

However…

“…Does Prince Janus realize he looks like a coerced seduction spy right now?”

Alina twitched her mouth, staring at Janus, who struck a pose but still looked upright.

“How can he manage Ortas’ seductive pose and look so upright?”

Martha commented bluntly: “He’s not as flirty as General Ortas.”

Alina muttered: “…You’re blunt but accurate. Ortas just showed off a little, mainly to attract Ye Wangxing, right?”

Martha didn’t argue, calmly saying: “My judgment never fails.”

Alina shrugged, turning her attention back to the pool. The young man now held two towels, helplessly drying the two people.

Though his touch was gentle, it looked more like he was drying a large animal than any flirtatious act, easing some onlookers’ doubts.

“It must be us overthinking, they’re obviously just good friends, joking around,” muttered an unaware bystander.

The next second, General Ortas personally kicked them back.

The young man’s hand had just brushed the man’s chest when the man grabbed it, holding it in place.

“Wangxing, you’re too gentle, it doesn’t even absorb water!”

The man laughed, holding the young man’s hand, wearing the golden snake ring.

Alina froze again, while Martha remarked sharply,

“…He’s so flirty.”

Along with Martha comment came Prince Janus’ scream: “—You bastard, what are you doing to Brother Ye ahhhhh!”

 

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