The next day, inside Alfred’s villa.

Austin sat across from Alfred, and the two had a drink on the balcony.

When it was cold outside on the XueLi Star, the “open-air balcony” seemed very inhumane. Not to mention sitting on the balcony and drinking – it was impossible for any liquid to remain unfrozen.

Austin swallowed a sip of his drink with ice residue and began to suspect that Alfred was chastising him for his incompetence. 

But, immediately after, Alfred raised his head and downed a glass, leaving Austin uncertain again.

After much deliberation, he took the initiative to speak: “Your Highness, I apologize for not thinking thoroughly yesterday.”

“It’s not all your fault. I didn’t expect to seal that person’s mouth. Besides, I shouldn’t have asked you to deal with it in the first place. I should let someone from the public eye do it.” Alfred said, “we both miscalculated, and the Crown Prince taught us a lesson.”

Austin didn’t hear his emotions and could only follow his lead: “Yes… What’s our next step?”

“Austin, have you ever played that popular card game on the main star?” Alfred said, shaking the goblet in his hand. “The opponent has revealed one of our cards, and the next step is naturally our turn to reveal the opponent’s card.”

“What? Then we…”

Austin was about to ask further, but with a “ding” sound, Alfred clinked his glass against Austin’s, interrupting him.

“As I said, I invited you here to enjoy the night view with me. Don’t talk about business today and spoil my interest.”

The villa was located on high terrain, offering a distant view of the entire city from the balcony. If it weren’t so cold, it would indeed be a great place to enjoy the night view.

Austin noticed that he really didn’t pursue the matter of his his identity being exposed and noticed by the Crown Prince last night. On the one hand, he felt relieved, but on the other hand, he felt that the Third Prince was unpredictable.

His exposure meant that the Stone family behind him was also exposed. This family was currently the most significant force in Alfred’s hands. The seriousness of being exposed to the Crown Prince’s party was self-evident, but Alfred didn’t seem to care.

Austin was a few years older than Alfred, and they had had a lot of intersections since they were teenagers. Although they were not close friends, they were at least quite compatible. Later, when the Stone family aligned themselves with the Third Prince, both of them deliberately got close to each other, and their relationship quickly grew closer. They have referred to each other as brothers for the past two years.

However, as the dormant period passed and Alfred began to show his edge and means, Austin became more and more in awe of him and gradually became reluctant to cross the line in front of him.

Now, since Alfred had mentioned not discussing business, even if he wanted to bring it up, he changed the subject abruptly and said with a smile: “Your Highness left early last night. It’s a pity that you didn’t hear Miss Mei singing. But I suppose His Highness has already enjoyed it privately.”

“Can he still sing?” Alfred asked indifferently.

Austin was somewhat surprised and said: “Miss Mei’s singing voice is a godsend. Doesn’t Your Highness know?”

The complete resolution of the survival crisis was the matter of their grandparents’ generation, which was not too far away. In recent years, rebel forces had caused constant trouble at the border, and it was not a time of peace. Although the main star had called for many years to encourage the development of the entertainment industry and enrich civilian lives, it had not improved.

Singers, dancers, actors, and related professions in these industries were all scarce occupations. The main reason for their scarcity was their inability to earn money, with few people appreciating them and even fewer people studying them. Like the heavenly singing voice last night, Austin, despite being the son of the Grand Duke, heard it for the first time in his life and was shocked for a while. For this reason, he silently felt jealous of Alfred last night.

Unexpectedly, Alfred didn’t know about it at all.

“Then you must make sure to listen to it when you come back. All the guests were conquered by her last night. Originally only one song was arranged, but the atmosphere at the scene was enthusiastic, she ended up singing three songs in a row—just like that, everyone was still not satisfied.”

Alfred was not very interested in listening to the music and watching the dance, so he replied casually, “I broke up with him.”

Austin was taken aback and said, “So soon? I heard you mention her at the ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by the Crown Prince last week.”

“The Crown Prince hates such unruly things the most. I mentioned him to annoy the Crown Prince. Don’t you know?” Alfred finally showed some interest and reminisced, “Did you see the expression on the Crown Prince’s face at that time? He almost couldn’t hold back anymore, but he couldn’t publicly reprimand me…”

He stopped talking. In the past, he used to be willing to discuss the Crown Prince’s manners with Austin. But after last night, he no longer wanted to share such topics with others.

“If you like to hear Mei sing,” Alfred nonchalantly brought the topic back to Mei. “He should be making his official debut soon.”

Austin’s eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, “Really? That’s great! Uh, did you break up because of this?”

“What? Oh, no.” Alfred waved his hand. “It’s because he is temporarily useless to me.”

Yeah… Didn’t Alfred tell him that from the beginning? The purpose of having this girlfriend was just to distract the outside world, so as to ensure that the news of the rectification of the battle two years ago could be released without interference… Now that the plan was going well, this girlfriend was naturally no longer needed.

Austin felt a sense of emptiness in his heart as he was thinking of the shining girl on the stage last night. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Her voice was so clean and clear. When she stood on the stage, her eyes were filled with joy and purity. Such an innocent girl was drawn into their deceitful gladiatorial arena and kicked away after being used.

He was feeling bad when suddenly the balcony door was knocked twice.

“Come in,” Alfred said.

The person who knocked on the door responded and walked out. It turned out to be Joshua.

Austin glanced at Joshua contemptuously. It was reasonable to say that they were peers, but he didn’t avoid Joshua’s greetings, nor did he respond to his greetings.

Both the Stone family and the Bai family held the title of Duke titles, which was hereditary since the founding of the empire. Together with the royal family, they were called the three major clans of the empire. Later, the Bai family was additionally bestowed with the honor of hereditary “High Priest”, seemingly overwhelming the Stone family. However, in fact, the title of High Priest was just a consolation after the closure of the Holy White Tower. The Bai family had false honor, but no real power.

At the beginning of the empire’s founding, the Stone family and the Bai family had always kept a distance. Both families had produced several queens and princesses, but never married each other to show that they would not unite so that the royal family could rest assured.

However, with the completion of the genetic modification project and the decline of the Holy White Tower, the Bai family retained only the title of “High Priest”. Now there was no longer such a taboo, and the first wife the current High Priest married when he was young was surnamed Si Tong (Stone).

This marriage was very short-lived. In less than three years, the originally healthy Miss Stone passed away, leaving no descendants. So instead of becoming in-laws, the two families developed animosity towards each other.

The high priest soon took a second wife, and a few years later, his second wife gave birth to Joshua. However, she also died of dystocia.

The members of Stone’s family naturally hated the High Priest and consequently, held strong animosity towards his only son as well. In the past half a month, Austin had never met Joshua in Alfred’s presence. This was evident that Alfred deliberately separated the two of them.

Austin had always found this approach understandable. Aside from Alfred not wanting his two feuding minions to clash, more importantly, he probably didn’t trust Joshua enough to inform him that Austin was serving him.

But now he had called Joshua…

“Excuse me, come here and sit next to me.” Alfred told Joshua.

Joshua followed the instructions and sat down, with Austin on his left and himself on his right, both flanking Alfred.

“I think, since we are all on the same boat, it’s time for you to meet formally.” Alfred said, “I arranged this night view event, hoping that you two will put aside your old grievances and work together peacefully in the future.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Joshua immediately replied.

Austin’s face didn’t look good, but he was not an impulsive child, so he quickly responded, “Yes.”

“That’s good.” Alfred seemed satisfied and then asked again, “What time is it?”

Austin looked down at the time displayed on his wrist, but before he could answer, Joshua had already said: “Only five minutes left, Your Highness.”

Alfred looked out of the railing and said, “Very well, let’s enjoy it together.”

They spoke as if playing charades, and Austin couldn’t help asking: “What’s left for five minutes, Your Highness?”

Alfred replied: “On the day of the assassination attempt at school, I ordered Joshua to do something… Austin, do you think I’m the kind of person who would swallow his breath after being assassinated?” His gaze turned cold and he whispered: “If he wants to kill me, I will naturally kill him too.”

Austin had a bad premonition and persuaded Alfred: “Your Highness, assassinating the Crown Prince is such an important matter. Wouldn’t it be better to discuss it with my father…”

“This is His Highness’s decision.” Joshua interrupted. “Does the major think His Highness should listen to Marshal Stone’s commands instead?”

“You… !”

They were engaged in a verbal confrontation when they suddenly heard a loud bang.

Austin looked in astonishment and saw an explosion in the distance, with the flames soaring into the sky and breaking the frozen night of XueLi Star.

He murmured: “That direction is…”

“It’s the Crown Prince’s palace.” Joshua followed his words and saluted Alfred. “Fortunately, I did not disgrace the mission, Your Highness.”

“You’ve done a great job.” Alfred curled his lips, staring at the blaze and said, “You are worthy of my trust.”

Joshua’s pale face revealed a hint of joy in the cold night. He said reservedly: “I just don’t know if the Crown Prince is in the palace or not.”

Alfred looked at Joshua, suddenly smiled, and said, “With you delivering the message to him, he won’t be there.”

The smile on Joshua’s face froze.