Cultivation Pet Shop

After confirming that there were still spots open, the second prince called out his pet for Lin Fan.

Lin Fan just had Xiao Tu come over to take the pet away, but this time he made sure that the pet cooperated so Xiao Tu didn't suspect anything.

After all, the second prince had come in disguise, so it wasn't his place to reveal his disguise.

Once the pet was taken away, the air around them fell into an awkward silence.

Lin Fan could clearly tell that the second prince had something else to say and the second prince did have something to say, but he didn't know how to say it.

So they just remained there in silence for a minute before Xin'er suddenly came over.

She had seen the awkwardness between the two of them, so she decided to come over and rescue Lin Fan.

After coming over, Xin'er smiled at the two of them and said, "Uncle, what's wrong?"

Hearing Xin'er call him uncle, the second prince was surprised.

Lin Fan felt that something bad was going to happen, so he stood up and was about to pull Xin'er behind him. But before he could, the second prince came back from his daze and said with a smile, "Little sweetie, what's your name?"

Lin Fan was immediately shocked to see this.

He never thought that the second prince would act this way with the personality that he had before…

Even if the second prince didn't get angry at being called uncle by a little girl, he would only give a stoic answer and not something as gentle and sweet as this.

Lin Fan couldn't help wondering if this was even really the second prince…

Xin'er was also surprised at being picked up, but she then happily said with a sweet smile, "Xin'er!"

The second prince had a strange emotion flicker in his eyes when he heard this, but that quickly disappeared. His smile then became even wider as he said, "Xin'er, it's nothing. Uncle just has something to ask your big brother here and was worried about how to ask him."

To his surprise though, Xin'er corrected him by saying, "This isn't my big brother, this is my dad."

This time, there was a visible flash of unknown emotion in the second prince's eyes that Lin Fan had caught. He didn't know what it was, but he could tell for sure that it was directed at Xin'er.

Almost as if he could recognize her…

The second prince quickly recovered and said, "I'm sorry, he's your dad, right? Then I have something to discuss with your dad. Thanks for your help, but I can take it from here now." After saying this, he put her down on the ground and then patted her head

Xin'er tilted her head as if she was thinking before saying, "Alright, uncle!"

Then without giving the second prince a chance to say anything, she ran back to where Angela had been waiting.

The second prince watched her run off and just stared in her direction for a bit before turning back to Lin Fan.

Lin Fan had been silent the whole time observing the second prince.

The way that the second prince looked at Xin'er, it was almost as if he knew who she was…

If that were the case, then this would be very bad for Lin Fan…

But to his surprise, the second prince didn't mention Xin'er again as he changed the topic.

Coming right out of the gate, he asked Lin Fan, "Owner, I want to name you as one of my representatives for the tournament."

Lin Fan thought that there was something wrong with his ears for a second as he couldn't understand what the second prince was saying. But then he reacted and he still wasn't able to process what the second prince was saying.

This was a tournament that would decide who would be the crown prince, the future ruler of this Stellar Kingdom.

For an event that was this important, the second prince wanted someone like him to represent him.

There were many problems with this.

First, he had only ever had two interactions with the second prince. Once when he came to drop his pet off for training and the second time when he received his pet from the store.

Both of those interactions had been very short and they didn't talk much, so it wasn't as if Lin Fan was close to the second prince.

Second, the second prince didn't know anything about him, so why did he want him as his representative?

That seemed a bit too suspicious.

And third, there was the fact that Lin Fan didn't want anything to do with the Mu Stellar Royal Family. It was not just for his sake, but also Xin'er's sake. Not to mention what had happened just now between the second prince and Xin'er…

So without hesitation, Lin Fan shook his head and said, "I'm sorry your highness, I have to refuse this offer."

The second prince gave a nod before saying, "Is that so?"

Lin Fan couldn't help raising his guard as he tried to figure out what the second prince was planning to do.

Even though the second prince acted casually, he was still a true World Realm Expert and if he were to release his power here, it would be hard for Lin Fan to resist.

He wasn't certain if the defenses of the store would be able to block an attack from a World Realm Expert…

But to Lin Fan's surprise, the second prince then said, "Then we'll leave that matter there."

There was no fuss or muss, the second prince ended that topic with just a single sentence as if he didn't care about the outcome at all.

But if that was the case, why did he ask Lin Fan to be his representative in the first place?

Did the second prince know something about him?

Or did the second prince know something about Xin'er…?

He couldn't rule out any possibility, so right now, he just wanted the second prince to leave as soon as possible.

As if he could read his mind, the second prince actually left right after that. But before he left, he took one last look at Xin'er.

Once the second prince was gone, Lin Fan deeply knitted his brows and stood there in deep thought for a few minutes.

He called out to Xiao Tu to have him man the register with Xin'er while he went into the back with Angela. As he left, he didn't forget to tell Yuki to keep a close look on Xin'er.

In the back, Lin Fan had another talk with Angela about Xin'er, especially about the things he had noticed with the second prince.

It seemed like they did need to plan things out or trouble might come to their doorstep.

…

Deep in the second prince's manor, in a hidden room that no one else knew about.

The second prince slowly opened the door to reveal a brightly lit and finely decorated room.

The design in this room wasn't normal either. It was a room that was filled with cherry blossoms…

This room only had a single person living inside and when she saw the second prince, she immediately ran into his arms and buried her head in his chest.

The second prince also revealed a happy smile as he held her tightly in his arms and softly said, "Hua'er."

After a long time just holding each other, the woman came out of the second prince's arm and asked, "Ah Yong, why are you here? Did you finally find something?"

The second prince said with a nod, "I finally found traces of Bao Bao, but…"

The woman revealed a worried look when she heard this. She couldn't help asking in a worried voice, "What is it? Did something happen to Bao Bao?"

The second prince gave a sigh before saying, "No, nothing happened to Bao Bao, she's very healthy right now."

The woman's expression was a bit relieved, but she still asked, "What happened then?"

The second prince wanted to say something, but there were words that were stuck in his throat. What he had to say was just too cruel for his beloved and he couldn't bear to say it to her.

So in the end, he just gave another sigh and said, "Bao Bao is fine for now, there's no need to worry."

The woman's expression was filled with even more worry when she heard this, but for the second prince's sake, she suppressed this worry and leaned her head in his embrace to comfort him.

The second prince looked at her and couldn't help revealing a faint smile as he stroked her hair. But then his brows knitted once again as he said, "Royal father has decided to hold a tournament to decide the succession rights."

The woman also knitted her brows when she heard this. After a moment of silence, she couldn't help asking, "Then did he suppress you like you suspected?"

The second prince gave a nod before saying with a smile, "But that just goes to show that he knows nothing of my true plans."

The woman didn't smile when she heard this, rather she revealed a worried look as she said, "Will it be alright though? Can you trust those people?"

The second prince nodded and said, "Those people are my closest allies. There's no one that I trust more than them."

The woman was still worried, but she said with a nod, "Be careful. I can't bear to lose you."

The second prince patted the woman on the head and said, "Hua'er, I will never leave you."

The woman just gave an "un" sound as she placed her head in his embrace.