The minute their hover car arrived at the mercenary hall, the twelve of them descend from the car.
"Why don't you come along with us to our guild private room to distribute the loots. It wouldn't be good to start sharing them here for the passersby to see." Tyron turned to look at Amos and Ian as he said.
"I don't mind." Amos shrugged his shoulder. Ian didn't say anything, implying his agreement.
Seeing this, Tyron led them to the Tyron guild private room. There was nothing peculiar about the room. It was just filled with the necessary furniture a room should have.
Shortly after, Tyron began to share the loots according to each individual contribution. Since both Amos and Ian had no storage ring with them, Tyron could only lend them his other storage ring for them to keep their loots. It wasn't that Amos had no actual storage ring. He just kind of forget to bring it along with him. What a douche he is.
"It was nice working with you, Mr. Tyron. I hope we'll meet again for another exciting adventure." Amos said out of formality. This would be the second time he had almost lost his life out in the wild just by encountering the Tyron guild. How could that not be exciting enough.
"I hope so too." Tyron gave Amos a smile and then a slight bow to Ian.
"Then, we'll take our leave." Amos turned around, ready to leave. Ian on the other hand stood transfixed on the spot without making any attempt on following Amos. "Humm… it's time for us to leave my prince."
Looking towards the direction Ian was staring at, a thought pops into Amos head, 'Don't tell me that the crown prince has actually fallen for this girl.' Or else, why would he be staring at her intently.
During the interschool competition, Amos was quite busy and wasn't opportune to attend the competition. As a result, he wasn't able to recognize Xue Yiran, the dark horse of the match.
"I... Can you give me your contact information." The moment Ian spoke, there was silence everywhere.
'Fuck, the prince has actually fallen in love with her.'
Miley and the others were in disbelief when they heard Ian's sentence.
At first, the impression Miley had about Ian was a bad one ever since he was caught staring at Xue Yiran. That was because she thought the other party was a pervert. Now that his identity as the crown prince was exposed, Miley was somewhat stunned to hear him ask for Xue Yiran contact info. 'Don't tell me that the crown prince already has a design on Xue Yiran'.
"I see that you are quite experienced. Besides, it's pretty relaxing to converse with someone in my age group than with an elderly person So, I was thinking if we could exchange pointers." Ian added.
There was slight moment of pause in the room before Xue Yiran finally answered.
"Okay. Let's exchange contact."
A smile appeared on Ian's lips without him knowing the moment he heard her answer. The two exchange contacts under everyone's watch.
"Then, I'll take my leave. Farewell, everyone." Ian turned around and followed Amos out of the room.
After their departure, Xue Yiran looked up, only to find everyone staring at her.
"Why are you all looking at me?"
"Tell me, Xue Yiran. Do you like the Crown prince?" Miley probed.
"Why would I?"
"Didn't you just give him your contact info. With that, you two will be able to interact more."
"He said he wants to exchange some pointers with me. As for if I have feelings for him, that's absolutely not true." Xue Yiran couldn't help but wonder why everyone was asking her if she likes Ian. During the Final interschool competition, Colton had also asked her this same question.
Why should she like Ian? It wasn't like she has any ambiguous feelings for him.
"It's great that you bore no romantic feelings for him." Miley said with relief. The crown prince already has a fiancé. If Xue Yiran were to like him, it most likely that it would be a one-sided relationship.
Hearing that she has no heartfelt feelings for the crown prince, Tyron and the others were also relieve.
Soon after, they all left for the exchange hall to submit their loots.
Xue Yiran still has some uses for the beast cores and didn't take them out. She took out all the beasts body parts, along with the herbs in her hand and exchange them for contribution points. As for the talent fruit, that's a valuable treasure that mustn't be taken out. Taking them out is the same as drawing unnecessary attention to them. Both good or bad.
The person who was at the exchange desk wasn't Esme, but a young male clerk.
"Where's Esme? Did she go somewhere else?" Ryker asked.
"She took a leave off for today." The male clerk behind the desk answered.
"Oh." Ryker didn't say any more words and began to exchange their goods.
It was already dark by the time they were done. After bidding farewell, Xue Yiran left the hall and went to the parking lot where her hover car was parked. Immediately she got into the car, her communication device beeped. It was a message.
Tapping on it, she saw the words on the screen.
[Hello, this is Ian. I just want to ask if you've gotten home?]
She was about to text back when Susu's voice suddenly rang inside her head.
[Host, you should hurry home. Xue Haoran is beginning to panic due to your absence.]
Hearing that, Xue Yiran immediately forgot about replying to Ian's text and started the car. She has been out for a long time. It's no wonder that the little fella was starting to panic.
...
At the other end, when Ian saw that his message had been read. His heart beat a little faster as he anxiously waited for the other person reply. But after an hour of staring at the screen of his device, there was nothing.
Soon, a knock came on his door. The maid at the door came to call him down for dinner. It was then Ian finally noticed that he had been staring at his device for an hour.
"What did I just do?" This was something he had never done before. Almost all his free time was spent on training. Yet this time, he had been waiting for an hour for her to reply him. "Gosh, what am I doing?" He immediately threw the device in his hand away as if it was some kind of monster.
He then walked into the bathroom to freshen up and head for the dining hall the moment he was dressed.
Surprisingly, Ian saw that his busy father who's always hard to see was seated in the dining hall today.
"Father, mother." Ian bowed as he greeted.
Unlike his previous self when he met General Ethan, the king exudes an aura of authority as he raised his head to look at his son.
"Your mother told me that you've been training without rest as of lately. Although, you'll be the one to succeed my throne, you should exercise some restrain in your training activities in order not to worry your mother." Due to Ian workaholic behavior, the queen had gone to meet the king and asked him persuade their son. How could a mother not be worried about her child.
The queen had even scolded the king, saying that he was the reason why their son turned this way. In order not to hear any scolding words from his wife, the king could only come to persuade their son.
"I will father." Ian bowed and walked towards the seats that was pulled by the maids before taking his seat. Immediately after, the chefs began to enter with each of their signature food. The table was soon filled with aromatic smell of food. The change in the empire food culture was really a blessing, as everyone could now enjoy some a delicious delicacy.
The table was silent as the family of three enjoys their dinner. However, the queen was quick to noticed that there was something off about her son.
Ian ate his food absentmindedly as his mind wander around.
Once dinner was over, the king excused himself and went to the study room.
Ian was also about to leave when his mother suddenly called for him.
"Son, would you like to take a walk with me to the garden?" It was night, most of the flowers would have closed their buds by now, Still, Ian nodded and walked with his mother to the garden.