Chapter 62 Castile (13) Your Highness; Queen; Private...

Xu Lingzhao looked at him, her gaze moving from his eyes to his lips, then back to his wet eyes. She lowered her head slightly, their foreheads touching, and said, "From the first moment I saw you, I felt that you were mine." Her hand caressed his soft waist.

"Don't be afraid. From now on, I will protect you and I will never leave you." Her tone was earnest.

Chu Jing then looked up and gently pecked her cheek, sniffed, and felt so pathetic. He had cried like a baby just because he woke up and didn't see her. He buried his head in the crook of her neck, feeling a little embarrassed.

Alpha couldn't hide the smile on her face when she saw him like this. If it weren't for his injured leg, he probably would have been hanging on her. She lowered her head and tucked the stray hairs that were wet with tears behind his ear. She gently stroked the tip of his nose with her finger and said, "I'll help you get dressed. You stay here for the next few days. Don't worry about anything else, just focus on recovering."

She looked at the tiny scratches on his face. "You still have scars on your face. Don't cry, okay?"

Xu Lingzhao closed the door to the cave entrance. Yu Yu was already standing at the door waiting for her. She clicked her tongue and shook her head, "It seems you really like him."

Xu Lingzhao didn't speak but changed the subject, asking her, "Won't we be punished if we just leave like this?"

“No, this insect swarm usually lasts for three days. Not to mention us, everyone else has already hidden themselves. We’ll go back to gather after three days, and no one will say anything. This is the rule that the Knights have agreed to.” Yu Yu’s eyes revealed fatigue, and the cold wind stung her face. “Tsk, I can’t let my beautiful face be ruined.”

Xu Lingzhao, who was standing to the side, watched her actions and silently took two steps outside. This time, she was going to the bottom of the valley to find a kind of medicinal herb to treat Yu Yu's father. The poisoning had damaged the foundation of his body, but this herb called Oubaizhi had miraculous effects and could restore the body to its best condition after three months of use.

However, it usually grows in the nests of the cypress worm mother, with a maximum of 10 plants in a nest. The three-month treatment period requires 30 cypress worms. It is difficult for ordinary people to find them and bring them back, but for Xu Lingzhao, the difficulty is halved. She plans to complete the task in a day and a half.

She didn't want Chu Jingze to wait for her too long, and her eyes unconsciously drifted to the small sachet he had given her at her waist. Several small white roses were embroidered on the golden fabric. For some reason, Xu Lingzhao felt that the white roses suited his temperament very well, and his pheromones seemed to smell like white roses as well.

Even though they had only been apart for a short while, Xu Lingzhao couldn't stop thinking about her. This made her frown slightly, wondering what was wrong with her. So she forced herself to look away from the small sachet and stop glancing at the road out of the corner of her eye.

The valley became steeper as they descended. Xu Lingzhao found a foothold and stepped down, using his calves to exert a little force and his fingers to grab the vines. The slope was almost ninety degrees here, and from then on, he could only climb down by holding onto the vines.

She strained her arm muscles and kept looking down, making sure she landed precisely on the chosen foothold. If she missed a step and fell, she would most likely break her bones at that height. Finally, Xu Lingzhao calculated the distance, grabbed Tengman's hand, let go, and jumped down, landing steadily to the side.

"Ugh—why are you so elegant!" Yu Yu said indignantly. She rubbed her hip bone as she got up from the ground and handed one of her backpack bags to Xu Lingzhao. She said, "I guarantee this bag is the best bag Castile has ever had!"

"Yes, I believe you." Xu Lingzhao reached out and took it. She looked around. They were in a forest. She didn't know if it was her imagination, but she felt that the temperature here was much lower than up there, and the leaves on the ground were a much darker color.

Her intuition told her that this place was dangerous, but since she was already here, Xu Lingzhao thought she could look for some herbs to prevent scarring. His face was fair, like a white peach with a pinkish tinge. If he had scars, he would definitely be unhappy. Although she didn't care about these things, she didn't want to upset him.

Yu Yu suddenly patted Xu Lingzhao's shoulder. She opened her mouth slightly and looked her up and down. He had only been carrying a bag for a moment when he saw Xu Lingzhao's pensive look. He shook his head helplessly, thinking that beauty was a trap.

Xu Lingzhao snapped out of her reverie, coughed lightly. Why had she been lost in thought again? This time, she wasn't as nonchalant as before. Something was wrong. She suddenly grabbed Yu Yu's shoulder and said in a deep voice, "This place is strange. It seems to affect one's thinking. Don't you think so?"

Yu Yu was about to retort, but she swallowed her words. Well, she did think of Viv all the time. She forced herself to concentrate and think. She knew this, she knew... she knew... but why couldn't she remember?

Xu Lingzhao preemptively answered the question she was struggling with, "There are things here that can cause mental pollution."

"Yes! This is it." Yu Yu realized her reaction was a little slow. She licked her dry lips, her eyes gradually hardening. Under Xu Lingzhao's gaze, she slowly uttered four words, "Since we're already here."

Xu Lingzhao had expected her to say something ambitious, but instead she said this. The more he looked at her determined eyes, the more he thought of a husky.

She took a bundle of hemp rope from her backpack, tied one end to herself, and handed the other end to Yu Yu, saying, "For safety's sake, I'll go first, you tie it up, so I can spot anything that happens immediately."

Yu Yu took the rope and tied it around her waist. Cypress insects prefer extremely dark and damp places. Xu Lingzhao walked in front, using his mental power to explore the way and avoid the insects as much as possible to reduce conflict and preserve his strength.

Chu Jing sat on the bed, leaning against the soft cushion. Xu Lingzhao had already surrounded the bed with something to separate it from the rest of the room. Clean water and food were already placed beside the bed. He couldn't help but touch the necklace that Alpha had put on him.

This was the first gift he had received. Chu Jing wrapped himself in the blanket, feeling warm all over. The place where she had slept still had her soothing pheromones, which smelled very nice.

He suddenly felt hopeful for the future. He had thought he would be lonely and helpless in the palace for the rest of his life, but fate is sometimes so wonderful. He met her when he was most afraid and helpless.

Chu Jing touched the small, scabbed wounds on his face, pouting slightly. Would they leave scars? He hadn't cared about these things before, but things were different now. Before Alpha left, he specifically told him not to cry, as tears would affect the healing of the scars.

Before leaving, she reassured herself, saying she would be gone for about a day and that it was safe here. Xu Lingzhao's gentle demeanor caught his eye, and a sweet feeling welled up in his heart.

Xu Lingzhao gripped her sword. The further she went, the thicker the miasma became. She glanced back at Yu Yu and noticed her eyes were already somewhat glazed. Okay. She pinched Yu Yu's cheek.

"Ah—! It hurts!" Yu Yu touched her right cheek, her eyes filled with sorrow. Then, as if waking from a dream, she realized that she had been daydreaming again. She sighed and slumped her shoulders. "This place is more dangerous than I imagined."

"Hmm? You know it's dangerous, yet you two still dared to come?" Xu Lingzhao asked her. It's best for the two of them to maintain a certain frequency of communication, otherwise, if he's not careful, they might both get lost, which would be troublesome.

“I’ve been here with other people before, and there wasn’t anything this strange back then. It seems like it was with… with the Crown Prince.” Yu Yu continued, her voice fading like a deflated balloon, “It seems the Crown Prince has been coming here recently. She’s looking for something special for the Queen.”

Upon hearing the sensitive words "Your Highness" and "Queen," Xu Lingzhao paused subconsciously for a moment, then resumed walking forward as if nothing had happened. She asked casually, "Your Highness?"

“Yes, don’t you know the First Prince? A male Alpha, the Queen’s most favored Alpha offspring, and the most likely first in line to the throne.” Yu Yu was completely unaware of Xu Lingzhao’s attempt to elicit information. This seemed to have opened her floodgates, and even though it was just the two of them, she still lowered her voice and said, “The least favored one is the Fifth Prince. Once, when he was drunk, he made advances towards the Queen’s concubine. When the concubine complained, the Queen banished him from the palace and only allowed him to enter the palace once a month.”

"Our Fifth Prince is a notorious playboy. Usually, the Queen turns a blind eye, but he forcibly took away a male Omega in public, which had a terrible impact and aroused public anger. It was only after the First Prince apologized and distributed compensation that the public anger gradually subsided."

"I think the Queen may not really like that concubine. She's just looking for an excuse to get rid of the Fifth Prince. He's the least promising heir now," Yu Yu said, rattling off these royal gossips.

He abruptly changed the subject, leaning closer to Xu Lingzhao and saying mysteriously, "I've heard that the Queen is currently searching for someone—her illegitimate son."

These words startled Xu Lingzhao, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes. Looking for her? Or someone else? She continued to guide Yu Yu, "Illegitimate child? What illegitimate child?"

"Oh dear, I knew you didn't know. Let me tell you, it was His Highness who told me this. I heard that when the Queen was young, she was an undercover agent in another country. At that time, the Queen was not yet the Queen, but one of the many heirs of the previous Queen. The Queen went into the enemy country alone to be an undercover agent and infiltrated there, sending back a lot of useful information."

“Now that Castile’s territory has doubled in size, she deserves a lot of credit for it, so she was made the first in line to the throne. Then, the previous queen passed away, and she became the new queen. Her illegitimate child was conceived while she was infiltrating an enemy country. I guess…” Yu Yu glanced at Xu Lingzhao, “I guess he’s about the same age as you, sixteen.”

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Author's note: [pats head][pats head]