Chapter 181 – Negotiations with the Prince

Aiko stretched, she didn't really go over since the laziness was catching up to her, but at the same time, if she got this over with, she would be able to lie on the Blood Fox's tails again.

Aiko yawned. "Everyone ready?"

Her group nodded and Lady Liu was also accompanying them. Lady Liu didn't like the council, but that didn't mean that she wasn't interested in the Royal Garden.

She was curious if it was as magnificent as other people said during their outing and shopping, or if it was just made up to make the Empire feel more glorious than it is.

Sure, the Emperor had a lofty main Palace, but those things were inorganic and easily taken care of. Flowers on the other hand, will wilt easily if they are not properly given enough care and effort, so the Royal Garden had to be adjusted to house all the different flowers.

Aiko was less interested in the flowers and more interested in the overall feel. How the colours matched, how it was built and how it smelled. The last part was especially important for her since her nose was sensitive.

...

A maid guided them throughout the main Palace that led into the Royal Garden. They had not met many other maids or Humans, which was strange and made them a little apprehensive about this whole thing.

However, they didn't need to worry much since Inscription Saint was with them.

They arrived at the large entrance to the Royal Garden after which the maid stopped guiding them.

"This shall be where we part ways, dear guests. Have a great visit." The maid politely invited them to enter.

"There are no mazes, right?" Aiko asked.

"This part of the Royal Garden doesn't have a maze, dear Guest." The maid bowed and waited by the entrance.

"Hmmmm..." Aiko tilted her head, there was just something fishy about this, but she was really curious about what it was.

They walked in.

The Garden was simply breathtaking. The path was made out of individual rocks and in between the rocks there was trimmed grass. On the sides were rows upon rows of different flowers, but with colours that were smooth and not jarring or attention-grabbing.

Some way in front of them was a river with rock formations. It was hard to say if it was a real river or artificial. Over the river was a gently arching bridge.

Slightly deeper into the garden, they spotted a plethora of trees. Plum trees, cherry trees, maidenhair trees, you name it and they have it.

Even deeper inside was a tall magnificent bamboo forest where all the smaller rivers in the garden converged into a pond. It was difficult to see if that was the endpoint or not, but the sacred lotuses that drifted on top of the pond were indeed beautiful.

There, the Prince was waiting for them.

The group of admirers came closer, the Prince had only a single guard with him and the Princess from the fallen kingdom.

"Welcome." The Prince smiled gently. "I hope you enjoyed our little garden."

"It was alright." Aiko nodded somewhat gently.

Some parts were not really good, while others were great.

The beginning was awful for Aiko's sensitive nose. While yes, most of the flowers smelled nice, but that was only for Humans.

Beasts with sensitive noses could smell the flowers from a greater distance, and that was the biggest problem. All the different smells got bundled and mixed together, which caused issues for Aiko and her team.

The tree part was lovely, although Aiko hoped that she could pluck a few peaches from the trees since her hunger was bothering her again.

The bamboo forest was the best part. Since there was only the smell of bamboo and sacred lotuses that protrude the forest, this was the simplest yet most appealing place for Aiko, so she noted everything down inside her mind.

The Prince was not offended by Aiko's dissatisfaction. This place was made by Humans for Humans, so they obviously didn't change things for Beasts, it was only natural that they wouldn't completely like it.

"Please." The Prince gestured toward a beautiful, white gazebo with a small stone table and what looked like stone chairs.

Aiko glanced towards it. It was quite open and she was curious what it overlooked.

Aiko followed his lead with her team, not everyone would fit, which was fine as Lady Liu was more interested in the shining pond than in the white gazebo with tea served inside.

He sat down and gestured for them to do the same, but it wouldn't be Aiko if she listened.

She was curious what this place oversaw, so she came close to the railing.

Below her was a whole city. Unfortunately, it was the middle of the day, so the view was a bit less mesmerising, but even then it was a beautiful sight as most buildings were built in harmony.

Aiko stared for a while before being satisfied and sat down with her team.

The Prince was slightly on the edge, since he didn't expect for this little Fox to bring so many friends.

"So, why did you call us?" Aiko asked, not giving him any chance to settle his thoughts.

He choked slightly, he knew that this little Fox was straightforward, but wasn't this a bit too much?

The Prince was bewildered for a moment, before his royal teachings kicked in and he recovered.

He stood up, startling them, making a 90-degree bow.

"Please help me remove my princess's 'poison'." He said pleadingly.

Everyone was stunned and confused. They didn't know what to say or think about this whole situation.

Crown Princes who bowed to others... were unheard of. They would more likely order others to do things than to sincerely ask.

Aiko tapped the table, she was not inclined to help, but at the same time, she wanted that treasure that was on the princess.

"Why are you asking like this?" Aiko asked and pointed at the seat.

He sat down, recovering his royal dignity, which also raised the opinion of this little Fox.

"It's simple, the princess that you previously 'cured', aged to become an old grandma in a few days. I wanted to ask you if there was a way to remove the poison, so I wouldn't become an addicted, brainless peasant." He sighed. "I can only plead because I love her, but if she ages, father would kick her out..." He shook his head.

Aiko was confused and looked towards the Blood Fox, which was avoiding her gaze.

This didn't escape the prince's royal eyes which were trained to spot minute differences in case of betrayal.

"I'm not sure what went wrong..." Aiko said slowly, still staring at the Blood Fox.

She didn't want to scold her since they definitely deserved it, but she also wanted to know if it was possible to cure her without any side effects.

Aiko kept staring at the Blood Fox until she would cave in and tell her.

"It is possible to extract it without side effects, but it will take a lot of time..." The Blood Fox murmured, she felt slightly bad for what she had done without telling Aiko.

"There you have it." Aiko completely switched gears and drank the tea that was served.

The Princess from the fallen kingdom was very submissive. She didn't look at them much and kept close to him, but Aiko could tell through her skill [Intention Perception] that the Princess was worried, which changed to hope and ended up with gratefulness towards Aiko.

Aiko didn't mind doing this as long as there was not even a hint of negative intentions. Which, fortunately for the princess, passed Aiko’s test.

"How much time do you need?" The Prince asked, it was only a matter of time before his father knew about the miraculous effects of having sex with someone afflicted by this unique poison. He wanted to prevent this by extracting it early and hoped that there would be no side effects...

Aiko saw his worry and thought about it. She then glanced at Blood Fox.

"If she is willingly giving it up, 10 days should be enough." The Blood Fox sipped tea slowly and gracefully. One of her ears was flat and the other stood upright.

Her eyes were half closed, giving her incredibly seductive air.

That air dinged away from the prince like he was immune to her charms.

"Can it be done?!" He choked slightly and his facial expression changed. Hope was plastered all over it.

The Blood Fox narrowed her eyes. She was pleasantly surprised that he ignored her and thus gained more acknowledgement from her.

"It's possible, if nobody disturbs us. Otherwise, I will pull it out of her by force and we will leave immediately." The Blood Fox warned him, to which he nodded obediently.

"My father, the Emperor, doesn't know much about her yet, I want to 'cure' her now so that she won't become a plaything of the other Emperors..." He sighed, ruffling his hair. He truly didn't feel like the usual Crown Prince.

"So there is a chance of disturbance." The Blood Fox said neutrally, but her meaning was obvious.

'You better keep others out if you don't want her to get hurt.'

He nodded. "I will arrange it, but I can't do anything about the incoming assassins, we don't have all that many Cultivators and most are monopolised by my father, the Emperor." He sounded apologetic.

Aiko perked up her large ears. "More assassins?" Her eyes shined and the surrounding beings were slightly concerned and burdened.

*Cough*

"I would appreciate it if you didn't use the flags of our Empire like that..." The Prince coughed awkwardly, trying to gently convince this tiny Fox to not use it in that way...

Aiko stared at him blankly and said with a straight face. "They are a nice fit..."

The Prince choked up, he couldn't believe what he just heard from this little Fox. "N-nice fit?" He was shocked that she didn't have even an ounce of remorse for what she had done.

Aiko shrugged, those flags were well-balanced and easily thrown, they also had cloth to soak up the blood and everything, so it was truly a wonderful weapon.

Seeing that he wasn't getting through her, he coughed. "If I provide spears for you, will you stop using our flags?" The Prince said gently.

"Spears are too heavy..." Aiko frowned, while they weren't heavy for her, she was still inconvenienced since she threw with her right hand. She didn't want to burden her hand, so she wanted the easy way out.

Prince thought about it for a bit. "So wooden poles or spear shafts are alright?" He wanted her to say yes.

"Sure." Aiko nodded, spear shafts were not much different to those flags, they weren't heavy or anything like that. The only thing Aiko disliked was the fact they didn't have cloth to soak up the blood... "How about including cloth at the end?" Aiko stared at him with a neutral expression.

The Prince didn't want to ask what she would use it for, his main goal was achieved, so it was simple to agree to her needs. "Sure, I will arrange it and once the arrangements are finished we will start working on it." He nodded gently. "You should probably visit the city since it will take some time." He said gently, but Aiko could feel the push so that she would leave the Palace.

The Prince was worried about the presence of other assassins inside the palace which was concerning enough. But if they encountered this little fox... it would be safe to say that there will no longer be a flag in the palace that isn't sullied by... 'impurities'.

"I will think about it." Aiko naturally didn't agree immediately. Sure, she did want to shop, but that didn't mean she would do so just because someone told her!