The place Gen Xingming mentioned was closer to the wedding's main venue, but because Cillin had landed at a different location at the beginning, and he was delayed by those racers just now, it took a while to finally get there.
The place was a leisure spot specifically built for youngsters to socialize and have fun with each other. It was obvious that it was overflowing with passion even before they landed on the ground.
More than half of the noble youngsters participating in this wedding could be found in this location. Pairs, triads or groups of friendly faces interacted with each other without forgetting to network with higher people when the opportunity presented itself.
Cillin parked his rented vehicle at the designated parking lot. There were luxury cars wherever they looked, and many had the “Whirlwind” emblem on them. The emblem represented lavishness, and it was how the people showed off their status.
Obviously, Lunani and Libero were familiar with Whirlwind. Lunani’s father and herself had a Whirlwind car of his own. But unlike her father, her vehicle wasn’t custom-made. Custom-made Whirlwind cars must be booked very early, and those who didn’t supply a blueprint from the start must queue in the line like all others. Of course, powerful purchasers were given preferential treatment by the Sizer Family.
If this was the twenty third star region, then Lunani had no reason not to feel proud about herself. But it wasn’t, and she would soon be facing all the nobles from all across the empire. The mere sight of the luxury cars alone sapped her of her confidence because she knew all too well how people acted within the noble circle.
Libero wanted to say something when Cillin calmly parked his rented car in the middle of these luxury cars, but in the end he stopped himself. If he was Cillin, he would never be able to act as calm, or choose to park the rental car here to begin with. He would’ve sought a public parking lot some distance away from here instead. That was why he felt a little red in the face, and he couldn’t help but shoot nervous glances around himself. Thankfully, most of the services here were automated, so no one saw them parking their car here.
When Cillin was done parking, he grabbed a certain restless cat by the nape, beckoned the worried Lunani and Libero to follow him and walked towards the spot Gen Xingming told him to go to.
Lunani stuck close to Cillin as if she was afraid that the latter would leave her alone to face all these people. Libero saw a couple of familiar faces who shot him disdainful and provocative looks, but he chose to ignore them all. They wouldn’t dare go overboard while they were on the Rolle Family’s territory. Nobles always did their best to carry themselves with restraint and grace whenever they were at a noble gathering. Even enemies set down their their personal grudges to obey this unwritten rule, if only temporarily.
The reason the nobles obeyed was one, they weren’t the main characters of the event, and two, they were accompanied by people who were of higher status than they were. It would be reckless to start something and bring unnecessary trouble onto themselves. That was why everyone took a step backwards and formed a circle around the most important people of their group. Anyone who stood out too much would be seen as snatching the limelight from their leaders. This was yet another unwritten rule.
“Luna!”
Lunani didn’t pay too much attention to her surroundings because she was nervously sticking close to Cillin. She turned around only when she a familiar voice calling out her name.
“Luna” was Lunani’s nickname, and only people who knew her well called her that. However, the girl calling out to her right now didn’t count as a familiar face at all, meaning that she was only doing it to show off the breadth of her social network. It was the same as everyone else. Of course, they only dared to do this in front of people whose status were lower than theirs.
The girl holding up the edges of her gown slightly was a middle noble just like Lunani, but unlikely Lunani this girl knew a lot of nobles and enjoyed making acquaintances with upper nobles.
“So glad to see you, sister Willa!” Lunani also grabbed the edges of her dress and performed a curtsy.
Instead of focusing all her attention onto the person who returned her greeting, Willa looked at Cillin and Libero and examined them for a bit. Neither Libero nor Cillin were wearing any insignia that could identify them, and she had never met them until today. But Willa had a lot of experience mingling with upper nobles, so she wisely kept reserved judgment until further notice. She gave them a smile and gave them a curtsy, to which Cillin and Libero returned formally with a bow.
Both men had given her a standard noble’s bow. Willa was used to identifying a person’s status and culture through the form of their bows, and she could see that the action came naturally but perfectly to both Cillin and Libero. Clearly, they weren’t just imitating their betters. This elevated their statuses in Willa’s heart a little, but ultimately she didn’t know either of them. Willa thought that she had seen everyone within the upper nobles, so she paid them little heed even though she didn’t think poorly of them.
“Luna, you should’ve told me you were coming over!” Willa said with feigned anger.
“I’m sorry, but I wasn’t planning on coming over at first because I came together with my father. That’s why I hadn’t troubled you.” Lunani felt that her smile was starting to turn stiff, but at least she still looked flawless on the outside. It was a technique every noble must have if they wished to survive.
“In that case I forgive you. Speaking of which, I made a lot of new friends for the past two days, Luna. Come on, let me show you around.”
Willa loved to show off her superiority, and Lunani was of course well aware of it. Showing her face among the upper nobles could only be good to her future, but Lunani felt insecure in an unfamiliar environment, and she knew just how dirty many nobles were behind their shiny facade. Not only couldn’t she find the courage in herself to make a careless decision, she trusted Cillin more than she trusted Willa. That was why she chose to turn down Willa’s invitation politely.
“This is a great opportunity, you know. Well alright, just don’t regret this after it’s all over!”
There was no reason for Willa to spend anymore time here since Lunani had turned down her offer. She quickly bid them goodbye and walked towards another group to socialize some more.
“You humans are so fake,” Wheeze commented from atop Cillin’s shoulder.
Cillin tugged at its whiskers before replying, “That’s why you shouldn’t learn from us.”
After Willa, no one tried to talk with them because they were strangers and they weren’t wearing any eye-catching insignia. It was just the way Cillin liked it, and they were able to arrive at Gen Xingming’s location without any interruption at all.
At first, he thought that Gen Xingming was partying at a public location, but a guard was blocking at the entrance.
“Normally, identity checks are left to the robots. If there are no robots, then the location should be open to everyone. That’s why there shouldn’t be a human guard here,” Libero explained. He said this because he was familiar with the Rolle Family’s setup of the planet, and what they were seeing wasn’t a common occurrence.
That being said, this so-called identity check was just a look at a person’s insignia. Everyone guarding this place had memorized a table of noble insignia in their heads, and those who didn’t meet the criteria weren’t allowed to enter.
Out of the three of them, Libero was the only one who had the right to enter.
“The bar sure is high around here,” Cillin commented with a smile.
“In that case… should we leave, big brother Cillin?” Lunani asked.
“Yeah, let’s go! Like we care about being here!” Libero grabbed Cillin’s arm and tried to drag him away until Cillin stopped him.
Cillin pulled out his communicator and was about to ask Gen Xingming to fetch him when his eyes were suddenly drawn towards a particular direction.
“Did you see someone?” Libero chased Cillin’s gaze. He hadn’t noticed anyone unusual, but people were swarming the direction Cillin was looking at. It was enough people to make him miss something that would’ve stood out otherwise.
Whiskers twitching, Wheeze was also looking towards the same direction. However, it didn’t say anything.
“It’s nothing.”
Cillin turned back and tried to call Gen Xingming again when a voice suddenly came from inside the building.
“Prince Cillin!”
Pr… Prince?
Libero and Lunani stared at Cillin in shock. This style of address was only applicable to a member of the emperor and the three kings. Who was Cillin really?
One of Gen Xingming’s bodyguards rushed out of the building to greet him after that. They were the only ones here who knew who Cillin was in the Gen Family. The style of address became common in the Gen Family because of Genya, and the former and current King Fuji didn’t try to stop this. Genya himself was very happy to see this. It made a good laugh every time someone addressed Cillin as Prince, and the young man made a face in response.
“Prince Cillin, the three princes are waiting for you inside.”
Of course, the guard from earlier hastily apologized and opened up the way.
“Let’s go,” Cillin said while putting a hand on Lunani and Libero’s shoulder.
“Oh.”
The duo followed him a bit stiffly from behind. How did Cillin suddenly become “Prince Cillin”?
Cillin spotted Ulaganuo the moment they passed a corner. The young man was going for a toilet break because he drank too much. He called out, “Gaga!”
Libero felt his facial muscles twitching. Not only did he know Ulaganuo, he had seen the prince with his own eyes during the entry test. After studying Ulaganuo for a bit, Libero found out that the prince didn’t tolerate anyone calling him by his nickname unless they were very close to him. In fact, he usually eliminated those transgressors on the spot.
When Ulaganuo looked up and saw Cillin, he immediately leaped to his feet and hit the wall next to him. “Fuck, you’re finally here!? We were just talking about you!”
He had to act like a gentleman in front of others, so the sight of a close friend made him explode into expletives out of habit.
The bodyguard who was leading the trio into the building left because his service was no longer necessary.
“Talk about what?” Cillin asked while walking up to Ulaganuo.
“What else? Naimi is boasting about your feats right now, and he even showed off that car model you two won during the race! All the racing fans inside are riled up because of it!”
Gen Xingming, Ulaganuo and Bel won a lot of money thanks to Cillin and Naimi. Even better, they could spend it however they liked because it wasn’t allowance from the family.
Libero’s facial muscles twitched again. When did Cillin participate in a race?
Libero was busy with a mission at the time, and he didn’t have the cash or qualification to participate even if he was interested. His lack of interest caused him to miss out on Cillin winning an extremely influential flying car racing competition.
The return of “Vege-Fritter” and the rise of the Sizer Family young master, Naimi were the two things that left the most impression during that race. Cillin had only shown his face once, and he had asked the Sizer Family to diminish his presence on purpose. That was why not many people remembered him.
“Who is this?” Ulaganuo asked while looking at Lunani curiously. He remembered Libero, but he didn’t recognize the young girl at all.
“This is my younger brother’s friend, Kiva Lunani,” Cillin replied.
Lunani carefully curtsied to Ulaganuo. Unlike the curtsy she gave earlier, this one was specific to a member of the royal family, more specifically the king’s royal family. The formal greeting one used when facing the emperor’s royal family was also different.
After Lunani was finished, Ulaganuo waved his hands and said, “There’s no need to act this restrained since you’re a friend of Cillin. Be more open.”
Lunani nodded immediately, not caring for the implied meaning behind Ulaganuo’s words.
“Gaga, do you know that you’re wearing an extremely vulgar smile on your face right now?” Wheeze asked.
Instead of getting angry, Ulaganuo greeted the gray cat with a chuckle and said, “Hey there Wheeze! I prepared a lot of wonderful food today…”
This one line elevated Ulaganuo’s image in Wheeze from “vulgar” to “approachable”.
Ulaganuo explained to the trio that they, the three princes had specifically permitted the guards to block all unaffiliated people from entry. They didn’t try to hide who they were when they attended this meeting, so everyone wanted to meet them at least one time. It was annoying to say the least. Some time later, someone suggested posting guards at the entrance of the building, and that was that.
While the group was entering the room, a silver shadow suddenly flew towards Cillin’s face. He didn’t dodge out of the way because Wheeze had leaped into the air to catch it firmly with its mouth.
“Ah, no! Please be merciful, master cat!” Naimi jumped over before showering Wheeze with praise, shutting up those mouths who were going to yell at it for its transgression. If even Naimi was calling it the “master cat”, then who were they to scold it for its mistake? That would be like committing suicide!
“Cillin! Come here!” Gen Xingming pushed away the two babes sticking close to him before lining up three bottles of beer in front of Cillin. “This is your punishment for arriving so late. Finish them all!”
Cillin grabbed the bottle without a word and poured them down his throat. He drank without pause, and it wasn’t long before he finished all of them.
“Well done!” The obviously drunken Gen Xingming shouted on top of his lungs while hitting the table. Whatever princely bearing he might’ve had before he was drunk was completely gone, causing Lunani to look at him in complete disbelief.
Cillin shook his head at Gen Xingming’s loss of composure. It was no wonder this guy got spanked by his family every time he returned home, not to mention he never hid his deeds well enough to fool his father’s spies. Cillin could already imagine the love whipping Gen Xingming would receive after the wedding was over. Hell, he might even be sent to the army for another reforging session.
Bel thought that he had seen Lunani somewhere. When Cillin told him her identity, the young man clapped his hands together and said, “I was wondering why you look so familiar. You’re Chang Four’s wife!”
Lunani: “...”
By this point, Lunani’s original impression of the three princes had been bombarded by themselves to the point of no return.
Lunani’s cheeks looked red enough to bleed out of the pores, so Cillin hit Bel once to stop from going overboard.
Naimi finally managed to trade his mini Vege-Fritter back from Wheeze with a plate of food, but it was already too late: there was now a clear bite mark on the surface on the car model. Naimi complained to Cillin with tears, “You need to take responsibility for this, Cillin! I want a new replacement!”
“You deserved that.”
Cillin knew what Naimi was really planning of course: the young man wanted him to build another car! Unfortunately, he didn’t have the time to indulge in Naimi’s wish tight now.
After learning that Cillin was the racer whom Naimi claimed was so good that it was like he was flying through space and time, a couple of knowledgeable hobbyists went to talk to him. They had all watched the race, although of course their experience wasn’t as deep as Naimi. There were also some who wished for Cillin to drive one more time so that they could experience it with their own body.
Vege-Fritter’s success and Naimi’s initiative prompted some flying car enthusiasts to buy a Vege-Fritter themselves. However, Vege-Fritter hadn’t officially entered production yet, and there were still many technical problems that needed to be solved. That was why there were less than ten new Vege-Fritters only, and they were all made by Fleka himself. Right now, a long, long queue of people were waiting for their turn to book a Vege-Fritter from the Sizer Family.
The door opened again while they were talking. Cillin knew immediately from their voices that they were the ones who caused them trouble on the road just now.
Surprisingly, the duo who walked in bowed and apologized to Cillin after introducing themselves. They even confessed their misdeeds to the confused spectators with surprising frankness.
After tracking down the rental car’s identification number, the group went on to investigate Cillin, or at least they tried to until the Rolle Family’s person in charge had sent them a warning, and their own family had called them. It was only then they realized that they had attacked someone they shouldn’t attack.
They knew they had to apologize first and soon, or it wouldn’t be good when Cillin came looking for them instead. That was why they came over.
“Heh, you guys are pretty bold, aren’t you? Racing with Cillin? Do you have a death wish?” Naimi said with a snort.
“Ahem, we didn’t know, did we?”
“Cut the nonsense, we all know what kind of people you are!”
From the looks of it, Naimi probably knew these people. But since they were in public, Cillin decided to give Naimi face and not make a fuss about their crimes.
Some time during the party, Cillin excused himself for a toilet break and walked down a long corridor. He arrived at a secluded spot, checked his surroundings for hidden cameras and pressed a button on his wrist. Then, he stepped into a storeroom filled with a couple of sofas and tools. He looked around him once before saying, “Come out.”
A figure slowly appeared into view.
It was a robot, a Black Viper robot. Now that Cillin had succeeded Guan Feng as the new leader, the robots’ programming were different from before. They wouldn’t attack Cillin, and they knew who he was in Black Viper.
“What happened? What is your mission here?”