Chapter 43

Luo En pondered for a moment, then stood up from the chair and patted Andre on the shoulder:

"Don't be so dejected. I have never seen His Highness the Thirteenth Prince like this."

He walked toward his cabinet, teasing while searching: "If those girls who admire you in the Royal Capital saw you looking so worried, they would be heartbroken."

Andre was still worried, but he was amused by his teasing: "Don't mention those boring social occasions; they are all hypocritical."

Saying that, he shook his head, but the melancholy in his eyes lessened slightly.

"Here, look at this." Luo En took out an exquisite crystal bottle from the depths of the cabinet, which contained slightly glowing blood-red liquid, and threw the bottle to Andre casually.

Andre caught it, almost dropping it: "Hey! Be careful, this is not playing a pinball game."

He looked at the bottle curiously toward the light: "What is this? It smells a bit like... spirits?"

"Ha! If spirits could sell for five magic stone fragments a bottle, I would have gone to open a tavern long ago."

Luo En grinned slightly: "This is the 'Blood Qi Potion' I made under Lady Ailan's guidance yesterday, specifically for knight cultivation."

Andre's eyes lit up instantly: "Are you kidding? I know this kind of potion; it can't be bought in the market at all!"

He carefully examined the liquid in the bottle: "Wait... can you really refine this level of stuff? Your progress is too amazing, from a candidate apprentice with sixth-grade star aptitude to now... it's like a completely different person."

"Please, don't treat me like some monster." Luo En took out several small bottles of different colors from the cabinet and placed them on the table casually:

"Look, these are all my recent 'masterpieces.' This blue one can stabilize mental fluctuations, this green one can alleviate meridian stinging pain..."

He picked up a transparent potion and shook it: "And this treasure, it is especially effective for breathing technique cultivation, at least it can increase efficiency by 30%."

Andre reached out to take a look, but was slapped away by Luo En: "Don't touch it, this is my collection, each bottle costs almost ten magic stone fragments."

"You weren't so stingy before." He pretended to complain, but his eyes flashed with expectation: "Is it really that magical?"

"Do you want to try it?" Luo En raised his eyebrows, "I'll give you a bottle to take back later, I guarantee it will make your breathing technique progress by leaps and bounds."

Andre blinked and asked cautiously: "You need to state the conditions first. Although we have a good relationship, I don't want to sell my ass."

"Get lost, I don't have that disgusting habit." Luo En shook his head with a smile, stepped forward, and almost knocked Andre over with a punch:

"You guy, you really grew up in the palace; your vigilance is so high."

He put away the potion bottles and suddenly put away his joking expression: "Speaking of which, Andre, Lady Ailan promised to teach me a gemstone-level meditation technique after I broke through."

Andre's smile froze: "What did you say? Gemstone-level meditation technique?"

He saw that Luo En didn't look like he was joking, and was so surprised that he couldn't speak, "My God! She actually has... aren't those core knowledge that the school strictly guards?"

"The condition is that I have to help her collect some special materials." Luo En shrugged: "To be honest, the things on the list are not easy to get, but the opportunity is rare, so I decided to try."

"Do you know, Luo En." Andre sighed with emotion: "I started to regret only treating you as a playboy at the beginning. If I had known you had this potential earlier..."

"Don't think so much." Luo En waved his hand, also recalling the friendship of the two going to certain places together: "I was indeed a bastard at that time, thinking about drinking and promiscuity all day."

The two laughed involuntarily, and the atmosphere relaxed a lot.

"Seriously." Andre looked at Luo En seriously: "If you can really help me get through the difficulties, I am willing to be your bodyguard knight."

Luo En was drinking tea and raised his eyebrows with interest when he heard this: "Are you serious?"

"I have never been more serious than I am now." Andre's eyes were incomparably firm: "I would rather follow a familiar friend than be treated as a plaything for that crazy woman."

He laughed at himself: "Anyway, on the Royal Family side, I am already a failure. But my knight cultivation talent is indeed quite good. Following you... at least I can maintain my dignity, right?"

Luo En put down the teacup, and his expression became serious: "Then I won't be polite to order you around, but here is a suggestion you can refer to—fully improve your knight strength."

"What do you mean?"

"Imagine it." He tapped the table with his finger:

"If you can break through to become a formal knight, it will be different in front of the Royal Family. Even your brothers and sisters have to be polite to a formal knight, right?"

Andre felt that he had found a countermeasure: "You guy, your brain turns quite fast! Indeed, a formal knight has an independent status in the kingdom, even the Royal Family cannot assign them at will."

"So, right." Luo En smiled triumphantly:

"I provide potion support, you focus on cultivation, neither side is delayed."

"Wait..." Andre looked at him suspiciously: "What do you mean by potion support? I know very well that these things are expensive."

"You find the materials yourself, I'll give you a discount on the refining fee." Luo En blinked and weighed the magic stone bag at his waist: "Friendship price, a little cheaper than the market."

"You kid!" Andre scolded with a smile, "You are really good at doing business now, but..."

His expression became serious: "I accept this deal. I will help you collect information and supplies, and I will be on call when there is a battle or need to run errands. You help me improve my strength, fair and reasonable."

"That's a deal!" Luo En reached out his hand.

Andre held his hand, and the two looked at each other and smiled: "Deal!"

"By the way." Luo En suddenly remembered something, "The Cynthia you mentioned just now, is she the one who especially likes to wear purple skirts and always has a southern accent when speaking?"

"Do you know her?" Andre asked in surprise.

"I certainly wouldn't know her." Luo En smiled somewhat mysteriously: "But I heard her name at Lady Ailan's place. It seems that a certain potion she took some time ago had the wrong medicinal properties, and she almost poisoned herself to death."

Andre's eyes widened: "Really?"

"Absolutely true." Luo En spread his hands, "Lady Ailan also muttered something like 'big-breasted brainless idiot'."

(End of chapter)