Imperial Palace, Phoenix Empire;
"Just who the hell are they and where did they come from?" The third prince was in the Imperial library, trying to concentrate on studying the ancient scriptures but he couldn't concentrate on it due to the afternoon's incident at Genesis.
More than Allen, the third prince's thoughts were on Mark whose attitude seems to be a problem.
Before leaving the palace, he had made necessary investigations and found out about the soul suppression within the store but he didn't expect the store owner was quite ruthless.
A 5-circle realm spirit warrior is considered Elite wherever he goes within the Empire. Even the minor nobles will show them a bit of courtesy and respect.
Such a man was not only kicked out but was also even humiliated by getting his equipment confiscated.
When he saw it, the third prince remembered the Song Clan incident and he doesn't know why, but he had a strong feeling that Mark might not care even if it is a Prince and might even act against him if he reveals that Mo Jiang is his bodyguard.
If the Eldest Prince was known to be an administrator, the second prince was known to be a general, then, the third prince is known to be more of a scholar.
He was more intelligent, wiser, and more knowledgeable than most of the scholar-officials in the Imperial Phoenix Empire. Sometimes, even the great Emperor would discuss with him regarding the affairs of the Empire. As he's the closest to the Emperor of all the heirs, excluding the fifth princess, the crown prince is always on his edge and gets insecure about the throne.
The third prince made a quick decision of refraining to reveal his identity and fled away from the scene before someone recognizes him.
He might have saved his image but the presence of the store continued to disturb his thoughts.
After thinking all night long, the third prince came to a decision. "A peace of mind is more valuable than an Ether crystals mine. I'll use all of my resources to find out their origins and everything about them."
The following day, he acted by visiting his younger brother, the fourth prince.
Fourth Prince, Shang Bo is the only son of the Emperor and his second consort. This 22-year-old runs a giant spy network called the WEB to keep an eye on threats to the Imperial family.
WEB is founded, hundreds of years ago by an Emperor. One after another, it is passed down the generations without following any family. When it passed to Shang Bo's maternal grandfather, the Emperor married his daughter, and now, it was eventually passed down to the fourth prince.
He's also considered the backbone of the Imperial court but the current Emperor detests things like spying on others' private lives. So, Shang Bo wasn't favored by his father.
Adding on top of that, Shang Bo and Shang Wei have a bit of complex relationship mainly due to the confidence in their intelligence. And both of them also interact with each other, although in their own way.
When Shang Wei entered his brother's chambers, he saw it was full of paintings, albeit of a dark concept.
A blue-robed man was currently busy painting something. With the hair loose down, it reached his knees, almost covering his entire body from behind.
*Ahem*
The third prince cleared his throat, having a little bit of hesitation to call him out.
Nevertheless, the fourth prince was very much attentive. Without even turning around, he spoke in a sarcastic tone, "My, my, what a surprise. Father's favorite son is here to grace his presence, after all. Is it because of the Genesis store? Or is it because of Lin Clan's heiress?"
Shang Wei didn't mind his tone as he was used to it, and replied, "What do you have on those two?"
"So, it isn't the girl, eh." Shang Bo's lips widened a bit. Just from his brother's tone, the fourth prince deducted even his intentions. Continuing to paint, he said, "Lu Zhen and Allen Spencer. I don't have any piece of information on the latter that is not known to you. However, I can give you the information on the former on his personal history. But, if you want to know where his unique weapons come from, all I have is only speculations. Still, interested?"
"How much do you want?" Shang Wei asked him. He was familiar with his brother's personality. This guy will never work for free, even for his brother. Even during childhood, Shang Bo would practically charge the fee if someone wants to play with him. When someone asks why he replies, "it is my time and I have the right to decide what to do with it. Why should I lend it for free just because you want it?"
"Not how much, but what, Brother Wei. Special price for special people," Shang Bo surprised him with the fee, "two choices. Give the unknown map you discovered in the mines of Xia, or, win or draw against me in imaginary chess."
"Unknown map?" Shang Wei's expression darkened immediately, "how do you know of it?" Shang Wei had indeed found another map in the crystal mine during his last trip to the Bloodhill forest.
"Shang Bo let out a grin as he gave strokes to the painting, "I'm the master of WEB, you forgot that? Our eyes will be more on Imperial princes than on the citizens. After all, you people who are vying for the throne threaten the Empire more than anyone else."
Shang Wei won't give it to him. So, he could only choose another option. "I'll take the white, soldier to D4."
"Royal Knight to F6," Shang Bo replied instantly. While playing, he was not only doing his own work but also talk other things. "How's your training come along? Did you manage to decipher all the spells in that Ancient tome?"
"Soldier to C4," Shang Wei made his next move and also answered his brother's question. "No, many of them are too complex and are written in an ancient language."
"Soldier to C6," Shang Bo made another move and said, "This is why I told you to take my help."
"Royal Knight to C3," Shang Wei shook his head and rejected the idea, "no thanks. Your occupational hazard will not make me trust you with these things."
"Captain to B4," Shang Bo shrugged his shoulders, "In a win-win situation, you always lose something."
Both of them continued to play the game while talking about other things. It really takes a great deal of mental strength to even remember all the moves but both of them didn't have a problem at all.
Nearly an hour later, in their imaginary chessboard, only a Royal knight and the Emperor left for Shang Wei. And a soldier, captain, and the Emperor left on Shang Bo's side. The soldier was also two steps from getting promoted to Commander and the Emperor is there to protect the pawn.
The situation is an advantage to Shang Bo. Shang Wei was getting nervous. It was at this moment as if the goddess of luck is smiling on him that a soldier entered the room and greeted the two of them and then, informed Shang Bo that Emperor is summoning him.
"Father?" Shang Bo's eyes widened. It was a rare event that Emperor would summon him to his chamber. Leaving his brush aside, he finally turned around and said, "I'll come in a minute. You can leave."
As soon as the soldier left, the fourth prince was about to call his maids to read him, but the third prince didn't leave the matter. "Not so fast. Leaving in the mid-game is considered your loss."
"Fine, Bishop to D2, check," Shang Bo seemed like he was in hurry.
A victory smile appeared on Shang Wei, "My Emperor is on B5. It isn't a check."
"Shit." Shang Bo tightly closed his eyes, realizing his mistake.
"Well, let me end the game." Shang Wei made his last move with a huge smile on his face, "Royal Knight to G3, taking your pawn."
Shang Bo let out a sigh, "Emperor to G3, taking your Royal knight."
"Match drawn." Shang Bo knew that he can't corner Shang Wei's Emperor to A1 or A8 with just the captain and Emperor. Feeling bitter about his loss and his brother's luck, the fourth prince took out a scroll from his storage ring and handed it to his brother. "Everything we have on them is compiled into this scroll. Now, if you excuse me…"
