No matter what expression this prince had, for both emotional and logical reasons, Shijing Xian would not refuse this proposal.  

“Sure.”  

He simply gave up on looking for a bench and leaned directly against the half-person-high railing of the terrace.  

The evening breeze gently caressed him, the air was moist and comfortable, and under this brilliant starry sky, even standing still and doing nothing made one feel satisfied and at ease.  

Lan Luohai’s low, magnetic voice resonated in the gentle night.  

He asked, “How did your conversation with Des and the others go today?”  

Shijing Xian lightly tapped the terrace railing with his fingers.  

“It was very enlightening.”  

He briefly mentioned the topics they discussed today, not going into too much detail, after all, Lan Luohai was an ability user, and saying too much would be rather dull.  

However, even without seeing his expression, Shijing Xian could sense the other person’s serious listening attitude.  

He chuckled, “It seems like you really enjoy making friends with pharmacists?”  

“Uh?” Lan Luohai seemed taken aback by his comment, pausing for a moment before replying, “Ah, yes, I think pharmacists can provide a lot of help to ability users.”  

After saying that, he added, “But because the headquarters of the Pharmacists’ Association is in the Core Country, the high-level pharmacists here have a stronger sense of rules. That’s why they enforced the laws right there at the banquet today. I hope it didn’t cause you any trouble.”  

“How could it?” Shijing Xian shook his head, “I should thank them for the divorce.”  

If it weren’t for Des and the others stepping in, according to the original plan, he would have to wait until he exposed Yuan Xiao’s true colors before he could return to Country A for the divorce. Although he was quite confident, it was definitely not as easy and direct as it was now.  

Speaking of the banquet today, Shijing Xian recalled the Queen’s words.  

“I heard from the Queen that you will be confined here for three days?”  

Lan Luohai’s response sounded a bit dejected: “Yeah.”  

His voice was already special, and with such a softened tone, it felt like a claw scratching at the heart.  

Even knowing that three days of confinement wouldn’t have any impact, Shijing Xian couldn’t help but ask, “Can’t you come out early?”  

Lan Luohai replied, “After three days, it will be just in time for the mission to eliminate the裂齿果, and I should be released then.”  

“Thank you for your hard work.” Shijing Xian expressed his gratitude, “Thank you for your help at the banquet today.”  

“You’re welcome,” Lan Luohai perked up a bit, “It was Yuan Xiao who went too far.”  

He reminded, “I can’t go out for these three days, so you’d better not go too far. I’m worried he might come to disturb you again.”  

Shijing Xian agreed, “Okay.”  

Lan Luohai propped his right elbow on the windowsill, resting his chin on his hand.  

His voice sounded a bit cheerful.  

“There’s a dedicated pharmacy laboratory on the second floor of the castle, and you can use anything inside freely. If you need any other materials, just tell the nearby guards…”  

Suddenly, a short, painful sound came from his side.  

Shijing Xian was startled: “Are you okay?”  

Lan Luohai covered his nose, his voice muffled, “I’m fine, I just didn’t expect to bump into the ability array outside the window.”  

“Ability array?”  

“Yeah, I can’t try to leave this confined area, or else I would get burned by the ability.”  

Shijing Xian frowned, “Be careful, don’t lean out of the window like that, it’s not safe. Are you hurt badly?”  

“I’m fine,” Lan Luohai said gently, “I just bumped into it.”  

Shijing Xian still felt uneasy, “Can anything come in from outside? Should I get you a healing potion?”  

“Nothing can come in,” Lan Luohai replied, “It’s okay, I’m not seriously hurt.”  

Others couldn’t come in, and he couldn’t go out, having to stay alone in the confinement room for three days. Shijing Xian genuinely felt a bit sorry for Lan Luohai now.  

Through the lit window, he could vaguely see the furnishings inside the empty room, which had nothing that could be considered comfortable, not even a bed to lie down on.  

After all, the other party had gotten into a fight with Yuan Xiao because of him, leading to the Queen’s punishment. Moreover, regardless of anything else, Lan Luohai had provided a lot of help for his mission progress.  

With nothing else to do, after some consideration, Shijing Xian decided to stay in the castle to keep Lan Luohai company for three days.  

With the guards’ help, Shijing Xian moved the experimental table to the terrace, doing experiments there during the day and stargazing at night, only returning to rest when the night was deep and heavy with dew.  

The Core Country was known for its frequent rain, and Shijing Xian had worried it might rain, but these three days turned out to be rare sunny days. Even Des, who came to visit him, couldn’t help but exclaim that it had been years since he had encountered such consecutive good weather; not only was it dry during the day, but even the night sky was free of clouds.  

By the third night, the two people standing behind the railing had developed a considerable level of tacit understanding. They chatted casually, and Shijing Xian, lying on the lounge chair by the railing, suddenly burst into laughter.  

“What’s so funny?” Lan Luohai asked.  

Shijing Xian rubbed his ears; he always felt that Lan Luohai’s voice was too low and magnetic, making his eardrums itch. Even after chatting for so many days, he still hadn’t quite gotten used to it.  

However, this action didn’t affect what he wanted to say.  

“When I was a child, I read a fairy tale.”  

He turned his head to glance at Lan Luohai, who was not far from the window, his gaze circling around the golden hair.  

Lan Luohai didn’t notice: “What story?”  

“A long, long time ago,” Shijing Xian used that classic fairy tale opening line, “there was a long-haired princess who was locked away in a high castle. A passing prince saw her through the window, and they fell in love. The prince wanted to rescue her from the eerie castle.”  

He stretched out his hand, slowly gesturing towards Lan Luohai’s golden hair.  

“But the castle’s door was locked, and there were no stairs to climb up the outer wall. The princess let down her long hair so the prince could climb up. The prince successfully rescued the princess from the castle, and they lived happily ever after.”  

Lan Luohai listened and said, “That prince is really not a gentleman; pulling a girl’s hair would hurt.”  

“…Huh?” Shijing Xian felt that Lan Luohai seemed to have missed the point. However, it had been too long, and he couldn’t remember all the details of the story.  

It seemed like the princess’s long hair had magic… pulling it wouldn’t hurt?  

As Shijing Xian pondered this, he heard Lan Luohai continue, “But I can understand the princess’s thoughts.”  

Shijing Xian came back to his senses: “Understand what?”  

“If you wanted to pull my hair to climb up, I wouldn’t feel pain either.”  

Shijing Xian: “…”  

Wait, he seemed to have lost track of who was taking advantage of whom here?  

After a burst of laughter, the terrace fell quiet again.  

Shijing Xian looked up at the star-filled dome, hearing Lan Luohai’s voice.  

“You really seem to like stars.”  

Shijing Xian smiled, “Yeah.”  

Lan Luohai said, “Where I grew up, there’s a place very suitable for stargazing.”  

Shijing Xian was a bit surprised to hear this.  

Lan Luohai’s hometown… wasn’t it the Core Country?  

“Isn’t the Core Country known for its frequent rain, making it inconvenient to observe celestial phenomena?” Shijing Xian asked curiously, “Are there places here suitable for stargazing?”  

“…Huh?” Lan Luohai’s voice paused for a moment, “Yeah, there are.”  

Shijing Xian turned to look at him, only to see Lan Luohai reaching out his hand towards the outside from the window.  

Shijing Xian immediately sat up from the lounge chair.  

“What are you doing?”  

Is he not afraid of getting hurt by the confinement again?  

“It’s fine,” Lan Luohai reassured him, “According to my calculations, the confinement time should be over.”  

“So you’re just going to recklessly try?” Shijing Xian disapproved, “What if you get hurt again?”  

He stood up and took out a bottle of energy manifestation potion from his storage ring.  

“Get away from the window, don’t touch it.”  

After saying that, Shijing Xian carefully extended the thick, solid potion into a long strip, reaching towards the window edge.  

The manifestation potion successfully stretched out and directly touched the windowsill of the confinement room.  

Shijing Xian breathed a sigh of relief: “It’s done.”  

Lan Luohai walked back to the window.  

“Thank you.”  

Before the smiling words faded, Shijing Xian suddenly sensed a gust of wind—  

He widened his eyes and saw Lan Luohai nimbly climbing out of the confinement room window, leaping over the terrace railing, and landing right beside him.  

Shijing Xian: “…”  

This was a ten-meter-high terrace, and the gap on both sides was at least three meters!  

“Are you crazy?? You dare to jump over here directly?!”  

Shijing Xian suddenly remembered that, by age, Lan Luohai was actually two years younger than Ji Xuanran.  

…This kid really was a handful.  

Lan Luohai smiled apologetically and pulled over a long chair to place it next to the lounge chair, finally calming Shijing Xian down.  

To smooth things over, Lan Luohai quickly changed the subject.  

“You still haven’t told me why you like stars so much.”  

Shijing Xian sat on the lounge chair, gazing up at the starry sky.  

“Because they represent the unknown and eternity.”  

He thought for a moment and said, “This might be a rather ethereal thing, not something we have much connection with. But… life is short, a hundred years or a thousand years is just a moment; only this starry sky is eternal.”  

“The universe is vast, and light has a delay. What we see now might be light from billions of years ago. Millions of years later, we will no longer exist, but we can still become starlight in someone else’s eyes.”  

Shijing Xian slowed his voice.  

“Perhaps we are not that important; we are just inconspicuous specks of dust. But everything in the universe is made up of stardust. We disappear from here, but we also originate from here. Perhaps after a long enough time, we will meet again in the distant future.”  

“Thinking about it this way, don’t you find life fascinating?” he said, “Eternity and brevity both have their own beauty.”  

Lan Luohai listened in silence, his expression thoughtful.  

Shijing Xian smiled and asked, “Did I say too much?”  

Perhaps it was because the starry sea over the past few days was too beautiful, or perhaps the atmosphere was just right at that moment, he found himself sharing his thoughts with a character in a mission.  

“No,” Lan Luohai shook his head, “It’s just that it’s the first time I’ve heard such thoughts, so I find it a bit magical.”  

Shijing Xian replied, “This is just my personal opinion.”  

Lan Luohai turned to look at him and slowly said, “I’m very familiar with planets and the universe, but I never knew you… would think like this.”  

That “you” was only half pronounced before he changed it.  

Familiar with the starry sky?  

Shijing Xian was puzzled; wasn’t the current mission planet still lacking mature space travel technology?  

But this confusion was overshadowed by another matter.  

Looking at Lan Luohai so closely, Shijing Xian noticed that the other party was still wearing the earring from the banquet on his right ear.  

That long stick earring resembled a vortex, drawing all of Shijing Xian’s attention. He felt as if he were enchanted, slowly reaching out his hand to touch the other person’s earring.  

It wasn’t until the warm body temperature transmitted from his fingertips that Shijing Xian suddenly realized how inappropriate his action was.  

He quickly withdrew his hand: “…Sorry, Your Highness.”  

Lan Luohai, who had been touched so abruptly, showed no sign of being upset: “It’s fine.”  

Shijing Xian rubbed his nose, trying to cover up his embarrassment with a compliment: “This earring is very beautiful.”  

Lan Luohai smiled faintly, his features becoming even more ethereal in the night.  

As if reminiscing about something, his voice was very gentle: “I think so too. It was given to me by someone very important.”  

Shijing Xian subtly frowned, feeling as if something sharp had lightly scratched his heart.  

He sensed that his mindset seemed to be subtly unbalanced, but when he delved deeper, he couldn’t quite articulate why.  

Given by an important person… so how could it be touched by others casually?