A Band of Companions from Qingxi

"Did you have a pleasant holiday, Viviana?"

Faust looked at his childhood friend and asked with a smile.

"It was indeed a holiday worth reminiscing about. Please allow me to return to my post."

Her voice flowed like a clear spring; its cool and calm tone was a pleasure just to hear.

Faust nodded. "Of course. Without your company and protection, I wouldn't feel quite like myself."

Viviana Roselin.

She was the commander of the kingdom's royal guard and the heir to the Roselin family.

As the Qingxi Kingdom was a small nation established only a few decades ago, it naturally lacked ancient noble houses with long lineages.

In fact, there were very few nobles in the entire kingdom, and most were wealthy merchants who had bought their titles. There was no other way; if a backwater region wanted to develop, it had to resort to selling offices and titles.

Making money wasn't a shameful thing.

In any case, Faust didn't feel that the titles of honorary nobles were particularly precious. Nobles without a mystic inheritance would never be viewed as "true nobles." The more of these honorary elites there were, the better. He didn't have to provide them with land grants, and instead, he could continuously extract wealth from them.

However, even with so many subpar nobles, there were still genuine, powerful nobles within the kingdom.

Viviana’s father, Count Roselin, was one such man. He had been a close friend of the King of Qingxi and had gathered a large group of like-minded fellow villagers to revolt during the war for independence that swept across the empire.

They conducted guerrilla warfare along the empire's southeastern border, gradually growing in strength and laying the foundation for what was now the Qingxi Kingdom.

As the saying went, they were a band of companions from Qingxi, making their home in the southeast mountains.

After the brutal struggle, the only survivors among the leaders were the old king and Count Roselin. The latter became the most powerful noble in Qingxi outside of the royal family—one might even say he was the only true power player.

Because of the bond forged in blood and fire, the king trusted his old comrade implicitly, entrusting the command of the kingdom’s only royal guard to Count Roselin.

With the relationship between the two old geezers, Faust and Viviana were naturally childhood friends. In fact, their relationship was more complex than that term could describe.

Viviana had once been Faust’s fiancée.

It wasn't hard to understand. Count Roselin and the old king were as thick as thieves, so an alliance by marriage between the next generation was a perfectly logical decision.

A union of the strong, a doubling of ties—anyone with me on this?

However, Faust hadn't been very willing. Don't misunderstand; he didn't dislike Viviana. On the contrary, this childhood friend was satisfactory from every possible angle. Unfortunately, she was from Qingxi.

The prince’s heart was set on the vast world! His ambitions were to swallow the universe! If he only wanted to rule the Qingxi Kingdom, marrying Viviana would have allowed him to complete the centralization of power perfectly.

But for outward expansion and progress, it offered no benefit. Faust simply couldn't accept wasting precious matrimonial resources. He had a taste for outlanders and felt he absolutely had to marry one.

Thus, the prince had to subtly reveal that he wasn't particularly fond of Viviana.

The engagement wasn't entirely a political marriage; it was more born from the earnest expectations of two best friends. Since the younger generation was reluctant, it had to be called off.

Though he felt somewhat sorry for Viviana, Faust firmly believed his actions were correct.

The prince looked directly at the girl's beautiful face beneath her hood and said softly:

"Now that I have your protection, I can finally feel at ease. It really won't do without you, will it?"

Although the engagement had been canceled, it didn't mean his relationship with Viviana had soured. After Count Roselin stepped down, his daughter naturally took over the role of commander of the guard.

Loyalty aside, Viviana’s devotion was beyond question. What made Faust sleep even sounder was his certainty that Viviana loved him. The deep feelings of the past decade were no lie.

And the personality of this commander was quite easy to manage.

"Perhaps that isn't quite the case, Your Highness?"

To the prince's surprise, his flattery didn't work as usual. Viviana said calmly:

"I heard you encountered a woman of your heart at the ball and are now searching the streets for her. Is that not so?"

Is this... jealousy?

Faust’s eyelids lowered slightly as he tried to observe the expression beneath the girl's hood. That lovely face looked somewhat cold.

This was truly rare. Generally speaking, Viviana didn't show negative emotions on her face. Moreover, when the prince used to host his wild parties, the blonde girl would usually stand outside the door keeping watch. Why would she mind this now?

Faust couldn't figure it out in the short term, so he simply brushed it off lightly:

"You could say that. But mostly, I'm just curious. The experience of those nights felt like a dream; I have to know who she is, right?"

Seeming to accept Faust’s explanation, Viviana nodded with a movement that was almost imperceptible and asked:

"Then why don't you simply use a portrait to find her?"

Faust pointed to the shoe-fitting assembly in front of the palace.

"If I still remembered, I wouldn't have used this method. I've completely forgotten that girl's face and voice."

This was the truth. The moment "Cinderella" left, Faust’s related memories were as if they had been wiped away. Although he still clearly remembered his interactions with 【Cinderella】, he couldn't recall anything else.

Viviana curled her lip. "You've even forgotten her appearance, yet you call it love? By your logic, even if she stood right in front of you, you wouldn't recognize her!"

Faust maintained a polite smile and said:

"Even so, I want to find her. I surely will find her. Even if I forget her again and again, an inextinguishable love and obsession will guide me to meet her."

The prince’s words actually broke character slightly. He had never spoken so lightly of love before; even his sweet talk was mostly ambiguous.

But Faust had a reason for saying this. Since he knew for certain he was in the script of the 【witches' feast】, he had to do his best to play the role... At least for now, he had no intention of defying fate. There was nothing worth resisting in the script of 【Cinderella】 anyway.

Mephistopheles had already warned him: don't play tricks, don't try to be clever, and don't think the wheel of destiny won't crush you.

Faust naturally followed suit, planning his words and deeds with the mindset of someone who hadn't yet reached awakening.

Fortunately, this wasn't difficult, because awakening didn't mean immunity to the influence of "fate." If he didn't deliberately keep his mind tense, it was easy to slip back into that old lovestruck state.

Viviana froze upon hearing this, slightly tilting her snow-white chin as she let out a soft exclamation of surprise.