Eternal Villain: I can enslave Reality!

Chapter 25 25: Royal Decree

?.....

The moon shone brightly in the dark sky, casting a silver glow over the landscape while stars twinkled like diamonds around it, forming constellations and patterns.

After an interrogation that lasted for over three hours, Xu Shan had arrived on the roof, sitting alone under the moonlight, lost in some thoughts.

Through Yu Fei, he received a lot of information. Under the drug's effects, the girl couldn't keep her mouth shut, and at times, she even told him things that he didn't ask.

Unfortunately, the information he received didn't paint a rosy picture of the Celestial Palace. It was more dangerous than he initially thought.

Just approaching the Celestial Palace was hard in itself, let alone the rest. Thanks to the Saintess, at least he knew about the things he had to be careful about, but he was still clear that there were still many secrets that even the Saintess wouldn't have known.

No matter how high her position in the Celestial Palace was, she was still a junior after all.

"Why did it have to be so troublesome?" Gazing at the beautiful moon in the sky, Xu Shan muttered as if talking to himself.

It hadn't even been a week since he came to this world, yet he was already walking on a thin rope, trying to find the correct path that didn't end in his eventual death.

The air was cool and crisp, and a gentle breeze stirred the leaves of the trees in the nearby garden, creating some rustling noise.

He remained on the roof under the clear moonlit sky, not even realizing when he eventually fell asleep. Even though he wasn't able to show it, his head was under a lot of stress. He wasn't able to rest at all, having to think about everything so as to not make any mistakes.

....

"...ness."

Xu Shan frowned slightly as the first ray of sunlight fell on his face. At the same time, he also heard something. The voice was not clear initially, but as he came out of his slumber, the voice became clearer.

"Your Highness..." The voice came again.

Xu Shan opened his eyes, noticing his surroundings. He was still on the roof. However, now that he had some sleep, he did feel a little better and less tired.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes lightly as his surroundings were somewhat bright and his vision blurry.

"Zi Huang?" He noticed the man in the distance who was respectfully standing. There was a scroll in the man's hand that appeared like the scrolls in which Royal Decrees were sent.

"What are you doing here?" He stood up, patting his clothes lightly. Even though he just woke up, there was still a royal dignified aura around him.

"There's a decree from the Emperor. There is an event at the Royal Palace tonight. He wants you to attend it as well," Zi Huang explained. "The other Princes and Princesses should be there as well."

"I don't have time for such meaningless gatherings." Xu Shan waved his hand lightly as he started walking towards the stairs to go down. "Tell them I can't attend."

Xu Shan had no interest in attending the Royal Events at the moment. He had to prepare for his trip to the Land of Chaos as well, after all.

In any case, he knew that almost everyone in the Royal Palace hated him, other than his father. In fact, the other Princes would've been much happier if he had died.

The Third Prince also knew all that. If it wasn't for the Emperor's protection, he was sure that the other Princes would've already sent people to kill him. That's why the Third Prince never used to pay any attention to them.

He didn't care about the other Royals. As for such events, the Third Prince had never attended them, so Xu Shan didn't feel awkward rejecting them.

"I'm afraid it won't be easy this time." Zi Huang let out a sigh. "This time, His Majesty has issued a Royal Decree. I'm afraid it's impossible to ignore it."

"The Royal Decree?" Xu Shan frowned, stopping in his tricks.

'So I was right. That scroll is a Royal Decree.'

As far as he remembered, the Emperor had never issued a Royal Decree to invite him in the past. This was certainly more troublesome since ignoring the Royal Decree was no different than disrespecting the Royal Ancestors.

Even though he was supposed to be the Emperor's favorite, he couldn't ignore that.

"I don't understand. Why would he issue a Royal Decree to invite me?"

"It's not just you. This time, His Majesty issued similar decrees for all four Great Family Heads and the Princes. This has never happened before." Zi Huang exclaimed.

Even he had no clear idea as to why this decree was issued. Why did the Emperor want everyone at the Palace? And that too, so suddenly?

'Is this related to the disappearance of the Saintess? This will be quite a headache if it's true. But to use a Royal Decree just for Celestial Palace? That seems unlikely.'

'Even though the Celestial Palace is strong, it's not to the extent that the Emperor will reveal a weakness to please them. But then what could it be?'

For a long time, there was only silence as Xu Shan lost himself in thoughts. Zi Huang didn't dare to disturb him either.

"Is there a way for you to get more information about this?" After some time, Xu Shan finally came to his senses and asked.

Unfortunately, Zi Huang could only shake his head in response. "I already tried. It's unlikely that we'll find out what it's about until you actually go there in the evening."

"So troublesome. Fine. Prepare the carriage. I'll go to the Royal Palace tonight!" In the end, Xu Shan had no choice either. No matter what it was about, he still had to go to the Royal Palace.

"That reminds me, did you get what I asked? I can't let anyone in the Royal Palace see my eyes."

"Ah, yes. I got it." Zi Huang nodded respectfully before handing over another scroll to Xu Shan. "This is a skill that doesn't have many uses. It can only be used to change the color of your eyes by creating another layer on top that can't be noticed by others."

"Change eye color?" Xu Shan took the scroll, but he didn't open it right away.

Zi Huang further explained, "If you use this to recreate the original color of your eyes, the Star Mark would be hidden inside the new layer, hiding it from the others at the gathering while also making your eyes look natural."

"Hmm." Xu Shan didn't react much and simply went downstairs with the scroll.

Since he had already used his bedroom as the prison of the Saintess, he used another room for himself. It was in that room where he sat on the bed, studying the scroll carefully.

Since the skill that he received wasn't an offensive or defensive skill that could be used in battle, it was much easier to learn. In fact, it only took Xu Shan half an hour to succeed.

After checking his eyes in the mirror to make sure that nothing was wrong, he finally sighed in relief. Everything was going smoothly for now. Unfortunately, he still had no idea what was going to happen tonight.

....

Time passed really fast, and it was already evening. Xu Shan told his guards to keep an eye on the Saintess, who was no different than a mortal, for the next one month. It was much easier to hold her back now.

After arranging everything in his Palace, he left with Zi Huang. A Royal Carriage was already waiting at the entrance of his Palace for him!