She answered slowly.
"Umm, I'm going to be 18 in a few days."
Xiao was not that surprised, as this girl looked very young, as if she had just hit puberty.
Then he asked.
"If you're going to be 18, then that means you're going to participate in the Awakening Ceremony?"
This time, Wang Qing was silent for a long time. Her expression was filled with hesitation. Seeing Xiao's calm and indifferent eyes, she bit her lips tightly and spoke after a moment of silence, her voice much quieter than before.
"Actually, Your Highness, my mother has been very sick for the past few years. The alchemists in the family said that she was affected by a strange disease. And it takes quite a significant amount of Spiritual Stones every month to keep her treatment going. My father is trying his best to cure her. Because of this, most of his resources and Spiritual Stones are going toward curing her, and mine are the same."
Xiao frowned his brows.
"Is she a mortal?"
"Yes."
Xiao frowned slightly inwardly, 'What the hell is going on? First it was me, and now her mother? Even though she's a mortal, to get infected by such a disease that can't even be cured by the normal alchemists of the Royal Family? Strange... what is truly going on? Is someone targeting my Cardinal Royal Family?'
His eyes instantly turned cold. But then he shook his head, 'No, it shouldn't be like that. If someone was actually targeting the Royal Family and putting curses on our family members, then it would only be a matter of time before they were discovered. Our diviners would have already found out about it, and they would have already caught the culprit. But they didn't. And with the Royal Family's foundation, which has seen the ups and downs of countless eras, it's simply impossible.' He pondered quietly.
'If it is not this, then what? What is actually going on then? Strange... I feel that something truly strange is going on. There's definitely something fishy happening, but I can't quite figure out what. Though the possibility of someone cursing the Royal Family members is almost nonexistent, it is not impossible. Alright, after I am done with this thing in the library, I will need to inform Sister Rose and Sister Elizabeth about it and ask them to inform the Royal Family diviners to see if they can find any clues about it. Also, I need to check the information regarding illnesses and diseases to see if they have actually increased over the past few years. Whether it is only happening in the Royal Family or all over the world,' He quietly looked at Wang Qing from the corner of his eyes.
'But before that, let's help this poor girl,' Xiao felt that, as a fellow family member, he should help her. It was his duty and responsibility as a prince and future Emperor of the Cardinal Royal Family to take care of all of its members. But that didn't mean he would help others at the cost of harming himself.
No! He wasn't here to do charity. The philosophy he believed in and that had helped him grow throughout his life was Stoicism. At his core, Xiao believed in the philosophy of Stoicism more than anything else.
There were some things that were within his control and some things that were not. Helping Wang Qing was within his control. At the same time, helping her didn't mean that he had to harm others or himself to do so.
'Dammit, this philosophy is truly something else. I am really lucky that I had the chance to learn something like this in my life. In cultivation, the philosophy, belief, purpose, and conviction a cultivator has form their Dao Heart. I already have my own purpose, and that is to become the strongest. And as for my philosophy, it is Stoicism. So what should my Dao Heart be called? A Stoic Dao Heart? Damn, this sounds so cool!' Xiao thought as he decided to stop thinking about it.
As much as he loved to explore such philosophical ideas, now was not the time for such things. Anyway, he would have plenty of time in the future for that.
After that, they walked for a few minutes. The entrance to the next floor of the library was quite a distance away from where they were, in a rather remote corner of the library.
During this time, neither Xiao nor Wang Qing spoke again, making the atmosphere slightly awkward and heavy. The young girl looked slightly depressed, her expression somewhat bitter and sad.
Because talking with Xiao about her circumstances had reminded her of her helplessness and sadness, which was quite painful for this shy girl.
Reaching the entrance to the next floor, which was a black staircase leading upward, Xiao glanced at it for a few moments. Then he reached his right hand into his robes and pulled out something.
Under Wang Qing's confused gaze, he handed those things to her. Before she could ask any questions about them, Xiao explained in a calm and indifferent tone.
"Inside this pouch are a thousand Spiritual Stones, enough for your Awakening Ceremony. And this is a token that contains my Prince's seal. Show this to the Royal Family alchemists, and they will send the best alchemist available right now to treat your mother. Oh yes, they also won't charge you anything, as the treatment for your mother will be free of cost under my name."
Wang Qing was stunned. Her eyes widened, and her hands trembled.
"Your Highness! Th-this... it's just too valuable! I... I..."
Xiao shrugged indifferently.
"Ah, it's fine. For you, it might be valuable, but for me it's nothing."
Wang Qing fell silent after hearing that, as only she knew how great a kindness the prince was showing her by helping her and giving her such valuable things in her desperate time of need.
Forget about the token the prince had just given her. Even those thousand Spiritual Stones alone were an enormous fortune. Even the entire fortune of a Transcending Mortality Realm cultivator or a Demigod was roughly only a few thousand Spiritual Stones.
Yet the prince was actually generous enough to give her this many Spiritual Stones. Even her father, who was a Spiritual Realm cultivator, possessed a fortune of only a little more than 500 Spiritual Stones.
...
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