The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 280: Fleeting Opportunity

“Stay put.” Elizabeth looked at Philip silently.

A vague sense of displeasure and caution flashed quickly across her eyes. If Annan hadn’t been paying attention to her expressions, he would have missed it.

Immediately after, Elizabeth quickly showed a gentle smile that was very similar to the one before and said softly, “I can handle it, Philip. Take care of Your Highness Annan.”

“Oh~” Philip gave an inexplicable smile as he dragged his voice.

He was chewing the toffee that was beginning to melt with big bites. Accompany by the faintly audible chewing sound, the smell of milk came seeping out of his mouth. Droplets from his chewing splashed onto Elizabeth’s clothes.

With a smile, Philip took out a few candies from his pocket and handed them to Elizabeth, “Then, do you want candy, sister?”

“It’s serious business, Philip.” Elizabeth had already calmed down. She maintained a gentle and generous smile, completely ignoring Philip’s rude behavior. She said leisurely, “You can’t participate.”

“Oh~” Philip nodded in agreement and grinned, “That’s true. After all, I’m an idler.”

He didn’t seem displeased, and that cheerful smile remained. Then, he returned to his seat beside Annan.

He removed the candy wraps, putting the candies one by one patiently into his mouth. Elizabeth also didn’t explain a word to Philip. Instead, she turned and left with the guards.

Annan sat quietly at the side, watching the ambiguous atmosphere between them, who had their apparent intentions. Not only was he calm, but he was also instead filled with interest. He somewhat even wanted more tension.

This feels more right! Yes, it’s supposed to be like this!

With reference to the harmony between the three brothers in his family, Annan had thought that royal families in this world all had the same image. However, now that he had seen Noah’s royal family, Annan, who enjoyed watching the drama, was immediately exhilarated.

Now, this is the taste of schemes between the royal heirs!

However, these two weren’t good in their sarcasm.

They wanted to say something ambiguously sarcastic yet ended up spitting out such cheesy words. In my culture, this standard would not be able to protect our families.

But then again, the conflict between Philip and Elizabeth did not frighten Annan.

On the other hand, the way Philip ate candy made Annan feel some physical discomfort.

Big brother… Chatting takes up too many sweets for you, don’t you think?

From the time he sat next to Annan less than three minutes ago, he had eaten almost 20 candies. On average, he would have three candies for each sentence.

This level of abnormality obviously could not be explained by the simple “love for sweets”.

Annan looked down at the candy in his hand and peeled off the candy wrap with one hand.

This candy looked similar in size to Wangzai Milk Candy [1]. It had a creamy white color with a yellowish tinge.

He waited a long time, but the usual item description panel was not triggered.

It’s not a curse vessel then, and it’s not even medicine.

What the hell?

This is actually real candy?

Annan looked at it in disbelief and then looked at Philip, who was chewing hard on the candy.

Philip noticed Annan’s gaze and gave him a cheerful smile, “Eat it. It’s delicious!

“Don’t worry. It’s made of condensed milk, cream, syrup, honey, and brown sugar. It doesn’t contain any magical ingredients. Anybody can eat it.”

Philip laughed happily as he spoke.

Annan could see the gooey syrup hanging on Philip’s neat set of white teeth. The rich fragrance of milk and honey permeated around him following his heavy breathing.

Because of Philip and Elizabeth’s earlier scene, the people around had noticed them. Annan couldn’t do anything at this time. He could only continue to hold the gun in Kafni’s skirt pocket with his left hand and chatted with Philip politely, “Do you like sweets, Your Highness Philip?”

“Of course!” Philip replied cheerfully, “I like sweets, and I also like meat! My favorite is honey barbecue — all young people should enjoy sweets and meat!”

He looked at Annan kindly and said again, “You can call me brother or Your Highness. But you can’t call me uncle! Look at me. Do you think I look like an uncle?”

After saying that, Philip patted the delicate skin on his face with great pride.

In fact, it was true.

Philip had thick hair, delicate skin, and no wrinkles on his forehead. Unlike his younger brother Albert, Philip’s beard was clean-shaven… he didn’t even wear jewelry.

If he changed into younger clothes, it would be possible to think he was a teenager, judging from his voice and demeanor.

Is Philip so concerned about his youth?

About 10 minutes before the banquet started, Annan intended to continue inquiring about Philip’s secrets and habits.

“Your Highness, you look 20 years old at the most,” said Annan with a tender voice.

A compliment that was fake in the eyes of the general adult population would become immensely convincing when it was coupled with Annan’s honest and bright gaze.

Hearing Annan’s words, Philip couldn’t help but laugh out loud without the slightest image of royalty.

A man who looked nearly 50 years old and had a traditional and steady temperament couldn’t help but reprimand, “Philip, keep your voice down!”

“Yes, yes~” Philip dragged his voice as he responded indifferently.

After the man shook his head and left with a frown, Philip leaned closer to Annan’s ear and pointed at the man with his chin, “This is my second brother… doesn’t he look like your brother? They are all one type of people.

Philip said, pointing to himself, “You and me. We’re another type of people. Happy—we’re all joyful.”

Annan did not lose his act at all.

When he heard Philip’s evaluation, he looked over in confusion, “I don’t quite understand.”

Fuck off. Annan couldn’t help but cuss in his heart. Luckily, the Winter’s Heart curse on Annan was reversed, allowing him to ignore his fears. Otherwise, just that sentence itself would make his heart stop.

Is the Supernatural Vision the Noah family’s unique feature?

“You will understand, Your Highness Annan.”

Hearing this, Philip just smiled and whispered in a slightly bewitching voice, “Joy… I can see that you have a soul that chases after pleasure and isn’t trapped. So if you feel depressed one day and want to break free from the chains of your destiny, you can come to me.

“I will grant you the secret to pleasure.”

“…Cup-holding Lady?” Annan asked in a soft voice.

Philip smiled, “Naturally. Face the path of blood and desire directly, Your Highness Annan. Human beings are machines driven by desire… What is the difference between a life without desire and a puppet?”

“Then, what is the desire you pursue?” Annan probed further.

Philip was silent for a moment and then said calmly, “What I pursue is [Youth].”

“Youth?”

“You won’t understand.” Philip took a deep breath and shook his head.

Annan just continued to ask, “Is it youth or immortality?”

Hearing Annan’s question, Philip fell into a moment of thought.

But that was just a brief pause that lasted a short breath.

He was quick to show his trademark bright smile again.

He took out a few more candies from his arms and stuffed them into his mouth.

“I… I want it all.” Philip smiled slightly and replied in a soft voice, “I don’t want to grow old. By just having to experience once, you will never…”

At this moment, a continuous explosion came suddenly from outside and obscured Philip’s voice completely.

These weren’t explosives— they were fireworks that lit up one after another at the palace gates.

The firework show had begun.

Annan silently clenched the gun in his hand. Then, he turned around to look towards the entrance behind him, pretending to be watching.

Feeling Annan’s movements, or that the two of them got even closer because of Annan’s movements… Kafni, who had been silent all this while, also tensed her body subconsciously.

—The opportunity is fleeting.

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