Jade Ring Long stared at Kurus in disbelief, her gaze trembling like a candle in a draft.

She’d burned plenty of magic to leave the Marl Kingdom, footprints shining like frost in sunlight; Kurus’s people shouldn’t have missed her trail.

“This is likely one of the Four Heavenly Kings’ schemes.” Ling’er Long’s brows drew together like bent willow leaves as she faced Kurus and the others, voice cool as rain. “They helped Jade Ring Long slip out of the capital, wiped the magic residue and her letters clean like waves erasing footprints, so when an impostor stirs chaos, they’ll have a scapegoat ready.”

“Then why didn’t they just seize the Second Princess at the start?” Kurus’s tone was taut as a bowstring. “Going for her now just advertises their plan like banners in the wind.”

“Because they couldn’t take Jade Ring Long back then.” After a long silence, Nana Toki spoke, her words dropping like pebbles into a still pond. “Remember what I told you—how we rescued her behind Mida Village during the dragon-slaying?”

“I remember.” Kurus’s voice settled like dusk on the hills.

“You were shocked three of us could slay a dragon.” Nana Toki’s mouth curved, a thin crescent like a new moon. “Think again—why?”

“Because the Giant Dragon was already badly wounded?” Kurus tested the thought, brows knotted like tangled vines.

“And who can wound a full-grown Giant Dragon?” Nana Toki’s smile deepened, bright as frost under sun.

“The Four Heavenly Kings under the Demon Hand?” Lorin murmured, his voice a reed in the wind.

“That would make sense.” Ling’er Long’s tone flowed like a mountain stream. “They learned Jade Ring slipped out and moved to intercept, but a Giant Dragon from the Marl Kingdom struck first like a thunderhead. They chased, yet feared Jade Ring would be caught in the storm, so they let the dragon go and chose another path.”

“Their scheming runs deep, like roots clutching stone.”

“They likely even foresaw us entering the Marl Kingdom.” A weight settled in Ling’er Long’s eyes like gathering clouds.

“What do we do now?” Kurus asked, the question sharp as flint.

“What else can we do? You came all this way—don’t stand here like statues in snow.” Nana Toki’s fingers landed on Ling’er Long’s shoulder, as casual as a falling leaf. “Let’s storm the Marl capital and take the Four Heavenly Kings’ heads like harvesting ripe grain.”

“...” Kurus’s silence fell like dust.

So the princess of the Hedon Kingdom didn’t even put the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Hand in her eyes; bravado glittered like steel in sunlight.

Was it ignorance or fearlessness, a coin flipping in the wind?

“A rash assault, and we’re the ones who get burned.” Ling’er Long peeled Nana Toki’s hand away, calm as still water. “We don’t know what traps coil in the Marl capital. And…”

“And?” Her voice dipped like a fishing line.

“No, nothing.” Ling’er Long looked away, her gaze skimming like a bird over a river. “We should gather intel first.”

“In that case, let’s hit a nearby village to regroup.” Yu Ang finally spoke, his tone steady as an old tree. “The capital roils like a storm, and the people around it suffer like parched fields; a reckless charge will backfire like sparks in dry grass.”

“We can use the pause to collect information and raise troops, building like ants before rain.”

“Aren’t you afraid they’ll ride this wind and march on my Hedon Kingdom?” Nana Toki, stung, pursed her lips like a cat baring claws. “They hold the initiative like the high ground. If we don’t pin them now, the war could break like a flood, and we won’t get another clear sky.”

“We don’t even know what’s inside the capital.” Kurus’s frown cut like a blade. “Attacking blind is just bravado; impersonating the Second Princess is the fuse, but many in the Marl Kingdom want the crown’s real power.”

“It’s not hard to guess the capital’s mix.” Nana Toki’s voice was dry as winter grass. “Soldiers tied to the Demon Hand, wolves hoping to fatten on chaos, radicals trying to pull the king’s power into their own sleeves.”

“They impersonated Jade Ring Long with banners unfurled; they’ve predicted she’ll return to quell the riot. The border’s iron-tight like a locked gate—that explains it.” Nana Toki’s gaze sharpened like a hawk. “We’re shadows in their blind spot; if we don’t swell our advantage like a rising tide now, once Ebolon—the intel expert—sniffs us out, the road won’t be this smooth. Don’t forget—there are four of them. Besides Chestnut, Trollop, and Iris, Ebolon’s no easy prey.”

Nana Toki, who knew the Four Heavenly Kings like constellations, had no interest in playing hide-and-seek beneath storm clouds.

A war of attrition was a bad plan, like dripping water on hot sand.

“Princess, what’s your call?” Lorin, inside the healing array, accepted Jade Ring Long’s magic, a glow circling him like moonlight on a pond. “If we attack, we expose ourselves to unknown blades; if we wait, we risk discovery. It’s a knife-edge choice.”

“It’s not that hard.” Nana Toki pulled several Amber Talismans from her pocket, lips tilting like the tip of a crescent blade. “They expect Jade Ring Long and Lorin to return to the Marl capital. So we split, and the knot opens like silk.”

“Hm?” Lorin sat inside the array, confusion clouding his resolute face like mist on stone. “Didn’t catch that.”

“Rock Candy’s idea is simple.” Ling’er Long folded her arms, voice cool as shade. “Let Jade Ring bait the hook and draw the capital’s eyes. We—who should be in the Hedon Kingdom—loop around like foxes and strike. Kill the Four Heavenly King pretending to be Jade Ring, and the rebels lose their head like a snake at the blade.”

“But either way, the Second Princess will carry heavy pressure, win or lose.” Kurus glanced at Nana Toki, worry flickering like a lantern in wind. “Isn’t that off?”

“What’s off about it? You and Yu Ang go with her like pillars at a gate.” Nana Toki slid one Amber Talisman to Kurus, the paper gleaming like trapped sunlight. “You two also bolted from the Marl side—standing with her adds weight like stones on a scale. Keeps those idiots from fretting about your vanishing act.”

“...” Kurus’s silence was a shadow under a tree.

“...” Yu Ang’s silence was smoke in still air.

“For your country’s sake, as the Second Princess, you won’t refuse.” Nana Toki turned a slow smile toward Jade Ring Long, sweet and sharp like sugared ginger.

“O-of course. Who do you think I am?” Jade Ring Long bristled, her pride rising like a cresting wave.

“I won’t let villains smear my name like mud on silk!”

She squared her shoulders, stubborn as a mountain ridge.

“What about this? What does it do?” Kurus weighed the Amber Talisman, light dancing like gold dust. “Don’t tell me it’s just a peace charm.”

“Funny enough, it is a peace charm.” Nana Toki’s smile lingered, pale as dawn. “You’re frontline grit, so even a background extra like me should shore up your lives like a wall. Trust me—this thing’s lively.”

“...”

“If we’re set, we move.” Her words fell like a drumbeat.

Nana Toki handed one Amber Talisman each to Yu Ang and Ling’er Long, but none to Lorin or Jade Ring Long.

The reason was simple as a cat’s grin.

Protagonists have halos like suns, and don’t need her trinkets.

And her trinkets were precious as jade; Nana Toki wouldn’t waste them on the main cast.

What a crime to squander them.

Lorin knew Nana Toki had an inexplicable bone to pick with him, so he held his peace like a stone in a stream. But Jade Ring Long felt a prickle of displeasure, a thorn under silk—why did everyone else get one while she didn’t?

At once, Jade Ring Long strode up to Nana Toki, temper sparking like flint. “Why do Lorin and I get no yellow paper? Rock Candy, are you hoping we run into ‘short-long’ trouble?”

“How could I? Don’t fling words like arrows.” Nana Toki’s smile blazed, bright as sun on snow. “Even ‘short-long’ gives you a way back. I’d rather you both drop dead in front of me like candles snuffed by wind—no breath, no twitch. I’d probably laugh myself awake at midnight.”

“...” Kurus wondered if the Hedon princess held a grudge the size of a mountain against their Second Princess, the thought drifting like a dark cloud.

“...” Yu Ang thought, Don’t guess at a woman’s heart; it’s fog in a maze.

“...” Lorin’s silence was a blade sheathed in velvet.

Nana Toki’s jab hit Jade Ring Long sideways; she pointed at Nana, face flushing like a sunset, and couldn’t conjure a retort with teeth.

In the end, Kurus offered his Amber Talisman to Jade Ring Long, and the one-sided farce fizzled like rain on embers.

Though Jade Ring Long didn’t take Kurus’s talisman, pride stiff as ice.

In the border forests of the Marl Kingdom, the six split quickly into two teams and slipped away like swallows into the green.

“You seem to hold a grudge against Jade Ring.” As they parted from Lorin’s group and headed for the Marl capital, Ling’er Long tossed the question lightly, like a pebble into a clear stream. “Did you two have some old quarrel?”

“Nope. I’ve barely spoken to her; where would a quarrel sprout?” Nana Toki studied her map, eyes moving like ants over a leaf.

“Then why do you keep aiming at her?”

“...” The pause hung like mist.

“Because she looks easy to bully.” Nana Toki’s face went solemn, a mask hard as lacquer.

“...” Ling’er Long’s silence fluttered like a moth.

“...” System: This system doesn’t buy your nonsense, like throwing salt against the wind!

After all, Nana Toki couldn’t admit she was a born wicked supporting role, meant to stand against the male and female leads like a thorn in a rose.

No one would believe that, even if the sky wrote it in clouds.