Rainbow Cup

Beneath the shade of an oak tree.

"Your Highness, I am Karen Hughes, lord of Black Wolf Territory and a viscount of the Sossia Kingdom. Thank you for gracing my territory with your presence. It is my greatest honor."

Karen placed his right hand over his left shoulder, then bowed slightly and spoke humbly with a brilliant smile.

As a noble, no matter how exalted the other party's status was, he did not need to kneel.

Of course, that was unless the other party was his liege, the king, or an eternal god.

"Sit."

Xian raised a hand slightly, gesturing for him to take a seat.

"Thank you for granting me a seat."

As Karen thanked him and sat down, he discreetly observed the other man's appearance.

Fair skin, long and delicate fingers, a strong air of nobility mixed with a student's bearing, and clothes whose style he could not recognize but whose materials were obviously luxurious. From those details alone, Karen could conclude that whether this prince's identity was real or not, he had certainly been born into a very wealthy family.

In addition, Karen caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye of those flawless obsidian-like pupils and the perfect contours of his profile.

Gasp! This prince was actually as handsome as I am! Karen could not help marveling inwardly.

By then, Karen was already more than half convinced of this prince's identity.

After all, a handsome appearance was one of the greatest traits shared by nobles across the continent.

Just as Duke Cameron, founder of the noble system, had famously said—"Those of noble birth must be beautiful."

"Your Highness, may I know your name?"

Karen asked with a smile, a trace of respect in his deep voice.

"Xian Mingyu."

Xian picked up the wooden wine bottle and poured wine into the cup before Karen.

"You are far too gracious!"

Karen was somewhat overwhelmed by the favor. He hurriedly took the wine bottle and poured his own drink, while also filling Xian's cup.

Xia. Karen carefully searched through his memories, but found no family with the surname Xia anywhere on the continent.

He was certain that no Xia Family existed on the West Continent. If one did, he would certainly have heard of such a distinctive noble surname.

It seemed he truly was a prince from the super kingdom that ruled the entire East Continent. No, he still needed to be cautious. He would conduct one final test.

"Prince Mingyu, to thank you for your visit, I specially prepared a gift for you. May I present it to you?"

Karen asked warmly.

"You may," Xian said indifferently.

The more he spoke, the more likely he was to slip up. It was better to say less.

"Then I shall fetch the gift now. Please wait a moment."

Karen rose from his chair, gave a slight bow, and turned to leave.

Several minutes later, he returned carrying an exquisite wooden box.

"Your Highness, this is the gift I prepared for you." Karen placed the wooden box on the stone table.

Xian carefully examined the wooden box on the table. He noticed that a lifelike fox head had been carved into its lid.

"This was a blessing gift specially bestowed upon me by my wife Danielle's mother, my mother-in-law, Countess Masha, when I married."

Karen introduced it in a solemn voice.

At those words, anticipation flickered in Xian's eyes.

After all, in the Middle Ages, a highborn countess could be considered immensely powerful no matter what.

And a blessing gift she had carefully prepared for her own daughter's marriage had to be an invaluable treasure that could not be bought at any price in this world.

Perhaps a dragon egg, potion, magical artifact, Magic Book, or some other extraordinary item commonly found in fantasy novels.

Noticing the expectation in Xian's expression, Karen smiled faintly and slowly opened the wooden box.

Click.

A beautiful wine cup was revealed.

It was entirely fashioned from crystal-clear glass. Its body was thin as a cicada's wing, its rim smooth and rounded. Sunlight passed through its walls, refracting into dazzling seven-colored rays, as though a rainbow had been crushed and blended into it.

It truly was incomparably gorgeous! As he opened the box, Karen's dark green eyes remained fixed on Xian's expression, missing not the slightest change.

This glass cup was a treasure of the Masha Family, known as the "Rainbow Cup." Once, a noble marquis had offered more than a hundred Gold Sols to purchase it, yet Countess Masha had still refused.

Only when his wife Danielle, Countess Masha's only daughter, married had it been given as a blessing gift, making his wedding the talk of the southern noble circles.

Therefore, if Prince Mingyu truly was a prince from a super kingdom on the East Continent, he might like the Rainbow Cup when he saw it, but he would never be overly surprised, much less reveal greed.

This was precisely his trump card for testing the other man's identity.

Yet unexpectedly, when Xian saw such a treasure, his expression showed neither fondness nor amazement, but rather, That's it?

Staring at the glass cup in the wooden box, Xian's mouth twitched.

Why did this thing look so much like one of those cheap nine-yuan-nine free-shipping cups from Pinduoduo? The kind of tacky thing even old people wouldn't like.

"Not bad."

Suppressing his inner disappointment, Xian forced out a smile.

After all, it was a gift from the other party. Showing too much disappointment would be rather rude.

"He actually did not care about the Rainbow Cup at all!"

Seeing the utterly forced smile on the young man's face, Karen felt shaken to the core.

What kind of wealthy family could raise a noble who did not even care for a treasure like this?

"Viscount, does this cup possess any special abilities?"

Xian thought perhaps he simply lacked the eye to recognize a treasure, so he asked.

The question stumped Karen. Special abilities? Wasn't the fact that this glass cup was so beautiful enough?

"Um... the Rainbow Cup can make whatever liquid it holds taste sweeter." After racking his brains for a while, Karen came up with an ability.

Upon hearing that, Xian eagerly picked up the wine bottle, filled the Rainbow Cup with crimson fruit wine, and drained it in one gulp.

There was no change whatsoever.

A trace of disappointment inevitably appeared on Xian's face.

"What a wonderful gift. Heh heh," he forced himself to praise it.

After all, he was still on someone else's territory. Even if Karen had given him a rock, he would have said the same thing.

It was real. It had to be real!

This person... this noble prince had to be the prince of a super kingdom from the East Continent! Having witnessed every change in Xian's expression, Karen screamed inwardly.

Then, the basic cultivation of a noble prompted him to quickly assess the value of this matter.

The heir of a super kingdom from another continent had unexpectedly ended up here. He could not rule out the possibility that Xian had fled here after being pursued by enemies.

But if he seized this opportunity, it would undoubtedly be a heaven-sent chance!

Even setting aside the value of the enormous kingdom behind Xian, with its 1.4 Billion citizens, Xian himself was already immensely valuable.

Whether it was the entirely new Mortal Rank profession of College Student, the knowledge he possessed from another continent, or the unknown abilities granted by that supremely noble Status Blessing, any one of them would be enough to make the nobles of the entire West Continent, even the lofty king, treat him with solemn respect.

Karen Hughes had always thought of himself as a lone wolf, but today, he felt that perhaps he could learn from his mount and try being a "dog."

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