The Silly Alchemist

It didn’t matter if it was just a coincidence. The thirteenth prince’s ‘escape’ was something that worried the Ye family because this meant there were holes in their defences.

That was why after this incident, the Ye family started to take security measures around the Ye Residence. That was when things grew stranger.

This wasn’t the most interesting part of the problem. The more thrilling parts lied in where the thirteenth prince was, and how he passed the 3 days.

Everything outside was exciting. Once he’d left, he immediately forgot what he was supposed to do. And was how he started to stroll the streets aimlessly.

This was his first time out of the house, everything was new to him.

Fortunately, this was the capital of the empire, also the aristocratic region of it. The crime rates were low there. Nothing would happen to the thirteenth prince, who was walking alone in the streets wearing luxurious clothing.

There were so many little aristocrats like him walking around the area too. They filled the streets nearby, though they all had company. Perhaps that was why everyone thought he must have company too.

It was only after some time when the thirteenth prince suddenly remembered his objective of the day. He started to look for people- for what? Don’t you know? He was out to be a prodigal son and to squander money!

He casually asked a person, and hence received an answer. There was a very good place to squander money in the city. The rich folks went there to be prodigal sons.

The thirteenth prince can’t remember who it was though. If he did, that person would be in huge trouble, because everyone now wanted to kick his person.

Why? If you knew what place that was, you’d understand. Perhaps you’d have this urge too.

“The Romantic Floor!” The thirteenth prince slowly sounded out the name of the place.

“Pfftt…..” Ye Chengtian spat the tea he’d just sipped.

“What?! What did you say?! The Romantic Floor?” roared Ye Yi and Ye Chengtian, who had tea leaves stuck to his lips.

“Yep!” The thirteenth prince nodded his head.

“Chengtian, what is this Romantic Floor?” asked Long Anyi, puzzled. Looks like she didn’t know what this place was, but it was obvious her husband and the grandfather did.

“Uh… That’s the capital’s most expensive… Brothel…” answered Ye Chengtian meekly.

“Oh, a brothel… No wonder you were so embarrassed, you men… What?! A brothel?” Long Anqi didn’t react in time, only realising afterwards.

A brothel was a more sophisticated way of saying a whorehouse. How could one accept the fact that a five-year-old entered a place like that?

So that was why no one could find him, who’d expect him to be in a place like that? Who’d look for a five-year-old in a place like that?

“Son, tell mom, how does the person look like? I’ll kill him!!” Long Anqi’s face was pale with rage. She exuded such pure rage, no one would even think she was joking.

We can’t blame her though. How could you suggest a kid visit such a place to spend his money?

“He had eyes, and a nose…” recalled the thirteenth prince little by little. Unfortunately, the features he described could only confirm the person was a human. It couldn’t prove anything else at all!

“...”

“Forget it, I’m just glad you’re back. He just wanted to spend a little money. He can’t do it even if he wanted to anyway,” mused Ye Chengtian, his expression very strange.

“Hmmph, I hope they didn’t do anything weird in there, or I’ll demolish that Romantic Floor or whatever it was called,” said Long Anqi through her teeth, “Honey, what did you do there? Can you tell me?”

“The food there was delicious, and good drinks, and many girls who played games with me. I want to play there again,” said the little thirteenth prince.

Long Anqi’s face darkened. She lightly scolded, “No! You can never go to a place like that. You can be a prodigal son or squander your money but you may never go to that kind of place again.”

“Why? It was very fun, more fun that here,” he asked, puzzled. To be fair, the other two also agreed with him. More fun than home indeed.

Cough cough. Of course, that was only what they thought when they were younger.

“There’s no ‘why’. Your mother says so, so you must listen,” Long Anqi didn’t know how to explain, so she could only put her foot down for this one.

“Oh, then I won’t go there again. I’ll go somewhere else to spend money next time,” agreed the thirteenth prince, cocking his head.

Next time? We’ll never let you have a ‘next time’. We’ll never let you out alone.

Everyone still had a question. What was that tiger girl about? As for why the brothel would serve the thirteenth prince without question for three days, they knew the reason.

To a place like the Romantic Floor, as long as you were a rich male, it didn't matter if you were an old man or a kid, the emperor or a slave, they’d treat you like an honoured guest. Serve and pamper you like one.

That was tiger girl was, as the little thirteenth prince said, bought by him as his slave...

During his stay, the Romantic Floor coincidentally had a slave auction, and the kid was one of the slaves there. She was there to target people with some peculiar preferences… As for what peculiar preferences, we’ll not talk about it.

Anyway, in the end, the thirteenth prince bought the girl from tiger race just to squander off his money. It was only for being a prodigal son, not for love, kindness or sympathy.

Out of all the slaves, he chose the kid from the tiger race because of their age. A kid would naturally pick a kid after all!

Finally, it is important to note that the thirteenth prince’s spending at the brothel, plus the purchase of the girl had already used up most of his allowance. A total of 68,100 gold coins.

This was an amount many people couldn't even earn in their lifetime, but he spent it all within 3 days. He truly had the potential to be a prodigal son after all.

This was also why the Romantic Floor never sent out news but rather let the thirteenth prince stay and spend money inside. A big-spender like this was rare.

He’d spent 50,000 gold coins on buying the tiger girl, making up most of his spending. Apparently, and we do not know if it’s true, there was a very powerful person with a peculiar preference who battled with the prince at the auction for the girl. That was how the price went up to 50,000 gold coins. This was the highest-priced bill of the auction too, the second was only 20,000 gold coins for a very beautiful half-elf.

Apparently, and we also do not know if it’s true, that powerful person was very angry. He wanted to see who dared fight against him but was left stunned in the end. Anyone would have the same reaction too. It was very unexpected.

This wasn’t a ‘partner’ purchase, this was a playmate purchase!

Forget it, he didn’t want to fight with a child. It wouldn’t be good for this to spread either, as the person comforted himself. To be honest, if he continued to fight for the girl, this story would definitely spread like wildfire. And his reputation would be torn to shreds after.

However, he didn’t know this thirteenth prince had a special status. The entire city was up and about looking for him! Hence, this story still spread after the incident.

Many people told him they never thought he was ‘one of those’ people…

Also, even if the powerful person were to continue bidding, the thirteenth prince would still bid higher. This was because his objective was to be prodigal. He didn’t care if he brought enough money- heck, he didn’t even know how much money he had on him.

The ‘disappearance’ incident ended here. Only residual noise remained...