When An Bai finally returned to the palace the gods had allocated to him and the others, he was feeling complicated. The matter Duan Ming had brought up wasn’t that astounding. At most, the timing was a little off. But then, this could also help his king. No, what really kept him preoccupied was the matter with Yi Yun.

Getting a proposal … he really hadn’t seen that coming. Also, if he had ever tried imagining somebody proposing to him, he would have thought they’d be a dragon. At the very least, the dragons often didn’t hesitate to jump into relationships. If you saw somebody you liked, why not try? An engagement might not even be necessary.

But the gods were different. He was under the impression that they were more reserved and wouldn’t get into relationships that easily. Yi Yun … he really hadn’t given him the feeling that he was interested in him so suddenly being asked this question felt odd.

An Bai sat down at the table and looked at the box with the stationery in a daze. The matter had already been solved but it was hard not to think about it. If Yi Yun who had seemed so detached was able to ask something like this … should he be worried about the other gods? But no, he didn’t have that much charm.

An Bai shook his head at himself and sighed before pulling out a transmission stone. Never mind Yi Yun and the proposal. It was odd but also nothing that would have too much of an impact. Either way, they had cleared it up and Yi Yun hadn’t seemed too put off.

Maybe it was actually good to ask about pursuing the other before your feelings developed further. This way, the disappointment wouldn’t be as heavy and there also wouldn’t be hard feelings toward each other.

The person An Bai tried to contact was naturally Xiang Yong. He answered the transmission after only a few seconds had passed but then raised his brows when he saw his face. “What’s the matter? You look …” Well, odd might be a good way to put it but that didn’t even begin to capture the full extent of An Bai’s expression.

An Bai could only shake his head again. “Well … I was proposed to today.” If it had been one of the others, he probably would have kept it quiet but he and Xiang Yong had talked about this before so he would understand the complicated feelings this gave him.

“Ah.” Xiang Yong indeed didn’t need to ask further to fully grasp the situation. “I hope they took the rejection well?”

An Bai hummed in response. “I’d say so, yes. It … was one of the gods, actually. In fact, I probably can’t say that he asked me to marry him. I think the exact words were ‘ask for permission to pursue you with marriage in mind’. But then, it’s more or less the same at the end, isn’t it?”

Xiang Yong’s lips twitched. The gods really were quite reserved, weren’t they? “I guess it’s better this way though. They shouldn’t have any hard feelings about this.”

“Yeah, I don’t think they do.” An Bai patted the top of the box in front of him, his expression still a little lost. He knew it was nothing much but … he didn’t feel good about this whole matter.

Xiang Yong watched him closely and finally sighed. “Don’t think too much. It’s just a one-off. There won’t suddenly be a slew of people proposing to you. In fact, if this spreads, there might even be less. And no matter how many come, you can reject each and every one of them without feeling guilty about it. It’s your right. Nobody can make you date one of the gods or the dragons and they sure can’t force you to get married.”

An Bai nodded but his brows still furrowed. “I know that. It’s just … I don’t think too many of them will understand. As long as there is no partner at my side, things like this might happen over and over again. I just … don’t really want to deal with that.”

“I know. Well, just wait until the current mission in the Nine Heavens has been finished. After you return to the dragon realm and spend most of your time in the king’s palace, the chances for something like this to happen will go down. Who dares to make trouble at this place?”

An Bai finally smiled. “You’re right. It’ll be easier in the dragon realm.” It was just a pity … An Bai’s lips twitched and he couldn’t help but sigh. “Unfortunately, it might still be a while. This is actually the other reason why I contacted you.” He recounted his encounter with Duan Ming from how he had given him the pendant to the matter the God of Justice was working on.”

Xiang Yong hummed faintly. “So you were handed jewelry by a man but it wasn’t actually for you and then you were given stationery as a proposal gift?”

An Bai almost laughed out loud. He hadn’t thought too much when Duan Ming pulled out jewelry in front of him. If it had been after Yi Yun’s proposal, he might have had some second thoughts but at that moment, the idea that this object could have been meant for him hadn’t even crossed his mind. Now that Xiang Yong put it like that though, he realized that this was indeed a bit odd.

“Well, he called the stationery a gift of appreciation and I actually felt appreciated. It fits me well. As for jewelry … I don’t think I would have liked it.” The people of their race liked to gift jewelry and for many, wearing it was also a happy thing. But he had never been that way. In this regard, he didn’t seem like the usual dragon as well.

Xiang Yong smiled in response. “At least he got that right. Although … hearing what that Duan Ming said and seeing as that Yi Yun is from the Court of Justice, maybe this proposal actually had some deeper meaning than just appreciating your looks and character?”