At this time, Qiu Ling had already arrived at the Palace of War with Mu Kun and followed him to the building in the southwest corner that was usually unused. He stopped outside and simply looked at it, his heart racing.

In there was his beloved, likely still getting ready for the ceremony later on. After the bath, his body should carry the faint smell of the flowers they had chosen. The robe and jewelry he might already be wearing right now was the same he himself wore, the one representing the colors of Heaven which would only be put on for the wedding. When he went in now and they stood opposite each other, it would be time for them to leave for the square soon and actually get married.

He … he didn’t know what to feel right now. He had chased after Jing He for so long, barely managing to catch up and make him agree to get married. He had accompanied him through his trial and through the time he was a fallen god as well as he could. He had caused him issues but he believed that he had also brought him joy. Now … the chase would come to an end and he would be able to call him his. Not just because he felt that way and wanted to but because they would be legally wedded in front of everyone’s eyes. He indeed would be his.

He naturally looked forward to it. He wanted Jing He to be his spouse more than anything else. But Heaven knew how worried he suddenly felt. It had been such a long time of running after him, trying and trying again, that he just … didn’t know how to face the end of this time.

Yes, it would be incredible to be married and tomorrow morning, he might open his eyes with a blissful smile and tell himself that he had been an idiot the day before for actually worrying about anything on his wedding day but … right now, this was how he felt. Just a little bit of panic about what was to come. Would the ceremony go off without a hitch? Would they make it back to the dragon realm for real? Would … would everything be as Jing He envisioned it, making him happy?

He gulped and reached up, rubbing his chest. He had to calm down. He could be worried but he couldn’t be notably so. Throughout all these years, he had been Jing He’s safe haven or at least he had aspired to be. Now, such an important day had arrived and it was still questionable whether anything would go wrong. He had to seem calmer than ever so Jing He could hold his hand and lean on him to gain some strength.

“Longjun?” Mu Kun was waiting next to him, wondering why the person wasn’t going inside. Was there anything wrong? Were there any intruders? He looked around, trying to spot anyone, and listened closely to anything that might be out of the ordinary but there was nothing.

Qiu Ling was pulled out of his thoughts and exhaled. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m just … I’m just nervous.”

Mu Kun raised his brows but still nodded. “Longjun does not need to worry. His Highness has finally returned. Since we don’t know who the perpetrator was, the God of War has heightened the security measures for today’s celebration a lot. Plus, aren’t there people from the dragon realm as well? Surely, nothing will go wrong.”

Mu Kun actually didn’t know that Jing He and Qiu Ling were about to get married. He only thought Qiu Ling worried about the same thing he and Huang Lan worried about: That there might be a repeat of what had happened before and some bastard would try to grab His Highness while they weren’t looking.

Of course, that was unacceptable. In a way, he almost hoped that the people from the dragon realm would stay. Even though he had pride in being a Heavenly Guard and trusted in his own abilities, he had to admit that the dragons had physical advantages over them. Maybe they could indeed confront a fallen god for longer than the trueborn gods themselves could.

He was kind of counting on that. After all, apart from the dragon king and his advisers, it seemed like even the generals of the dragon realm had all come. Their fighting prowess could never said to be low so even though there were a few demons mixed into the crowd today, Mu Kun still felt that today might be the safest day their capital city had ever seen. It was just right to celebrate their crown prince’s safe return, although he’d feel a lot better if they had managed to take care of the person who caused this whole issue.

Qiu Ling understood what he meant and hummed. “You are right. Then I will go inside.” He stepped past Mu Kun, opened the door, and stepped into the spacious hall used to receive guests.

Even though nobody lived here, the servants still maintained the place and Qiang Yan had asked them to give it more attention over the last few days to have it ready for when Jing He got ready for the ceremony here. As a result, the hall looked splendid, just as it likely would have if the building was in use.

Qiu Ling looked around and then stood on the spot. He wasn’t sure where exactly Jing He and his uncle currently were and he didn’t want to disturb them. It seemed best to wait here until they came out.

He rubbed his fingers against his palms and finally took off the veiled hat, putting it away. As soon as Jing He stepped out, there was no hiding it any longer. Not to mention … he wanted to look at his beloved directly, not through a piece of fabric. He had waited too long to be obstructed in any way.