It had been in the last days of spring when the temperatures slowly went up but a cool breeze still rustled in the herb field behind the palace. Jinde’s hair had shimmered in the afternoon sun, his eyes sparkling as if they were truly made out of melted gold and all the while a gentle smile hung on his lips.

Jin Ling watched him weed the field and water the herbs. Back then how old had he been? A hundred years? Maybe a hundred and fifty years? It sounded old but for dragons or demons he could merely be regarded as a little child. In fact, some of the herbs in Jinde’s field were larger than him so he had to make sure he didn’t lose him.

He waddled after him. As soon as Jinde took half a step he’d follow two. He wouldn’t leave his side for even a moment and every so often Jinde himself would turn to the side to make sure he was still there. Then, that gentle smile would become a little brighter and those beautiful eyes became glittering crescents. Whenever he saw them Jin Ling would inch still a bit closer regardless of how close he had stood before.

Unfortunately, good things never lasted long. It had probably been just an hour or two when a dark voice sounded behind them.

"Your Majesty."

Jinde looked back and stood up, elegantly patted off the dirt of his hands. "Xin Lan, you’ve returned."

"Mn." The man didn’t say anything else. He just looked at Jinde, his deep gaze raising Jin Ling’s hackles.

He was still too young to understand but he had the bad feeling that somebody wanted to take Jinde from him. He wouldn’t allow him! That was his Jinde! Nobody else could have him!

He reached out to grab Jinde but just then this beloved person of his had actually seen something worrying. He hurried over to Xin Lan’s side and grabbed his arm.

"What happened to you?"

Xin Lan didn’t say anything. He just looked at those long fingers that gently held onto him and then lifted his gaze to those golden eyes that examined his wound before hurriedly looking ahead again. Just as if nothing had happened.

Jinde didn’t notice but Jin Ling did. And even if he was still a child, a child of the immortal races would still have a little more awareness than a mortal child. He hurriedly reached out again and tugged at Jinde’s sleeve.

"What is it, Ah Jin?"

Jin Ling stretched out his little arms, asking for a hug. Jinde blinked as if a bit surprised. In the end, he still bent down and picked the little one up. Jin Ling couldn’t help but shoot a triumphant glance at Xin Lan. The man wasn’t fazed though. He just returned that gaze until Jin Ling couldn’t take it any longer and burrowed his face into Jinde’s golden hair. To his horror, the unwelcome person still didn’t leave after that. Quite the contrary.

"Xin Lan, come on in. Let me have a look at that." Jinde just carried Jin Ling into his alchemy room, sat him down in a chair, patted his head and … turned to Xin Lan, this terrible patient.

Jin Ling watched in horror as the other person stripped down to the waist and let Jinde take a look at his injuries as if it was nothing strange at all. Jin Ling sat at the side with a bitter expression on his face but in front of Jinde, he would never raise a fuss. So, he just patiently waited until the bad person was all stitched up and finally left.

As soon as the door closed behind Xin Lan, Jin Ling slipped down from the chair and hugged Jinde’s leg. Jinde stopped moving and looked at him.

For a while, the two of them just watched each other. Finally, Jinde’s hand lifted and ruffled Jin Ling’s hair. "Did I take too long? Don’t worry. Uncle Xin is alright again. Now I’m only there for you."

Jin Ling smiled brightly. Who cared about 'uncle Xin'? But he finally had his Jinde back! As cutely as possible he stretched out his arms again and once again he was picked up and carried in Jinde’s arms. Jin Ling grabbed a strand of that golden hair hanging down and held onto it, feeling like he had found the most valuable thing in the world.

Jinde just let him be. He couldn’t help but sigh when thinking of Xin Lan though. "Mn, Xin Lan was hurt again. I really wonder what he’s been up to in the last few months. It’s been quite often already. I’m a little worried."

Jin Ling looked up, not understanding what this was about. Why did his Jinde care so much about that terrible person? He pursed his lips, unwilling to share Jinde’s attention with anyone. He had to let him see what a bad person that man was!

Jin Ling thought about it hard. What exactly was bad about that person? Naturally, it was because he wanted his Jinde’s attention! And he had a head full of white hair. Wasn’t this practically an old man? How could someone like that disgrace his Jinde with his presence?! His Jinde was a beauty! And then he was wearing that stupid mask every day. What was he trying to say with that?

Jin Ling didn’t understand so he could only lower himself to show a bit of interest in the bad person first. After that, he would find something to make Jinde hate him!

He tugged at Jinde’s lapel until he finally came out of his thoughts and looked at him. "Why is … uncle Xin wearing a mask?"

Jinde had seemed to hesitate and his gaze went to the door Xin Lan had left through. "Mn, that’s a good question. It’s because … your uncle Xin is the strongest among us dragons!"

"The strongest?" Jin Ling blinked his eyes. So that terrible person was with his Jinde because he was the strongest? His eyes lit up and he lightly tugged at that golden hair. "Then in the future, I’ll become the strongest!"

Jinde blinked. "Why? You like uncle Xin’s mask? I can make one for you, too, if you want."

Thinking back to that now Jin Ling furrowed his brow. Who wanted a stupid mask?! He had obviously just wanted to stay at his side forever! What kind of misunderstanding was that?

Had Jin Ling known that Jinde had understood very well and that he had actually gotten a good laugh out of this show of affection he would probably have been furious. Thankfully, the two people who knew about that would probably never talk about it.