Chapter 84 - 84 - A Damsel In Distress

Things were back to normal when Fang rejoined his school trip. Several teachers praised him publicly for his selfless care of younger children at the orphanage he used to live in and most of those who had believed the rumours had come to apologise to him. As for those who had started the rumours, they had been suspended and sent back to Cosmopolis. Fang could only appreciate Pax's efficiency and make a mental note never to get in Pax's bad side!

Wade had also come to apologise, and since it seemed like he'd come to his senses, Fang had taken pity on him and advised him to let Ren cool off for a bit before approaching him again.

As the school trip approached its end, Fang became rather reluctant to return to Cosmopolis without Ren. He'd finally truly come to understand why they said home is where the heart is. And Fang's heart was with Ren for life now...

Still, Fang knew that this parting was merely temporary and soon they would be together again. With four adorable little tails, to boot.

"Hey, Fang, did you hear? One of the princesses of Dune Country is visiting the museum we're going to!" a classmate told Fang.

Dune Country was a neighbour to Sand Country, and it was a functional monarchy where the king held all powers. He was also famous for having fifteen children, and each of the royal children were rumoured to be devastatingly beautiful.

"Why is she coming here? They won't cancel our trip, right?" another classmate grumbled.

"Don't think so," the class representative said. "I heard from the teachers that she wants to go to Cosmopolis to study and someone suggested that she interact with students of our school."

Quite a few students were excited to hear that. After all, it wasn't every day that you met a real princess, especially one who could potentially become your schoolmate!

Fang's only concern was if the princess' security would delay them - and his friends burst out laughing the moment he said so.

"Man, you're lovesick!" the snake expert boy teased Fang. "By the way, what happened to that snake?"

"She's claimed Ren as her father," Fang replied truthfully. "She's even more clingy than our furballs..."

"Well, snakes like to keep warm, so..."

Fang nodded. "We consulted an expert and got all the supplies for her," he said, conveniently omitting the fact that the snake and the snake expert they consulted were one and the same!

"Get ready to board the buses!" a teacher called.

The students quickly lined up and soon were on their way to the museum. Fang sent a text message to Ren about the VIP from Dune Country and the possibility of a delay.

The historical museum was actually the converted imperial palace of an ancient king of Sand Country. It was humongous and the students felt lost even with the detailed map of the building and the gardens that had been handed out in the buses. It was very impressive and beautiful, though.

Fang wondered idly how it would feel to live in a huge place like this... perhaps, for their next holiday, he could take Ren to a palace converted into a resort. Ren would probably be right at home amidst the luxurious surroundings. An image of Ren wearing an ancient king's robes - complete with a crown and a sceptre and sitting on a throne flashed in Fang's mind...

Someone nudged him, jolting Fang out of his lovely daydream.

"Look, the princess is here with her entourage," the classmate told Fang.

Fang looked over curiously.

The princess was indeed pretty, but Fang wasn't bowled over. Even without the biased filter of love, he knew that Ren was extremely handsome, and Fang himself was no less good looking! Pax and Wolf could outmatch sculptures in terms of physical beauty as well, and Claw, who was Fang's bodyguard most of the time, could walk on a supermodel ramp anytime. And living with such devastation level gorgeousness had become a habit for Fang. As a result, he'd become rather immune to beauty.

Unlike Fang, his schoolmates were in awe. The princess was courteous but a little aloof as she greeted the teachers and the students, and her eyes lingered for a bit on Wade...until she saw Fang and her eyes brightened immediately.

"Oh no, CEO Ren has a rival, and it's a royal princess at that," the girl next to Fang muttered ominously.

Fang rolled his eyes in contempt. As if it were so easy to move his heart that was held warmly in Ren's palms!

He had no intention to engage with the princess after that look, though, so Fang drifted towards the back of the room and slipped away with another group of his schoolmates the moment he got a chance! Ren wasn't the jealous type, but there was no harm in being careful...after all, they had recently gone through a turbulent period!

And thus Fang was quite unaware of the danger he had inadvertently avoided, until he saw Dune Country's imperial guards running helter skelter.

"What happened?" Fang asked.

A babble of panicked voices greeted him.

"The princess is missing!"

"Are all the students here?"

"No! Several students are missing as well!"

"Could this be an abduction?!"

"Activate the chip! Find the princess!"

"Call on the mobile phones of the missing students!"

"Who was the princess speaking with the last time she was seen?!"

"I...I think it was Wade... he's missing too..."

About half an hour later, it was finally confirmed that the princess and three students, including Wade, had been abducted.. The rest of the missing students were found unconscious in the back garden of the museum, and when one of them woke up, he confirmed that masked men had indeed taken the princess hostage, and some of the students had tried to save her, but ended up being either knocked unconscious here or dragged along with the princess by the kidnappers.