IMAO Chapter 72.2

Double update hehe Happy Christmas Eve!

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Horace looked down at Ji Chong’s name on the communicator, glanced at Ludwig who was kneeling on the ground, and moved aside to answer the call.

“What… is it?” Horace asked after a moment of silence when he connected the call.

“Dad!”

A familiar voice came through the communicator. The same pleasant, moderate tone he had heard just yesterday.

Horace froze. What did Ji Chong do?

“Dad, are you there? It’s Ji Rong.”

“Yes!” Horace responded.

Ji Rong cleared his throat and explained the previous misunderstanding awkwardly, “About yesterday’s message, please don’t be angry. I didn’t understand the situation clearly…”

“Is that really why? He didn’t force you to…”

“Really, I swear, he didn’t force me to apologize,” Ji Rong explained about the conversation he accidentally overheard yesterday and said helplessly, “I said those things because I was upset after hearing Father and Marshal Alfonso’s conversation…”

Horace felt warmth in his heart. So that was it.

His son was trying to protect him.

Horace’s bright eyes curved slightly, and the smile that appeared on his lips never faded.

Ludwig knelt trembling on the ground, anxiously waiting for His Majesty to return.

“Tap, tap, tap.”

As footsteps approached, Ludwig instinctively lowered his head, not daring to look up.

“Get up.”

Ludwig hurriedly stood up, but his legs went weak the moment he looked at Horace’s face. In that brief instant, countless possibilities flashed through his mind.

His Majesty was… smiling?

Was it a smile of extreme anger?

Perhaps… he should call the hospital to arrange for organ donation.

As Ludwig stumbled, Horace reached out to steady his old minister. Being in an exceptionally good mood, he unusually asked, “Are you feeling unwell?”

“No-no-no… This subject is fine…”

Horace nodded slightly and brought up the real reason he summoned Ludwig today.

A moment later.

Ludwig: “This subject will follow Your Majesty’s wishes.”

Horace gave Ludwig a satisfied look and dismissed him.

Ludwig stepped out of the great hall and took a deep breath. Just as he reached the palace gates, as expected, the two who had left earlier were waiting there. They immediately stopped him.

“Ludwig, did His Majesty discuss the reforms with you?”

Ludwig nodded. “Yes.”

One of them asked, “How did you respond?”

“Of course I agreed with His Majesty,” Ludwig replied.

The two weren’t surprised by his answer at all, as their responses had been exactly the same.

Ludwig asked in return, “What about you two?”

One of them sighed, “Of course we agreed with His Majesty. He had such a dark expression throughout, I was scared stiff. I could barely get the words out!”

“You did better than me. I couldn’t even speak. I thought tomorrow would be my death anniversary…”

Ludwig gave a small laugh. “I had better luck than you both.”

“How so?”

“His Majesty looked just as grim when he saw me, but then he received a comm call. After that…”

“After that what?” they both asked eagerly.

“After he came back, the smile never left his face.”

“Was it Prince Hosea?”

“I caught a bit of the conversation. I don’t think so.”

…

Meanwhile, at the Silver Palace’s Federation quarters.

Upstairs, a door to one of the rooms opened.

Ji Chong listened as Ji Rong explained things to Horace, noting the happiness in his lover’s voice. He made an excuse to chat with his lover before ending the call, agreeing to meet later.

As for dealing with Ji Rong, he decided to let it go. He was genuinely worried the kid would interrupt their world of two.

After Ji Chong left, Ji Rong changed his clothes and leisurely made his way downstairs to the dining room.

As he was eating, Ji Rong put down his chopsticks, covered his mouth with his fist, and cleared his throat. “Just ask whatever you want to know. Stop staring at me.”

Gu Bai’s eyes immediately lit up. “Ji Rong, you’re the Marshal’s son?”

“Yeah.”

“Biological?”

“What else would we be?”

“…” Gu Bai stared at Ji Rong and said, “You really kept that well hidden!”

“It’s not that big of a deal.”

Ji Rong thought for a moment and said, “Don’t tell anyone else about this.”

Everyone nodded immediately, “Sure!”

Gu Bai sighed, “If it were me, I’d tell the whole world, but here you are keeping it secret.”

Ji Rong just smiled without saying anything.

Everyone chatted animatedly, asking many questions about Ji Chong’s daily life, satisfying their curiosity about their idol’s lifestyle while feeling both envious and amazed.

They used to think Ji Rong was just nitpicky, but now they saw him as truly approachable. Ji Rong was actually a good person. Finally, Cyril gathered his courage and asked, “Ji Rong, honestly, did the War God hit you earlier?”

“Hm?”

“Didn’t the War God want to beat you up just now?”

“Heh,” Ji Rong propped his chin with one hand, blinked, and looked at Cyril with a smug expression, “He wouldn’t dare.”

Cyril: “…”

Cyril’s mouth twitched as he repeated Ji Rong’s words, his tone full of doubt, “Wouldn’t… dare?”

Ji Rong: “I told him if he hit me, I’d take leave from school and go home when I get back.”

Everyone: “???”

Ji Rong: “To be a lightbulb.”

Everyone: “…”

Everyone’s inner thoughts: The War God gave in just like that?! How is this reasonable? This isn’t reasonable at all! This is straight-up magical realism!

Seeing Ji Rong’s showing-off appearance, Jiang Yuan couldn’t help but laugh. It was obvious that Ji Rong had been disciplined by Ji Chong plenty of times before, and now he was like a rooster who’d won a fight.

Ji Rong had been feeling a bit guilty for not telling Jiang Yuan earlier that Ji Chong was his father, but hearing Jiang Yuan’s laughter, he was immediately drawn to that smiling face.

“Haven’t you all forgotten something?” Jiang Yuan’s gaze swept across everyone as he reminded them.

Cyril: …

Gu Bai: …

Everyone: ……

Gu Bai elbowed Cyril hard and complained, “This is all your fault!”

“You wanted to join in! How is it my fault?” Cyril protested.

“It’s still your fault!”

Jiang Yuan watched them leisurely while Ji Rong stood beside him, confused. “What are you guys talking about?”

No one answered him. They were all struggling between keeping their dignity and swallowing their pride.

But as future soldiers, their education taught them to keep their word.

“Ge…”

After his internal struggle, Cyril bit his lip and called out shyly in a tiny voice.

Jiang Yuan smiled. “I didn’t catch that.”

Cyril spoke a bit louder: “Jiang-ge…”

“Ge! Jiang-ge!” Gu Bai accepted his loss gracefully and called out to Jiang Yuan. He even went further, “Ge, your little brother will be counting on you from now on. Give me more chances to shine during competitions!”

“Sure,” Jiang Yuan agreed.

“Ge, we all heard you! No taking it back!” said Gu Bai.

“Mm,” Jiang Yuan hummed.

Ji Rong was completely lost. Seeing all his teammates suddenly calling Jiang Yuan “brother” made him uncomfortable. What was going on?

They were on the same team but hadn’t known each other before. Although they respected stronger players, everyone was on first-name basis even with older teammates. No one used “brother” before.

“Hold on, why are you all suddenly calling Jiang Yuan ‘Ge’? What’s happening?” Ji Rong asked.

Cyril pursed his lips. “It’s all because of you.”

Everyone sighed.

“Because of me?” Ji Rong pointed at himself.

Jiang Yuan chuckled and explained what happened earlier to Ji Rong. After hearing it, Ji Rong looked relieved and said to Jiang Yuan, “Good thing you were the one betting with them this time.”

“I used to always be on the receiving end.”

Seeing Ji Rong’s relieved expression, Jiang Yuan said with amusement, “Then I guess I got lucky.”

“You sure did!” Ji Rong agreed.

“By the way… I didn’t tell you before, but my dad is Ji Chong. I didn’t mean to hide it. You don’t mind, right?” Ji Rong hesitated before deciding to tell Jiang Yuan. “The reason I didn’t say anything was because of my dad’s special status…”

“Besides, every time I mention it, I stop being Ji Rong and become ‘the War God’s son’ instead…”

Although he was sure Jiang Yuan wouldn’t be angry about this, what if he was unhappy?

With that thought, Ji Rong spilled everything, including the ‘sad story’ of being Ji Chong’s son all these years. He made himself sound particularly pitiful and wronged.

Jiang Yuan was completely unbothered. “I don’t mind. I’m friends with you, not with whoever your dad is.”

Jiang Yuan even joked, “So does this mean I’m now friends with a ‘second-generation military’?”

“You bet!” Ji Rong replied.

As they were talking, a voice suddenly came from behind—

“You’re worried about making Jiang Yuan angry, but not about making me angry?”

Without even looking at the speaker, Ji Rong replied without hesitation, “Nope.”

Liu Shan, who was completely ignored: “…”

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