Yu Chen closed his eyes briefly, truly afraid to ask what kind of talent was being referred to.
Fortunately, the Third Prince didn’t elaborate on his “talent.”
“But I still selfishly hope you can stay by my side, together with me, to reclaim the Milky Way’s lost first border line, to conquer that sea of stars we have yet to set foot upon.”
Yun Xunlan only spoke these words that concealed his private thoughts yet could elevate their friendship.
He looked at Yu Chen with unwittingly eager eyes and asked: “Major Yu Chen, are you willing?”
Yu Chen didn’t meet Yun Xunlan’s gaze. His right hand formed a fist that he pressed against his chest as he gave the silver-haired alpha a military salute: “…I am willing, Your Highness.”
Hearing this, both Yun Xunlan and the system were satisfied.
The system felt deeply gratified: “Success! You recorded his words, right? You must keep it safe. Before we conquer the entire universe, he’s not allowed to leave you. If he tries to leave, just play this recording for him and let him listen carefully to the promise he made.”
Yun Xunlan had indeed recorded it, but there was a problem: “This recording has no legal effect, nor does it have any binding power.”
The system was unconcerned: “But you can use it to morally bind him.”
Yun Xunlan added: “What if he lacks the proper conduct to accept moral binding?”
“That can’t be right? I think he’s quite…” The system paused halfway through its sentence, recalling why they had kept Yu Chen behind, and immediately corrected itself, “…somewhat decent in his conduct.”
Yun Xunlan asked a soul-searching question: “But if he’s already acting against today’s promise by leaving me, how much proper conduct could he possibly have left?”
The system, however, didn’t see this as a problem: “Well, if he lacks proper conduct, then find a way to instill it in him. He’s your man now. Just have Ni Chun relay orders to Commander Dike to strengthen the ideological education of the guards and improve their moral cultivation. There’s plenty of time ahead. Your initial interaction with Yu Chen has been very successful. Don’t bite off more than you can chew—let your brotherly relationship develop to this point for today.”
Yun Xunlan: “Mm.”
He played the farewell card: “Major Yu Chen has had a tiring journey today. Ni Chun, please escort Major Yu Chen back to rest well.”
“Yes,” Ni Chun responded immediately, leading Yu Chen out.
On the way, Yu Chen wanted to look back several times but restrained himself. He ignored Fu Yanxi and Gui Yan’s inquiries about why the Third Prince had met with him alone. As soon as he returned to the royal guard quarters in the North Palace, he shut himself in his room to review everything that had happened since entering the North Palace.
The more he reviewed, the stranger the developments seemed to Yu Chen.
He could be certain of one thing: the blue sapphire communication device had definitely been switched intentionally by Yun Xunlan.
As the Third Prince’s chief attendant, Ni Chun would never make such a basic mistake. Yun Xunlan had staged this to keep him behind for a private conversation, but Yu Chen couldn’t determine the purpose of this conversation.
He had originally thought it was about tutoring, but until the end of their talk, Yun Xunlan hadn’t mentioned those two words once.
Unable to figure it out on his own, Yu Chen called Pei Xingting.
Unable to figure it out on his own, Yu Chen called Pei Xingting.
After Pei Xingting answered, he said directly: “Yun Xunlan did meet with me privately, but he…”
Pei Xingting had been on duty all day yesterday, hadn’t slept for an entire day, and was still catching up on sleep when Yu Chen’s call woke him. His mind was inevitably foggy, so he could only absent-mindedly agree like the wind blowing past a horse’s ears: “Mm-hmm… I told you he would definitely find you to tutor—”
Yu Chen interrupted him: “Tutor my ass, he didn’t mention it at all.”
“He didn’t mention tutoring?” Hearing this, Pei Xingting also became alert, frowning as he asked, “Then what did he talk to you about?”
Yu Chen was also wondering, what had Yun Xunlan said to him?
Actually, he had said a lot—that his favorite color was blue, that he admired Yu Chen the most, that Yu Chen’s eyes and pheromones were like a sea… But what Yu Chen remembered most deeply was that line—”For someone of your talent, being just my guard is a waste.”
…This sentence absolutely could not be told to Pei Xingting.
So Yu Chen began to consider which of Yun Xunlan’s words he could share with Pei Xingting.
After thinking about it, however, Yu Chen found that if quoted directly, none of them seemed appropriate to say out loud, as they could easily create misunderstandings.
When Pei Xingting hadn’t heard Yu Chen’s answer for a long time, he urged: “Say something? Did meeting Yun Xunlan once make you bite off your tongue and become mute?”
“He said he wanted… Fuck!”
Yu Chen was struggling to figure out how to rephrase Yun Xunlan’s inappropriately expressed words in a way that wouldn’t easily lead to misunderstandings.
But before he could carefully choose his words, Pei Xingting was already rushing him. He instinctively opened his mouth and almost misspoke, nearly turning “he wants to conquer the stars and sea with me” into “he wants to conquer me.” When he abruptly stopped mid-sentence, he actually bit his tongue, which instantly made him so annoyed that he didn’t want to say another word.
“Forget it, he didn’t say anything. Hanging up.”
“Yu Chen, you mother—”
Yu Chen ended the call before Pei Xingting could complete his curse.
By now night had fallen, but he hadn’t turned on the lights. Threads of salty, fishy pheromones burst from the blood seeping from the wound on his tongue, instantly pulling him back to that memory enveloped in the scent of ocean tides.
In the darkness, Yu Chen seemed to see again the silver-haired, golden-eyed alpha standing before him, with that half-smiling, husky whisper of “I admire you the most.”
He touched his light brain in silence for a moment, then opened the social media app to search for Yun Xunlan’s galactic web account. After finding it, he didn’t look at his profile updates or anything, but went straight to the [Information] section, fixing his gaze on a small line of text—
[Favorite Color: None]
Yu Chen read this line three times, making sure he hadn’t misread or seen it wrong, then made a second call to Pei Xingting.
As soon as the call connected, Pei Xingting continued his unfinished curse: “Yu Chen, I’ll—”
Yu Chen interrupted him again: “What’s Yun Xunlan’s favorite color?”
“Not sure,” Pei Xingting replied irritably. “But as far as I know, he doesn’t have any particular preference for colors.”
Yu Chen frowned: “Are you certain?”
“I’ve been his doctor for three years. If I’m not certain, are you?”
“Fine, I’m going to sleep.”
“Yu Chen, you really are a stupid—”
Yu Chen once again didn’t give Pei Xingting the chance to finish his curse.
But in his heart, he completed the word himself: idiot.
—He had actually believed the brainwashing tactics a superior uses to control subordinates and even sought to verify them. If that wasn’t being an idiot, what was?
Indeed, Yu Chen believed that Yun Xunlan had kept him behind for a private conversation to brainwash him, to ensure his unwavering loyalty, willingness to sacrifice his life, and readiness to face any danger without hesitation.
As for why he was specifically chosen, the reason was simple: he was the only one who hadn’t been “completely enchanted” by Yun Xunlan yet.
After all, the other alphas—especially Fu Yanxi and Gui Yan—had obviously already been bewitched to the point of confusion. Did Yun Xunlan still need to brainwash them? The answer was clearly no.
The Prince had stated it plainly at their first meeting: he wanted to hear them swear eternal loyalty to the Empire and to him.
And what was his own “oath”?
Compared to the deeply emotional and steadfastly loyal oaths of others, his was crude, vulgar, and offensive. Yun Xunlan had probably never seen anyone dare to speak such “filthy language” to his face before.
No wonder Yun Xunlan had kept him behind alone, wanting to wash his brain a bit. Even Yu Chen himself wanted to pour some water into his head to wash away the related memories, not wanting to remember this “oath” anymore.
Thinking back on the scene now, Yun Xunlan had been quite nice. To care for his feelings and prevent excessive embarrassment, he had even gone against his conscience to say such obviously false lies as “admirable” and “admire you the most” to comfort him.
The poor Prince had really gone out of his way.
Yu Chen decided to take back his narrow-minded views of Fu Yanxi, Gui Yan, and the others. In the future, he wouldn’t ask them “Do you really love him that much?” anymore, but would instead say “No wonder you all love him so much.”
Truly worthy of being at the top of the “Galaxy’s Most Desirable Alpha to Marry” ranking.
With that voice, Yun Xunlan could make even brainwashing words to alpha guards sound so pleasant. If he were to speak words of love, who could remain unmoved and not want to marry him?
Licking the almost healed wound on the tip of his tongue, Yu Chen’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. After a moment, he suddenly got up and walked to the window, opening it to let the floating fragrance of lychee flesh and roses intertwined with the night breeze enter the room, gently brushing across his face.
Melt the eighteen lychee rose on your tongue…
Yu Chen silently recited the advertising slogan for Elianxia’s new ice cream cone, thinking: he still felt that Elianxia’s ice cream cone itself wasn’t worth eighteen star coins, but the scent it possessed, extremely similar to lychee rose, might be worth it.
At this moment in the North Palace, Yun Xunlan—still unaware that his friendly gesture to become brothers had been misinterpreted by Yu Chen as a brainwashing operation—was chatting on his light brain with his childhood friend Jian Wenxi, who had been his good brother for many years.
Jian Wenxi particularly couldn’t understand his special treatment of Yu Chen.
[Jian Wenxi: Yun Xunlan, I thought about it all night yesterday and still can’t understand why you would find another alpha pleasing to the eye during your susceptibility period. This puzzles me more than any universal formula. But I’ve researched a lot of information and found that this phenomenon does exist among homosexuals. So are you gay? Not interested in omegas and betas, but in alphas?]
[Yun Xunlan: Sorry, Wenxi, my previous explanation was problematic. Let me correct it: I don’t find other alphas pleasing to the eye, just Yu Chen specifically. But I’m not gay.]
[Jian Wenxi: After hearing your explanation, I’m even more confused.]
There was no way around it—Yun Xunlan couldn’t explain too clearly, or the system’s existence would be exposed. His system was an ancient treasure from the cultivation world, something that didn’t exist in this world at all. Explaining it would only make Jian Wenxi more bewildered.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Yun Xunlan chose an explanation that he believed was concise yet perfectly suited to his situation with Yu Chen—
[Yun Xunlan: Then you can consider him my destined mate. I couldn’t control myself when he appeared. Does that help you understand?]
Jian Wenxi: “…”
Wait, you’re both alphas—how does that make you destined mates?
And you’re asking me to consider him your destined mate, yet you say you’re not gay???
Jian Wenxi wasn’t confused anymore; he was completely dumbfounded.
Who exactly was this Yu Chen?
What abilities did he possess?
He had grown up with Yun Xunlan since childhood but had never seen him show such singular preference for anyone.
Could it be that Yu Chen had special seduction techniques?
—If so, he must be incredibly flirtatious!
Otherwise, how could he have captivated Yun Xunlan so thoroughly in just two short days?
Hearing is deceptive, seeing is believing—this principle remains eternally true.
The more Jian Wenxi thought about it, the more he couldn’t suppress his curiosity. So after repeatedly weighing his options, he made an extremely difficult and painful decision—
[Jian Wenxi: Yun Xunlan, I can’t wait for you to return to the laboratory to tell me the details. I’ve decided to attend your birthday banquet to see with my own eyes this Yu Chen whom you consider your destined mate.]
[Yun Xunlan: Alright.]
[Jian Wenxi: But as you know, I’m very afraid of people, so that day you need to meet me at the entrance and protect me. Don’t let anyone else touch me, okay? I’ll just look at Yu Chen and then leave.]
[Yun Xunlan: Alright.]
[Jian Wenxi: Many times when you talk to me, you really sound like a voice recorder, but that’s good. I like it very much, keep it up. Other alphas see me and talk way too much, it’s so annoying. Oh, and you don’t need to reply to this.]
[Yun Xunlan: Alright.]
[Jian Wenxi: …]
Was Ni Chun there the whole time??!?!!!?!!