ISMW Chapter 41

Fu Yanxi stopped smiling.

 

How could he still smile?

 

As the saying goes, you fear your brother’s suffering but also fear him getting ahead.

 

Yu Chen might be happy, but what about him?

 

Fu Yanxi knew best that Yun Xunlan didn’t like seeing people when he was sick—he had heard it from nurses when he was 15; a week ago, he witnessed it when even Lord Mu Xingyu couldn’t open Yun Xunlan’s door; and just yesterday, he learned it again from Crown Princess Yun Xunguang.

 

But now what was Commander Dike saying?

 

He said the Third Highness wanted to see Yu Chen as soon as he woke up!

 

Fu Yanxi’s envious and jealous gaze, like poisonous thorns, stabbed towards Yu Chen.

 

This time, it was Yu Chen’s turn to smile at Fu Yanxi.

 

“Hang… No, Commander Dike!” Fu Yanxi refused to give up. In his urgency, he almost called out the nickname the guards had given Commander Dike behind his back. He quickly corrected himself and asked, “Can I go with Yu Chen?”

 

“I’ll just stand at the door…”

 

“Just looking from afar would be enough.”

 

This plea was full of genuine emotion from Fu Yanxi, touching to hear. Everyone was moved and wanted to go along.

 

Unfortunately, Dike’s heart was like iron. He raised an eyebrow, unmoved, and said: “Get a grip. Go enjoy your leave. Yu Chen, come with me.”

 

Fu Yanxi had no choice but to resort to mutual destruction: “Gui Yan, let’s go too! Let’s go eat ice cream!”

 

Gui Yan responded: “Let’s go!”

 

Yu Chen: “…”

 

Damn, when he gets back from seeing Yun Xunlan, he’ll definitely beat Fu Yanxi up.

 

Yu Chen put the blue betta fish back in the dormitory and got into Dike’s car.

 

On the way, Dike asked him: “Alright, Yu Chen, it’s just the two of us here. You can tell me what exactly you did to make the Third Highness look at you so differently.”

 

“Commander, I really didn’t do anything,” Yu Chen thought for a moment and said, “Maybe it’s because I have more personal charm?”

 

So Yun Xunlan especially likes him and wants to see him, it’s normal, right?

 

This is an innate talent that others can’t learn.

 

“Good, good, good. You have personal charm, huh?” Dike said “good” three times in a row. Although he was also smiling, there was a sense of gritting teeth in his words. “When you finish your leave, I’ll add some training for you, to make your body as charming as your personality.”

 

Yu Chen: “…”

 

Jealousy makes people ugly.

 

Yu Chen shut up and stopped talking.

 

He was thinking about Yun Xunlan.

 

Today was the third day of his separation from Yun Xunlan.

 

During these three days, he would send a message to Pei Xingting every morning and night, even though Pei Xingting’s reply was always “Concussion, will be fine after a week of rest”. Yu Chen still had to ask, as if he couldn’t be at ease without asking. But even after asking, without seeing Yun Xunlan in person, his worried heart couldn’t settle back in place.

 

It wasn’t until they arrived at the Imperial Military Medical Research Institute that Yu Chen’s heartbeat gradually returned to normal.

 

He unconsciously quickened his pace, but when he reached Yun Xunlan’s hospital room door, he found Crown Princess Yun Xunguang was also there.

 

She had changed her clothes and was standing at the door of Yun Xunlan’s room. Her long lashes were half-lowered, making it impossible to discern her emotions. But when she heard Yu Chen’s footsteps, she raised her head, smiling at the newcomer: “Major Yu Chen, we meet again.”

 

Yu Chen bowed his head in greeting: “Crown Princessss.”

 

“Lanlan said he wanted to see you.”

 

Unlike Dike, Yun Xunguang didn’t ask Yu Chen why Yun Xunlan wanted to see him. She simply stated it as a fact, then stepped aside: “Major Yu Chen, please enter.”

 

Yu Chen brushed past her at the door and entered Yun Xunlan’s hospital room.

 

—Empty.

 

That was Yu Chen’s first impression of the room.

 

Apart from necessary emergency equipment, the room was completely devoid of other unrelated furniture. The color scheme was pale, making it feel spacious and cold.

 

Yun Xunlan was sitting on the bed wearing sunglasses. He had been facing the floor-to-ceiling window with his back to the door, but as soon as Yu Chen entered, the youth immediately turned his head towards him.

 

His voice was soft, with a slight hoarseness from not speaking for a while, and he asked quietly: “…Yu Chen?”

 

“It’s me, Your Highness.”

 

Hearing Yu Chen’s familiar voice, Yun Xunlan sighed in relief—his eyes still couldn’t see things clearly. Even looking directly at the bright sunlight outside the window, all he could see was a blurry haze. Everything in his eyes was like an underexposed photograph with insufficient light, dark and indistinct.

 

But even so, the current situation was much better than the day of the Hyena attack.

 

Because that day, he had gone completely blind.

 

However, his blindness was an old problem. Usually, a surgery to replace his spare eyeballs would restore his normal vision in two or three days. The problem was that the system couldn’t wait those two or three days. Plus, he had been unconscious for two days, and today when he woke up, he still couldn’t see things clearly. He couldn’t complete the daily task of reading 10,000 negative online comments using his light brain. That’s why Yun Xunlan had urgently asked Ni Chun to invite Yu Chen to the hospital, to help him complete the task.

 

After all, the system had already started to make a fuss.

 

From the moment Yun Xunlan opened his eyes, it had turned into a cassette tape with tape wow, its voice mechanical and numb, its tone sharp and grating, constantly repeating three words: “Do task do task do task do task do task…”

 

“Stop calling, Yu Chen is here,” Yun Xunlan’s head was about to explode from the noise. “If you keep calling, I won’t be able to hear him speak.”

 

The system instantly fell silent.

 

Yun Xunlan was able to communicate normally with Yu Chen, but he couldn’t just ask Yu Chen to repeat his “oath” in front of him right away. This request would be too abrupt, and Yu Chen would definitely notice something was off.

 

Therefore, Yun Xunlan decided to chat casually with Yu Chen first, to liven up the atmosphere and warm things up before mentioning the oath repetition: “Yu Chen, it’s been several days since I’ve seen you. Are you doing well? I heard from Ni Chun that none of you were injured that day, right?”

 

“Yes, Your Highness, we’re all fine,” Yu Chen answered, then paused for a moment before speaking again. “You…”

 

“I’m fine too. My eyes had a minor surgery, so I can’t be exposed to strong light for now.”

 

Yun Xunlan avoided the specifics and didn’t delve deeper into this matter. Instead, he used the blue betta fish he had left in Yu Chen’s care as a new topic—this was also why he had specifically entrusted the fish to Yu Chen before losing consciousness that day.

 

He asked Yu Chen: “By the way, thank you for taking care of my fish these past few days. Is it doing well?”

 

“It’s doing very well,” Yu Chen said as he approached the hospital bed. “It’s grown fatter in three days, its tail fin is even larger than the betta fish of Fu Yanxi, Gui Yan, and Lu You.”

 

Yu Chen had anticipated that Yun Xunlan would bring up the blue betta fish, and his words were deliberately guiding Yun Xunlan to become curious about the fish’s current state, potentially leading to a desire to see it. However, he had intentionally not brought the fish with him today.

 

He thought that if the prince expressed a desire to see the fish, he could say he didn’t bring it today but would bring it tomorrow. That way, wouldn’t he be able to see Yun Xunlan again tomorrow?

 

Yu Chen had planned it well. After all, he was never a passive person. His rebellious nature and the alpha’s inherent desire for control made it impossible for Yu Chen to “passively wait”. Even though he had told Pei Xingting that he wanted to be with Yun Xunlan naturally, in reality, he was digging this canal himself.

 

Yun Xunlan indeed fell into his verbal trap and was about to ask if Yu Chen had brought the fish today when the system suddenly screeched: “Do the task—!”

 

This sound was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, echoing in Yun Xunlan’s ears and causing a ringing in his head.

 

He tried to appease the system: “I’m doing it.”

 

“You’re wasting time with him,” the system’s voice had completely lost its humanity and emotion, leaving only cold indifference. “You’re a prince, he’s your guard. If you tell him to speak, he must obey.”

 

Knowing the system would become increasingly frantic, Yun Xunlan’s fingers at his side curled slightly. He pressed his lips together, lowered his eyes, and said softly: “…Yu Chen, I want to hear you say something.”

 

Yu Chen was stunned: “Your Highness, I’ve been talking to you.”

 

“I don’t want to hear about the fish anymore,” Yun Xunlan raised his face towards Yu Chen’s voice.

 

Hearing this, Yu Chen’s posture froze for a few seconds.

 

He lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on Yun Xunlan’s face.

 

But the youth’s eyes were covered by dark lenses, and Yu Chen couldn’t discern any useful information to guess Yun Xunlan’s thoughts. He could only ask hoarsely: “Then… what do you want to hear me say?”

 

“Yu Chen, I want…”

 

The silver-haired alpha’s voice was trembling slightly, revealing his nervous yet expectant emotions.

 

So Yu Chen also couldn’t help but tense up along with the youth.

 

He thought, could it be that Yun Xunlan wanted to hear his confession? But he wasn’t ready yet.

 

Or was Yun Xunlan going to confess to him, wanting to hear his answer?

 

Yun Xunlan loved to ask questions in the format of “Can you?”, so Yu Chen struggled for a long time between the responses “I can”, “I’m willing”, and “I like you too”. Finally, after Yun Xunlan finished the words following “I want”, Yu Chen quickly added his answer—

 

Yun Xunlan: “I want… to hear your oath again.”

 

Yu Chen: “I’m willing.”

 

Yu Chen: “…”

 

Yun Xunlan: “Wow!”

 

Yu Chen was surprisingly agreeable, making Yun Xunlan so happy he couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.

 

They say eyes are the windows to the soul, unable to hide things. Right now, Yun Xunlan was looking at Yu Chen joyfully, the lower half of his face clearly saying “Say it quickly!” with an exclamation mark. Even though Yu Chen couldn’t see his eyes, he could certainly understand the implied meaning.

 

The only thing Yu Chen didn’t understand, and didn’t dare to understand, was the “oath” Yun Xunlan mentioned.

 

He asked: “…Oath?”

 

What oath?

 

It couldn’t be the one he was thinking of, could it?

 

But Yun Xunlan told him: “Yes, yes, yes, the one you said during your Royal Guard interview.”

 

Yu Chen: “…”

 

Karma.

 

It’s all karma.

 

If time could be rewound, he would have let those words rot in his stomach.

 

The only consolation for Yu Chen now was that he hadn’t answered Yun Xunlan with: “I like you too.”

 

Otherwise, he might have been so embarrassed he’d have to crash through Yun Xunlan’s hospital room window and jump out.

 

Yu Chen gritted his teeth, both angry and helpless: “Yun Xunlan, do you really want to hear me say that to you so badly?”

 

“Mm.” Yun Xunlan nodded repeatedly, emphasizing, “I want to hear it every day.”

 

Yu Chen remembered what Yun Xunlan had said before, and he snorted coldly: “You feel uncomfortable if you don’t hear it for a day?”

 

Yun Xunlan nodded again: “Mm-hmm.”

 

“…”

 

Yu Chen was completely at a loss with Yun Xunlan.

 

He lowered his deep blue eyes, staring at Yun Xunlan for a few seconds like a deep sea wanting to swallow its desired prey. Then he sat down next to the silver-haired alpha with a gloomy face, his attitude bordering on insubordination. He behaved recklessly, grabbing Yun Xunlan’s collar, his action fierce but his touch gentle, pulling the youth in front of him. He leaned close to his ear and said through gritted teeth: “I can turn anyone into a dog that can only kneel and beg for mercy!”

 

“There! I’ve said it!”

 

Then he let go, gently pushing the person away, turning his back to Yun Xunlan, unwilling to look at the youth again.

 

But the youth, as always, didn’t resist him at all. Instead, he leaned his head to the side, also approaching Yu Chen’s ear, and said with a smile: “Thank you, Yu Chen. Your voice sounds very nice.”

 

Yu Chen didn’t speak, ignoring Yun Xunlan.

 

“You might not know, but actually among all the guards… I only like your voice,” the prince continued to coax him with a bewitching, hoarse voice. “So I want to see you every day, hear you speak, but I can’t leave the hospital yet. Can you come see me again tomorrow?”

 

Yu Chen still didn’t speak, but his ears secretly betrayed his intentions, quietly turning red.

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