—What exactly did Klaire mean to him?

—Why would he be this upset when he heard news that something happened to him?

Was he the manager who had always stayed by his side in the last world, taking care of his daily needs and helping him on his path to the throne of Film Emperor? Or was he the childhood friend who’d grown up with him in this world, and who always helped him at the critical moment?

No matter his identity, Xi Wei only knew that that man had always stood in a place where he could see him as soon as he looked back, always gazing at him with a smile. Every time Xi Wei encountered hardship, he just had to look at Klaire’s smile and he’d feel relaxed, because he knew that no matter what happened, they’d face it together.

All through two worlds, that man had never left him and never given up on him. At first, Xi Wei had been able to take Klaire for a good friend and a good brother, but after he earnestly confessed to him, Xi Wei found that it turned out it had all been out of love.

What did love feel like? Xi Wei had never known before. He’d acted in a lot of TV shows before, and he’d played the role of an infatuated male lead many times, but he knew that those dramas and scripts were fiction, and he’d only been acting.

But today, he finally understood.

So it turned out that worrying himself sick over someone would make it so that he couldn’t rest or eat in peace, and that when someone left, his heart would feel as painful as if it was emptied out.

Klaire had lost contact for so long that there was little hope for him.

—When he thought of that man not being there anymore, Xi Wei’s heart felt as if it was completely empty, as if a part of his life had suddenly been stripped away.

—It wasn’t until now that he knew Klaire was this important to him!

The pleasant surprise of realizing Klaire was here back then was still vivid in his mind. At the time, he’d thought he was so happy because he could meet a friend from his previous life in this world. It was as if he’d run into an old friend he hadn’t seen in a while in a crowd.

It was only now that he realized that to him, Klaire wasn’t only an old friend.

From today onwards, there would no longer be anyone who would understand him like Klaire, or who would look at him with warm eyes and say with a smile, “I like you.”

When he thought of this, Xi Wei’s heart felt as painful as if someone had emptied it out with both hands. He pressed down on his chest with both hands, but found that there was no way to ease the pain that came from the depths of his heart by the slightest bit.

The ache had sunk into his inmost heart, the ache had sunk into his marrow…

Because the person who loved him the most, Klaire, who he’d always mistakenly thought of as a friend, had suddenly left before Xi Wei could figure out his feelings…

***

This New Year's Day was a day of celebration for many.

Carlo and Aiden, newly married, were planning to go on their honeymoon. Caesar and Brian had passed their eighteenth birthdays, and after New Year’s, they were going to get their luggage ready and set off for St. Romia Military Academy to begin their studies. He’d heard good news that the second princess Sia had gotten pregnant, and that the third princess Celine had successfully graduated from Ellen Academy.

The friends and family around him had all settled down. Only Xi Wei, though he pretended as if nothing was wrong on the surface, had no way to lift his mood all along.

Klaire’s departure was like a thorn pierced deep into his heart. Although there usually weren’t any symptoms, when it was quiet and he thought of the past, that thorn would stir up Xi Wei’s heart until it was a mangled mess.

After Xi Wei said goodbye to Carlo and Aiden, up until the day school started, the little prince Caesar and Berg’s son Brian had been holding onto their admission letters and excitedly getting their luggage ready.

Seeing how happy his little brother was, all grown up, he couldn’t help thinking of the year when Klaire was admitted to military school at only sixteen, becoming the child prodigy everyone in the empire lauded. Thinking back on it now, the effort Klaire invested to get into military school back then must have been several times more than what Caesar and Brian put out.

Until now, Xi Wei hadn’t completely understood exactly why Klaire worked so hard to get into military school early.

It was a pity it was too late…

The Royal Guard’s hovercar had stopped at the palace square, waiting for the little prince Caesar. Xi Wei smiled and patted his little brother’s shoulder, saying, “After you get to school you have to study well, don’t let your father down. And you’d better not use your status as a prince to bully your classmates. You’re going to inherit the throne in the future, so you have to conduct yourself modestly and prudently, understand?”

Admonished, Caesar nodded obediently. “I know, Brother.”

After saying this, he looked at Xi Wei and suddenly reached out, hugging him tight. “Brother, you…”

“Yes?”

“Don’t be too upset over Klaire.” Caesar said earnestly, “There’s so many excellent alphas in the empire, you’ll definitely be able to meet a better one.”

Saying this, he was clearly just trying to console his older brother, but he didn’t know that this sentence was just like a sharp blade stabbing straight into the depths of Xi Wei’s heart.

It’s true, there were so many excellent alphas in the empire...but there was only one of Klaire.

There was only Klaire who understood his past, respected his thoughts, and was willing to accompany him no matter what happened.

Xi Wei endured the sharp pain in his heart and lightly stroked his little brother’s hair, saying in a low voice, “You don’t understand, I...only like him, he’s very special to me.”

He’d said this sentence before countless times, especially in front of his father. Back then, in order to avoid his father arranging a marriage with Carlo for him, Xi Wei had dragged Klaire out as his beard…

“I like Klaire,” “I love him,” “My heart only has Klaire in it…”

Before, Xi Wei had been able to say these words calmly and evenly because he knew that he was acting, and he didn’t have to invest too much of his feelings. Just putting in enough effort on the surface to fool the people around him was enough.

But today, when he said this sentence, he actually sounded a little choked up—

Because he knew that this time, it was true.

Even after the effect of pheromones passed, he was still worried sick over Klaire, and thought of him day and night. He had truly fallen in love with Klaire, but he had realized it too late.

When Caesar saw his older brother’s heartsick expression, he couldn’t help but say in distress, “But Klaire’s already gone… Brother, you can’t wait for him forever, can you?”

“I know.” Xi Wei interrupted his little brother. “Mother asked you to tell me this, right?”

Big Brother was too smart, you couldn’t keep anything from him… Caesar rubbed his nose awkwardly, coughed and said, “Mother saw how depressed you were and felt too worried about you. What she means is that you can only free yourself from these feelings once you meet an alpha who suits you more… Time will help you forget Klaire.”

This guy was only eighteen years old, and simply didn’t understand what love was. He preached to him in a clear and logical manner, and his expression was very earnest.

Xi Wei couldn’t help but start to smile. He patted his little brother’s head lightly. “Wait until you fall in love with someone, and you’ll know that if you’re really in love, it’s not so easy to forget.”

Caesar opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but Xi Wei straight out interrupted him. “I know very well what my own situation is. Don’t worry about it anymore. Hurry and get in the car, General Craig’s waiting for you.”

“...Alright.” Caesar could only nod unwillingly. He hugged Xi Wei tight. “Take care of yourself, Brother.”

Not far away, watching her two sons hug and say goodbye, Queen Anna couldn’t help the rims of her eyes reddening.

His Majesty Trand gently encircled her shoulders and said, “Our children have all grown up. Don’t worry too much. Caesar will definitely be able to take good care of himself after he goes to military school, and Xi Wei’s stronger than we think.”

“I’m not too worried about Caesar. He’s going to school with Berg’s son, and they’ll be able to look after each other… But Xi Wei… Xi Wei’s too strong, that’s the thing, and it makes me worry about him even more.” Queen Anna watched Xi Wei’s figure as he turned and left, and said, full of distress, “Ever since he found out that something happened to Klaire, he’s never shed a single tear. He’s been forcing himself to smile every day in order not to worry us. He and Klaire were childhood sweethearts, and they’d even gotten engaged. Now that Klaire’s gone, how sad must he be…”

By the time Queen Anna had spoken to this point, she was already sobbing so hard she couldn’t form words anymore. As a mother, she knew the pain in Xi Wei’s heart, and worried over how stoic he was. But there was nothing she could do. She was afraid that if she spoke out, it would only make her son even sadder.

His Majesty Trand tightened his arms around his wife and sighed softly. He said, “I have faith that Xi Wei can slowly come out of this. Let’s give him some time.”

***

They managed to conceal the news of Klaire’s disappearance for three months, but eventually rumors got out. The imperial media started publishing lengthy articles on this subject. Three months earlier, at the edge of the Iswell Galaxy, the Imperial Glory Corps and the Federal Direwolf Corps unexpectedly started a battle. Major General Klaire led the Morningstar Corps to assist on the front lines, but ended up being encircled by the Federal corps in an ambush.

It was said that Major General Klaire piloted his mecha and charged out of the encirclement with Marshal Rosen. Unfortunately, in the process of breaking through, Bluestar took a hit to the wing from the enemy’s electromagnetic cannon. His balancer was destroyed, and he took widespread damage to his chassis. Having lost his balance, Bluestar crashed somewhere in the boundless universe. Major General Klaire’s body couldn’t be recovered.

This was the course of events of Klaire’s accident. The thrills and dangers of it were hard to describe in words. The military released a brief statement explaining the sequence of events.

The Imperial military held a special press conference to memorialize Major General Klaire. They publicly commended Major General Klaire’s heroic conduct, and expressed great regret over his sacrifice. They decided to bury his uniform and belongings in the Imperial Cemetery of Martyrs.

Xi Wei finished watching the live broadcast of the press conference with an expressionless face, then left and went to Klaire’s house.

Madam Grace had gotten the news of her son’s disappearance three months ago, so when Xi Wei came to see her, she was already quite calm. She gave Xi Wei a box of things Klaire had left in his safe. When Xi Wei took the box and opened it for a look, it was actually full of keepsakes that captured their childhood memories.

There was a drawing that Klaire had drawn when he was little. It was of the two of them as children, holding hands, with “Xi Wei” and “Klaire” written below. The omega and alpha symbols were drawn over their heads, and there was actually a big question mark behind the omega symbol.

This was the present Klaire had given him when they were small. Xi Wei remembered that at the time, he had really disliked it, thinking that Klaire was totally a Picasso in the making—his drawing was enough to get a negative score. He didn’t expect that that guy actually drew two drawings, one for each person, and had hidden this one away in his safe until now. Many years had passed, but it still looked as new as if it had just been drawn.

There were also lots of books in the box. They were the books about mechas that Xi Wei had read in his childhood. After he went home, Klaire had copied him and read them too. Although he couldn’t really understand them, he just childishly wanted to get closer to Xi Wei. He wanted to do the same things as him, and that way they would have more things in common to talk about…

Those were the things from their childhood in this world.

Now, when he looked back at those childhood memories, everything was still vivid in his mind. Xi Wei closed the box with trembling fingers and looked up at Grace. “Madam, can I take these back as keepsakes?”

Grace nodded. “Of course you can.”

Seeing Xi Wei gently and cautiously put away the safe, Madam Grace found it a bit unbearable, and said softly, “Our Klaire didn’t have the good fortune to be your alpha. Xi Wei, don’t be too upset…”

Xi Wei nodded, and brought the box of things Klaire left behind back to the palace in his arms.

The funeral was held three days later. Since Klaire’s body couldn’t be found, the military could only arrange to have his military uniform buried in the cemetery in its stead.

Many people attended the funeral, including important officers from the military, close friends of the royal family, and of course Klaire’s fiancée, the eldest prince Xi Wei.

Lots of people were sneaking glances at Xi Wei. Having their alpha die before they even got married was definitely a heavy blow for an omega. If you put an ordinary omega in his place, they’d probably already have cried so hard they passed out at home.

Xi Wei, however, had a calm expression, and was as strong as if Klaire had never left.

After the military representative finished his speech, Xi Wei walked over to Klaire’s gravestone, leaned over, and gently kissed the photo of Klaire on the ice-cold gravestone. He said seriously, word by word, “Klaire, I love you.”

***

5 hours and 7 minutes for 2,547 words, or 12.1 minutes for every 100 words. An increase in rate by 0.5 minutes.

As a reader, I feel abused...

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