(I'm not sleeping anyway so~)

***

After General Craig gave the eldest prince over to Major General Klaire, he led his team back to the capital planet. The Morningstar Corps fleet immediately took off on the prearranged route for the Lyra galaxy.

The Morningstar Corps officers saw the eldest prince holding their general tight and not letting go, and conscientiously turned and retreated, leaving the command room to the two of them.

The two men held each other. It was quiet enough in the room to hear a pin drop.

Bluestar ruined the atmosphere by jumping out and saying, “This is great, my owner can finally see His Highness the Prince, and I can finally see Egret! Egret, did you miss me?”

Egret pretended not to hear him.

Bluestar’s familiar voice made Xi Wei come back to himself. He pushed Klaire away hard, frowned and said, “Klaire, I’ll give you ten minutes to clearly explain exactly what’s going on!”

Klaire rushed to say, “Don’t be mad, I’ll explain it to you slowly, okay?”

As he spoke, he wrapped an arm around Xi Wei’s shoulders and brought him to the sofa to sit down. He had Bluestar pour Xi Wei a glass of water, as if to put out the fire seething in the big beast.

Xi Wei took a sip of cold water, looked back at him and said, “The military called a press conference and announced the news of your death. I thought you had…” When he thought of the sadness he had felt when he got the news about Klaire, his fingers couldn’t help but clench tightly around his cup. “Since you didn’t die, why didn’t you come find me?”

Klaire gently took his hand and said softly, “Actually, at the time, I also thought I was dead for sure. In order to assist the marshal, I led the Morningstar Corps and battled through the flank to the border of the Iswell galaxy, but ended up getting caught in an ambush from the Direwolf Corps. It felt like the Direwolf Corps knew about our deployment in advance, and were waiting there for us.”

Klaire paused, then continued, “The marshal and I fought our way out of the enclosure, but unfortunately, Bluestar took heavy damage from an electromagnetic cannon while he was breaking through. He lost his balance and was drawn into the Iswell galaxy wormhole.”

“The wormhole?” When Xi Wei heard this, he couldn’t help but grab Klaire’s hand tight in worry. “And then?”

“Bluestar’s communication system and navigation system were completely destroyed. We lost our direction in the wormhole, and drifted for a whole month. Afterwards, some mysterious troops fortunately passed by and rescued us, and they brought Bluestar and me to planet Nami.”

Xi Wei had heard of planet Nami. It was located near the Iswell wormhole, but there weren’t any Imperial troops stationed there. Who had rescued him?

Xi Wei asked, confused, “Who rescued you?”

“It was a mysterious Imperial general.” Klaire gave Xi Wei an answer that surprised him. “After he saved me, he took me to an underground base to recover from my injuries, and kept me in a room with no communications signal. So even though I was alive, I had no way to contact you.”

“What my owner said wasn’t right, that was clearly an intensive care unit!” Bluestar jumped out and said, “Your condition was too serious, so in order to save you, that general even activated the empire’s most advanced medical mecha! You were unconscious for a full six months until…”

“Shut up.” Klaire forcibly muted this mecha who sold his owner out.

Xi Wei immediately grasped the important point in what Bluestar had said. He glared at Klaire and said word by word, “Klaire, what Bluestar said was the truth, right? It wasn’t that the general blocked off your communications signal, but that you were unconscious the whole time, and that’s why you couldn’t contact me, right?”

Klaire: “...”

He knew it was a bad idea to keep a foolish mecha around!

Klaire’s dagger-like glare swept towards him, and Bluestar immediately curled up and hid behind Xi Wei’s back.

Xi Wei said angrily, “What are you doing glaring at him? Speak the truth!”

“...” Seeing that Xi Wei was about to lose his temper, Klaire could only say helplessly, “My injury…” He coughed and said, “It actually wasn’t that serious, I just hit my head and temporarily lost consciousness. I actually was unconscious for a period of time.”

Xi Wei didn’t speak and reached straight out, took off Klaire’s military jacket and unbuttoned his shirt.

—The wounds on Klaire’s body were simply horrible to see!

In addition to the clear marks of surgery on his chest, there were several wounds on his abdomen that hadn’t fully healed. The fierce wounds seemed to be mocking Xi Wei, reminding him of all the terrible dangers Klaire had encountered back then.

Seeing his body was covered with wounds, Xi Wei’s heart suddenly seized with pain, and he felt more upset than if he himself was injured.

Seeing Xi Wei suddenly grow silent, Klaire reached out and gently stroked Xi Wei’s hair, saying softly, “I’m fine. The level of medical treatment now is so advanced, the thread used for sutures can melt into the skin and be absorbed by it. These surgical scars will heal completely after some time, and I’ll be the same as before.”

Xi Wei gave him a look, then looked back at the curled-up Bluestar and asked, “Bluestar, come tell me, what exactly happened?”

Bluestar jumped out and typed out a line of words: “Owner muted me.”

“Restore his voice!” Xi Wei looked at Klaire and said.

“...” Klaire could only turn the volume back up.

With his voice restored, Bluestar excitedly reported, “Eldest Prince, my owner and I weren’t just hit by an electromagnetic attack, we were also being chased down by the Federal Direwolf Corps. Those Federals were too annoying, they were set on eradicating us! It was in the middle of avoiding their pursuit that we were drawn into the wormhole. My owner had multiple ruptured organs, and he went into a dangerous state of shock. My power source was almost drained, and my body was extremely damaged. If that general hadn’t happened to pass by, we’d long since have turned to ashes in the wormhole!”

The danger back then was difficult to describe in words.

But just listening to Bluestar’s description, Xi Wei felt so pained for him he was about to go crazy—

Multiple ruptured organs?

He’d suffered such serious injuries, he’d been unconscious for half a year, and he actually still wanted to say he was fine?!

Xi Wei really wanted to give him a good beating!

But seeing his body covered in wounds, Xi Wei couldn’t put his hands on him. He could only hug him lightly and say in a low voice, “It’s...fine as long as you’ve come back...that you’re alive is more important than anything else.”

Klaire was a little confused, how come Xi Wei hugged him on his own initiative twice in a row today? And his voice seemed to be a little choked-up?

Could it be because Xi Wei was quite loyal and couldn’t bear to see his friend suffering?

Klaire gently hugged him back to console him, and joked, “Of course I had to live and come back to see you. I haven’t succeeded in my pursuit of you yet, how could I bear to just give up like that?”

He hadn’t wanted to hit him, but when he heard him talk like that, he couldn’t help but smack him hard on the back of his head. “Can’t you speak decently?”

Klaire pretended to have been wronged. “My head just recovered, I’m going to get a concussion with you smacking me like this.”

Xi Wei ignored his exaggerated performance and asked seriously, “After you woke up, you contacted my father? How come you’re the one who picked me up today?”

Klaire was silent for a long moment, and his smile gradually dissolved. He said in a low voice, “After I woke up, I found out that the person who saved me was Ling Yu, the head of the Night Corps that disbanded many years ago. I’m guessing you’ve probably heard this name before?”

His uncle had just brought up Major General Ling Yu. He was Marshal Rosen’s beloved. As an omega, he actually took suppressants and disguised himself as a beta to sneak into military school. After graduating, he made many military achievements and became a rare instance in Imperial history of a beta major general. Unfortunately, things later came to light. His identity as an omega was exposed, and the military caught him and sent him to jail.

According to what Uncle Berg had said, his father later covertly sent him away, and had him hide himself and run secret missions.

Unexpectedly, Klaire actually met this man.

“The Night Corps is stationed at planet Nami. General Ling Yu put me into the intensive care unit for medical treatment, and it wasn’t until I woke up that he told His Majesty. It was His Majesty who had me come to pick you up.”

Klaire looked at Xi Wei and patiently explained, “His Majesty gave me the task of taking you to the Lyra galaxy to join Princess Sia. Everyone thinks I’m already dead, so nobody will notice my movements. Having me protect you is the most dependable course of action.”

Klaire’s explanation was very reasonable, but a faint thread of unease still rose up in Xi Wei’s heart. “Did my father really send me away to see Princess Sia because she’s ill?”

“His Majesty didn’t say much, he just told me to protect you well.” Klaire said, “He also told me that if something happens, I should take you far away and never return to the capital planet.”

When he heard this, Xi Wei immediately stood up from the sofa and clenched his fists. “Father must have known something in advance. A rebellion’s likely to happen on the capital planet, so he was in a hurry to send me away! This is bad, I have to go back!”

Xi Wei turned and wanted to leave, but Klaire suddenly grabbed his arms, pulled him hard, took him to a nearby chair and made him sit down. He swiftly handcuffed Xi Wei’s hands and ankles to the chair.

“Klaire, what are you doing?!” Met with a sneak attack, Xi Wei glared at him angrily. “Hurry up and help me unlock these handcuffs!”

“No,” Klaire said firmly.

“Bastard!” Xi Wei was so incensed his eyes were wide glaring at him.

Klaire knelt in front of him on one knee, looked at him seriously and said word by word, “Xi Wei, I can’t let you take risks, and I can’t lose you.”

Xi Wei: “...”

“It’s true that His Majesty is in danger, but if we go over there now, not only will we not be able to rescue him, but we’ll walk into the trap and hold His Majesty back.” Klaire said calmly, “You have to trust your father. Since he’s made so many years of careful arrangements, he must have a way to protect himself.”

Xi Wei gritted his teeth and said, “I’m really worried about my father and mother.”

“I know.” Klaire lightly stroked Xi Wei’s hair and said, “His Majesty has planned farther ahead than we have. He’s already reached an agreement with my father. Ever since the news of my death spread in the military, my father’s been acting depressed. They haven’t put up their guard against the Morningstar Corps. When it’s necessary, the Morningstar Corps will make a move.”

—What Klaire said wasn’t wrong. Since his father had sent him away, he definitely had his own plans. If they went back now, it might be a bad thing. It was best to follow his father’s arrangements and join his little sister in the Lyra galaxy, and then play it by ear.

Xi Wei calmed down and considered it for a moment, then nodded and said, “Alright, as my father arranged, let’s go to Lyra first and then see.”

When he saw that the big beast’s temper had gone out, and he’d completely calmed down, Klaire smiled and moved closer to him. He said softly in his ear, “Do you know? While I was recovering from my injuries, I thought of you every day. I missed you until I almost went mad… If it wasn’t for being unable to move freely, I wouldn't be able to wait until I could fly to your side.”

Xi Wei: “...”

His heart suddenly trembled. Faced with his warm gaze, Xi Wei almost couldn’t move his eyes away.

The way Klaire liked to whisper sweet nothings hadn’t changed. But when he heard this guy’s familiar, cheesy declaration of love, Xi Wei wasn’t as shocked as before. Instead, his heart beat like a drum, and he couldn’t help but feel his ears burning.

Klaire saw how his ears were tinged slightly red, and his heart moved. He couldn’t resist saying, “Xi Wei, I want to kiss you.”

Xi Wei: “...”

“Can I?” As Klaire asked this, he moved closer to him. Xi Wei wanted to dodge him but couldn’t, because his hands and legs were handcuffed to the chair.

The usually unbridled and violent eldest prince was now handcuffed to a chair, unable to make a single move. He could only let him do whatever he wanted to him. This discrepancy was really arousing.

Klaire couldn’t help but cup the back of Xi Wei’s head and move to kiss him.

Suddenly, the handcuffs opened with a snap, and Xi Wei pushed off from the chair. His once-cuffed wrist flexed nimbly, went up, and with an agile hold, he pushed Klaire straight onto the chair.

“Daring to tie me up, did you think Egret was dead?” Xi Wei glared and said, “He’s long since opened the combination lock.”

Klaire looked at him in surprise, and after a moment, he couldn’t help but start to laugh. “Alright, you’re worthy of being the eldest prince. It was I who underestimated you too much.”

Seeing Xi Wei spitting with rage, Klaire smiled and said, “Alright, I’m guilty, how are you going to punish me?”

Xi Wei was silent for a moment, then moved up to him with reddened ears, and took advantage of his position to press down on Klaire. He aimed for Klaire’s smiling mouth and kissed him hard.

—Damn, he’d had a kiss forced on him so many times, this time it was his turn!

—It’s your fault for disappearing for so long and making me worry. I have to kiss you today until your whole body’s limp and you beg for forgiveness!

With thoughts like this, Xi Wei took the initiative to pry open Klaire’s mouth and put his tongue in, recklessly licking and kissing him.

Incomparably shocked, Klaire stiffened completely into a statue.

***

4 hours and 11 minutes for 2,498 words, or 10 minutes for every 100 words. A decrease in rate by 0.7 minutes.

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