Aslan Star City, White Jade Palace.
Midnight.
All the lights in the room were turned off, the curtains were drawn tightly, and it was pitch black.
Jiang Jianming sat alone on the bed, immersing himself in this darkness.
The room was oppressively quiet. The young officer half-closed his eyes, listening indifferently to his own heart pounding in his chest.
He frowned, pressing his hand against his chest.
His heart rate was too fast, and it was still accelerating.
…It had been more than half a month since he was discharged from the hospital and moved into the palace, but he still had a stress response to the darkness.
Humans have feared the darkness since ancient times.
Darkness deprives vision, and the unknown implies danger.
From ancient times to the present, in the lightless night, there might be a rock that causes one to stumble, a beast with bared fangs, a snake quietly swimming behind, or…
A crystal bone that suddenly pierces the abdomen.
In the darkness, Jiang Jianming arched his back and gasped for breath. His pupils dilated imperceptibly, his extremely pale fingers tightly gripping the sheet, almost tearing the fabric…
Suddenly, there were several hurried footsteps from the corridor outside, and the door was banged open!
“…Ah!”
Jiang Jianming jerked around, his face pale. The next moment, the electronic light above his head flickered and then lit up, and the orange-yellow bedside lamp also softly lit up.
“It’s me, don’t be afraid.” Ryann rushed to the bed in three steps, hugging him into his arms, “I’m here…don’t be afraid, the light is on.”
The Crown Prince’s face was as tense as cold iron, “Why did you turn off the lights again? Take deep breaths, listen to me, relax.”
Jiang Jianming closed his eyes, leaning on Ryann’s shoulder and gasping for a long time before calming down, his voice a bit hoarse, “…Alright, Your Highness, can’t you be a bit more aware? You suddenly barging in like that is scarier than anything.”
Ryann pulled the blanket over to wrap around Jiang Jianming, and after wrapping him up, he hugged him along with the blanket, his jade eyes glaring at him fiercely.
He was making such a fuss, and he still had the nerve to say it was scary.
The problem of stress disorder was discovered on the first night Jiang Jianming moved into the palace.
Before that, this patient, who had suffered cruel torture at the hands of the enemy, had not shown any obvious symptoms of psychological trauma.
When he was writing reports, his thinking was as sharp and clear as ever; he was not afraid of being alone, he had no fear of crystal bones; although he was often startled during light sleep at night, this was also an old problem caused by physical weakness, and the doctor said it was a miracle that he had no nightmares or insomnia.
He could even calmly recount the process before and after the injury, often it was His Highness who couldn’t bear to listen, and would slam the table with a dark face and tell him to stop talking.
But how could that be possible?
Having endured such intense mental and physical torture, even a veteran who had been on the battlefield for many years would be crushed, and to have no feelings at all, how could that be possible?
The first attack happened on the night the Crown Prince took him out of the hospital and moved him into the White Jade Palace.
Something happened as soon as the lights were turned off before going to bed.
Jiang Jianming had a big reaction, but he didn’t say a word, even when he was gasping for breath due to palpitations.
When Ryann realized that his breathing rate was not right and reached out to him in the dark, Jiang Jianming took a sharp breath, his movements seemed to want to shrink back – but he forcibly restrained himself, barely saying that he was fine.
As a result, after saying this, he passed out directly.
Ryann was scared out of his wits at the time, Jiang Jianming’s hands and feet were cold when he was picked up, one hand was tightly clutching his abdomen, the wound that had just healed was torn and bleeding… he had just been enduring it all this time.
It was only later that His Highness found out that the people of the Crystal Cult had deliberately used a crystal bone on Jiang Jianming in the dark.
In the past, in the ward of the military hospital, in order to facilitate the medical staff to check the room at night, there were light green indicator lights on the floor, although it couldn’t be said to be very bright, at least it wouldn’t make the room completely dark.
But the rooms in the palace could be completely darkened, and Ryann happened to reach out in the dark at that time, which was almost a reenactment of the scene at that time.
Jiang Jianming was too weak at that time to withstand such stimulation. This incident made the Crown Prince and the hastily arrived doctor feel guilty, and it was only he himself who was unwilling to forgive himself, and felt overly embarrassed and even a bit annoyed when he woke up.
So occasionally he would deliberately turn off the lights and make it pitch black, wanting to force himself to quickly overcome it.
Whoosh… Ryann pulled open the curtain, and the moonlight came in, clearly a refreshing and pleasant night.
After that, he never dared to leave Jiang Jianming alone at night, no matter how busy he was during the day, he had to return to the palace to sleep together at night.
But once this person wanted to make a fuss, it was really impossible to prevent.
Jiang Jianming’s eyebrows and eyes were curved, sitting on the edge of the bed, “I’m much better now, Your Highness, don’t worry too much.”
Ryann sat next to him with a not-so-good face, raising his hand to untie the cloak on his shoulder, “Don’t annoy me, wait a while and accompany you to take a bath, then go to sleep.”
The royal dress was complicated, and the process of untying it was not smooth, the platinum-colored curls were hooked by the large red diamond buckle, and Ryann frowned with a “tsk”.
“Don’t pull, it’ll hurt,” Jiang Jianming reached out and carefully helped him get around, “Your Highness, why did you come back so late today?”
Ryann: “The day after tomorrow, the envoy of the Glorious Autonomous Region will come.”
Jiang Jianming: “For the matter of the Lance family?”
The Crown Prince tilted his head to think, a thoughtful look in his eyes, “On the surface it is, but it should not be that simple.”
“The one coming is the deputy speaker of the autonomous region, and the eldest son of the speaker. This specification is too big, the matter of Lance is more like an excuse.”
This person was becoming more and more like the ruler of the empire, Jiang Jianming quietly watched him, thinking in his mind.
“I guess, it’s probably for the Crystal Cult or the crystal particles…” Ryann hung his finally untied outerwear on the head of the bed, casually saying, “In short, you understand, it’s those things.”
Jiang Jianming certainly understood.
Ever since he submitted that report on the truth about crystal particles, he had been patiently waiting for a response.
To investigate this matter, he really put his life on the line, whether it was ability or will, he proved everything he could. His Highness even almost fought with Her Majesty over this.
He thought to this point, the Emperor, the chief, and the old marshal over there, should also be open and honest, right?
But no, Jiang Jianming had probed a few times in the communication, vaguely feeling their wavering, but the last veil could not be pierced.
Jiang Jianming didn’t know if this had anything to do with the recent atmosphere in the empire.
To be honest, public opinion was not optimistic.
The high-dimensional blockade barrier was broken, the imperial capital Aslan and several star cities were hit by artillery fire, and the people witnessed alien creatures they hadn’t seen in decades…
Although Jiang Jianming had been confined in the hospital or the palace during this time, he could also glimpse the panic of the people from the Intelligence Network.
On the issue of Far Star, the original advancing and shrinking factions could barely confront each other; but now, whether it was civilians or nobles, whether they were crystal or non crystal, public opinion was overwhelmingly leaning towards the latter.
It was enough for the Silver Big Dipper to guard the fortress well, as for what interstellar expedition, it would be better to spare some manpower and clear out the single alien creatures scattered in the empire’s domain.
If the real purpose of the Crystal Cult was this, it must be said that they have succeeded in some sense.
Jiang Jianming couldn’t think deeply, it was too late, he had already violated the doctor’s orders, he was ordered by Ryann to take a hot bath, and then go to sleep.
The water temperature was very comfortable, and the bathroom was bright and warm, those heavy things that were pressed in the bones were also soaked soft.
Jiang Jianming leaned on the edge of the bathtub, letting His Highness lift his arm and wipe it with a towel.
Ryann was very serious about washing him, the misty fog covered His Highness’s beautiful face with a layer of gauze, and the curled eyelashes blinked from time to time.
The wound could not touch water, but the special medical liquid could, Ryann took the medical liquid to adjust to the appropriate temperature, and soaked him every night.
Then sprinkled a large handful of golden rose petals, the fragrance could relax the mind, calm and sleep, it was also the doctor’s suggestion.
Rather than saying it was a bath, it was more like a treatment.
“By the way, Your Highness.”
Jiang Jianming looked for a long time, suddenly said, “That…”
“Yesterday, I received the royal annuity.”
Yes, doing the job of the Crown Princess, there was a salary to take. And it made more money than being an officer of the Silver Big Dipper or the Golden Sun Wheel.
Ryann looked up and laughed.
“You have money.” He said confidently.
“Yes. Her Majesty the Emperor said that she would also give me the share of the previous three years, I originally wanted to be polite, but…”
Jiang Jianming showed a complicated expression, sighed deeply, “…But, Her Majesty gave too much.”
The annual income of the Crown Princess was roughly around 800,000 coin points, but this was just on the surface, there were even more high subsidies.
For example, if His Royal Highness the Crown Princess, were to attend a high-profile banquet, from the dress to shoes and jewelry, the whole set could cost tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of coin points, which was normal.
And this money could completely be counted as “reasonable expenses of royal family members” in the subsidy.
Jiang Jianming was greatly shocked, thinking to himself that it was no wonder that His Highness could afford the most expensive variety of apples in the past.
Although it was cliché, the royal family really was rich…
It was at this time that Jiang Jianming realized that neither Lin Ge nor Ryann were extravagant people.
Her Majesty the Emperor came from a humble background, although now she loved to put on a “This mother wants to enjoy being a tyrant for the second half of her life and wait for death” posture, but obviously, she was far from the concept of a tyrant.
As for the Crown Prince, this person seemed to have no special hobbies.
When he was in a good mood, he would stroll around in the Rose Garden, when he was upset, he would go slaughter a few alien creatures, when he was sad, he would sit on the top of the White Jade Palace in self-isolation, or blow snow outside the fortress, he was such a pure creature.
But he didn’t know what the future heir of the empire would be like.
Knowing that this was too far away, and even the racial crisis was ahead, he still couldn’t help but think, perhaps this was also a characteristic of humans.
Jiang Jianming shook off his untimely thoughts, cleared his throat, and said, “In short, from now on, I am considered to be Your Highness’s person.”
After washing almost enough, Ryann just reached out for the towel, and almost didn’t hold it steady when he heard the words.
He first hastily said “Hmm”, and immediately felt that it was not enough momentum, and added a remedial sentence. “Of course.”
His Highness shook the towel in a disguised manner, his expression was not very comfortable, and signaled Jiang Jianming to get up.
Jiang Jianming leaned on the bathtub, slowly stood up, and the pool made a sound.
His body’s lines were taut yet slender, water droplets rolled down the bone line of his neck to his porcelain-like chest, then absorbed by the attached towel.
“…” Ryann’s Adam’s apple moved slightly, his wiping hand pausing for a moment, the emerald depths of his eyes darkening by a third.
He dared not look too much, averting his gaze somewhat awkwardly, hastily wrapping Jiang Jianming in the towel and carrying him out to lay on the bed outside.
The moonlight outside the window was still so pure, the spring night breeze blew against the window glass, leisurely and beautiful.
Jiang Jianming couldn’t help but smile wryly, as if thinking of something. His downcast eyes were bright, but the pale, thin skin had already faintly flushed with a reddish glow.
He reached up to turn off the large ceiling light in the bedroom, leaving only the warm-toned bedside lamp.
Ryann brought the hair dryer back. “Stop fussing around, come here and let me blow-dry your hair.”
Jiang Jianming’s expression was gentle. As he lay back on the bed, he subtly shifted, causing the bathrobe to slide down from his knees, revealing his pale, taut legs.
A golden rose petal was still clinging to the crook of his right thigh, glaring dangerously in the dim, warm yellow light.
“Your Highness, since I am now your legitimate spouse…”
He extended his arm from the towel, brushing Ryann’s hanging locks, and suddenly said thoughtfully, “Don’t you want to…give it a try?”
Ryann was stunned. He probably delayed by three or four seconds before frowning coldly and hesitantly asking, “What?”
Jiang Jianming didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He leaned in close, his lips almost touching the prince’s earlobe, brushing against him in an intimate manner, and whispered softly, “I mean, don’t you want to…”
The next moment, Ryann’s face flushed bright red!
But the first thing he did was take two steps back, hastily turning his face away, and said stiffly, “…No, you haven’t fully recovered yet, no.”
