As Jiang Jianming emerged from the corner, the dazzling lights of the state banquet once again rushed towards him. He hadn’t walked a few steps along the quiet side path when he saw Ryann in the distance.
Having dealt with the guests and the ministers who were incessantly talking about military affairs and matters of the Star City, it was already late.
His Highness hurriedly crossed the spacious hall, looking around with a pale face. It was clear that he was looking for him, and because he couldn’t find him, he had already started to get anxious.
“Your Highness!”
Jiang Jianming quickly called out, “I’m here.”
Ryann turned around swiftly, taking two steps at a time to come over, “Where did you go?”
Suddenly, His Highness’s eyes narrowed, and he grabbed Jiang Jianming’s gloved right hand and lifted it to his face.
“?” Jiang Jianming was puzzled, “What…”
The Crown Prince darkly wiped between his fingers, pinching out a thin strand of hair, “Who did you touch again?”
Jiang Jianming: “…”
Ryann took off his glove, throwing it to the ground as if it were dirty, “Can you change this habit of liking to touch other people’s hair anytime, anywhere?”
Jiang Jianming suddenly felt guilty, cleared his throat and said softly, “Okay…..okay, I’ll restrain myself.”
“Wait.” The Crown Prince’s eyes changed slightly. He pressed his palms against Jiang Jianming’s shoulders, leaned over to smell the lips of his beloved, and cautiously said, “You’ve been drinking?”
“Just a little.” Jiang Jianming helplessly turned his face away, “The royal wine is too good, I’ve never had it before.”
Ryann: “Never had it?”
Jiang Jianming: “I was only eighteen when you left me last time, underage can’t drink, right?”
The two of them talked as they walked out of the hall from the side road, leaving the luxurious banquet behind them.
When Jiang Jianming brought up the recent martial law in Aslan Star City, Ryann mentioned that quite a few old folks had gently advised him not to tread the path of tyranny.
The two of them exchanged a glance, seeing the same seriousness on each other’s faces.
Now, from the noble ministers participating in politics to the common people, everyone blamed the Silver Big Dipper for wasting manpower and resources on futile expeditions, not knowing that the real enemy was right in front of the Silver Spear.
But now, humans had been thoroughly “colonized” by crystal particles. If the truth were to be announced to the world, it would trigger massive panic and unrest, and no one knew what the nine star cities would turn into.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, it was distressing.
The night breeze blew gently, and the new leaves on the branches moved with it.
Footsteps broke the brief silence, and Yuan Changze, who had finally prepared himself mentally, jogged over, “Your Excellency, please wait, may I ask…”
But soon, this non crystal youth from the Autonomous Dominion stopped abruptly, almost doubting his own eyes.
Outside the east hall, under the corridor, next to the white railing, there were two figures.
The Crown Prince of the Empire, with one hand around the waist of the young man in black, was casually pressing the latter against him.
The two of them were hiding in this place, whispering something. However, the casual intimacy they showed when they were together was enough to explain everything.
Hearing the sound, Ryann and Jiang Jianming turned their heads at the same time.
And so, they saw Yuan Changze, the Little Young Master, standing stiffly a few steps away, his face ashen.
“I remember! I remember, Little Young Master!”
Behind him, Larry chased after Yuan Changze.
This man, with his comical features and voice, had a pale face, “That person just now, is His Excellency Jiang Jianming, the newly crowned Crown Princess of the Empire——”
Yuan Changze: “.”
Thanks, I’ve already guessed.
For a moment, the air suddenly became suffocating.
Extremely deadly.
“……”
The Crown Prince slowly narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping between Yuan Changze and Jiang Jianming, pausing for a moment, a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The fingers that were casually holding Jiang Jianming suddenly tightened.
Yuan Changze felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.
Soon, his whole body was tingling.
He heard a “clattering” sound, it was Larry’s teeth chattering next to him. The male servant’s face was as white as paper, his eyes staring in horror at Ryann’s right hand holding the Crown Princess.
In the shadow, tiny crystal clusters appeared on the ring finger, silently tugging at the pure black formal wear, like a small snake showing its fangs.
Crystal bone!
“The Crown Princess is unwell,” Ryann withdrew his heavy gaze, “and cannot accompany the banquet, please forgive us.”
As he said “please forgive us”, the crystal bone in his hand was glaringly hanging in the dark. The imperial law prohibiting new humans from exposing their crystal bones in public was disregarded, a clear deterrent.
Jiang Jianming took a glance, sighed in his heart, calling it childish, but didn’t care.
As if he had received permission, the crystal bone instantly swelled several times, turning as thick as a forearm, blatantly encircling him.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince!” Yuan Changze’s eyes twitched fiercely, goosebumps covering his body, “Don’t——”
The fear of high-level crystal bones was ingrained in the marrow, a natural instinct of the disabled. Even though there were no crystal particles overflowing in reality, he instinctively cried out first.
But wait, why…Yuan Changze looked at Jiang Jianming in despair.
The crystal bone was already attached to his body, why wasn’t he afraid?!
Ryann turned to the side, burying his face in the shadows, his lips dangerously rubbing against the back of Jiang Jianming’s neck, as if he could bite off that tender white skin at any moment.
He used the corner of his eye to stare at Yuan Changze, silently but extremely dangerously warning him.
This person, is mine——
However, what Ryann didn’t realize was that with his glance, a strange wave spread out.
If there were soldiers from the Golden Sun Wheel fleet here, they would certainly recall the mysterious psychic shock that suddenly struck and then suddenly disappeared on the cosmic battlefield!
“No, no, no, Your Highness, please calm down, we absolutely mean no offense!!”
Larry stood in front of Yuan Changze with a pale face, his legs uncontrollably shaking, he stammered, “Absolutely, absolutely, misunderstanding, misunderstanding…”
Yuan Changze’s reaction was even greater, he only felt a dizziness in front of him, his knees softened and he almost fell on the spot. Some unknown sense of fear made his heartbeat accelerate crazily, tears seeping from his eyes.
The Crown Prince, who was coldly leaning against the white railing, was still incomparably handsome, but at this moment, this person in his eyes had become like the embodiment of a demon!
“I… I’m sorry…I won’t dare anymore…”
He muttered in despair, “Help…”
“Alright.” Jiang Jianming frowned slightly, he felt nothing, just wondering why this little young master suddenly started crying.
Although he was also willing to teach a lesson to the guests who coveted the Little Highness, making people cry was not very good.
He nudged the crystal bone at his waist with his elbow, first called out to His Highness, saw that the other party didn’t respond, then added a little more tone, whispered, “Ryann, that’s enough, put it away.”
Ryann looked at him deeply, reluctantly retracted the crystal bone, and reached out to smooth the wrinkled corner of Jiang Jianming’s waist.
“I didn’t do anything.” He said softly with a frown.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
Another rush of footsteps approached, Ms. Luna Lopez hurried over, bowed as she held Yuan Changze’s head, “Changze is ignorant, please forgive this child’s offense.”
She also looked at Jiang Jianming, “Your Highness the Crown Princess, we have been rude, we beg for your forgiveness.”
Obviously, she hadn’t figured out the real reason yet, she thought Yuan Changze had “offended” Ryann, the Crown Prince he had been infatuated with for many years, and the “rudeness” had upset the Crown Princess.
Ryann said indifferently, “Ms. Lopez, your Autonomous Dominion’s young master is a bit out of line.”
Lopez: “…Yes, yes, I will definitely educate him well when I go back.”
Ryann nodded his head without any expression, and no longer paid attention to the three people opposite, he turned to Jiang Jianming and asked, “Go back, or eat some more?”
Jiang Jianming smiled, “I want to take a bottle of wine.”
Ryann: “Then go get it.”
The two quickly turned around and left. Lopez looked back, Yuan Changze and Larry stood there as if pardoned, soaked in cold sweat, and took a long breath.
“Your Excellency Vice Speaker!” Larry cried out with a mournful face, “You don’t know, that Crown Prince is——is a demon! My god, he must not be human, just now——”
“Larry!” Yuan Changze was terrified, lowered his voice and said, “Don’t talk nonsense, have you forgotten where we are!?”
“Enough, look at the good things you’ve done.”
Lopez sternly sank her face, “Changze, how did I instruct you on the way, the Crown Prince already has a Crown Princess, your behavior is very disappointing.”
Larry looked strange, whispering in her ear, “The little young master has fallen for the Crown Princess!”
“?”
Lopez’s eyes widened slightly, her eyebrows raised in a puzzled arc, “What… what?”
Yuan Changze was in a daze, “I didn’t know…he was the Crown Princess. No wonder His Highness Ryann likes him.”
He gave a bitter smile, “They are people of the same world. In fact, I knew it at a glance, when they stood side by side…there was no room for others.”
Silence lasted for four or five seconds, until the desolate night wind suddenly blew, messing up Lopez’s hair at her temples.
“Do you really know what kind of people they are, Changze?”
Lopez suddenly spoke calmly, “In the recent disaster, they were the ones who rushed to the sea of stars, the ones who fought the invaders without regard for their lives.”
Yuan Changze: “Hmm.”
Lopez: “They are strong, brave, noble, fighting to protect humanity. Your feelings are not real love, Changze, maybe you are just…too idolizing of heroes.”
Yuan Changze pursed his lips, “…Hmm.”
“The little young master is already very excellent!”
Seeing his dejection, Larry quickly argued with a red neck.
“You can do it too.”
Lopez looked at Yuan Changze steadily, suddenly spoke, “Fighting for human civilization is not something that only soldiers can do.”
“If there is a chance, Changze, would you like to be one of those heroes who fight for human civilization?”
……..
“You said he likes——me?”
On the way back in the car, Jiang Jianming was holding his favorite red wine in surprise, “What are you talking about, didn’t Yuan Changze want to marry you?”
“Besides, as soon as you hugged me just now, the pampered little young master immediately broke down in tears!”
“…”
Ryann looked at Jiang Jianming for a few seconds, then reached out and cruelly pulled the bottle of wine from his arms.
Jiang Jianming: “?”
The Crown Prince patiently said, “You’ve had too much to drink, you’re not allowed to touch alcohol casually in the future.”
Jiang Jianming: “??”
The car stopped nearby. Just past that white marble door was the royal bedroom. Next to the door, two hollow gold chandeliers were elegantly shaped, but inside was intelligence sensing.
Ryann got out first, then led Jiang Jianming out, the lights immediately silently brightened a bit, casting two soft shadows on the ground.
After walking a few steps, His Highness suddenly stopped as if in thought.
Perhaps Yuan Changze’s matter had touched his heart, Ryann suddenly looked at Jiang Jianming and asked him, “At the beginning, was it me who confessed to you?”
Jiang Jianming was stunned for a moment, after reacting, he first nodded and said, “Yes.”
Soon he shook his head uncertainly, hesitated and said, “Not really, it seems there was no clear confession——of course, the proposal was your idea. But before that, it was more like,” he chose his words carefully, “natural?”
Ryann was somewhat surprised, he asked, “What do you mean by natural?”
Jiang Jianming’s eyes softened, “It was an afternoon when we were reading together in the library, the sunlight was very good.”
His expression softened even more, recalling that bright morning in the pitch-black night.
In fact, it was just an ordinary moment in time. Jiang Jianming remembered sitting at the table, while Ryann leaned against the brick-red corner. They were both engrossed in reading, without any interaction.
But at a certain moment, the wind was romantic, the light clouds spread out, the birds outside the window fluttered their wings, and the leaves rustled.
Coincidentally, they both had an urgent thought to share with each other, so they looked at each other at the same time—their eyes met.
The sunlight gazed at the Crown Prince and the commoner military academy student.
They also stared at each other in a daze.
“It was,” Jiang Jianming gestured, holding back a laugh as he recalled, “You understand, it was…suddenly the atmosphere was very good, very suitable.”
At that time, the young Crown Prince took a step towards Jiang Jianming’s direction, and with one hand, he placed the book in his palm upright on the table.
Then he tentatively stretched out his other hand, across the other’s black hair, and held up the porcelain-like cheek of this commoner youth.
Thump, thump…it was unknown whose heart was beating faster.
Jiang Jianming’s eyes were extremely clear, he didn’t move for a few seconds. Then he moved, gently placing his own hand on the back of the Crown Prince’s hand.
Ryann seriously bent down, a shadow flashed, and the heavy book that was standing up blocked the side faces of the two.
“Then you kissed me, and I responded to you.”
Like a dragonfly skimming over the water, like a butterfly lightly touching a kitten’s nose.
After the two young men separated, their faces were all red.
“We looked at each other, no one said anything, but we both realized what was happening.”
Jiang Jianming: “From that day on, we naturally started to interact like lovers, it was that simple.”
