Jiang Jianming couldn’t remember how he finally reacted.
He had always thought he was calm enough and had mentally prepared himself for something like this to happen at any time.
But in reality, at that moment he stood frozen like a startled animal, unable to utter a word.
Tinnitus instantly drowned out the sound of wind and rain outside the window, darkness gradually crept into his vision, and pain spread from his heart to his fingertips.
Ryann had given up on him and was going to marry someone else as empress.
Not because he truly no longer wanted him, but because he couldn’t have him.
He knew this feeling of helplessness all too well.
He shouldn’t have let Ryann taste such torment.
“That’s it.”
Ryann stepped back, “Zhen came to tell you this, and will leave after saying it. You should sleep.”
Jiang Jianming: “I’m sor—”
He wanted to say sorry.
If only he could be stronger, if he could win this war without relying on the Glorious Autonomous Dominion’s power, if he could silence those extremely discriminatory citizens against disabled humans, or if he could just live ten more years.
Then his emperor wouldn’t have to be so sad.
But the sound of rustling clothes arose as Ryann had already turned to leave, quietly closing the door this time.
Jiang Jianming rushed forward two steps, but the disease struck again from deep within his marrow. He stumbled and bumped into the wardrobe, gasping as he leaned against the corner.
With a click, the light outside narrowed to a line and disappeared into the closed door crack.
Jiang Jianming closed his eyes and tilted his head back, sighing silently.
There was nothing he could do.
…
Ryann told Lin Ge this news two days later.
“A political marriage!?”
Lin Ge’s face turned pale, “You’re going to marry a woman from the Glorious Autonomous Dominion?”
“Yes.”
Ryann was wearing formal attire. He lowered his eyes, slowly putting on his gloves, “It will be officially announced this afternoon. Don’t cause any trouble for me.”
Lin Ge spoke incoherently: “Wait, Kaios, but… I always thought you… you two…?”
Ryann said coldly, “He’s unwilling.”
“He’s unwilling!?” Lin Ge’s voice rose, she stared at Kaios in disbelief, “He said he’s unwilling so you just let him go like that? Given Dawn’s situation, don’t you know why he—”
“Lin Ge.”
Ryann suddenly turned back, “It’s not your place to comment on matters between Zhen and the Commander.”
Lin Ge cursed. “I spit on you, you dog. Putting on your emperor act in front of this old lady?”
Ryann gave a cold laugh, slowly interlacing his fingers, “Then what? Can you go solve the problem and capture Purple Silk Star City?”
“Or would you rather see him publicly reveal his identity and face widespread condemnation, perhaps even sacrificing himself to prove a point?”
“Or else, let our army be defeated, so he can’t even see hope of overthrowing the empire before he dies!?”
“…!” Lin Ge was suddenly choked. This was the first time she heard Ryann personally mention Jiang Jianming’s “death.”
Ryann took a deep breath, then shook his head, as if trying to control some emotion but failing.
Finally, he slammed his palm on the table and said with a bitter smile through gritted teeth. “Anyway… he didn’t care much whether I loved him or not. Tch, all these years he just treated me like a dog to be trained, like that… right, where’s that dog, still in Woll?”
Lin Ge: “Are you sick? How would I know who to ask?”
Ryann seemed not to hear, continuing to mutter to himself. “Come to think of it, you’re the same, just a dog he picked up. When he was seeking death, he didn’t care how you cried, just found a place to release his pet and left, isn’t that what happened back then?”
He went on. “But I’m still more useful than you, and better looking, so he still likes me more…”
Lin Ge’s eye twitched uncontrollably, a torrent of curses stuck in her throat. Finally, she managed with difficulty. “I see you’ve taken quite a shock.”
“You… you’d better take it easy, don’t go mad yourself before the marriage alliance is even formed.”
Ryann waved his hand irritably. “Enough, instead of lecturing me, you might as well go keep him company, or find that dog to keep him company. Don’t bother me.”
With that, Ryann turned and walked forward, passing by Lin Ge with a gloomy expression.
At this moment, he was thinking the same thing as Jiang Jianming.
…If only he were stronger, he wouldn’t have to let his Commander suffer such humiliation.
…..
The starship from the Glorious Autonomous Dominion arrived after the rebel army had captured Purple Silk Star City.
Kaios personally welcomed his future wife, the future empress of the empire, with the highest ceremony.
Almost all the high-ranking officials of the rebel army attended, and the scene was filled with joy.
Overall, this political marriage was a rare good thing. Their young emperor had shown no interest in finding a spouse for so many years, which had worried many people secretly.
Now that this problem was solved, when the governor’s young daughter gracefully walked out of the starship, her pure and ethereal beauty captivated everyone.
After all, Emperor Kaios’s face was too otherworldly, like a man-made work of art. It wasn’t easy to find someone who could stand beside him without being overshadowed.
Unfortunately, the usually elusive Commander Aslan was once again absent today.
The rebel army members were used to it by now, at most exclaiming: Even the future empress’s face isn’t given, as expected of him.
And the emperor is quite accommodating, indulging this behavior, as expected of the emperor.
“Strange, General Lin isn’t here either.”
“Could she be having tea with the Commander, or maybe being lectured? Haha…”
“Hey, I wonder if that rumor is true, you know, the one about the emperor and General Lin being childhood sweethearts…”
“Shh! Watch the occasion, do you want to lose your tongue?”
These small interludes did not dampen the overall enthusiastic atmosphere. The ceremony was not complicated and was completed in an hour, very much in Emperor Kaios’s efficient style.
Next, the etiquette officials escorted the newly arrived empress to her residence for bathing and a brief rest.
In the afternoon, this girl who had come from afar would meet Emperor Kaios alone, which would be their first private encounter.
The mirror reflected an elfin face.
Two months ago, the girl had just turned eighteen.
She wore light makeup and a snow-white ceremonial gown. Lace gloves covered her slender forearms, and her hair ornament was styled with overlapping lilies and lilies of the valley, adorning her silver braids.
Sylph blinked her azure eyes gently.
She stood up, lifting her skirt, and politely told the etiquette official that she was ready to meet the emperor.
“Don’t be nervous, miss.”
The female attendant who had accompanied her from the Glorious Autonomous Dominion said softly. Judging from her tense expression, she was clearly the nervous one, “You are so beautiful and talented, even Emperor Kaios will be captivated by you…”
Sylph smiled.
Of course, she wasn’t nervous. On the contrary, she was a bit excited, a bit eager.
Because she knew she wasn’t here to fall in love, much less to be some golden canary in a deep palace.
She needed to find His Majesty Kaios, and then have His Majesty take her to see her patient, the gentleman!
There was a winding path in front of the Purple Silk official residence. The weather was clear, with a gentle breeze blowing. Sylph walked gracefully, lifting her skirt. She lowered her eyebrows and smiled, her walking etiquette flawless.
The smile was involuntary.
She was the daughter of the governor, and also the daughter of the Glorious Autonomous Dominion. Sylph knew very well that she always had to bear responsibility.
And now the situation was already much better than expected.
She didn’t have to make love with old, ugly, and disgusting men, didn’t have to compete for favor and bear children in a deep palace, didn’t have to be on tenterhooks for political struggles. She had freedom and living security, and also…
His Majesty Kaios had promised to do his best to provide her with all the experimental resources she wanted, so she could continue her research on crystal particles.
Ah, what a heavenly job!
Moreover, His Majesty Kaios had even thoughtfully noted: if she met a mutually loving partner in the future, as long as it didn’t cause adverse effects in public, he would never prevent it.
Sylph didn’t think she would fall in love, but in her impression, those nobles and royals were all people who looked down on others. She was somewhat impressed that His Majesty Kaios could be so attentive.
Of course, the most important thing was still her research. And that patient gentleman she had been very curious about, she could feel from his conversation that he was no ordinary person.
No wonder he was His Majesty Kaios’s lover.
What a pity, Sylph thought secretly. A new human and a disabled human, and the new human was even the future emperor. It was destined to be a forbidden love not accepted by the secular world.
Turning the last corner, sunlight shone through the gaps in the bushes onto the hem of the girl’s skirt. Purple lavender swayed on both sides.
Suddenly, a lazy and roguish woman’s voice sounded.
“Is the new empress here?”
Sylph turned her head in response.
In the back garden of the official residence, under the shadow of lavender, a woman in red clothes with black hair was sitting without any proper posture. She grumbled.
“Little girl, I see you smiling so happily, so I’ll remind you: a political marriage is just a political marriage, don’t have thoughts you shouldn’t have.”
Sylph gradually frowned her delicate eyebrows.
The woman speaking looked very young, probably not yet thirty. She was squinting with a half-smile, resting her head on her arm, propping up one leg.
She turned her head back, and sunlight flashed on her scarlet left eye, which turned out to be an artificial eye.
A flash of realization struck Sylph’s mind, and she became aware of something.
A woman who was said to be childhood friends and loving rivals with His Majesty Kaios, who didn’t attend the welcoming ceremony in the morning, but appeared on her way to see His Majesty!
Could it be…
Sylph pursed her lips, annoyed: Could it be that the palace drama was still unavoidable?
Ah, poor woman who has fallen in love. Sylph thought secretly, General Lin mustn’t have known that Kaios’s true love was neither herself nor her, but a disabled human with chronic crystal disorder…
But regardless, she represented the face of the Glorious Autonomous Dominion and couldn’t lose her composure.
So the elf-like silver-haired girl lifted her chin slightly and walked a step towards that direction gracefully. “General Lin Ge, is it?”
Lin Ge: “Oh, you recognize me.”
Sylph smiled charmingly. “I just didn’t expect that a great general of the rebel army would be so impolite.”
“I am the daughter of the Glorious Autonomous Dominion, your current honored guest and future empress. Yet the general stops me here. I wonder what His Majesty Kaios would think?”
Lin Ge burst into laughter, waving her hand without any decorum. “Your spirit is strong enough, but who’s stopping you? This general is just sunbathing here, can’t I chat with a beautiful girl passing by?”
“You!” Sylph’s face darkened. After all, she was a girl who had just come of age. Embarrassment and anger tinged her white ear roots slightly pink. “How dare you!”
The atmosphere became subtly tense. But in the next moment, footsteps came from the front, and a voice said calmly, “Lin Ge.”
In an instant, Sylph was surprised to see this rogue-like female general change color, spring up to stand straight, and quickly walk forward to meet them.
“Dawn!? Why did you come over?”
Two figures were seen walking one after another from the end of the path.
The man walking in front was pale and thin, wearing a thick black fur coat as if afraid of the cold, making him look even more frail. Only when he got closer could one see his features clearly, deep and calm, as if containing a different kind of strength.
“Indeed impolite,” Jiang Jianming glanced at His Majesty Kaios following behind him and said calmly, “Both of you are so discourteous, if I didn’t come out to welcome the honored guest, you would have completely lost face for us.”
