“Your Majesty Kaios!”
Sylph called out joyfully. Her voice was clear, completely in the tone of a pure and innocent girl seeing an old friend.
The intimacy in her voice made Lin Ge’s eyelids twitch violently. In her heart, she cursed this tactless little girl a million times.
Fearing that Jiang Jianming couldn’t bear this shock, she quickly stepped between them. “Dawn, you go back first. We’ll handle this here…”
Jiang Jianming: “Why should I go back?”
Ryann: “Why should he go back?”
They spoke in unison.
“…”
Lin Ge opened her mouth. “You… I…”
Good heavens, who was supposed to be arguing and who was supposed to be mediating here?
How could they both be so calm in this situation?
“Aslan is Zhen’s commander after all. It wouldn’t be proper not to meet the future empress.”
Ryann said indifferently. “As for you, what are you doing here? If you have nothing to do, step back. You’re annoying to look at.”
While saying this, his actions were very natural as he reached out to brush off a leaf stuck to Lin Ge’s clothes.
Meanwhile, Jiang Jianming walked past Lin Ge to greet the silver-haired girl in white. “Don’t mind them. Those two have never gotten along since childhood. They argue every day, it’s normal. Let them bicker for a while… Please, come with me.”
“Are you Commander Aslan?”
Sylph had already guessed who the newcomer was when she heard Lin Ge call him “Dawn”.
She lifted her skirt and followed this mysterious young commander down the last stretch of the small path, secretly marveling in her heart.
Commander Aslan…
He was so different from what she had imagined.
Moreover, she felt that the relationship between His Majesty Kaios, Commander Aslan, and General Lin was very peculiar. It didn’t seem like that of a ruler and his subjects at all, but more like family.
For people who had supported each other through adversity, it was often easier to share hardships than prosperity. Not to mention that these three had no blood relation, yet they could still banter and chat so casually without any barriers. It was truly rare.
“Please, have a seat.”
Jiang Jianming led Sylph to a glass table under a white-topped pavilion and pulled out a chair for the girl.
He personally lifted the teapot to pour tea and said gently. “I’m very sorry, I’ve been ill recently and was confined by His Majesty. I still don’t know the name of Her Majesty the Empress.”
Besides tea, there were also snacks and fresh flowers on the table. There was no one else here, and the sunlight was quiet and leisurely.
Sylph sat down and looked back in Ryann’s direction from afar. “Actually…”
The truth about the arranged marriage was a big bombshell that shouldn’t be spoken out loud.
But judging from the current atmosphere, she guessed that His Majesty Kaios might want to use her words to be frank with the Commander and General Lin.
On the small path where purple lavender swayed, Ryann and Lin Ge were also walking this way.
Sure enough, the former raised his voice. “Say whatever you need to say. There’s nothing to hide between Zhen and the Commander.”
Sylph steadied herself inwardly, quietly pinching her fingers, and looked straight at Jiang Jianming. “Commander, what I’m about to say may be difficult for you to accept, so I’d like to ask for forgiveness in advance.”
The Commander smiled as he handed over the teacup, “Please don’t say that. You are the person His Majesty chose. No matter what has happened, the position to forgive or not…”
He paused meaningfully, “Shouldn’t be mine.”
Whew, Sylph felt tense. This answer was soft on the outside but firm on the inside, and yet impossible to refute. As expected of the legendary commander who single-handedly led the Blue Mother Star’s rebel army to establish merit. He wasn’t easy to fool.
She couldn’t help but grumble inwardly. Although falling in love with a disabled person was indeed difficult to speak about, how could Kaios leave it to her to say? That’s not how it should be done!
It seemed the rumors about His Majesty being afraid of the Commander were true. Wasn’t this just like a child who had fallen in love but was too scared to tell their parents…
But, this was also for her patient.
Sylph gritted her teeth, steeled her heart, and suddenly stood up!
“I’m very sorry, Commander. I came here nominally for an arranged marriage, but I’m not here to be the empress. His Majesty Kaios loves someone else.”
She said seriously. “I am – here to treat the real empress!”
…Of course, earning some funds for her own research projects on the side was also reasonable.
“…”
Jiang Jianming was stunned.
“Wha-” Lin Ge was dumbfounded.
Sylph suddenly became alert, turned and pointed at Lin Ge, saying crisply. “Not you!”
Kaios couldn’t hold it in and snorted with laughter, his mockery so thick it was almost tangible.
It took Lin Ge three seconds to react before she got angry, her face turning red and neck swelling, “I, I, I’ll be damned-”
Instantly, a string of profanities mixed with rural dialect burst forth, the central idea boiling down to one sentence, “Even if both my eyes were blind, I’d never look at a monster like Kaios!”
The scene gradually spiraled out of control, careening towards chaos.
Jiang Jianming suddenly held his forehead, already feeling his temples beginning to throb.
He took a deep breath and looked at the girl in front of him again, “Excuse me, but are you… Lady Sylph?”
Sylph exclaimed in surprise: “The Commander has heard of me?”
“…”
Jiang Jianming felt a twinge in his heart.
Thank you, but we had an in-depth discussion about my condition just last night.
And you were so dedicated that even though you were set to board a starship for an arranged marriage the next day, you still had the heart to care for patients, which now makes me extremely uneasy.
Jiang Jianming didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He suddenly stood up and turned to the root of all this trouble, “Your Maje-!”
Unexpectedly, Ryann had just come up behind him, narrowing his eyes ominously, and pressed his hand firmly on Jiang Jianming’s shoulder.
Jiang Jianming stumbled and was pressed back into his seat.
Sylph, completely unaware that the situation had turned comical, was still asking seriously. “Your Majesty Kaios, so where is my patient?”
Lin Ge’s face went through a kaleidoscope of colors. “Patient?”
Ryann slowly narrowed his eyes. “Yours?”
Sylph shrugged helplessly. “Alright, yours then. So where is your wife?”
“Wi-!?”
Jiang Jianming’s face turned ashen. He felt like he needed oxygen.
So, on the day he first met Sylph, when Ryann told him to say it was his wife, it was actually because His Majesty had already told Sylph this…
What a “shoot first, ask questions later” approach… Jiang Jianming gritted his teeth, thinking of the words he had written and deleted that day, feeling both angry and amused.
If Sylph hadn’t been present, he would have already grabbed Ryann’s hair by now!
—In fact, if this farce could stop here, it would be fine.
He knew that His Majesty hadn’t truly compromised, he knew that Ryann had gone to great lengths for him, and fortunately, no other girl had been hurt. It was already the best possible outcome.
But Jiang Jianming quickly realized that the severity of the situation was far beyond this.
“Hey, but Your Majesty Kaios, this is where you’re wrong,” Sylph said, still unaware that anything was amiss. She spoke seriously. “How could you not explain such a big thing as a fake marriage to him beforehand!”
She glared at Ryann, puffing up angrily, pointing and gesturing, “My goodness, he’s already so ill, and you’ve upset him to the point where he can’t sleep at night without sleeping pills…”
…!!
Jiang Jianming’s mind went blank!
His train of thought broke, and he froze completely.
Ryann was also dumbfounded.
He immediately looked down to check Jiang Jianming’s expression.
“…”
Jiang Jianming felt numb all over. He froze in place, feeling all the blood in his body rush to his face.
Sylph angrily said, “Do you know what he told me last night? ‘My body is like a lamp running out of oil, unable to provide any value or warmth to the one I care about. I’ve thought of leaving, but I worry he would be lonely’…”
“He never used to say such emotionally exposed things before. Did Your Majesty have a fight with the patient?”
“You can’t use this to sulk! Go explain quickly!”
A flash of panic crossed Ryann’s eyes. He bent down to put an arm around Jiang Jianming’s shoulders, both anxious and angry, “You…!?”
“No,” Jiang Jianming supported his forehead with one hand, weakly closing his eyes and explaining, “Your Majesty, I’m not… it’s not because of this…”
Sylph finally realized something was wrong. “?”
Ryann was silent for a moment, his eyes reddening slightly.
He gently stroked Jiang Jianming’s black hair at the back of his head, saying hoarsely. “I thought you really didn’t care, like you showed on the surface.”
Sylph: “??”
Lin Ge walked behind her, expressionless. “Little girl, now do you know who His Majesty Kaios’s wife is?”
For a moment, the atmosphere became very tense.
And suffocating.
Sylph’s eyes widened gradually, her mouth opened, and when she finally managed to sort out her thoughts with difficulty, she instantly turned red from head to toe, like a steamed crab.
“Wh-what,” she felt dizzy, “But, could it be that the Commander is… is…”
Ryann said quietly. “The patient you’re looking for.”
Sylph: “—!!”
As is well known, when a situation reaches the point where no one can stay uninvolved, whoever feels embarrassed first loses, and the one who doesn’t feel embarrassed will be declared the winner.
For example, His Majesty Kaios, who had been secretly taking advantage of the Commander outside, calling him “wife,” didn’t even flinch when Sylph called it out publicly.
Instead, he pressed his palm against the back of the Commander’s neck, with complex emotions, “You were so upset, but you didn’t say anything. Did you think I would always come running to comfort you?”
“…Your Majesty, please spare me.”
Jiang Jianming realized he couldn’t escape, sighed helplessly, swatted away Ryann’s hand that was kneading him, and removed his gloves and wristguards one after another.
He revealed his slender, smooth wrists and said, “As you can see, Lady Sylph, I am a disabled person suffering from chronic crystal disorder. Few people know about this, so please keep it confidential.”
Sylph was on the verge of tears. “I… I… I was rude… I’m so sorry, please forgive me…”
Seeing the little empress so frightened, Jiang Jianming had no choice but to start comforting her. As he comforted her, they inevitably talked about the reasons that brought the four of them together here.
At times they discussed how a disabled person from the wild areas ended up picking up a general and an emperor, and at other times they talked about the past encounters between young lord Kaios and Sylph in the Gray Owl laboratory.
By the time everyone’s emotions had stabilized, it was time for dinner.
Thus, His Majesty Kaios, as the culprit of this farce, managed to avoid being hit or scolded, becoming the biggest winner.
He even used guilt as an excuse to watch over Jiang Jianming’s sleep that night, something he hadn’t done in a long time, feeling very content.
As for the biggest loser…
Lin Ge didn’t want to admit it, but she realized it might be herself.
It wasn’t until the four of them had dinner together that General Lin was shocked to discover that this little empress Sylph had already perfectly integrated herself between Jiang Jianming and Kaios.
And her own already limited “living space” was compressed even more miserably.
In fact, this was normal. Sylph was of noble birth but not arrogant, understanding and well-mannered, with a personality that was soft on the outside but strong on the inside, getting along well with Jiang Jianming.
Moreover, she had childhood connections with Kaios, had been treating Jiang Jianming for some time, and would be keeping the Commander’s secret together in the future. Even Kaios didn’t treat her as an outsider.
So after dinner, a scene emerged where the three of them were chatting and laughing, while Lin Ge stood aside, grinding her teeth fiercely.
…One could say that it wasn’t until she watched Sylph insert herself so smoothly that the stubborn-as-a-rock Lin Ge realized she actually cared deeply about these two people.
Thinking about it, how could she not care?
One person saved her life, gave her a name, raised her, changed her fate, and even once wanted to burn his last bit of life to light her path.
And the other person brought unlimited power and hope, saved the person who had saved her, and pulled her step by step out of the dark quagmire.
For over a decade, the three of them had been like family, bickering and arguing, but also entrusting each other with unreserved trust.
Now, a little girl falls from the sky, and she can be so intimate with Jiang and Kaios?
General Lin was very jealous, but General Lin didn’t say it.
“Lin Ge?”
Jiang Jianming noticed the resentment radiating from her and smiled, beckoning, “Why are you standing off to the side? Come here.”
Instantly, Lin Ge bristled as if her sore spot had been poked, “What do you mean ‘come here’? Am I a dog to you!?”
She snarled, “Are you going to pat my head again? Let me tell you, this old lady doesn’t care for that—”
The next second, Ryann swiftly moved over, expressionlessly occupying the spot under Jiang Jianming’s hand.
Lin Ge: “…”
Sylph: “?”
Jiang Jianming: “.”
Ryann rubbed his face against Jiang Jianming’s palm, not carrying any burden of being the future emperor.
He stared at Lin Ge with a mischievous gaze, saying coolly. “Zhen cares very much. If you don’t want it, it’s gone.”
Lin Ge gritted her teeth. “……”
Damn it, she really didn’t care, really!
Not jealous at all!
Not regretting at all that she didn’t go over just now!
