“Teacher, my grandfather is dead.”
The fourteen-year-old crown prince hugged him tightly, choking back sobs.
“Teacher, they all want me dead. What should I do? Teacher… will you abandon me too?”
The young crown prince, forced into a corner, hid with him in a dark cellar. Those bright eyes were now filled with despair and helplessness.
“Teacher, I’m sorry! I’m sorry!!”
In order to save the crown prince, he was injured.
“Teacher, I will protect you. I won’t be weak anymore.”
At that moment, all the warmth in the crown prince’s eyes seemed to be erased, replaced by endless darkness and coldness.
“Teacher! Are you trying to plead for them?”
At seventeen, the crown prince sat in the office of the base’s ruler, looking at him with icy eyes.
“Teacher, I don’t like repaying kindness with kindness. Cutting weeds must remove the roots—that’s what they taught me. They all must die. I think… teacher, you’re smart enough to understand.”
“Teacher, I want you to carry out this mission. You won’t let me down, right?”
“Teacher wants to get married?” The crown prince stared at him coldly, like a venomous snake.
“You promised Grandpa you would take care of me for life. Are you going to break your word?”
“Teacher, I really hate people who break promises.”
“Teacher…”
“Teacher…”
“Teacher…”
Lian Qiguang floated in midair, dazedly watching the scenes unfold. His body and mind were both in chaos.
Where was this?
The base?
Why was he here?
Wasn’t the apocalypse already over? Wasn’t he already dead?
“Little Crown Prince…”
He slowly raised his hand, trying to touch the young man.
But just before his fingers reached that fair cheek, the boy suddenly lifted his head. Those dark, ruthless eyes locked precisely onto his position.
The world tilted.
His body was dragged into a twisting darkness.
—
Pain.
That was the only thing he felt.
He forced his eyes open, the world slowly coming into focus.
He turned his stiff neck and looked around, confused.
Where… is this?
“You’re awake?”
A deep voice came from beside him.
Lian Qiguang turned his head slowly.
Xiahou Shaoxuan was sitting on a sofa beside the bed, wearing only a black shirt. Perhaps due to irritation, two buttons at the collar were undone, the fabric slightly wrinkled.
He stood and walked over.
His tall, powerful body blocked the light completely, making the person on the bed seem even smaller and weaker.
“Anywhere uncomfortable?” A rough hand gently touched his forehead, calloused from training, slightly tickling his skin.
“Where is this?”
“My room.”
Xiahou Shaoxuan sat on the edge of the bed.
“You’ve been unconscious for ten days.”
“Unconscious?” Lian Qiguang blinked, still blank.
“You fought that brat Xiahou Hetian and got injured.”
Xiahou Hetian?
Right.
He remembered.
He nodded.
“I won.”
“I know.”
That was why Xiahou Shaoxuan had only lightly “handled” the brat these past days.
He rubbed Lian Qiguang’s hair once, finding it exactly as soft as expected.
Neither of them were talkative. Silence filled the room.
After a long moment—
“How do you see me?”
“…Not a bad person.”
Lian Qiguang tilted his head, clearly not understanding the question fully, but still answering seriously.
To him, Xiahou Shaoxuan was simply a capable soldier who did not carry hypocrisy or frivolity in his eyes.
Not someone he disliked.
“Do you like me?”
“I don’t dislike you.”
“That’s enough.”
Xiahou Shaoxuan nodded, lips curving slightly.
“Then let’s live together. What do you think?”
“I…”
“You be my wife. I’ll love you for life.”
He pulled out a transparent star card from his pocket and placed it in Lian Qiguang’s hand.
“This is my salary card. Everything I own.”
Lian Qiguang looked at it expressionlessly.
“What is this for?”
“You’re my wife. You manage the finances.”
“I’m a soldier. I don’t have much money. But I can fight.”
He clenched his fist, full of confidence.
“I’ll protect you. If anyone bullies you, I’ll cripple them. My troops belong to me, and so does the Blood Wolf Legion. They’ll all be yours too.”
“You want to protect me?”
“Yes.”
“Marry me. I’ll treat you well.”
Lian Qiguang stared at him.
“Will you listen to me?”
Xiahou Shaoxuan gave a serious analysis.
“It depends on the urgency of the situation, the severity of the matter, and whether you make a correct decision. Then I will make the fastest judgment.”
“What judgment?”
“If you’re right, I will obey you completely without objection and firmly support your decision. If you’re wrong, you will listen to me.”
Lian Qiguang suddenly felt like laughing.
But his face remained expressionless.
“What counts as right or wrong?”
“All hypothetical assumptions are meaningless. We judge based on reality.”
He looked at him solemnly again.
“But if you marry me, I will love you. I will never let you suffer even the slightest grievance.”
This time, Lian Qiguang actually laughed.
He raised a hand over his eyes, hiding the smile in them—but not the brilliance of that fleeting expression.
Xiahou Shaoxuan froze.
His usually clear and orderly mind now had only one thought:
My wife… is really beautiful.