The banquet outside was bustling with activity. Inside the lounge, Lucas occupied one sofa, leaning against it with one leg crossed, resting his head on his hand with his eyes closed.
Luo Ran occupied another sofa, reading official documents.
The two maintained their distance, and the surroundings were completely quiet. The only sound was the occasional soft rustle of Luo Ran turning a page.
It was a space completely free of distractions, a stark contrast to the world outside.
After the two had stayed there for a while, they heard a knock on the door.
It was a member of Lucas’s guard team. He looked somewhat troubled as he said,
“The two Highnesses from Falling-Ice want to see the General. They’re making a scene at the stairway entrance. We’ve stopped them for now.”
“I understand.”
Luo Ran nodded and followed him downstairs.
When they reached the lower floor, they saw the two siblings from Falling-Ice standing at the entrance to the stairs, with two guards behind them.
Luo Ran paused, then smiled.
“Greetings, Your Highnesses. May I ask what you need?”
“Are you the person in charge here? We want to see the General.”
The princess said, “We want to get acquainted with the General.”
Luo Ran observed her briefly.
The princess wore a long velvet dress and held a stemmed glass in her hand. She looked spoiled and arrogant, and there was even a hint of disdain in the way she looked at him.
She had clearly been pampered.
As for the prince, he was more timid. Whatever he did, he seemed to look to his sister first.
Luo Ran said, “I’m sorry, but our General is resting.”
The princess frowned slightly.
“Do you know who I am?”
Luo Ran nodded.
“Yes. You’re the Third Princess of Falling-Ice, Lilia Lamont.”
Lilia looked satisfied.
“Good that you know. We want to go in and meet the General.”
Luo Ran repeated,
“I’m sorry, but our General is resting.”
“Ah…?”
Lilia was somewhat taken aback.
She was the only princess in the Falling-Ice royal family, and her father and brothers had spoiled her to the point of letting her do whatever she wanted. To her, leaving her comfortable life behind and coming to this unfamiliar place for a marriage alliance was already lowering herself. She was also somewhat anxious about it.
“Forget it.”
The little prince behind her tugged lightly on her sleeve and whispered,
“Father told us not to cause trouble.”
Lilia brushed his hand away and cursed him with words like “coward” and “get lost,” before turning angrily toward Luo Ran.
“It’s you, some subordinate who came from who-knows-where, taking advantage of your position! How dare you act so arrogantly? What right do you have to stop me?”
Lucas had just come downstairs and, already finding it annoying that someone had come looking for them, was planning to simply return to the company.
By coincidence, he heard that sentence.
Lucas’s expression instantly turned cold.
Luo Ran, however, didn’t care about her words spoken in embarrassment and anger.
He said gently,
“First of all, I am Luo Ran, the General’s chief secretary. Secondly, I’m very sorry, but I hope Your Highness can understand. You have no appointment or prior arrangement, and it would not be appropriate for us to meet privately without notice. Furthermore, the General is resting and does not wish to be disturbed by outsiders.”
Lucas was an Imperial General.
He was the Empire’s blade and its glory.
He was not someone a princess from a vassal state could simply demand to see whenever she pleased.
After all, the Empire had never agreed to this marriage alliance.
But Lilia felt that turning back now would make her lose face, so she raised her voice.
“I am the General’s future marriage partner! You’d better show me some respect!”
Luo Ran paused, looking somewhat troubled.
“Do you absolutely have to see him? The General has a very bad temper when he first wakes up. For your personal safety, I recommend that you don’t disturb him.”
Lucas, who supposedly had a very bad temper upon waking, stood to one side and raised an eyebrow slightly.
Lilia paused, then proudly said,
“I’m not afraid! I want to see him!”
“All right.”
Luo Ran helplessly took out his terminal and rapidly typed out a message.
What Luo Ran was worried about was that if this wasn’t handled properly, the princess would keep coming to bother Lucas afterward, becoming a persistent nuisance.
Lilia was an Omega, while Lucas was an Alpha with a notoriously fierce reputation. If something happened between them and word got out, it would not look good.
Lilia curiously rose onto her tiptoes to peek at what he was doing.
“What is that?”
“Done.”
Luo Ran handed the terminal to Lilia.
“A death waiver. Sign it.”
…
Lilia: “……????”
The little princess who had grown up surrounded by sugar and inside an ivory tower was thoroughly frightened.
Luo Ran reminded her,
“There’s a second page.”
The second page contained a statement that she accepted all consequences and that, in the event of injury or death, she guaranteed that no one would be held responsible.
Lilia: “…”
The person involved was absolutely terrified.
Luo Ran’s voice was gentle, his features soft, making him look almost angelic.
“Sign it, and you can go upstairs to see the General.”
“…Y-you’re just trying to scare me! I’m the General’s fiancée!”
“Yes, I know. Falling-Ice intends for you to become the General’s fourth marriage partner.”
When Lilia heard the words fourth marriage partner, her entire body jolted.
“You’re definitely trying to scare me!”
Lilia bared her teeth, stubbornly forcing herself to remain brave.
“You malicious subordinate!”
“Big sister…”
The prince tugged on Lilia’s sleeve and whispered,
“I heard that the Imperial General used to eat human flesh on the battlefield. He’s really scary.”
Lilia: “…”
“I-I’m not afraid! I’m not signing!”
Lilia stiffened her neck and lifted her skirt as she headed upstairs.
Luo Ran smiled sweetly and stepped aside to clear the way for her.
Lilia: “…”
Instead, Lilia stopped in her tracks.
She looked at Luo Ran.
“Um… you, you’re not coming upstairs with me?”
Luo Ran didn’t even blush.
“I don’t dare. The General is too scary.”
Lilia: “…”
Lucas, standing not far away, couldn’t help curving his lips into a smile.
Lilia stomped her foot.
“I-I’m not like you! You’re nothing but a guard dog. I’m a princess! I’m going to be the General’s wife!”
Luo Ran extended a hand in welcome.
“Then please, go on up.”
Lilia: “…”
“You come up with me…!”
Lilia stepped forward and reached out to grab Luo Ran. Her movements were somewhat domineering and rough.
“Let go.”
Just then, a cold voice sounded above them.
Lucas had somehow appeared to one side. His entire body seemed to be wrapped in a layer of ice.
Lilia’s face instantly turned white, and she was so frightened that she dropped straight to her knees.
Because Lucas was holding a sleek, pitch-black handgun, the muzzle pointed directly at Lilia’s forehead.
Lucas’s expression was dark.
“Get lost.”
Someone who had come straight from the battlefield naturally carried a heavy murderous aura.
“G-General…”
Lilia’s legs went weak, and she couldn’t stand.
The two bodyguards immediately helped her up, and together with the prince, they hurriedly left.
The prince had originally wanted to apologize, but when he saw the black muzzle, he was too frightened to say a word.
Only after the entire group had left did Lucas return the gun to the holster at his waist.
Luo Ran thought, All right. The princess probably won’t dare come looking for Lucas again for quite some time.
But…
Luo Ran said helplessly, “General, you shouldn’t draw your gun so casually. It doesn’t look good.”
“Are you made of clay?”
Lucas sneered.
“Someone bullies you and you still defend them? Where’s your brain?”
“…”
Caught off guard by the retort, Luo Ran began thinking and replaying what had just happened.
He had frightened the princess.
The princess had been scared to tears by him and Lucas.
And he hadn’t even lost a single hair.
Hmm…
But Luo Ran was already very skilled at smoothing Lucas’s ruffled feathers.
He blinked and said,
“Isn’t the General here?”
Lucas froze.
Then he rubbed his nose and turned his head away.
“Tsk.”
The corner of his mouth had lifted forty-five degrees, while his eyebrows had risen fifteen degrees.
The expression completely betrayed how smug Lucas was feeling at that moment, practically ready to float into the heavens.
“Don’t think you can get away with flattering me.”
Lucas raised an eyebrow.
“What did you just say? That I have a bad temper when I wake up?”
Luo Ran: “…”
Luo Ran was just about to say something when the Falling-Ice ambassador hurried over after hearing what had happened.
“I’m truly, truly sorry.”
The ambassador bowed to Lucas and Luo Ran.
“She’s young, outspoken, and doesn’t know any better. The princess is also very nervous about coming all this way, so she was simply too eager to meet her marriage partner.”
Luo Ran nodded.
“I understand. The Empire will certainly take good care of Her Highness the Princess. I hope she can calm down and not be so nervous anymore.”
The implication was clear:
Please don’t come looking for us whenever you feel like it in the future.
“…Yes, certainly.”
The ambassador gave an awkward laugh before following the two of them to a small refreshment room in a corner on the ground floor.
Third Prince Zhou Mingkai and several Round Table ministers were already there.
The ambassador pulled Lucas down to sit with them. After chatting for a while, he smoothly brought up another topic.
“The main purpose of our visit this time is still to discuss cooperation.”
“Everyone in the Empire knows that we have excavated a new UNK mineral. It’s an entirely new type of ore, and we believe it can bring even greater benefits to the Empire. Taking this opportunity, we thought we could have Falling-Ice and the Empire form a marriage alliance. The Empire would gain access to better fuel, while Falling-Ice would receive greater benefits. Our relationship would only grow stronger!”
Lucas lowered his head and swiped through his terminal, taking no part in the conversation.
Everyone was already accustomed to his attitude.
The Third Prince was a playboy and didn’t count for much politically. Meanwhile, over the years, the First and Second Princes had been locked in a long struggle for power, and the Round Table had also split into two factions.
But the military, led by Lucas, had always remained neutral.
Lucas focused solely on fighting wars and never involved himself in these matters.
Lucas’s loyalty belonged solely to the Empire.
And because of this, Lucas had become a highly coveted and extremely influential figure.
Whoever could win him over would gain an overwhelming advantage.
Perhaps Falling-Ice had thought of this too, which was why they wanted a marriage alliance with Lucas rather than one with someone from the Imperial family who was more evenly matched in status.
After all—
To possess Lucas was to possess the Empire.
Zhou Mingkai might have been a playboy, but he never treated political affairs carelessly.
He curved his lips.
“Oh? Then does the development right for UNK belong to our Empire?”
“Naturally. Everything we excavate will be presented to the Empire in its entirety. But we hope to make some changes to the original cooperation agreement.”
Here it comes.
Zhou Mingkai and the several ministers exchanged knowing glances.
The ambassador remained completely unruffled, smiling as he said,
“The original agreement was one ton of ice ore in exchange for five tons of food. But now that we are forming a marriage alliance, we’re family. And with this new UNK project to cooperate on as well, could we perhaps discuss changing the original one ton of ore to just one-third of the original quantity?”
Zhou Mingkai smiled and shook his head.
“I can’t make that decision either. We’ll have to discuss it tomorrow when Falling-Ice and the Empire hold the official meeting.”
“Of course. Tomorrow, when the two countries meet, our First Prince and ministers will also be attending.”
The ambassador clinked glasses with Zhou Mingkai.
Unlike the princess, the little prince, and the team of experts, who would remain in the Empire for the time being to handle UNK and the marriage alliance, the First Prince of Falling-Ice and the others would only come tomorrow for the official meeting.
Luo Ran stood behind Lucas, his brows slightly furrowing as he listened to the Falling-Ice ambassador.
Relying on UNK, Falling-Ice is really asking for the moon now.
They want a marriage alliance and they want to reduce the fuel supply.
Lucas sat on the sofa with his eyes lowered, swiping through his terminal.
Then he sent Luo Ran a message.
—This is basically making me eat shit and then charging me for it.
Luo Ran opened it and couldn’t help holding back his laughter.
How did the princess go from being spoiled and arrogant to becoming shit?
“By the way, there’s something we haven’t clarified yet.”
Zhou Mingkai said, “There are two Highnesses here. May I ask which one Falling-Ice intends to marry off?”
Zhou Mingkai guessed that they might have prepared one male Omega and one female Omega, leaving Lucas to choose whichever one he liked.
Then the ambassador twitched the muscles on his face before smiling brightly.
“Well, the sister works, and the brother works too.”
Zhou Mingkai: “…”
Lucas: “…”
Lucas’s expression at that moment:
—Fuck. Still two fucking piles of shit.