“Secretary, are you all right?!”
“I’m fine…” Luo Ran paused, then added, “Don’t tell the General about what happened tonight.”
“Yes!”
……
——— XXXX ———
The next day, the First Prince’s birthday banquet arrived as scheduled, amid great anticipation.
It was another major social occasion, and a prime opportunity for the factions supporting the First Prince and the Second Prince to compete for Lucas’s allegiance.
— Only when you possess an army can you truly claim to possess a country.
Nearly all of the Empire’s main military forces belonged to Lucas. Whichever side Lucas joined, the generals under his command would follow him.
However, the First Prince and the Second Prince were currently fighting over political power, and Lucas had no desire to get involved. For now, he recognized only the Empire and the King. Whichever prince eventually ascended the throne, he would serve that person.
Lucas’s thinking was simple. But regardless of what the two princes themselves thought, their respective factions had certainly never stopped scheming for even a single day.
Sure enough, Lucas had barely stepped into the banquet hall when several people swooped down on him like hungry wolves, eager to offer him drinks.
Lucas wore his usual icy expression, his entire presence as cold as ice.
One of the people offering him a drink was an old comrade of his father’s. Since he had probably just come over to greet Lucas, Luo Ran didn’t rashly step forward to shield his superior from the alcohol.
Standing behind Lucas was rather pointless anyway, so Luo Ran simply turned around to get some food for himself and Lucas.
Once again, he encountered Prince Andyka of Luobing beside the buffet. Apparently, the prince really did love his food.
“Your Highness.”
“Ah… Secretary Luo!” Andyka smiled. “Thank you for getting me food last time. I really liked it…! Everything was delicious.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Your Highness.” Luo Ran glanced at the maid standing behind Andyka and smiled. “I think I’ve seen this young lady before. Was she at the last banquet?”
Andyka didn’t think much of the question and answered directly, “No, the maid at the last banquet was someone else.”
“Oh… Then why was she replaced?”
Andyka froze for a moment before giving an awkward laugh. “She fell ill.”
“I see. Has she seen a doctor?” Luo Ran asked. “The Empire’s medical department is headed by Shen Xiluo, and the doctors there are all highly skilled. Your Highness could try taking her there.”
“Y-yes, certainly…”
“What are you two talking about?!”
Luo Ran heard Lilia’s voice from behind him, thick with anger.
“What are you, a bastard child, trying to flirt around for?!” Lilia glared at Andyka and snorted. “Get lost!”
“S-sorry…!” Andyka hurried away, clutching his food and acting as timidly as ever.
Luo Ran frowned slightly.
“What were you talking to him about?” Lilia approached him and smiled sweetly. “Come have a drink with me?”
Looking at the elaborately dressed young princess before him, Luo Ran thought that he couldn’t leave this matter unresolved. He couldn’t allow the little princess to keep making a scene until things escalated further and dragged both Luobing and the Empire into it.
He was Lucas’s secretary. His job was to solve Lucas’s problems and deal with his troubles, not create even more of them.
“Your Highness, let’s talk.”
……
Lucas was being held up by one of his father’s old comrades, who was reminiscing about the old days, when Zhou Mingkai came bounding over like a monkey.
“General! General! Big bro, big bro! We’ve got a huge problem!”
Seeing that the younger men apparently had something to discuss, the old comrade tactfully took his leave.
Lucas was thoroughly fed up. “Spit it out.”
“Your sister-in-law—Secretary Luo is about to get stolen away!”
Lucas: “?”
As Zhou Mingkai dragged Lucas along, he lowered his voice and explained, “I accidentally found out from my big brother when I got home yesterday. That princess from Luobing, Lilia—God knows what’s gotten into her, but she’s fallen for your Secretary Luo! She even submitted a formal request to the Empire to arrange a political marriage with him! Fortunately, my big brother quietly suppressed the matter.”
Lucas’s eyes widened.
“How dare she?!”
“Exactly, exactly!” Zhou Mingkai nodded furiously. “How dare she! I’m practically dying of anxiety here! I just saw that princess dragging Secretary Luo out onto the balcony!”
Lucas’s eyes widened even further.
“That little bastard!”
“Exactly, exactly!” Zhou Mingkai continued nodding vigorously. “What a damn outrage! So let’s hurry to the balcony!”
Anyone who dared steal his sister-in-law was a little bastard, wasn’t she?!
……
The balcony.
“Why not?! Why can’t we be together?!” Lilia was furious.
Luo Ran paused before answering, “Because… my heart already belongs to someone else.”
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
“WHAT???” Lilia stared at him in disbelief. “Who do you like?!”
Luo Ran remained silent for a long moment. Then, with a solemn expression, he said, “I like… General Lucas.”
“I’ve liked him for many years.”
At a moment like this, Lucas’s usual ferocity and terrible reputation finally came in handy.
……
When Lucas arrived on the balcony, those were the very words he heard.
Lucas: ???
Zhou Mingkai: ???
……………………..
The moment Luo Ran said those words, everyone present was so shocked that they were rendered speechless.
Luo Ran was the Empire’s famously perfect secretary: capable, intelligent, and rational to the point that he seemed almost devoid of emotion. He considered everything solely from Lucas’s perspective and always prioritized his superior’s interests. No one could even imagine what he might look like when he fell in love.
Luo Ran was naturally gentle in temperament, but his gentleness carried a sense of distance, even coldness.
And now, he was actually saying that he liked Lucas?
“N-no way!” Lilia stared at the handsome, refined man before her, feeling as though her entire worldview had been shattered.
“I really do like him.” Luo Ran paused, then continued with utmost seriousness, “At this point, I have no choice but to tell you the truth. I hope Your Highness can understand.”
Lilia: “……”
Lucas: “……”
Beside them, Zhou Mingkai was desperately trying to suppress his laughter.
As someone who had roamed the world of romance, surrounded by countless beauties yet never leaving a trace of attachment behind, Zhou Mingkai could tell at a glance what Luo Ran was doing.