“Speak!”
Luo Ran: “…”
W-Why did he have to be so fierce?!
“Yesterday, I asked you, and you said you were going home.” Lucas’s voice dropped to absolute zero. “You lied to me.”
“…”
……………………….
Luo Ran looked at Lucas somewhat helplessly.
Was this… him being fierce, or was he feeling wronged?
Lucas repeated his question. “What did you go to see her for?!”
The overwhelming aura and pheromones of an enraged Alpha ruthlessly suppressed Luo Ran. Lucas gripped Luo Ran’s wrists, trapping him in his arms until he could barely breathe. If it had been anyone else, they would have surrendered and begged for mercy long ago.
Luo Ran could barely keep standing. His back slid down the wall behind him, but Lucas pinned both his wrists above his head, pressing them against the wall.
“I hate it most when people lie to me,” Lucas said coldly. “You are no exception.”
Luo Ran stared blankly at Lucas.
“I… I won’t do it again.” Luo Ran thought to himself that he was indeed in the wrong this time.
It really had been a miscalculation. He hadn’t wanted Lucas to know about these trivial matters in the first place, but who could have expected the Countess to happen to be watering flowers in her backyard at just that moment, and then to happen to run into Lucas and tell him about it?
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
Looking at the furious lion before him, Luo Ran took a deep breath and explained, “General, I went to see Miss Nina solely to resolve the conflict between you and her. She had grievances against you, so I simply clarified things with her.”
“Why explain things to her? She’s an irrelevant person. Is she that important?”
“…”
Luo Ran said, “She’s the duke’s daughter, and her status is distinguished. If she harbors resentment toward you, that resentment might snowball and grow increasingly severe in the future, eventually spiraling out of control and causing a great deal of trouble.”
“She’s that important? Important enough for you to lie to me and secretly visit her?”
The Alpha’s suppression left Luo Ran dizzy and disoriented. Even so, he tried his best to explain things logically and coherently.
“At worst, she might spread false rumors among the people around her. At worst, it could create conflict between the military and the imperial court. Besides, I didn’t deliberately hide it from you, General. If you asked me, I would tell you.”
“Then you spent the entire afternoon chatting with her?!”
“…Miss Nina and I happened to find a topic we had in common and became friends.”
“Ha! Secretary Luo really is approachable.”
Luo Ran’s explanation was impeccable. Lucas released his grip on him and plopped down beside him, still looking irritated.
On closer inspection, there was also a hint of unwillingness in his expression.
Luo Ran gently rubbed his wrists, then stepped forward to start the aircraft. He set the number of seconds before it would launch automatically, then turned around and opened the cabin door.
Lucas immediately stood up warily. “What are you doing?”
“I just remembered that I left some documents in the conference room. General, please go back first.” Luo Ran smiled sweetly and turned to leave the aircraft.
“Luo Ran!” Lucas strode forward, trying to stop him.
“Are you angry?”
Luo Ran wore a warm smile and spoke gently. “I’m not. How could I be?”
Then, with a bang, the cabin door shut. At that very moment, the aircraft started up and lifted off the ground. Luo Ran’s timing had been absolutely precise.
Lucas: “…”
You little rascal!
The empire’s lion was officially angry and even wanted to stomp his feet.
Meanwhile, after getting off the aircraft, Luo Ran went to wait at a public transit station.
He wasn’t going back with a sulking Lucas. He wasn’t going to argue with him. Lucas was unreasonable.
“Secretary Luo? Why are you here all alone? Did you quarrel with the general?” Crown Prince Zhou Mingyu’s aircraft happened to pass by. When he saw Luo Ran, he landed and even came over to him personally.
Luo Ran could faintly smell the Alpha pheromones coming from Zhou Mingyu.
Without making it obvious, Luo Ran took several steps back and smiled. “No. The general and I simply have different destinations.”
With the old king seriously ill, Zhou Mingyu was currently serving as the empire’s leader. He had always been a steady and gentle person, and now that he had assumed this responsibility, his conduct had naturally become even more composed.
“I see. Would you like me to give you a ride since I’m going that way?”
Zhou Mingyu glanced at Luo Ran and saw the tall man lowering his head, seemingly lost in thought. His long eyelashes drooped, and there was a small beauty mark beside the corner of his eye.
His long hair was tied into a neat, high ponytail, and the touch of blue at the ends brought his entire appearance to life.
Luo Ran wasn’t exceptionally beautiful in any earth-shattering way, but he still gave people the impression of being very good-looking and pleasant to be around.
Luo Ran paused before politely declining. “There’s no need to trouble Your Highness. I’ll be there soon.”
“It’s no trouble. Where are you going?”
Luo Ran shook his head and smiled. “Thank you very much, but I really shouldn’t trouble Your Highness. I’m going to the military headquarters, which might not be a convenient place for you to visit.”
Zhou Mingyu frowned slightly. That was indeed somewhere he couldn’t conveniently go.
“Look, here it is now.” Luo Ran pointed toward an approaching aircraft. Holding his documents, he bowed to Zhou Mingyu before quickly boarding.
After sitting down, Luo Ran thought to himself that the crown prince had always been a warmhearted person. Now that he had taken on a higher position, he seemed to have become even more benevolent. He had apparently been doing charitable work among the common people and making discreet visits incognito quite often.
Luo Ran shook his head. He had originally intended to open his terminal, but suddenly paused.
Only then did he notice a red mark on his left wrist. Looking closely, he could make out the faint outline of fingerprints.
Ah…
Luo Ran thought to himself, Lucas, you dog!
However, Luo Ran understood that Lucas hadn’t deliberately meant to hurt him. Lucas was simply much stronger than an ordinary person and found it difficult to control his strength. Besides… metal naturally injured people more easily than flesh did.
After thinking for a moment, Luo Ran switched the terminal to his other wrist.
That way, neither other people nor Lucas would see the injury.
Just as Luo Ran was planning to make a detour to the military headquarters, he received a report from the research institute.
UNK01 had been sent to the research institute as soon as it arrived in the imperial capital, and the report was ready today.
The report had been written personally by the director. It stated that the institute had tried countless technological methods but had been unable to extract the material. They might have to resort to manual extraction.