Luo Ran thought to himself, Is it because I’ve always stayed by Lucas’s side?
Seeing Lucas apply the ointment somewhat clumsily, and noticing that he seemed to be in a bad mood, Luo Ran blinked and said, “General, take a good look at yourself. You always say that if someone bullies me, you’ll help me beat them up. So how come you’re the one doing this to me? This is a case of the officials being allowed to burn down houses while the common people aren’t even allowed to light a lamp!”
Lucas remained silent for quite a while before finally forcing out, “I’m sorry.”
Seeing this, Luo Ran could no longer hold back his laughter.
Lucas stared blankly at Luo Ran. Only then did he realize that his own secretary had been teasing him and making a fool of him.
“Luo. Ran!” Lucas said coldly. “Are you asking to die?”
Luo Ran was still laughing.
Lucas suddenly tightened his grip, grabbed Luo Ran’s uninjured wrist, and pushed him down onto the soft seat.
“Keep laughing.”
Luo Ran pouted.
The ointment had been applied, so Lucas shoved the lunch box into Luo Ran’s arms.
Luo Ran tilted his head slightly. “How did you know I was hungry, General?”
Lucas wasn’t usually this thoughtful.
Lucas glanced at the bag of snacks Luo Ran had brought aboard the aircraft and said, “You told me before that when you’re hungry, you shouldn’t eat snacks.”
Luo Ran smiled, sat quietly to one side, and began eating the hot boxed meal. There was meat, vegetables, and even a fried egg.
The earlier awkwardness seemed to have inexplicably vanished just like that. Neither of them bothered to dwell on it.
The following day, Luobing held a second meeting with the empire.
Lucas once again sat off to the side, bored out of his mind, serving merely as a figurehead.
Lucas thought to himself that they still had to hold several more of these meetings, full of ceremony but practically useless. Fine, they could hold them if they wanted—but why did they have to invite him to sit through them?
However, during this meeting, Luobing proposed a new theory.
Just the previous evening, they had received a report.
A Luobing patrol team had discovered a secluded village near the ice mine. The villagers claimed that their ancestors had left records about UNK, stating that the stone could grant people immortality.
Great. Not only did the stone contain abundant energy and offer seemingly limitless possibilities, but now there was also a legend about eternal life.
Although it had yet to be verified, it undoubtedly gave Luobing even more confidence in its position.
Luo Ran listened, frowning slightly.
When he had been extracting the minerals yesterday, he really had felt unusually energized. Could this be another reason?
The research institute’s representative had also reviewed the real-time report yesterday and had thought along similar lines. However, just like Luo Ran, he had not expressed any opinion.
The empire’s affairs should be discussed behind the empire’s own closed doors.
After the meeting ended, Luo Ran followed Lucas out. On their way to the aircraft, they ran into the two Luobing siblings.
“G-Good afternoon, General.” Princess Lilia had clearly been badly frightened the last time. Now, she no longer dared to act so arrogantly around Lucas.
Lucas looked down at the two of them but said nothing.
“Um… I came to give the General this.” Lilia handed Lucas a pink invitation card. Knowing he probably wouldn’t accept it, she instead passed it to Luo Ran.
“This is an invitation from Luobing! We’re inviting the General to have dinner with us…”
In the end, it was simply an opportunity for the prospective marriage partners to get to know each other over dinner—a date, essentially.
Lucas frowned, looking thoroughly displeased. He was about to walk straight past them when his gaze was caught by the golden retriever in Prince Andika’s arms.
Lucas wasn’t particularly fond of dogs. It was just that…
The results of that DNA test were still fresh in his mind, and the research institute hadn’t uncovered any further leads since then.
Lucas wondered whether that person might have owned a dog.
When Andika noticed Lucas suddenly looking at his dog, he was so frightened that he hurriedly tried to hide the little creature in his arms.
“G-General…” Andika stammered, trembling. “I-it doesn’t taste good… No, I mean, it…”
Lucas: “…”
Luo Ran: “…”
Pfft.
Suppressing his laughter, Luo Ran said, “The General just thinks it’s cute. The General has a wolfhound at home, too.”
“Ah, ah, I see. No, what I meant was…” Andika opened his mouth, but in the end, he decided that the more he said, the worse it would get, and didn’t dare speak again.
After the two boarded the aircraft, Luo Ran opened the pink envelope, which carried the scent of perfume, and took out the elegant invitation card.
Before Luo Ran could say anything, Lucas immediately declared, “I’m not going.”
“General, you have to go,” Luo Ran advised. “We can’t give Luobing any grounds to criticize us. We should at least keep up appearances for now. We can always refuse later.”
Lucas didn’t care about any of that. Instead, he brought up something else.
“Do you think…” Lucas stroked his chin, his gaze turning dangerous. “There’s a chance that thing from that night was the Prince of Luobing?”
As the person who had been that thing on that night, Luo Ran answered without the slightest hesitation, “I don’t think so.”
“Don’t you think it’s quite possible?” Lucas leaned back against his seat and crossed his legs. “Hasn’t Luobing been desperately trying to arrange a marriage alliance with me? Wouldn’t getting the deed done first make things more convenient for them? They have plenty of motive. Besides, that prince even owns a dog.”
“…I think…” Luo Ran paused for a moment before saying, “It would indeed be worth investigating. There’s no harm in checking a few more possibilities.”
Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Have you found anything recently?”
“…There hasn’t been any progress so far.” Luo Ran told him the truth. They really hadn’t made any headway lately. Whoever had drugged him had prepared everything meticulously, and the trail at the hotel had gone completely cold.
The only alternative was to investigate everyone one by one. But there had been so many guests at the banquet that night, not to mention the unregistered individuals brought along by those guests. At that rate, the investigation would drag on until next year.
“Tsk.” Lucas rested his head against his arm and leaned back in his seat. “I’m not interested in having dinner with the princess. You can arrange for me to meet the prince instead. I’ll question him, then leave.”
Luo Ran: “…”
It really wasn’t him!
“General…” Luo Ran paused before asking, “What if we never find that person?”
“We won’t fail to find him. We’ll dig three feet into the ground if we have to. Does the empire really lack that much ability?” Lucas opened his eyes. “Once we find him, that person is finished.”