Having gotten the answers Lucas wanted, he stood up briskly and prepared to leave.
“G-General…?” Andika stared at Lucas’s retreating figure, utterly dumbfounded.
“I’m sorry, truly sorry,” Luo Ran said as he stepped forward. “But the food here is delicious, Your Highness. You can stay and enjoy it at your leisure.”
“But…”
Luo Ran smiled. “With the General here, I doubt Your Highness would have been able to eat to your heart’s content anyway.”
“Mm…”
Luo Ran caught up with Lucas. Once they were aboard the aircraft, Lucas folded his arms across his chest and said, “See? I told you those bastards from Luobing were up to something.”
Luo Ran frowned. “I think… something is off too.”
In fact, Lucas hadn’t initially suspected Andika simply because he had a dog. After all, the DNA report had clearly established that the dog was a stray that had died many years ago and had previously been kept as a specimen in the laboratory.
It was just that seeing Andika holding a dog had inexplicably made Lucas think of the possibility that Luobing was involved.
Luo Ran paused, lightly tapping the terminal in his hands as he thought. “General, don’t you think Prince Andika was far too composed?”
“?”
“We both know what kind of person His Highness is. He’s an illegitimate child who has always been bullied by his older siblings. Haven’t you noticed that he’s always seemed afraid of you?”
Lucas nodded.
Luo Ran continued, “But someone who normally stammers whenever he speaks was able to answer your questions just now without stumbling, with a clear and logical train of thought.”
Once Luo Ran pointed it out, Lucas understood as well.
Exactly. Andika was so timid that he could barely get through an ordinary conversation without stammering. So why had he suddenly remained calm when confronted with such sensitive and seemingly inexplicable questions?
It was almost as though he had memorized his answers beforehand, desperately trying to prove that he had nothing to hide.
Luo Ran added, “I don’t know if you noticed, General, but His Highness also paused to think while answering. The pauses were very brief, but he definitely stopped to think.”
As though he were trying to remember his lines.
Luo Ran thought to himself that even if his suspicions were wrong, and Andika was simply a deeply calculating person who had deliberately behaved that way to mislead them, the conclusion would remain the same.
There was definitely something suspicious about Prince Andika.
“Then investigate it,” Lucas said with a cold laugh. “I want to see what the hell Luobing is up to.”
When news spread that Lucas had “accompanied” Andika to dinner that evening, both the Empire and Luobing erupted.
The Empire’s Omegas wept bitter tears, while the General’s shipping fans flooded the West Lake with theirs.
Meanwhile, the Luobing royal family celebrated as though a blessing had descended from the heavens. They were practically ready to start discussing the marriage arrangements immediately.
The following day, after finishing her official paperwork, Rong Duo logged into the forum and was greeted by a sea of anguished cries.
—General, how can you be so heartless?! You ungrateful, fickle man! You abandon the old for the new and toy with people’s feelings!
—Breaking news! Has the little prince from a foreign country really made the General forget his devoted wife who stood by him through thick and thin?!
Rong Duo clicked into the posts with a face full of question marks.
Ah. Right. Of course.
Although Rong Duo was doing her internship right outside Lucas’s office, accompanying Luo Ran, she usually kept her head down and did her work properly. She was content to feast her eyes on the two of them from a distance and didn’t dare approach them to gossip. Even now, she wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the situation.
“Excuse me, is Secretary Luo here?”
Just then, a junior employee from the ground floor came up carrying a bouquet of flowers.
Rong Duo stood up with a smile. “Secretary Luo is away on a business trip, but I’m her temporary assistant. What’s the matter? Is there something you need?”
“This delivery is for Secretary Luo, but outsiders aren’t allowed up here, so I brought it up for him.”
“All right.”
Rong Duo glanced at what the employee was holding. It was a bouquet of fresh roses, their petals still glistening with morning dew. They looked very expensive.
She was a little puzzled.
Who would send Secretary Luo something like this?
Just then, Lucas came out, preparing to head to military headquarters. As he was leaving, he glanced at the bouquet.
Rong Duo helpfully explained without being asked, “Someone sent flowers to Secretary Luo!”
Upon hearing that, Lucas’s brows knitted slightly.
He strode forward and rather roughly took the bouquet from her, plucking out the little card tucked among the flowers to read it.
You are cordially invited to attend my birthday celebration, Mr. Luo Ran. I hope I will have the honor of being your dance partner that evening.
—Zhou Mingyu
It was the First Prince. His birthday was coming up soon. Lucas had received an invitation as well, though his had arrived through official channels by email.
Lucas gave a cold snort and tossed the entire bouquet straight into the nearby trash can.
Thud!
The noise was loud enough to make Rong Duo jump. She trembled from head to toe, standing to one side without daring to say a word, much less look at Lucas.
Only after Lucas had left did Rong Duo finally recover. She patted her chest, and once the initial shock had passed, she suddenly realized that she had just witnessed something extraordinary!
But…
After thinking it over, she took out her terminal and photographed the invitation card inside the trash can, then sent it to Luo Ran.
Rong Duo was careful not to include the trash can in the picture, focusing only on the card.
Since Lucas had already thrown the flowers away, she naturally didn’t dare retrieve them. But the bouquet had been handed to her, and it was intended for Luo Ran, so she still needed to let him know about it.
As she sent the message, Rong Duo wondered why the First Prince had suddenly invited Secretary Luo…
…………………
Luo Ran received Rong Duo’s message.
It was a photograph.
Rong Duo: Secretary Luo, someone sent you flowers!
Luo Ran glanced at it without paying much attention. In any case, neither he nor Lucas could possibly skip the birthday celebration of such an important Imperial figure. They could make the necessary arrangements when the time came.
He would also have to look after Lucas during the event, help him entertain guests and cultivate connections. Once Lucas had a chance to rest, Luo Ran could use the time to catch up on official paperwork.
A dance partner? When would he possibly have time for that?
Zhou Mingyu could have any dance partner he wanted. Luo Ran couldn’t help laughing at the absurdity of it.
Luo Ran had genuinely been swamped with work over the past few days. Luobing’s arrival had suddenly increased his workload, and there was also the extraction of UNK to deal with. On top of that, there were countless miscellaneous matters, including military affairs and the investigation into the clues from that night.
He was so busy that he barely had time to catch his breath.