Chapter 39: Roland Veit

Chapter 39: Roland Veit

Lu Rin'an was about to comment on the modest amount when he suddenly looked up sharply.

Separated by a door, Xie Ye stood there, tapping thrice on the door before saying, "King, are you busy?"

Yun Huai instantly inhaled sharply. As he looked at Lu Rin'an, he saw the man still laughing carelessly, raising his eyebrows to signal that someone had arrived from outside.

This was the first time in many days that Yun Huai had let Lu Rin'an out for a walk, and since Lu Rin'an himself was present, Yun Huai had not held back when consuming the previously prepared tubes. Yesterday was the last meal.

However, he refused Lu Rin'an's offer to provide more blood, instead choosing to nibble on his psychic energy. The blood of any creature is precious, monsters included.

Yun Huai wasn’t so bloodthirsty to treat Lu Rin'an merely as a portable blood bag.

And Lu Rin'an seemed quite willing to feed him psychic energy. Just now, his palm burst out with a flare like Ares' engine, leading Yun Huai to comment that it was too much.

"—Any more and the royal court would catch fire!"

Yun Huai hadn't expected that while he was discreetly feeding on “alien snacks,” Xie Ye would suddenly appear, especially in such an urgent and unexpected manner.

Lu Rin'an extinguished his flame and leaned close to Yun Huai’s ear, pretending, "What should I do? I’m so scared."

Yun Huai expressionlessly replied, "Hide the way you did in K420 starport. Otherwise, I'll send you back to the Genesis Realm tomorrow."

The threat was effective. Lu Rin'an pouted, snapped his fingers, and the surrounding space trembled slightly. The next second, he completely vanished from the side hall.

The cat ball hiding in the corner because of the menacing fish: "..."

Sometimes knowing too many royal secrets is a trouble!!!

Seeing Lu Rin'an fully disappear, Yun Huai cleared his throat and called out, "I'm not busy, come in."

The outer door then opened. A glimpse of a white robe swept across the clean floor, and a cold aura approached. Xie Ye’s figure slowly emerged from behind a decorative wall. Every time Yun Huai saw this Ita nobleman, he couldn't help but think of excessively beautiful words.

Powerful, beautiful, elegant, like a creation of the gods.

Thinking that Lu Rin'an might be watching Xie Ye from some corner, Yun Huai felt a slight apprehension. Not fearing the monster, but fearing a possible confrontation between the monster and Xie Ye.

Yun Huai still couldn't forget the shocking words Lu Rin'an had once said — "When my father was courting my mother, he ate everything around to maintain his absolute position."

His forehead twitched for a moment as he addressed the beautiful Ita nobleman, "Is there something you need?"

Xie Ye nodded, "There is a matter," he lifted his pale eyelashes, his pupils like a pool of blue ice, "Were you eating something just now?"

Yun Huai: "..."

He heard it!

His face showed no change, but his breathing grew shallower, as if calming something within.

"I wasn't eating. I was telling Iliad not to order so much breakfast. It's too much, I only eat a little every day," Yun Huai said, looking towards Iliad.

Before Iliad could respond, it felt something kick its round back.

It was shocked and angry, knowing without a doubt which monster was causing mischief behind it!

Yun Huai looked at the mechanical energy ball, seeing it weirdly tumble in the air before grudgingly saying, "Yes, yes, the king was just talking to Iliad!"

Xie Ye glanced at it and then said, "The main star is talking about how much you like that foreign merman."

Yun Huai frowned: "It's okay — uh."

The beautiful nobleman's eyelashes lifted slightly, and Yun Huai hesitantly corrected himself, "Yes, I like him a lot."

Behind the tall seat, a black space rift was slightly opened, with a finger peeking through, gently pulling on the tassel at the back of Yun Huai’s clothes.

Yun Huai's breath fluctuated, and his white psychic threads quietly spread and suddenly tightened around that finger.

Xie Ye continued, his tone subtly deeper, "If you really like him that much, I can bring you a few more from other parts of the empire. They may not be edible like this one, but they are very beautiful to look at."

A few more? Bringing in more might indeed divert attention from Lu Rin'an and prevent too much outside interest. As long as Lu Rin'an doesn’t eat them all...

Yun Huai: “Then — cough!”

Xie Ye paused, stepping forward, "Do you feel unwell? You’ve been acting a bit differently since just now."

The finger behind Yun Huai, squeezed by the psychic threads, abruptly pushed forward, pressing on his spine with enough force to momentarily numb his back.

At that moment, Yun Huai suddenly had a strong craving for sashimi. He clenched his back teeth and said, "…No, it's nothing. My throat felt a bit uncomfortable when I got up this morning. It will be fine soon."

Xie Ye frowned, “Then, about the other mermen..."

"Let’s talk about the other mermen later! For now, I don’t want any other fish. This one already has enough ornamental value," Yun Huai almost bit out the last few words.

A surge of icy frost transmitted through the psychic threads, effectively freezing the prankster behind him into immobility.

Yun Huai forced a smile at his chief executor, "Is there anything else? If not, I would like to be alone this morning."

Xie Ye felt that the rumors about the foreign merman being favored might not be entirely unfounded, as the king had rejected his suggestion.

He smiled slightly, "Speaking of which, I haven’t seen that merman yet. Is he in the pool now? I’d like to take a look and assess any potential danger for you."

Yun Huai: “…………”

The air tensed for a moment before Iliad's voice suddenly chimed in noisily, "He's just an ugly creature! Every time he sees a shadow, he shamefully hides at the bottom of the pool. A few times when the king passed by the pool, he almost died of embarrassment due to the king’s beauty!"

Yun Huai: “…………”

Iliad, with a hint of revenge, added, "So, you probably won’t see him either because he’s jealous of every Ita man more beautiful than him!"

Yun Huai closed his eyes, rubbing his temples between his thumb and forefinger.

The mermen from the second star system weren’t brought up by Xie Ye again. As he left the royal court, the side hall instantly turned chaotic.

Iliad frantically dodged, calling out while escaping, “Vile foreign monster! You should be thankful to the great cat ball, Iliad! I covered for you for the king’s sake, and now you repay me like this!”

It flew haphazardly, crashing open the side hall door. Lu Rin'an’s figure slowly emerged behind Yun Huai. As Iliad attempted to flee to the garden, it crashed into a solid chest.

AG-0781 holding refreshments: “?”

Iliad: “Σ(⊙▽⊙"!”

AG-0781 peeked around the corner and saw a man it could recognize even if he was broken into scrap metal, striding their way.

AG-0781 reflexively threw Iliad back as a weapon, which Lu Rin'an caught, saying to 0781, “Thanks, bro.”

AG-0781：“………………”

King! King! Ah! Ah!

The king, of course, was aware of the monster’s intrusion. Three minutes later, Lu Rin'an was ordered to soak in the pool to extinguish the fire, while the other two mechanical beings faced the wall in absolute silence.

The attendants gradually entered from outside the garden, bringing Yun Huai his nutritious breakfast for the new day.

Lunen had returned to the garden. Standing behind Yun Huai, he waited until the king finished eating before asking, “...Did you just blame Xie Ye?”

Yun Huai, surprised: “No, I even asked him if he had other matters. Why?”

Lunen spoke up for his old classmate, “Xie Ye looked very cold and a bit despondent when he left. It seemed like his request wasn’t granted by you.”

Yun Huai silently mused, “...He wanted to see the fish.”

Lunen: “Hmm?”

Yun Huai: “I refused.” The young king smiled innocently, “Because that fish is disobedient. Xie Ye wouldn’t like him. I was worried they might fight and damage my garden, so I refused Xie Ye’s inspection.”

Lunen suddenly understood.

Xie Ye's admiration and desire for the king was no less than others. If something captured the king's attention, the king's first servant would definitely not have a pleasant expression.

AG-0781, the third entity aware of Lu Rin'an's existence, turned even more silent and withdrawn than Iliad, facing the wall.

It had seen Lu Rin'an effortlessly send its fellow robots flying with a mere gesture, so it immediately raised its alertness to the highest level and attacked him just like it did with Iliad.

However, it was to no avail, being just an outdated war robot from four hundred years ago.

AG-0781, frustrated, emitted a wisp of black smoke, somewhat missing the weapons of the third star system's Dayuga.

……

Due to his antics in front of Xie Ye, Lu Rin'an didn't see Yun Huai for the next three days. Occasionally, he spotted royal attendants passing by in the distance, but they kept their distance from him.

Yet, Lu Rin'an didn't feel bored. The Ita king had already been marked with his blood. As long as they weren't separated by two distant cosmic forces like at the beginning, he could always sense the king's emotions.

His happiness, sadness, hesitation, and decisions – Lu Rin'an could feel them all in fine detail.

The only recent trouble for him was waking up quickly whenever he dreamed of Yun Huai, causing his psychic energy to become slightly agitated. However, in Roland Veit Garden, Lu Rin'an didn't feel as uncomfortable as he did in the Genesis Realm.

Surrounded by a purple sea of flowers near the pool, Lu Rin'an could string together falling petals with his sharp nails with the slightest movement.

Unfortunately, his species from the Sea of Flames Star did not thrive in Roland Veit.

Pursuing across two territories made the dragon a bit anxious, but this anxiety was fleeting, as Xie Ye's blue eyes weren't as rare and beautiful as his.

Being in a competitive and advantageous position over Xie Ye gave Lu Rin'an great comfort. If only Xie Ye didn't come looking for the Ita king every now and then, it would be even better.

The end of the nesting period meant Lu Rin'an's mind wasn't filled solely with love pheromones. With closed eyes, he visualized everything he had seen and heard in Roland Veit Garden.

Compared to the secluded lord stars of the Genesis Realm, the Ita royal court garden had a livelier breath of life.

If foreign species were universally feared, in Ita, everyone adored their king.

Had he not accidentally become a merman, his arrival here would have required much more effort.

The scattered Ita forces hadn't yet united, but the first star system alone was enough to make other cosmic powers wary.

Lu Rin'an flipped over underwater, thinking proudly that he had chosen a mating partner from the universe’s most prominent family, something his own kin had never done.

Bringing the Ita king to the Sea of Flames Star would probably shock them all into sobriety.

Lu Rin'an chuckled at this thought, but his amusement quickly faded.

-

The royal court council chamber.

After failing to contact the second star system three times due to the merman incident, Aier, looking serious, approached Xie Ye.

His visit was sudden, and he opened the door to find the chief executor's cyber-brain still active, displaying search records about scale species.

Aier exclaimed, “My lord!”

Xie Ye looked up: “What is it?”

Aier: “You were—”

Xie Ye’s expression remained unfazed by the interruption, his tone casual: “I was wondering if the king might favor species with tails. He has previously complimented our tails as being very…” Xie Ye didn’t finish the sentence, but Aier, present at the scene, knew what unspoken words Xie Ye was alluding to.

He too got caught up in Xie Ye's thoughts for a moment, only returning to reality when he glanced at the message in his hand, remembering his actual purpose.

Aier stepped closer, interrupting Xie Ye’s research in a low voice, “Sir, the main star has lost contact with the second star system’s signal.”

Xie Ye paused briefly.

Aier, with a grave expression, said, “Even if Lord Gaixiu is unreliable, he would never actively cut off communications with the main star. He still accompanies the main star and had previously deployed the Blue Phae Bee swarm to escort the main star fleet.”

As Aier spoke, his eyes narrowed, realizing something, “Is the Blue Dream Realm out of control—”

The Blue Dream Realm is an illusory psychic overlay, where any species entering its psychic range falls into a dream, seeing the people and things they most desire, including the return of lost lives.

People seek happiness not found in reality and indulge in its absolute pleasure.

Hence, the second star system was also fondly known as the Dream Paradise.

However, this was a story from four hundred years ago. Now lurking behind the Blue Dream Realm was a terrifying trap. The deeper one falls into the dream, the less likely they are to awaken in reality. If even the master of the dream realm refuses to wake, the endless Blue Dream Realm would claim countless lives.

Those trapped in the dream die quietly in ultimate bliss. Aier looked at Xie Ye, who fell silent for a long while before standing up, “It will be troublesome to replace the Grand Noble Executor of the Ita star system.”

Aier wanted to say something but held back.

Unexpectedly, Xie Ye, who usually didn't want the king to worry about the empire's rebellious forces, slowly said, “I will visit the royal court.”

Xie Ye's expression was cold and stern. More than his dissatisfaction with Gaixiu, he was concerned about a foreign merman occupying all of the king's attention.

The author's note:

Coconut: After thinking it over, our own people are better!