Chapter 62: The Struggle

Chapter 62: The Struggle

Watching the elves disperse with constipated expressions, Ji Jing felt like laughing but had to hold it in.

Long Su walked up to Ji Jing, his eyes filled with sympathy and concern, as if he were about to say something significant but held back.

Feeling uneasy under his gaze, Ji Jing asked helplessly, "What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Long Su took a deep breath, as if making a major decision, and said solemnly, "Ji Jing, I know about you and Luo Ke Tang En."

Ji Jing was bewildered, "Huh? Ah?"

Hadn't he already told him yesterday that he and Luo Ke had slept together? What was he trying to convey now with such seriousness?

Long Su continued earnestly, "It's okay, Ji Jing. It's right for you and Luo Ke Tang En to part ways. The imperial citizens don't approve of your relationship with Luo Ke Tang En, but you can come to our dragon clan.

Our dragon clan is very open-minded about choosing partners, and everyone is very accepting. No one will oppose us being together.

So..."

By the end, Long Su's face turned red again, "Ji Jing, would you be willing to be with me?"

He had previously thought Ji Jing was homophobic and had been sad about it for days, but now that he saw Ji Jing could accept Luo Ke Tang En, it meant he shouldn't mind his gender, so there was no reason not to accept him, unless he cared about his race.

"Wait!" Ji Jing was a bit dazed, unsure how things had suddenly escalated to this point.

"What do you really know? Luo Ke and I have never truly been together, so how can we talk about breaking up?

And while I would love to visit your dragon clan, I just want to see it, not settle down there as your partner. I will still return to the empire in the future, do you understand?"

Long Su hesitated, then said shyly, "I can move in with you in the empire."

Ji Jing: "... Huh?"

Ji Jing was speechless. When he found out that all of Long Su's information came from crawling the internet to read about himself and Luo Ke, Ji Jing was...

At a loss for words.

"Long Su, a lot of what's on the internet isn't true," Ji Jing said helplessly. "My relationship with Luo Ke isn't as the internet portrays it."

Long Su pushed Ji Jing's social media page toward him, saying, "But didn't you post this pheromone sample deep detection report yourself? And wasn't it true that you were tricked into a three-year marriage with your ex-husband?"

Ji Jing: ...

There was no way to explain this.

After finally convincing Long Su to leave, Ji Jing shook his head with a bitter smile, "Ah, people in the galaxy are too gossipy. My little scandal with Luo Ke even reached the dragon clan."

Chances were, the elves here also knew, and his "half-blood dark elf" disguise was probably blown by now.

No one had exposed him yet, likely because he was injured, and the injury was sustained while protecting them, so they felt awkward about it.

Just as he thought this, Ji Jing saw an elderly female elf waving at him from a distance, calling out, "Your wound needs to be changed."

Ji Jing recognized her as the healer who treated him. She seemed very busy, and since he woke up, they had only exchanged brief greetings from afar.

Now, as Ji Jing got up with his cane, he smiled and thanked her, "Thank you, Healer."

The healer's wrinkled face broke into a kind smile, "Don't mention it. You saved everyone; it's we who should thank you."

Ji Jing followed the healer back to his quarters, finding her very approachable, radiating a calm and peaceful aura that made anyone near her feel at ease.

The healer seemed to have a good impression of Ji Jing as well. While she gently removed the bandages from his leg, she said, "Have you not been eating well lately? This won't do. Your nutrition is lacking. I'll prescribe some medicine to help you."

Ji Jing thought to himself, _As long as you don't make me drink strange insect juices, my appetite will naturally improve._

But he simply smiled and said, "Thank you, Healer!"

The healer smiled at him, about to give some more instructions, when Doma's voice sounded from behind.

"Ji Jing, Healer."

Ji Jing looked up at Doma, greeting him with a smile.

Doma, however, took over the task from the healer, saying, "I'll change Ji Jing's bandages. Healer, you should rest."

The healer wanted to refuse but, seeing Doma already taking over, she left without another word, leaving the space to Ji Jing and Doma.

Doma had learned some basic medical skills from the healer and easily changed Ji Jing's bandages in a few minutes.

After finishing, Doma did not immediately stand up but remained in a half-squat, holding Ji Jing's leg and looking up at him, "Did I hurt you?"

Ji Jing shook his head, "No, I'm fine."

He felt the position was a bit odd and tried to pull his leg away, but Doma didn't let go, and he couldn't use force.

So Ji Jing said helplessly, "Alright, Doma, please stand up."

Doma complied, standing up but keeping his gaze fixed on Ji Jing's face, his expression somewhat complicated.

Ji Jing rubbed his nose awkwardly, "Do you know I don't actually have elven blood?"

Doma nodded honestly.

Ji Jing became even more awkward, "Well, I didn't mean to deceive you. I just didn't understand the situation here and was afraid you wouldn't welcome me, so I..."

Doma nodded again, "Mm-hmm."

Ji Jing was surprised, "So... that's it? You don't want to ask anything?"

Ji Jing's expression was too easy to read, so after a moment of hesitation, Doma still asked, "Can I see your true appearance?"

"Um..." Ji Jing seemed hesitant.

"You can't? Just give me a peek, okay?" Doma blinked his eyes, speaking in a slightly coquettish tone, "I promise I won't tell anyone, alright?"

To be honest, it was really hard to resist when a beauty pouted, even for a succubus like Ji Jing, who found such tactics quite effective.

So, under Doma's expectant gaze, he finally removed the biological mimicry mask from his face.

When Doma saw Ji Jing's true appearance, his eyes widened with admiration, as if it was exactly what he had expected.

After Ji Jing put the biological mimicry mask back on, Doma suddenly said, "I overheard your conversation with Long Su earlier."

Ji Jing was taken aback, "Ah? When? What did you hear?"

"Just recently, I heard Long Su confess to you, saying he wanted you to be his mate in the dragon clan."

Ji Jing: "... Such things don't need to be said out loud."

He thought Doma was really like a child, able to bluntly bring up such an awkward topic.

But Doma shook his head and said earnestly, "No, I have to say it, or I might miss my chance."

Ji Jing was speechless, "???"

Doma continued, "I originally planned to confess to you after the coming-of-age ceremony, but Long Su beat me to it, so I had to speak up early, or I feared you might fall for him first."

Ji Jing was at a loss, "… What are you talking about?"

This kid is still three days short of being a hundred years old; how can you be thinking about early romance?

Doma wasn't discouraged by Ji Jing's stunned expression and continued to badmouth the dragons, "Many dragons cheat after marriage; almost none remain faithful to their partners. Besides, their planet is terrible, mostly rocks and lava, with strong winds and sandstorms, hardly any grass. The environment is nothing like our Spry Star."

"So, Ji Jing, would you consider staying as the mate of the elf clan leader?"

Ji Jing was speechless, not knowing what to say.

Then he heard Doma add, "The most important thing is that I haven't determined my gender yet. If you prefer females, I'll become a female. If you prefer males, I'll become a male. So, Ji Jing, what do you want me to be?"

"Author's Note"

Thank you, "27066309" and "Gentle Moon," for your nourishing liquids, and thank you, "Coward," for 97 bottles of nourishing liquid ~mwah~