Chapter 18 Taiyaki Ice Cream

Chapter 18 Taiyaki Ice Cream

All training programs at the former palace grounds were abruptly suspended.

Classes were temporarily canceled until the unexpected situation could be fully investigated.

Those who profited from the programs complained bitterly but quickly fell silent, utterly terrified by the unknown vengeful spirit, fearing they'd make money but not live to spend it.

Finding that his belly slide move was still as smooth as ever, Rui Rui felt a heavy burden lift from his heart and confidently accepted the journalist interviews.

No one would have guessed that the Major General's wife, who radiated holy light and saved everyone from disaster, was the legendary prehistoric beast of the fog.

—Rui Rui himself had no idea either.

The high-and-mighty nobles collected their lost items, their attitude toward the mermaid doing a complete 180.

Previous unspoken suspicions and disdain vanished without a trace.

A peacock omega respectfully said, "Madam, thank you for helping me retrieve my wedding ring. My clothing store is nearby. I closed today just for you. Please come and change."

Rui Rui looked down—his clothes weren’t dirty, but they were crumpled and unappealing—so he agreed.

The peacock omega personally opened the car door, his large tail fanning out with a flourish, hitting those who failed to curry favor right in the face.

"Hmph."

The animals who had been watching eagerly scattered resentfully, stomping their feet in frustration. "What's the big deal? Mermaids don’t even like playing with flat-feathered birds!"

Three birds who hadn’t even managed to squeeze into the crowd: "..."

The usually haughty flamingo was unusually downcast, her naturally dramatic long eyelashes drooping.

"...Do you think Rui Rui won’t play with us anymore?"

Ding.

Cute to the point of bursting: [Sorry, friends! So sorry we couldn’t attend class together. Let’s meet again when classes resume! (Fireworks)]

"!" The flamingo’s eyelashes perked right up.

Rui Rui hadn’t yet taken etiquette classes related to nobility and didn’t often socialize with these people, so for most of the time, the peacock omega did most of the talking.

And he often exuded a sense of superiority without even realizing it.

Lost in thought, the beautiful mermaid murmured softly, "I wonder how that little hamster is doing? Probably suffered minor injuries..."

The peacock immediately fell silent, looking at him with admiration.

Even after being safe, the Major General's wife was still concerned about the injured!

After changing clothes and washing his face, Rui Rui smiled apologetically: "Sorry, I was just talking to myself."

"Not at all!"

The peacock’s face flushed red, suddenly feeling ashamed for discussing worldly matters with someone so far above such concerns, utterly outclassed by the other’s lofty mindset.

Even when Rui Rui got up to leave, this omega couldn’t muster any words to persuade him to stay.

The wild baby seal, who didn’t recognize any luxury brands and thus couldn’t understand a word, had already ascended to another plane of existence.

-

"Are you signed with a company right now?"

On the bustling food street, an unfamiliar beta blocked his path, looking excited.

Before Rui Rui could react, more people crowded around, pressing countless business cards into his hands, all spouting jargon he couldn’t understand.

The omega widened his blue eyes warily, shaking his head at every question.

Having just been through a major ordeal, some strangers’ advances meant nothing to him. He accepted the thick stack of business cards calmly and coolly said: "I’ll consider what you’ve said. Goodbye."

Once he reached an empty alley and confirmed no one had followed, the beauty transformed into a large Little Dumpling.

"Mu?"

Staring at the pile of business cards from all the famous entertainment companies in the country clutched in his leopard paws, his round eyes blinked several times.

He tossed them up and perfectly into his mouth.

Sharp beast's teeth slowly chewed: "Mu..."

So this is the legendary edible paper.

Why isn’t it as light and airy as I imagined?

Rui Rui, casually wiping his mouth with a small handkerchief, walked out of the alley and shook his head: "Rather mediocre."

A missed business card lay on the ground.

The omega was about to bend down and pick it up when a black, round cat paw slapped down onto it: "Meow? Time Feng Shuai?"

Rui Rui laughed and scooped up the little cat.

"Mi Su, here to eat?"

"Where there’s good food, there’s me," meowed the kitten, proudly swishing her tail. "This company approached me before, meow, but I gave up my acting dreams to take care of my annoying husband."

Rui Rui immediately felt a sense of camaraderie.

He, too, had chosen to hone his acting skills for his emotionless, robot-like husband, living a double life as a seal and mermaid.

It’s a pity he couldn’t appear in his original form now, or he would’ve given little Mi Su a big hug.

But the kitten had already burrowed into his arms, lying there comfortably.

"Rui Rui, I just saw online about you saving people. So amazing. You’re a mermaid—you’ll rule the sea someday. I’m a cat—I’ll rule the land. Together, we’ll be invincible, meow."

"Let’s go this way for ice cream."

The popular social media-famous shop had a long line, booming business with even the waiting area seats full, everyone taking photos with ice cream sculptures.

Rui Rui hesitated: "This will take forever, won’t it?"

"No worries, I have connections here."

The kitten ball pulled out a walkie-talkie from who knows where: "Hey, add one more. Just ran into a buddy from the scene."

"You even have people planted here!" Rui Rui felt excited, already fantasizing about what to name their team.

The cat smirked slyly.

After waiting for fifteen minutes, a breathless Ji Yanxing struggled through the crowd, holding several fish-shaped waffle ice creams high in the air. "Here you go."

The alpha nodded in greeting to Rui Rui.

"Sis."

"So you're the insider Su Su knew at the ice cream shop."

Baby seal: "."

So the kitten's so-called "connection" at the ice cream shop was actually Boss Ji, who had been waiting in line like a reseller.

The group sat resting under a sun umbrella. Out of the corner of his eye, Rui Rui noticed that although Mi Su acted confidently, she still wiped the sweat from her alpha's forehead and knew to share proactively. The usually proud and aloof Young Master Ji seemed to lose his composure instantly, his pupils nearly turning into the shape of cat paws.

The two of them automatically formed a love bubble around themselves.

*So...*

The mermaid Omega carefully scooped up the melted ice cream with a spoon, put it in his mouth, and drifted into thought.

*Is this how married couples are supposed to interact?*

Thinking about it this way, his relationship with Li Hanchuan wasn't much different from that of ordinary friends—in fact, they spoke even less than friends typically would.

A tall shadow suddenly fell over him. His dazed blue eyes looked up in confusion—

"There you are."

Li Hanchuan seemed more agitated than usual.

The Omega wanted to wipe the thin layer of sweat from his forehead, but the other man scooped him up first.

Rui Rui: "???"

The commander gripped his slender shoulders, frowning with an intimidating expression. His large hands patted him up and down, checking his little wife for any injuries as if going through a TSA pat-down, before finally letting out a long sigh of relief.

"I saw the news report. From now on, you don’t have to learn those things if you don’t want to."

The alpha said in a low voice, "Whether human or ghost, I will catch that monster as soon as possible."

Rui Rui pursed his lips, as if making a decision.

Ji Yanxing and Mi Su exchanged a glance and joked, "Look how worried he is."

Li Hanchuan, realizing he had overreacted, coughed lightly.

He had driven to the scene at the old palace grounds in a hurry earlier. The place was still chaotic, but there was no sign of Rui Rui anywhere. He wasn’t picking up, and it was only by chance that he spotted his little wife eating by the roadside.

Disaster was avoided. Everything was so calm it felt like a good dream.

Ruifulodite.

*What kind of soothing magic did he possess?*

"Major General..." A sweet scent drew closer as his little wife held out the ice cream like a prized offering, clumsily imitating Mi Su and Ji Yanxing. "You try some too."

Inside, the little seal was biting his lip, reluctantly sharing.

Rui Rui couldn’t help adding, "This was super hard to get, you know."

*So don’t eat too much.*

Li Hanchuan caught his friend’s teasing look out of the corner of his eye. He raised an eyebrow disapprovingly, not wanting to make a scene in public. "I don’t do sweets."

Before the smile could fully form on Rui Rui’s lips, the alpha lowered his head, and half the ice cream was gone.

"?!"

Li Hanchuan was momentarily brain-frozen, his mind going blank.

Meeting his little wife’s wide, shocked eyes, he gave a firm nod.

He didn’t like sweets.

But in front of others, he wouldn’t embarrass his wife.

Mi Su: "???"

Ji Yanxing: "???"

-

Rui Rui returned home and locked himself in his room.

Little Dumpling flopped onto the floor, thrashing furiously and pounding his belly in anger. "Coo!"

*Why did he feel like his human husband was nothing like other husbands?!*

The heartbroken Mochi drifted off into a hazy sleep. He didn’t know how much time had passed before the butler’s knocking woke him. "Young Madam, the Major General has returned. He requests your presence downstairs."

Rui Rui wasn’t feeling generous towards the alpha right now.

Having been in the human world for some time, this was the first time he truly understood what a failing marriage felt like.

Especially after his experience at the training class earlier that day, he found himself missing his easygoing seal pals, the mother who had cared for him in his childhood, and the human boy who had later saved him.

That human had been skinny and odd.

More like a small animal than a small animal himself.

Rui Rui randomly remembered him, remembering the feeling of being cared for.

The Omega thought his acting skills were unparalleled, but his emotions were written all over his face. Li Hanchuan took one look and saw his little wife’s sullen, miserable expression—as if he had been wronged but didn’t dare speak up.

The alpha, sitting on the sofa, was amused. He spoke indifferently.

"Grab me some cold water."

The servant instinctively moved to obey, but Li Hanchuan waved them off and lifted his chin. "You go, Madam."

Rui Rui frowned at him, seriously considering dragging in sea ice from the ocean to let him cool off properly.

But he went obediently nonetheless.

The fridge’s cool drawer was stuck for some reason. The baby seal struggled with it for a while, growing increasingly frustrated. It seemed even the refrigerator was as clueless as Li Hanchuan himself.

Annoyed, he reached down and pulled open the freezer compartment with a jerk.

"?" The Omega’s eyes lit up.

Sensing something, he proceeded to tug open all the other freezer compartments, one after another.

Taiyaki ice cream bars were neatly packed in the freezer, each meticulously wrapped in floral rice paper to prevent sticking. At a glance, they looked more impressive than a polar bear’s winter stockpile.

Rui Rui’s gaze wavered, his mind blank for a moment.

"…"

Hm?

The cold cedar pheromones had already enveloped him unnoticed. Li Hanchuan stood behind him, bent down, tilting his head to his little wife’s level, just to get a clear view of that sulky expression.

His other hand naturally reached around, swept aside an unruly strand of Rui Rui’s golden hair and tucked it behind his ear, deliberately pinching his soft, pale earlobe in the process.

Teasingly, he asked, "Angry?"