TL: Hua

“I mean… I seem to like you.”

After Leiden said this, he was stunned for a moment. He closed his mouth tightly, as if he regretted it immediately after saying it. At the same time, besides being annoyed, there was also doubt that gradually rose in his heart.

How could he express his thoughts so hastily? Didn’t he already decide to boil the fish in warm water for a while after consulting Rowlett’s ideas before?

However, it didn’t leave him much time to react. Leiden quickly noticed that Ji Mingjiang’s expression on the opposite side was even more confused than his.

Speaking of which, because all of his attention was now focused on that person on the opposite side, Leiden, who was staring closely at every subtle expression on Ji Mingjiang’s face, felt as if he and Ji Mingjiang were the only two clearly existing beings left in this space. All the surrounding objects, alive or dead, became blurred and enlarged patches of color.

“?”

“Ah???”

After hearing what he said, the young man standing opposite him still had a dazed look on his face with no obvious reaction.

“You……”

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something.

But without giving the two more time to communicate, this quiet space quickly became noisy, with various chaotic footsteps and surprised conversations mixed together, reaching Leiden’s ears. To his surprise, the young man, who had always disliked such noisy sounds due to his overly sensitive senses, didn’t show any disgust at this time.

Something seems wrong.

A sense of dissonance surged through him.

The sounds that followed from all directions intensified the sense of dissonance.

…

“Your Majesty! What did you just say? Even Your Majesty cannot break the law!”

“As unbelievable as it is, Your Majesty should come with us first!”

“Wait a minute; we should give the person to our protection center to investigate first. After all, one of the parties involved is Mr. Ji Mingjiang!”

“Bullshit, of course this kind of thing is left to us ……”

It seems like two factions are arguing, and their voices are very familiar. It was probably a few subordinates or officials sitting below during the previous meeting.

Leiden slowly frowned and was about to say something when he suddenly felt a chill on his wrist, followed by a sense of restraint and a heavy downward feeling.

He looked down.

“…”

“?”

“!!!”

After taking a few rapid breaths, Leiden sat up with a headache. It took him two or three seconds to accept the fact that the scenes and conversations just now were all a dream, but he couldn’t help looking down at his own wrists.

Very good; there are no cold restraints like in the dream.

Leiden thought expressionlessly.

Perhaps after chatting with Rowlett, he still felt a bit uneasy, especially during this period when he followed Rowlett’s advice and various guidelines collected and organized from forums and subordinates to treat Ji Mingjiang, but the other party seemed to be oblivious.

Although he knew from the beginning that this would never be a simple matter, Leiden, who fell in love with someone for the first time in his twenties, still couldn’t help but feel anxious.

Probably because this emotion had such a deep impact on him, he dreamed that he confessed to Ji Mingjiang very suddenly.

Already having a rough guess as to why this dream had arisen, Leiden exhaled a slow, cloudy breath.

So… even in his dream, he was worried about being cuffed away after successfully confessing his love? ! How outrageous!

…

Now that he had woken up, Leiden looked at the time. It was six thirty in the morning, and he immediately gave up the idea of going back to sleep. Today happened to be the day that they agreed to go to the Federation for guidance, and the various schedules would be arranged earlier. He simply packed up his clothes, opened the door, and walked out.

Then he happened to hear the door of the room next to him opening. Leiden turned his head in surprise and saw Ji Mingjiang walking out of it with a dazed look on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

Reaching out and patting Ji Mingjiang’s shoulder, who was just walking forward without even looking at him, Leiden stopped the other person’s movement, frowned, and asked worriedly.

“No…I’m fine.”

Originally thinking that Ji Mingjiang might have woken up and seen something too shocking in the backend of the live broadcast account again, Leiden, who just wanted to take the opportunity to pat the other party on the shoulder, didn’t expect that the muscles under his hands would actually tense up for a split second when he heard his voice. Ji Mingjiang’s answer was also weak.

“I’m really fine. It was just a nightmare.”

Seeing Clarice frowning, Ji Mingjiang quickly adjusted his expression and added.

But even though he said this, Ji Mingjiang’s eyes were still a little evasive when he looked at Clarice. He looked left and right, but refused to look directly at the worried Clarice.

After all, although the dream that woke him up just now wasn’t a scary nightmare, it was still weird enough.

Moreover, why did he dream about Clarice confessing to him? To take a step back, even if you want to confess your love, no matter what you think, you have to be in the dominant position and take the initiative to confess your love, right? ! It’s too bad to passively accept other people’s confessions!

…

As soon as this thought came into his mind, Ji Mingjiang’s already dazed expression stiffened again.

Wait, wait, no, the word “confession” has nothing to do with him and Clarice. Ahh! What the hell is he thinking about?

“Are you really fine?”

Seeing Ji Mingjiang’s changing expression, Leiden was really worried at this time.

“I’m fine. It’s really just that the dream was too strange. I’ll just forget about it.”

After finally forcing the strange scene and plot development in the dream to the deepest part of his mind, Ji Mingjiang was just about to push Clarice away when he raised his head and bumped into the other’s deep golden eyes filled with worry. After being stunned for a moment, Ji Mingjiang immediately realized a problem.

The two of them…aren’t they a little too close?

He doesn’t know which day started, but the distance between Clarice and him seemed to be getting smaller and smaller. Like now, with Clarice holding his shoulders, the distance between them was so close that one could almost count the other’s eyelashes. Recently, it seems that there has been more and more.

Ji Mingjiang either didn’t realize it at all before or noticed it and didn’t pay too much attention to it. But just waking up from the dream of being confessed, he was now so close to Clarice, and his position allowed him to directly imagine the scene in his dream.

“cough.”

After realizing this, Ji Mingjiang suddenly felt uncomfortable all over. He took a step back to distance the two of them and said, “It’s almost seven o’clock now, so it’s not too early. Let’s go eat first.”

After leaving these words, Ji Mingjiang quickly turned around and walked towards the dining room without looking at Clarice’s expression.

It wasn’t until he walked a certain distance that Ji Mingjiang’s footsteps gradually slowed down, and the images and familiar voices that he had just pushed into the back of his mind stubbornly resurfaced.

“…”

Walking forward in silence, if you look at the expression on the face alone, no one can imagine the brainstorming that Ji Mingjiang is carrying out at this time.

And now Ji Mingjiang has indeed come to his senses, and the problem that has been ignored by him since he woke up has finally been taken seriously by him.

That is……

Why did he dream about Clarice’s confession?

Although he told Clarice that he had a nightmare, and in retrospect, he felt that the dream was very strange, no matter how he defined the dream, one fact that cannot be concealed is that it was his own dream, and Clarice’s confession to him was also dreamt up by his own initiative.

“No…”

What a joke! Did he really have evil intentions towards Clarice? ! This is too outrageous!

After finishing breakfast with his mind in confusion, Ji Mingjiang followed his body’s habits, walked side by side with Clarice, and boarded the familiar starship. Then he realized that he seemed to be keeping some distance from the other party and quickly sorted out his true thoughts.

But if we distance ourselves now, wouldn’t it be too abrupt and strange?

Two completely different thoughts were fighting in his mind, and the expression on Ji Mingjiang’s face became increasingly tangled.

The starship departure prompt sounded, making people feel at home. This time, the person in charge of driving the starship was still Vincent Lurleena. Ji Mingjiang had something on his mind, so he wasn’t too polite to his acquaintances. After saying a simple hello, he left and walked into his previous room.

The starship took off smoothly, and after turning on the automatic mode, Vincent Lurleena didn’t dare leave the cab casually, but it was still okay to have a few words with Clarice, who was standing next to him.

“Captain, are you having a fight with His Highness Mingjiang?”

Recalling that something was wrong with Ji Mingjiang just now, Vincent Lurleena lost his previous unruly look and asked with great concern.

“It’s nothing; why do you think so?”

Frowning, Leiden instinctively refuted.

How could there be a conflict between him and Ji Mingjiang? There is not much difference between the two people in terms of concepts, living habits, and even personalities. Even if there is a problem, Ji Mingjiang is not the kind to hold back and doesn’t say he’s angry. Therefore, from the beginning, when Ji Mingjiang came to the imperial palace, until now, there has never been a real conflict between the two.

“Am I wrong?” Vincent Lurleena turned his head in surprise and glanced at Clarice, who indeed looked disapproving. After stroking his mustache, he still chose to believe his own judgment.

“But it’s not that I don’t believe you, Captain! Don’t you really think the atmosphere between the two of you is a little weird today?”

Vincent Lurleena recalled with blank eyes for a moment and then nodded with certainty, “That’s right; compared to the last time I saw you two, it’s really different.”

If he was forced to say what was different…

“When I saw you two last time, Captain, you and His Highness Mingjiang got along very naturally, whether it was answering calls or having a tacit understanding. But today…” Vincent Lurleena’s voice became smaller and smaller as he spoke. In the end, he almost muttered to himself: “But today, captain, you seem to be paying special attention to His Highness Mingjiang. You have to take a look at him from time to time. Before His Highness Mingjiang left, your attention didn’t shift away from him. But His Highness Mingjiang seems to be avoiding your eyes again and again, as if he doesn’t want to have too much contact with you…”

“Wait!” At the end of the sentence, a flash of inspiration came to his mind, and Vincent Lurleena’s expression suddenly changed. He looked at Clarice with eyes that were a mix of shock, horror, or regret and exclaimed, “Captain, you didn’t confess your love to His Highness Mingjiang and then got rejected, right?!”

Not noticing his captain’s trembling eyelashes after hearing these words, the more Vincent Lurleena spoke, the more he felt that he had discovered the truth. He continued as if to spill the beans: ”And after being rejected, you used your power to pressure him and didn’t allow him to leave. But you didn’t want the person you liked to be too sad, so you didn’t restrict his freedom of movement. That’s why His Highness Mingjiang just now looks like he doesn’t want to deal with you.”

“This kind of idiotic behavior that spreads its wings towards the edge of illegality and crime should not be… ah!”

When he first heard Vincent Lurleena’s words, Leiden’s heart skipped a beat, but as the words he said became more and more outrageous, the veins on Leiden’s forehead gradually popped out.

“Pa!”

Looking at Vincent Lurleena, who was thrown to the ground with a dazed expression, Leiden curled his lips with a smile and said grimly, “Have you calmed down?”

“I didn’t know that’s how you thought of me.”

Looking at Vincent Lurleena, who stopped talking, Leiden’s eyes were complicated.

How many tons of interstellar hit TV series did he eat in this meal? Is this guy already so bored after retiring?