ISMW Chapter 117

Yun Xunlan had lost a segment of memory.

His memory jumped directly from his last organ transplant to the day He Chubai died—which was also the day he woke up.

Yun Xunguang was mentally prepared for this, because once the brain is injured, even if it heals, it might produce extremely complex sequelae.

If it weren’t for the strict gun control in the Galactic Empire, where Yun Xunlan as a minor had no gun license, and he didn’t want to implicate other guards by borrowing their guns, ultimately only using 3D printing technology to make a simple pistol—if he had gotten hold of a highly powerful police gun, the royal family would probably have had to hold two state funerals during this period. Oh, three—Yun Qihe would be in there too.

Now Yun Xunlan was alive and well, hadn’t become an idiot, wasn’t paralyzed, and had only lost a segment of memory that Yun Xunguang herself wanted to forget along with him. It was simply the best possible outcome.

So Yun Xunguang went along with his words: “There were some problems. I’ll change a few doctors for you afterward.”

“Alright.” Yun Xunlan accepted this explanation and didn’t ask further.

But after Yun Xunguang pushed him for a while, she continued probing: “You said you… had been awake for a while. Why didn’t you talk to us?”

“I wasn’t feeling well physically, so I didn’t really want to talk.”

Mu Xingyu followed behind them and heard Yun Xunlan tell Yun Xunguang: “Didn’t I often refuse to see people and not like talking before? It’ll be better in a couple of days.”

Yes, after that, Yun Xunlan remained exactly the same as before, unchanged in the slightest.

Yun Xunguang replaced a batch of older doctors in the royal medical team and had everyone who knew the inside story sign confidentiality agreements, completely hiding this past incident.

On the day Mu Xingyu left the Imperial Star, Yun Xunguang came to see him off. Yun Xunlan didn’t come.

The two of them had completely torn off their masks. Yun Xunguang only barely pretended they were “harmonious siblings” when Yun Xunlan was present. When Yun Xunlan wasn’t there, she wouldn’t even give him a smile.

She only gave him one piece of expressionless farewell advice before Mu Xingyu boarded the starship: “Mu Xingyu, after leaving here, I hope you can live like a decent human being. Don’t come back unless necessary.”

Every day afterward on the border battlefield, every time they recaptured a lost planet, Mu Xingyu would think of what Yun Xunguang had said to him, wondering if he had lived like a decent human being yet.

Even now, staying in the Imperial Medical Research Institute, Mu Xingyu was still thinking about it.

And the incomplete human form reflected in the floor-to-ceiling window seemed to have already given him the answer.

“This is what Mu Xingyu asked me to deliver.”

Yu Chen returned to Yun Xunlan’s ward with the bouquet and handed the evening primroses to him.

But Yun Xunlan didn’t look at the bouquet. He moved his body aside to make room and patted the bed surface to signal Yu Chen to sit down: “Baby, let me check your wound?”

“There’s no wound. It was taken with a syringe.” Yu Chen obediently sat over, turned his back to Yun Xunlan, lowered his head, and brushed aside the hair at his nape to let the other alpha freely examine and touch his glands.

Yun Xunlan touched very gently. Yu Chen only felt the coolness from his fingertips, not the itchy sensation from being touched.

The young man asked him: “Does it hurt?”

“Hurt my ass.” Yu Chen said. “It doesn’t hurt.”

Actually it did hurt, since they couldn’t use anesthesia as it would affect the pheromone concentration.

Yun Xunlan was also aware of this. He wrapped his arms around Yu Chen’s waist from behind, pressed his face against the man’s solid back and asked: “If it doesn’t hurt, why do you look so terrible?”

Yu Chen’s brows were tightly furrowed, his expression grave, looking like he had a lot on his mind.

Yun Xunlan thought he was worried about whether tomorrow’s secondary differentiation would go smoothly, so he wanted to talk about something light to help him relax.

But at this moment, Yu Chen wasn’t just worried about Yun Xunlan. Just now, he had clearly realized something from Mu Xingyu. Since Yun Xunlan was asking him, Yu Chen subconsciously said what was on his mind: “I discovered you really don’t have that special fetish.”

“…”

Yun Xunlan was silent for a few seconds, released his arms from around the man’s waist, bent his head to look at Yu Chen sideways. Seeing the troubled expression on that handsome face, he inadvertently opened another heavy topic: “…Baby, are you so disappointed that I don’t have that special fetish?”

Yu Chen: “…?”

Yu Chen was also stunned for a moment, then realized he had responded incorrectly and caused a big misunderstanding for Yun Xunlan.

He quickly explained: “No, I’m not disappointed.”

But it was too late.

Yun Xunlan touched his back: “It’s okay, baby.”

However, while Yun Xunlan said it was fine, his eyes clearly conveyed “I’m going to deceive you,” and he said: “I do have it. I really do.”

Yu Chen: “………..”

Yu Chen couldn’t explain himself clearly.

“Lanlan, you…”

Yu Chen also turned around, gripped Yun Xunlan’s hand, wanting to ask “Did that idiot Mu Xingyu often curse you before?” But he was afraid this would bring up past events the young man didn’t want to face, affecting his mood and thus tomorrow’s secondary differentiation. After all, the doctor had told him on the way back that they both needed to sleep early tonight and maintain happy and relaxed moods. So Yu Chen swallowed his words.

“I think Mu Xingyu has some brain problems.” He made an unreasonable request instead. “From now on, when you two meet, I must be present.”

If Mu Xingyu dared to curse randomly again, Yu Chen would let him know what real “class” meant.

As for Yu Chen’s requests, no matter how unreasonable, Yun Xunlan rarely refused. This time was no exception: “Okay, baby, I’ll listen to you.”

Yu Chen picked up the evening primroses from the cabinet that Yun Xunlan hadn’t glanced at: “Should I throw this bouquet in the trash?”

Yun Xunlan also listened to him: “Throw it away.”

When Yu Chen held the flowers over the trash can, he added: “Oh, he also wrote you a little card.”

“Throw it away together.”

“Okay.” Yu Chen released his hand, letting the bouquet fall where it belonged.

Then he turned his head, curving his lips, and also called Yun Xunlan: “Baby, I’ll listen to you too.”

“Baby, why are you calling me ‘baby’?” Yun Xunlan asked the man lying down beside him.

This ward was actually a double room for Yun Xunlan and Yu Chen. The bed in the room was also a double bed, large enough for both alphas to sleep side by side with room to spare, because Yu Chen would need to “accompany” Yun Xunlan here tomorrow until his secondary differentiation was complete.

After changing into hospital gowns, Yu Chen turned off all the overhead lights in the room, leaving only a warm yellow nightlight at the corner of the bed. By this light, he burrowed into the young man’s arms, buried his face in Yun Xunlan’s neck, inhaling the pheromone scent warmed by the young man’s body temperature, and asked hoarsely: “Isn’t that okay? Alphas like to call their wives that.”

“It’s okay, but if you’re going to call me ‘baby’ from now on, should I also change what I call you?”

Yun Xunlan thought seriously for a while, then opened his mouth with two words that would devastate Yu Chen: “Daddy?”

Yu Chen: “…?”

He lifted his head from the young man’s neck, his expression very complex: “Why ‘daddy’?”

—Couldn’t it be “husband”? He had already said “wife”—wasn’t that hint obvious enough?!

“Many people with special fetishes like to call their partners that, and their partners like to hear it too.” Yun Xunlan shared his research findings, glancing at Yu Chen. “I think you’d like it.”

“I don’t…” Yu Chen was about to deny it.

The young man raised his arms to wrap around his neck and whispered by his ear: “They also like to hear: Daddy, fuck…”

“…I don’t think there’s anything wrong with calling me that.” Yu Chen immediately raised his hand to cover Yun Xunlan’s mouth, his voice becoming hoarser. “But baby, you’d better not call me that tonight. We need to sleep early.”

Yu Chen wrapped Yun Xunlan tightly in the blanket and lay flat beside him, only covering himself with a small section of blanket for modesty. He couldn’t cover more or he’d be too hot to sleep.

He closed his eyes and heard the young man laugh softly: “Baby, good night.”

“…Good night.”

Yun Xunlan closed his eyes to the sound of Yu Chen’s voice.

However, when his vision returned to darkness, the system’s resentful voice rose like a ghost by his ear: “You two are so sweet… Yun Xunlan… do you know how much my heart hurts?”

“Little Ju, you’re still here?” Yun Xunlan said in surprise. “I thought you ran away because I made you angry.”

The system was furious: “Where could I run to?!”

“Then why didn’t you talk for so long?” Yun Xunlan asked it. “You didn’t even say anything when I deleted all the ‘Bedtime Reading Materials.’”

“Hah, you’re determined to delete them. Even if I’m heartbroken and devastated and refuse to do tasks, what else can I say to you?” The system sneered coldly. “I’m willing to talk to you now because I want to tell you—you’re finished!”

Yun Xunlan asked again: “Is it because I didn’t do tasks, so there’s a danger of sudden death during tomorrow’s secondary differentiation?”

“If you don’t do tasks, you could die suddenly at any time. You don’t need to wait until tomorrow’s secondary differentiation.” The system’s tone was sinister. “You’re finished because I won’t let you go. I’ll cling to you forever! Forever and ever and ever…”

“That’s nice.” Yun Xunlan’s lips curved into a smile. “Me, Yu Chen, and you—the three of us living well together is more important than anything.”

System: “?”

“Little Ju, I really haven’t been this happy in a long time, in this happiest moment of mine.” Yun Xunlan continued saying things the system didn’t want to hear. “Can I make another wish to you?”

“No, you want to make wishes without doing tasks?” The system angrily scolded Yun Xunlan. “You’re dreaming!”

Yun Xunlan actually hummed: “Little Ju, I’m going to make a wish. I want to differentiate into an omega tomorrow.”

The system laughed coldly again: “I don’t have ears. I can’t hear.”

Yun Xunlan then said: “I’ll definitely do tasks tomorrow.”

“…Really?”

“Just kidding.”

System: “…”

A dreamless night. The next day at seven o’clock, Yun Xunlan woke up to Yu Chen’s call.

The two ate something light. At seven-thirty, the medical team came to the ward for final physical examinations.

At exactly eight o’clock, the doctor hung an IV drip for Yun Xunlan—a potion made from high-concentration pheromones extracted from Yu Chen’s body.

“In about half an hour, the Third Prince will begin secondary differentiation. When his body temperature rises to forty degrees, you perform a temporary mark on him. After that, we’ll come check every hour.” Edmund explained all the precautions for secondary differentiation to Yu Chen in detail. “If the differentiation still hasn’t succeeded after three hours, you two… try performing a lifelong mark.”

Perhaps because this topic was somewhat difficult to discuss, the conservative Dr. Edmund paused for a few seconds before continuing:

“After you complete the sexual act of lifelong marking, if the differentiation succeeds, you’ll be able to feel his pheromone changes, and the Third Prince will directly enter an omega’s first heat. You’ll need to inject him with suppressants.”

“If the differentiation still doesn’t succeed… notify us. We’ll come perform gland removal surgery on him.”

“…I wish you both the best of luck.”

After Dr. Edmund finished his last sentence, he handed Yu Chen the omega heat suppressant injection.

—This kind of secondary differentiation wasn’t romantic, ambiguous, or enchanting. It left no room for imagination.

It was heavy, oppressive, cold—more like a dangerous surgery with uncertain results.

The doctors and nurses left the ward one by one. Yu Chen walked to the bedside, leaned down to press his forehead against the young man whose temperature was beginning to rise after the infusion of his pheromones, and told him: “Don’t be afraid. I’ll always be with you, just like…”

Yun Xunlan’s breathing was somewhat rapid. He endured the pain and discomfort of another alpha’s pheromones invading his body, struggling to maintain a calm voice: “…Like what?”

Yu Chen smiled and told him: “Like your second star.”

**

 (advanced chapters available on kofi)