ITF Chapter89

Bai Heting let out a sharp, startled gasp from the impact.

Luo Congye hooked his arm under Bai Heting’s right leg, his pace unhurried but his grip and strength undeniably heavy. The linen shirt on the man in his arms slipped down amidst the swaying, exposing half of his smooth back. His shoulder blades expanded and contracted with his breathing, and several red hickey marks resembled the patterns on a butterfly’s wings, possessing a surreal beauty under the shroud of the soft afternoon light.

He caressed the tender flesh on Bai Heting’s leg with his fingertips, his breathing unsteady as he asked, “The taste is ordinary, yet you still want to eat it every day?”

Bai Heting turned his head to look at him.

Those pitch-black eyes were filled with desire, yet the corners of his mouth were pulled downward.

A hot-tempered brat.

“The taste is ordinary… but…” Reaching back to press against the back of Luo Congye’s head, he tilted his face to brush against his chin, panting as he finished his words, “it suits my taste.”

Luo Congye froze for a few seconds at this appraisal, which was hard to distinguish as praise or criticism, before lowering his head to bite into that mouth that made him feel a mix of love and hate, murmuring indistinctly, “Does it feel good?”

With his eyes slightly closed, Bai Heting nodded in a daze.

The long leg resting in the crook of Luo Congye’s elbow unconsciously raised and bent on its own accord, swaying lightly with the movements of the person behind him. Luo Congye asked in a raspy voice, “Do you like apple pie, or do you like this?”

With the strength being just right, it brought an indescribable pleasure. Leaning the back of his head into the crook of his neck, Bai Heting furrowed his brows tightly, unable to answer.

How could this even be compared?

He liked both.

Luo Congye fell silent for a moment, and as if possessed, went on to ask, “Do you like this, or do you like me?”

The final word was spoken by him very softly. Bai Heting opened his eyes blankly, but before he could speak, his mouth was hurriedly covered by Luo Congye.

Bai Heting pulled away the hand covering his mouth and turned his head to look back, but he could only see the young man’s tightly clenched jaw, his bobbing Adam’s apple, and his sharp collarbones rising and falling with his pants.

“The apple pie…” He raised his hand to wipe away the hot sweat on Luo Congye’s neck, asking softly, “When did you learn to make it?”

Luo Congye let out a quiet sigh of relief, feeling a touch of irritation alongside his disappointment.

This person clearly knew everything, yet he stubbornly insisted on saying—”just ordinary.”

Since he didn’t speak, the corners of Bai Heting’s eyes curved slightly, and he asked again, “You nearly died by my hands, yet you still went to learn that?”

Luo Congye brushed his hand away in one movement. “I didn’t want to be someone who goes back on his word.”

Unlike certain people who talked about watching the sea.

What a huge temper. Bai Heting raised an eyebrow. “If the person was already dead, who were you making it for?”

This time, Luo Congye lowered his head.

He gazed at Bai Heting intently, his tone turning serious as well, “If you’re dead, I need to see a corpse. And since I never saw your body, you weren’t dead.” He let go of Bai Heting’s leg, pulling him into his embrace as he let out a dry chuckle. “At the very beginning, I didn’t want to be some commander at all, but Bei Yang said that if I wanted to exhume your coffin, I couldn’t achieve it by myself. He was right.”

Bai Heting looked at him and fell still for a moment. “You held onto a thought like that, and yet they actually dared to entrust their fortunes and lives to you.”

“I only thought that way at the start.” Luo Congye shrugged. “Only at the very beginning. After all, Urdan blood still flows in my veins.” He reached out to cover a hickey on Bai Heting’s chest, rubbing it gently, and asked again, “So, what exactly is your stance right now?”

Bai Heting leaned back into his embrace, and only after a long moment did he speak slowly, “When we were at the fishing village, Jiang Han would go out to see patients among the nearby fishermen. I had nothing to do at home, so I would zone out, and a whole day would pass just like that—”

Luo Congye had originally wanted to coax a few sweet words out of him, but he never expected him to start talking about this. He covered his mouth once more. “Why are you talking about someone else in bed?”

Bai Heting pulled his hand away yet again. “I originally thought I could live out the rest of my life in peace and quiet, but you just stubbornly had to come back and seek your own death.”

“Bai Heting!” Luo Congye bolted upright, thoroughly flustered.

Bai Heting rebuked him, “You certainly say my name quite smoothly now.”

“I’ve tried it before; looking up to someone and blindly following them yields no good results.” Luo Congye’s face was completely grim. He lifted his leg to pin Bai Heting’s legs down firmly, refusing to let him budge. “Bear with it even if you don’t like it.” Having said that, he stole another glance at him, asking in a low voice, “You don’t like it?”

Bai Heting did not reply to that. Instead, he caught him off guard by switching to another topic, “Provoking a clash between the nobility and the royal family is a very clever move. But have you considered what happens after you force your way into the palace?”

Luo Congye did not answer. This was the most difficult part of the plan. He needed a throne successor who could be recognized by the citizens—or rather, he needed to take Bai Jiashu’s son hostage, or forge one.

It was laughable to say aloud, but he actually had no choice but to hope the current Queen would successfully give birth to a healthy prince. Otherwise…

The thoughts inside his mind were voiced aloud for him by Bai Heting, “You need the support of the Church.”

Luo Congye shook his head. “The Church won’t side with us. The framing of Pei Ming is entirely connected to them.”

Seeing that he was aware of this matter, Bai Heting did not say much more, only noting, “The Pope is also a human being. As long as someone is human, they have a weakness. You just haven’t discovered it yet.”

“There is still a worst-case alternative.” Luo Congye paused, hesitating, “Placing Bai Jiashu under house arrest…”

“Listen to me.” Bai Heting suddenly raised his hand, forcefully turning Luo Congye’s face to make him look directly at him.

“There is no such option.” A layer of grim, frigid chill surfaced in the depths of his eyes, and his tone was equally freezing. “Bai Jiashu must die.”

Luo Congye’s chin was pinched quite painfully, and he couldn’t help but furrow his brows.

Bai Heting’s expression softened slightly. He clasped his hands behind his back and pushed up Luo Congye’s upper garment.

“Stop talking nonsense,” he urged. “Get down to business.”

Before his words could fully land, he was flipped face-down onto the bed.

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