AEKMEM chapter 62

“Why are you blushing?” An Qiao asked curiously.

“N-nothing!” Chu Heng slightly averted his gaze, answering with obvious panic and guilt.

An Qiao narrowed his eyes.

Chu Heng’s behavior was clearly an attempt to cover something up—very suspicious.

He was about to say something when, suddenly and unexpectedly, he was lifted into the air and carried away.

An Qiao: “?”

“Qiao Qiao, you’re injured. Let me carry you back,” said Chu Heng nervously and guiltily.

He only realized what he had done after picking him up.

It was all the yellow trash’s fault!

Of course, seeing An Qiao leaning weakly against the wall and unable to hide his exhaustion also broke his heart.

An Qiao raised an eyebrow slightly in surprise.

Not long ago, Chu Heng had been too timid to carry him without asking for permission first. Now, he had become quite bold, daring to act first and ask for his opinion only after picking him up.

Meeting Chu Heng’s burning yet slightly apprehensive gaze, An Qiao said, “Then I’ll trouble you.”

Upon hearing this, Chu Heng’s pupils, fixed on An Qiao, suddenly shone with unusual brightness.

He had acted impulsively by picking An Qiao up without permission and was worried that An Qiao would be angry.

But An Qiao showed no sign of anger.

This reminded Chu Heng of his intuition when An Qiao defended him and cleared up the rumors earlier.

Could it be that An Qiao cared about him and wasn’t just concerned as a friend?

**
An Qiao returned to Garden Castle and went to his bedroom to rest. He found that Song Leran had sent him many messages on his personal terminal.

Song Leran: [Ahhhhh! An Qiao, you were the first to see the elf! Such enviable luck!]

[By the way, An Qiao, when did you see the elf? Did that elf say anything to you?]

[Waaah… Are you close with that elf? Next time you see him, could you get his autograph?]

…

He was bombarded with a barrage of messages, almost all of which were related to the elf.

An Qiao: “…”

So, Song Leran was also a huge fan of elves.

But with so many questions at once, how was he supposed to come up with answers?

Too lazy to think, An Qiao replied directly: “That elf asked me to keep it a secret.”

He never imagined he’d be exposed in front of everyone.

He planned to gradually reveal his true identity to Chu Heng, but he didn’t intend to reveal his elf identity to anyone else.

However, to avoid disappointing the overly excited Song Leran, he added,

[But if I see the elf again next time, I’ll try my best to get you an autograph.]

After all, an autograph is just a few words in a different font, and it only takes a minute.

Of course, who knows when he’ll reappear in his “elf” disguise.

If it’s been too long, he’ll give Song Leran an autograph in advance and say he saw the “elf” without anyone knowing.

He can make up whatever he wants about when he saw the “elf”!

An Qiao lazily rested his chin on his hand, thinking mischievously. Just after replying to Song Leran’s message, another message popped up on the terminal:

[Congratulations on obtaining the school’s S-rank mission, ‘Elf Search.’]

It was from Chu Wen.

So, is the “Elf Search” mission complete?

If Chu Wen hadn’t mentioned it, An Qiao would have forgotten all about it.

When he accepted the mission, he intended to infiltrate the enemy’s ranks and find out how they planned to find the elf so that he could prepare in advance.

Unexpectedly, he ended up revealing himself as the elf.

Although others didn’t know that the “elf” was actually him.

However, An Qiao was somewhat puzzled. [An S-rank mission?]

Chu Wen: [That’s right, an S-rank mission. With the credits from this S-rank mission, graduating successfully will be much easier.]

Chu Wen had originally wanted to scold An Qiao for being inconsiderate and not reporting that he had met the elf. But remembering that this was Crown Prince Chu Heng’s Crown Princess, his “aunt”… and also that An Qiao sometimes emanated a pressure that made him feel overwhelmed…

Unable to scold him, he jokingly remarked with amusement, [Before, many people at school bet you definitely wouldn’t graduate.

Of course, even now, quite a few people still bet that An Qiao won’t graduate from the Empire’s First Military Academy.

For those with exceptional talent or extremely powerful backgrounds, getting into the academy isn’t too difficult. However, successfully graduating from the top military academy is far more difficult.

To graduate, one must accumulate course and task credits.

Course credits are earned by attending classes, as the name suggests.

Task credits, on the other hand, are earned by completing various tasks assigned by the school. These tasks are divided into four levels: S-level, A-level, B-level, and C-level. The higher the task level, the more credits earned.

Oh, and there are also the rarely released 2S-level tasks. A single 2S-level task can earn enough points to graduate. However, completing a 2S-rank mission is virtually impossible. In the history of the Imperial First Military Academy, only Chu Heng has ever done so.

Missions generally fall into three categories: combat, comprehensive, and healing, which are suitable for elves.

Students of average strength at the Imperial First Military Academy find it difficult to earn enough mission credits, let alone An Qiao, a weak elf who failed his awakening and has no other abilities.

Completing missions requires independence and honesty. Even as the Crown Princess with Crown Prince Chu Heng’s support, An Qiao lacks combat and healing abilities, which are unique to elves. How can he earn enough credits without relying on others?

An Qiao had actually met the elf before the “elf livestream” and had made a good impression on him, which made many people envious and jealous.

Those were elves! An Qiao’s luck was incredible, leading people to suspect that he had secretly awakened a lucky ability.

Meeting the elf first, completing the “elf search” mission with ease, and obtaining S-rank mission credits astonished the students of the Empire’s First Military Academy.

This was probably the easiest S-rank mission ever completed!

However, even with these credits, An Qiao still had a long way to go to graduate.

Relying solely on luck without any real ability, it would be almost impossible for him to earn enough credits from now on.

Many people were waiting to see him fail, believing he would definitely not earn enough credits to graduate.

Of course, after this period of mission cooperation, Chu Wen believed that An Qiao could earn enough credits to graduate.

He always felt that An Qiao was more than he seemed!

After thinking for a moment, Chu Wen typed a few more lines: [Many people are looking forward to it. If An Qiao fails to graduate, it will starkly contrast with His Highness the Crown Prince, who earned the first 2S-level mission credit in the academy’s history.]

An Qiao was originally indifferent to graduating. There were still more than three years until graduation, and it was uncertain whether he would be alive by then.

But upon seeing Chu Wen’s message, he sat bolt upright.

[They’ll be disappointed. With my good luck, I’ll definitely graduate.]

**

In the study, after quickly attending to some necessary business and dealing with the aftermath of the “elf livestream,” Chu Heng began perusing the dragon clan’s inherited memories, attempting to find a way to break the demon king’s curse on An Qiao.

However, even after reviewing the relevant memories countless times, he couldn’t find a concrete solution.

It was all just yellow trash!

“Your Highness, someone is looking for you.” At that moment, his adjutant, Jiang Qi, knocked and entered.

“Who?”

“Young Master Yun Jianchen,” Jiang Qi replied.

Chu Heng frowned slightly. “That fox surnamed Yun? What does he want with me?”

Yun Jianchen had been his classmate at the Empire’s First Military Academy. After graduating, he didn’t join the military but instead followed his family’s path into politics.

The Yun family has a powerful background, and Yun Jianchen is also very capable. At a young age, he holds an important seat in the Empire’s Parliament.

Yun Jianchen’s beast form is a white fox. He is as cunning as a fox and loves to be vain, hence his nickname, “Yun Fox.”

During the war against the Zerg, however, he was accidentally poisoned by a strange insect toxin while visiting the front lines to offer condolences. The poison wasn’t fatal, but it caused rapid, spherical weight gain that was impossible to reverse. There was no cure.

The originally romantic, elegant, and extremely vain young Yun family master suddenly grew so fat that he was nearly unrecognizable. His fiancée, with whom a political marriage had already been arranged, couldn’t bear it and fled to a remote planet.

Thinking of the young master’s miserable state, Chu Heng felt a rare pang of sympathy.

He heard that Yun Jianchen had been searching for an antidote and had even consulted the Empire’s only 2S-level elf healer, but he still couldn’t find a cure. Hoping for a stroke of luck, he tried to get a 2S-level treatment assignment at the Empire’s First Military Academy, but no one would take it. He tried many other methods as well, but none of them worked.

After learning that the elves had appeared in the Star Beast Forest, Yun Jianchen searched for their whereabouts.

Upon hearing the prophecy that the elves were in Blue Star City, he rushed there.

He realized that they probably knew he had contacted the elves and had come specifically to see him, hoping he would give them information about the elves.

As he pondered this, he noticed the “Elf’s Kiss” red rose that An Qiao had given him on the desk.

The rose was still vibrantly red, the color of blood.

Chu Heng suddenly recalled that, after his clash with the Zerg Queen and his forced opening of the barrier while injured, he began coughing up blood and receiving the dragon race’s inherited memories at an accelerated rate.

Could he receive more of the dragon race’s inherited memories if he were injured, especially severely? Could he find a way to break the demon king’s curse that tormented An Qiao?

He stretched out his hand—pale, cold, and hard with distinct knuckles—carrying a chilling and malevolent aura.

This hand had slain countless enemies and protected him countless times.

However, at that moment, he expressionlessly struck his own chest with it.

Glaringly red blood slowly flowed from his chest.

Coincidentally, or perhaps not, more memories of the dragon race’s lineage, particularly those related to the Demon King’s curse, appeared in his mind.

Chu Heng was about to examine them more closely.

“You’re injured?!” An Qiao’s voice came from the doorway.

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