AEKMEM chapter 65

At this point, if Chu Heng still didn’t know that An Qiao had guessed the truth about his injury, then he was a complete idiot.

He took a deep breath and said hesitantly, “I injured myself…”

Hiding it now would only make An Qiao angrier.

—He should confess and hope for leniency.

Of course, only partially. He had injured himself in order to find a way to break the “Demon King’s Curse” on An Qiao and receive more of the dragon clan’s inherited memories. This part didn’t need to be confessed.

“Why?”

The chair armrest beneath his hand silently crumbled. An Qiao asked, seemingly calm on the surface, but his emotions were anything but.

That Chu Heng guy is insane! He actually hurt himself so badly! And it wasn’t a light injury either! The wound was on his chest, a potentially fatal spot.

Even if there was a good reason, he shouldn’t have chosen such a severe injury. It was cruel to himself!

If I hadn’t entered the study in time, seen his injury, and treated him, it wouldn’t have been fatal, but wouldn’t the injury have been excruciatingly painful? Wouldn’t he need time to recover? What if an enemy had taken advantage of his injuries during this time?

When he entered the study, Chu Heng’s wounds were still bleeding. Yet, he didn’t even frown at them, as if he were already used to the pain.

He didn’t care about his injuries at all. Even while injured, he had the leisure to tease him.

He might be so reckless as to disregard his own life and death. On the Zerg battlefield, he crippled the Zerg queen, resulting in heavy losses for both sides and severely wounding himself. During that time, any mistake could have been extremely dangerous.

“Because after I was injured, I started receiving the inherited memories of the dragon race faster. I wanted to test if that was true and obtain more memories,” said Chu Heng, half-jokingly.

An Qiao: “… ”

Just for this? Just to try out a “test” whose truth was uncertain? Was he willing to injure himself for it?

Chu Heng is crazy!

An Qiao frowned and was about to say something.

Chu Heng stared intently at him. “Qiao Qiao is so concerned about how I got injured. Is it because you’re worried about me?”

An Qiao: “… ”

At this point, isn’t Chu Heng’s focus a bit off?

He walked toward An Qiao step by step and stopped in front of him. He leaned down slightly and took the hand that had crushed the chair armrest in a fit of emotion. He looked directly into An Qiao’s eyes and said, “I know Qiaoqiao cares about my safety.”

“Don’t worry. I would never let anything happen to myself.”

“Because I still want to be with you, Qiaoqiao, and see the roses you planted.”

An Qiao was stunned for a long while.

Whether he forgot or tacitly agreed, he let Chu Heng hold his hand.

**

Jiang Qi secretly sighed at the Crown Prince’s skillful methods.

That day, the Crown Princess had guessed that the Crown Prince had injured himself somehow and seemed angry. But after dinner, he seemed to have calmed down.

Not only that, but even though he had injured himself, His Highness the Crown Prince shamelessly feigned weakness, claiming that his wound hurt. The Crown Princess readily cooperated, of course, indulging him and treating his injuries.

While the Crown Princess was painting a landscape in the garden, His Highness joined him, offering to be a “model.”

Their interactions seemed even more cloying than before, making one want to throw up this dog food!

Originally, they seemed to have a good relationship, but it always felt like the Crown Prince held back, acting timid around the Crown Princess. Now, however, it seems as if he has suddenly opened up, boldly seizing every opportunity to get close to the Crown Princess.

An Qiao was completely unaware of Jiang Qi’s thoughts.

He gazed at the newly finished painting, which featured a beautiful, vibrant garden backdrop and a cute, chibi-style dragon cub with Chu Heng’s face.

Chu Heng had sweet-talked him into painting him at the time, offering to be the “model.”

An Qiao could only “reluctantly” grant his wish.

Remembering Chu Heng’s astonished, incredulous, strange, and resentful look when he saw the chibi dragon cub with his face instead of the portrait he had imagined in the painting, An Qiao couldn’t help but smile.

—The score for tricking him before wasn’t settled yet!

Later, his adjutant Jiang Qi reminded Chu Heng that he had an online meeting, so he left first. Though he still looked a bit disbelieving, he earnestly asked if he could have the painting since it was the first one An Qiao had drawn for him.

An Qiao naturally agreed.

Soon after, while An Qiao was finalizing the details of the painting in the garden, Chu Wen and Xiong Yi arrived unexpectedly.

An Qiao carefully put away the painting, which featured a chibi-style dragon baby with Chu Heng’s face, making sure no one else saw it.

This painting damages Chu Heng’s image, so it’s best not to let anyone see it.

Chu Wen and Xiong Yi had arrived with a mission from the Empire’s First Military Academy.

They wanted him to cultivate a good relationship with the elves and invite them to visit the academy. Even better, they hoped to persuade an elf to give a short lecture there.

However, after hearing their purpose, An Qiao calmly refused.

“What?! An Qiao, are you saying that you’re not accepting this mission?” Chu Wen and Xiong Yi were both astonished.

“Why not? This mission isn’t dangerous. Besides, that elf thought highly of you, An Qiao, so there’s a good chance you’ll complete it. If you complete this S-rank mission, you’ll almost have enough mission credits to graduate from the Empire’s First Military Academy.”

Chu Wen genuinely couldn’t understand An Qiao’s reasoning.

He felt this S-rank mission was practically tailor-made for An Qiao.

It didn’t require combat skills or the healing abilities of elves, and it wasn’t dangerous. Wasn’t that perfect?

“Is it necessary to be so surprised?” An Qiao raised an eyebrow slightly.

He had no intention of accepting the mission.

He wasn’t interested in going to the Empire’s top military academy disguised as an elf.

However, he thought the academy had a good eye for talent. First, they sent him to “find elves,” and now they’re sending him to befriend them.

Their judgment was unpredictable. They had just happened to assign both of these tasks to him.

“It’s quite surprising,” said Chu Wen and Xiong Yi, still astonished.

“This is a rare S-rank mission suitable for you, An Qiao, and it’s not dangerous. If you don’t accept it, you’ll have a hard time getting such good missions in the future,” Chu Wen explained earnestly. “Don’t be fooled by how easily you earned S-rank mission credits before. It’s actually quite difficult to earn enough credits to graduate from our Empire’s First Military Academy. If you accept and complete this S-rank mission, graduating will be much easier. You only need to accept one more A-rank mission or a few lower-level missions to earn enough credits.”

“Even if I accept this S-rank mission, I won’t earn enough mission credits at once. There will be trouble later,” An Qiao said calmly.

First, taking on several missions would be too much trouble. Second, he wouldn’t graduate for another three years, and it was uncertain if he would still be in this world by then.

Would Chu Heng be willing to abandon everything here and return to the Elf World with him?

An Qiao had only tried traveling from this world to the Elf World, so he didn’t know if he could travel back from the Elf World. Whether he could travel back from the Elf World, however, was uncertain.

Logically, he should be able to. But it wasn’t certain.

If he could travel back and forth between the two worlds successfully and stably, that would be ideal.

But what if he couldn’t?

— This was also one of the reasons why, after realizing Chu Heng’s feelings for him, he hadn’t revealed everything.

Chu Heng had come a long way, rising from a remote, garbage-strewn planet to the capital. Could he truly bear to give up everything he had painstakingly gained—power, status, prestige, and the bonds of comradeship and friendship?

As for himself, if he were to be honest with himself, it would be hard for him to abandon the elf race. Since childhood, as the heir to the elf throne, he had been accustomed to viewing the elf race as his responsibility.

Could he compromise? Go back to the elf world after a few decades? After all, Chu Heng’s bloodline had reverted into a dragon, and he was an elf—both long-lived.

An Qiao thought that maybe it was time to gradually reveal his elven identity to Chu Heng.

Upon hearing An Qiao’s words, Chu Wen and Xiong Yi exchanged bewildered glances.

Was An Qiao trying to earn all the mission credits at once?

That seems a bit wishful thinking. To earn the remaining credits, he would need to complete a 2S-level mission.

Not to mention, the Imperial First Military Academy rarely posts level 2S missions. Even if the school offered them, could An Qiao complete 2S-level missions?

These missions usually require either a beastman with 3S-level combat skills or an elf with 2S-level healing abilities.

Chu Heng is the only person in the history of the Imperial First Military Academy who has completed a 2S-level mission.

“An Qiao, we need to be realistic,” Chu Wen tactfully advised. “A 2S-level mission isn’t easy to complete.”

An Qiao seemed to remember something. He rested his chin on his hand and said, “I remember. Chu Heng was the only one who completed a 2S-level mission.”

“That’s right,” said Chu Wen, unable to contain his excitement. “His Highness the Crown Prince is exceptionally talented; he can do things that ordinary people cannot.”

“It certainly seems like something he could do,” An Qiao nodded.

Chu Wen thought that An Qiao had given up on the idea of taking on a 2S-rank mission, and he breathed a sigh of relief. However, the next second, he heard An Qiao ask, “Does the school have any 2S-rank missions right now?”

Chu Wen: “… ”

The school’s S-rank and 2S-rank missions are generally aimed at top-performing fourth-year students who are about to graduate or exceptional students from other grades who have reached the required level. These missions are rarely seen by others to prevent those who lack the strength from becoming arrogant and rashly accepting dangerous tasks.

Even healing missions, which seem to lack the danger of combat or adventure, actually carry considerable risks. For example, it would be quite risky for an inexperienced A-rank elf to rashly attempt treatment on an S-rank beastman with a particularly violent and chaotic mental state. The risk would be even greater for a B-rank elf with extensive treatment experience if their skill level is insufficient.

Furthermore, the school has regulations that specify which tasks students who do not meet the requirements can and cannot accept unless they have a school teacher and a family member acting as guarantors.

“Recently, the school had a level 2 mission to treat the insect poisoning of the eldest young master of the Yun family. This poison is quite bizarre; even S-level elven healers are helpless, and the Empire’s only 2S-level elf healer is at a loss,” said Chu Wen.

Chu Wen said this to discourage An Qiao. If 2S-level elf healers couldn’t solve it, then ordinary people were even less likely to be able to.

At the same time, Chu Wen thought that the elf seemed to have a good impression of An Qiao. If An Qiao were to encounter that elf again and bring up the matter of the poison, perhaps he could save the unfortunate young Master Yun.

However, he truly hadn’t expected An Qiao to ask, “How do we proceed with this 2S-rank mission?”

**

Chu Heng finished the meeting and was about to find An Qiao.

The drawing was still with An Qiao.

Seeing the chibi-style dragon cub that An Qiao had drawn—with his face on it—Chu Heng was dumbfounded.

But this was the first portrait An Qiao had drawn for him personally! It held great sentimental value!

Moreover, with the first portrait, wouldn’t the others, the more normal ones, follow?

As he walked toward the garden where An Qiao was, Chu Heng sorted through the jumbled memories of the dragon race’s lineage.

After his injury, he received more of these memories. They were voluminous and chaotic, with seemingly unrelated memories and a lot of jumbled, especially obscene, material, making them difficult to sift through. He couldn’t process much of it in time.

After browsing for a while, he suddenly noticed a legacy memory—or, more accurately, a piece of advice—left by a dragon predecessor.

[Never, ever touch an elf’s ear out of curiosity!]

B[ecause of my excessive curiosity, I touched a certain elf’s ear, and he relentlessly hunted me down for years. In the end, I lost not only my treasure trove but also myself. Even all my spare gold coins and personal savings were confiscated!]

Tsk, curiosity really does kill the cat! This dragon senior touched an elf’s ear in a moment of carelessness. He was hunted for years and lost his treasure trove and himself.

But is touching an elf’s ear really that serious?

Chu Heng was somewhat skeptical.

After all, he had touched An Qiao’s ear a few times, and An Qiao hadn’t done anything to him.

He’d only glared at him angrily, warning him not to touch his ears again.

When he was caught the second time, An Qiao was indeed angry. But when he asked, “Is touching an ear really that… serious?” An Qiao replied, “Not really… serious,” only emphasizing, “You can’t just touch it randomly!”

This inherited memory rarely involved elves, so he continued reading.

[Seriously, never touch an elf’s ears unless you’re strong enough! Unless you’re strong enough and covet the little elf’s beauty…]

[As everyone knows, an elf’s ears are absolutely forbidden to touch. As for why, heh, I only found out later that only a chosen partner can touch an elf’s ears. Otherwise, just wait for the elf to hunt you down!]

Chu Heng: “?”

Chu Heng was so shocked that he froze.

So… only a chosen partner can touch an elf’s ears?

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