AEKMEM chapter 66

Chu Heng was stunned.

If the inherited memory left by the dragon predecessor was true, only a chosen partner could touch an elf’s ears—

Then when he touched An Qiao’s ears before, although An Qiao was extremely annoyed, when he asked, “Is touching ears that serious?”, he replied, “Not really…serious,” only emphasizing again, “You can’t just touch them randomly!”

Could this mean that An Qiao had feelings for him back then and considered him his chosen partner?

Thinking of this, Chu Heng’s heart suddenly pounded wildly.

**

An Qiao was unaware that Chu Heng had grasped the deeper meaning of touching an elf’s ears from the dragon clan’s memories.

He was currently asking Chu Wen and Xiong Yi how they had accepted this 2S-level mission from the Imperial First Military Academy.

Originally, he had little interest in taking on school missions because he didn’t want to create trouble for himself. However, considering that Chu Heng was the first and only person in the academy’s history to complete a 2S-level mission, An Qiao became interested.

Besides, this 2S-level treatment mission wouldn’t be particularly troublesome for him.

He had already met the target, Yun Jianchen.

Yun Jianchen had a connection to Chu Heng and rushed to Blue Star City after hearing news of the “elf” there. Knowing that Chu Heng had dealt with the “elf,” Yun Jianchen wanted to obtain the elf’s whereabouts from Chu Heng and ask the elf to help treat the insect poison on his body.

This insect poison seemed quite troublesome. Jun Yiran, the chief military doctor of the Second Group, rushed over from the capital star immediately. Chu Heng had also been busy investigating matters related to the “insect poison” these past few days.

Seeing that Chu Heng was troubled by this matter, An Qiao had originally planned to find an opportunity to use his main disguise, the “elf” disguise, again to try to cure Yun Jianchen’s insect poison.

However, now that he knows about the school’s 2S-level mission, he thinks it’s better to accept it under his current identity.

“Are you serious?” Chu Wen and Xiong Yi exclaimed in astonishment.

You can’t complete a 2S-level mission casually. Completing an S-level mission by luck alone, as before, is extremely rare. If An Qiao wants to complete this 2S-level treatment mission by luck again, it’s impossible!

“Do I look like I’m joking?” An Qiao’s tone was light and calm.

Chu Wen and Xiong Yi exchanged glances.

It’s precisely because you don’t look like you’re joking that we’re so shocked!

Chu Wen stared in disbelief for a moment before gently explaining, “Your level isn’t high enough. To accept a 2S-level mission, you need the consent of your teachers and family.”

He couldn’t dissuade An Qiao; the Crown Prince would have to do it himself.

In his opinion, An Qiao was being delusional.

An Qiao frowned slightly.

Just accepting a mission is this complicated!

However, upon further thought, it was understandable. Higher-level missions were more dangerous, and if students could accept dangerous missions casually, there would be a high probability of accidents.

“Oh, right,” Chu Wen said, suddenly remembering something. “On the way here with Xiong Yi, we encountered someone who claimed to be an elf messenger.”

An Qiao: “?”

Wait… how come I didn’t know I had a messenger in this world?

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

Well, they’ve even managed to fool him.

An elf messenger? Who would be so audacious as to impersonate his messenger?

Chu Wen asked again, “An Qiao, you met with that elf before. Do you know if he has a messenger?”

Chu Wen and Xiong Yi had planned to verify the authenticity of the so-called “elf messenger,” but the man hopped on an expensive, sleek flying vehicle and took off.

They felt this “elf messenger” was likely a fraud, but, since elves were involved, they decided to be cautious and investigate thoroughly before drawing any conclusions.

“Heh.” An Qiao’s icy blue eyes were deep and cold, seemingly containing murderous intent. “You actually believed such an obvious scam?”

Chu Wen: “…”

He couldn’t help but shiver.

An Qiao’s aura was truly terrifying—practically a direct descendant of the Crown Prince!

“I didn’t believe it either,” Chu Wen weakly retorted. “I’m just being suspicious and investigating the truth, aren’t I?”

Then, he asked curiously, “But An Qiao, why are you so certain that this is a scam? You met the elf; do you know something?”

An Qiao simply said, “That ‘elf’ is obsessed with looks.”

Chu Wen and Xiong Yi were speechless.

That reason was powerful and convincing.

However, who would have thought that the elf was obsessed with looks?

Could this be why the elf clarified the rumors for Crown Prince Chu Heng and praised An Qiao as “very good”?

**

At that moment, An Qiao caught a glimpse of Chu Heng hurrying toward the garden.

Chu Wen and Xiong Yi saw him too, exchanged a glance, and tactfully excused themselves, not wanting to intrude on their time together.

With no one else around, An Qiao pulled out a drawing of a chibi-style dragon cub with Chu Heng’s face.

It was actually quite cute and fierce.

Although he had initially drawn it as a prank to tease Chu Heng, he found it particularly amusing now.

“Qiaoqiao!” Chu Heng called out from across the garden. His voice was unusually excited.

If he were in dragon form, he would have probably raised his tail proudly.

What good thing had happened? What joyous event had occurred?

An Qiao raised an eyebrow slightly, pondering, when Chu Heng had already reached him and stopped.

The sun was setting, and the evening glow on the horizon was ablaze. Dressed in a white robe, An Qiao sat among the flowers with an easel set up in front of him. His profile was exquisitely beautiful. His silver hair cascaded casually among the blossoms, creating a picturesque scene.

“Qiaoqiao…” Chu Heng gazed at him intently, his eyes fixed on him.

His deep rose-red eyes were even deeper and more dazzling, as if a bright, fiery flame were burning within them.

They were flamboyant, passionate, vibrant, and profound, with no deliberate attempt to suppress or restrain their emotions.

An Qiao was stunned.

His heart trembled slightly, and his fingertips trembled as well.

He knew Chu Heng liked him, but this unrestrained, undisguised affection was beyond his expectations.

“What do you want to say?”

He vaguely sensed that Chu Heng might be about to confess.

“I…”

Chu Heng paused.

On his way to find An Qiao, thoughts about what to say flashed through his mind: “Qiao Qiao, do you like me too?” and “Qiao Qiao, what kind of partner are you looking for? What do you think of me?”

But now, upon seeing An Qiao and meeting his gaze, Chu Heng felt that confessing his feelings to him without any planned surprises was far too casual.

His Qiao Qiao deserved the best!

“Qiao Qiao, I’ve found a way to break the curse on you.”

According to the dragon race’s inherited memories, the first step to breaking the Demon King’s curse is offering the heart’s blood of a dragon. The second step is to establish a dragon-race partnership contract. The third step… well, it’s best left unsaid.

Several days have passed since Chu Heng obtained this solution. He had wanted to see if there was a better way to break the curse.

This solution is a bit too domineering. It absolutely requires a partnership contract with the dragon race.

Before, Chu Heng wasn’t sure of An Qiao’s feelings.

Now, however, he knows that he is not unrequitedly in love with An Qiao; they are actually mutually attracted to each other.

Furthermore, there can be a period of time between each step. After offering the dragon’s heart’s blood in the first step, half of the Demon King’s curse will be broken.

After confessing his feelings, the second step—binding a dragon clan partnership contract—was perfect.

Upon hearing Chu Heng’s unexpected words, An Qiao felt a slight pang of disappointment for some reason. But then, he couldn’t help but wonder:

How did Chu Heng know that his “old wound” was a curse?

There were no records of curses in this world.

Did Chu Heng know from the dragon clan’s inherited memories?

Thinking of the inherited memories, An Qiao recalled Chu Heng’s explanation after he injured himself a few days ago: “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,”

An Qiao took a deep breath.

“You injured yourself before… because of this?”

“Did you hurt yourself because receiving the inheritance memory is faster after injury, hoping to find a way to resolve the curse on my body?”

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