AEKMEM chapter 7

Even just standing there without absorbing the energy crystals directly, An Qiao could feel the abundant energy. The energy slowly and automatically flowed into his body, instantly alleviating much of his pain.

The old butler was surprised and pleased.

Ah, what a good child, so well-behaved, beautiful, and understanding.

The second floor of the house was Chu Heng’s private domain. He had decorated the two large suites according to his own preferences, adorning them with numerous jewels, jade, pearls, gold, silver, and even energy crystals.

The old butler had subtly suggested that the future Crown Princess might not like these kinds of decorations. However, Chu Heng said he wouldn’t marry the Crown Princess, so the old butler had no choice but to accept it.

Fortunately, the current Crown Princess understood and didn’t dislike Chu Heng’s taste. An Qiao’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the energy crystals in the room.

He thought to himself that he would never complain about Chu Heng’s taste again.

Chu Heng’s taste, actually… was quite good!

**

This was the most comfortable night’s sleep An Qiao had had since coming to this world.

The room was fairly spacious and clean. The bed was soft and warm. Though not as good as his previous beds, it was much better than the hospital room he had stayed in a few days ago.

Most importantly, the room was decorated with plenty of energy crystals. The abundant energy restored some of his magical power, healed his injuries, and lessened the pain considerably.

He had gotten up relatively early, at seven in the morning.

He yawned, washed and dressed lazily, and habitually opened the window to breathe in some fresh air and look at the scenery outside.

Besides the silvery-white buildings, all that could be seen were countless combat training grounds of all sizes with a cold, metallic feel—completely devoid of any vitality or warmth.

There wasn’t a single flower, tree, or shrub in sight!

Tsk. Chu Heng’s taste.

He completely forgot that when he saw the room full of energy crystals last night, he had resolved never to complain about Chu Heng’s taste again.

It’s really unpleasant. However, since this isn’t his territory, he could only tolerate it for now.

An Qiao withdrew his gaze.

He walked downstairs at a leisurely pace to the dining room.

“Young Master An Qiao,” the butler said, his eyes lighting up upon seeing him. Then, he ordered breakfast to be served.

“Last night, His Highness brought several chefs back from the palace. Today, he had them prepare their signature dishes. Please try them and see if you like them.”

An Qiao was somewhat surprised. “Chu Heng actually invited several chefs back?”

“Indeed. Maybe His Highness noticed that you weren’t satisfied with your meal last night, so he invited the chefs back. His Highness is actually quite… easy to get along with.”

The butler spoke the last few words somewhat guiltily.

Chu Heng usually had a bad temper. He was arrogant, unruly, and lacked patience. His expression was rarely gentle or calm.

Saying “easy to get along with” is an overstatement.

Still, the butler felt he needed to make a good impression on Chu Heng in front of An Qiao. He’d always thought that Chu Heng was destined to be single forever. But unexpectedly, he’d found a partner.

The butler was overjoyed! He hoped the two of them would stay together forever.

An Qiao pulled out a chair at the dining table and sat down.

“Easy to get along with?” He smiled slightly.

How to put it? The smile was elegant and handsome, but the butler sensed a hint of criticism or doubt in it.

This made the butler, who had been eager to praise Chu Heng, feel embarrassed.

However, to be honest, in all these years, he had never seen the crown prince care so much about anyone.

Yesterday, An Qiao wore Chu Heng’s cloak and black leather gloves, which he had carried back. The butler immediately noticed that Chu Heng was treating An Qiao differently.

Chu Heng is usually very possessive of his belongings and never allows anyone to touch them. He certainly never willingly gives away his clothes. This time, however, he made an exception, showing concern for An Qiao’s warmth and tenderness.

Afterwards, to cater to An Qiao’s tastes, Chu Heng, who usually dislikes trouble, actually hired a chef.

Most people would be satisfied with food prepared by a cooking robot. If they weren’t satisfied, they could just take nutritional supplements. He wouldn’t tolerate such treatment. He wouldn’t bother to thoughtfully and patiently hire several chefs.

“Where’s Chu Heng?” An Qiao asked politely.

After all, Chu Heng was the master of the residence, and it wouldn’t be right for a temporary guest like him not to inquire about his meal.

“His Highness has taken his nutritional supplements and gone to the training grounds,” the steward replied.

He was utterly exasperated with Chu Heng in this regard. Newlyweds, instead of enjoying a sweet meal together, he was off to some training ground—truly…completely lacking in romance!

Only An Qiao, quietly eating breakfast alone without complaint, was understanding and tolerant.

In fact, with Chu Heng absent from the table, An Qiao was happy to eat alone.

There were shumai¹Shumai, also known as siu mai, is a type of Chinese steamed dumpling that is a popular dim sum dish. It typically features a filling made of pork and shrimp, wrapped in a thin wonton skin., pan-fried dumplings, mushroom and lean pork congee, rice noodle rolls, and xiaolongbao²“Xiaolongbao” (小笼包) is Soup-filled steamed dumplings, usually small, delicate buns with thin skin and hot broth inside.…

The breakfast table was laden with variety. An Qiao tried them all and thought that the world was quite nice after all—at least the food was delicious!

The silver-haired beauty lowered his head slightly, a few strands of hair falling along his pale, jade-like cheeks. He exuded a cool and aloof air.

His eating posture was elegant; his back was straight, and every movement revealed his excellent manners. Every gesture was a pleasing sight.

Watching from the sidelines, the butler could only conclude that Chu Heng did not know how to appreciate someone so exquisite.

**

An Qiao had just finished breakfast when his personal terminal beeped.

Glancing down, he saw that it was a call from An Yizhi, An Qiao’s biological father.

He looked at it, but didn’t answer.

The call kept ringing, and text messages like “I was wrong. Please forgive your father” arrived in between.

An Qiao frowned slightly and asked the butler beside him, “How do you block someone’s communication ID?”

“Huh?”

The butler, realizing what was happening, was somewhat surprised. However, he remembered that Chu Heng had specifically told him that An Qiao had lost his memory and might have cognitive problems, so he should pay close attention to him.

The butler sighed. Really, the Crown Prince cares so much about people behind their backs. Why doesn’t he show it to them face-to-face? After An Qiao blocked his father’s number as the butler instructed, things became much quieter.

[An Qiao, the school’s final exams are approaching. Do you still plan to continue studying at the Empire’s Top Military Academy? Too many absences will lead to expulsion. If you want to continue, I suggest you apply for a leave of absence now to retain your student status and consider whether to continue after you’ve recovered from your injury.]

Song Leran suddenly sent a message on the computer chat interface.

An Qiao didn’t hesitate much. [I’ll go tomorrow.]

He was quite curious about the schools in this world and wanted to see them for himself.

As far as he knew, the Empire’s Top Military Academy was the best school in the empire. He was looking forward to seeing what it was like and what courses it offered.

[Huh? Are you really coming to class? Actually, your injuries are still quite serious. Taking a temporary leave of absence while retaining your student status is the best course of action.]

Song Leran wasn’t optimistic about An Qiao returning to school. He sent this message to remind An Qiao that excessive absences could result in expulsion. He suggested that An Qiao take a leave of absence while retaining his student status and decide later whether to continue his studies.

The Imperial First Military Academy is indeed the best university in the empire.

However, this also means that almost all students admitted to the academy are the most outstanding in the entire empire. A- and S-level beastmen and elves with high-level healing abilities are not uncommon there.

Of course, a very small number of students got in through connections.

An Qiao was once a prominent figure at the Empire’s top military academy. Even before his formal awakening, he was specially recruited by the school. With pure elven blood and stunning good looks, he had countless admirers, both openly and secretly.

Almost everyone believed that after awakening, An Qiao would reach the highest level in the Empire—an S-rank elf—and possibly an SS-rank elf, a rank the Empire hadn’t seen in a long time. A few even thought his bloodline might revert to that of a true elf.

However, An Qiao was unexpectedly assassinated and severely injured during his awakening, causing it to fail.

It was not suitable for him to return to the Empire’s top military academy at this point.

Not only would he face inevitable mockery, ridicule, and cold stares at school for his failed awakening, but the fact that he was matched with the Crown Prince by the brain system might also make many people hostile towards him.

[Actually, returning to the Imperial First Military Academy now might expose you to a lot of hostility. Why don’t you ask the Crown Prince’s opinion first?]

[No, no. You’d better not ask the Crown Prince. I’m afraid you’ll disturb him and face domestic violence!]

An Qiao: “… ”

Chu Heng isn’t that scary, is he? It’s not that easy to provoke him.

[Sigh, just be careful. If you can get a divorce after a year, then do it. According to what I heard, the crown prince has no patience for weak people. He doesn’t cherish beauty at all—he even kicked an elf flying before!]

An Qiao: [It’s okay, I’m not afraid of him, and he might not be able to beat me.]

Song Leran: “…”

Given An Qiao’s frail appearance, his words seemed highly suspicious.

An Qiao might really have a problem with perception.

Wake up! That’s the strongest beastman in the empire. He’s a terrifying being who could crush you with a flick of a finger! Don’t be so careless and overconfident!

However, Song Leran couldn’t bear to shatter his illusions and instead comforted him.

[Anyway, it’s always better to be careful. Of course, you shouldn’t worry too much. The Crown Prince isn’t unreasonable. If you stay away from him, he probably won’t interfere. The Crown Prince has a bad temper, so you… should probably avoid provoking him.

Like most people in the empire, Song Leran didn’t understand why the Crown Prince hadn’t canceled the match. Maybe he was temporarily accepting this nominal marriage and didn’t actually have feelings for An Qiao. They would divorce sooner or later.

After all, the two seemed completely mismatched.

While most people might be attracted to An Qiao’s stunning good looks and feel sorry for him, the Crown Prince had no concept of chivalry and said he would never marry a crown princess.

Song Leran had worried about An Qiao’s future before.

An Qiao is an elf who was abandoned by his family and lacks healing abilities. Despite this, he possesses an alluring and stunningly beautiful face.

Ordinary beastmen are incapable of protecting him.

And powerful beastmen are unlikely to form partnerships with elves who lack healing abilities.

An Qiao is now paired with the strongest and most powerful crown prince in the empire, yet Song Leran still worries about him.

After all, this arranged marriage doesn’t seem likely to last.

More frightening is the possibility that An Qiao might one day accidentally anger Crown Prince Chu Heng and be injured or killed by the enraged prince. An Qiao was so frail and sickly that I was afraid he might break at any moment.

An Qiao looked at the message Song Leran sent and blinked in confusion.

Was Chu Heng really that difficult to get along with or short-tempered?

Of course, he wasn’t easy to get along with either.

**

At eight o’clock, Chu Heng came out of the training ground.

Normally, he would be preparing to leave for the military headquarters by now. But since it was his honeymoon, he didn’t have to go.

Besides, he wanted to have an open and honest talk with An Qiao.

They were in the living room.

An Qiao and Chu Heng sat down facing each other across the coffee table.

“Let’s talk,” said Chu Heng, his expression somewhat serious.

An Qiao assumed he was going to discuss something important, like a cooperation agreement, and nodded in agreement. “Go ahead.”

Currently, they had only tacitly agreed to treat this marriage as a formal union. The specifics of their cooperation and the terms of the agreement hadn’t been discussed yet.

If he couldn’t grow flowers and plants in the residence or decorate his room according to his preferences, then this partnership simply couldn’t continue.

An Qiao secretly pondered what other conditions he should raise besides these two.

Chu Heng clasped his hands together and slightly lowered his gaze as he looked at An Qiao. “Don’t you think… you’re too pessimistic and negative?”

An Qiao: “?”

He’s negative and pessimistic?

Chu Heng said, “You seem to take your illness lightly. Do you think it’s incurable? Or does your awakening feeling like a failure make you disheartened and not want to live anymore?”

An Qiao: “I didn’t…”

“You wanted to go to the Star Beast Forest to die. Despite knowing your health wasn’t good, you still didn’t wear enough clothes. When the military doctor told you about your condition, you were indifferent and didn’t react much… Do I need to give more examples?”

An Qiao was speechless.

What Chu Heng said was true, but he couldn’t explain that he went to the forest to hunt star beasts for their energy crystals. That would only make Chu Heng think he was delusional.

“I was seriously injured before, and many people thought I was crippled.”

“Ah?” An Qiao was surprised. He really didn’t know that.

“But then someone treated me, and I had a second awakening. So, you shouldn’t feel hopeless just because your awakening failed. Finding the person who treated me might help you have a second awakening, too.”

“I’m already keeping an eye on his whereabouts, and I should be able to find him soon. The most important thing for you now is to rest, recuperate, and try to restore your health before finding him.”

“According to Jun Yiran, you need to take your medication properly, pay attention to your diet and sleep schedule, and maintain a moderate exercise routine. It’s also best to keep a positive mood, avoid depression and anger, and not suddenly contemplate suicide.”

An Qiao was stunned for a long time.

How so? Unexpectedly, Chu Heng offered him words of encouragement and used his own experience as an example to comfort him. He hoped to lift An Qiao’s spirits and prevent him from becoming discouraged and despondent.

Although An Qiao disliked excessive interference and control, he sincerely said,

“Thank you.”

Chu Heng’s intentions were genuine.

Chu Heng looked at him, his brows furrowed. “Just say thank you?”

“Huh?”

“You should have said that you would definitely take good care of yourself.”

An Qiao: “Hmm… I’ll try my best.”

“That’s more like it.” Chu Heng nodded slightly, barely satisfied.

“Think it over carefully. As long as you’re alive, there’s always hope.” With that, he went upstairs.

“Hey!” An Qiao called out, looking up.

Chu Heng, who was on the stairs, turned around and looked down. “What’s wrong?”

“Can I plant some roses in the manor?” An Qiao asked.

Chu Heng didn’t answer.

“Just a small patch,” An Qiao added.

Chu Heng: “…Whatever.”

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• 1
  Shumai, also known as siu mai, is a type of Chinese steamed dumpling that is a popular dim sum dish. It typically features a filling made of pork and shrimp, wrapped in a thin wonton skin.
• 2
  “Xiaolongbao” (小笼包) is Soup-filled steamed dumplings, usually small, delicate buns with thin skin and hot broth inside.