Ye Qingzhou had never heard anyone address him that way.
The servants in the palace called him "wild child" and "little brat." After living like that for so long, even Ye Qingzhou had forgotten that he truly was "Your Highness."
"Your Highness, why aren't you saying anything?"
Chu Ci wore his silver hair in a high ponytail. Having only just returned from the battlefield, he had yet to remove the silver mask on his face. Beneath it were the young man's thin, beautiful lips, as pink and lovely as peach blossoms in March.
Ye Qingzhou had heard the name "Chu Ci."
Everyone in the palace admired him and revered him as the "God of War." Chu Ci was only in his twenties, yet he had led the interstellar soldiers to victory after victory.
In fact, it wasn't just the people in the palace. Even his stern imperial father was very fond of Chu Ci. The title "Interstellar God of War" had been bestowed on Chu Ci by his father himself.
Seeing Ye Qingzhou's stunned gaze, Chu Ci thought he had frightened him, so he asked gently, "Your Highness, is someone bullying you?"
Unfortunately, Chu Ci spent so much time on the battlefield that even when he deliberately softened his voice, his tone still sounded a little fierce.
Ye Qingzhou pressed his lips together without speaking.
At this, Chu Ci rubbed between his brows in frustration.
Thanks to the care Ye Qingzhou's mother had shown him, Chu Ci had been able to enter the military as he had wished. After learning of her death, he had sworn to take good care of Ye Qingzhou.
But there had simply been too many battles over the years. Only after eight years of rushing from battlefield to battlefield had Chu Ci been able to return to the imperial palace. He had never imagined that Ye Qingzhou's palace would look like this.
Desolate, bleak, without even a sign of life.
If he hadn't seen Ye Qingzhou curled up in a corner, he would have suspected that no one lived in this palace.
"Your Highness..."
Chu Ci crouched down and looked at Ye Qingzhou's frail figure, his voice frighteningly hoarse. "I'm late."
Ye Qingzhou's lips had turned deathly pale from the cold, and even his breath carried a chill. Watching the snowflakes drifting endlessly outside, he finally spoke his first words that day. "Do you think..."
Chu Ci lowered his eyes and waited patiently for him to continue.
"Mother feels cold too?"
Ye Qingzhou had never met his mother. He had only managed to piece together the image of a gentle, beautiful woman from the palace servants' scattered remarks. "I want to go keep her company."
It was too cold.
Ye Qingzhou didn't know what the point of being alive was.
He didn't even know what "love" felt like.
But he thought that since his mother had presumably risked her life to give birth to him, she must have "loved" him.
Ye Qingzhou wanted to go keep her company.
For some reason, Chu Ci's heart ached.
"Your Highness, no one will ever bully you again."
Chu Ci slowly removed his mask. They were very close, and Ye Qingzhou could see the undisguised guilt and heartache in those phoenix eyes.
Ye Qingzhou instinctively covered his chest.
It was the first time anyone had ever looked at him that way, and he could feel his heart pounding.
Ye Qingzhou licked his dry lips, his long, thick lashes hiding the dark, complicated emotions in his eyes. "But... sooner or later, you'll leave me..."
That was true enough.
Chu Ci spent year after year on the battlefield. Only an unprecedented victory had earned him this chance to catch his breath.
Chu Ci realized this problem too.
Looking at the frail boy, he thought for a moment before making the most important decision of his life. "Your Highness, would you be willing to come to the battlefield with me? I'll take good care of you."
Ye Qingzhou abruptly looked up. "...Really?"
"Really."
A faint smile slowly appeared in Chu Ci's eyes. "If you agree, I'll ask His Majesty today."
"Yes!"
Ye Qingzhou's eyes sparkled.
Everything went very smoothly. The emperor had little affection for Ye Qingzhou to begin with, and when he learned that Chu Ci wanted to take him to the battlefield, he merely smiled and said, "As you wish."
From then on, Ye Qingzhou was no longer alone.
"Time's up."
Seeing Ye Qingzhou's dazed expression, Chu Ci waved his fingers in front of his eyes. "We've finished our task."
"...Oh, okay."
Ye Qingzhou pulled his thoughts out of his memories.
The corners of his eyes were slightly damp. Seeing this, Chu Ci felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest.
"Are you unhappy?"
"No."
Ye Qingzhou instinctively denied it.
Hearing this, Chu Ci didn't press him any further.
Looking into Ye Qingzhou's moist peach-blossom eyes, he grew distracted for a moment. "You look a lot like someone I used to know..."
Chu Ci still remembered the first time he had brought His Little Highness to the battlefield. He had been both curious and afraid, his lovely peach-blossom eyes slightly damp.
It wasn't really His Little Highness's fault. After all, the soldiers under Chu Ci's command had all survived a hail of blades and carried an aura of menace. His Highness had only been eight or nine at the time, so it was perfectly normal for him to feel afraid.
Coincidentally, His Little Highness also had "Zhou" in his name, though his full name was "Wu Zhou." "Wu" was a surname exclusive to the imperial family.
Ye Qingzhou's fingers paused slightly at his sides. His heart was so tense it was about to leap out of his chest, yet he still had to pretend to ask casually, "That person... is he very important to you?"
"He is."
Thinking of His Little Highness's handsome, otherworldly features, Chu Ci's voice carried a hint of a smile. "He's the most important person in this world to me."
Ye Qingzhou: "!"
He forcibly suppressed the joy in his heart, but no matter what he did, he couldn't suppress the smile tugging at his lips.
[Just asking because I don't get it: is Ye Qingzhou putting on a face-changing performance for everyone? Wasn't he about to cry earlier? Why is he suddenly smiling so happily now?]
[He probably had to suppress his emotions earlier to complete the task, right? Now that it's over, he's naturally back to normal.]
[Ye Qingzhou looks better when he smiles.]
[So is this episode over? Honestly, I still haven't had enough.]
[Probably? After all, Ye Qingzhou and Chu Ci have already earned the required 500 yuan. As long as they hand the money over to the production team, their task will count as complete.]
[I think Chu Ci gave the most impressive performance this episode. He's seriously good at thinking on his feet. I admit I was a little too loud when I criticized him before.]
[Chu Ci and Ye Qingzhou's interactions are so sweet! They're clearly the pair who seem the least like a couple this episode, but everything they do is sweeter than the last. The candy-wrapper kiss, kissing, interlocking fingers, gazing deeply into each other's eyes... any one of those moments could make the trending searches on its own.]