By the time it was time to go to bed, Qi Yan still hadn’t managed to get a definite answer from Lu Fenghan.
The general had merely replied that Qi Yan would be able to feel it himself in the future.
After taking a shower, Qi Yan changed into the black silk robe he had bought on Mykono Star and began talking to Pojun. “Why doesn’t the general just tell me directly?”
Pojun answered without the slightest hesitation. “Perhaps he is shy.”
Qi Yan’s fingers paused as he fastened the buttons of his robe. His damp bangs clung lightly to his forehead. “Shy?”
“Of course. Shyness is a personality trait found in humans. As a human being, the general is equally capable of feeling shy.”
There was nothing logically wrong with that statement. However… Qi Yan found it somewhat difficult to associate Lu Fenghan with the word shy.
Although he was curious about the answer, Qi Yan wasn’t the sort of person who would insist on digging deeper. Since Lu Fenghan had said that he would be able to feel it himself in the future, then that was surely how things would turn out.
Pojun found another example to support its theory. “Research has proven that shyness has a certain degree of genetic heritability. General Lu Jun, the general’s father, was someone who was easily embarrassed. Back on Dawn Star, the general often spoke to me unilaterally because he didn’t want to lose his ability to communicate through language after spending too long without engaging in social activities.
“During our conversations, he mentioned that when General Lu Jun was appointed as a lieutenant general of the Alliance, he had to give a speech onstage. Although his complexion remained normal and his expression was resolute when he stepped onto the stage, his neck had actually turned red. After leaving Dawn Star, I searched for the relevant footage and discovered that what the general said was true.”
Leaning against his pillow, Qi Yan remembered the statue of General Lu Jun in the plaza at the Sky Dome’s Diamond. He also recalled what Lu Fenghan had said when facing the wandering poet’s preaching:
“As long as Lu Jun’s starship had possessed a defensive system on par with the current standards, that shot from the rebel army wouldn’t have been enough to kill him.”
Pojun continued, “The general also said that he learned his entire act of putting on airs from his father.”
A trace of amusement flickered through Qi Yan’s eyes.
Then, a sudden curiosity arose in him. “Has the general ever mentioned me?”
He wanted to know what kind of person he was in Lu Fenghan’s descriptions.
“No. The general once asked me whether I wanted to know what kind of person you were. I was very interested in finding out but the general refused to tell me.” Pojun analyzed the situation once again. “I believe this is a manifestation of the psychological phenomenon known as biological possessiveness.”
Although they were talking about Lu Fenghan, Qi Yan could feel the tips of his ears growing slightly warm.
He tugged the blanket over himself and thought, Could this feeling be what Pojun was referring to just now, shyness?
Unable to fall asleep, Qi Yan brought up the virtual screen of his personal terminal and went through the data for Mirage once again. Afterward, he opened the White Tower’s internal network and changed the project’s status to Completed.
He rubbed his dry, irritated eyes and checked the time again. It was already three thirty in the morning.
He wasn’t sure whether it was because his medication was gradually being reduced but a chill had begun to seep into his heart. No matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to warm himself up. As he tossed and turned beneath the covers, a restless unease began to build inside him, accompanied by a faint sense of anxiety.
His eyes remained open, entirely devoid of sleepiness. After hesitating for a moment, Qi Yan asked, “Is the general asleep?”
“The general has been asleep for one hour and thirty five minutes.”
After hearing the answer, Qi Yan thought about it.
If I go over now and keep the noise down, taking up only a tiny bit of space, I probably won’t wake Lu Fenghan, right?
Two minutes later, the door to Lu Fenghan’s room slid open soundlessly. With Pojun controlling its speed, it made not even the slightest unnecessary noise.
Qi Yan’s new slippers had soft soles, making his footsteps completely inaudible as he walked.
To make things easier for Qi Yan, Pojun had also turned on the lights, setting them to the dimmest possible level, the kind of lighting that would never disturb someone who was asleep.
After standing at the foot of the bed and observing the room for a moment, Qi Yan carefully placed his pillow beside the bed. He spread out a thin blanket, then quietly lay down.
The lights went out immediately afterward, leaving the enclosed space filled with tranquil silence.
Through his personal terminal, Qi Yan typed a message to Pojun.
“Thank you for cooperating with me.”
“You’re welcome.”
After typing just a few words, Qi Yan’s eyelids had already begun to grow heavy.
Lu Fenghan was like a source of warmth in the middle of an icy, snow covered wilderness. All Qi Yan needed to do was draw closer and warmth would spread through his limbs, chasing away every trace of the bitter cold.
Pojun typed another line.
“Your brow has relaxed and your emotional state has suddenly shifted from anxious and restless to calm and stable.”
Qi Yan was momentarily stunned. When he paid attention to it, he realized that Pojun was indeed right.
Pojun continued, “Your emotional transition took place within three minutes. The speed of this change is excessive. It resembles the effects of taking a prohibited drug.”
Qi Yan replied, “Half of one.”
Pojun responded with a question mark.
Qi Yan clarified, “Half a prohibited substance.”
After wishing Pojun good night, Qi Yan gently inhaled within the area enveloped by Lu Fenghan’s scent. His body curled in on itself and he closed his eyes.
It really is a little like… an addiction.
Even Qi Yan himself couldn’t explain the logic behind his own actions.
He had originally intended to occupy only a small corner of the bed. However, just a few minutes later, when Qi Yan was hovering on the edge of sleep, Lu Fenghan turned over in his sleep. His arm landed across Qi Yan’s waist and with a casual pull, he drew Qi Yan into his embrace.
Lu Fenghan’s chin, still carrying a faint layer of stubble, brushed against Qi Yan’s forehead twice.
Qi Yan guessed that the area had probably turned red.
Fortunately, it didn’t hurt much.
After confirming that Lu Fenghan hadn’t woken up, Qi Yan remained in that position. He couldn’t hold out any longer and soon drifted into sleep.
Lu Fenghan woke up according to his biological clock.
Even before opening his eyes, he sensed that something was wrong.
There was someone in his arms.
When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Qi Yan lying peacefully against him. His bangs were tousled from sleep, his eyelashes lowered and his breathing steady. He was clearly sleeping soundly.
Lu Fenghan wanted to rub his temples but he was worried that even a small movement might startle the person in his arms awake. In the end, he could only remain lying there in silence, making an effort to recall what had happened the previous night.
He soon confirmed that his memory had not made a mistake.
After taking Qi Yan back to his room, he had returned to his own quarters, dealt with a batch of documents and gone straight to sleep once he had finished.
At that time, there had been no Qi Yan on the bed.
Through the built in communicator, Pojun’s voice rang out.
“Good morning, General. You have once again welcomed a brand new dawn.”
Before Lu Fenghan could ask anything, Pojun thoughtfully offered an explanation.
“At three thirty seven in the early hours of last night, the Chief launched a nighttime raid on your private chambers.”
Lu Fenghan understood immediately.
Qi Yan had suffered from insomnia until three thirty the previous night. Unable to fall asleep, he had come over to find him.
However, where on earth had Pojun learned such strange phrasing?
Lu Fenghan carefully examined the person beside him and noticed something else. Qi Yan’s forehead was slightly red, as though something had rubbed against it.
Controlling his movements, Lu Fenghan cautiously got out of bed. He walked barefoot into the bathroom, closed the door securely and only after confirming that his voice wouldn’t disturb Qi Yan did he speak.
“What happened to Qi Yan’s forehead?”
Pojun answered, “You rubbed it with your stubble.”
“…”
Lu Fenghan remained silent for three seconds before issuing an order.
“Make a note of it. Remind me to trim my stubble in the future.”
“Understood, General.”
After washing his face, Lu Fenghan used a towel to wipe away the water on his skin. At the same time, he asked, “And where did you learn those words, ‘nighttime raid’ and ‘private chambers’?”
Pojun answered honestly, “From the novels I’ve been reading recently.”
For once, Lu Fenghan was left unusually speechless. In the end, he could only offer a perfunctory compliment.
“Your interests are quite diverse.”
Pojun interpreted the statement as praise.
“Thank you.”
As a thoughtful artificial intelligence, Pojun then offered another reminder.
“General, you have a meeting with Odin’s side this morning. Formal attire will be required.”
As a result, after putting on his military uniform, Lu Fenghan had no choice but to dig a tie out of his wardrobe, a tie that had not seen the light of day in eight hundred years.
……
After attempting to tie it twice, Lu Fenghan signaled for Pojun to find a tutorial on the Star Network explaining how to tie a tie.
Unfortunately, the artificial intelligence was not particularly intelligent this time and failed to understand what Lu Fenghan actually needed.
It was at this moment that Qi Yan woke up.
His eyes were still clouded with sleep. When he realized that Lu Fenghan wasn’t beside him, he sat up and looked around.
The belt of his sleeping robe was still tied properly but the collar had come undone and slipped toward one side, revealing his cool, pale right shoulder and a distinctly defined collarbone.
His skin resembled the lustrous surface of jade yet also possessed the smooth, flawless quality of porcelain.
Qi Yan moved across the bed on his knees for a few steps before stopping at the edge. He settled into a kneeling position and looked toward Lu Fenghan.
“Come here.”
His voice was slightly hoarse, softened by sleep.
Although Lu Fenghan had no idea what Qi Yan wanted, he stepped over as instructed.
Qi Yan’s hair was tousled from sleeping and his eyes were only half open. He still looked as though he hadn’t fully woken up. Straightening his back, he reached out with both hands and took hold of Lu Fenghan’s tie.
With remarkable dexterity, he tied a knot.
Once he had confirmed that the tie was properly fastened, Qi Yan shifted back to the spot where he had been sleeping moments earlier, closed his eyes and fell asleep again.
Lu Fenghan was left standing beside the bed alone.
He remained there for a long while.
Inside the command room, a circle of people sat around the conference table, every one of them dressed neatly and properly.
When Lu Fenghan entered, he swept his gaze around the room. His eyes first settled on Magelyn’s tie.
“Can’t tie a knot?”
Magelyn let out a howl.
“They never taught us this stuff at the First Military Academy! I went around asking several people and every single one of them said, ‘I know how.’ But when I actually asked them to do it, not one of them could! I had to find a tutorial at the last minute and make do with it. Just bear with me!”
Lu Fenghan’s gaze shifted to Duchamp.
“Your tie is crooked.”
Duchamp immediately defended himself.
“Getting both sides wrapped around each other was already difficult enough, Commander!”
Wayne also began to complain.
“Why do we have to hold a meeting so early in the morning? And why do we have to dress so formally?”
The expeditionary army’s public image had always been handled by Deputy Commander Erich. Whether it was answering questions from reporters or attending official meetings, Erich was the one who took the lead. There was hardly ever any need for the rest of them to step into that role.
After all, even if the entire expeditionary army looked disheveled and completely unreliable, as long as Erich’s appearance held up, there would be no problem with the expeditionary army’s public image.
Lu Fenghan pulled out a chair and sat down.
“If you want to argue about it, take it up with General Nie. This is a semi public military meeting intended for external publicity. Your faces will be processed, so your appearances won’t be made public. However, only your faces will be altered.”
Magelyn immediately understood.
“Got it. Everything is for the expeditionary army’s reputation?”
After saying that, she noticed the commander casually, or rather, rather deliberately, pressing a hand against his own tie.
That was when she finally realized something.
Lu Fenghan’s tie was tied exceptionally well.
Magelyn propped her chin on her hand and looked at him.
“Commander, who tied your tie?”
The corner of Lu Fenghan’s mouth moved suspiciously, though the smile that appeared was incomplete. Instead of answering, he countered with a question.
“Can’t I have tied it myself?”
Magelyn rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. We’re all about the same level!”
With her saying that, everyone’s attention in the room shifted toward Lu Fenghan’s tie.
His objective had already been achieved. Keeping his expression rigid, Lu Fenghan tapped his fingers lightly against the tabletop and instructed Pojun, “Connect to Odin Star. Begin the meeting.”
Then he reminded everyone seated around the table, “Sit up straight. Understood?”
The entire group responded listlessly, “Understood. We guarantee mission completion…”
…..
Meanwhile, Qi Yan didn’t wake up until nine in the morning. Right around that time, Elisa sent him a testing questionnaire. He propped a pillow behind his back and began filling in the answers. Pojun also summoned a medical robot to test the secretion levels of various hormones and chemical substances in his body.
According to Elisa, “emotions” were not objects but “feelings.” They couldn’t be precisely quantified and in many cases, their assessment had to rely on subjective experiences. All she could do was use auxiliary methods to determine whether the effects brought about by reducing his medication were gradually diminishing in an orderly manner.
When it came to this particular matter, aside from certain special circumstances, Qi Yan wasn’t especially anxious. After analyzing it, he believed it was probably related to the fact that Lu Fenghan had never placed any pressure on him.
Lu Fenghan had never said or shown anything like, You need to recover quickly, or What will happen if you can’t recover?
He had even made Qi Yan feel that losing his emotions was no stranger or more serious than coughing once or coming down with a minor cold.
He wasn’t some kind of outsider among the human population.
Qi Yan suddenly spoke without any particular context. “The general is a very good person.”
Pojun picked up the conversation. “I also like the general very much.”
One particular word in that sentence seemed to strike something inside him. Qi Yan, whose features were usually so composed and cool, unexpectedly showed a flicker of panic.
At that moment, Pojun added another sentence.
“I also like you very much.”
The heartbeat that had suddenly accelerated settled down once more. Qi Yan picked up his blanket and pillow, opened the door and returned to his own room.
The meeting continued for nearly the entire morning and before long, it became the headline on the front page of the Leto Daily.
A large section of the newspaper was occupied by a photograph of the expeditionary army. Magelyn clicked her tongue in amazement.
“A glorious moment in life! Old, no, this lady has never sat with such impeccable posture before!”
By then, nobody knew where she had thrown her tie. Her jacket was draped loosely over her shoulders and her shirt sleeves were rolled up. She looked remarkably like the big sister who collected protection money on a planet notorious for its poor public security.
Wayne also leaned over to look.
“It’s true! In the photograph, we all look so refined and impeccably dressed! Getting up twenty minutes early to tie my tie wasn’t for nothing!”
Hearing the words tie, Magelyn suddenly remembered something.
“Where’s the commander?”
The kitchen.
The kitchen aboard the command ship had been established specifically for the commander in chief and the captain. It had nothing to do with privilege. The only reason it existed was because these people frequently missed the cafeteria’s meal hours. To prevent the commander in chief and the captain from starving to death, a kitchen had been set aside, furnished with a few cooking utensils and canned ingredients.
However, over the years, the cooking utensils had remained as spotless as if they were brand new. The only things that had been replaced again and again were the nutritional supplements.
Magelyn had once declared, “My life was given to me by nutritional supplements!”
At that moment, Lu Fenghan was making noodles.
Vincent had gone off the ship during his rest day yesterday and Lu Fenghan had specifically asked him to visit Mykono Star and purchase a considerable amount of Xinghua mushroom powder.
Following a tutorial, Lu Fenghan kneaded the dough, then placed it into a machine to press it into noodles.
“It’s not particularly difficult.”
The water in the pot had already begun to boil. Lu Fenghan dropped the thin noodles into the pot and asked Pojun, “High heat or low heat?”
Pojun answered, “According to the tutorial, it should be low heat.”
Lu Fenghan searched around for a while before finally locating the setting that controlled the intensity of the flame.
Staring at the timer projected in the air, Lu Fenghan waited with considerable patience. After watching it for a while, he suddenly laughed.
“I’ve never even been this focused while watching the countdown for a missile thruster’s preheating sequence.”
A voice suddenly came from the doorway.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this shocked, not even when I saw the rebel army’s strategist immediately organize a surrender ceremony, prostrate himself on the ground and burst into tears!”
Just from the sound of the commotion, Lu Fenghan knew that a whole group of people had arrived.
“Are you all that idle?”
Wayne immediately answered, “Not idle! Just passing by!”
Magelyn, who clearly had no fear of death, moved closer to look into the kitchen.
“Commander, what are you cooking? It smells so good!”
The implication behind her words was obvious.
Lu Fenghan responded coldly, “It has nothing to do with you.”
Once the noodles were cooked, Lu Fenghan scooped them out and rinsed them in cold water. He then transferred them into a serving dish and added the seasonings.
After Lu Fenghan left the kitchen, Magelyn nudged Wayne with her elbow and shook her head, sighing in lament.
“Ah, did you notice? Our expeditionary army’s commander in chief has really been completely conquered by food.”
Qi Yan was in the equipment room, making fine adjustments to the starship’s central control system.
After spending more than half a month aboard the command ship, he had begun noticing more details about the battlefield. Once an idea occurred to him, he informed Lu Fenghan about it and then buried himself in the equipment room.
It wasn’t until Lu Fenghan entered carrying a bowl of noodles that Qi Yan belatedly realized the time.
“It’s noon already?”
Seeing his bewildered expression, Lu Fenghan deliberately answered, “It’s time for dinner.”
Qi Yan believed him but his confusion only deepened.
“Time passes rather quickly.”
Lu Fenghan couldn’t help himself. He reached out and pinched the tip of Qi Yan’s nose.
“I’m teasing you. It’s twelve fifty.”
When Qi Yan got a clear look at the dish placed in front of him, surprise appeared in his eyes.
“Xinghua mushroom noodles?”
There hadn’t been enough time to travel back and forth to Mykono Star. That could only mean one thing,
Lu Fenghan had made them himself.
Taking a seat in the chair beside him, Lu Fenghan spoke with considerable confidence.
“Give it a taste. See if I’ve improved compared to before.”
Qi Yan took a bite.
Lu Fenghan could more or less judge from his expression that the result of his cooking had at least managed to clear the passing mark.
At the very least, Qi Yan hadn’t swallowed it down in one go and silently put down his chopsticks the way he had back on Leto.
After eating two more bites, Qi Yan noticed that Lu Fenghan was sitting with a relaxed posture, leaning against the back of his chair. His right hand rested along the edge of the table and he was watching Qi Yan.
Qi Yan stopped moving his chopsticks and extended an invitation.
“General, would you like some too? We can eat together.”
Lu Fenghan had been about to get another set of utensils, or perhaps simply wait until Qi Yan had eaten his fill before picking up his own chopsticks.
But before he could say anything, he saw Qi Yan gather a small portion of noodles, winding them into a neat little bundle and lift them to his lips.
The movement was completely natural yet because Qi Yan didn’t dare meet his gaze, the tips of his ears had already turned a deep, flushed red.
The tiny mole above them was irresistibly captivating to the eye.
After a few seconds of stillness, Lu Fenghan placed one hand against the edge of the table and leaned forward, accepting the food Qi Yan had brought to his lips.
✦ ✧ ✦
Vynellia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The coffee goblin has awakened. It wants tribute.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 50 · I am Pojun.Chapter 51 · Unable to deceive oneselfChapter 52 · Resurrected from the deadChapter 53 · Hello, General!Chapter 54 · My hand is injured.Chapter 55 · Come to my place.Chapter 56 · First VictoryChapter 57 · Self-introductionChapter 58 · Never changedChapter 59 · One reasonChapter 60 · Gentle and restrainedChapter 61 · Only you are allowed.Chapter 62 · To the Souls of the FallenChapter 63 · His reliefChapter 64 · His ambitionChapter 65 · Date TimeChapter 66 Part 1 · Abducting PlanetsChapter 66 Part 2 · Abducting PlanetsChapter 67 · Did not leaveChapter 68 · Perceiving EmotionsChapter 69 · My own effortsChapter 70 · Bright FlameChapter 71 · Dress codeChapter 72 · Take me with you!Chapter 73 · MirageChapter 74 · I’m used to it.