CH 72.4

In Princess Elizabeth’s Palace, the Princess is in an elegant dress and makes a spin, asking, “am I pretty?”

Prince Blai’nd is rubbing his hands and answering, “of course, of course.”

Princess Elizabeth is asking with her teeth out, “am I beautiful?”

Prince Blai’nd agrees, “of course, of course.”

Princess Elizabeth is asking with blushed cheeks, “will I meet people who will fail to be swooned by me tomorrow?”

Prince Blai’nd answers with his shiny golden teeth, “of course not, of course not.”

“…”

Ni Haofan, having to bear witness to this intellectually draining interaction between royals of both countries, is on the verge of collapse.

One Princess, yeah, at best his hair will be gloriously sacrificed──

Now there’s another, a Prince with an enigmatic mind has been added!

Ni Haofan has already preordered a coffin online for himself, settling it down at his hometown.

Most terrifyingly, when Princess Elizabeth was visiting by His and Her Majesty a few days ago…

They actually thought the Princess and Prince Blai’nd’s interactions were ‘full of romance’?!

And they telegrammed the King of Schweshi’ugenyaong Empire right then and there reporting on the great progress of their love?

Oh my holy Jesus Christ, look, look at this, and tell me it’s love?!

──Princess Elizabeth is playing a real-life version of ‘Love Nikki-Dress Up Queen’ on a wall full of He Jünle’s pregnancy reports,

Why are you sticking a man’s pregnancy report everywhere on a wall, Your Highness?!

──Prince Blai’nd is praising and commending her right next to a… pillar, and the awkwardness and cringiness leaking from the words is unbearable…

Ni Haofan is once again unable to comprehend why Prince Blai’nd would rather treat the pillar as the Princess than procuring a pair of actually working glasses.

“Tomorrow is the day of the duel. How exciting,” Princess Elizabeth is in a brand-new dress, the sky-blue one-piece elegantly displaying the fae-like, attractive curves of her body, as she continues, “what kind of clothes should I be wearing in my challenge with He Jünle… ah,

Though I really do not need to worry so much,”

Princess Elizabeth turns to her shadow cast on the wall, saying,

“It’s not like, he would ever win against me.”

‘While you were slacking off, your rivals have been flipping through books.’

That was a saying Murong Jihua heard when he was still Yan Jihua, the 3rd year senior high student back on Earth. His eighth-grade wasn’t cured by that late stage, and so he was highly motivated by the saying for quite a long time──

No, really, he didn’t have to work so hard.

Yeah! He could make a living selling his good-looking face, so why does he even have to build skills?

Not now, though.

Murong Jihua can almost, verily, really certainly come to the conclusion that Princess Elizabeth is currently playing a dress-up game, readying herself for tomorrow’s conquest of all the good boys and girls,

For the ultimate goal of this shaoye’s affection.

However, He Jünle…

Looks distinctly unfazed by all the flipping of the books by his opponent.

After having enough of the merry-go-round, he stretches nonchalantly, and walks off without a word.

Murong Jihua follows, of course, asking, “He Jünle, do you need this shaoye to hire the most famous designers to decide on your battle garments for the showdown tomorrow?”

He Jünle answers, “no.”

Murong Jihua grabs the young man’s sleeve to ask, “then, do you need this shaoye to hire the best nutritionist to ensure you are in tip-top shape the entirety of tomorrow?”

He Jünle shakes his head and says, “no.”

Murong Jihua is getting goosebumps on his head, asking, “you damned man, tell this shaoye what you actually need me to do.”

He Jünle stops, and repeats for the fourth time,

“Stay quiet, obedient, and sit still. Await my victory parade.”

“…”

“…”

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“Sleep.”

And He Jünle actually went to sleep.

Ok fine, Murong Jihua is now really completely certain that He Jünle actually isn’t nervous at all…

He lost consciousness basically as soon as he touched the pillow. So he’s either really confident, or he is just really, really, really, really, hopelessly dense.

In any case, Murong Jihua is unable to sleep.

Bored, he is patrolling all about his residence, while two voices duke it out in his mind.

One says, “he’s telling you not to worry because he really doesn’t want to trouble you; you’re the Top here, you can’t really just let him be and leave all the burden to him, can you?”

The other says, “just listen to Le-gege and don’t make trouble for him. He’s invincible, confident, and he’ll be fine. Stay quiet, obedient, and be a good loving baby who just cheers ‘666’ behind Le-gege, wouldn’t that be nice?”

“That is an ostrich mindset! Indulgent!”

“That is just brainlessly following emotions! Inconsiderate!”

Murong Jihua just stops in place to yell, “shut the fuck up, you all!”

──Scaring the head of the maids, Sophia, currently sweeping the floor with a broom.

Murong Jihua “…”

Really, after that episode in the haunted house, Murong Jihua really does feel…

Slightly awkwardly embarrassed and guilty towards Sophia.

Really, he still hasn’t even apologised yet.

──He can’t bring himself to say it.

Sophia carefully examines Murong Jihua’s expression as she asks, “boss, is something on your mind?”

Murong Jihua furrows his brow to ask, “Sophia, the shaoye wants to ask you, if you are beset with some perilous challenge, would you rather your boyfriend stay out of it, or would you rather your boyfriend stand with you to face it all?”

Sophia falls silent, thinking, perhaps, and answers really seriously for once,

“My rationale will tell me not to involve him, but, if we are lovers, soulmates, the most important person to the other person… Honestly, I would, of course, wish from the bottom of my heart, that he would stand by my side with me.”

Murong Jihua bites his lips and thinks, ‘makes sense. They’re a couple. Of course, he couldn’t selfishly exclude him like this──’

Sophia continues, “… of course, this all hinges on,”

“On what?” Murong Jihua asks with a serious expression of his own,

“On me having a boyfriend.”

“…”

Yes, that’s right! Good! Very reasonable!

What is love? What is romance? What is Liang Shanbuo and Zhu Yingtai?

What about ‘for better, for worse’? What about ‘riding through the storm together’? What about ‘sleeping in one bed, sharing in one dream’? (TL: All using famous Chinese four-character proverbs. I tried to translate as accurately as possible; the first one refers to the marriage vow where you would stay together through better or worse)

Great, you He Jünle almost roped him into a trap!

Is this shaoye seriously just some vase that adds trouble to all and nothing else?

Of course not!

Does this shaoye really look so unreliable?

Of course not!

Who do you think you are, to dare to refuse the loving sentiment from this male Adonis?

Naïve!

“Sophia!”

“Yes, boss?”

“I want the largest helicopter company in Country A contacted──And also the largest lipstick manufacturer──And also the City A’s local TV station.”

“Understood, boss.”

“Tell them the shaoye──The CEO of the Murong Conglomerate, has a big business proposal for them.”

Unlike the busy Murong Jihua, He Jünle really did spend a rather unremarkable day that passed by quickly before the duel.

Basically, his eyes went shut, and opened again.

Three hours to the duel.

God knows where Murong Jihua went off to. He Jünle climbs off the empty bed and thinks about his routine, deciding to have a shower first.

And a meal…

Then change into a super-handsome-from-whichever-angle pure white suit…

Plus an exquisite blue rose pinned to his chest…

And walking down the red carpet isle down the hallway while Su Xiaomo is tearfully seeing him off…

And pushing open the entrance of the residence under butler Cui and the line of maids’ watch…

Though, halfway through pushing through the door, He Jünle’s hand pauses.

It’s been a whole morning. He cannot ignore it anymore.

He Jünle tilts his head slightly, asking butler Cui, “… where is Murong Jihua?”

Butler Cui and Sophia quickly glance at each other, and simultaneously reply, “I don’t know.”

“…”

The very astute He Jünle has a bad premonition.

But a war is coming. So, with his steel resolve, he suppresses that ominous feeling down forcefully and pushes open the door, turning his attention outwards──His right foot steps down onto the red carpet.

──When something floats down by his nose bridge.

He Jünle, quick on his reflexes, grabs the thing with his hand before his brain even reacted, and examines.

Huh,

A free lipstick coupon?

The aristocratic lipstick that’s all the rage recently?

──The ominous premonition suddenly overflows like a burst dam, ramming through He Jünle’s senses and overwhelming his mind.

He looks up, and a new scene that is reshaping He Jünle’s worldview once again is playing out –

It’s raining.

It’s raining lipsticks!

And it’s artificially seeded!

He Jünle can see it all clearly!

The helicopter, hidden among the clouds, spewing forth free lipstick coupons!

“… No wonder City A is especially noisy today… So it was you,” He Jünle says, squeezing that coupon in his hand tightly, “Mu, Rong, Ji, Hua!”