Lu Shinian clenched the Military Badge tightly, his gaze towards Your Majesty carrying a hint of coldness.
"Why is this Military Badge with you?"
Is the reason Ruan Ruan doesn’t rember him because Your Majesty had a hand in it?
Your Majesty was taken aback for a mont, but spoke quite honestly, "I found it buried under a big tree in the garden."
Yet, those honest words sounded like an absurd joke in Lu Shinian’s ears.
"Found it?" He smirked coldly, "Your Majesty, your lies are getting increasingly clumsy."
"It’s the truth." Your Majesty pressed his lips tightly, his hands folded behind his back, showing a sense of authority, "I can take you to see that big tree."
"No need." Lu Shinian said coldly.
Your Majesty heaved a deep sigh, "I was wrong back then, I didn’t realize my own heart in ti, which led to..."
He paused, unwilling to bring up those sad matters.
"If I could start over, I would never do what I did back then."
"You have the nerve to bring up the past?" Lu Shinian sneered, "When you treated my mother as a stand-in, why didn’t you think about the present?"
When saying the words "stand-in," Lu Shinian’s tone noticeably intensified.
The previously calm eyes began to ripple with trendous waves, an intimidating aura emanated from him, making the temperature in the conference hall seem to drop a few degrees.
Your Majesty seed to be stirred by those words, his eyes slightly reddened, a tinge of tear in his sowhat cloudy eyes.
He opened his mouth, wanting to explain sothing, but in the end, no sound ca out, only a heavy sigh.
Lu Shinian gripped the Military Badge tightly, its irregular edges digging into his palm, yet he seed utterly unaware of any pain.
A few seconds later, Lu Shinian spoke in a deep voice, "She’s already dead."
Your Majesty’s body stiffened, a murky tear slipped from the corner of his eye.
"I know." His voice was hoarse, suddenly devoid of vitality, authority gone, leaving only desolation.
"I know." Your Majesty repeated again and again, "I know."
He just wanted to deceive himself that she was still alive.
"Did your mother ever..." Your Majesty looked at Lu Shinian, hesitated for two seconds, still brought up the question buried in his heart, "Did she ever think of ?"
"No." Lu Shinian answered without a thought, "Your Majesty, if there’s nothing else, I will take my leave."
Your Majesty sighed heavily, in an instant seeming to age several years.
"You may go." He said, "That Military Badge..."
He wanted to reach for the Military Badge, but upon reflection, what right did he have to do so?
He treated her the way he did when she was alive; does he still delude himself into keeping a piece of her now that she’s gone?
"Xiao Nian." Your Majesty’s voice was low, "You need to grow up quickly."
Lu Shinian let out a derisive laugh, not sparing a glance at Your Majesty, turned away without a backward glance.
————
Once inside the hover car, Lu Shinian spread out his right hand, the small Military Badge coming into view.
He lowered his eyes, his long lashes drooping lightly, hiding the light in his eyes.
Your Majesty, his good father only knows to cherish what he’s lost, it’s truly foolish.
He would never follow in his father’s footsteps; he will definitely keep Ruan Ruan by his side, never, never allowing her to leave his sight.
Growing up without understanding what equal love was in a normal family relationship, Lu Shinian naturally saw love as possession, as plunder, as binding the one he loves to himself at all costs.
He often thought if his father had been more assertive and hadn’t let his mother leave, she wouldn’t have gone through everything that followed.
Lu Shinian rarely recalled the past.
Back then, his father as Your Majesty was brave in battle, handso, with the power of governnt at his fingertips, a dream lover for many won.
But his mother was rely an illegitimate daughter of a minor noble family.
At a banquet, Your Majesty took a liking to the illegitimate daughter and forcefully brought her ho.
What was thought to be a good marriage turned out to be Your Majesty treating her as a stand-in for his idealized love.
Like the lodramas popular on the Star Network, in the end, the jerk realized his true love was the stand-in, but reality was far from as romanticized as the lodramas.
And thus, there was no great effort to win her back; Your Majesty was too proud to admit he had fallen for a stand-in.
The stand-in wasn’t strong enough to contend with the Federation’s ultimate authority.
In the end, the stand-in just fled Central Star with her son, while Your Majesty, unable to let go of his pride, waited for the stand-in to return.
Unfortunately, at last, what ca was news of the stand-in’s death.
The hover car had at so point stopped in front of the Lu Villa, bringing Lu Shinian back from his mories, as he tucked the Military Badge into his pocket.
He got out of the car, walking with a gust, intimidating, heading towards the villa.
Inside the villa, Su Ruan was curled up on the sofa waiting for Lu Shinian to co.
As she waited, drowsiness overca her, and she fell asleep in a daze.
In her drowsiness, she felt as if she was being lifted, familiar scents surrounded her, causing her to relax, her small face rubbing against Lu Shinian’s chest as she mumbled sothing.
So ti later, a piercing coldness from her wrist roused her sowhat.
She slowly opened her eyes, but saw only darkness, a faint dampness in the air reaching her nose.
In the darkness, Su Ruan’s pupils constricted suddenly.
She recognized this place.
In her past life, she had run away from Lu Shinian many tis, and every ti she was caught, she would be shut in this small black room.
There wasn’t a speck of light in the room, surrounded by walls; apart from the large bed in the center, there was nothing else.
The walls were completely soundproof; no matter how loud the noise made inside, no one outside would hear.
She thought that after being reborn, as long as she didn’t run away from Lu Shinian’s side, she wouldn’t be locked in the small black room.
But now, why...
mories from her past life surged through, despite her intense obsession with Lu Shinian, her soul had harbored deep-seated fears of him, of this small black room.
Su Ruan tightly clutched the man’s clothes in front of her, her fingers tense, her voice carrying a slight tremor.
"Brother Lu?"
Why, co here?
"Ruan Ruan, be good." Lu Shinian caressed her face, his voice gentle, yet his words were cruel, "Stay quietly here, okay?"
This was a room he specially created for her.
She could not escape.
Inwardly trembling, Su Ruan cautiously moved closer to Lu Shinian, embracing his waist, softly asking, "It’s so dark here."
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