TCFGBH Chapter 84

The young man’s upbringing was clearly impeccable. He didn’t speak again until he had swallowed the food in his mouth. “Hmm, it tastes really good.”

“Ah… Yeah!” Ian nodded dazedly and skewered the last takoyaki with the stick as if under a spell. “Want another one?”

Xia Yan: “…Sure.”

For the rest of their outing, Ian seemed utterly enchanted by the act of feeding the young man. Whatever food they encountered, he insisted on offering Xia Yan a bite.

Watching the young man’s cheeks puff slightly as he obediently ate, Ian felt a strange and inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

Xia Yan was grateful that, as a military school student, the original owner’s appetite was substantial. No matter how much food Ian handed over, he could eat it all without being overwhelmed by the virtual food and forced to log off.

Still… How long did the protagonist shou plan to keep feeding him?

By the time they logged off, Xia Yan had completely forgotten to ask about their “relationship” and hurriedly left.

Ian: “…”

—

On the farthest reaches of the Empire’s border, in a remote and chaotic zone, a massive spaceship exuding a mechanical beauty cruised silently through the starry expanse. Inside its design bay, filled with rare components and resources, a tall man sat idly in his chair, staring at a schematic.

He stood at 187 cm, with fiery red hair resembling a blaze, and deep green eyes that were large and bright. His soft, rounded features, lacking sharp angles, gave him an endearing, non-threatening appearance like a doll’s.

However, below his gentle face were broad shoulders and lean, defined muscles—an embodiment of the saying, “appearances can be deceiving.”

“Boss.”

The door to the captain’s private design bay was suddenly shoved open. A scarred space pirate poked his head inside. “How’s it going with that little noble brat? Did you make him cry?”

Ian Hyde stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Not yet.”

“Huh?? Boss, didn’t you say you were done playing with him?”

“I did. But today…” Ian paused, a rare soft smile appearing on his face. “I think I’ll keep playing for a bit longer.”

Feeding a beautiful man could be its own form of entertainment.

Ian Hyde, the galaxy’s most wanted pirate with the highest bounty in interstellar history, whistled cheerfully as he picked up the schematic he had been working on and resumed his design.

The scarred pirate shrugged, hoping the poor noble brat wouldn’t be played to death.

–

When Xia Yan logged out of the virtual world, it was already past 11 PM.

The dormitory was dark, save for a few streaks of silver moonlight sneaking through the window, providing just enough illumination to pierce the gloom.

The bed next to his, belonging to Ludwig, was still empty. Xia Yan yawned and fell asleep almost instantly.

Not long after, the dormitory door silently creaked open. A tall, lean figure slipped inside, bringing with it the chill of March night air.

The school library closed at midnight.

Ludwig had tried to focus on his books, hoping to shake off distracting thoughts, but he found traces of Xia Yan everywhere he turned. Everyone was talking about him. At school, Xia Yan’s presence seemed inescapable.

There was nowhere to hide.

After struggling for an hour and managing to read only three pages, Ludwig finally gave in and opened the school forum that the two students next to him had been whispering about.

The forum required a Central Military Academy student ID for registration, meaning every user was a verified student.

Half of the first twenty posts on the homepage were about Xia Yan.

#Xia Yan Gardner vs. Huo Ruihe—Cast your vote for the one you support!#

#Serious discussion: Who do you think will win?#

#After this incident, do you think Huo Ruihe can still hold onto his position as heir?#

…

…

Ludwig frowned instinctively. What was all this nonsense?

One by one, he opened the threads.

Currently, 89% of people believe Xia Yan will win the competition against Huo Ruihe. The remaining 11% supported Huo Ruihe—though most of those votes were attributed to goodwill.

The royal family had bestowed the surname “Gardner” upon Xia Yan. Although he had not been formally declared the crown prince, his popularity at school and among the public far surpassed that of the other competitors for the throne.

Many had already assumed he would be the next king.

As for Huo Ruihe, despite being a noble and enjoying considerable popularity at school due to his gentle and approachable personality, he simply couldn’t compare to Xia Yan.

【Why did Senior Huo Ruihe provoke the top student? He’s just digging his own grave.】

【Bold guess: Perhaps Senior Huo Ruihe has decided to support someone else for the position of crown prince, which is why this incident occurred.】

【Although it sounds a bit far-fetched, it strangely makes sense.】

As these kinds of speculations spread, they threatened to force the entire Huo family into opposition to the Xia family. Huo Ruihe’s friends promptly intervened to refute the rumors: 【Stop spreading baseless claims—defamation is illegal.】

They explained the events of the day, focusing on Xia Yan’s aristocratic superiority complex and his disdain for commoners.

【We’ve been in the same class for three years. Xia Yan has repeatedly belittled and ignored commoner classmates. During simulated courses in the virtual world, he often used his position as team leader to order commoner teammates into sacrificial roles to secure an advantage. He’s utterly cold-blooded.

Can you really trust such a person, who sees commoners as mere stepping stones, to fight alongside you on the front lines? His personal vendetta against someone was merely the spark for this issue.】

【I’m in Class 3-A and can confirm the comment above is true.】

【Almost everyone in Class 3-A dislikes Xia Yan.】

【As someone in the same class, I know Xia Yan will likely win this competition, but I still want to vote for Huo Ruihe. Please, just put him in his place.】

【Well… Based on my observations, Xia Yan’s personality is indeed cold and difficult to get along with. But we shouldn’t judge someone solely based on their aloofness, should we?】

【It’s just a simulated course. Nobody actually dies. Sacrifices for higher scores are normal, right?】

【I’ll admit, Class 3-A’s arguments make some sense. If sacrificing others becomes a habit during practice, it might be hard to change in real-life battles…】

Yet, surrounded by Xia Yan’s many supporters, the commenter didn’t dare finish their thought.

Class 3-A students were both surprised and relieved that a few people finally understood their perspective.

Moreover, while Xia Yan’s team often achieved high scores thanks to his leadership strategy of sacrificing teammates, those who were “sacrificed” barely managed passing grades.

【If someone wants to find fault, they always can. We’ll see Xia Yan’s true nature once we start practical combat lessons in our third year.】

A Class 3-A student sighed quietly: 【If only the prince were still alive.】

This comment immediately gained widespread agreement from others in the class. If the current king and queen’s child hadn’t died, how could the throne possibly fall to Xia Yan?

Curious students unfamiliar with the past asked: 【What happened to the king and queen’s child?】

Someone patiently explained: 【Twenty-three years ago, the king and queen traveled to their homeland. During the trip, the queen became pregnant with the little prince. 】

It should have been a joyous occasion for the entire empire, but their spaceship encountered a spatial rift, allowing the Zerg to attack.

The stress caused the queen to give birth prematurely. The prince, still in an incubator, was caught in the Zerg attack and fell into the spatial rift. His fate remains unknown.

The planet they visited was the queen’s homeland, chosen to ease her homesickness. No one could have predicted the one-in-a-million chance of encountering a spatial rift, leading to such tragedy.

After the incident, the current emperor ordered a thorough search of the empire for the infant.

Unfortunately, nothing was found. People speculated that the child had likely fallen into Zerg territory. How could a tiny infant survive there? He was presumed dead long ago.

The queen has never recovered from the loss, remaining sad and withdrawn.

In this interstellar era, the average lifespan is 300 years. The current emperor, at 245 years old, is considered elderly.

Considering the empire had no crown prince, unrest had been brewing among the nobility. To stabilize the situation—or perhaps simply because he was tired and ready to retire—the emperor had begun sending signals of goodwill to the Xia family, showing his intent to designate Xia Yan as the crown prince.

Those unfamiliar with the past couldn’t help but sigh after learning the story: 【Sigh! If only they had stayed in the palace, the prince wouldn’t have been lost.】

【Please don’t say things like that,】 someone responded. 【The queen and the emperor have been married for 120 years. They have always been diligent rulers, serving the empire, and for decades, the queen never returned to her homeland.

Her longing for her home is only natural. The emperor, deeply in love with the queen, agreed to accompany her to live in her homeland for a time.

After she became pregnant, they decided to stay and have the baby there to keep her spirits high before returning to the capital.

Neither of them was at fault. The Zerg attack was an unforeseen accident. Comments like yours carry an undertone of blame. Please consider deleting it.】

Blame who? It wasn’t explicitly stated, but from the context, they were clearly referring to the queen.

【Sorry, I didn’t mean that. I’ll delete my comment.】

Once the initial comment was deleted, the reply was also removed.

After that exchange, the thread grew quiet.

Uninterested in old stories Ludwig closed the post indifferently and switched to another thread.

On the forum, he read about the Xia Yan others described. For some reason…he felt a strange sense of dissonance. That image of Xia Yan didn’t quite match the person in their dorm.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Ludwig reached out and gently poked the young man’s cheek. The warm, soft sensation brought him an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

But…was Xia Yan too defenseless?

Someone getting this close to him without waking up—if he were on a chaotic planet, someone like this wouldn’t survive a week.

‘So fragile’, Ludwig thought.

As Xia Yan slept deeply, he turned over, now presenting the back of his head to Ludwig.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Ludwig glanced at his fingertips in confusion.

Why does it matter what happens to him? It has nothing to do with me.

Grabbing his pajamas, Ludwig quietly went to take care of his hygiene.

When he came out of the bathroom, the young man stirred on the bed, sitting up slightly and looking over at him.

Ludwig paused mid-motion, towel in hand, suddenly feeling inexplicably nervous: “I had mecha training today, so I needed to—” bathe.

Before finishing the sentence, he watched as the young man tilted his head and fell back asleep.

Ludwig: “…” He startled someone awake only for them to fall back asleep immediately???

—

The next morning.

While washing up, Xia Yan noticed something odd about his roommate. Ludwig’s gaze seemed…a bit resentful, as if Xia Yan had done something to wrong him.

But when Xia Yan looked more closely, Ludwig’s expression returned to its usual cold demeanor.

Everything from a moment ago felt like his imagination.

“???”

Could it be because of the way he teased him yesterday?