MRG Chapter 17: Mu Chen Comes of Age

Translator: Kii

––Six Years Later—

There was a clanging sound of silver plates crashing in the palace hallway, as well as the surprise scream of the maid.

A snow-white hound was running wildly in the hallway with its long legs.

Compared to a dog, it was more like a wolf.

The surrounding attendants dodged to the sides in fear, afraid that it’ll run into them.

With a bang sound, a tray in an attendant’s hand fell to the ground during the panic and the things rolled on the floor.

The moment the white hound charged to the end of the hallway—

“Orcas, sit.”

A deep male voice came from there, which carried a bit of chilliness. It reminded people of the deep sea a thousand meters below.

The maid picking up the things stopped her movements, and she unconsciously looked in that direction.

Slowly coming into view was a pair of bony hands, with a leash grasped in the person’s pale hand.

The originally rampant white hound suddenly became silent, tucked in its ears, and obediently walked beside that person. It took the initiative to put its neck into the leash, as if he transformed from a “wolf” to a “dog.”

The man kneeled down.

The man’s silver hair fell from his broad shoulder to his waist. He had a high nose bridge, his thin lips were the same color as crabapple petals, and below his semi-drooping long lashes were a pair of blue eyes.

The merman’s big round eyes when he was younger were now long and narrow as well as deep, with a slightly upturned arc at the end of his eyes. Even a casual glance thrown at someone would make the other party seem like they received some sort of special attention, as if the moonlight had fallen on them.

He was a creation favored by the Goddess of Beauty…

Mu Chen gripped the leash in his hand and pressed his palm on the white hound’s back. He whispered, “Didn’t I warn you what would happen if you disobeyed?”

Orcas whimpered.

Mu Chen squinted his eyes. “If there’s a next time…”

Orcas started to use its wet tongue to lick the other party’s palm, attempting to curry favor with his owner.

“I’ll tie you up in the confinement room.”

As he said this, he pulled the leash and stood back up.

The maid in front immediately lowered her head. “Your Highness.”

Mu Chen lowered his eyes and looked at the mess on the floor and hallway and pursed his lips. “Sorry, I didn’t watch it closely and caused you trouble.”

When he smiled, he still had two shallow dimples like when he was little, but now, on his strikingly handsome face as a man, there was an additional unique charm.

“Ah…no…” The maid’s face suddenly flushed, and she quickly turned her gaze away, not daring to look him in the eyes. “It’s fine, Your Highness.”

Mu Chen smiled, then led the wolfhound away.

Just now, King Jorah received a message from the border.

It was from Light, saying that he wanted to cancel the engagement.

It was Mu Chen’s 20th birthday next week, which was equivalent to adulthood for humans.

Right now, Jorah was in a fit of rage in his chambers.

When Mu Chen’s attendant received this news, they also trembled in fear, and asked him, “Your Highness, you’re not angry, are you?”

Mu Chen didn’t understand…

Why would he be angry?

He had never dated, nor had a crush on anyone, so he didn’t think he needed to find a spouse.

So what was the difference between lovers and brothers?

Wasn’t it fine as long as he was the special person in Light’s heart?

In Mu Chen’s opinion, nothing had changed, it was just that the people around him were overreacting.

At the entrance of Jorah’s chamber, the attendant was already waiting for him. As soon as he saw Mu Chen coming, he immediately opened the door for him.

Mu Chen handed the leash to the attendant, letting him lead Orcas.

When the attendant saw the large wolfhound with a grin on its face, wandering around his feet, a hint of obvious panic flashed in his eyes, and his hands trembled as he took the leash.

Mu Chen bent down and whispered in Orcas’ ears, “Don’t move until I come back.”

“Good dog, you can do this, right?”

“Woof! Woof!”

Orcas barked twice and squatted down obediently.

Mu Chen rubbed its head in satisfaction, then entered the room.

Seeing the man sitting on the throne and greeted him, “Your Majesty.”

Jorah half leaned on the armrest, his fingers constantly sliding across the fluorescent blue screen.

Six years ago, when abnormal signals first appeared on the border, Light went for three months and then returned to the capital. He spent most of the first four years in the palace.

If it weren’t because of Mu Chen, Jorah felt he wouldn’t have stayed so long.

In the past two years the abnormal signals made a reappearance. Light had no choice but to return to the borders. Most of the time, he was too busy to go back. However, whenever he had free time, no matter how short the time was, he would find a chance to come back to see Mu Chen.

Jorah could see how much Light cared for Mu Chen.

Moreover, he knew his eldest son’s character; finding a lover outside wasn’t something Light would ever do, so it was definitely not a problem with his character…

Rather, there was something wrong with his head!

Originally, Jorah was ready to officially announce their engagement after Mu Chen’s birthday, but Light, who was still at the borders, sent a message directly saying that he wanted to cancel the engagement.

Hearing Mu Chen’s voice, Jorah raised his head and asked, “What do you think?”

A sense of anxiety was revealed in his tone.

He believed that Mu Chen would probably feel just as angry upon suddenly receiving the news of the canceled engagement. Now that the two of them were together, they could both scold Light together.

Who would’ve thought that in the next second—

“I support Gege’s decision… He must have his own considerations.” Mu Chen said without hesitation with a warm smile.

Just as he had promised all those years ago, Light treated him as a little brother and regarded him as a pearl.

When he comes back, there won’t be any changes to their relationship.

As for the rest, Mu Chen didn’t care.

Jorah didn’t understand, angrily rubbing his chin. “You’re even speaking up for him? Is an engagement a joke? A decision that can be changed on a whim?”

After so many years, he had long regarded Mu Chen as half a son and there was no need to hide his words between them.

Mu Chen smiled. “Don’t be angry. You know I’ll be forever loyal to the Yigor royal family. Even if my status changes, this will not change.”

He had an overly deceptive face, and when he smiled, no one could say anything harsh to him.

Jorah grumpily put away the terminal. “I’m not angry at you, but at him!”

“He just does whatever he wants! Once he comes back, I, I…”

Mu Chen saw through Jorah’s thoughts at a glance and advised, “Gege hasn’t been back for two years. If you get mad at him as soon as he comes back, he will be even less willing to accept your opinion. You also know…”

“He has always responded better to gentle approaches rather than tough ones.”

The atmosphere became silent.

Jorah sighed imperceptibly. It seemed he had recalled something, his previous anger dissipated a lot, and he looked like a deflated ball. “Indeed… You know him better than me.”

Mu Chen, “When Gege comes back, you can have a good talk with him.”

“…”

After they finished discussing the matter of the engagement, the two of them talked about some trivial matters.

Just as Mu Chen was about to leave, Jorah called out to him. Perhaps it was the angle, but the white hairs on Jorah’s temples were particularly noticeable at that moment, making him look older than usual. He asked Mu Chen—

“Is there really no chance for the two of you?”

Mu Chen turned around, half of his face was covered by the shadow. “He has always treated me as a little brother.”

……

When Mu Chen came out of Jorah’s chambers, Orcas, or rather Cutie, was wagging his tail with a swish swish.

The blonde-haired man in front of it made a clicking teasing sound at the dog. “Little doggy, why are you so obedient?”

The other party’s animated expression made the dog want to rush over and bite him, but due to Mu Chen’s previous order to not move, Orcas didn’t dare say anything and could only stare at Lance viciously with his dog eyes.

Seeing Mu Chen come out, Lance stretched out his neck to take a look at the inside of the palace hall. After making sure that Jorah wasn’t going to come out to eavesdrop on their talk, Lance furrowed his brows at Mu Chen. “I’ll throw you a single party tonight to celebrate.”

Mu Chen’s temples twitched…

The term “single party” was probably something only Lance could come up with.

Lance was one of the only two people in the palace who was not surprised by the engagement cancellation. After all, over the years, he could tell that Light just treated Mu Chen as his little brother and never had any other thoughts.

Moreover, he had always stuck to the “life is short, enjoy it while you can” attitude. If they could be together, then they should; if they couldn’t be together, then they could just be brothers. What was there to be hung up about?

Lance’s so-called “single party” was actually just him bringing Mu Chen to a high-end club in the capital to have fun.

It was legal to drink alcohol at the age of twenty, so shouldn’t they celebrate?

Although if Light found out he was celebrating like this, he would probably beat him up.

That was precisely why it was important to hurry and celebrate before Light returns.

Mu Chen actually wasn’t that interested in going to clubs and drinking. After all, he had attended a lot of palace banquets, so these things didn’t make much difference to him.

However, he couldn’t endure Lance’s constant harping on in his ears, saying “Now that you’re twenty, you should do things that adults should do,” so Mu Chen, feeling somewhat annoyed, finally agreed…

Before Light returns, he does need to find something to do to pass the time.

At this moment, there was a “ding” sound, and a message notification sounded from his smart brain. The sender shown was “Gege.”

[The border issue has been resolved ahead of schedule.]

[I’ll come back next Monday.]

Mu Chen’s fingertip swiped back and forth across the fluorescent blue screen, and his lips curved into a smile.

Next Tuesday was his birthday.

Light sent two other messages.

[Do you have time tonight at around ten?]

[I’ll video call you.]

Mu Chen replied with an “Okay.”

While Light was staying at the borders, the two of them would do video calls everyday whenever they had time.

While replying, Lance raised his eyebrows in suspicion. Why didn’t he have any reaction when he heard they were going to a club, but was so elated from replying to a message?

Could there be something going on?

Before he could probe further, he saw the latter raise his head and said seriously, “I need to be back before 9:30 tonight.”

Lance, “…What?”

Wait, no, who the hell would go out for drinks and leave before 10 o’clock?

Mu Chen didn’t mention about video calling Light, he just casually made-up a reason. “There’s still one more application paperwork left to finish.”

After all, there were always people who couldn’t understand some things when they were spoken.

For instance, the day he graduated high school—a group of people offered to take him out to play and he said that he didn’t have time. They asked what he was doing and Mu Chen said he had to go back home to call his Gege.

As a result, the group of people started to laugh at him. “Who would still call their brother everyday at the age of twenty?”

From then on, Mu Chen learned one thing…

If someone doesn’t understand what you were saying and question it, then just don’t talk to them.

“Hey…” Lance sighed heavily when he heard this. “You’re going to a club yet you’re still thinking about writing papers…”

It couldn’t be that he was as hopeless as Light?