MRG Chapter 22: The Sea and the Stone

Translator: Kii

The morning sun passed through the French windows into the hallways of the palace.

When Mu Chen passed by the window, a maid holding a bunch of lilies slightly smiled and curtsied at him, then hurriedly headed to the other end.

He was surrounded by the busy figures of attendants, they must be preparing for tomorrow’s birthday banquet.

Twenty was the legal age of adulthood in the Oz Empire. According to tradition, after reaching adulthood, Mu Chen would be formally introduced into the royal social circle.

Thus, the preparation for this birthday banquet was very important.

Although King Jorah was still angry at Light’s decision to cancel the engagement, he was still very elated when he thought about Mu Chen’s birthday. He spent most of his time studying the banquet and was too lazy to argue with him, so the atmosphere in the palace was temporarily peaceful.

When Mu Chen entered the dining hall, Light was already sitting inside.

The warm sun poured onto half of the man’s face, casting a shadow on the edge of his eyelashes.

Light’s shirt cuffs were rolled up to his forearms, and the top two buttons of his dress shirt were undone. The two years of border duty had turned his originally fair skin turned a healthy light tan, adding a unique charm.

He was looking through a platinum book in his hands, which should be the banquet list.

Noticing Mu Chen’s gaze, Light closed the book and looked at him.

“Morning.”

“Good morning, Gege.” Mu Chen sat across from him. He wore a loose sweatshirt, with his smooth long hair falling beside his cheek, looking like someone who stepped out of an oil painting. He poured himself a glass of milk, then smiled at Light, and asked—

“Did you sleep well last night?”

The merman’s appearance was truly deceptive; just a single smile could instantly calm even the grumpiest person.

The surrounding attendants involuntarily shifted their eyes on his face, momentarily forgetting what they were doing.

Bang!

Someone got distracted and used their arm to support the table, almost breaking a vase.

It wasn’t until Light cleared his throat that they hurriedly snapped out of it and began to busy themselves with the work at hand.

He turned around and looked at the merman who wasn’t in the least aware of his surroundings, and spat out two words, “Pretty good.”

His tone was as calm as usual, without showing any emotion.

Mu Chen pursed his thin lips. “Then I’ll give Gege another mental grooming after a while.”

Light, “Okay.”

He watched the person in front of him pick up the hazelnut spread bottle and began to spread it on his bread.

As a merman, Mu Chen liked to eat seafood the most, but beside seafood, he also liked sweets. When the merman was younger, whenever he ate bread, he would spread a thick layer of hazelnut spread on it and fold it in half. When he bit into it, the excessive hazelnut spread would accidentally get on his lips. Sometimes, he ate two quickly and forgot to wipe it off, so Light would take a napkin to help him wipe it off bit by bit. Otherwise, after eating, he would throw himself into his arms, calling him “Gege, Gege” and rub his lips all over his shirt.

And right now, Light watched Mu Chen finish spreading three layers of hazelnut spread, took two bites, and then pressed his thin lips together, his cheeks bulging…

The spread doesn’t get on his lips anymore, but he still liked sweets.

“Hm?”

Those blue eyes looked over at him in confusion. “Is there something on my face?”

Light then realized he had zoned out a bit.

“No.”

He shifted his gaze away.

“Ha….”

At this very moment, Lance walked in from outside with a yawn. He pulled open a chair and sat down as if he was sleepwalking. With half-opened eyes, he said toward the two people beside him, “You guys got up too early.”

Lance doesn’t have the habit of getting up at five in the morning like Light did when he was in the army. He also wasn’t like Mu Chen who liked to get up early to swim a few laps and eat some snacks while he was at it.

He picked up the coffee pot and poured some in his cup. He caught a glimpse of Light holding the banquet list in his hand. As if he suddenly remembered something, he opened his half-closed eyes and his gaze wandered between the banquet list and Mu Chen.

Light reminded him, “Coffee.”

Lance, “Ah?”

“F*ck!”

In the next second, the coffee spilled on his thigh.

The AI robot kindly handed Lance some napkins. Facing the narrow gaze of the two people, Lance coughed to cover up his embarrassment. “I told you I can’t get up early.”

Mu Chen ate pretty quickly, after all, he already ate something earlier. He used a napkin to wipe his mouth, then looked at Light. “Gege, are you done eating?”

“Mhm.”

Light stood up and was about to leave together with him, but as soon as he took a step forward, Lance grabbed him by the arm.

He froze for a moment, then turned around, only to see the latter blinking repeatedly at him.

Light, “…”

“I’ll leave first.” Seeing that the two of them have to talk, he tactfully left first.

After his figure completely disappeared behind the door, Light raised a brow and waited for Lance’s next words.

Lance quickly flipped through the banquet list. “Do you know who that person is?”

Light furrowed his brows. “Which one?”

Why was he playing riddles so early in the morning…

“Just…” Lance raised his gaze from the thick book with a look that said, ‘You really don’t know?’ “The person he likes.”

Light stared at Lance with his amber eyes without saying anything.

It was as if the surrounding air pressure had dropped several degrees.

In the strange silence, only the increasingly lowering brows proved that Light had indeed heard the question right. After a while, he moved his thin lips and stiffly squeezed out a word.

“Who?”

No matter how he heard it, it didn’t sound like it was a happy tone, rather, it seemed more like interrogating a convict.

“I also don’t really know, I just coincidentally saw it at the club that day…”

Lance’s voice gradually softened. He originally just wanted to listen to some gossip, but he didn’t expect Light to react like this.

“It should be a guy. I was wondering if he’s on the guest list. If he’s not, we can invite him over as a surprise for Mu Chen. After all, judging from his reaction, he seemed to like him. It’s also the first time he has a crush on someone…”

Light wasn’t listening to the rest of what Lance said. In his heart, Mu Chen was still the same well-behaved and sensible little merman who used to hug him all the time and call him “Gege.” He was the purest and most transparent person in the world.

But—

Club…

A guy…

First time.

These words bounced in his mind. Light brows furrowed even more. “You brought him to a club?”

Lance, “…”

Sh*t.

He didn’t bring his brain with him when he got up and came out.

In order to prevent the situation from getting any worse, Lance immediately laughed and tried to make excuses for himself, “We didn’t do much, we just went…”

Light, “To pick up guys?”

He could almost imagine the scene in his head—in the dim light, someone was holding a glass of wine and approaching Mu Chen deliberately. The innocent merman would smile politely no matter what. Even though he had never drunk wine, he wouldn’t refuse the other party out of courtesy, and his face would flush after drinking just two sips…

Light’s fingertips on the armrest clenched slightly, accidentally pinching the cushion and making a deep mark.

“…”

Feeling the surrounding temperature rapidly dropping, Lance’s eyelids twitched. “He’s already an adult now, dating…shouldn’t be an issue, right?”

“Well, it also depends on who it is.”

Light grabbed the jacket hung on the back of the chair, half his face was enveloped in the shadow, and his sharp eyebrows and eyes exuded a chill…

Depends on whether that person is worthy enough.

……

The early summer breeze blew through the blooming wisteria garden, and all one could see was the vast expanses of purple.

The flower petals fell on a girl’s skirt.

A hint of worry appeared on Elena’s face; she had gotten lost in the sea of wisteria flowers.

This was the first time she followed her father into the palace. Due to her curiosity, she rashly intruded in the flower garden, but if she called her father with the terminal now, she would definitely be blamed.

The breeze lightly brushed through the hair on Elena’s temples, and her fingertips hovered on the contact list interface for a long time, unable to make up her mind. At this moment, there was a “ding” notification sound, an avatar in her contacts suddenly lit up. After seeing the nickname “Mu Chen,” Elena’s heartbeat also quickened.

For the terminal to display such a prompt, it meant the other party should be nearby. Thinking of this, Elena’s hovering fingertips became even more restless.

In fact, as high school classmates, everyone knew that Mu Chen lived in the imperial palace, so to run into him was nothing strange. However, a teenager’s emotions were just unreasonable like this; even a suddenly lit up avatar would make one nervous for no reason.

Elena couldn’t explain why she had developed feelings for Mu Chen. It could be because of his outstanding appearance, or perhaps his vibe—the merman prince was born noble yet had a tragic fate. His smile was as warm as the sun, and he always seemed to be a very gentle person.

Her left hand clenched a rose, and a blue ribbon was tied around the stalk. It was a gift she had wanted to give to him during their graduation ceremony but never did.

It was specifically a farewell present. Elena knew about the engagement between Mu Chen and Prince Light, so of course, she never expected the other party to respond to her feelings. She just wanted to say goodbye to her past love before leaving the capital for university.

Elena’s thoughts drifted away from the small lit avatar on the terminal. When she came back to her senses—

“Did you get lost?”

Not far away came a concerned question.

Elena raised her head in a daze, and at that moment, the young man she admired was standing under the blooming wisteria flowers.

The breeze ruffled the silver hair on Mu Chen’s temple. He stood tall and walked along the path covered with wisteria petals. Everything in front of her was so beautiful that it seemed like a scene that only appeared in a dream.

“I…” Elena’s cheeks began to flush. She opened her mouth, yet couldn’t say a word. In the end, she could only nod and whisper, “Mhm.”

Mu Chen smiled at her. “I’ve just met Duke Bakker, he seemed to be on his way to look for you. I’ll take you to him.”

Elena walked side by side with him, her eyelashes slightly lowered, not daring to look the other person in the eyes. “Thank you, sorry to trouble you.”

Soon after, she heard the warm voice of the person beside her, “Don’t mention it. It’s really easy to get lost here.”

The tone was mixed with a spring breeze-like warmth.

Elena’s fingertips unconsciously curled. She thought…

He’s indeed a very warm person.

Elena didn’t speak much, and in order to prevent the atmosphere from becoming too awkward, Mu Chen chatted with her about future university studies along the way.

At the end of the wisteria garden, the majestic palace gradually appeared beside the wide road. Mu Chen saw a pavilion not too far away and said to Elena, “Duke Bakker is over there, you should be able to find him from here now.”

“Okay.” Elena nodded, her long, slightly drooping eyelashes trembled, almost as if she was debating on something.

And finally, as he turned to leave, the girl shoved the rose in Mu Chen’s hands. She flushed from the face up to the ears and gathered the courage to say, “Thank you for bringing me over, I wish you…can accept this.”

A blush spread across her cheeks; the girl’s feelings were completely exposed. After handing the gift, Elena didn’t even look up to see the other person’s reaction and ran off.

Watching the other party’s retreating back, Mu Chen thoughtfully looked at the rose tied with a blue ribbon in his hand and gently stroked the thorny stem with his fingertips.

He knew what emotion that was—he could read it from the other party’s face.

It was “like.”

Mu Chen could relate to this kind of pure and passionate emotion.

Because he also had someone he liked.

Light handsome face along with his tall and outstanding figure appeared in Mu Chen’s mind. The corners of his lips curled up unconsciously. He lowered his head to sniff the fragrance of the petals, his pupils under his half-covered long eyelashes revealed undisguised emotions.

Upon a closer look, the rose did look pretty cute—

As cute as Gege.

Mu Chen’s fingers lightly rubbed the dewy petals…

The rose petals were very soft—

As soft as Gege’s lips.

Another image of Light wearing the black military uniform appeared in his mind. When he took off his clothes, he would first use his fingers to unbutton his shirt and loosened his tie. He always loved to wear a white dress shirt under his military uniform. Beneath the neatly pressed fabric was a lean and powerful waist.

He hadn’t hugged Gege in a long time…

Mu Chen could almost imagine the soft and gentle sensation of being held tightly in his arms and what kind of reaction it would cause. The hidden desires deep within him were roused, and the force of his hands grew unconsciously stronger. He restrained himself from crushing the flexible stem in his hand, and his knuckles faintly turned white.

Hiss…

The rose’s thorn pierced Mu Chen’s fingertip, the bright red blood kept dripping down his white knuckles.

Mu Chen put the injured finger in his mouth, and his pale lips were also smudged red, and the rich taste of blood engulfed his entire tooth cavity. However, a bright gleam jumped in those blue eyes..

He shouldn’t rush it…

He shouldn’t be impatient knowing what kind of person the other party was.

To him, Light was a gentle older protector, but he was usually slow, or rather conservative in some areas; just like the way he always preferred to button his shirt collar to the top.

But it didn’t matter, Mu Chen liked everything about Light, including his hard-headed personality¹.

Even the constant dripping of water in caves could melt rocks, let alone the sea.

……

After talking with Lance, Light was a bit upset. He went to the balcony, then saw a figure under the wisteria tree.

The youth was holding a rose, which was obviously given by someone. The fluttering wisteria petals fell on his shoulders without him noticing.

In the next second, the person under the tree raised his eyes and looked in Light’s direction…

The moment their eyes met, Mu Chen’s pupils shook. The fantasy in his mind and the handsome features of the actual person overlapped—his heart seemed to have skipped a beat. The love and desire in his eyes were caught by the other party, completely unconcealed at this moment.

Then he saw the man’s expression stiffen.

Due to the unexpected eye contact, the blood in Mu Chen’s body flowed quickly, and his cheeks flushed. However, it was only for a moment, and his face returned to its usual gentle expression.

He hid the rose behind his back and walked to the palace entrance as if nothing had happened.

Disappearing from Light’s view.

The expression of the man on the balcony didn’t look all that good.

Light didn’t know gave the flower to him, but he noticed the “love” that couldn’t be hidden in Mu Chen’s eyes.

That person hadn’t known Mu Chen for long—they took him out to drink on the first day, gave him a flower in the palace on the third day, and was even an experienced player who frequents clubs all year round.

Thinking of this, the frost in Light’s eyes became deeper…

This person’s thoughts were clearly not pure; it was precisely because the little merman was young and inexperienced in the world that he had the illusion of being moved.

After Mu Chen put away the flower and was about to go to his own room, he saw the man leaning against the door.

He smiled at Light. “Is Gege looking for me for something?”

Light put his thumbs in his pockets, his face was expressionless, and he unexpectedly asked, “I heard you like someone?”

Mu Chen was stunned, seeming to not have anticipated he would suddenly ask this. His expression was momentarily blank.

Light saw that he had this kind of reaction and knew that he was right. “Lance said he took you to a club.”

Mu Chen was speechless, then he helplessly smiled.

Lance was indeed unreliable; he actually gave him away like this.

But when he caught a glimpse of the cold look in the man’s eyes, he guessed that Light had misunderstood something.

However, such a misunderstanding wasn’t bad. Mu Chen’s half-lowered eyelashes hid a fleeting smile in his eyes.

“Could it be that Gege is upset because I fell for someone else before our engagement was canceled.”

“…”

For some reason, whenever the merman opened his mouth, he would always have a way of leaving Light speechless.

The atmosphere turned silent for a moment, and he opened his mouth stiffly. “No.”

Mu Chen pursed his lips, giving a pensive “Oh” sound.

Light, “I’m not angry.”

Mu Chen didn’t seem to believe him. “Really?”

Light tried his best to control his tone, repeating, “I’m not.”

“I just think you’re too young.”

“Mu Chen raised a brow. “I’m already twenty.”

Light, “You still haven’t reached your mating period yet.”

The mating period was a special period that only occured when merfolks have fully matured. During this period, merfolks would have a strong desire to find a partner, accompanied by a series of physiological reactions such as fevers and restlessness. Each episode would occur at intervals of one week to half a month, with a frequency of once a year until they find and completely mark their partner.

Generally, around the time when merfolks reached adulthood, they would enter their first mating period, but Mu Chen currently showed no such signs.

Mu Chen refuted, “If I find one now, then I won’t need to find one during the mating period, and it won’t be hard to endure when the time comes and there’s someone available.”

“…”

Light’s temples twitched. His innocent tone made it seem as if finding a partner wasn’t much different from picking vegetables at the market.

He tried to correct the other person’s idea. “Merfolks can only choose one partner in their lifetime; once the marking is complete, then it will last for a lifetime. It’s not a casual matter.”

Mu Chen, “I know, that’s why I need to compare more.”

Light’s expression turned stiff. “…”

Seeing the other party not saying anything, Mu Chen asked him, “Is Gege worried about me?”

Light’s eyes trembled.

He was indeed worried, how could he not be?

In the next second, the other party’s delicate appearance was suddenly magnified in front of him.

The merman came up to him, bent his eyes, and asked with a smile, “But it seems that Gege also doesn’t have any relationship perience, how are you going to help me?”

Light figure turned rigid, and he opened his mouth, but he didn’t know what to say. “I…”

Mu Chen seemed to have thought of something. He lightly made an “Oh” sound, but the smile remained on his lips. “Could it be that Gege is going to teach me how to date?”