MRG Chapter 39: Unknown Feelings

Translator: Kii

Editor: agneya

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Rays of setting sun shone into the room through the huge floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Mu Chen and Lance were sitting on the sofa, drinking.

Light had to take care of military affairs at the base everyday, so he wasn’t with them.

Although he was now in the capital, he had to follow up on the border defense project construction in Konaren in real time, so he basically stayed in his study every morning and afternoon.

Four years ago, the wormhole elimination strategy failed. To this day, abnormal magnetic field signals were captured from time to time at Konaren’s border. About three or four years ago, a backup plan was discussed at the highest decision-making meeting held at the base, which was to build a border line at the outpost to prevent disasters before they occur.

Nobody could predict whether the Zergs would suddenly invade one day, so the base could only collect as much intelligence as possible while building defense shelters to protect the people.

And Light was mainly following up on this matter.

At this moment in the lounge—

Mu Chen was drinking tea with his head down, while Lance was holding his terminal and sending messages to someone; the corners of his lips were about to reach the sky.

Just then, several knocks sounded at the door.

Several servants filed in, holding large and small luxuriously packaged gift boxes in their hands.

“Your Highness, these are gifts from Duke Vincent.”

The leading servant walked up to Mu Chen and opened one of the velvet jewelry boxes. Inside lay an exquisitely crafted silver chain, adorned with dazzling blue diamonds.

Almost immediately after the servant opened the jewelry box, Lance was dazzled by the bright light emanating from it. He shifted his eyes away from the terminal screen and stretched his neck to look over.

Seeing the dazzling array of gifts, Lance’s lips formed an O shape. He raised an eyebrow and cast a look of admiration at Mu Chen.

It was as if his expression was saying—

Not bad, kid. You’ve got some skills there.

As expected of a marine creature; he more or less had some serious skills.

This was just Vincent. If Mu Chen could catch a few more, building some more bedrooms for the imperial palace next year wouldn’t be a problem.

My Chen didn’t reveal any particular expression, he only said to the servant, “Please help me put them away.”

As he finished speaking, he once again lowered his head to sip his tea.

After a while.

The leading servant came forward and said to Mu Chen, “Your Highness, I had these gifts put away in that storage room for you.”

After he finished speaking the last word, the atmosphere suddenly turned silent, and the silence was a little unnerving.

Clang!

It was the sound of a porcelain cup being placed harshly on the table.

Mu Chen raised his eyes. “What did you say?”

The cold light flashing across those blue eyes caused the servant to unconsciously take a step back. He enquired meekly, “That storage room…um, isn’t it used to store gifts?”

He had only arrived a few days ago and had just taken over the affairs of the palace, but he knew that most nobles would have a storage room specifically for storing valuables. Where else could he put them if not there?

Mu Chen’s expression looked strange. “Have they already stored the items in there?”

Servant, “Ah?”

Mu Chen repeated himself, “I said, have they already been stored there?”

Servant, “I…I’m not sure, prob—probably not yet.”

Before he could finish speaking, Mu Chen stood up from his seat with a frosty expression and hurriedly walked toward the corridor, leaving only his hurried back to the servant.

Beside the storage room, someone was standing in front of the electronic lock while holding an item. “Your Highness, it seems this room can’t be opened.”

Mu Chen shook his head. “Don’t put them in here. Place them in the utility room next to the study.”

“Oh, oh…okay.”

The servant didn’t question it, and directed the people behind to leave with him.

After watching the crowd leave, Mu Chen used his fingerprint to unlock the door. Inside the brightly lit storage room, everything was as it had been, with no signs of disturbance.

He looked at the collections covered in glass and breathed a sigh of relief.

Mu Chen walked over to it, his fingertip lightly stroking the transparent glass display case. A few strands of silver hair fell with his movements and landed on it.

A smile appeared on his lips…

Only Gege’s things could be placed in here.

That was a close call.

He almost let outside dirt get in.

……

When he left the storage room, Mu Chen saw Lance walking over hurriedly from the other end of the corridor. He seemed to be looking for him, his expression slightly peculiar.

At the same time, his own terminal began to vibrate.

Lance trotted over and asked, “Have you seen that post?”

Mu Chen, “What?”

Lance furrowed his brows. “Someone dug up your previous engagement with Da-ge and started stirring things up. Now the forum is in chaos. I have no idea which bastard did it, but da-ge has already sent someone to handle it. It should be suppressed soon.”

Mu Chen took out his terminal and the post popped up automatically without him having to search for it.

There was a particularly eye-catching title at the top—

“The Truth Behind the Royal Family’s Canceled Engagement: Multiple Clues Show the Crown Prince’s Original Fiancée Had Been Cheating with the “Playboy” Since Long Ago”

With an indifferent face, he quickly scanned the entire post, which roughly said that he had been having an affair with Vincent before canceling the engagement, and that this was the real reason behind Light canceling it.

The person’s so-called evidence was a photo of that night when he’d pulled Vincent by the necktie at the banquet.

That person took the photo secretly from the side, and chose a very tricky perspective, so that people couldn’t clearly make out what they were actually doing. They even deliberately brought out this photo to compare it with the one from four years ago at the banquet, where Vincent invited Mu Chen to dance. Then, they wrote eight bizarre reasons below to spin the story.

Now, the whole forum was in an uproar. Half of them claimed that there must be something fishy about the royal family canceling the engagement four years ago, saying that the post wasn’t completely groundless. The other half retorted that this person should show solid proof if they could. What kind of evidence was this? Does canceling an engagement mean that they don’t have the right to date after four years?

Among them, there was a small number of people who reminisced about how cute Mu Chen was when he was younger, hoping he could continue to stream.

Another group of people attacked these remarks, saying that they were the behavior of brainless fans.

In short, the scene was just pure chaos.

After Mu Chen finished reading everything, he went to the chat interface and saw what Vincent had sent—

[We’ll face this matter together.]

[In fact, I think we should make our relationship public.]

Mu Chen, “…”

Why didn’t he know they were in a relationship?

Mu Chen rubbed the bridge of his nose, letting out a cold chuckle…

Vincent was just a convenient tool for him; now he clearly doesn’t have any use for him.

It was time to get this person to stop bothering him.

Mu Chen decisively wrote a line on the terminal—

[Are you free right now?]

[Can we talk?]

……

Half an hour later, in the quiet study.

Vincent placed a hand on his waist and looked at the person sitting on the sofa in disbelief. He reached out a hand to ruffle his hair and opened and closed his lips a few times. It was a long time before he finally spoke.

“What do you mean? Are you breaking up with me because of this?”

Mu Chen slowly raised his gaze, there was a hint of confusion in his deep blue eyes. He used an astonished expression to look at the other party. “Duke Vincent, when did we even start dating?”

“We only danced once at a banquet and went out a few times. Apart from the normal contact at banquets, I’m afraid I haven’t even touched your hand. Duke Vincent, saying it like this is far too easy to cause a misunderstanding.”

Vincent froze in place, staring at those blue eyes in a daze. At this moment, beside calmness and indifference, he couldn’t make out any other emotions in them—it was like he was an insignificant person to him.

His hands involuntarily balled into fists, his face betraying a sudden, hot frustration.

Vincent couldn’t imagine that his pursuit for nearly a month had been reduced to such a casual, dismissive remark from the other party’s mouth.

Memories of the past month gradually came to his mind, thinking back on it…

Mu Chen’s attitude seemed to be traceable.

Like the gifts he sent him—if a virtuous lady/gentleman wanted to reject a suitor, they would never accept the other party’s gifts. Mu Chen, on the other hand, wouldn’t take the initiative to reject them, but he wouldn’t refuse them either.

He didn’t actively reply to his messages, but he would still respond.

He also did accept his invitations a few times, as if his previous rejections were because he really was too busy.

Mu Chen had always created a subtle alienation with him.

But Vincent was too infatuated at the time. In his mind, if Mu Chen wasn’t interested in him, he definitely wouldn’t have such a mellow attitude.

And right now, it was as if a basin of cold water was poured over his head, waking him up on the spot.

“That…”

Vincent’s black hair was tousled, as a result of his touch. No longer looking presentable at the moment, he stuttered for a moment, “What about those gifts? If we aren’t in that kind of relationship, you…”

Mu Chen stood up from the sofa, directly interrupting his words, “I have already got someone to send them back to you intact, Duke Vincent.”

When you return, remember to carefully check them all and see if you’re missing anything. Otherwise, you might say I didn’t return them to you.”

“…”

Pang!

Suddenly, a clear and crisp slapping sound sounded in the air.

Vincent snapped, “Do you think that playing with others’ feelings is fun?”

In the next second, the atmosphere became quiet.

He saw Mu Chen slowly turn his head, the blue pupils were covered with a layer of frigid coldness, and the temperature around him seemed to have dropped by several degrees.

Vincent’s initially raised hand slowly lowered. He had indeed been a bit angry just now, and at this moment, seeing the reddened side of Mu Chen’s face, he felt a tinge of regret, but even more so, fear.

For some reason, he felt an inexplicable chill running down his back, shaking him to a degree that he couldn’t move.

Vincent noticed the drastic change in Mu Chen’s expression. If mental power could take physical form, then black gas might already be coming out from behind the other party.

Mu Chen looked at Vincent emotionlessly, rustled his five fingers, then clenched his hand hanging at his side into a fist.

The moment he was preparing to raise his hand—

There was a sudden knock coming from the other side of the door. The person knocked for a while and saw that no one responded. Then with a creak, the door was pushed open.

“Mu Chen?”

It was Light’s voice.

“What are you doing inside?”

Hearing Light’s voice, Mu Chen’s joints tensed. He put down his hand, but the blue veins on the back of his hand had yet to completely subside.

Vincent realized that it was best to leave now. He looked at Mu Chen, then walked out of the room when he saw that the other party remained quiet. When he met Light outside, he didn’t forget to greet him, “Your Highness.”

“Mm.”

Light coldly responded, obviously not liking him very much.

Mu Chen stood in front of the mirror, carefully examining the side of his face. His expression, initially cold and indifferent, softened as he heard the approaching footsteps outside. He let his hair down and faintly smiled…

Light’s eyes followed Vincent’s retreating back before entering the living room. The atmosphere inside was so calm that it felt a bit strange.

When he opened the door, he saw Mu Chen sitting on the sofa with his head down. With half-lidded eyes, his expression seemed very desolate.

Light was stunned for a moment. He quickly walked over and asked, “What’s wrong?”

He had never seen Mu Chen like this, looking very sad, as if his heart had been broken.

The moment Mu Chen raised his head, Light’s puzzlement turned into anger.

Light furrowed his brows, his hands unconsciously clenched. “Who did this?”

He paused, and as if he suddenly remembered something, he raised his voice and asked, “…Did he hit you?”

After speaking, Light turned around and was about to go find Vincent to settle the score, but the moment he took a step forward, Mu Chen grabbed his sleeve.

The latter was silent for a second before he slowly started speaking, “Actually, it’s my fault. It was too late in realizing my own feelings. Gege, you were right, he and I were never a good match from the start…”

There was a strong sense of self-blame in his tone.

Light sat down on the sofa. He reached his hand out to gently turn Mu Chen’s cheek to the side. “You did nothing wrong; it’s his fault. Who made you think this way?”

As he said this, he reached out his hand to lightly touch Mu Chen’s red and swollen cheek, tenderness and concern written all over his face without concealment.

Mu Chen’s skin was very pale, so any mark on his face would be particularly obvious, let alone such an obvious red welt.

Light tightly closed his thin lips, there was a hint of anger in his furrowed brows…

This was his little merman, the pearl in his hands. How dare Vincent do this to Mu Chen?

Mu Chen reached out his hand to cover the back of Light’s hand, holding it. He rubbed his face against the other’s palm like a little animal, his long eyelashes trembling. “If I had listened to you, things wouldn’t have turned out like this.”

Light, “It’s not your problem, you did nothing wrong.”

He held Mu Chen’s face and approached him, saying seriously, “He’s not worthy of you, you deserve someone better.”

“Really?” Mu Chen’s pupils trembled, opened his thin lips slightly, and his breath fell on Light’s lips like the brush of a feather.

Light’s gaze froze abruptly.

Under the dim yellow light, he glanced at Mu Chen’s delicate lips, tinged with a hue like crabapple petals, glowing softly. His pale cheeks were still slightly flushed, yet, on that stunningly striking face, it carried a unique, imperfect beauty.

He gazed fixedly at him, like a siren tempting people to fall into the abyss.

Mu Chen gave a half-lidded look, watching Light intently with his blue eyes, with an unknown emotion surging in them. It was a peaceful blue, yet very tumultuous.

It caused Light’s heart to skip a few beats.

He opened his lips, letting out a jerky sound, “Yes…”

The two people unconsciously moved closer to one another.

At this distance, Light could clearly count each of Mu Chen’s eyelashes, and he could also feel the soft breath he exhaled…

It was very light, very ticklish, like the tip of a feather brushing over his eyes, making his throat dry.

Just a little more…

And he was close enough to kiss Mu Chen’s thin lips.