Chapter 6: The Princess's spouse

In the blink of an eye, Qiao Suisui had lived in Leguo Palace for a month.

Laiboli came every day, using the excuse of supervising her health to stay, increasing the time he spent with her. But Suisui didn't want him to check her body, fearing he would expose that she wasn't a beastman. Fortunately, Laiboli was very gentlemanly and could be considered obedient to her.

It was just that the progress between the two was always erratic; she could feel Laiboli's favor and attentiveness toward her, but he never took the initiative to advance the relationship; beneath the gentle and tender shell, he hid a subtle scrutiny of her. Many times, he was like tying a carrot in front of a donkey, hanging her and making her keep moving forward.

No one hadn't seen the world, and Qiao Suisui was no donkey. She looked weak and easy to handle on the outside, but was actually exquisitely selfish. No choice, the first eighteen years of her life had long taught her how to survive; not fight? A joke. If you don't fight, you wait to be flattened and rounded, eaten and swallowed. A child without an umbrella can only keep running.

She judged based on her intuition that Laiboli had a very conservative heart beneath his roguish appearance. Therefore, to win him over, perhaps she had to change her approach...

And Luka hadn't appeared since that day; occasionally bumping into her in the palace, he would only nod faintly before brushing past her.

The rest of the time, she would take the initiative to chat with the manservants of Leguo Palace, sharing some high-end daily supplies provided only to her with them, and coupled with her harmless appearance and smile, she quickly captured the hearts of the manservants.

"The Princess and our master should be holding the ceremony soon; I heard it's this month."

"The Princess has liked sticking to the master since she was a child, but after that time, the two have become a bit distant."

"Is it because of that incident..." a manservant said quietly: "It was shortly after the master returned from the battlefield and was diagnosed with... that. The Princess came to visit, the two seemed to have a big argument, the Princess ran out crying, and since then, the two haven't spoken for a long time."

Qiao Suisui listened quietly to their gossip; occasionally interjecting was just to gain more information.

"Being chosen by the Princess as a spouse, Colonel Sikesaisi must be very excellent."

Another manservant immediately said proudly: "Of course, our master is the youngest Colonel in the Military Department; as long as he inherits the family talent, it can be said that he has no rivals in the Empire. If you ask me, the master is much better than the Princess's other sixteen spouses."

"How many???" She almost choked.

"Sixteen, oh, plus our master, that's seventeen. It's already very few."

It was her perspective that was small.

"Miss Suisui, don't be sad, you are so beautiful and have such a good personality, surely many males are fighting to be your spouse." A manservant cheered her up. Because he had seen with his own eyes that day that the master carried this little female in, and the two were like dry wood and fire, now that everyone was talking about the master and the Princess in front of her, he thought Qiao Suisui would be unhappy.

"Yes... if the master had met you earlier."

"That's right, that's right, I've been here for so long and have never seen the master take anyone back. Even when the Princess comes to stay, the King has to speak for the master to prepare... uh... I mean..."

A manservant realized his words weren't quite right after finishing, stammering and unable to fix it; after all, no one wanted to offend the Princess, but they didn't want to make this little female sad either.

Qiao Suisui was a bit embarrassed and didn't want the gossip to spread further, so she said: "The Colonel and I are nothing; he saved me, and I am very grateful. Hearing you talk about him and the Princess, I think they are a great match, and I hope they are happy."

Although these were some polite words, she still felt a bit stifled, but she didn't show it on her face.

"Can I trouble you for a favor? Help me solve these. I want to return to my room first."

"Can... can we? These are very expensive nutrient solutions!"

"This flavor is even a new release!"

After confirming with Suisui repeatedly, they finally accepted gratefully.

"You're welcome, I was troubled because I couldn't finish them; I should thank you for helping me with a favor." She said with a smile.

In fact, her daily nutrient solutions were carefully matched and supplied according to her required intake; there was no such thing as not being able to finish. She felt that if she said she was giving them away directly, it would make them feel burdened, so she said she couldn't finish. Plus, she didn't like nutrient solutions much and had been missing beef noodles, egg fried rice, chive dumplings, and spicy crayfish for a month... but she didn't say it. She was afraid of adding trouble to anyone; there were many things she wasn't used to here, but she digested them silently and never made any requests.

Qiao Suisui was about to leave, but after turning around, she saw a tall figure standing ten steps away from her.

Beastmen have sensitive hearing; when Luka arrived, he heard them discussing himself, and when they got to the Princess, he wanted to go up and interrupt, but heard the topic turn to himself and her, and unexpectedly didn't go up.

Remembering that 'hope they are happy,' the words Luka intended to say were stuck in his throat, neither up nor down.

"Colonel Sikesaisi."

"Don't like nutrient solutions?"

"No, I just don't have much appetite."

"Are you still adjusting?"

"Everything is very good, thank you."

"... You're welcome."

After a raw question and answer, only silence remained between the two.

"There are many things in the Military Department recently; the boss of the illegal auction organization has just been caught."

"Is that so? Then you should pay attention to rest."

"..."

Luka looked at the person in front of him, frowning slightly in annoyance; what he wanted to say when he came was clearly not this.

Suisui wasn't in high spirits, but still habitually showed a smile, not letting the conversation drop: "As expected of Colonel Sikesaisi, I knew you would definitely catch that bad guy."

Luka was silent for a moment, looked at her seriously, and said: "You don't have to be like this."

"What?"

"Don't waste effort flattering me; if you don't want to smile, you don't have to force it."

Hearing this, she froze slightly.

She was also like this to Laiboli, but the seemingly shrewd Laiboli didn't notice her flattery, only feeling it was useful, whereas Luka, whom she hadn't spent much time with, saw right through her.

She felt her face heat up, her fingers nervously clutching her skirt.

Luka noticed her anxiety and considerately shifted his gaze, letting her breathe a sigh of relief. He took a necklace out of his pocket and placed it in her hand.

"Searched from the boss, it had your scent on it, so I brought it back."

"Thank you, Colonel."

"Call me Luka." After the man finished, not knowing what he remembered, he added: "Just like how you address Laiboli by his name."

Suisui looked up, just happening to bump into his light-gold pupils; the light pupils were even more translucent in the sunlight, so good-looking that she was distracted for a moment.

Luka didn't hear her call his name, his eyes dimming.

"Regarding what happened that night, I have always wanted to talk to you about it."

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 7 =====