Counterattack [Interstellar] - Chapter 14

It was nearly midnight by the time they arrived at the palace. The old butler, Edward, had been waiting at the entrance for quite some time. As the two approached, Edward offered a kind smile. “Welcome, Major General.”

Pei Yao nodded. “I apologize for the intrusion.”

Alan took off his formal coat and handed it to Edward, asking, “Is the Major General’s room ready?”

“It was prepared an hour ago.” Edward smoothed out Alan’s coat and folded it over his arm. “According to your instructions, we have prepared the room next to the master bedroom on the third floor to serve as the Major General’s temporary quarters.”

With that, Edward bowed toward Pei Yao. “My deepest apologies; as this was arranged in haste, the room has been organized quite unseemly. I hope you do not mind.”

During his past campaigns, Pei Yao had slept in literal insect hives, so he naturally didn’t care about decor. What concerned him more was the fact that he had been placed right next door to Alan. He hesitated before saying, “Your Highness, arranging for me to stay on the first floor would be sufficient. I am afraid I might disturb you.”

Pei Yao actually wanted to mention that he had stayed overnight at Anthony’s private residence before, and Anthony’s butler had placed him in a lounge on the first floor. However, after the recent incident, he feared that if those words left his mouth, Alan would only hear the phrase “stayed overnight at Anthony’s residence.” Since they were no longer in the privacy of the small shuttle, Pei Yao did not want Alan to lose his composure in front of others.

“Disturb me?” Alan smiled. “Does the Major General suffer from sleepwalking?”

Pei Yao laughed in spite of himself. “Of course not.”

“Then there is no issue.” Alan raised his hands to let the old butler remove his cufflinks. “The first floor is where the palace staff resides. They wake up early in the morning and would disturb your rest. Come upstairs with me to see your room.”

Left with no choice, Pei Yao followed Alan upstairs. Along the way, Alan meticulously introduced everything to him—where the study was, the entertainment room, the tea parlor. Finally, they reached the third floor and entered Pei Yao’s room. Alan looked around and nodded. “It’s acceptable… the decorations need to be changed. I will instruct them tomorrow. It would be best if you told them your own preferences directly. Pei Yao?”

Exquisite and delicate reliefs, complex and luxurious carpets, furniture gilded with gold and painted designs, and a bed in the center of the bedroom that could almost rival a work of art… Pei Yao stared at this Rococo-style bedroom, which exerted every effort to be flamboyant, in a long silence. After a while, he shook his head; he was speechless.

No matter how heaven-defying his mental power is, no matter how powerful his aura, the Prince is ultimately a Guide… Pei Yao thought silently as he looked at the exquisite tea set on the small round table.

Whether Alan was simply too sensitive or the shallow-level bonding was having an effect, he keenly perceived Pei Yao’s internal monologue. Alan found it amusing and pulled Pei Yao out of the room to his own master bedroom next door.

Alan’s bedroom was more than half again as large as Pei Yao’s, but this room was clearly much more orderly. Although the furniture was of the same style, the overall layout was simple, clear, magnificent, and atmospheric.

Alan gave an elegant smile. “I decorated this room myself, Major General. Has my ‘cool, domineering’ image been restored in your heart?”

Pei Yao hadn’t expected Alan to see through his thoughts and coughed several times in embarrassment.

“Endure it for one night. They’ve already removed the lace and embroidered curtains; there likely wasn’t enough time for anything else.” Alan poured a cup of tea for Pei Yao and handed it to him. “Have some water.”

Pei Yao drained it in one go, coughed, and said in a low voice, “I appreciate Your Highness’s kindness, but I still think it is more appropriate for me to stay on the first floor…”

“Consider it for my sake, Major General Pei Yao,” Alan said innocently. “Just a few hours ago, you marked me. To throw your own Guide aside and go to sleep alone—have you considered my feelings?”

Hearing this, Pei Yao immediately looked toward the door. Alan gave a cunning smile. “Rest assured, unless I personally grant permission, only the two of us can access the floors above the third in this entire palace.”

The moment he finished speaking, Alan’s Taipan snake appeared by Pei Yao’s side. The snake quietly raised its head and tenderly flicked its tongue against Pei Yao’s finger.

Pei Yao barely managed to settle his mind before growing anxious again. “How can you bite back like that? When did I ever—”

“Fine, I marked you,” Alan laughed. “Major General, I just marked you. At this moment, I simply cannot endure you being anywhere outside the control of my mental power. Can you cooperate a little with this pitiful Guide?”

Pei Yao gritted his teeth. Alan couldn’t endure him being too far away—did he think he could endure it himself?!

As a single Sentinel who had been an adult for a long time, simply controlling himself enough not to get close to Alan already consumed all of Pei Yao’s willpower. If it weren’t for Alan’s innate, powerful mental pressure suppressing him, Pei Yao feared he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from doing something disrespectful.

Pei Yao was currently incredibly grateful for the strength of Alan’s mental power. Although he occasionally couldn’t help but feel a sense of submission toward him, at the very least, it allowed him to maintain a heart of reverence, preventing him from going mad and offending the Prince he respected most.

As if knowing what Pei Yao was thinking, Alan released a bit of pheromones. Pei Yao immediately felt that pleasant sense of ease again. His body unconsciously responded to Alan, and the exchange of pheromones made his heart feel warm. Alan released his mental tentacles at the right moment; the tentacles first circled above the two of them a few times before slowly entering Pei Yao’s brain.

Pei Yao had just suffered a manic episode in the shuttle. Although Alan had extinguished it in time, the damage was real. Alan used his mental tentacles to gently stroke Pei Yao’s brain, which had not yet completely calmed down. His heart was filled with pity; Pei Yao had suffered that mania for his sake. When wrongly insulted by him, Pei Yao hadn’t offered a single explanation; instead, he had consistently urged Alan to be calm and cautious until he could no longer restrain the mania. Yet even at the very end, Pei Yao had not harmed Alan in the slightest.

Alan considered himself someone capable of great endurance, but compared to Pei Yao, he felt inferior.

Alan focused on making the movements of the tentacles even more gentle, slowly repairing Pei Yao’s injured and exhausted mind…

An unknown amount of time passed before Alan slowly withdrew his mental tentacles. Pei Yao felt refreshed and invigorated. He began to understand why Sentinels craved Guides so much; a few minutes of mental soothing was worth an entire night’s sleep in terms of recovery.

Pei Yao did his best to suppress the dissatisfaction in his heart, clenched his fist, and bowed. “Thank you.”

“Use something else to show your gratitude.”

Alan did not have Pei Yao’s self-restraint. While Pei Yao was still caught in the post-treatment trance, he skillfully constructed a solid wall of mental pressure to wrap Pei Yao tightly, then directly grabbed Pei Yao’s waist and pressed him down onto his large bed…

Unlike the previous forced kiss, Alan was mindful of the wound on Pei Yao’s lip. His movements were incredibly gentle, first lightly kissing the corners of Pei Yao’s mouth while slowly releasing his pheromones. Sure enough, before long, Pei Yao stopped struggling. Instead, he restlessly parted his lips, his eyes carrying a hint of plea as he looked at Alan. Alan smiled; Pei Yao was beginning to crave him. As a reward, Alan lightly licked Pei Yao’s soft tongue and slowly deepened the kiss…

Worried that Pei Yao might struggle, Alan never relaxed his control over the mental pressure barrier. Meanwhile, from beginning to end, Pei Yao didn’t dare to make any large movements, fearing he might accidentally hurt Alan… if he truly wanted to resist, Alan would never be his match.

This realization made Alan even more unable to control himself. His hands began to wander, unable to resist stroking Pei Yao’s firm waistline. Pei Yao twitched as if he had received an electric shock. Alan knew he had hit Pei Yao’s limit, so he moved his hand away at the appropriate time and instead gripped Pei Yao’s wrist.

After another moment of intimacy, Alan slowly released Pei Yao. Before Pei Yao could get angry, Alan apologized first. “I’m sorry… Pei Yao, my self-control is too poor. I couldn’t help wanting to be close to you.”

After everything that had happened that day, Pei Yao found it completely impossible to get angry. The afterglow of the bonding was still drifting through his body, making it impossible for him to speak harshly to Alan. There was even a bit of a daze in his heart: Am I not the Sentinel? Why am I the one being held so tightly by Alan instead?

While Pei Yao was still a bit confused, Alan kissed his lips once more and laughed softly. “I’ll stop teasing you. It’s very late. Since you don’t like the room next door, why not just rest here?”

Hearing this, Pei Yao immediately flipped over and nimbly escaped from under Alan. Alan laughed. “Look how scared you are.”

Although he absolutely did not want to stay overnight in Alan’s room, Pei Yao felt a headache coming on when he thought of the bedroom the butler had prepared for him. He couldn’t help but mutter, “This side is very good. Why is the room next door so…”

Alan watched lazily as Pei Yao walked toward the exit. As he was about to leave, Alan gave a faint smile. “What’s so strange about that? Oh, I forgot to tell you… the bedroom next door is reserved for the successive generations of Princess Consorts. Goodnight, Major General.”

In the hallway, Major General Pei Yao stood stunned for several seconds before he could digest Alan’s words. Unconsciously, his face turned slightly red.