Counterattack [Interstellar] - Chapter 2

In the West District of the Pearl, Prince Allen’s dedicated nurse spoke with a troubled expression: “Major General… His Highness Allen has refused to eat lunch again.”

It had been five days since they departed from the Capital Star. During those five days, Allen had barely touched a single one of his three daily meals. Pei Yao rubbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “I’ve tried to persuade him, but His Highness will not listen… Go prepare a high-calorie afternoon tea.”

The nurse nodded, then hesitated before saying: “Also… Major Stephen asked me to inquire about the exact nature of Prince Allen’s illness.”

Stephen was the military doctor accompanying them on this journey. Hearing this, Pei Yao knit his brows. “Asking me? That is exactly what I intended to ask the Major. His Highness’s complexion is very poor; what was the diagnosis?”

The nurse said helplessly: “Major Stephen cannot make a diagnosis. Prince Allen has encrypted his body’s monitoring instruments. Our authority level isn’t high enough to access his specific physical condition. His Highness also refuses to accept our examinations, and the medical officers on the Capital Star refuse to provide his medical records. This…”

The nurse paused and lowered her voice. “Could this… be the intention of the Council?”

Pei Yao remained silent.

Pei Yao was well aware of the real reason Allen was being sent to Planet Apollo for “recuperation.” The Royal Family had consistently claimed to the public that Allen was physically frail. Now that Anthony had just been invested as the new Crown Prince, both the Royal Family and the Council wanted to avoid any trouble. Encrypting Allen’s monitoring data was not difficult; after all, if a medical report proving Allen was perfectly healthy were to leak at this critical juncture, it would be a headache for everyone.

The young nurse felt great sympathy for this fallen prince and couldn’t help but suggest: “Should we contact the Capital Star and report the situation here? At the very least, they should make a concession and allow us to treat His Highness. As you said, his complexion is very poor…”

“Absolutely not!” Pei Yao interrupted her sternly, his voice sinking with a frown. “The situation on the Capital Star has just settled; we cannot stir up more trouble. Regarding Prince Allen… I can only see that he shows symptoms of a fever. Have the Major prepare some conventional medicine and send it to the entertainment room.”

A trace of disappointment flashed in the nurse’s eyes. Indeed, Major General Pei Yao is now Prince Anthony’s man; why would he still care whether Prince Allen lives or dies?

Pei Yao noted the nurse’s dissatisfaction and gave a stern warning: “We will arrive at Planet Apollo in three days. That planet has the best medical resources; I am certain they will be able to nurse His Highness back to health. Therefore… for these last three days, I do not want anyone on this starship causing any trouble, regardless of whether it is out of ‘goodwill.’ Do you understand?”

The nurse gave a helpless, bitter smile. “There is no need for you to be so tense; I do not possess such great capabilities.” Clearly not wanting to talk further with Pei Yao, she offered a military salute and left.

Once the nurse was out of sight, Pei Yao let out a weary, long sigh. He smoked a cigarette in the lounge before turning toward the Central District.

“Your Highness, this is Pei Yao. May I come in?”

Inside the entertainment room of the Pearl’s Central District, Allen’s brows were tightly knit. He looked up at the request command, pressed the confirmation button, and asked impatiently, “What is it now?”

“My apologies…” Pei Yao’s words were cut short by the blast of cold air hitting him as he entered the room. He walked quickly to the console and glanced at the display screen, frowning. “Air exchange rate at one hundred percent… Your Highness, the air interaction system on this hull is the newest model, utilizing the most hygienic one-to-one individual supply and exhaust system. The drawback is that if the exchange rate is too high, it affects the room temperature. The hull’s thermal control system cannot make adjustments in time. So… may I set it to ten percent for you? I guarantee that an exchange rate of even three percent is sufficient to ensure you breathe smoothly.”

Allen’s face was grim. “Thank you, but that won’t be necessary.”

Pei Yao paused, looking at Allen’s face, which had already turned a faint blue from the cold. He bowed slightly. “Then please forgive my insolence.”

Pei Yao turned and walked to the console. Allen gave a mocking laugh. “The entire operating system of the Central District requires my verbal command. Major General, go back to your West District to play the tyrant, alright?”

Pei Yao acted as if he hadn’t heard. He removed his white gloves, placing them aside, and his slender fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard. In less than a moment, Pei Yao successfully breached the entertainment room’s control system. Simultaneously, the communicator on Allen’s person emitted a piercing alarm.

Allen looked at Pei Yao in disbelief. Pei Yao thought for a moment, adjusted the air exchange rate to twenty percent, and raised the temperature by five degrees.

Pei Yao put his gloves back on, turned, and bowed. “Please rest assured, the security system of this hull is still quite complete; even I could only breach the outermost Level-D controls.”

Allen laughed derisively. Pei Yao took a deep breath and said in a heavy voice, “Your Highness, I can understand that your mood is poor, but please do not let it affect your health. I just heard from your nursing staff that you refused to eat lunch. I think…”

“Stop acting,” Allen cut him off, his face hardening completely. “You put on this hypocritical act on the Capital Star; haven’t you had enough? There are no outsiders here; can’t you drop this fake posture?”

Pei Yao looked at Allen in confusion. Allen chuckled lowly. “You served me for a month. After Anthony was invested, you immediately went to pledge your loyalty to him. The most ridiculous part is that the Emperor actually sent you to escort me to ‘recuperate.’ Your position must be quite awkward, isn’t it? Deliberately being so attentive to me to lessen the guilt in your heart? When I speak harshly to you, it just gives you more of a chance to perform.”

“Turning from a traitor into a loyal dog whose heart was wounded by his former master—you’ve occupied the moral high ground on both sides. Heh…” Allen laughed repeatedly. “A true winner in life, Major General Pei Yao.”

“I did not have the honor of attending Anthony’s investiture ceremony. I wonder, did you also swear your eternal loyalty to him there?” Seeing Pei Yao’s face gradually pale, a sense of malicious pleasure surged in Allen’s heart, and his tone became even more venomous. “Perhaps I should find some time to pull up the footage of the ceremony. I should observe carefully how the Major General takes his oath, so that in the future, when Anthony hunts me down, I can put what I’ve learned to use and beg for mercy a bit more convincingly.”

Pei Yao pursed his lips tightly, remaining silent from beginning to end.

To some extent, Allen’s words were not wrong. Just three months ago, Pei Yao had indeed sworn eternal loyalty before Allen. At that time, he hadn’t expected that as a member of the Crown Prince’s personal guard, his master would be changed a month later to protect a different Crown Prince.

Although Pei Yao was a Major General, he had no access to the inner secrets of the Royal Family. From his own perspective, aside from the fact that Allen had not yet awakened as a Sentinel, he was practically flawless as an heir in all other aspects.

Allen’s personality was somewhat aloof, and he was naturally not as well-rounded in dealing with people as Anthony, but he was not difficult to get along with. At the very least, during the month Pei Yao spent with him, Pei Yao had never been reprimanded by him, nor had he seen Allen be as “difficult” as the rumors outside claimed.

As for the awakening… although Allen was fourteen and still an ordinary person, his mental power was already exceptionally strong. As a Sentinel, even Pei Yao was occasionally shaken by Allen’s mental pressure. If Allen were to awaken in the future, he would undoubtedly become a powerful Sentinel; Pei Yao had never doubted this. However, judging from the rumors he had heard, the Emperor had indeed decided to abandon him because Allen was so late to awaken.

The heir must be a Sentinel. This was an unwritten rule within the Royal Family.

First, six months ago, Prince Allen’s direct faction members all lost their seats in the Council elections. Subsequently, the Emperor launched a royal joint proposal to recognize the legal inheritance rights of his illegitimate son, Anthony. After a series of operations, the thirty-one-year-old illegitimate son, Anthony, successfully became the Emperor’s primary legal heir. The fourteen-year-old former Crown Prince Allen was demoted to the second legal heir. The Paladin Legion, which had always belonged to the Crown Prince, was transferred to the new heir after Anthony’s investiture. Now, the Emperor was sending Allen to Planet Apollo for “recuperation” under the guise of “frail health.” By this point, Allen had been completely discarded.

Pei Yao actually still didn’t understand why the Emperor made such a hasty decision. Sentinels usually awaken earlier than Guides, typically between ages ten and twelve, but it wasn’t unheard of for Sentinels to awaken at fourteen or fifteen. Furthermore, Allen was taller than his peers, had moderate muscle development, strong mental power, and showed no dependency on anyone. He possessed a strong personality and was the descendant of Empress Marianne, who came from the strongest family of Guides. The probability of an “Ability User” appearing among the offspring of a Sentinel and Guide pairing like the Emperor and the late Empress was very high. All things considered, it was still very likely that Allen would awaken as a Sentinel.

“Why have you stopped talking?” The room temperature had risen, and Allen felt much more comfortable; some color returned to his face. “I’m truly curious—how did Anthony accept you? Did he believe you just because you swore an oath? Or did you use some other method?”

Allen looked Pei Yao up and down and gave a mocking smile. “Did you use this handsome face of yours? A pity you are a Sentinel; if you were a Guide, Anthony would likely have been unable to wait to mark you. I forgot to tell you… Anthony is famous for swinging both ways. If you haven’t earned his full trust yet, you could always strip naked…”

“Your Highness!” A trace of bloodshot appeared in Pei Yao’s eyes. Even with a good temper, he was a twenty-seven-year-old single Sentinel. Without the soothing of a Guide, being repeatedly provoked made it extremely easy for him to fall into a “manic state.” Pei Yao took a deep breath, closed his eyes to suppress the inner agitation, and returned to normal in a moment. He said word by word, “Please mind your decorum.”

Allen sneered. “Stop using that etiquette teacher’s routine on me. Are there reporters here? Will we be secretly photographed? Save it; no one is going to waste their effort on a former Prince.”

Pei Yao said in a heavy voice, “So Your Highness still remembers that you were once the Prince. Your Highness… I have heard some rumors as to why His Majesty made this decision. If it truly is only because of the awakening, then…”

It would have been better if Pei Yao hadn’t spoken; as soon as Allen heard the word “awakening,” he was instantly enraged. He roared loudly: “Shut up! Who gave you permission to lecture me?!”

Pei Yao paused, then continued in a low voice: “If it truly is as I have said, then I ask Your Highness to be patient. Although the probability is small, theoretically, an awakening is possible until age twenty. I hope Your Highness will stop giving up on yourself and calmly work on repairing your relationship with the Emperor. In the future, if…”

Allen was so angry he laughed. “Repairing the relationship with the Emperor? Ha… Hahaha… Repairing the relationship with him? Pei Yao… have you gone mad?”

“Major General Pei Yao.” Allen coughed a few times and looked up at Pei Yao. “You should know of my mother… the noble Empress Marianne. Because she was one of those rare Guides, because she was born into the Familia family with the purest bloodline, and because your Emperor was compatible with her! Your Emperor—the invincible, great Emperor Alston—forced her into a ‘Union Fever’ during her maturity and married her by force! That year… my mother was only fifteen.”

“He destroyed my mother, along with her dreams, her freedom, and her everything. My mother never loved him for a single day, yet because of the submissiveness of being marked, she served him for nearly thirty years until the very end…” Allen paused, struggling to keep his voice steady. “Until the end, when her oil was spent and her lamp went out, your Emperor actually had the hypocrisy to tell her that he loved her… Haha…”

Allen’s eyes were full of hostility, his voice hoarse: “The pity is that my mother believed him… Before she died, she made the seven-year-old me swear to always respect and love him. And now?”

Allen’s eyes were bloodshot as he gritted his teeth and pressed Pei Yao: “What about now?! He suddenly has a thirty-year-old illegitimate son! Anthony has taken my position as Crown Prince! That wretch he hid somewhere is now enjoying the glory that should have belonged to my mother! Major General Pei Yao, you want me to repair my relationship with the Emperor? Then you tell me—on what basis should I reconcile with him?! If I beg him for pity, would I be doing justice to Empress Marianne, who was deceived and had her life destroyed by him?!”

Pei Yao’s Adam’s apple bobbed. Just as he was about to say something, Allen interrupted him with a hoarse, mocking laugh: “You know nothing, yet you dare come before me and spout such nonsense. Heh… did Anthony send you as a lobbyist to make me act sensibly? Didn’t you just tell my nurse not to meddle? Now you come here to play the ‘good person.’ Major General Pei Yao… you truly disgust me!”

Pei Yao’s right fist clenched tight, then relaxed after a moment. He said in a heavy voice, “No matter what you think of me…”

Beep… Beep-beep-beep… Beep-beep-beep-beep…

A piercing alarm cut off Pei Yao’s words. Simultaneously, the starship lurched violently. The central alarm immediately issued a red warning. Pei Yao instinctively shielded Allen behind him, and a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead…

Enemy attack!