The Cannon Fodder Became the Empire's Beloved Omega - Chapter 45

The dark blue eyes shimmered with shifting shadows. Gu Yu’s expression was heavy and stern, instantly making Yu Ruan feel a bit flustered.

Was he angry?

Noticing Gu Yu’s reaction, Yu Ruan couldn’t help but wonder: Had his words been too messy, making it seem like there was something between them, and making Gu Yu uncomfortable?

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed plausible. Hesitating for a moment, Yu Ruan steeled himself and continued to explain, “Sorry, I might have caused a misunderstanding just now. Actually, Gu Yu and I were dancing, he was teaching me. It’s just a friendly interaction between classmates, really, there’s no other relationship.”

For some reason, Yu Ruan felt that the more he explained, the angrier the Alpha beside him seemed to become.

He awkwardly fell silent.

On the other hand, Ye Yizhou, as if having enjoyed the spectacle enough, said with a light laugh, “Oh? What misunderstanding? Do tell.”

“……” Yu Ruan was stumped.

Did he really have to recount the whole incident in detail? That would be way too awkward.

Just then, Gu Yu, who had been silent beside him, suddenly spoke up: “We really were just dancing.” After a brief pause, he asked, “Do you need something?”

“Since I’m here, of course I should say hello before leaving,” Ye Yizhou raised an eyebrow. “What, not happy?”

Gu Yu didn’t respond to that, only saying, “Is there anything else?”

“No,” Ye Yizhou said, though his eyes swept over to Yu Ruan. “But as a teacher, wanting to chat a bit more with my student isn’t too outrageous, is it?”

“Right? My dear student?”

Yu Ruan: “……” Was he being held a grudge against?

He blinked in confusion, glancing at Gu Yu, then at Ye Yizhou, feeling that the atmosphere around them was off in every way.

Suddenly, a chime sounded in his ear. Yu Ruan instinctively answered the call, and Cheng Mu’s voice came through from the other end: “Ruan Ruan, have you seen Gu Yu? Is he with you right now?”

Yu Ruan nodded instinctively, then realized the other person couldn’t see him. Taking advantage of the moment while Ye Yizhou and Gu Yu were talking, he quietly stepped back a bit and lowered his voice to say, “Yes, do you need him for something?”

“Is it possible for him to take the call?”

Glancing at the Alpha standing stiffly in the distance, Yu Ruan replied, “Probably not very convenient.”

“??”

“He’s talking with Professor Ye right now,” Yu Ruan said, resigned. “And he looks not very happy.”

“Professor Ye?” Cheng Mu was taken aback for a moment before realizing Yu Ruan was probably referring to Ye Yizhou. Recalling the earlier scene, he paused in disbelief and instantly understood why Yu Ruan would say Gu Yu seemed unhappy.

One was a man of few words, practically a block of wood; the other was an incredibly dense little fool. These two were truly something else.

Thinking this, Cheng Mu could only try to comfort him: “It’s fine, it’s fine. Gu Yu just doesn’t get along very well with His Highness the Regent. He’s usually like that. Don’t worry too much about him, he knows how to handle himself.”

Yu Ruan let out an “Oh,” suddenly enlightened: So they really were brothers with a complicated relationship! No wonder their way of interacting was so awkward!

No wonder Ye Yizhou had gone out of his way to call him and ask him to be a little gentler with Gu Yu. So that was the reason!

“I get it now!” he whispered, filled with gratitude towards Cheng Mu. “So that’s how it is, thank you. I understand brothers often have awkward relationships. I’ll go comfort him in a bit.”

Cheng Mu: “…?” Did he hear that wrong just now?

Did the little cutie actually say that Ye Yizhou and Gu Yu were brothers?? No way? Could it be that the little cutie still didn’t know that Ye Yizhou and the Gu family had always been on extremely bad terms, practically archrivals?

Brothers?? They weren’t the slightest bit related!!

Cheng Mu: “…” Did he just stumble upon something huge.

Yu Ruan, full of determination, was about to go comfort Gu Yu when Cheng Mu suddenly spoke up again: “Ruanruan, don’t rush. Their issues can be sorted out later. Are you fully prepared for the competition? There’s only about half an hour left better make sure everything’s in order.”

Hearing this, Yu Ruan froze.

Truthfully, he had already prepared thoroughly before coming. But being questioned so abruptly made him start doubting whether he might have missed something.

Noticing the silence on the other end, Cheng Mu knew his gamble had paid off. He quickly pressed his advantage: “In that case, why don’t you go ask Gu Yu? That guy is super meticulous, he’ll definitely know if anything’s missing!”

Cheng Mu felt like he was the ultimate wingman of the Gaia Empire. If Gu Yu and the little cutie actually ended up together, they’d better give him an enormous red envelope to properly thank him for all his subtle matchmaking efforts.

Yu Ruan nodded blankly, said “Okay,” and ended the call with Cheng Mu. He quietly slipped back and carefully tugged at Gu Yu’s sleeve, addressing Ye Yizhou proactively: “Professor Ye.”

He decided to stop overthinking and just use the most familiar form of address. No matter what, “Professor Ye” sounded much warmer than the icy “Your Excellency the Regent.”

Hearing this, Ye Yizhou shifted his gaze over, seemingly without any objection. A faint smile played on his lips as he asked, “What is it?”

“The competition will start soon,” Yu Ruan said shyly. “May I borrow Gu Yu for a moment? I wanted to ask him about his competition preparations and go over some details.”

Maybe it was his imagination, but Yu Ruan felt like the Alpha beside him inexplicably brightened the moment he spoke up.

“Did you forget something?” Gu Yu asked him.

“Got everything,” Yu Ruan replied. “Just wanted to check if you’re fully prepared.”

Ye Yizhou looked between them: “Found a partner?”

Yu Ruan nodded.

Ye Yizhou gave a light chuckle and asked Gu Yu, “So are you sticking to tradition again this year, going for the lone champion title?”

“That has nothing to do with me.”

“Oh? So you’re admitting defeat?”

“?” Gu Yu slowly lifted his eyes. “I have a partner.”

“Noticing Ye Yizhou’s suddenly subtle expression, Yu Ruan weakly raised his hand, feeling even more like a student caught dating by a teacher. “Um, actually, Gu Yu and I formed a team earlier.”

“He took pity on me having no one to team up with, so he partnered with me,” Yu Ruan explained awkwardly. “Probably won’t be winning the solo championship this year.”

Ye Yizhou raised an eyebrow.

His gaze shifted between the two of them, as if observing something quite intriguing. After a moment, he said to Gu Yu, “This development is truly unexpected.”

“There are many surprises in the world,” Gu Yu replied indifferently. “There will always be things beyond your expectations.”

Ye Yizhou chuckled softly and didn’t press the topic further. He gave Yu Ruan a slight smile and said, “Well then, I wish you success in the competition. Shall I congratulate the future champions in advance?”

Gu Yu gave a noncommittal “Hmm,” actively responding to his words.

Yu Ruan whispered a “Thank you” to Ye Yizhou, bid him farewell, and then tugged Gu Yu along as they left the hall.

After lingering for so long, the crowd in the ballroom had already begun to disperse. Yu Ruan asked Gu Yu to wait for him for a moment while he ran back to the dormitory to change into casual clothes.

When he returned, Yu Ruan noticed that Gu Yu’s elaborate formal attire had been replaced by his usual everyday outfit. He was leaning lazily against the wall outside the door, eyes closed as if dozing. A faint shadow fell beneath his eyelids, and with one hand half in his pocket, the prominent bone of his wrist was loosely exposed.

Yu Ruan paused mid-step, feeling an inexplicable flutter in his chest.

Hearing the sound, Gu Yu lifted his eyelids and slowly turned his gaze toward Yu Ruan. As if oblivious to Yu Ruan’s unusual reaction, he simply said, “Let’s go. We’re almost late.”

“Okay.”

On their way to the competition venue, Yu Ruan received a school-wide notification about the competition rules.

He opened it and carefully reviewed the details. The game rules hadn’t changed much compared to previous years, but this time, the theme was set in a medieval castle with a vampire aesthetic eerie and terrifying.

The moment the 3D model of the game arena appeared, some students cheered excitedly: “Wow, I love this theme! Halloween, midnight, vampires, it looks thrilling!”

“Ahh, this is amazing!” “Seems like the school really put effort into it this time. How fun!”

Unlike the excitement around him, Yu Ruan hesitated as he looked at the map in his hand.

Noticing his distraction, Gu Yu asked, “Is there a problem?”

Yu Ruan replied awkwardly, “I’m a bit timid.” He glanced at Gu Yu, who was waiting for him to continue, and added sheepishly, “If anything too scary shows up later, I might not be much help to you.”

Gu Yu gave an “Hmm” and said, “It’s fine.” After a moment, he added, as if explaining, “It’s a team game. Don’t worry about it.”

Yu Ruan was taken aback for a second before realizing that Gu Yu was probably telling him not to overthink it. The purpose of teaming up was to complement each other, so he should relax and not feel guilty about it.

Although the young master was usually reserved and aloof, he was surprisingly reliable when it mattered.

As they spoke, a voice called out to them from a distance. Yu Ruan instinctively turned and saw Han Ran. She had her hair tied in a high ponytail and was wearing a black jacket, skinny pants, and a canvas bag slung at her waist looking spirited and confident.

Seeing that Yu Ruan had finally noticed her, she strode over. “How are the preparations? Think you can handle it, or will you turn and run at the sight of this place?”

She gestured with her thumb toward the castle behind her.

Yu Ruan walked over to take a look. In the distance, the castle was hidden in the night, towering and imposing, with an eerie chill in the air. Even though he knew it was fake, he still found it a bit unsettling. However, since the two of them were now in a competitive relationship, he didn’t want to lose face even if he lost the game. So he said, “It’s alright.”

After a moment of thought, he added seriously, “I’ll do my best to win the championship.”

Hearing this, Han Ran was slightly surprised. She raised an eyebrow and glanced at Gu Yu, her tone full of amusement. “Oh, really? Making such a bold claim?”

“It’s a team game,” Yu Ruan nodded. “I’ll try my best not to hold Gu Yu back.”

“Then good luck,” Han Ran encouraged him with a smile before turning to Gu Yu. “I won’t lose to you again this year. If you want to win the championship, you’ll have to get past me first.”

Gu Yu’s expression remained indifferent, as if he hadn’t even heard the provocative remark. Instead, he took Yu Ruan’s hand, met Han Ran’s gaze briefly, and said, “Let’s go.”

Yu Ruan instinctively waved goodbye to Han Ran, but before she could respond, Gu Yu had already led him away.

The two turned a corner and arrived at the entrance marked with nameplates, waiting for the admission slots to open. As they waited, Gu Yu suddenly spoke. “Next time you hear something like that, just ignore it.”

“Huh?”

“Not every conversation requires a response,” he said calmly. “Some things aren’t worth replying to. Just pretend you didn’t hear them.”

“…” Yu Ruan felt he understood now why Han Ran had thought it was a good thing when she’d heard he couldn’t dance last time.

Being this rational really made one prone to being disliked by others.

He nodded in agreement but couldn’t resist secretly squeezing the Alpha’s hand. Under Gu Yu’s faint gaze, he pursed his lips and smiled. “Well, maybe next time, you could try replying to things you think don’t need a response?”

“Huh?”

“Even if some conversations seem pointless, replying won’t hurt anything,” Yu Ruan said. “And who knows? You might even find some unexpected fun in it.”

Gu Yu watched him quietly.

Seeing that there was still some time before the event started, Yu Ruan tentatively suggested, “For example, just now next time, you could say ‘thank you’?”

Gu Yu slowly raised an eyebrow, making Yu Ruan instantly feel embarrassed.

He flushed and said, “It’s just a suggestion.” After a moment’s thought, he added, “It does sound a bit strange, though.”

Responding to a challenge with a “thank you” did come off as sarcastic.

“Mm,” a voice of agreement came from beside him, making Yu Ruan’s face heat up. He lowered his head and quietly dropped the subject.

Just then, the panel a few steps away emitted a “beep” and switched to a welcome screen. Seeing this, Yu Ruan hurried toward the entrance, pretending nothing had happened.

Fortunately, Gu Yu didn’t press the issue. He simply walked silently to Yu Ruan’s side, and together they scanned their fingerprints.

In the next moment, a dark, deep passage suddenly appeared before them. The heavy scent of dust, mixed with a faint odor of decay and dampness, wafted toward them. The walls were covered in moss, crisscrossed with spiderwebs, and looked utterly dilapidated.

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