The Cannon Fodder Became the Empire's Beloved Omega - Chapter 56

Gu Yu furrowed his brows.

Le Meng was baffled by the inexplicable remark, looking at the two with a blank expression. But Yu Ruan instantly understood the meaning behind Si Yuxiao’s words, a faint blush immediately spreading across his face.

Subconsciously covering the back of his neck, Yu Ruan tried to explain but felt it would only make things more obvious. So he could only say, “You might have misunderstood.”

Si Yuxiao let out an “Oh,” then smiled gently. “So it seems I guessed right?”

“…” Yu Ruan closed his mouth.

He turned his gaze to Gu Yu beside him, instinctively seeking help from him.

Gu Yu’s expression darkened slightly as he coldly stared at Si Yuxiao, unsure if he felt offended by the question. Noticing Yu Ruan’s gaze, his expression softened slightly, and he asked, “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing much, I just wanted to see for myself,” Si Yuxiao smiled at him, looking completely harmless. “I was just discussing this with Ruan Ruan earlier and thought, as someone with experience, it was necessary to give him a heads-up. What are you angry?”

Gu Yu lifted his eyes.

“Oh dear, that’s not good,” Si Yuxiao turned back to Yu Ruan. “It seems your partner here has quite the temper. Our Ruan Ruan better keep his eyes open and not end up with a wolf in sheep’s clothing, huh?”

“No, you really misunderstood,” Yu Ruan tried hard to explain to Si Yuxiao. “Gu Yu is a very good person. He just seems a bit aloof, but in reality, he’s actually very.” He paused for a few seconds, struggling to find the right word, “tsundere.”

Gu Yu’s eyebrow twitched, and he turned his gaze to Yu Ruan’s face.

Yu Ruan: “…”

Oh no, he said the wrong thing.

Yu Ruan quickly tried to salvage the situation: “I meant it as a compliment.”

“?”

“It means you’re someone who’s tough on the outside but soft on the inside, really, really good!”

“…”

Yu Ruan guiltily lowered his head and muttered, “Anyway, it’s a misunderstanding.”

Beside him, Le Meng nodded in agreement. “Yeah, yeah, His Highness Gu Yu is a very good person. He’s not the kind of bad Alpha you think he is, Mr. Si! This really is a misunderstanding!”

Hearing these words, the smile on Si Yuxiao’s face gradually faded.

He stared at Yu Ruan’s face, as if trying to find some reaction that would satisfy him.

Yu Ruan looked at him, puzzled, and blinked.

As if triggered by this reaction, Si Yuxiao soon smiled again and said, “So that’s how it is. It seems I misunderstood His Highness Gu Yu. I hope you won’t hold it against someone like me. I apologize here.”

Gu Yu glanced indifferently at Si Yuxiao, neither accepting nor rejecting the apology. He walked over to Yu Ruan’s side, glanced at the menu in his hand, and asked, “What did you order?”

Yu Ruan glanced at Si Yuxiao beside him and listed the items he had ordered for Gu Yu. Si Yuxiao sat nearby, watching intently as Yu Ruan spoke with Gu Yu. A smile lingered on his face, with no trace of anger at being ignored.

As he spoke, Yu Ruan suddenly realized something felt off.

He didn’t interact with many people at Nebula, and most of them were close to Gu Yu. People like Han Ran and Cheng Mu usually called Gu Yu by his full name without any formality. Others who were merely classmates rarely encountered situations where he and Gu Yu were together.

This led to a rather peculiar situation aside from Yue Meng, he rarely witnessed others addressing Gu Yu with such a formal honorific. And yet, Yue Meng was a particularly polite girl.

Now, Si Yuxiao’s words finally made him sense something amiss.

“Your Highness?” he couldn’t help but murmur under his breath.

“Hmm? Ruan Ruan, didn’t you know?” Si Yuxiao smiled brightly. “Isn’t this the heir apparent of our empire? He’s quite famous on the capital planet. The dream Alpha in the hearts of countless young men and women. Ah, I didn’t misremember, did I?”

“Heir apparent?” Yu Ruan blinked in confusion, instinctively turning to look at Gu Yu.

Si Yuxiao raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Gu Yu’s expression turned cold, clearly displeased with the title.

But Yu Ruan no longer had the mind to dwell on that. His head was filled with the phrase “Gu Yu is the empire’s heir apparent,” and he felt utterly unsettled.

Gu Yu was actually the former heir apparent of the empire!

Yu Ruan’s thoughts were in disarray, his heart brimming with shock. He glanced at Gu Yu once, then again, overwhelmed by a profound sense of surrealism.

Noticing his reaction, Gu Yu also sensed something unusual. He lowered his head and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Yu Ruan opened his mouth but found himself at a loss for words. Thinking back carefully, Gu Yu had never actually denied his identity. Recalling further, the other had even asked if he minded the matter. Instead, Yu Ruan had mistakenly assumed it was about renting the apartment and misunderstood until now.

He was utterly mortified, abruptly standing up from his chair. “Yue Meng, I’m sorry, but I just remembered I have some other matters to attend to. I have to go now. Let’s meet another time when we have the chance.”

Without waiting for anyone to respond, Yu Ruan quickly strode out of the restaurant, practically darting through the door.

Watching his fleeing figure, Yue Meng nodded blankly and murmured a dazed “Okay.” She glanced down at the medal box left untouched on the table, blinked, and instinctively looked at Gu Yu. “Your Highness?”

Gu Yu frowned as he gazed into the distance, his attention drawn back by her voice. He took the box Yue Meng handed him and cast a deep look at Si Yuxiao, who responded with an utterly innocent smile.

“I didn’t say anything,” Si Yuxiao spread his hands. “Why are you looking at me like that? Is it because I spoke the truth, and you’re afraid of Ruan Ruan finding out you’re actually the capital planet’s heartthrob?”

Gu Yu withdrew his gaze, ignoring the stranger who seemed intent on provoking him. He turned to the bewildered Yue Meng and said, “I’ll go check on him.”

Yu Ruan returned to the Sky Garden in a state of turmoil.

As soon as he entered his room, he realized he had left the medal box at the restaurant. Though Gu Yu was there and he didn’t need to worry about the medal getting lost, the thought of the other coming to find him filled him with anxiety.

After lying on the bed for a while, Yu Ruan didn’t dare delay any longer. He randomly picked out a few textbooks from his room, grabbed his bag, and headed out. He planned to spend the afternoon at the library, pretending to be engrossed in his studies.

To avoid being tracked down by Gu Yu, Yu Ruan deliberately put on a hat before leaving, then cautiously made his way to the library.

Halfway down the road, an unfamiliar notification popped up in his neural interface.

Yu Ruan opened the message and skimmed through it briefly. He discovered that the sender was Qi Shu, Lin Fenghan’s adjutant.

Qi Shu briefly introduced himself, explaining that he was temporarily responsible for coordinating Lin Fenghan’s schedule. He requested that Yu Ruan send over his class timetable when convenient, so that he could draft a training schedule accommodating both their free periods.

The library was relatively empty at this hour. Yu Ruan found a secluded corner far from the windows, saved his schedule from the neural interface, packaged it, and sent it to Qi Shu. Then, he opened his textbook.

Unsurprisingly, he couldn’t focus on a single word.

The memory of how naively he had once hoped to meet the former Imperial Crown Prince and offer his position to him made Yu Ruan cringe so hard he wished he could vanish into the ground. In his eyes, Gu Yu was excessively outstanding, and he couldn’t fathom why someone like him would willingly step aside for a slacker like himself.

Shouldn’t Gu Yu despise him instead?

Recalling the complicated looks Gu Yu often gave him, Yu Ruan suddenly felt he had an explanation for Gu Yu’s recent behavior.

Even the most exceptional individuals could feel worn out. Especially someone like Gu Yu, burdened with pressure from all sides wanting to slack off was only natural.

At this point, Yu Ruan finally understood: perhaps the relationship between him and Gu Yu could be aptly renamed the “Slackers’ Mutual Aid Alliance.”

With mixed feelings, Yu Ruan picked up his textbook and flipped through a few pages.

Soon, a notification from his neural interface caught his attention. He glanced down and saw that the message was from Qi Shu. Attached was the completed training schedule, followed by a brief note:

【If Your Highness has no objections, I will arrange transportation to pick you up from Nebula Academy according to the schedule. Is that acceptable?】

Yu Ruan hadn’t expected such a swift response and was taken aback. He couldn’t resist opening the schedule for a look, only to stare blankly at the densely packed text.

7:30–11:30 Training
11:30–12:30 Break
13:00–18:00 Training
18:00…

Wasn’t this schedule a bit too packed?!

After reading it, Yu Ruan felt his muscles ache in anticipation. Trembling slightly, he stared at the screen and couldn’t help but wonder: if he politely expressed to Lin Fenghan that the training intensity was too high and he couldn’t handle it, would the other be willing to cut him some slack?

He doubted it.

Dejectedly, Yu Ruan closed his neural interface, his heart sinking into despair.

He picked up his textbook again, hoping to distract himself from the impending misery. Just then, a pale, slender hand appeared in front of him, placing a warm can of milk tea on the table.

Yu Ruan instinctively looked up and saw Gu Yu setting his backpack down gently. “The 9 PM batch needs a bit more time,” Gu Yu said. “I asked them to deliver it downstairs. This is all they had for now Le Meng said it’s sweet too, so make do with it for now.”

Taking the milk tea he handed over, Yu Ruan felt a sudden flutter in his chest. For some reason, his heartbeat seemed to quicken.

It took a moment before he belatedly widened his eyes and immediately wanted to dart away. “Why are you here?!”

Gu Yu gave a soft hum, bending down to sit. “Someone saw you heading this way, so I came directly.”

Yu Ruan fell silent.

He really shouldn’t have run out and walked right into a trap.

Facing Yu Ruan’s reaction, Gu Yu remained calm. He seemed to be pondering something, a hint of seriousness showing between his brows as he looked up. “Do you have time?”

“Yes,” Yu Ruan hesitated. “What’s wrong?”

“I have something I want to say to you.” He rose from where he was sitting, walked over to Yu Ruan, and fixed his deep blue eyes intently on him. “Can we talk? Do you have time?”

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