The Silly Prince Successfully Cancels the Engagement, But the Fiancée is His Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: The Public Notice Period

Xiang Zhuo recognized Bai Qing’s status as a respected opponent in his heart. He originally intended to check on Bai Qing after he recovered and his heat period passed, but when he came to his senses, he was already sitting on a long bench in the hospital corridor outside Bai Qing’s room.

The nurse beside him was scolding him non-stop, yet she was meticulously cleaning the burnt, necrotic flesh on his palms, applying medicine, and bandaging the wounds.

At a high temperature of over $200^circtext{C}$, if not treated, the skin and flesh of his palms would rot.

He didn’t register a single word of the nurse’s admonishments. Instead, his eyes were bloodshot, staring at the scene inside the ward, hesitating to go in.

He was going mad. He felt like he was truly going insane.

The unconscious Omega inside was the Beta he had always admired. He had verbally abused the Omega while sympathizing with the Beta’s quiet demeanor.

Ye Sheng bustled around inside for a long time, meticulously remembering the doctor’s instructions, watching the drip rate of the IV, and comforting Bai Qing’s parents who had rushed over. He also had to deal with the teary-eyed greetings from Bai Qing’s mother, Yu Xin: “Xiao Ye, thank goodness you were here this time. The on-site protection was excellent, preventing major damage. I thank you on behalf of our Qingqing.”

Ye Sheng waved his hand with a smile: “You’re too kind, Auntie. I’m a few months older than Qingqing, and I treat him like a younger brother. It’s my duty to look after him. He just pushed himself too hard this time, plus the heat period. Now with medication to suppress it, the doctor said he’ll be fine once he gets through the heat and rests up. No need to worry.”

Bai Jinfeng (Bai Qing’s father) looked at Ye Sheng with increasing satisfaction: “Xiao Ye, do you have a favorite Omega yet? Look, our Qingqing is also an Omega, what a coincidence. You two grew up together and know each other well. After Qingqing cancels his engagement, maybe…”

Ye Sheng: “…”

Yu Xin pinched Bai Jinfeng’s thigh hard. Bai Jinfeng gave a low groan of pain and retreated from the discussion. Yu Xin then looked up and smiled: “Xiao Ye, don’t listen to your uncle’s nonsense. He just likes to play matchmaker. Aren’t you tired? We’ll watch over things here; why don’t you go back and rest?”

Since Yu Xin had spoken, Ye Sheng dared not stay any longer and fled at lightning speed.

He was terrified. If he stayed in the ward any longer, he’d have to start calling them Mom and Dad.

As Ye Sheng left the room, he ran right into Xiang Zhuo sitting on the bench outside. Ye Sheng raised an eyebrow: “Prince, why are you here?”

Xiang Zhuo’s brow was tightly furrowed: “How is he?”

Ye Sheng sat down conveniently: “You don’t need to blame yourself. His heat was already delayed by several days and only started acting up near the end of the match. He’s lucky, though. He just overexerted himself during the fight, consumed too much mental energy, and his physical strength couldn’t keep up. He has a slight cerebral injury, but it’s okay. With medication and rest as prescribed, he’ll be fine.”

Xiang Zhuo: “When he wakes up, please apologize to him for me.”

Ye Sheng looked mystified: “Aren’t you going to wait until he wakes up and tell him yourself?”

Ye Sheng thought he was apologizing for hurting Bai Qing during the match, but only Xiang Zhuo knew his apologies went far deeper than that.

Xiang Zhuo turned, looking at the quietly sleeping Bai Qing and his parents watching over him in the room, and shook his head: “Let him rest well first. He’s still in his heat period, so it’s not appropriate for me to see him.”

Ye Sheng nodded: “That works too. But why are you always hanging out in the lobby of the Genetic Match Testing Service System? Can’t get in? Oh right, you want to look up Bai Qing’s ID to apply for genetic match unbinding, right? Here, I happen to have it…”

“It’s a coincidence, Bai Qing asked me to prepare the unbinding application form before the match. I have the ready information here. Your chance of success will be higher if you fill it out again…”

Xiang Zhuo: “No…”

Before Xiang Zhuo could finish, Ye Sheng enthusiastically sent Xiang Zhuo a screenshot of the homepage of Bai Qing’s Genetic Match Testing Service System.

Xiang Zhuo tried to refuse, but his eyes were faster than his mouth, and he had already seen the facial features of the ID photo Bai Qing had uploaded in the image.

Xiang Zhuo: “…”

It confirmed his thought once more: identical to Bai Yu.

Xiang Zhuo closed his eyes, his heart turning to ashes.

“Tha… Thanks…” Xiang Zhuo managed to squeeze out the two words.

“You’re… You’re welcome,” Ye Sheng said, utterly bewildered by his demeanor, and then said goodbye and left.

…

Xiang Zhuo sat sluggishly on the sofa, completely wilted.

Jing Yu rushed over after class, opened the door with a spare key, and the first thing he saw was this scene.

“You called me over so urgently, what’s wrong?”

Xiang Zhuo suddenly looked up: “I lost.”

Jing Yu: “That’s great, isn’t it? At least if Bai Qing asks to cancel the engagement, the current King will definitely agree.”

Xiang Zhuo: “Bai Qing is Bai Yu.”

Jing Yu: “…”

“Who?”

Jing Yu’s brain did three turns. Combining today’s battle situation, Xiang Zhuo’s obsession with his “soulmate,” and the previous trail of clues, he figured out that Xiang Zhuo must have recognized him immediately upon fighting.

The worry in Jing Yu’s eyes immediately turned to understanding.

“So now you don’t want to cancel the engagement?”

Xiang Zhuo: “I will.”

Jing Yu was astonished: “That’s unexpected. Now your dream Omega and soulmate have merged into one person. Are you really willing to cancel the engagement with such a person? And your genetic match is so high; it’s too much of a pity.”

Xiang Zhuo: “He has been preparing the cancellation documents and submitting the unbinding and cancellation applications. He is serious.”

Jing Yu: “So what if the whole Eternal Empire knows you want to cancel the engagement? So what if you went all out and embarrassed yourself? I advise you to think clearly. The initiative is not in your hands right now.”

Xiang Zhuo fell silent again. It took him a long time to speak: “He never intended to marry me from the start.”

…

Bai Qing woke up groggily, feeling an immense headache.

He was still on an IV drip. The cold medicine flowed through the tube into his body, making his arm feel icy.

His throat hurt as if it were being cut by razor blades. He coughed a few times, which made his lungs ache. But as soon as he stopped coughing, a cup of warm water was immediately held to his lips.

Bai Qing took a small sip to wet his throat, looked up, and almost choked on the water.

Xiang Zhuo said in a low voice: “Don’t worry, I sprayed pheromone blockers before coming. I can’t sense the pheromones you’re releasing temporarily.”

Bai Qing: “You also don’t worry. I will definitely apply to His Majesty the King to cancel the engagement on the award ceremony day.”

Xiang Zhuo: “…”

He gnashed his teeth: “Bai Qing, don’t you have anything to explain to me?”

Bai Qing looked bewildered: “What?”

A faint sense of grievance and helplessness rose in Xiang Zhuo’s heart. He liked Bai Yu so much, but he was completely out of options.

Seeing Xiang Zhuo remain silent, Bai Qing assumed he had come to question him, worrying that he wouldn’t honor his promise. Bai Qing’s voice was hoarse: “Rest assured, since I said it, then our photos will never appear on the same marriage certificate.”

Xiang Zhuo’s eyes were bloodshot: “Must we cancel the engagement?”

Bai Qing looked up: “To avoid us growing to despise each other in the future, I suggest you proceed as we previously agreed.”

Xiang Zhuo was somewhat afraid to look into Bai Qing’s eyes. The frantic questioning when the match ended seemed to have completely drained his courage in front of Bai Qing.

In this situation, he couldn’t bring himself to say, “I like you.”

Even if he did, Bai Qing wouldn’t believe him.

Everyone knew that the Prince had an unobtainable ‘White Moonlight.’

That ‘White Moonlight’ was the Beta with whom he had a soul connection in the underground arena.

Now, that Beta had been unmasked, and his unobtainable ‘White Moonlight’ was his Omega fiancé with 99.9% genetic compatibility.

He had actually been trying to cancel the engagement the whole time! What the hell!

“Also, Your Highness, as exchange for my promise to request the cancellation of the engagement from the King, please don’t tell anyone else about me disguising an Omega as a Beta to go to the underground arena.”

Xiang Zhuo gritted his teeth: “…Fine.”

Bai Qing smiled comfortably: “Thank you.”

Xiang Zhuo was startled.

Then he instinctively backed away, stumbling several times, nearly knocking over the bedside stand. He clumsily righted the stand, put the scattered items back on it, and then fled with his neck red, not daring to look back.

Bai Qing remained in place, slowly withdrawing his gaze.

…

After careful consideration, Xiang Zhuo finally returned to Stunkin Palace.

He selfishly wanted to fight for himself.

He went up to the seldom-used rooftop, gazing at the distant, vast starry sky until his mood gradually calmed down.

That smile from Bai Qing had nearly made him surrender.

It was too fatal.

Xiang Zhuo roughly estimated the time. It was when His Majesty the King finished his day’s official duties and was preparing to go to bed.

Xiang Zhuo immediately set off. Just as he expected, he encountered the King’s guard detail on the path leading to the King’s sleeping quarters. Xiang Zhuo ignored them and blocked His Majesty’s path.

His Majesty the King rubbed his brow wearily: “You’re looking for me so late, what is it?”

Xiang Zhuo didn’t know how to start and hesitated: “The matter of me and Bai Qing canceling the engagement…”

His Majesty the King thought he was urging him again and was slightly impatient: “Don’t worry. Coincidentally, the unbinding application submitted by Bai Qing was sent to me for approval this morning. I have already approved it. A formal document will be sent to both your terminals tomorrow. The next steps are the announcement and public notice. In about three days, your and Bai Qing’s identity IDs will no longer be linked, and the marriage contract will be void.”

“…Please don’t advance it for now.”

His Majesty the King looked at his only son, who was stunned, and smiled faintly: “You’ve talked to me about this so many times, and I kept delaying it. I certainly had my selfish reasons, but now I’ve thought it through. You young people have your own ideas. No matter how much I object, it won’t help. The path is yours to walk. Go and find your own happiness.”

Xiang Zhuo: “…”

Xiang Zhuo blinked: “…………………………………………………..”