The Silly Prince Successfully Cancels the Engagement, But the Fiancée is His Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Full Recovery

After Bai Qing woke up, Chen Qinghua and his entire team conducted a comprehensive head-to-toe check-up. Only after confirming that Bai Qing was completely fine did he report the matter to His Majesty the King.

The King was overjoyed. He specifically instructed Bai Qing to stay at Stunken Palace for a few extra days and immediately relayed the good news of Bai Qing’s recovery to Bai Changsong and Meng Yunting.

Furthermore, fearing that the remnants of the Former Empire were targeting Bai Qing, the King specially assigned two top-tier soldiers to protect Bai Qing in secret.

Bai Qing also reported his safety to his parents right away. Listening to Yu Xin’s choked-up voice on the other end of the communication, a faint smile involuntarily appeared on Bai Qing’s lips: “I’m fine, Mom. I’m not that fragile.”

Meng Yunting, having apologized to the Bai family, personally came to apologize to Bai Qing.

Even now, cold sweat was still trickling down Meng Yunting’s back.

Having been involved with the remnants of the Former Empire, if the three students had truly died on Giant Forest Island, ten lives wouldn’t have been enough for him, the Dean, to atone.

Xiang Zhuo sat opposite Bai Qing, looking displeased: “Why is he so verbose? Doesn’t he know that someone who has just recovered needs peace and quiet?”

Bai Qing ended the communication and lowered his gaze. Unbeknownst to him, the space in front of him had been filled with exquisite small desserts by Xiang Zhuo.

Bai Qing: “A person who has just recovered should also eat less sweets.”

Xiang Zhuo looked smug: “Don’t worry, the kitchen staff at Stunken Palace know what they are doing.”

Bai Qing had never had a strong preference for sweets. Bai Jinfeng strongly believed in a healthy diet, believing all necessary nutrients could be obtained from three meals a day, provided the ingredients were well-matched.

Bai Qing skeptically scooped a small spoonful of the adorable and tempting strawberry cream cake in front of him. The moment the cream touched his tongue, a novel, sweet-and-sour taste instantly transmitted to his taste buds. The rich flavor of the cream was just right—not too sweet, not too heavy.

Seeing Bai Qing’s pupils widen by 5% more than usual, a strange sense of satisfaction welled up in Xiang Zhuo’s chest.

“I’ll go check the kitchen again to see if they have any fresh ingredients to send over.”

As soon as Xiang Zhuo left, a maid who was clearing fallen leaves below the terrace quietly asked the butler: “Is that the Crown Prince’s ‘White Moonlight’?”

The butler lowered his voice: “Of course not. That is Young Master Bai Qing of the Bai family. Do not inquire about His Highness’s private matters. Get back to your work.”

Bai Qing had lost his appetite and left half the cake. He placed the small silver spoon back and looked up at the distant scenery.

After this ordeal, his mental power seemed to have leveled up. Outside the massive Stunken Palace was a dense forest, and he could hear the chirping of small birds within it clearly.

Hearing the soft footsteps of a servant treading on the thick Persian carpet outside the door, he knew Xiang Zhuo was about to return.

The servant placed many delicate small dishes one by one on the small round table: the freshest rare fruits, and some original, innovative desserts…

Halfway through the process, Xiang Zhuo returned. He said like he was seeking praise: “Rest here these few days. I’ll send you back when you are completely well.”

Bai Qing looked up: “Your Highness, I’ve already canceled my leave. I plan to return to the academy tomorrow for classes. I won’t trouble you any longer today.”

Bai Qing’s words were sudden, and Xiang Zhuo didn’t immediately react: “Your body hasn’t fully recovered. Will you be able to handle classes so soon?”

Bai Qing nodded: “It’s fine. Please don’t worry, Your Highness.”

Xiang Zhuo suddenly felt something was wrong. Calling him “Your Highness” so frequently. He had only stepped out for a moment, yet he felt such a sense of distance.

Trying to ignore the strange feeling, Xiang Zhuo said: “I’ll take you back.”

Bai Qing shook his communicator. It happened to be on the communication screen for Ye Sheng: “I’ve asked Ye Sheng to pick me up. I won’t bother Your Highness.”

After sending Bai Qing off in the hovercar, Xiang Zhuo returned to the terrace. Without Bai Qing nearby, Xiang Zhuo’s face was grim, looking ready to explode with hostility.

He asked the butler: “Did anyone contact Bai Qing while I was in the kitchen?”

The butler answered truthfully: “There was only one call, which Bai Qing made to his good friend, Ye Sheng.”

Xiang Zhuo lowered his eyes, feeling very uneasy.

…

Xiang Zhuo woke up early and stood guard at the main entrance of the academy, like a door god, his eyes radiating intensity. No one dared to approach him.

A few brave students, emboldened by having spoken to Xiang Zhuo before, approached, attempting to say hello. However, Xiang Zhuo ignored them completely, and the chilling aura he exuded scared away everyone who tried to get close.

Suddenly, the coldness around him melted, and his expression softened instantly.

A person stepped out of an inconspicuous hovercar not far away—the weather was turning cold, and the person was wearing a long black coat to ward off the chill, with a blue knit scarf tied around their neck. As they moved, the scarf slipped, and the person meticulously tied it back, perfectly matching the original angle.

It was Bai Qing.

Bai Qing saw Xiang Zhuo as soon as he got out of the car and nodded to him from afar.

Xiang Zhuo wasn’t satisfied with this brief acknowledgment. He took a couple of steps, approaching Bai Qing, and smiled: “Morning.”

Bai Qing glanced at him.

For some reason, Xiang Zhuo was radiating heat. It was already late autumn, yet he was still wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt. After standing in the sun for a while at the entrance, his forehead was slightly dewy with sweat.

Bai Qing: “Aren’t you cold?”

Buried in his thick coat, Bai Qing looked like he belonged to a different season than Xiang Zhuo.

Xiang Zhuo chuckled: “I’m not cold. How are you feeling? Are you adjusting well?” As he spoke, he unconsciously tried to close the distance between them.

Bai Qing subtly shifted a step to the side: “I’m fine. Please don’t worry, Your Highness.”

Xiang Zhuo frowned. He was about to speak when a voice behind him drew Bai Qing’s full attention.

“Bai Qing—why did you leave early without telling me? What if something happened on the way? Didn’t we agree yesterday that I would pick you up from home these few days? Who would be at ease with you leaving by yourself?”

Ye Sheng, the ‘Mom-type’ childhood friend, rushed out of his car, panting as he chased after Bai Qing. He held a thermos in his left hand, a pillbox in his right, and had a thermal lunchbox slung over his arm: “Auntie told me you left without eating breakfast. Why are you so careless about your health? Do you want to end up back in the Critical Care Unit before you’re satisfied?”

Only after his rambling did Ye Sheng notice the scowling Xiang Zhuo: “Oh, Your Highness is here too. Have you eaten breakfast? Want to join us?”

Xiang Zhuo didn’t reply.

Bai Qing looked somewhat helpless: “I’ve eaten.”

Ye Sheng didn’t believe him: “Just nibbled on a few slices of dry bread? Auntie showed me the packaging. That’s hardly nutritious! The most important thing for you right now is to recover, understand? Come on, these were specially made by Uncle for you. I brought them all over…”

Ye Sheng pulled Bai Qing toward the cafeteria as he spoke.

The Military Academy enforced strict military management. Meal times were strictly regulated. Since the breakfast service time had passed, there weren’t many people around, only a few housekeeping mechas cleaning up.

Ye Sheng chose a warm spot to sit down and presented the dishes one by one: “Crab roe and tofu soup, golden shrimp dumplings, beef balls in sauce, blanched vegetable hearts. These are all your favorites. Hurry and eat, eat quickly, and take your medicine as soon as you finish…

“Your Highness, don’t be shy. Eat with us.”

Xiang Zhuo’s expression was grim. He stared intently at Bai Qing, having many things he wanted to say, but couldn’t articulate them.

How can you be so careless about your body? Why don’t you know how to take care of yourself? Does your head still hurt?

But under Ye Sheng’s affectionate, natural, and meticulous care just now, everything he wanted to say felt pale and powerless.

He thought merely saying a few words was caring, and waiting for Bai Qing at the academy gate early in the morning was looking after him. How arrogant he was.

“I’ve already eaten breakfast. You two take your time. I’ll head to the classroom first.”

“Okay, bye,” Ye Sheng waved at him. “Oh, right, Your Highness. Uncle and Auntie asked me to pass on a message if I saw you. They said thank you. Thanks to you taking Qingqing to Stunken Palace, he was able to recover so quickly and so well.”

Xiang Zhuo: “It was no trouble at all. Please tell them it was the least I could do.”

After Xiang Zhuo left, Ye Sheng whispered to Bai Qing: “What’s wrong with that guy? He looks so grumpy early in the morning.”

Bai Qing slowly sipped the crab roe and tofu soup: “I don’t know.”

“What about his ‘White Moonlight’? Why didn’t she try to talk some sense into him?”

Finding Ye Sheng’s conjecture somewhat amusing, the corner of Bai Qing’s mouth curved up by a single pixel: “I don’t know. Maybe they had a fight.”

…

The more Xiang Zhuo thought about it, the stranger it felt. After classes ended for the day, he skipped training and went straight back to Stunken Palace. Fortunately, Stunken Palace had a real-time, fully covered surveillance system. He stayed up all night in the monitoring room, using the terrace where they had afternoon tea as the center point, checking every corner, focusing especially on the time after he had left.

Finally, at dawn, Xiang Zhuo, with a pair of dark circles under his eyes, finally heard the conversation between the butler and the maid.

“Is that the Crown Prince’s ‘White Moonlight’?”

“Of course not. That is Young Master Bai Qing of the Bai family. Do not inquire about His Highness’s private matters. Get back to your work.”

Xiang Zhuo’s body suddenly relaxed. He leaned back in the soft chair, listening to the two sentences repeatedly. After a long while, the smile on his lips gradually widened, and he finally let out a soft chuckle.

…

The news that the Passion-Leaf Team successfully took down the Former Empire’s entrenched forces with only three members shocked the entire academy.

Especially Bai Qing. When the students heard that Bai Qing, relying on his formidable SSS+ mental power, plunged into the control hub alone, and without any protection, not only activated the control hub but also initiated the self-destruct sequence—paralyzing all mecha monsters and saving the lives of everyone in their team—the entire forum erupted.

[1L] Poster: Turns out the whole Giant Forest Island was seeded with traps by the Former Empire, not just the Passion-Leaf Team’s area. They were just unlucky enough that their final boss was the main encampment. If anyone else had taken that route, and those mecha monsters had activated all the other monsters on the island, every student in the wilderness drill might have died there.

[3L]: Too powerful. Bai Qing is too powerful. I can’t even imagine—being able to control the entire central control hub with the power of just one person? That’s broken.

[10L]: An immeasurable service, Bai Qing!

[14L]: If I were Dean Meng, I’d get down on my knees and thank Bai Qing. If an entire class of mecha combat freshmen had died on Giant Forest Island, it would have been a catastrophic teaching accident. If the higher-ups got angry, heads would roll from top to bottom.

[19L]: I watched the entire real-time footage. I have the right to speak. My heart broke when I saw Bai Qing bleeding from all his orifices.

[27L]: Not just Bai Qing, Xiang Zhuo and Ye Sheng were also instrumental. If they hadn’t held off those mecha monsters, Bai Qing wouldn’t have had the time to activate the control hub. The three of them are indispensable!

[42L]: The Passion-Leaf Team is the best!

[79L]: I heard the academy is going to award them a special commendation.

[106L]: Who cares about awards? I don’t care at all. The National Defense Military Academy had better treat these three like heroes!