The Silly Prince Successfully Cancels the Engagement, But the Fiancée is His Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Heart’s Vow

Although Bo Qing and Xiang Zhuo had never fought together before, their combat coordination was extremely tacit. In the blink of an eye, they struck the black mechas so hard that they dared not advance.

All reinforcements had arrived, the last one reaching the location within the hour.

Bo Qing felt a little relieved. Just as he was about to report the situation to Cheng Qiushuang, he saw the mecha Cheng Qiushuang was piloting punch Apollo.

Apollo deftly dodged. Xiang Zhuo’s arrogant voice echoed in the team communication: “Are your eyes failing you? Why are you hitting me!”

Cheng Qiushuang snorted: “You deserve it! Who told you to come here? You didn’t apply for deployment, and you disobeyed a military order! If your father wasn’t His Majesty the King, how many times would you have died already? Is the frontline your living room, where you can come and go as you please?”

Xiang Zhuo’s tone was somewhat dismissive: “I came to help you guys. Ungrateful.”

This was no time for old arguments. Cheng Qiushuang put this troublesome ancestor aside and gave commands calmly. As long as they held out until the Southwestern Army arrived, their mission would be complete.

Instantly, everyone’s fighting spirit was unprecedentedly high.

Soon, the Southwestern Army arrived.

For the Southwestern Army to mobilize such a large force just to eliminate the remnants of the Old Empire’s strongholds felt like using a cannon to shoot a mosquito.

But clearly, that wasn’t the case. The remnants of the Old Empire were just the chickens to be killed to scare the monkeys.

Whether it was the criminals of Shard Star, the underground hospital, or the various criminal gangs, Shard Star was the first stop in His Majesty the King’s determination to lead the Eternal Empire toward eternity.

Cleaning up Shard Star would certainly be difficult, but His Majesty the King would surely do it.

These matters would, in the future, provide an answer to everyone.

But for now, the advance team’s mission was complete. Cheng Qiushuang led everyone to withdraw, leaving the main battlefield to the large force.

However, during the withdrawal, Bo Qing paid attention to Xiang Zhuo, who was following behind him.

His state didn’t seem right. The fluctuations in his mental power flow were particularly strange.

Bo Qing quietly contacted Xiang Zhuo: “What’s wrong?”

The other side paused. His voice sounded normal: “Nothing, let’s hurry up.”

The sky hadn’t fully brightened yet, but the victory already thoroughly belonged to the Eternal Empire.

The starship behemoth slept silently in the dark night. In the blink of an eye, the hatch opened, and several mechas swiftly flew in. The hatch slowly closed only after the last fiery red mecha had entered.

Bo Qing, sharp-eyed, noticed that Apollo nearly missed the mecha docking port and stumbled on its landing. Bo Qing waited silently in his cockpit, but after a long wait, he didn’t see Xiang Zhuo emerge from the boarding ramp…

Bo Qing’s heart gradually sank. He walked out briskly. After the coolant had dissipated the high heat, he pushed open his own cockpit door and walked into Apollo’s cockpit.

The cabin was dim, with only the control panel emitting a faint blue light. The person in the seat looked up at the sound, his voice trembling severely: “Bo Qing?”

Bo Qing clearly saw that Xiang Zhuo’s entire body was trembling violently, especially his hands, which he couldn’t control at all. Large beads of sweat were rolling down Xiang Zhuo’s forehead. Seeing him like this, Bo Qing understood instantly.

This was Apollo, the Empire’s most powerful killing machine. But the price required to tame the Sun God was also infinite.

Moreover, Xiang Zhuo’s and Apollo’s comprehensive score was less than sixty. A normal mecha might have managed a fight, but this was Apollo.

Xiang Zhuo attempted to shrink further into the darkness. He managed a strained smile, but his body’s tremor exposed his current weakness: “You go back first. This mecha is quite interesting. I want to study it a bit more. You don’t have to wait for me…”

Xiang Zhuo hadn’t finished speaking when Bo Qing swiftly put a straw into Xiang Zhuo’s mouth. It was a capsule-shaped package. Bo Qing squeezed the bottom of the package, and a slightly salty, bitter liquid was delivered into Xiang Zhuo’s mouth. Xiang Zhuo was stunned but subconsciously swallowed the liquid.

He didn’t ask anything. If it were poison, he would have drunk it too.

Seeing Xiang Zhuo drink it all, Bo Qing’s expression softened slightly: “This is a recovery drug recently developed by the Imperial Medical Research Institute. It specializes in treating the backlash caused by the excessive use of mental power while piloting a mecha to compensate for a low comprehensive score. I was originally saving it for myself, but I didn’t expect you to use it.”

The medicine hadn’t taken effect yet. Hearing Bo Qing speak so much in one breath for the first time, Xiang Zhuo let out a gentle, soft laugh from his chest. He looked up again, his dark eyes swirling with starlight: “Does your medicine treat the susceptibility period too?”

Bo Qing: “…”

He had injected too much inhibitor today, and his nose was effectively deaf, which was why he hadn’t smelled the scent of strong liquor floating everywhere when he entered.

Xiang Zhuo: “I guess it’s my bad luck today…” It truly was bad luck. If it were just the backlash, he wouldn’t be unable to move, but it coincided with his susceptibility period…

Xiang Zhuo didn’t finish his sentence. His pupils constricted. In his eyes, he only saw Bo Qing’s enlarged, beautiful face.

Then, a pair of cool, soft lips quietly touched his own.

Boom. It was like a cosmic explosion, the annihilation of a galaxy. Only one thought remained in Xiang Zhuo’s mind: He really doesn’t want me to live.

Bo Qing touched and immediately pulled away. He was as meticulous and serious as if conducting scientific research. He took a half-step back, knelt on the floor, and looked up slightly, carefully examining Xiang Zhuo’s reaction: “Does this feel better?”

Xiang Zhuo took three full, deep breaths. Thankfully, the medicine had taken effect, and he could move, preventing him from suffocating in place. He gritted his teeth and grabbed Bo Qing’s shoulders, his hot breath fanning against Bo Qing’s ear: “Who taught you to do that when facing an Alpha in his susceptibility period?”

That snow-white earlobe, that faint yet extremely alluring scent of cream and sandalwood—Xiang Zhuo was going crazy. He wanted to leap on him now, to bite every inch of that snow-white skin with his teeth… and right there was that pink gland…

Bite it, pierce it, and it will be fine.

The last shred of reason prevailed. He buried his face in Bo Qing’s neck: “You can’t do this, Bo Qing. I’m going insane.”

Bo Qing belatedly realized he had done something foolish. He slowly took out another inhibitor from his pocket: “Then bear with it.”

Xiang Zhuo’s chest heaved. He felt a metallic, bloody taste welling up in his throat.

The next moment, the icy needle brought a slight sting. Then, the cool medicine flowed with his blood, spreading throughout his body.

In the last second before his consciousness faded, Xiang Zhuo struggled to lift his head and glanced at Bo Qing.

This inhibitor… the dosage is a bit strong…

Beautiful lake-blue pupils were watching him intently. A few strands of silver-white hair were tangled with his black hair.

Xiang Zhuo rested against Bo Qing’s neck, taking one last look at Bo Qing’s face before sinking into a relieved, deep sleep.

…

Xiang Zhuo’s physical condition was good, and he recovered quickly, waking up after three and a half hours in the medical pod.

Draining the nutrient solution, Xiang Zhuo took several deep breaths, opened the medical pod, and sat up, seeing Bo Qing quietly reading a book beside him.

The sky was already bright. The golden light of the intense sun cast a warm halo around the person in front of him. Xiang Zhuo’s ears were red. He lightly coughed, trying hard to suppress the itching in his heart.

Hearing the sound, Bo Qing quietly looked up. He closed the book, his voice soft: “You’re awake?”

Xiang Zhuo’s heart was a mess—anxious, flustered, palpitating. In short, he didn’t know what was wrong with him. His whole body felt numb and itchy, and he didn’t know where to put his hands and feet: “Didn’t you rest last night?”

Bo Qing: “I rested for a while. Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

Xiang Zhuo shook his head: “I’m fine. I just feel like I have too much energy now and want to do two more sets of training.”

A genuine smile touched Bo Qing’s lips: “Do you remember what I told you that day behind the Sun and Moon Shining Together sculpture?”

A subtle premonition crossed Xiang Zhuo’s mind, and his entire heart was infected, becoming numb and itchy.

Bo Qing continued: “Shard Star is rich in ore.”

As he spoke, he took out an exquisite velvet box from his pocket.

“Thank you for the Tears of God’s Mercy.”

Xiang Zhuo abruptly looked up, his black eyes fixed firmly on Bo Qing’s expression. A look of what seemed like post-disaster relief and joy was on his face, his tone laced with disbelief: “You… you recognize the Tears of God’s Mercy?”

Bo Qing quietly blinked: “I was fortunate enough to see it exhibited when I was very young.”

The look in Xiang Zhuo’s eyes toward Bo Qing was suddenly full of careful hope: “Then… did you wear it? Did you wear it every day, close to your body?”

Bo Qing looked back at Xiang Zhuo, remaining silent.

Xiang Zhuo felt like crying and laughing at the same time. He clutched Bo Qing’s shoulders like a drowning man grasping a life raft. Their breaths intertwined: “What is your answer, Bo Qing?”

Bo Qing lowered his eyes, motioning for Xiang Zhuo to open the small box.

Xiang Zhuo had been on battlefields, piloted mechas, and once set the record for the highest score in manually disassembling and reassembling light armor, with an accuracy rate of 99.3%.

But this man, whose hands were steady enough to rival a mechanical tool, was trembling so much he couldn’t undo a ribbon.

Bo Qing silently held his hand. The cool palm instantly felt like fire, yet it strangely calmed Xiang Zhuo down.

The box was opened.

Inside lay a pendant.

A cold, silver cocoon-shaped framework, inlaid with a fiery red, translucent gem.

The gem’s cutting was extremely extravagant, with every subtle angle shining brightly.

It was like a beating, fiery red heart within a skeletal frame of flesh and blood.

Xiang Zhuo’s eyes felt gritty, and he turned his head away, unwilling to let Bo Qing see him like this. He endured for a long time, then turned back, his eyes red-rimmed, and fiercely bit Bo Qing’s lips.

It was the “Heart’s Vow.”

This gem, coincidentally, he also recognized.

This gem had originally been exhibited in the Old Empire’s Precious Treasures Museum, but after the Empire’s collapse, many items were scattered. The Heart’s Vow was one of them.

“I swear by my heart never to betray your love.”

Bo Qing did not push Xiang Zhuo away. He gently stroked Xiang Zhuo’s back, passively enduring the surging tide.

Xiang Zhuo’s eyes were red: “When, from when did it start, when did you fall in love with me?”

Bo Qing’s eyes curved slightly: “In any case, it wasn’t when you were kicking up a fuss about breaking off our engagement.”