The next morning, the Major General was nowhere to be seen again.
Whether it was because he had slept too much yesterday afternoon or for some other reason, Miao Te had tossed and turned in bed all night, barely getting any sleep.
Yesterday, it was the Major General who had dark circles under his eyes. But this morning, Miao Te woke up groggy and, while washing up, noticed two dark circles on his own face.
After breakfast, he kept yawning but couldn’t manage to feel sleepy. So, he sat cross-legged on the sofa, zoning out.
The round, floating white orb hovered in front of him, its black triangular eyes gazing at him with a pitiful, pouty expression.
But the teenager, still half-asleep, didn’t even glance at it. He held a square cushion he’d originally planned to use as a pillow, sitting lazily cross-legged on the sofa, resting his head limply on the soft cushion.
Despite not sleeping all night and his mind being foggy, he couldn’t fall asleep. His thoughts were a jumbled mess.
At times, he thought of the way that man’s lips had brushed against his. Other times, he remembered the warmth from his fingertips when he held Miao Te’s wrist. And then, there were those moments when the man had kissed his wrist, gazing deeply at him with those dark blue eyes…
A vague thought lingered in his mind, but Miao Te couldn’t bring himself to confirm it.
All night, he had tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep as the Major General’s gaze, words, and actions replayed over and over in his mind.
Whenever those narrow phoenix-shaped eyes stared at him, he inexplicably felt his heart pound in fear.
It was almost… almost like being prey under the gaze of a predator.
The teenager forcefully pressed his head into the soft cushion, banging it repeatedly.
The white orb floated around him in confusion, unable to understand what its new master was doing.
Miao Te had never been in love before, nor had he experienced liking someone. Sure, when he was around ten years old, some girls his age had confessed to him… but after falling ill, aside from the patients at the hospital, he hardly saw any girls his age again.
He was completely unfamiliar with the feeling of liking someone.
However, not understanding love didn’t mean he was clueless.
Major General Taylor’s gaze and actions had become far too obvious—anyone could see it.
At first, Miao Te could brush it off as others misunderstanding things, but lately, the Major General’s increasingly affectionate behavior toward him was starting to shake his resolve, leaving him feeling anxious.
But didn’t the Major General like the princess?
Just looking at their faces, it was clear that they were the perfect match.
Holding his head, the teenager thought, feeling utterly conflicted.
So maybe he was just overthinking things? Was Major General Taylor just being kind to him as part of his duty as a guardian?
After all, if the Major General saw him as a little brother or something… those affectionate gestures would make sense, right?
Or perhaps it was just because she had saved his life back then, so his attitude towards her was slightly better than towards others?
Considering how cold and aloof the Major General usually was, even a slight softening of his expression would make it seem like he was giving special treatment.
Yeah… that’s probably it… it must be…
Just as the teenager’s head was about to explode from overthinking, the white orb in front of him beeped.
Two beams of light shot from the orb’s triangular eyes, projecting a holographic screen in front of the teenager, who instinctively looked up.
A man with short fiery red hair grinned at Miao Te through the light screen. Standing on the lawn outside the house, he raised his hand and cheerfully greeted him with a casual wave.
[Lord Miao Te, should we let Major Robin in?]
Since it couldn’t speak, the white orb reluctantly displayed this message on the screen for Miao Te to read.
As Major General Taylor’s subordinate, Robin had permission to enter the private grounds but not the house itself. He needed the owner’s approval to come inside.
Miao Te nodded.
“Let him in.”
With a soft beep, the door opened, and the red-haired Major walked in, still dressed in his black uniform with silver accents, his tall and muscular frame looking as impressive as ever.
As his boots touched the entrance floor, hundreds of tiny particle robots quickly swarmed over them, cleaning off any dust. Without needing to stop, Robin stepped directly into the house.
“Hey, little Miao Te.”
Robin grinned and greeted the teenager, who was sitting on the sofa, barely moving and just staring at him.
Miao Te twitched slightly at the corner of his mouth.
“…Call me ‘Your Excellency.'”
He said this because he now held the Blue Earth Badge from the Earth Ancient Civilizations Association, confirming his status as an ‘SS-level’ professor. Even though Robin was a Major, addressing him with a respectful title was appropriate.
Miao Te didn’t insist on this out of arrogance. He just really disliked being called ‘little Miao Te’ by Robin and wanted to annoy him.
However, the red-haired Major seemed completely unfazed and immediately adjusted his tone.
“Got it, little Miao Te, Your Excellency~”
Miao Te: “…”
Alright, this grinning, tough-to-deal-with guy feared no one except the Major General, so Miao Te gave up trying to argue with him.
“If you’re here to see the Major General, he’s not around right now.”
“I know, the boss will be back later. He told me to come here and wait for him.”
Robin casually spoke, then unceremoniously plopped down beside Miao Te on the sofa.
“What’s wrong, kiddo? You don’t look so good,” he said. “Are you having trouble adjusting to the climate here on Forna? Well, this planet is a bit too dry after all.”
Grinning at Miao Te, he added, “If you’re not feeling well, you better say so early. If you get sick, and someone gets upset, it’ll be us poor subordinates suffering in the cold.”
Robin had always liked teasing him about Major General. At first, Miao Te tried to argue back, but eventually, he got so used to it that he just ignored it, pretending he hadn’t heard anything.
Before, he didn’t think much of it. But now, with his mind already in turmoil, Robin’s comment made him feel a bit uneasy.
Miao Te thought for a moment, then turned to look at Robin.
He asked, “You know there’s nothing between me and the Major General, so why do you keep bringing up this kind of topic?”
“…Well…”
The red-haired man’s lips curled into a wide smile. He raised his hand and rubbed his slightly stubbled chin.
He smiled but said nothing.
“You still think I like your Major General?”
The teenager pressed further.
“No, I get it now. You really have no interest in my boss.”
In the past, he had even misunderstood that this little guy had a crush on the boss and was trying to confess to him. But after spending some time together, Robin had figured it out—this little guy truly wasn’t interested in his boss, who had countless people crying and begging for his love and attention.
There wasn’t a shred of interest.
Robin found this quite surprising. To resist the overwhelming presence and charm his boss exuded was no small feat. Especially—especially given that they spent so much time together, with his boss either intentionally or unintentionally flirting with him, and yet this kid still held firm without falling for him. His mental fortitude was almost on par with the boss himself.
Thinking of this, Robin couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration for Miao Te and decided to stop teasing him.
He said, “Haha, I know there’s nothing between you and the boss. Just messing around.”
Despite Robin’s response, the teenager didn’t seem relieved. Instead, he looked hesitant.
After a long pause, he spoke again.
“So, do you think… Major General… does he…”
His words trailed off awkwardly, and then he abruptly stopped talking.
“Never mind.” Miao Te turned his head back, pressing his lips together. “Do you want anything to drink? I can ask Dada to get it.”
The red-haired Major looked at the teenager’s troubled expression.
“‘Does the Major General like you?’… Is that what you’re trying to ask?”
The teenager pressed his lips tighter and said nothing. He didn’t turn to look at Robin again either.
He curled up on the sofa, hugging the cushion tightly to his chest. His fingers dug deep into the soft fabric as his dark hair fell into his eyes, mixing with his long lashes.
“You want to know?”
Robin looked at him, his eyes playful yet serious.
Miao Te remained silent, lips pressed tight. It was clear he was a bit anxious.
After a long moment, he finally spoke.
“…I don’t know.”
He spoke softly, his voice low and uncomfortable.
“I don’t understand…” he said. “I think I’m overthinking it. Princess Salome is beautiful, really beautiful. She and the Major General are perfect together. I’m just overthinking.”
He repeated the words over and over again as if trying to convince himself.
“Yeah, I’m definitely overthinking.”
Robin had been enjoying the situation, but when he saw Miao Te coming to this conclusion on his own, he panicked.
Don’t do this, kid—
If the boss finds out about your thoughts, I’ll be the one getting beat up and stuck in a hospital bed for days again.
Thinking of this, the red-haired Major hurriedly scooted over, ready to speak, hoping to change the kid’s mind.
“Actually, the boss is…”
But before he could finish, there was a ding from the door. It opened, and the familiar tall figure of Major General stepped inside.
His long, phoenix-like eyes glanced over indifferently, then narrowed slightly.
At first, Miao Te was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, and Robin had been lounging beside him, his legs casually crossed. His right arm was draped lazily over the back of the sofa—since he was sitting next to Miao Te, his arm naturally rested on the backrest behind him.
Robin, realizing he had gone too far earlier and wanting to fix things, had leaned in closer to talk to Miao Te. His legs had uncrossed as he leaned over, and his left hand had instinctively grabbed the cushion Miao Te was holding.
However, while he had leaned toward Miao Te, his right arm remained draped over the back of the sofa, still hovering behind the teenager’s head.
So, his current posture made it look as though he was half-hugging the teenager on the sofa.
As soon as Major General Taylor entered the room and saw this scene, his long eyes narrowed slightly.
The red-haired Major, having been glanced at by his boss, shot up from the sofa as if his seat had been set on fire.
He stood at attention, straightened his back, and stared straight ahead.
“Boss!”
He bowed deeply as he called out.
The black-haired Major General turned without looking in their direction and walked straight toward the study on the other side.
“Come here.”
A cold, indifferent voice came through, flat and devoid of any emotion, yet it instantly made Robin’s heart race with fear.
He hurried to follow, his eyes darting around nervously.
Hmm, I need to find a way to save myself here.
The red-haired Major’s rarely-used brain was working rapidly at this moment.
I have to distract the boss… yeah, distract… Sorry, kid, looks like you’re my only option.
Besides, that oblivious kid is the real culprit here anyway.
And come to think of it, the boss is getting more and more narrow-minded. Tsk tsk.
***
Aside from Robin, several other individuals dressed in Imperial military uniforms visited throughout the afternoon.
Except for Via, Miao Te didn’t recognize anyone else. If they were from Ishtar, even if he didn’t know them personally, their faces would at least be familiar, but it was clear that he had never seen these people before.
No matter who it was, the moment they entered the house and saw Miao Te, they would all show a stunned expression. Some even stared at him, dumbfounded, for a long time, only snapping out of it after Via gave a soft cough. They quickly averted their gaze from him, showing a deeply complicated expression as they headed towards the study.
The way they looked at him was as if they were gazing at some kind of rare creature.
He could easily guess what they were thinking, but Miao Te had long stopped caring about what others thought. After all, he couldn’t control it anyway.
He was just a small, insignificant figure. The Major General, the interstellar heartthrob, wasn’t afraid of rumors or damaging his reputation, so what does someone like him, who has no fame, have to fear?
Let them think what they want.
With that thought, the teenager had fully resigned himself to the situation.
He sat quietly on the sofa, continuing to let Dada show him educational videos.
For him, the most important thing now was to quickly absorb the knowledge of this era, understand the world he was in, and then figure out his next steps.
He had originally wanted to bring up the matter of Earth to the Major General, but the Major General seemed extremely busy lately, with dark circles under his eyes. For now, he couldn’t find the right time to talk about it and could only wait until the Major General was free to bring it up.
By the time everyone left, it was already evening.
Since Miao Te had gone to the dining room for dinner, he avoided seeing the departing group. Even though he had resigned himself to the situation, he still couldn’t stand the strange looks they gave him.
He returned to the sofa, deciding not to absorb any more knowledge for the day. His brain had been working all day, and it was time to relax. He planned to have Dada find some entertainment shows for him. There were interstellar channels, singers, movies, and dramas in this era, but honestly, human skills over the millennia seemed to have been invested in technology and war rather than culture. From Miao Te’s perspective, cultural entertainment was far inferior to what Earth once had. He only watched occasionally for amusement.
But as soon as he sat down on the sofa and began looking for Dada, who had disappeared somewhere, the black-haired Major General emerged from the study.
Miao Te looked up just as the Major General glanced in his direction, and their gazes locked.
Miao Te instinctively turned his eyes away, avoiding the gaze.
For some reason, whenever he made eye contact with the Major General lately, he felt an inexplicable sense of awkwardness.
He looked around, searching for the white orb AI, but for some reason, the little white ball that usually never left his side was nowhere to be found.
The sound of footsteps echoed, and the black military boots struck the floor with a steady, powerful rhythm, each step drawing closer to him.
Unable to pretend he hadn’t noticed any longer, the teenager raised his head to look at the Major General.
“Would you like something to eat, Major General?”
He tried to put on a casual smile as he spoke to the Major General.
However, his attempt to change the subject failed. The Major General didn’t acknowledge the question and instead walked straight up to him, stopping in front of him.
“You asked Robin questions about me?”
The tall, young Major General looked down at him, his expression calm and distant.
But that simple sentence made Miao Te’s face freeze.
Major Robin! You sold me out!
Internally wailing, the teenager felt overwhelmed with awkwardness under the Major General’s gaze.
It felt as if the Major General’s gaze was piercing him like needles, and Miao Te turned his eyes away.
He sat on the sofa, his legs slightly apart, with his hands pressed on the sofa between them. At that moment, due to nervousness and embarrassment, he unconsciously gripped the soft cushion tightly with his fingers.
Major General Taylor stood in front of the sofa, looking down.
The teenager had his head lowered, revealing the back of his neck. His soft, dark hair slid down, grazing his tender skin and disappearing into the collar of his shirt, highlighting the graceful curve of his neck.
Sitting on the sofa, his fingers gripping the cushion, his shoulders were tense, giving the impression that he was on edge as if sitting on pins and needles.
The coldness in the Major General’s dark blue eyes gradually faded, replaced by a hint of softness.
The Major General leaned down.
He crouched down on one knee, resting one hand on the ground and casually placing the other on his knee.
His upper body was perfectly straight, and in this half-crouching position in front of the teenager, he was at eye level with him.
Major General Taylor gazed at Miao Te’s somewhat stunned expression and spoke in a low voice.
He said, “You can ask me directly.”
Miao Te stared blankly at the handsome face in front of him, listening to the deep voice that reached his ears.
He felt his mind was already getting foggy.
He felt he couldn’t figure anything out anymore.
He thought his brain had stopped working, and if he kept worrying like this, he probably wouldn’t sleep for several more nights.
“You…”
His throat tightened, and he still didn’t dare to speak directly.
“You’re not mad that I asked?”
“No.”
The Major General gave a low hum, his azure eyes still gazing at him with a cold and distant calm.
Looking into those beautiful blue eyes, Miao Te decided he might as well get this over with—
Even if it killed him, better to die and get it over with sooner.
With a firm resolve, he gritted his teeth and blurted out the question that had been bothering him for so long.
“Do you—like me?”
For a moment, there was no response. In the eerie silence, only the faint sounds of their breathing could be heard.
The Major General said nothing, simply staring at him with those dark blue eyes, and in their depths, it seemed like a wave was faintly passing by.
If that one sentence had taken all of the teenager’s courage to ask, then that courage was slowly being drained away in the long, deathly silence that followed.
Under the Major General’s gaze, he awkwardly shrank back, feeling increasingly uncomfortable.
“I… I was just joking,” he said quietly, shifting uneasily in his seat. “Uh, just for fun. I know, Major General, you wouldn’t be interested in me… I was just messing around. Please don’t take it seriously…”
As the teenager shrank back, he softly muttered an apology, his face flushed with embarrassment. He couldn’t help but think that he must have lost his mind to do something so foolish.
However, just as he retreated slightly, the man in front of him moved.
The young Major General reached out and gently grasped his hand.
Those well-defined fingers wrapped around his, and his fingertips could feel the slightly rough texture of the Major General’s palm, hardened by faint calluses.
The Major General held both of his hands, gazing at him quietly with those deep blue eyes.
As he looked into those eyes, it felt as if they held the brilliance of the stars and the vastness of the ocean.
The black-haired Major General had a face so strikingly beautiful, it could be described as mesmerizing.
Yet this face, with its delicate, handsome features, was usually cool and aloof. The sharp corners of his eyes and his thin, cold lips formed a blade-like curve, making him appear proud and distant.
He was always expressionless, and almost no one could see any human emotion on his face.
He seemed like an ice sculpture, untouchable by worldly concerns, or like a delicate yet lifeless mural on a stone wall.
Miao Te’s eyes widened suddenly.
His mind went blank with a sudden buzzing sound.
Just now, as the Major General gently held his hand, his pale lips moved, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
The Major General looked at him and smiled faintly.
That smile made the teenager forget to breathe for a moment.
“Yes.”
Major General said.
[Do you like me?]
[Yes.]
***
T/N: Confession time!
***
Translated by NightOwll
***