Editor and proofreader: Oceanblue

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Like water spilled and hard to reclaim, looking at Gu Shenyuan’s rarely-seen excitement, Ye Qingyun forced himself to go along with it and planned to buy the rings.

They were both alone, with no need to inform the family. Did marriage or not even matter? They were already living together anyway. Or was it that Gu Shenyuan was eagerly anticipating their wedding night?

… It seemed likely.

Gu Shenyuan didn’t ask what Ye Qingyun was thinking. He already guessed that Ye Qingyun didn’t know the custom. But since the words were out, he wasn’t going to let Ye Qingyun back down.

Just days ago, marrying Ye Qingyun was a dream he only dared to entertain in the quiet of the night. Now, with that dream close to reality, even if it was a mistake, he wouldn’t let it go.

He was simply too eager. Eager to announce to the world that Ye Qingyun was his beloved. Eager to claim a real place by his side.

Whether Ye Qingyun liked someone else in the future, he’d still be Ye Qingyun’s first legal husband.

Gu Shenyuan lowered his head slightly, his lips pursed, looking melancholic. Ye Qingyun couldn’t stand seeing that expression and gave in: “Fine, fine, we’ll get married. I wasn’t trying to play with your feelings anyway. Where should we look for rings? Let’s go buy a pair.”

Neither of them was particularly artistically gifted, so designing rings themselves would likely be disastrous. Buying a set seemed like the safest option.

Gu Shenyuan pulled up his wrist terminal and searched the interstellar web for the best wedding ring designers. Recently, someone else had asked the same question, so he clicked on it to read the replies.

“Optimistic, aren’t you? The top designers are all forcibly recruited to design jewelry for the royals. We don’t stand a chance of getting them.”

“Didn’t you know? Each field’s top talents are practically all recruited by the royals.”

“If you’ve got the money, try the most expensive jewelry store on Blue Star. Those rings are about as top-tier as it gets for the general public.”

Gu Shenyuan frowned slightly as he read the comments.

He hadn’t really paid attention to such things before. He wanted to give Ye Qingyun the best wedding ring, the most envied wedding, and the most respected status, but now he found himself unable to do any of that.

Gu Shenyuan lowered his gaze.

He didn’t want Ye Qingyun to wear anything less than the best rings; only the finest jewelry and designs were worthy of Ye Qingyun. Since that was the case, he would have to bring the top designers from around the world…

“What are you thinking about? Your expression is so scary.” Ye Qingyun leaned in suspiciously and glanced at the content on Gu Shenyuan’s terminal. Suddenly, his eyes widened in shock. “You’re not planning to forcibly take their best designer, are you?”

Gu Shenyuan: ‘…..’

Ye Qingyun and he truly shared a telepathic connection.

“I don’t want that. Rings are just material things; what matters most is your feelings for me.” Ye Qingyun immediately interrupted, preventing Gu Shenyuan from continuing with his ruthless thoughts. He pointed at a comment on the terminal page and said, “Let’s go to Blue Star and buy one there. Don’t think about anything else, okay?”

With Ye Qingyun insisting, Gu Shenyuan had no choice but to retreat for now, slowly plotting his plans to give Ye Qingyun the best in the future.

Ye Qingyun searched for information on various jewelry stores and settled on one. After some more rest, he and Gu Shenyuan set off for Blue Star.

Before officially departing, Ye Qingyun considered the previous conflict with the third prince and worried about encountering the same people again. Since Gu Shenyuan’s dark hair and eyes might attract unwanted attention, he decided to temporarily change Gu Shenyuan’s hair color.

Based on Gu Shenyuan’s cold and unapproachable demeanor, Ye Qingyun dyed his hair silver. When the effect was revealed, Ye Qingyun was taken aback.

“Anyone chasing you could fill a black hole.” Ye Qingyun sighed. Then he remembered that Gu Shenyuan was the irresistible heartthrob in the original story and quickly corrected himself, “Sorry, I meant to say a black hole couldn’t even hold all your admirers’ heads. I have so many rivals, big brother; can I be your legitimate partner?”

Gu Shenyuan: ‘….’

The casual flirting caused Ye Qingyun’s tattoo to flare up again, leaving him feeling weak and unable to hold onto Gu Shenyuan’s neck.

As Gu Shenyuan carried Ye Qingyun onto the spaceship, Ye Qingyun blushed and scolded him, “You can’t keep doing this to me; it’s too thrilling!”

Gu Shenyuan replied coldly, “Don’t be reckless, or one day I might lose control and show you something even more thrilling.”

What could be more thrilling? Ye Qingyun didn’t dare to ask and obediently fell silent.

Blue Star was known for its rich supply of various gems, making its jewelry industry very prosperous. Ye Qingyun and Gu Shenyuan arrived smoothly and went to the most renowned jewelry store.

The staff in the store were very enthusiastic, their eyes lighting up when they saw Ye Qingyun and Gu Shenyuan.

“Take a look at this one, ‘The Romance of Youth.’ The ring is shaped like a flower, symbolizing the union of love and beauty. Even the stars in the sky would be envious; it’s perfect for both of you!”

Ye Qingyun: “… Uh, hmm.”

Gu Shenyuan remained silent.

Seeing they didn’t like it, the staff quickly switched to the next option: “How about this one? The latest trendy design, combining jade and black ice stone, absolutely beautiful. It will enhance the slenderness of your fingers and the fairness of your skin; it’s perfect for both of you!”

Ye Qingyun: ‘…..’

Gu Shenyuan scanned the rings in the store, realizing that none of the quality met his standards. The best rings simply weren’t here, and he couldn’t ask for too much.

Gu Shenyuan asked Ye Qingyun, “Which one do you like? Don’t worry about the price; just tell me which one you want.”

Since Ye Qingyun hadn’t expressed a preference for any of the rings, and considering he wasn’t a picky person, Gu Shenyuan reasonably suspected that Ye Qingyun was trying to save him money.

But he didn’t need Ye Qingyun to save him money; he wanted to splurge on Ye Qingyun and give him all the most expensive things.

Ye Qingyun looked around and leaned closer to Gu Shenyuan’s ear, whispering, “I think these rings all look pretty much the same! They’re just simple hoops with some random decorations; there’s really no difference. After seeing one, I forget what the last one looked like. Let’s just pick one randomly.”

What was the difference between these rings and those shades of bright pink, red, and purple lipsticks? They might seem subtly different, but they all looked the same when worn!

Gu Shenyuan was usually such a straightforward man. He probably couldn’t tell the difference between these rings either. Since neither of them could see the differences, why waste money on this?

Gu Shenyuan: ‘….’

Gu Shenyuan expressionlessly took on the task of selecting the rings, leaving Ye Qingyun, who had no sense of jewelry aesthetics, to watch obediently from the side.

Ye Qingyun stared blankly, thinking how this man, usually no different from a straight man, surprisingly had a better sense of aesthetics than he did. It was quite terrifying.

The staff enthusiastically introduced two more rings, but Gu Shenyuan was still dissatisfied. Noticing his picky expression, the staff’s eyes darted, and they lowered their heads, unlocking the bottom drawer of the display case to pull out a tray.

On the tray were two very simple-looking rings. They were so plain that even Ye Qingyun, with no aesthetic sense, could tell they must be quite cheap.

“These are one of our store’s treasures,” the staff said passionately. “These rings are made from very ordinary materials, just simple platinum. Their design is quite simple, but their plain exterior cannot hide their uniqueness!”

After a pause, seeing that Gu Shenyuan and Ye Qingyun didn’t speak, the staff continued, “This pair of rings was crafted by a loving elderly couple. They made ten pairs throughout their lives, and nine pairs have already been sold. Coincidentally, every couple who wore the rings made by that elderly couple never separated for life. People speculate that the couple infused some mysterious blessing into the rings, allowing the lovers who wear them to love each other forever.”

Gu Shenyuan’s expression shifted slightly.

Ye Qingyun: ‘….’

This sounded like some sort of false marketing; all the flashy talk was just to sell an ordinary platinum ring.

There were no gemstones embedded, and there was no unique design—five thousand credits at most.

Store Clerk: “This pair of magical rings is only ninety-nine million interstellar coins!”

Ye Qingyun: ‘???’

Now he understood why people who bought these rings never broke up—they were all fools with too much money, and only a fool would end up with someone like that. If they broke up, they’d just find another foolish rich person to cling to instead.

Ye Qingyun didn’t believe a word of it. Just as he was about to pull Gu Shenyuan away to find another reliable shop, he heard Gu Shenyuan say beside him, “This one.”

Ye Qingyun: ‘???’

He watched helplessly as Gu Shenyuan handed over his card, unable to stop him in time.

Ye Qingyun felt like he was about to faint. “Are you crazy? Why are you buying this? It’s way too expensive!”

Gu Shenyuan turned to him and said softly, “The meaning is good.”

Ye Qingyun watched as the clerk quickly processed the payment, feeling as if his heart was bleeding. It was like watching Gu Shenyuan fall into a trap.

Ye Qingyun tried again to persuade Gu Shenyuan, “There’s no need to buy this. I’ll always be with you!”

Gu Shenyuan didn’t reply. He calmly completed the payment while Ye Qingyun looked at him with despair.

He really didn’t know whether the efficacy of the ring was true or false, but if it could really buy him a lifetime with Ye Qingyun for such a small price, it was worth it.

After the payment, the clerk asked Ye Qingyun and Gu Shenyuan for their finger sizes so they could adjust the rings.

Ye Qingyun, feeling resigned, let Gu Shenyuan lift his hand to measure the size.

Gu Shenyuan lowered his gaze, slowly tracing the base of Ye Qingyun’s ring finger.

Ye Qingyun’s fingers were long and fair, with a hint of pink at the tips. They lacked the strength of his own fingers and appeared cultured and refined.

Ye Qingyun had never liked wearing jewelry and had never been seen with any real gold or silver adornments. But soon, this hand would wear a wedding ring that matched his own.

Gu Shenyuan became somewhat lost in thought, applying slightly too much pressure, causing Ye Qingyun to let out a soft sound, prompting Gu Shenyuan to quickly release his grip.

Because this ring was too valuable, the clerk invited Ye Qingyun and Gu Shenyuan to watch their operations, so there would be no chance of a switch happening.

Ye Qingyun had no interest in this, and his feelings toward the ring were complex, so he said to Gu Shenyuan, “I’ll just browse around and check out their other stuff.”

Gu Shenyuan glanced at the simple ring made from his powers wrapped around Ye Qingyun’s middle finger and nodded.

Since they were so close, he could rush over if anything happened, so he let Ye Qingyun explore a bit.

Ye Qingyun wandered through the mall, which was entirely focused on jewelry. The place he had just been in was specifically for rings; besides rings, the mall had various necklaces made of gemstones and other decorative items.

Perhaps due to the high prices, there weren’t many people around. Ye Qingyun casually walked and looked, and before he knew it, he found himself at a counter selling necklace.

There stood a man and a woman, speaking in voices that were neither too loud nor too soft. Ye Qingyun didn’t like to pry into others’ privacy and was about to turn to leave when he accidentally caught sight of the woman’s face.

The woman was quite good-looking, but her overly proud demeanor marred her beauty.

This person… looked a bit familiar.

Ye Qingyun racked his brain and finally remembered who the woman resembled.

She looked like the third prince who had previously sought trouble with them; both her features and demeanor were somewhat similar.

That third prince had a sister—the second princess of this empire.

Could the third prince have figured out that Gu Shenyuan was the person he was looking for? Would their royal family prepare some means to deal with Gu Shenyuan?

Ye Qingyun stopped his retreat, pretending to stand at a counter examining jewelry while actually eavesdropping on the second princess.

The man beside the second princess spoke sweetly, flattering her, “You look good in anything. No jewelry can compare to you; you are the best embellishment!”

“You are quite the charmer,” the second princess said, trying on a crown-shaped headpiece and asking the man, “What about this one?”

“Oh, my God, you look perfect in that! Beautiful and majestic, a true crown belongs on you!” the man continued to flatter her.

The second princess smiled but suddenly changed the subject: “I heard my useless third brother has found the location of the humanoid weapon. If it’s true, it could be advantageous for him in seizing the throne. You used to follow him, right? Are you planning to go back?”

The man fell silent for a moment, then quickly replied, “Oh, I wouldn’t leave you, my heart is all yours!”

“Hmph, you’re clever,” the second princess said with a snicker, continuing to try on more accessories.

After a while, the man could no longer hold back and tentatively asked the second princess, “Has the third prince really found the humanoid weapon? If so, are you in danger? If you’re in danger, please let me know. I’ll do my best to protect you.”

The second princess tried on several more headpieces before disdainfully saying, “Danger? A mere high-level ability user? Hmph, only my foolish brother would think a humanoid weapon could be invincible. Doesn’t he realize what era we live in? Technology is so advanced, and with the equipment our royal family is researching, even if they brought in a few more humanoid weapons, it wouldn’t matter. Let them come, I’ll have them killed!”

The second princess tried on several more pieces of jewelry and leisurely said, “If I were the one to find that humanoid weapon, I would definitely kill him first and go back to claim my reward from Father.”

Hearing this, Ye Qingyun could no longer hold back and secretly looked at the second princess.

The second princess sensed the gaze of a stranger and looked back with an unhappy expression. She was about to scold the person when she was momentarily taken aback by his appearance.

…What a beautiful young man. Such looks could even make him the first among her harem.

This man was going to be hers!