“Aiya, what on earth is he here for? You were so close to sharing a bed with Yu Chen, and now he’s messed it all up.”

The system was just as confused and asked in Yun Xunlan’s mind, “Mu Xingyu isn’t here to help you with your tasks again, is he? But we have Yu Chen now. Plus, he’s come at the wrong time. If he really wants to help, he should wait until after midnight when the daily tasks refresh.”

Yun Xunlan urged the system to dismiss its unrealistic thoughts, “He’s not Yu Chen; he won’t listen to me. And…”

“He hasn’t helped me with tasks since three years ago.”

In Yun Xunlan’s first fifteen years of life, most of the daily tasks issued by the system were “helped” along by Mu Xingyu. This was also the reason why Jian Wenxi despised Mu Xingyu so much—once, he caught Mu Xingyu in the act of helping him with a daily task.

Jian Wenxi was shocked and immediately wanted to report it to Yun Xunlan, but after much persuasion, Yun Xunlan managed to stop him. However, from that day on, Mu Xingyu became Jian Wenxi’s number one target of disdain. Every time they met, Jian Wenxi would throw sarcastic remarks at Mu Xingyu, either with veiled insults or direct jabs, making it impossible for them to have a normal conversation.

Mu Xingyu wouldn’t insult Jian Wenxi, but he would go above and beyond to “help” Yun Xunlan with his daily tasks.

As for this situation, Yun Xunlan didn’t care much because he only paid attention to the first sentence Mu Xingyu said while helping him with the daily tasks. Whatever else Mu Xingyu said afterward, he treated as background noise, letting him talk. Once he was done, Yun Xunlan would leave to do his own thing, and aside from that, they hardly exchanged any other words.

Yun Xunlan didn’t care about what Mu Xingyu valued, liked, or disliked, and it seemed Mu Xingyu felt the same way about him. They lived together in the Northern Palace, officially “brothers,” yet they were as unfamiliar with each other as strangers.

This “balance” continued until it was broken three years ago.

One day, for no apparent reason, Mu Xingyu stopped helping Yun Xunlan with his daily tasks. Later, when Mu Xingyu went to the border battlefield, Yun Xunlan couldn’t even catch a glimpse of him, so he had to start searching online for netizens’ negative comments about himself to survive.

However, even though it was difficult to complete daily tasks this way, Yun Xunlan never missed the days when Mu Xingyu was around.

—Not even once.

When there was no Yu Chen, it was like this; now that there was Yu Chen, it was even less likely he would reminisce.

Right now, Yun Xunlan was just like the first sentence he said to the system, wanting to figure out what Mu Xingyu was really here for.

Could it be that Mu Xingyu was going to help him with his daily tasks again?

That would be an awkward scene, so Yun Xunlan asked Yu Chen to leave the study for a bit.

But it seemed Mu Xingyu wasn’t in the mood for that, as he kept bringing up Jian Wenxi, whom he always clashed with: “I heard you said at your birthday banquet that you and Jian Wenxi will always… just be good friends?”

Yun Xunlan nodded, “Yes.”

Mu Xingyu asked again, “You won’t be with him?”

Yun Xunlan knew it was hard for people in this world to believe that a n alpha and an omega could only have friendship, so he earnestly explained to Mu Xingyu, “What kind of ‘together’ are you talking about?”

“If it’s a romantic relationship, then that will never happen.”

“I will only be by his side as a ‘friend,’ providing him with any help he needs. Wenxi feels the same way about me.”

Unfortunately, Mu Xingyu was sensitive and suspicious, and he could hardly grasp the meaning of Yun Xunlan’s long explanation. He still clung to his doubts and presented what he thought was strong evidence: “But your compatibility… is very high.”

All alphas and omegas understood how strong the pheromone attraction was that came with high compatibility. That kind of resonance felt like it came from the depths of the soul and was hard to resist. It could burn away all reason and thought, making humans act like ugly beasts, falling into desire and indulging endlessly.

“So what if the compatibility is high?”

Yun Xunlan countered Mu Xingyu, “Brother, you should know that for our family, compatibility is completely insignificant.”

His father, He Chubai, had a high compatibility with his ex-husband, Jian Chexiao, but they ended up divorced; his father, Yun Qihe, had a very low compatibility with He Chubai, yet he accompanied He Chubai until the end of his life; and his elder sister, Yun Xinguang, was with a beta, and there was no compatibility to speak of between them.

Even when Jian Chexiao tried to persuade him to marry Jian Wenxi, he never mentioned the words “compatibility,” because Jian Chexiao knew all too well that compatibility only affected the body, not the soul.

“It doesn’t matter,” Yun Xunlan told Mu Xingyu, “I will never fall in love with another person because of compatibility.”

When Mu Xingyu heard Yun Xunlan’s first sentence, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed for a moment, but after hearing Yun Xunlan’s last sentence, they tightened again.

He pressed his lips together and fell silent for a few seconds, his voice suddenly becoming very soft: “What if that person… is your destined partner?”

—A 100% perfect compatibility, like a soulmate destined by fate, wouldn’t you fall in love with him?

Yun Xunlan was about to say no.

But the system interjected with a “Hey,” “Your destined partner? Isn’t that Yu Chen?”

Yun Xunlan was momentarily speechless, “…Xiao Ju, we’re both alphas.”

Even if Yu Chen had an attraction to him comparable to that of a destined partner, he ultimately wasn’t his true destined partner.

“So what if you’re both alphas? Alphas can be your destined partner too. Besides, it doesn’t affect anything, right? You haven’t fallen for Yu Chen, have you?” The system hit the nail on the head, “You only love his mouth.”

Yun Xunlan admitted, “That’s true.”

So when faced with Mu Xingyu’s question, he could confidently answer “no.”

However, due to the system’s interruption, Yun Xunlan couldn’t immediately say this answer, and Mu Xingyu took his brief silence as a default agreement.

Then, without any warning, Mu Xingyu abruptly changed the subject: “My sensitivity period is ending, and I’ll be going back to the border battlefield.”

Yun Xunlan followed his lead and used a universal response: “Mm, brother, you’ve worked hard.”

“Lanlan.”

Mu Xingyu called him by his nickname.

Yun Xunlan turned to look at Mu Xingyu and saw the alpha’s eyes, like emeralds, holding a glimmer he couldn’t quite understand.

“Regardless of anything… don’t worry, I will definitely reclaim the lost first border line, fighting all the way to…” Mu Xingyu paused, “the Zerg home planet.”

Yun Xunlan didn’t catch what he said in between and didn’t pay it any mind, continuing with the universal response: “Mm, all citizens of the Galactic Empire will be proud of you, brother.”

“I’m not doing it for them… never mind.”

Mu Xingyu fell silent, giving Yun Xunlan a faint smile: “It’s late; you should go back to your room and rest well. Good night.”

“He still has the nerve to tell you to rest well! Without him, you and Yu Chen would have been sleeping together by now!” The system lamented, crying out for Yun Xunlan for missing the great opportunity to share a bed with Yu Chen, “How can you sleep soundly without Yu Chen by your side?”

Yun Xunlan couldn’t help but feel a bit regretful too.

But a good opportunity missed was a missed opportunity, and besides, Mu Xingyu looked like he wouldn’t let him go until he saw the door to his room close, leaving Yun Xunlan with no chance to invite Yu Chen back to sleep with him.

The system suggested, “Why don’t you go back to your room first? Once Mu Xingyu leaves, you can open the door and quietly pull Yu Chen in to sleep.”

What is this, sneaking around like an affair?

Just as Yun Xunlan was about to reply to the system that “this isn’t quite appropriate,” his light brain wristband suddenly buzzed.

Outside the study, Yu Chen was feeling quite troubled.

He didn’t even know why he was feeling this way, but he just was—ever since Mu Xingyu asked, “Whose pheromones can affect you?” and mentioned Jian Wenxi’s name, and Yun Xunlan not only didn’t answer directly but also asked him to leave the study to avoid them, he had been feeling more annoyed than during his sensitivity period.

Listening to the unique tranquility of the night around him, he couldn’t calm his heart at all, and one question kept swirling in his mind: What were Yun Xunlan and Mu Xingyu talking about?

Were they discussing the compatibility with Jian Wenxi, which was why he needed to step away?

If that were the case, then he indeed needed to avoid them.

But even though he wasn’t a bystander, Yu Chen could roughly guess that Yun Xunlan and Jian Wenxi’s compatibility must be very high; otherwise, Mu Xingyu wouldn’t have mentioned it with such certainty—because he believed that Jian Wenxi’s pheromones would affect Yun Xunlan.

And this kind of influence could only be achieved through high compatibility.

Thinking of this, Yu Chen’s mood became even more irritable.

—Yun, Xun, Lan.

He lowered his eyelashes and silently mouthed the name of the third prince of the Galactic Empire.

This name was known by everyone in the Galactic Empire, but in reality, Yun Xunlan had only appeared in public a handful of times. However, he was so stunning, like a giant star burning brilliantly in the universe; anyone who had seen him just once would be captured by his gravity, becoming a tidally locked satellite, forever facing him.

Thus, Yun Xunlan was destined to be the center of public opinion.

Even if he lived a secluded life, there were still countless rumors about him within the empire.

One rumor that left a deep impression on Yu Chen was that, despite Yun Xunlan’s seemingly perfect appearance, he was actually quite wild behind the scenes.

Once, Yu Chen had scoffed at such claims, but now he wanted to ask Yun Xunlan: You say Jian Wenxi is your lifelong good friend, and I’m your long-time admired confidant, would you invite him to share a bed with you just like you did with me?

If you would, then are you really just good friends?

If you wouldn’t, then why did you invite me?

Just as Yu Chen was feeling so troubled that he was about to enter another sensitivity period due to his pheromones being in disarray, his light brain wristband suddenly vibrated.

After becoming an elite guard, Yu Chen’s wristband, like Pei Xingtian’s, was connected to Yun Xunlan’s light brain AI system. If anything unusual happened to Yun Xunlan’s body, they would receive real-time notifications.

Right now, Yu Chen’s wristband was issuing a command, indicating that the light brain AI had detected bleeding from Yun Xunlan’s body and required the nearest guard to rush to his side to check on his condition.

Bleeding?

Yu Chen was momentarily stunned, then immediately dashed into the study.