Can’t Pretend Chapter 98: Feelings Are Not Enough (END)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: SpringBreeze

 

When Xie Quan opened his eyes again, he felt as if he had only spent a short moment asleep. But at the same time, he felt as if he had a long dream, because he felt exhausted. While he was still in a trance, someone started calling him.

“Xie Quan?”

“Xie Quan?”

He wanted to answer, but he was so tired that he didn’t even have the strength to speak.

“What’s wrong with him? Why doesn’t he answer me? Is there something wrong?”

“He’s been faking his death for nearly 24 hours. He can’t recover right away, so don’t be so anxious.”

So damn noisy. Xie Quan closed his eyes again. 

 

This time, he finally woke up a little more conscious. There was bright moonlight floating outside the window, and he turned his head with difficulty to a wall of windows, and outside the window were clouds floating and moonlight flowing. He was in the air, on an airship.

Xie Quan closed his eyes with a slight headache. Then in his head, he sorted through his jumbled thoughts. His memory came back, and he remembered that his last moment of memory was when he was standing on the terrace at the prince’s ceremony and was hit by a bullet.

He raised his hand and touched his chest. It hurt badly, but there was no penetration wound. The bullet hit the protective layer very accurately, but it was the impact that probably hurt his sternum.

His mouth was so dry that Xie Quan propped himself up and lifted the covers, trying to get a glass of water for himself. However, his body was so weak that as soon as he hit the ground, he became dizzy and sat down on the floor without standing.

There was the sound of the door opening, the lights came on, and after a few hurried footsteps, Xie Quan was helped up from the floor.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Xie Quan was pressed to the bed and sat down, looking at Ji Cheying, who had an eager and worried face in front of him. He was now carefully looking at himself, and he kept asking, “How do you feel? Are you uncomfortable anywhere? Why are you on the floor?”

“…” Xie Quan’s head was a little swollen, and he said expressionlessly, “Don’t ask so many questions in one breath, I’m dizzy.”

Ji Cheying closed his mouth. He didn’t know if it was Xie Quan’s imagination, but he thought Ji Cheying looked a bit aggrieved. Just like a dog being reprimanded. Xie Quan felt that he must have been confused by his own sleep.

“So, are you uncomfortable now?” Ji Cheying slowed down his speech.

Xie Quan confessed, “I’m a little thirsty, please get me a glass of water.”

“Okay.” Ji Cheying immediately stood up and went to the table to pour water. The water was just the right temperature, and Xie Quan took it and finished it in one gulp without hesitation. Then, he felt the smoke in his throat extinguish and his mind was completely clear. He asked, “Where are we now?”

Ji Cheying took the handkerchief next to him and carefully wiped the water from the corner of Xie Quan’s mouth as he replied in a deep voice, “We’ve left the Imperial Capital.”

Xie Quan froze for a second, so the plan should have worked.

Ji Cheying originally did not want to tell him this first, since Xie Quan just woke up and must be very tired. Yan Siyu also said that the fake death medicine used on him also had wear and tear on the body, so he needed to rest for a while. However, he also knew that Xie Quan must now want to know what happened later, otherwise he could not be completely at ease.

So without waiting for Xie Quan to ask further, he took the initiative to tell him everything Xie Quan wanted to know.

“As you envisioned, after you revealed the truth about the beta and ‘died’ in front of everyone, the group of people under Ji Shanhong’s hand immediately became divided, and most of the beta supporters felt they were deceived and left in anger. The Chamber of Commerce manager, Ham, also stopped providing financial support for Ji Shanhong’s organization. The power of Jin Shanhong’s organization wavered and the Beta Movement was affected all around. The royal family immediately seized the opportunity to suppress the protesters. The momentary suppression of the Beta Movement was only a temporary solution, but your speech that day, and the mecha you designed to be used by the beta has caused an uproar in the country. The beta momentum is high, and it will be difficult to be a bunch of good ‘fools’ like the royal family wants. “

Xie Quan noticed that Ji Cheying was speaking without much expression on his face, just a pair of eyes staring intently at him, not blinking, making him panic. He shifted his gaze somewhat uncomfortably. “Then what?”

“After Ji Shanhong and the royal side confirmed your death, they originally wanted to hold a prince-level funeral for you, which would be considered an explanation to the people. But I refused.”

If a funeral was to be held, Xie Quan’s fake death would have to be prolonged again, and he was not interested in keeping Xie Quan in that state of the living dead for the sake of those superficial efforts.

What’s more, the longer it took, the more likely it was to risk being discovered. And he’s not interested in attending Xie Quan’s funeral, even if it’s fake and inauspicious. Xie Quan meant this at first, to “cremate” him as soon as possible once his death was confirmed, so that he could completely settle the matter of his death.

However, he was curious as to how Ji Cheying had managed to do it.

Because at that time they did not have a specific plan, Ji Cheying just said very gently that he would think of a way. Ji Cheying did not say exactly what the solution was. However, Xie Quan knew he could do it.

“They agreed to you so easily?” Xie Quan was puzzled, although he believed Ji Cheying could do it, he couldn’t figure out how Ji Cheying could convince those people.

Ji Cheying raised his eyebrows and clasped his hands as he sneered and said, “At first the royal family refused to agree, saying that since you were a member of the royal family, of course the funeral had to be held according to the royal rules, otherwise it would be out of order.”

Xie Quan felt unsurprised, it was like the words of a bunch of old-fashioned stubborn people.

Next Ji Cheying said, “But in fact, your princely ordination was not completely finalized.” There was supposed to be an enrollment after the speech, but Xie Quan had “died” before that. “So you’re not actually officially a member of the royal family.”

“And—” Ji Cheying said in a matter-of-fact tone, “they also don’t have any reason to reject me, after all, I am your legal spouse, and according to the law I am your first agent, so naturally I should be the one to arrange your afterlife.”

“…” Xie Quan was silent for a second, he didn’t expect Ji Cheying to use this reason, although it was indeed a convenient one. He frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled. “They believed you? Don’t both people have to be there for a marriage relationship with a high genetic match?”

Ji Cheying coughed lightly, and his gaze no longer looked at Xie Quan so firmly, but dodged with a guilty conscience. Xie Quan looked at him like this and stared at him with increasing suspicion. The situation of one of them staring and the other hiding was reversed from Xie Quan’s situation just now.

Ji Cheying had no choice but to say, “This was an emergency situation.”

“…”

“The situation was compelling.”

“…”

“Everything was for the greater good.”

Xie Quan narrowed his eyes a little impatiently.

Ji Cheying replied, “I took your information to register before the plan began.”

Xie Quan’s brain was confused. “What?”

Anyway, Ji Cheying simply said, word by word, and very carefully, “Marriage registration.”

“…” Xie Quan looked puzzled. “I don’t need my signature on that thing?”

Ji Cheying let go of his arm and sat down next to Xie Quan. He said with half praise, half emotion, “Sometimes, some privileges are good to have.”

At that time, Xie Quan was not officially a member of the royal family, but just an ordinary citizen. He made use of his status as a major general of the military, immediately eliminated all kinds of cumbersome procedures, and the marriage certificate was issued.

The corners of Xie Quan’s mouth twitched, this person really moved a little too fast.

Ji Cheying looked at Xie Quan’s appearance and the other did not seem to be as angry as he expected, but he was a little uncomfortable. After waiting for a few seconds and finding that Xie Quan hadn’t said anything, he turned his head sideways and stared at Xie Quan suspiciously and asked, “You’re not angry?”

“..?” Xie Quan was still a bit confused at this point, thinking that it was all a bit unrealistic. How did he just get a license with someone?

Ji Cheying pursed his lips as he explained, “At that time, it was just in case something happened to you afterwards, and I needed an identity to help you. If you don’t like it, we can go ahead and lift it.” 

The last thing he said was that his tone took on a bit of caution. It was this caution that brought Xie Quan back from his own thoughts. He turned his head to the side and met Ji Cheying’s eyes. Ji Cheying’s eyebrows are actually very stern, with a cold and solemn aura.

Most people would look at him in awe and not dare to get close to him.

However, Xie Quan rarely had such a feeling. Ji Cheying in front of him would always put away all his fangs and claws, the pair of eyes like a sword returned to the sheath, the sharpness put away, only leaving gentleness.

Xie Quan suddenly remembered back then on the terrace, he set aside the soldiers protecting him, so that he was exposed to Ji Cheying’s view as much as possible. He was looking at the bell tower in the distance, where he knew there was a gun pointed right at him, but he was not the least bit afraid.

He wasn’t afraid that Ji Cheying would not do what he planned and shoot that shot, and he wasn’t afraid that Ji Cheying would hurt him.

He just had some fear.

Fear that Ji Cheying would have a hard time.

In that moment, he completely saw his own feelings clearly. It turned out that he believed how much Ji Cheying loved him. It turned out that his feelings for Ji Cheying were no less than his own. He could only trust his life completely to this person.

So, Xie Quan looked at Ji Cheying, sighed, and said in a helpless tone, “Forget it.” He turned his head to look at the sky outside, the moon was so beautiful tonight. “Anyway, sooner or later, we have to do it, so it’s less work to get it done early.”

And his identity was already “dead”, now that he had a marriage certificate, there would be less trouble.

Oh? Wait a minute.

Thinking about the issue of identity, Xie Quan had a few concerns. “But the person ‘Xie Quan’ is dead, I have to have a new identity, right, then won’t I become a mistress then?”

However, he did not get any answer, only a warm and solid hug. Ji Cheying embraced him from behind, not knowing if it was with too much force or what, Xie Quan felt his body tremble a little behind him.

Xie Quan was a little worried and tried to turn around to look at him, but he was held by those strong hands and couldn’t struggle at all, so he could only frown and ask, “What’s wrong with you?”

Ji Cheying’s head was now buried in the side of his neck, and he was so tall that Xie Quan could not turn around, but could only look at his reflection in the glass.

He was really like a large dog.

“I’m fine.” Ji Cheying’s voice was muffled by the current action, and as he spoke, warm breath hit the skin on the side of Xie Quan’s neck, tickling him a little. Ji Cheying said, “Just let me hold you like this for a while.”

Ji Cheying’s voice had a rare vulnerability in it. This was not like how he should react. Usually, he would have jumped for joy when he heard that the other had agreed to get married, but now he was trembling.

Ji Cheying didn’t say why, but Xie Quan thought he might have guessed why. He relaxed his body and let himself rest completely in Ji Cheying’s embrace. Then he said, “I’m sorry for making you worry.”

It was good that he was still alive.

Otherwise, for Ji Cheying, who fired that shot at that time, how painful would it have been afterwards?

===

A month later, in the village of Meng Yang Tuo on the border of the empire, photos and information about the establishment of the new imperial crown prince were pushed everywhere.

Not the third prince Saroyan, not the eldest daughter Amelia, nor Prince Lu Wu, but the niece of Emperor Hea, Her Royal Highness Princess Erica. No one expected that eventually the position of crown prince would fall to Her Highness Erica, including Erica herself. She always thought she was just a passerby eating melon, but did not expect the melon she was eating in her hand to become a crown.

However, no one knew whether the position of the crown prince was a blessing or a curse. After all, today’s empire was filled with internal strife, and various cities had new beta forces.

Ham, Tang Wenshao, and others were its leaders.

There seemed to be no difference from the beginning, except that this time they had an exact goal, as well as a real target.

Ji Shanhong was no longer involved. After he let the two legions that were guarding the outside of the Imperial Capital leave, he quickly submitted his resignation and retired from that marshalship. Seeing that he was so forthcoming, Emperor Hea did not pursue his previous actions of suspected rebellion and graciously let him go.

Even before he left, Emperor Hea gave Ji Shanhong a reward. He gave Ji Shanhong a winery that brewed orange wine. Others may not necessarily know, but Emperor Hea remembered the scent of his brother Joan’s pheromone.

It was exactly the scent of orange wine.

So, he did not like orange wine, and that’s why Ji Shanhong loved orange wine.

“Good day, sir. The day after tomorrow, in the square, will be the simulcast of the initiation ceremony of the crown prince. Fireworks are also arranged that night, so you are welcome to attend for free.” The tiger-headed robot screen displayed specific information about the festival as well as promotional pictures, including, of course, a picture of the new Crown Prince Erica.

The little girl had a purity in her eyes that was rare in royalty.

“Yes, thank you, I will definitely go when I have the chance,” the handsome young man carrying a worn and old bag replied politely, and then also took the flier with both hands.

A happy smiley face appeared on the robot display. The youth froze for a moment and remembered one thing. “Oh, that day…”

The robot was puzzled. “May I ask what’s wrong? Do you need any help?”

After the robot heard the youth’s concerns, its eyes dripped, then took out something like a gift bag from its own reserve box and stuffed it into the youth’s hand. The youth froze for a moment, but took the gift bag, stuffed it into his backpack, and then carried the backpack, which did not fit his image, and slowly wandered back to his small house by the river.

Upstairs, as soon as he opened his apartment door, a welcoming voice immediately rang out.

“Mr. Quan, you’re back! I’ve fixed the toilet!” The robot loaded with Xiao Bai turned a few times in front of Xie Quan with pride.

Xie Quan nodded and praised without mincing words, “Mn, you’re great.”

He had changed Xiao Bai’s personality when he upgraded it, trying to make it talk a little less. So, Xiao Bai managed to be calm for a while.

Although in that period of time, Xiao Bai’s personality was also a bit strange. It always liked to say things like “man, you are very personal” and so on.

But soon, since it had free learning, it still went back to its previous character. Nature was difficult to change. And at this time, Ji Cheying, who had finished his workout, also came out of the training room in a lean and sweaty outfit.

Xie Quan had a few surprises. “You’re not going back to the army today?”

Ji Cheying was now stationed at the border with the Ninth Legion, which was located next to the village of Meng Yang Tuo, so now Ji Cheying would come and stay with Xie Quan as long as there was nothing to do. However, Ji Cheying originally said he was going back to the legion today to deal with business.

Ji Cheying’s arm muscles were strong and smooth under his short sleeves, and he wiped his sweat off as he approached, “The crown prince’s business, all of us are on leave. Where did you go early in the morning?”

“Went to do some shopping.” Xie Quan put his huge bag on the sofa.

Ji Cheying saw the flier Xie Quan brought back just now. “You want to go to the ceremony?”

Xie Quan, while taking the things he bought out, said, “I want to go, but I may not be able to.”

Ji Cheying didn’t understand. “Did you have something to do that day?” He turned his head to look at Xie Quan. He was going to say that he could accompany Xie Quan, although he had no interest in the crown prince thing, but it would be nice to see the fireworks with Xie Quan.

Although this was a small village, the fireworks at such a ceremony should also be beautiful and very romantic. He had been reading a lot of books lately and they all said that romance was a necessity to sustain a love life.

He didn’t have to be romantic all the time, but still had to have some romantic moments once in a while. He was deeply convinced. Then, he turned his head and he saw what Xie Quan had taken out of his bag. He looked at the small box of condoms that looked familiar.

“…”

He and Xie Quan hadn’t finished marking completely yet.

For one thing, he had a lot of things to deal with this month and was very busy, so he hadn’t actually been with Xie Quan all the time; for another, Xie Quan’s body had experienced a fake death before, so it had been recuperating, and he felt he couldn’t be that beastly yet.

But just in case, he bought it and put it in the drawer of his room. Just what did Xie Quan mean by buying this? He seemed to buy things for his mechanical experiments in general. Did he have any recent experiments to use this for?

Ji Cheying’s eyebrows knotted up in confusion, his face puzzled. What kind of experiments could he be doing with this?

Then in the next second, he saw Xie Quan take something else out of his bag that was incongruous. 

“…”

What experiments would there be to use these things???

So, as soon as Xie Quan turned his head, he met Ji Cheying’s bizarre gaze. Xie Quan didn’t know what Ji Cheying was thinking, but he remembered the question Ji Cheying had just asked. Ji Cheying asked him why he couldn’t go to the ceremony.

Xie Quan replied, “That day, or maybe the day before, or the day after, probably those days, should be the days when I am in heat.”

The towel in Ji Cheying’s hand fell to the floor. He stared at the birth control supplies on the table, his throat tightened and his voice darkened. “Then these things…”

Xie Quan said, “Just now the little robot heard that I was going into heat and gave it to me.” He glanced at the wide array of supplies, quite a variety, then looked sideways at Ji Cheying, a little confused. “Want to use it?”

Ji Cheying was silent for a full minute, then he turned around and immediately sent a message to Henry: [Something’s up, back in ten days.]

Then, he immediately used his terminal to order a batch of nourishing food from the internet.

Xie Quan was puzzled. “Why did you order so much food?”

Ji Cheying didn’t even look up. “We have to eat during the seven days of estrus.”

“…” Xie Quan watched him buy a massage chair, and he asked expressionlessly, “Why do you want to buy a massage chair?”

Ji Cheying raised an eyebrow. “Your bones, and probably your entire body will ache. Using a massage chair will make you more comfortable.”

Xie Quan suddenly regretted it. He sincerely suggested, “You’d better go back to the army.”

Ji Cheying thought Xie Quan was being whimsical. At this point, whoever retreated from the battlefield was a dog.

So two days later, on the day of the crown prince’s initiation ceremony, the night sky all over the empire was filled with gorgeous fireworks.

In the middle of this small border village, in the warm countryside next to that small river, fireworks bloomed outside the window, and it was also charming inside. The smell of lime and flame mingled together, wrapping the two tightly in it, as if the world only left them to each other, and the joy between them.

The fireworks played in Xie Quan’s head for almost the whole night.

In the end, he lay exhausted in Ji Cheying’s arms, feeling that the massage chair was really a necessary purchase.

Yet, it was only the first day of his heat.

 

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The end.