Ji Ling watched the scene in terror. A moment later, his eyes reflected happy surprise, and he struggled desperately to get away from Jing Sui. In the end though, he made one move, and his waist was deadlocked into Jing Sui’s embrace. The man's grip was extremely firm, as if he’d wanted to snap him in two. Ji Ling’s face paled. He was too frightened to make any more movements, so he could only give Carlos an imploring gaze…
Help meee!!!
Carlos saw Ji Ling's pale frightened face and tearful red eyes. His chest swelled with anger and tender affection. The anger was directed at Jing Sui, and the tenderness for Ji Ling.
Although he couldn’t wait to straight up kill Jing Sui at the moment, his remaining reason still held him back. Fighting Jing Sui now would undoubtedly be more loss than gain. Others would ridicule him, and it would scare the boy, making him fear and distance himself.
Carlos took a deep breath, and slowly pressed down the killing intent in his eyes. He said in a thick voice: "Your Majesty, what are you doing?"
Jing Sui saw Carlos coming, and instead of letting go, he audaciously locked the youth in his embrace even more. Raising his lips, he gave a provocative smile. His tone was flat and mocking as he said: "What am I doing? Didn't you see extremely clearly just now?"
Carlos’ face went taut with nearly uncontrollable anger. He looked fixedly at Jing Sui and enunciated each word: "Let-him-go.”
Jing Sui saw how furious Carlos looked, and raised his eyebrows unconcerned, giving a light laugh. His fingers gently brushed over Ji Ling's neck, and his hands moved flirtatiously. This made Ji Ling's face flush with embarrassment and shame even harder. Only after that did Jing Sui look at Carlos and say slowly: "Ji Ling and I are in love, and doing things that lovers do. How is that going too far? And why should I let go?”
Carlos' entire expression changed and his voice was cold as he said: “Lovers? Your Majesty, perhaps you have lost your mind."
Jing Sui stared at Carlos with his golden eyes. He faintly parted his lips, and smiled, saying: “The one Ji Ling has always loved is me. He only agreed to marry you out of anger. He has never liked you. Even if you take on the identity of his fiance in name…I am indisputably his love. "
He paused, as a fanatic expression adorned his eyes. Bowing his head down, he gently bit Ji Ling's ear. Feeling the youth in his arms quiver, he lifted his eyes and said in a meaningful tone: “Plus, we have always interacted like this. We have done much, much more intimate things compared to what you just saw. It’d be better if you got used to it soo—”
Carlos finally made his move as soon as the sentence sounded out!
Archduke Carlos, who had never betrayed joy or anger on his face, and who almost never personally made a move himself…could no longer cover up his fury at this moment. That ever-elegant and profound face was now dyed in a never before seen darkness. He struck as quickly as lightning!
Jing Sui had long expected this. He immediately let go of Ji Ling and moved the boy aside to meet Carlos’ attack!
Ji Ling was pushed away, and sat down on the ground in a daze. Looking at the two men who had already fought up a storm in the blink of an eye, he shivered like a little chick.
The neatly dressed brown-haired man swung at the solemn man with long black hair before him. Jing Sui raised his hand to fend him off. His feet sank deeply into the earth, retreating backwards continuously. Then, his golden eyes flashed, as he held his ground, clenched his fist and slammed back!
The shockwaves from their random blows were strong enough to uproot a large tree. The impact created waves over ten meters high in the lake. They had both torn away their false pretenses completely, and wanted nothing more than to kill the other dead!
These two were straight-up monsters in human form…
Wait, hadn’t this confirmed that Carlos was actually an SSS class evolver? He could fight with Jing Sui on par, after all…
Ji Ling watched absent-mindedly when he suddenly heard a warning by his ear from the system: [Dodge! 】
Ji Ling was stunned for a second. Then, he saw a large boulder that had been uplifted by the waves of the fighting smash heavily in his direction. Paling with fear, he rolled and crawled desperately to dodge. The large boulder suddenly fell beside him, only an inch from his foot!
Ji Ling’s soul was almost scared away. He shook all over. Would he be the first host ever to be killed by the collateral damage from his suitors' fighting out of jealousy???
This kind of death was simply ridiculous. Ji Ling got up off the ground, wanting to escape ASAP. However, the fighting strength of those two guys was just too high. The whole ground seemed to shake. Carlos was smashed into the lake by one of Jing Sui’s punches, but he quickly rushed up from the depths and pinned Jing Sui to the ground with attacks of his own!
The two people exchanged blows; one punched, one kicked… Where was the dignity of an emperor and an archduke? They were completely pre-occupied with piling out their new and old grudges against each other, and doing whatever it took to send the other to his grave!
Ji Ling stumbled away desperately. As a result, a branch that was as sharp as a sword suddenly grazed his neck and flew by until it lodged deeply into the earth! It took him a long time before he could recover from the shock, and his legs started going weak…
Reaching up, he touched the wound. Fresh hot blood spilled all over his hand. Ji Ling’s face lost all color as he said numbly: [System, am I going to die?" 】
System: [It’s nothing. Just a little scratch on your skin. 】
Ji Ling: [What are they fighting for? I’d rather they just kill me and get it over with :) ]
System: […]
Ji Ling's anger gradually flared up. You guys make trouble day and night, and if nothing’s happening, you drag innocent bystanders into your mess. I'm completely uninvolved, okay? If you want to fight, can’t you f*ck off far away and have your fight?!
Anyway, I can't run away from those two crazy humanoid weapons. I might as well just be more open-minded. Reading the save file again is no big deal!
Who still has the temper for this? F*ck it.
I won’t run away anymore. Whatever. Just hit me to death.
But to his surprise, all his surroundings suddenly quieted down at this moment. The two men who had just been beating each other to kingdom come also stopped without warning!
Ji Ling: ???
The messed up strands of Carlos’ hair were starting to settle down. His meticulously arranged suit was now wet and disorderly. His elegant face was taut as he stared fixedly at Jing Sui with an icy glare.
Jing Sui raised his hand, wiped the blood off his lips, and looked at Carlos equally as coldly. Then, he slowly... slowly moved his line of sight towards Ji Ling.
The youth stood there with an indifferent expression. Blood was streaming down his neck, but it was as if he didn't feel it at all. He looked over at them with extremely cold eyes.
Time passed, and Jing Sui couldn’t contain the pain in his eyes.
He clenched his right hand hard. Regret and pain gripped his heart and squeezed it. He had been dominated by anger and jealousy just now, wanting nothing more than to kill Carlos, but he had instead hurt his beloved boy and almost killed him even…
Carlos gave Jing Sui a cold glance, then turned around and walked straight to where the youth was. He directly held the boy in his arms, raised his hand and brushed over the blood on his neck. After he’d confirmed it wasn’t serious, he finally gave a sigh of relief.
He had always been a calm and controlled person. Never had he been willing to show this terrifying side of himself in front of the boy. He had been even less willing to fight with Jing Sui in front of Ji Ling, but he hadn’t been able to control himself just now. Whenever he thought that the one the boy loved was Jing Sui, or that Jing Sui might have already possessed the boy thoroughly…
When he thought that the boy’s body and mind would only belong to another man…
Carlos took a deep breath, pressing down the jealousy and pain in his eyes. In any case, he shouldn't have done that just now. If the boy really was killed by his own hand... Carlos thought back to last life. Fear, an emotion of the weak which he had only just experienced for the first time, made his hand tremble slightly.
That situation must never happen again.
Ji Ling had already looked death in the eye and was prepared to go. That’s why he hadn’t expected the two of them to suddenly stop. He couldn't help but pause for a moment. However, that soon changed to feeling overjoyed at his luck. It was best to not get killed, after all. In the end, he was still quite afraid of death, okay?! The psychological trauma from his last death was still there!
Thinking of how terrifying Jing Sui was just now, he subconsciously leaned against Carlos' embrace, and looked towards Jing Sui with a distant expression.
Jing Sui had actually wanted to come forward, but stopped when he saw the boy held in Carlos’ embrace. On that pale face was a pair of blue eye that looked at him with icy loathing and antipathy.
Thinking of what he’d just done…
A bone-piercing chilliness flowed slowly through him out of his heart. After some time, he gave a self-deprecating smile.
Actually, what he hated the most was himself.
It was his own indifference and coldness that led the youth to not trust in him anymore.
It was also his crude behavior that had caused the boy to fear himself.
It was all by his own hands...
Step by step, he had pushed the boy away from his side, letting his jealousy and desire ruin everything… Just like last life, he had pushed the boy further and further away.
Even if he didn't want it to be like that this life, things had still reached this stage and there was no way to change it.
He couldn’t put the blame on anyone.
Jing Sui closed his eyes. He turned around suddenly and left with large strides.
Ji Ling had originally thought Jing Sui wouldn't give up, so he clutched onto Carlos tightly. Who could’ve guessed that Jing Sui would just give him a glance and then turn to leave? The man had been so ferocious before, and now he just gave up for no reason… The guy must really be sick in the head.
Carlos let the boy lean into him. The bright red blood on his neck slowly dripped down contrasting against his pale white face. He looked as fragile and vulnerable as a glass vase… Instead of protecting the boy from Jing Sui, he had let him get hurt again.
All of this made Carlos feel immense heartache and guilt.
He softened his voice and gently wiped the bloodstains on Ji Ling's neck, saying: "I'm sorry. I didn't protect you well.”
Ji Ling felt everything was completely normal. Carlos had asked for his hand in marriage to go against Jing Sui. As a result, Jing Sui, that bastard, could even drop as low as to do those despicable things, humiliating Carlos right to his face. He had directly thrown that title of cuckolded husband right back! Obviously, Carlos would get angry. The fact that the man put in the effort to worry about his life and death was already very good. He couldn't blame Carlos for anything.
Ji Ling blinked and said: “I’m fine.”
Carlos looked at the youth’s trembling eyelids. The boy said he was fine so calmly, as if there was not a shred of anger, disappointment or unhappiness. He had accepted everything very naturally, and didn’t blame him. However, that was because Ji Ling had never had any hopes or expectations from him… the only one he really cared about was Jing Sui.
Carlos saw the corner of the youth’s lips that had been kissed until it bled. The jealousy and unhappiness in the depths of his heart started to gush up once again. He wanted nothing more than to kiss over it, mercilessly wiping away all traces of other men. However… he couldn’t let himself lose control again.
He didn't want the boy to be afraid of him.
Ji Ling saw Carlos had suddenly gone quiet. In those deep brown eyes was a complex expression that was completely unreadable. Ji Ling was left full of question marks.
Then he saw Carlos raise his hand. The man’s coarse and rough fingertips slowly brushed over his lips. The body warmth transmitted through those fingers seemed to carry with it a man’s suppressed feelings and restraints. Even though it seemed gentle, he couldn’t help but shudder inside.
Ji Ling: ...
Crap. He had been so pre-occupied with his narrow escape from death just now, he’d almost forgotten that Carlos was just as difficult to deal with!
Right in front of Carlos, Jing Sui had mercilessly thrown the title of cuckolded husband back. Thinking back on Jing Sui’s ill-willed words of provocation, Ji Ling’s expression changed slightly.
Words like that…were unbearable to any man! What a crook!
You had your fun and then waved your sleeve, *leaving without taking the nostalgic clouds in the sky with you. Now I’m left alone to deal with this rich old man! Did you dig this pit for me on purpose? Who wants to have an affair with you, huh?!
He had gone through great pains to narrowly escape from Jing Sui’s grasp. Did he have to die by furious Carlos’ hand now? Was there no way for him to escape this fate of being killed by some man? This was probably the severe consequence of having affairs with these big bosses… but he had no other choice besides this…
Ji Ling’s expression turned bleak.
However, Carlos suddenly loosened his grip at this moment, and his face gradually reverted to the usual deep and gentle expression. His eyes showed patience and tolerance, as he said in a soft voice: "It doesn't matter."
Ji Ling was stunned, and looked up in confusion.
Carlos looked into his eyes and said: "It doesn't matter if you like him. I told you before that this engagement was only to protect you. I won’t have any expectations of you, nor will I hurt you…”
He paused, as if there was some pain behind his expression. However, he still continued to say slowly: "If one day you forgive him, and want to go back to his side, I will agree to your request.”
Ji Ling was shocked once more.
Every time he thought he had seen the peak of this old fox’s acting skills, the man was able to shatter his known limits!
Whether the engagement was real or not aside, Jing Sui’s bare-faced provocation just now was completely out of line. Even in the face of such humiliation, Carlos was able to stay calm and continue his acting in character.
Ji Ling felt a bone-piercing chill go up his spine.
This person's talent was too terrifying. Someone who could endure beyond what normal people could was truly frightening! But it also proved that Carlos didn’t really love him, because if he loved and cared for him even a little bit, how could the man continue acting as if it was nothing?
Ji Ling slowly calmed his mind. There were many things he was afraid of, but being used by Carlos wasn’t one of them.
His eyelashes trembled for a moment, as he revealed an ashen expression of heartbreak. His voice was pained as he said: "I won't go back to him.”
Carlos looked at him with concern and sighed: "You..."
Ji Ling looked resolved, as if he had already lost all hope in Jing Sui. Through gritted teeth, he said, “You don’t need to say anymore. I no longer like him."
Carlos looked deeply at Ji Ling. After a long while, he finally said in a low voice: "I know."
Translator's note
*This is a reference to the modern poem, "Goodbye, Cambridge" by Xu Zhimo where he's nostalgic about leaving Cambridge, but flips his sleeve and leaves in the end, knowing he can't take the clouds in that sky with him.
Ji Ling watched the scene in terror. A moment later, his eyes reflected happy surprise, and he struggled desperately to get away from Jing Sui. In the end though, he made one move, and his waist was deadlocked into Jing Sui’s embrace. The man's grip was extremely firm, as if he’d wanted to snap him in two. Ji Ling’s face paled. He was too frightened to make any more movements, so he could only give Carlos an imploring gaze…
Help meee!!!
Carlos saw Ji Ling's pale frightened face and tearful red eyes. His chest swelled with anger and tender affection. The anger was directed at Jing Sui, and the tenderness for Ji Ling.
Although he couldn’t wait to straight up kill Jing Sui at the moment, his remaining reason still held him back. Fighting Jing Sui now would undoubtedly be more loss than gain. Others would ridicule him, and it would scare the boy, making him fear and distance himself.
Carlos took a deep breath, and slowly pressed down the killing intent in his eyes. He said in a thick voice: "Your Majesty, what are you doing?"
Jing Sui saw Carlos coming, and instead of letting go, he audaciously locked the youth in his embrace even more. Raising his lips, he gave a provocative smile. His tone was flat and mocking as he said: "What am I doing? Didn't you see extremely clearly just now?"
Carlos’ face went taut with nearly uncontrollable anger. He looked fixedly at Jing Sui and enunciated each word: "Let-him-go.”
Jing Sui saw how furious Carlos looked, and raised his eyebrows unconcerned, giving a light laugh. His fingers gently brushed over Ji Ling's neck, and his hands moved flirtatiously. This made Ji Ling's face flush with embarrassment and shame even harder. Only after that did Jing Sui look at Carlos and say slowly: "Ji Ling and I are in love, and doing things that lovers do. How is that going too far? And why should I let go?”
Carlos' entire expression changed and his voice was cold as he said: “Lovers? Your Majesty, perhaps you have lost your mind."
Jing Sui stared at Carlos with his golden eyes. He faintly parted his lips, and smiled, saying: “The one Ji Ling has always loved is me. He only agreed to marry you out of anger. He has never liked you. Even if you take on the identity of his fiance in name…I am indisputably his love. "
He paused, as a fanatic expression adorned his eyes. Bowing his head down, he gently bit Ji Ling's ear. Feeling the youth in his arms quiver, he lifted his eyes and said in a meaningful tone: “Plus, we have always interacted like this. We have done much, much more intimate things compared to what you just saw. It’d be better if you got used to it soo—”
Carlos finally made his move as soon as the sentence sounded out!
Archduke Carlos, who had never betrayed joy or anger on his face, and who almost never personally made a move himself…could no longer cover up his fury at this moment. That ever-elegant and profound face was now dyed in a never before seen darkness. He struck as quickly as lightning!
Jing Sui had long expected this. He immediately let go of Ji Ling and moved the boy aside to meet Carlos’ attack!
Ji Ling was pushed away, and sat down on the ground in a daze. Looking at the two men who had already fought up a storm in the blink of an eye, he shivered like a little chick.
The neatly dressed brown-haired man swung at the solemn man with long black hair before him. Jing Sui raised his hand to fend him off. His feet sank deeply into the earth, retreating backwards continuously. Then, his golden eyes flashed, as he held his ground, clenched his fist and slammed back!
The shockwaves from their random blows were strong enough to uproot a large tree. The impact created waves over ten meters high in the lake. They had both torn away their false pretenses completely, and wanted nothing more than to kill the other dead!
These two were straight-up monsters in human form…
Wait, hadn’t this confirmed that Carlos was actually an SSS class evolver? He could fight with Jing Sui on par, after all…
Ji Ling watched absent-mindedly when he suddenly heard a warning by his ear from the system: [Dodge! 】
Ji Ling was stunned for a second. Then, he saw a large boulder that had been uplifted by the waves of the fighting smash heavily in his direction. Paling with fear, he rolled and crawled desperately to dodge. The large boulder suddenly fell beside him, only an inch from his foot!
Ji Ling’s soul was almost scared away. He shook all over. Would he be the first host ever to be killed by the collateral damage from his suitors' fighting out of jealousy???
This kind of death was simply ridiculous. Ji Ling got up off the ground, wanting to escape ASAP. However, the fighting strength of those two guys was just too high. The whole ground seemed to shake. Carlos was smashed into the lake by one of Jing Sui’s punches, but he quickly rushed up from the depths and pinned Jing Sui to the ground with attacks of his own!
The two people exchanged blows; one punched, one kicked… Where was the dignity of an emperor and an archduke? They were completely pre-occupied with piling out their new and old grudges against each other, and doing whatever it took to send the other to his grave!
Ji Ling stumbled away desperately. As a result, a branch that was as sharp as a sword suddenly grazed his neck and flew by until it lodged deeply into the earth! It took him a long time before he could recover from the shock, and his legs started going weak…
Reaching up, he touched the wound. Fresh hot blood spilled all over his hand. Ji Ling’s face lost all color as he said numbly: [System, am I going to die?" 】
System: [It’s nothing. Just a little scratch on your skin. 】
Ji Ling: [What are they fighting for? I’d rather they just kill me and get it over with :) ]
System: […]
Ji Ling's anger gradually flared up. You guys make trouble day and night, and if nothing’s happening, you drag innocent bystanders into your mess. I'm completely uninvolved, okay? If you want to fight, can’t you f*ck off far away and have your fight?!
Anyway, I can't run away from those two crazy humanoid weapons. I might as well just be more open-minded. Reading the save file again is no big deal!
Who still has the temper for this? F*ck it.
I won’t run away anymore. Whatever. Just hit me to death.
But to his surprise, all his surroundings suddenly quieted down at this moment. The two men who had just been beating each other to kingdom come also stopped without warning!
Ji Ling: ???
The messed up strands of Carlos’ hair were starting to settle down. His meticulously arranged suit was now wet and disorderly. His elegant face was taut as he stared fixedly at Jing Sui with an icy glare.
Jing Sui raised his hand, wiped the blood off his lips, and looked at Carlos equally as coldly. Then, he slowly... slowly moved his line of sight towards Ji Ling.
The youth stood there with an indifferent expression. Blood was streaming down his neck, but it was as if he didn't feel it at all. He looked over at them with extremely cold eyes.
Time passed, and Jing Sui couldn’t contain the pain in his eyes.
He clenched his right hand hard. Regret and pain gripped his heart and squeezed it. He had been dominated by anger and jealousy just now, wanting nothing more than to kill Carlos, but he had instead hurt his beloved boy and almost killed him even…
Carlos gave Jing Sui a cold glance, then turned around and walked straight to where the youth was. He directly held the boy in his arms, raised his hand and brushed over the blood on his neck. After he’d confirmed it wasn’t serious, he finally gave a sigh of relief.
He had always been a calm and controlled person. Never had he been willing to show this terrifying side of himself in front of the boy. He had been even less willing to fight with Jing Sui in front of Ji Ling, but he hadn’t been able to control himself just now. Whenever he thought that the one the boy loved was Jing Sui, or that Jing Sui might have already possessed the boy thoroughly…
When he thought that the boy’s body and mind would only belong to another man…
Carlos took a deep breath, pressing down the jealousy and pain in his eyes. In any case, he shouldn't have done that just now. If the boy really was killed by his own hand... Carlos thought back to last life. Fear, an emotion of the weak which he had only just experienced for the first time, made his hand tremble slightly.
That situation must never happen again.
Ji Ling had already looked death in the eye and was prepared to go. That’s why he hadn’t expected the two of them to suddenly stop. He couldn't help but pause for a moment. However, that soon changed to feeling overjoyed at his luck. It was best to not get killed, after all. In the end, he was still quite afraid of death, okay?! The psychological trauma from his last death was still there!
Thinking of how terrifying Jing Sui was just now, he subconsciously leaned against Carlos' embrace, and looked towards Jing Sui with a distant expression.
Jing Sui had actually wanted to come forward, but stopped when he saw the boy held in Carlos’ embrace. On that pale face was a pair of blue eye that looked at him with icy loathing and antipathy.
Thinking of what he’d just done…
A bone-piercing chilliness flowed slowly through him out of his heart. After some time, he gave a self-deprecating smile.
Actually, what he hated the most was himself.
It was his own indifference and coldness that led the youth to not trust in him anymore.
It was also his crude behavior that had caused the boy to fear himself.
It was all by his own hands...
Step by step, he had pushed the boy away from his side, letting his jealousy and desire ruin everything… Just like last life, he had pushed the boy further and further away.
Even if he didn't want it to be like that this life, things had still reached this stage and there was no way to change it.
He couldn’t put the blame on anyone.
Jing Sui closed his eyes. He turned around suddenly and left with large strides.
Ji Ling had originally thought Jing Sui wouldn't give up, so he clutched onto Carlos tightly. Who could’ve guessed that Jing Sui would just give him a glance and then turn to leave? The man had been so ferocious before, and now he just gave up for no reason… The guy must really be sick in the head.
Carlos let the boy lean into him. The bright red blood on his neck slowly dripped down contrasting against his pale white face. He looked as fragile and vulnerable as a glass vase… Instead of protecting the boy from Jing Sui, he had let him get hurt again.
All of this made Carlos feel immense heartache and guilt.
He softened his voice and gently wiped the bloodstains on Ji Ling's neck, saying: "I'm sorry. I didn't protect you well.”
Ji Ling felt everything was completely normal. Carlos had asked for his hand in marriage to go against Jing Sui. As a result, Jing Sui, that bastard, could even drop as low as to do those despicable things, humiliating Carlos right to his face. He had directly thrown that title of cuckolded husband right back! Obviously, Carlos would get angry. The fact that the man put in the effort to worry about his life and death was already very good. He couldn't blame Carlos for anything.
Ji Ling blinked and said: “I’m fine.”
Carlos looked at the youth’s trembling eyelids. The boy said he was fine so calmly, as if there was not a shred of anger, disappointment or unhappiness. He had accepted everything very naturally, and didn’t blame him. However, that was because Ji Ling had never had any hopes or expectations from him… the only one he really cared about was Jing Sui.
Carlos saw the corner of the youth’s lips that had been kissed until it bled. The jealousy and unhappiness in the depths of his heart started to gush up once again. He wanted nothing more than to kiss over it, mercilessly wiping away all traces of other men. However… he couldn’t let himself lose control again.
He didn't want the boy to be afraid of him.
Ji Ling saw Carlos had suddenly gone quiet. In those deep brown eyes was a complex expression that was completely unreadable. Ji Ling was left full of question marks.
Then he saw Carlos raise his hand. The man’s coarse and rough fingertips slowly brushed over his lips. The body warmth transmitted through those fingers seemed to carry with it a man’s suppressed feelings and restraints. Even though it seemed gentle, he couldn’t help but shudder inside.
Ji Ling: ...
Crap. He had been so pre-occupied with his narrow escape from death just now, he’d almost forgotten that Carlos was just as difficult to deal with!
Right in front of Carlos, Jing Sui had mercilessly thrown the title of cuckolded husband back. Thinking back on Jing Sui’s ill-willed words of provocation, Ji Ling’s expression changed slightly.
Words like that…were unbearable to any man! What a crook!
You had your fun and then waved your sleeve, *leaving without taking the nostalgic clouds in the sky with you. Now I’m left alone to deal with this rich old man! Did you dig this pit for me on purpose? Who wants to have an affair with you, huh?!
He had gone through great pains to narrowly escape from Jing Sui’s grasp. Did he have to die by furious Carlos’ hand now? Was there no way for him to escape this fate of being killed by some man? This was probably the severe consequence of having affairs with these big bosses… but he had no other choice besides this…
Ji Ling’s expression turned bleak.
However, Carlos suddenly loosened his grip at this moment, and his face gradually reverted to the usual deep and gentle expression. His eyes showed patience and tolerance, as he said in a soft voice: "It doesn't matter."
Ji Ling was stunned, and looked up in confusion.
Carlos looked into his eyes and said: "It doesn't matter if you like him. I told you before that this engagement was only to protect you. I won’t have any expectations of you, nor will I hurt you…”
He paused, as if there was some pain behind his expression. However, he still continued to say slowly: "If one day you forgive him, and want to go back to his side, I will agree to your request.”
Ji Ling was shocked once more.
Every time he thought he had seen the peak of this old fox’s acting skills, the man was able to shatter his known limits!
Whether the engagement was real or not aside, Jing Sui’s bare-faced provocation just now was completely out of line. Even in the face of such humiliation, Carlos was able to stay calm and continue his acting in character.
Ji Ling felt a bone-piercing chill go up his spine.
This person's talent was too terrifying. Someone who could endure beyond what normal people could was truly frightening! But it also proved that Carlos didn’t really love him, because if he loved and cared for him even a little bit, how could the man continue acting as if it was nothing?
Ji Ling slowly calmed his mind. There were many things he was afraid of, but being used by Carlos wasn’t one of them.
His eyelashes trembled for a moment, as he revealed an ashen expression of heartbreak. His voice was pained as he said: "I won't go back to him.”
Carlos looked at him with concern and sighed: "You..."
Ji Ling looked resolved, as if he had already lost all hope in Jing Sui. Through gritted teeth, he said, “You don’t need to say anymore. I no longer like him."
Carlos looked deeply at Ji Ling. After a long while, he finally said in a low voice: "I know."
Translator's note
*This is a reference to the modern poem, "Goodbye, Cambridge" by Xu Zhimo where he's nostalgic about leaving Cambridge, but flips his sleeve and leaves in the end, knowing he can't take the clouds in that sky with him.
