263: Always be that accident

"Your Majesty was very calm after hearing everything."

Even now, James still admired the young Emperor's composure at that time.

He had even turned things around to comfort and praise James instead.

"You have already done everything you could; leave the rest to me." The Emperor offered a reassuring smile to his younger brother, who was impatient but barely restraining himself out of curiosity.

"Perhaps Heaven gave me a twin brother just so the Empire could have a smoother transition."

He mused, "After all, my life is not long."

"Your Majesty!"

The Emperor looked at him helplessly. "I am telling the truth. Rather than raising a child, it is better to train him to be the successor, however..."

He frowned deeply. "The Empress Mother will absolutely not let him live."

James thought that was inevitable. If this matter were exposed, her legitimacy as the biological mother of The Emperor would be punctured, and her arrogant maternal clan would certainly be attacked by political enemies.

The young Emperor thought for a moment and then asked his brother seriously, "Do you want everything I have? If you can be obedient, after I die, everything will be yours."

"Mine?" The brother's skin was so pale that the blood vessels beneath were visible. He didn't quite understand all of this, but he instinctively wanted to stay with this person.

So he nodded and reached out to tug at the young Emperor's long hair. Currently, only their hair was different; James had cut the brother's hair to ear-length.

The Emperor pulled out a small knife from his waist. With a flick of his fingers, his long silver hair fell to the ground. With his ear-length short hair, he stood together with his brother.

"Look, we are exactly the same now," he said.

The brother's eyes finally sparkled, and he showed a smile.

From then on, James claimed to the Empress Dowager that there had been progress in his research and that he needed The Emperor's cooperation.

The Emperor frequently appeared in his laboratory. In the basement, he personally taught his brother the ways of a ruler.

But progress was always slow.

Compared to wars on distant planets, the commoners at the bottom of the Empire, or the treacherous nobles, the person locked underground only wanted to grasp all living things in the sunlight.

He only cared about the warmth his hands could touch; his heart was unwilling to look further away. Everything else seemed meaningless to him.

The Emperor coaxed him, letting him play in the garden in his place for a short while if he behaved well.

In this way, the two Emperors grew up.

As The Emperor's health deteriorated, the other appeared in his place more and more often.

But The Emperor's hidden worries grew deeper and deeper.

Ability, Talent, martial power, knowledge—when this person lacked nothing, The Emperor finally admitted that he would not, like himself... love this country.

But time was running out for him. The Emperor spent many sleepless nights.

Until—

"Until you appeared."

Doctor James finally finished telling everything.

"Am I... that important?"

"More important than you imagine." Doctor James nodded. "They have had different interests since childhood, but you are the only existence they both pay attention to."

Tu Nan did not argue; it was the truth.

If it was just about attention, then it had indeed been that way from the beginning.

Whether because of their annoyance and curiosity, or because of her impulsiveness and boldness, after Tu Nan came to the palace and met The Emperor, her life path became completely intertwined with his.

"I actually noticed something was wrong halfway through."

Tu Nan didn't know how to express herself to this Senior, who was almost like a mentor.

"I... I pretended not to notice."

James shook his head with a smile. "Who would dare to notice? You weren't wrong. And that day, you just pointed everything out like that..."

He paused, his voice becoming low again. "The Emperor was not wrong about you."

He didn't continue, but Tu Nan knew what he left unsaid.

He wanted to say that she still had a conscience and wasn't entirely without feelings for The Emperor.

Tu Nan leaned her hands on the Treatment Pod and said to James, "No wonder I always felt the scent on The Emperor was familiar; it turns out he really was using the Foster Mother's soaking solution."

"So many clues... but I never thought deeply about it. The Emperor, he says nothing."

Her voice carried a hint of complaint. "If one always thinks that not saying anything is for the other person's good, isn't that also a kind of arrogance?"

James didn't answer her, but the Silver Armored Knight on the side replied, "Yes."

Tu Nan turned her head in surprise.

The Silver Armored Knight shifted his feet uncomfortably and explained haltingly, "Must communicate. Must... must tell the other person what one is thinking. Think together."

Tu Nan curled her lips into a smile and nodded.

"Yeah."

She pressed her face against it too, murmuring again.

"Yeah..."

***

The flagship sailed toward the Capital City.

Carrying the two Emperors.

Tu Nan still lived in The Emperor's room, but Long Jingyuan did not step foot in the room again; he seemed to be throwing a tantrum.

But Tu Nan didn't want to coax him for the time being, so she moved the Two Children back into the room and spent more time accompanying them.

At noon three days later, Lance knocked on her door.

"Tu Nan, Tu Nan, let me hide!" Without another word, she scurried in and immediately shut the door tight, as if someone were hunting her down.

Tu Nan looked speechlessly at her face, which had regained some color, and her finally restored dashing appearance, and asked, "What's wrong? Is Yi Xingye chasing you to eat again?"

Lance's face twisted.

"The mush he invented... the person who could eat that probably hasn't been born yet." She started to feel nauseous just thinking about it.

"If you ate your three meals a day properly, he wouldn't force you like this."

"You! You're actually on his side!" Lance was furious.

Tu Nan sighed and pulled her to sit beside the Children, feeling a bit sorrowful.

"People who truly care about you don't care about your achievements; they only care about your health. Idiot, he's doing it for your own good."

She thought of The Emperor, who cared for his own body the least. Every morning and evening, Tu Nan would go to his side and stay quietly for a while just to feel at peace.

But even so, she didn't know how long this peace could last.

Even James couldn't say for sure how long the special treatment fluid could maintain him.

Lance pouted, but after a while, she admitted reluctantly, "I know, okay? It's just really gross."

Tu Nan poked her chest.

"Show some research spirit. Research a flavor you can actually stomach yourself. You know those Male Beasts would even want to gnaw on Star Worms."

"True," Lance accepted this reasoning. Suddenly, her eyes flashed, and she slapped her own forehead.

"Wait, did I not tell you about my new research?" She was very excited.

Tu Nan's expression let her know that she indeed hadn't. Lance giggled sheepishly.

"I think it's groundbreaking, Tu Nan, but I don't dare tell anyone."

She leaned in close to Tu Nan mysteriously. "Wasn't I researching the genes of Star Worms? Guess what I found? High-grade Star Worms and High-Grade Male Beasts have matching gene segments!"

Tu Nan looked at Lance in confusion. The System had told her about the origin of Star Worms before, but so what if Lance discovered this?

"Oh! How should I put it..." Lance scratched her head in frustration. "Ah, basically, Star Worms are supposed to be creatures that appeared out of nowhere, but they seem to be more like relatives to High-Grade Male Beasts."

Tu Nan was only slightly surprised. "Then what's the use of you researching this? To get the Male Beasts to curse you?"

"You academic failure!" Lance was exasperated. "Do you understand how much medical progress can be made by expanding the gene chain? Ah!"

She felt frustrated by Tu Nan's lack of vision.

Tu Nan suddenly thought of an incredible direction.

"Medical progress..."

She suddenly grabbed Lance, scaring her so much she almost fell to the floor.

"What are you doing!"

"I have a research project for you to do! Lance!"