I raised stunning young ladies, but they all wanted to possess me.

Pei Yuran did not return to her cabin after leaving the conference room.

She walked along the narrow corridor inside the aircraft carrier, asking everyone she met a question.

"Where does Yuzuru Hanyu's assistant live?"

The first young communications soldier she stopped was so frightened by her icy face and the long, ice-blue sword at her waist that he stammered for a long time before finally pointing in a general direction.

The second orderly he encountered was more direct, saying that it seemed to be on the third floor of Block B on the east side of the island, with a sign that read "Hanyu's Second-in-Command's Temporary Residence," but he couldn't remember which room it was.

Pei Yuran didn't ask a third question and walked directly towards the east side of the ship's island.

The sound of her high heels clicking on the alloy floor was rapid and even, just like when she was inspecting the headquarters in the Middle East theater of operations.

Only she knew that she was walking faster than usual at that moment.

Gu Yan was playing games in her room.

The handheld game console was given to him by Lin Jinyu a few days ago. She said it was the latest model she had found out about, and it could connect to the military network to play online battles. The soldiers on the front lines used it to relieve stress during their breaks.

He leaned against the headboard, his legs dangling over the edge, his fingers flying across the screen as he typed, thinking about the progress of Yuzuru and the others' meeting in the conference room.

It should be nearing its end by now. The representatives from each war zone just arrived today, and there's a pile of documents to sign before the welcome banquet.

Just as his character finished defeating a boss and the victory screen popped up, there was a knock on the door.

Three very light taps, the sound of knuckles striking the metal door panel was short and restrained.

Gu Yan placed the game console on the bedside table and did not immediately open the door.

"who."

There was a half-second of silence outside the door.

Then a voice rang out.

Young and aloof, but deliberately lowered his voice, with a slight upward inflection at the end.

"Master Yuzuru asked me to deliver something to Mr. Gu."

"It's meeting documents, and also new supplies that have arrived on the replenishment ship."

Gu Yan frowned slightly.

He felt the voice sounded very familiar.

It's not because he's heard it many times.

On the contrary, he hadn't heard this voice many times, but he remembered it every time.

Because the owner of this voice is one of his favorite characters in the original work, the icy young lady nicknamed "Silly Goose".

"No."

"Just leave the things by the door, I'll get them myself in a bit."

The person outside the door paused noticeably.

Then the voice rang out again, this time with a hint of almost imperceptible urgency in its tone.

"It's not very convenient to put it by the door."

"The document is encrypted and must be signed for in person."

"Some supplies are refrigerated; they'll spoil if left out too long."

"What frozen collectibles?"

Matcha cake.

"Lady Chiyo said Mr. Gu likes this."

The voice paused for an extremely short moment, then added another sentence.

"Furthermore, Lord Yuzuru said that there were some unexpected developments at today's operational meeting, and Mr. Gu needs to be informed as soon as possible."

"She told me I absolutely had to convey her message in person."

Gu Yan got out of bed and walked to the door.

He hesitated for a few seconds, then placed his finger on the doorknob.

He quickly calculated in his mind.

If it really is Yu Ran, how did she find this place?

Didn't Yuzuru and Lin Jinyu say that they wouldn't let him go to the meeting room today to avoid him being recognized?

His disguise of spiritual power is a secret technique of the Chiyomiya family, which ordinary people cannot see through.

But if it really is Yu Ran outside the door, given her ability to sense spiritual energy fluctuations, this door won't be able to stop her at all.

He took a deep breath and opened the door a crack.

Then a figure crashed right in.

The door was pushed open forcefully from the outside, and Gu Yan was thrown backward by the figure, her back hitting the mattress.

Pei Yuran pressed down on him, her hands supporting her on either side of his head. Her plain white dress was spread out on the dark gray sheets, and her long, jet-black hair slipped down her shoulders, the ends brushing against his cheeks.

Her stunningly beautiful face was less than twenty centimeters directly above him, her icy blue pupils shining brilliantly in the dim light of the cabin.

"Found it."

Her voice was very soft, as if she were talking to herself.

But Gu Yan could hear all the emotions suppressed in those two words.

Three years of waiting, three years of doubt, and every day for those three years I reminded myself with the same words: don't give up.

Gu Yan was completely stunned.

He lay in bed, looking at that face so close to his, with only one thought in his mind.

Yuzuru's makeup skills were indeed useless.

"Yu Ran, let me explain."

"Explain what?"

Pei Yuran interrupted him.

Her voice returned to its usual coldness, but Gu Yan could see that her fingers, which were supporting her head on either side, were trembling very slightly.

"Explain why you've been alive for three years but haven't come to see me?"

"Explain why you're here as Chiyomiya's deputy?"

"Explain why you didn't open the door just now?"

Her voice grew softer and softer as she spoke, and by the last few words, it had a very faint hoarseness.

She stared at his face, as if trying to match it with the one in her memory.

The same facial features, the same eyebrows and eyes, and the same excessively pale skin due to poor health.

She's just a bit thinner than she was three years ago.

Do you know how I've spent the last three years?

Gu Yan opened her mouth.

He couldn't speak; it felt like something was blocking his throat.

Of course he knew how she had spent those three years.

He slept soundly in the deep mountains of the land of cherry blossoms, while she used frost and sword energy to force herself into one of the strongest sword immortals on the combat power list in every battle in the Middle East war zone.

He saw her on the television news; her sword was even faster than it had been three years ago, but she never smiled in front of the camera.

"Yu Ran, I..."

"Don't speak."

She lowered her head.

Ice-blue pupils looked at him from very close range, and long eyelashes cast two small shadows on his face.

He thought she was going to kiss him, but the next second he heard her inhale, very softly, as if she was forcing back something that was about to well up in her eyes.

Are you hurt?

"……No."

"What about mental strength?"

"He's almost fully recovered."

"Do Chiyomiya Hanyu and Lin Jinyu know your identity?"

Gu Yan remained silent for a second.

"Know."

Pei Yuran's eyelashes trembled slightly, and the fingers gripping his collar tightened a little.

"So I was the last to know."

"My mother knows too."

"The whole of Japan knows."

"I was the only one kept in the dark, frantically searching for you like a fool in the Middle East war zone, sending people everywhere to inquire about your whereabouts, and personally flying over to confirm every person who looked like you."

"So you're in Japan, right on the fifth line of defense, right next to them."

"I read the battle reports from the Eastern War Zone every day and saw that the man called Yuzuru's second-in-command used his mental power to control an S-class calamity."

"I'm still thinking, there's actually another person in the world who can do something like this."

"There was no second person at all."

"It's you from beginning to end."

Gu Yan raised her hand, hesitated for a moment, and then gently placed it on her back.

She didn't dodge.

Her body trembled slightly in his palm, and then, as if all her strength had finally been drained, she buried her head in the crook of his shoulder.

Don't think that I'll forgive you just because of this.

Her voice was muffled, coming from the crook of his neck.

He was completely different from the swordsman on the battlefield who could cleave through a Titan-level being with his sword.