Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Prologue 1

Alois Lagrange had many “never thought” moments in his life. He never thought his father would die due to non-combat attrition in the Battle of Datia (the official term actually referred to friendly fire), never thought he would be taken in by the National Orphanage, never thought he would enter military school, never thought he would be selected for the Royal Guard, never thought he would become the personal bodyguard of the first heir to the throne, His Highness Annot, never thought His Highness would fall in love with a commoner, and never thought His Highness would assign him to protect that commoner—Miss Leia.

Alois thought his “never thought” life had come to an end at this point, but he had clearly underestimated the God of Fate’s enthusiasm for “playing with humans”. Although he had experienced it before, it was never this profound…

The imperial royal family was a tragedy in every sense: Her Majesty the Queen was a sentimental and timid woman. Her husband, Prince Sorey, was a notorious philanderer with countless lovers and an almost equal number of illegitimate children, and the Queen was powerless against it—perhaps “inaction” would be a better description—she couldn’t stop her husband’s infidelity and could only wallow in self-pity in the depths of the White Radiance Palace, while the hateful Chancellor Greenwald held the reins of power. The future of the Empire, the first heir, Prince Annot, and the second heir, Princess Alveira, each inherited flaws from their mother’s character. Prince Annot was extremely timid, which could be described kindly as gentle and kind-hearted, unable to harm even a fly; Princess Alveira was sentimental and a bit stubborn.

The third heir was the Queen’s cousin, Duke Winnet, who was ambitious and was currently arranging a marriage between his daughter and Prince Annot, hoping to control the Empire as the king’s father-in-law. However, neither party seemed enthusiastic about this. The Duke’s daughter was immersed in her own 2D world, indifferent to the outside world, while Prince Annot had met the beautiful Leia during an outing and fell in love at first sight. This Cinderella-and-prince love story marked a new phase in Alois Lagrange’s life—from “never thought” to “couldn’t have imagined even if beaten to death”.

He couldn’t have imagined, even if beaten to death, that the usually timid prince would be so determined to be with that girl. The prince sent Alois to protect Miss Leia and provide liaison services for their secret meetings. In this aspect, the prince was quite like his father.

But Alois couldn’t have imagined, even if beaten to death, that Duke Winnet would be insane enough to send someone to assassinate Miss Leia.

That dreadful day began on a gloomy morning, with Alois squatting in the bushes near Miss Leia’s house, chewing on a hard piece of bread, and watching her door like a perverted voyeur. Leia lived with her mother, and her father had died years ago in the war between the Empire and the Federation. The two single women were very cautious about their safety and rarely let strangers into their home—so that dreadful day was definitely an exception.

Just as Alois was about to break his teeth on the bread, a man in a suit came to Miss Leia’s door and rang the doorbell. He was carrying a white plastic bag, bulging with unknown contents, possibly cosmetics. Alois thought he was a salesman because he had just rung the bells of all the neighbors, saying something to them with animated gestures, and was then coldly turned away.

The door opened, and Miss Leia, dressed in a white long dress, appeared at the door. The salesman gesticulated enthusiastically, and unlike before, Miss Leia’s makeup-free face showed a look of surprise. She invited the salesman in and then called out loudly enough for Alois to hear. “Mom! There’s free cosmetic samples! Come and see!”

‘Ah, women’s nature,’ Alois thought.

The door closed again. About ten minutes later, the door opened again. The disappointed salesman came out, still carrying the unchanged plastic bag, and closed the door. Alois watched him leave with sympathy.

About an hour later, Alois began to feel something was wrong. Normally, at this time, Miss Leia’s mother would go out shopping, but she hadn’t appeared today. The uneasy bodyguard stepped out of the bushes, not even bothering to brush off the leaves on his body, and went to the door, ringing the bell several times with no response.

Damn it, something’s definitely wrong. Alois circled to the side of the house and looked inside through the living room window. What he saw shocked him—Miss Leia was lying face down on the floor, a dark red pool of blood spreading from her head, and her mother was lying on the sofa, one hand hanging weakly to the floor, with blood extending from the sofa to the floor.

It was that salesman! Alois gritted his teeth. He pushed the window, found it unlocked, and jumped into the living room, quickly going to Miss Leia’s side and checking her carotid artery—there was no pulse. She had been dead for almost an hour. The living room was tidy, with half-eaten breakfast still on the table. It seemed the salesman hadn’t killed for money, and kind Miss Leia couldn’t have provoked such a deadly enmity. There was only one possibility—he was an assassin sent to kill her.

Typically, Alois should have been devastated, full of self-blame. He had let an assassin kill Miss Leia! Prince Annot had sent him to protect her precisely to prevent such an event. He had betrayed the prince’s trust, let two innocent lives perish, and couldn’t absolve himself even in death!

However, Alois had no time for self-blame. Because the house’s front door was smashed open with a bang, and a group of armed police officers rushed into the living room, countless gun barrels pointed at the bodyguard’s head.

“Drop your weapon!” the police shouted.

Alois was stunned and then realized he was mistaken for a suspect. Looking at the scene, it did indeed seem like he had killed the two women. The bodyguard’s face twitched, trying to explain, but was interrupted by the police’s authoritative shout, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court!”

‘I don’t want to remain silent!’ the bodyguard thought. “Wait, listen to me! I’m a member of the Royal Guard, my name is…”

“Seize him!”

Several police officers twisted Alois’s hands and pinned him to the ground.

“I’m Alois Lagrange! I was ordered by Prince Annot to protect Miss Leia… I…”

“Make him shut up!”

A man who looked like a doctor approached with a syringe and injected it into the bodyguard’s neck.

This… this is a mistake! This is an injustice! Alois’s consciousness faded, but he realized that whether it was a mistake or an injustice, it didn’t matter. Someone wanted to kill Miss Leia and then frame him, removing the two closest people to Prince Annot.

When he woke up, Alois was already in prison. He was sent to trial at lightning speed, so fast that if they always worked at this efficiency, the Empire’s crime rate would have dropped to zero long ago. Alois had no chance to defend himself and was sentenced to two hundred thirty years for murder, without parole—thank God the Empire had long abolished the death penalty—and was sent to serve his sentence on the prison planet Hecate.

Before going to Hecate, he met with his former colleague Casper. Casper told him part of the truth. “Prince Annot has been confined to the palace by Her Majesty the Queen,” the young officer said worriedly. “I guess it must have been Duke Winnet who sent someone to assassinate Miss Leia. He always wanted the prince to marry his daughter, but the prince fell in love with a commoner. Her Majesty the Queen considered this a disgrace to the royal family and tacitly approved the Duke’s actions. You became a victim of the conspiracy.”

“…It’s too late to talk about this now.” Alois shook his head. “How is His Highness?”

“He’s very sad. He has attempted suicide several times but was stopped by the Princess. Now he is on a hunger strike,” Casper said. “Lagrange, rest assured, you won’t stay in prison for life. I will find a way to get you out.”

Alois hugged his colleague. Though moved, he knew Casper was just comforting him. Only the dead were those who would leave Hecate.

Hecate was a planet rich in tin mines, home to the Empire’s most terrifying prison. Prisoners on Hecate lose not only their freedom but also have to endure heavy mining labor. In an era where low-end AI and robots were widespread, manual mining was costly and unprofitable. But, thank God, a bunch of prisoners didn’t need profit. It was just something to keep them occupied. Mining was merely a side job.

Alois could never have imagined, even if beaten to death, that he would be exiled to such a place. His life was full of strange twists. Once honored as a member of the Royal Guard, he was now a prisoner. The prison had its own moral standards and codes of conduct, and Alois found that the common sense of the outside world didn’t apply here.

For example, he never thought he would end up sleeping with men. Alois always thought he would only make love to women he liked, and they had to be beautiful, even if not as stunning as the Galactic Diva Camilla, then at least as pure and lovely as Miss Leia. But on the prison planet Hecate, there were only men around him, only male creatures. Even the warden’s pet cat was male! Of course, there were female prisoners on Hecate, but male and female prisoners could only meet once a year, at the annual Christmas party.

So, for the remaining 364 days of the year, Alois had to stay with men. This was quite painful for a young man full of vigor. So he learned to find joy amidst suffering. In prison, if you didn’t take others, others would take you. After Alois thwarted a group of men plotting to assault him in the shower, he decided to take the initiative. Many were willing to offer themselves. After all, Alois was young, handsome, and strong, and being with him meant being under the protection of a powerful person.

Alois never lacked bedmates, but he felt very empty. He knew he lacked a soulmate—a spiritual pillar—someone who understood him and could support him through his 230-year sentence without parole. And this person had never appeared.

Just when Alois Lagrange thought he would waste his life away, as the saying went, he could never have imagined, even if beaten to death, that he would meet “that person” in prison. This person had many nicknames. Admirers called him “The Living Legend of the Galaxy”; others called him “The Black Blade”, or “The Silver Assassin”. In the most widely circulated version, this person was known as “The Mourner”, and his name was Joshua Planck, a killer.

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Kinky Thoughts:

I’ve been on a western binge lately. I had an interest in this project for a while now and finally got around to it.

I mean, it has it all, space pirates, assassins, interstellar voyage and warfare—there’s even smut and a switch to boot. What more could I ask for.

Enjoy.

Just a note, the author’s name is an idiom referring to when the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. It refers to a situation where two things are closely related that the loss of one will directly affect the other.

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