Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 50
Major General Darius Bayes was sitting in the communication room. An urgent message from the Empire Capital pulled the busy general out of a meeting and into the comms chair.
With his hands clasped on his knees, Bayes appeared calm, but his mind was in turmoil. Prince Annot had sent him a message! They hadn’t spoken for months, let alone seen each other in person.
“You look well, Darius.” The prince’s gentle voice traveled across millions of light-years, reaching Bayes through the quantum device.
“Thanks to you,” Bayes replied, his face tense.
Prince Annot showed a teasing smile. “It’s been so long since we last met, and now you’re being all formal with me?”
“I… I’m fine,” Bayes said softly.
“I heard you personally led a team to infiltrate the space pirates’ base?” the prince asked. “That was very risky… Are you hurt?”
Bayes nodded, feeling a warm sensation. Annot’s first concern was for his well-being! He cared so much about whether he was injured! This almost made Bayes jump with excitement, but his self-control kept his expression composed.
“Many people were sacrificed.” Bayes tried to keep his tone even. “The fleet also suffered some losses. But I’m not hurt.”
“I’m glad you’re okay.”
Bayes gripped the armrest of his chair tightly, channeling his excitement into the armrest. “By the way, do you remember Alois Lagrange?”
The prince thought for a moment. “How could I forget? He was your senior at school, right?” Then his expression darkened. “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t sent him to protect Leia…”
Damn! Why bring this up? Annot must be thinking of his little lover again! He looks like he’s about to cry! Bayes cursed himself silently. Why did you have to mention it?
He quickly changed the topic. “Well… Lagrange escaped from prison, joined the pirates, and now I’ve captured him. He’s on the ship.”
“Is that so?” The prince seemed to recover a bit from his gloom. “It would be nice to see him. Alveira mentioned him to me a few days ago…” He looked up, falling silent for a few seconds. “Darius, how long until you return to the capital?”
“If the journey is smooth, about two weeks.” Bayes sensed the prince had more to say. “Did something happen?”
The prince sighed. “It’s nothing much… Recently, a new weapons factory was completed in Leyting. A royal member is supposed to inspect it. Alveira was planning to go, but Duke Winnet insists on ‘escorting’ her. I’m worried he might harm her. If you could return to the capital sooner…”
Bayes’ face turned grim. “I’ll get back as soon as possible.” Alveira was the Empire’s princess and Annot’s sister. Bayes always regarded her as his own sister and couldn’t let that old fox Winnet near her!
The comms room door buzzed open, and Leibniz’s voice called out, “Report!”
Bayes turned. “Can’t it wait?” He rarely got to see Annot and hated being interrupted.
The prince didn’t understand his feelings. “Is there work, Darius?”
“It’s fine…”
“I must be interrupting you. You’re so busy…” The prince lowered his head. “Let’s leave it here for today. Superluminal communication fees are expensive. Don’t waste the budget on this.” Then he gave a faint smile, like morning mist. “Next time we meet will be in the capital.”
Bayes wanted to keep him but couldn’t refuse the prince’s kind gesture. “We’ll… We’ll meet in the capital then.” He reluctantly turned off the communication.
The holographic screen dimmed.
The Major General stood up.
“What happened?” he asked without looking back.
“Two prisoners of war tried to escape, but our officers and soldiers subdued them!”
“Why report it if it’s settled?”
Leibniz shivered. “The… the casualties…”
“Casualties? Two prisoners caused casualties?” Bayes’s voice was filled with anger. “Write a report and give it to me tomorrow!”
“Yes, sir!” The adjutant saluted nervously, eager to leave the angry major general.
“Wait!” Bayes stopped him. “Are the prisoners injured?”
“Joshua Planck is injured, but his life isn’t in danger. Alois Lagrange is unharmed.”
Bayes waved his hand. “Nothing more to say. Dismissed.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Get in there!”
The fully armed soldiers threw Joshua into the room without mercy. After all, who could be gentle with someone who cold-bloodedly killed their comrades? Joshua curled up on the ground, his freshly bandaged wound reopening. The soldiers didn’t seem inclined to call a doctor. An officer checked his wound coldly, muttering “won’t die”, and left.
They treated Alois with more courtesy, though still coldly. They didn’t throw him and just handcuffed one of his hands to the wall and confiscated his communication terminal to prevent any tricks (the other terminal robot had been blasted into cosmic dust by the mech unit’s electromagnetic cannon after wreaking havoc on the ship’s circuits).
“Get a doctor, you bastards!” Alois yelled at the guards, who ignored him. Joshua lay silently in the corner, so quiet he seemed like a corpse, save for the rise and fall of his chest and the occasional twitch of his arm from the pain.
He didn’t make a sound despite the pain, but Alois felt heartbroken, wishing he was the one injured. He would rather endure a thousand times the pain than see Joshua hurt.
The door to the room rose, and an officer led several armed subordinates inside. Alois thought they finally had the decency to get a doctor, but his face twisted in disgust when he saw who it was.
Colonel Gilbert Gauss, the one responsible for capturing him and Joshua. Alois had heard of him before. The gossip-loving maids in the palace often talked about the promiscuous prince and his countless illegitimate children. Gilbert Goss was one of the more successful ones. His mother was the daughter of a wealthy nobleman and was proud of this royal-blooded illegitimate child (a notion Alois found baffling). She sent him to military school, and the prince supported him, securing a good position for him in the army. Influenced by the prince, Alois had no fondness for the prince and often thought maliciously, ‘Thank goodness Gauss didn’t attend the Empire Military Academy, or he would have used his connections to deal with this bastard.’
However, now it seemed Colonel Gauss was more inclined to deal with the two prisoners in front of him.
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