Era of Light

Alfred turned a corner and saw Xiu at a glance.

The Crown Prince’s ceremonial dress was still on him, but he wasn’t standing as tall and upright as usual. Instead, he was supported by two tall men, one on each side. His usual, slightly reserved and handsome face was buried deep, his head hung weakly, showing off a slender and white neck. 

For a moment, Alfred even felt that he was “crazy” as the emperor had said. This was a scene he had imagined.

As long as he could remember, Xiu had always been calm and steady, aloof and unapproachable. During his nineteen years as a minor, Xiu had always been his strongest support, and during his two years as an adult, Xiu had become his most terrifying enemy.

He had never seen Xiu like this before, unconscious and at the mercy of others, looking so powerless and helpless.

Alfred felt deeply offended.

For more than two years, day and night, he had been thinking about Xiu, thinking about how to take revenge on him, how to take away his glory, how to step on him and crush his eternal calm mask, and how to shatter his pride and dignity, enjoying his fragility and helplessness.

But how could this fragile and helpless gesture that he had been longing for and dreaming of be so easily presented in front of irrelevant people?

This was supposed to be his trophy!

Two drunken customers were walking towards the shop with Xiu on their shoulders, when one of them was suddenly slapped on the shoulder from behind.

As soon as he turned his head, he didn’t even see who it was, when he was hit in the abdomen with a sudden explosion of pain.

“Ahhhh!”

The opponent punched so fast that he didn’t even realise he had been hit until he curled up on the ground, screaming in agony.

His companion was already drunk and sluggish, not yet realising what had happened. All he felt was a lightness on his shoulder. The person he was holding was pulled away with an irresistible force.

Alfred quickly grabbed the person back into his arms with one hand. He felt that Xiu wasn’t completely unconscious, and weakly trembled in his arms. When he thought he had trembled like this on someone else’s shoulder just moments before, the anger in his heart rose. With his other hand, he grabbed the collar of the standing man.

“Where are you going to take him?”

The drunk pointed at the shop behind him and said, “Here! Wait, who are you? How do you beat someone?”

Behind him was a peach-colored establishment.

“What the fuck–” Alfred could not help but curse, his eyes turning faintly golden. He took a deep breath, suppressing his genetic ability that was about to explode, and asked coldly: “What did you do to him? Did you drug him?”

“Drug him? We didn’t ah__”

“——It is hypothermia!” The man who fell to the ground woke up from the pain and shouted, “Hypothermia! You can die if you fall in the snow. Several tourists die from hypothermia every year! We kindly rescued him and wanted to say we would take him inside to warm up. You… you, ouch, it hurts. I want to call the police! The police!”

The atmosphere was awkward for a while.

Alfred calmed down, and put his hand on Xiu’s neck to feel his pulse.

Slow heart rate, shallow breathing, cold skin, shivering from time to time, and partial loss of consciousness were indeed signs of hypothermia.

Hypothermia could be fatal if left untreated. He immediately said, “I’m sorry, brother. Someone will come to compensate you later.” Then he picked up Xiu and rushed into the shop behind them.

“Early signs of hypothermia.” Alfred said quickly to the receptionist who welcomed them. “Give me a room. It should be small, and the temperature should be high. Be quiet. I’ll give you triple—no, ten times the room rate. Just keep your mouth shut and I’ll give you ten times the tip when I leave, understand?”

The waiter saw this posture and was about to ask what was going on. But after hearing this, he said very tactfully: “I understand. I have never seen you two.”

As workers in this gray industry were used to strange things, they knew what to say and what not to say. After receiving the money, the room Alfred requested was ready soon.

Fearing that the temperature would rise too slowly, he specifically requested the smallest room, with only a small bed between a double and single bed size. There was not even a chair, let alone a table. The furniture was simple and straight to the point.

As Alfred searched for a gap to broadcast the communication, he covered his body with the quilt. 

“Hello? Oh…” He glanced at the unconscious Xiu and paused, refraining from calling Austin’s name. “Come over immediately. The address has been sent to you. There are two drunks at the entrance. There was a misunderstanding and I hit one of them just now. Yes, it was a misunderstanding. Give them as much as they want. As soon as you’re done, return to the banquet immediately and say that the Crown Prince couldn’t handle his liquor, so we left first.”

The temperature has already risen. Although Alfred requested a higher temperature, the high temperature of XueLi Star could not even reach the normal temperature of a habitable planet. Xiu’s face turned pale, and the shivering did not stop.

Seeing that he was not getting better, Alfred sat on the edge of the bed and patted the side of his neck, saying: “Don’t die, I’ll call a doctor for you now.”

As he was about to contact the doctor, upon hearing the word ‘doctor,’ Xiu somehow found the strength to suddenly raise his hand and grab onto Alfred’s formal wear cuff.

He seemed to be awakened by a specific word, like a hypnotized person. Struggling to open his eyes, he said weakly and tremblingly, “No, no… can’t call a doctor…”

Alfred allowed him to weakly grasp his cuff without shaking him off. He said calmly, “They won’t draw your blood.”

Xiu still stubbornly muttered and repeated: “You can’t call a doctor, you can’t…”

Listen.” Alfred tightened his grip on Xiu’s wrist. Unlike Xiu’s limp and weak grip, Alfred held on with absolute and overpowering strength that did not allow for any struggle. He leaned in close to Xiu’s ear and sneered in a low voice, “Of course I know you don’t dare see a doctor. But today, you can rest assured that I have no intention of revealing the little secret in your genes to the public just yet.”

Xiu completely lost his usual wisdom. His breathing and heartbeat became slow, and his thoughts were slow. He just kept repeating the same sentence – “can’t call a doctor”.

His consciousness was even deteriorated. If this continued, he might not have been able to hold on until the doctor arrived.

Alfred made a decision, and in three or four quick movements, he took off his formal wear and undershirt, revealing a smooth and powerful muscular body.

His eyes turned brilliant gold, and the gold in his eyes flickered like flames. The air around him gradually heated up.

Alfred tugged at Xiu’s dress a few times, but found it difficult to remove while the other party was unconscious and unable to cooperate. He became impatient and tore it open directly.

Xiu was somewhat thin. Alfred had never realized this before, even though they had been close brothers for almost twenty years, and they could be regarded as having grown up together. This was actually the first time he had seen Xiu naked.

But at this moment, he didn’t have time to admire anyone’s figure. He sat on the bed and hugged Xiu, covering both of them with a quilt to keep them warm.

A scorching chest pressed against the icy skin.

Xiu trembled for a moment, and unconsciously reached out to embrace the hot body, trying to get as close to him as possible.

Alfred lowered his head to look at him and found that Xiu was snuggled tightly in his arms, like a drowning man who had finally grasped straw.

Alfred’s gaze shifted from Xiu’s slender neck to his white and thin shoulders, where the delicate bone lines disappeared into the blanket.

For some reason, Alfred grabbed Xiu’s neck. This was a deadly move, but Xiu didn’t struggle at all. Instead, he clung to him even tighter—— Under the deliberate influence of the golden pupils, Alfred’s palms were also burning hot.

This was almost a kind of encouragement. Alfred continued downward, kneading the other person’s shoulders, then stroking his distinct spine inch by inch.

The aloof Crown Prince, the majestic and self-reliant elder brother, was now like a bird with broken wings. In the end, all he could do was curl up in his embrace and let him do whatever he wanted.

It has to be said that Alfred had fantasized many times about the Crown Prince’s embarrassed appearance after being defeated by him. He also fantasized about how to deal with Xiu after he had seized power. Would he send him to prison or exile him, or publicly rebuke him in front of the clan? But no matter how many times he fantasized, he never thought about this scenario…

Alfred’s throat moved, and his golden pupils seemed to burn even more intensely.

Why not? That’s how it should be … he thought, this was his booty, and he could do whatever he wanted. Not yet, but one day, one day …

The person in his arms suddenly moved, pulling him back from his drifting thoughts.

Xiu’s pale face turned bloody, and he opened his eyes slightly, calling out softly, “Alfred…”

Xiu’s fragile and submissive posture pleased Alfred. So he leaned down in a rare moment of kindness and consideration, bringing his ear close to Xiu’s mouth to hear every word of thanks Xiu was going to say to him.

“Just now, outside, you…”

He was still very weak. His voice was soft and he spoke slowly. But Alfred was impatient in listening to his retelling of the previous situation. He interrupted and said quickly: “Just now, outside, I rescued you from someone else’s hands, that’s right.”

At the same time, Xiu also finished what he wanted to say.

“You shouldn’t swear,” he said.