Chapter 30: A New Beginning Part 1

Mo Han found that he simply couldn’t win an argument against Luo Fei. No matter what reasoning he presented, Luo Fei’s answer was always a variant of “It’s okay, I like you.” The sensation was like mustering all his strength for a powerful punch, only to have it sink uselessly into a pile of cotton.

His head throbbing so intensely it felt ready to split open, Mo Han decided he didn’t want to wrestle with this any longer. Frowning, he said, “I’m heading back to the hotel first.”

Luo Fei immediately went to the control console and set the navigation, his tone solicitous. “Let me take you back.”

Chongming’s flight speed was incredibly fast. After pulling up the hotel’s coordinates, it descended and landed on the hotel’s landing pad in less than a minute. For discretion’s sake, Chongming folded its enormous wings, morphing into the shape of an ordinary hovercar, and considerately dropped Mo Han right at the hotel entrance.

Initially, it had been deathly afraid of Mo Han hacking its system. But after their interactions today, it realized Mo Han wasn’t so frightening after all—he was quite a decent person, really. Since its master was wholeheartedly set on liking Mo Han, Chongming felt it should also try to build a good rapport with the future Prince Consort. With a good relationship, everything was negotiable, and it wouldn’t have to constantly worry about Mo Han wrecking its system.

With that in mind, Chongming manifested its virtual intelligence avatar to proactively say goodbye to Mo Han. “Goodbye, Mo Han! Come visit my master again sometime. I can open up the core parts of my system for you to observe and study.”

Mo Han had been very interested in Chongming before. But now, he wanted to avoid both Luo Fei and Chongming like the plague—the further away, the better.

Mo Han stated flatly, “We’ll see.”

He exited the cockpit, Luo Fei trailing behind him all the way to the hotel lobby.

Mo Qiming had just returned from meeting with a friend. Spotting the First Prince personally escorting his son back to the hotel, he walked over, puzzled. “Why are you only back now?”

Seeing his future father-in-law, Luo Fei immediately adopted an attitude of utmost respect as he explained, “Uncle Mo, I had dinner with Mo Han, so we returned a bit late.”

Mo Qiming raised an eyebrow. “Why would the First Prince suddenly call me ‘Uncle’?”

With a highly courteous smile, Luo Fei replied, “I have always held the deepest respect for you. You are only two years older than Royal Father. It’s only proper for me to address you as Uncle.”

Mo Qiming: “???”

You are the First Prince of the whole empire! When does a prince go around casually calling people “Uncle”?

Mo Qiming, having navigated the business world for many years, immediately sensed something amiss upon seeing his son’s deeply awkward expression.

Maintaining a polite demeanor, he said, “You are too kind, Your Highness. Mo Han, come back with me first.”

Mo Han followed his father and they stepped into the elevator.

Once inside the penthouse suite at the top of the hotel, Mo Qiming quickly locked the door behind him and frowned at his son. “What is going on? Why are you getting so close to the First Prince?”

Mo Han’s expression was one of pure helplessness. “I never imagined things would turn out this way.”

He rubbed his aching temple, walked over to pour himself a glass of cold water, and drank it down to try and cool his head. Only then did he look at his father and say, “I thought he was interested in Mo Lin, so I put on that whole performance in front of him. As a result, his interest in Mo Lin vanished… and he shifted his interest to me.”

Mo Han paused, his expression exceptionally awkward.

Mo Qiming’s face darkened. “Are you saying… he doesn’t like Mo Lin, but likes you instead?”

Mo Han nodded stiffly.

Mo Qiming drew a sharp breath. “Does he know the secret about you and Mo Lin?”

Mo Han shook his head. “Probably not. He said he likes me, and that even me being an Alpha is fine for him. Clearly, he hasn’t reached that line of deduction yet. He hasn’t pieced together that Mo Lin and I are the same person.”

An odd silence settled in the room.

Obviously, father and son were both deeply troubled by the First Prince’s tendency to defy all logic. Mo Qiming was also nursing some regret; he should never have brought his son to that birthday banquet.

After a moment, Mo Qiming finally asked, “What do you plan to do?”

Calming down, Mo Han finally formulated a plan. He stated calmly, “Luo Fei is still young right now. His infatuation with me is likely just a passing phase. Isn’t their military academy starting the new semester soon? Once the school enters its closed training phase, he won’t even be able to see me. Given enough time, these feelings will naturally fade.”

Mo Qiming remained silent, his gaze complex as he looked at his son.

Mo Han continued, “Once the semester begins, I’ll quickly prepare my graduation thesis. The moment I get my degree, I’ll return to help at Fengyang Group. The First Prince and I will only grow further and further apart from here on out. Even the most intense feelings get diluted by time. And besides, his feelings for me aren’t that deep to begin with.”

Hearing this, Mo Qiming finally couldn’t stay silent. “Are you certain Luo Fei’s feelings are just a temporary infatuation? That he’ll gradually let go after a period of separation?”

“Yes,” Mo Han stated confidently. “We’ve only known each other for less than a month and only exchanged words a few times. The emotional bond is barely there. Luo Fei has probably never met a hacker before. He’s overly curious about me, which made him think he likes me. Given some time apart, he’ll slowly come to his senses. We are simply impossible together.”

Mo Qiming didn’t voice a rebuttal, but worry nagged at his heart.

Was the First Prince’s affection truly just a temporary infatuation, as his son believed?

He had a bad premonition about this. His son handled all kinds of viruses with ease, always trusting his own judgment. But he didn’t yet realize that matters of the heart sometimes simply cannot be reasoned out by normal standards.

He hoped Luo Fei would recognize the difficulties and retreat.

Otherwise… if Luo Fei managed to convince His Majesty Xize to come forward with a marriage proposal, that would be truly dire!

Back at the Royal Palace, Luo Fei’s face was glowing with vitality. His entire being radiated joy, his steps seeming to float as he walked.

The Royal Guard members rarely saw the First Prince in such a state and exchanged bewildered glances.

Luo Fei was overjoyed. Although his confession today hadn’t been successful, Mo Han hadn’t explicitly stated that he found Luo Fei repulsive. As long as he wasn’t repulsed, there was still a chance! As the saying goes, faith moves mountains. Back when Royal Father was pursuing Dad, hadn’t he also stuck to him like glue, offering devoted protection and silent companionship until Dad’s heart was finally moved?

He had plenty of time. The Prince Consort he had set his heart on—no matter how difficult, he would win him over.

Just as he was walking along with a wide grin, a cool voice suddenly spoke beside him. “Elder Imperial Brother seems very happy. Did something wonderful happen?”

It was his twin younger brother, Luo Ning.

Startled, Luo Fei turned to look at him. “How do you walk so silently?”

Luo Ning shrugged. “I’ve been following behind you for a while. You were so absorbed that you didn’t notice. What’s on your mind that’s making you this happy?”

Luo Fei glanced at the passing Royal Guard soldiers nearby and immediately shushed him, pulling his brother by the arm towards his own palace.

Once there, he mysteriously locked all the doors and windows. Then, with a light cough, he put on an air of deep gravity. “Luo Ning, you are my twin brother. We’ve never had secrets between us. I’m not telling Royal Father or Dad about this yet. I’ll tell only you. But you have to promise to keep my secret. Deal?”

Luo Ning stated coolly, “Is it the matter of you liking Mo Han?”

Luo Fei: “????”

How did he know before a single word was spoken? Had this guy inherited Grandfather’s X-ray vision?

Seeing his elder brother’s utterly shell-shocked expression, Luo Ning let a small smile curve his lips. “You want to ask how I know? Very simple. At the birthday banquet, you blanked for three seconds after spotting Mo Han—that’s one. When Mo Han left with his father, you kept staring at his back with a complicated expression—that’s two. Today, Iman invited Mo Han over to his house, and you slipped away from the Royal Guard to go find him, returning this late with a goofy grin plastered on your face—”

Luo Fei cut him off with a dark expression. “Who says it’s a goofy grin? My smile is very handsome, alright?”

Suppressing his amusement, Luo Ning said, “Fine, your smile was very handsome. Anyway, I deduced from these factors that your relationship with Mo Han isn’t simple. I wasn’t entirely sure at first, but just now you said you had a big secret to tell me and wanted me to keep it for you. That confirmed it. You’ve definitely fallen for Mo Han and are afraid Dad will beat you up if he finds out. You don’t dare confess to them yet and wanted to discuss strategies with me.”

Luo Fei: “…”

What was it like having an exceptionally brilliant twin brother?

For Luo Fei, it was a bittersweet mix of pain and joy.

The pain came from the fact that since childhood, he could never hide a thing from Luo Ning. His brother always instantly guessed what was on his mind.

The joy was that no matter what problem he faced, the two of them could always discuss it together and brainstorm ideas. Having such a considerate younger brother was actually pretty great.

Thinking this, Luo Fei stepped forward and draped an arm around his brother’s shoulders. “Since you’ve already guessed, I won’t hide it from you anymore. I do indeed like Mo Han. But you know as well as I do that pursuing Mo Han is an uphill battle akin to reaching the heavens. Besides, Royal Father and Dad’s stances are unclear. I honestly don’t dare to tell them this soon that I’ve fallen for an Alpha.”

Luo Ning analyzed, “The Alpha part isn’t the main issue. Royal Father himself fell in love with a Beta back then. If he opposes it, just throw his own glorious history back in his face—he’d immediately lose any leg to stand on. Moreover, Mo Han is outstanding. He’s more than a match for you, no problem there.”

Luo Fei nodded. “That’s logically sound. But the key problem right now is that Mo Han simply doesn’t like me back.”

Luo Ning said, “Then just work hard and go win him over.”

Luo Fei smiled. “Of course I will.” He paused, then leaned close to Luo Ning’s ear and lowered his voice. “I’m giving you a heads-up in advance: you need to be on my side. Dad’s been used to beating me up since I was little, but he’s never laid a hand on you. When the time comes, I might need you to bail me out.”

Luo Ning replied, “No problem. I can help work on Dad for you. But as a condition of this deal, you’ll owe me a favor.”

Luo Fei gently ruffled his hair. “Between real brothers, why talk about ‘owing’?”

Luo Ning stated flatly, “Even real brothers settle accounts clearly.”

“…” Helpless, Luo Fei withdrew his hand and nodded. “Fine. I’ll owe you this favor. When it’s your turn for life’s big decisions, your Imperial Brother will personally oversee things. Any Alpha you dislike, I’ll chase them all away. Even if you fall for an Omega and want to marry one, I’ll fully support you. Whatever you want to do, just do it. I’ll always be on your side, alright?”

“Satisfactory,” Luo Ning said, gracing him with a small smile. “Deal.”