Chapter 65: Good news.

For the next few days, Lorcan was troubled.

The novel’s sad parts came in layers, each worse than the last. If the Chapters before the coming-of-age ceremony were painful, the ones after were crushing.

Next, he was supposed to strip Oisín of his military power and lock him away in the prince’s home like a kept lover.

In the original text, the Third Prince fed Oisín a pheromone-addiction drug but then sent him back to the Third Army with no comfort at all, wanting to watch Oisín beg in agony.

Oisín’s reaction was odd. For the first few days he stayed silent and didn’t send a single plea, which made the Third Prince doubt that the drug worked. But then one day his attitude changed completely. He suddenly dropped his pride and became exactly what the Third Prince wanted, begging softly, one sweet plea after another.

The original text said, "The Third Prince nodded, satisfied. It seemed that even the most upright and honourable Major General Oisín could not stand the pain of pheromone addiction."

But Lorcan thought differently.

Oisín must have heard some news that day, something he had to do, something worth giving up his pride and dignity to win favour for.

After Oisín’s begging, the Third Prince was smug and pleased. He took Oisín to his home, where Oisín was already too weak to hold a gun steady. A major general who couldn’t hold a gun was of course unfit to lead the Third Army. So, after a rushed handover, Oisín gave up his military power and became a pet kept in the prince’s house.

That was the plot they had to follow.

Lorcan tapped his head in frustration. "How am I supposed to bring this up?"

Only a couple of days ago they had been close in bed. Oisín, not knowing a thing, had taught Lorcan how to fly a ship and had even changed his profile picture to a devoted knight’s salute. And now Lorcan had to ask him to step down and disappear.

106 hesitated. "Just say it straight?"

Lorcan stared at it. "Say what straight? ’Stop running the Third Army, hand over your power quickly, and come to my rooms to be my kept lover?’"

He punched the pillow. "What kind of scumbag does that!"

But however absurd the plot was, Lorcan had to follow it. He opened the chat, found Oisín, and typed and deleted, again and again, for half an hour without sending a thing. Meanwhile the other side showed "typing," and Oisín sent a message first.

The Major General sighed softly. "Your Highness? Is there anything I can do for you? Please, ask me anything."

Lorcan clutched the blanket. The more helpful Oisín was, the guiltier he felt. After a lot of hesitation, he finally made up his mind. "Major General, I want you to move into the prince’s home."

He tried to be as gentle as he could. "This month, please hand your authority to your subordinates and leave the Third Army for a while."

"..."

However gently it was said, taking away someone’s power was still taking away their power.

Asking a general to give up his life’s work and live in the prince’s house was too much to ask. But Lorcan held Oisín’s weak point, and Oisín had no choice but to agree. Lorcan, avoiding the issue, flipped his device over and buried his face in the pillow.

106 poked him. "Host, stop acting like an ostrich. The Major General has answered."

Lorcan took a deep breath and flipped the device back.

Oisín had answered quickly. "Of course."

His tone was light, as if he had no objection. "I’m at the Third Army right now. Would you like to send someone to pick me up?"

In fact, Major General Oisín of the Third Army had been keeping a low profile and had hardly been seen for three days.

His orders were still going out one after another, and the Third Army’s training was going on in an orderly way. There had been some changes among the senior officers, with many old faces transferred and new ones promoted. Colonel Cathal, who had been on his yearly leave, also hurried back.

The Third Army was full of rumours, and many said that Major General Oisín had been badly tormented by the Third Prince and was too weak to get out of bed.

Certain people carefully recorded these remarks and placed them on the desks of some high-ranking Zerg officials the next day.

Some nodded in satisfaction, and some felt a little regret, but everyone was sure of one thing. Oisín had taken the addictive drug, and this once brilliant, dazzling genius of the Third Army was finished.

Cathal came back at the height of the rumours.

As he made his way toward the major general’s home with his suitcase, Oisín had just finished bathing.

The major general was drying his silver hair with a large towel and even put on some hair care product with interest, because he was sure the Third Prince liked this hair.

Then he checked his face in the mirror and found no flaws, as beautiful as ever. He changed his clothes, tied up his hair, and went to the main hall.

Cathal looked at him suspiciously. There was no sign of tiredness on his face. "Are you really fine? Then where did the wound on your wrist come from?"

Oisín’s wrist was clearly bandaged, with faint traces of blood showing through.

Oisín answered, "Thanks to the Third Prince’s kindness, I’m fine. The wound on my wrist is self-inflicted."

He wasn’t stupid. The wine that looked like the addictive drug, the camera behind the glass screen, and the bug on Lorcan’s collar all clearly showed that the first prince wanted him dead and the Third Prince wanted to protect him.

He didn’t know where the Third Prince’s kindness came from, but Oisín would repay the favour and wouldn’t let any flaw show in front of the first prince.

As soon as he got back to army headquarters, he claimed illness and took leave, looking bedridden and close to death. He even mixed a lot of blood-stained tissues into the rubbish, so it would look like he was coughing up blood. Even if someone investigated and tested the DNA, they would find that the blood really belonged to Major General Oisín, who was now worn out in body and mind.

After that, Oisín spent three days handling everything at headquarters and then had some free time, waiting only for the Third Prince to speak up and take him in.

A major general who couldn’t hold a gun steady shouldn’t be leading an army corps. To finish the act and fully convince the first prince, he couldn’t stay at headquarters. He had to go to the Third Prince’s side and give the impression of being locked up.

But however long Oisín waited, Lorcan wouldn’t speak up.

Not only that, but he ignored Oisín completely and didn’t answer anything Oisín sent.

Oisín quietly wondered what the Third Prince was thinking but couldn’t work it out. While scrolling the chat by accident, he saw that the other side had been in the typing screen for half an hour, typing and deleting, as if something were troubling him.

Oisín couldn’t help asking, and after a long hesitation, Lorcan finally asked slowly, "Can you come and live at the prince’s home?"

"Don’t worry about the Third Army any more."

Those few lines had taken him half an hour to write, and even the request to give up his power was so carefully worded, as if he were afraid Oisín would be upset.

Through the device, Oisín could almost picture the Third Prince tapping the screen and picking his words with care. His cold face softened without his noticing, and a part of his chest suddenly felt full and very tender.

...Why would he go to all this trouble for him?

Once he handed the Collins Family over to the prince, he would just be a useless pawn. Why would Lorcan go so far for a useless pawn?

Cathal looked at his old friend, read his expression, clicked his tongue, and pulled up a chair. "It’s good that you’re fine. You’ve got through half this hurdle, which is good news. Luckily I have two pieces of good news myself."

Oisín raised an eyebrow. "Any leads on the 23rd District?"

Cathal lowered his voice. "Yes. I found the address of the ’pheromone factory.’ You were right. It’s built next to the Planetary Graveyard. The outside of the factory is covered in a stealth coating that blocks electromagnetic waves. It took a lot of effort. I got their flight paths, their visitor list, and their latest research directions, and I’ll send them to you later."

Oisín nodded. "That really is good news. What’s the second?"

"The second is that I’ve made a pheromone copy for the Third Prince, using black-market methods. You know the side effects, so I won’t go into them. In short, it lasts up to a year, and after that the body collapses."

Cathal looked him up and down. "Though it seems you don’t need it, it’s better to have it just in case."

He took a black leather case from his suitcase and pushed it toward Oisín. Inside were forty-eight neatly lined injection needles, the liquid a deep ice blue, like melted glacier.

Oisín nodded. "Thank you."

At that moment a loud mechanical roar echoed in the distance. Oisín and Cathal both looked toward the horizon, where the outline of a ship began to appear against the sky. It was clearly the one the Third Prince often used.

Cathal stood up. "It looks like His Highness’s people have arrived. I should go."

Oisín nodded. "I need to get ready too."

Oisín was led out of the Third Army by servants.

His face was as pale as paper and his lips had no colour. Beads of sweat as big as peas rolled down his face and soaked his shirt, which clung to his body. His striking blue eyes were tightly shut as the servants dragged him across the four-hundred-metre front square of the Third Army, his steps faltering and unsteady. The servants handled him roughly, with no respect for his rank as a general, treating him like cargo.

The Third Army soldiers who were training turned to watch. Many had heard about Oisín’s situation, and sadness crossed their faces as they silently made way and watched the general being dragged onto the ship.

When he disappeared from sight, sighs of regret filled the air.

Once the ship’s hatch closed and blocked all view from outside, the servants let go. Oisín stood up straight, with no trace of his earlier mess. He nodded politely to the butler and asked, "May I clean up?"

Oisín’s face was still deathly pale, but his posture was relaxed and upright. The butler opened the bathroom door. "Please."

He turned on the tap and washed the make-up off his face. After taking off all his disguise, he smoothed his silver hair and carefully tied it up.

Thirty minutes later, the ship landed at the prince’s estate.

The butler led Oisín and pushed open a heavy door with one hand. "This is the guest room His Highness has prepared for you. Your luggage will be brought over shortly. Please rest well."