Exclusive Possession – CH 008

Chapter 8. A Farewell Kiss

The same stretch of road became completely different with Mu Xian by her side.

When passing soldiers saw him, they all stopped and saluted: “Sir!” Of course, no one looked at me, not even stealing a glance.

To my surprise, Mu Xian nodded to every single soldier without missing a single one and even smiled occasionally. He wasn’t as cold and arrogant as I had imagined.

I felt increasingly unable to understand him.

We finally reached the hatch, but he stopped. I said, “I’m going in.”

He didn’t answer but pulled out… a dagger? from his pocket and handed it to me.

I hesitantly took it. The dagger was short, only slightly longer than my middle finger, and sheathed in a black leather sheath. I drew the dagger and froze—the blade was slightly pointed, snow-white, and sharp, not metal, and the texture seemed familiar.

“No more destruction allowed.”

I understood. These was his bones, broken in two that day, and I never imagined he would make them into a dagger.

“Why did you give me bones?” I’ve wanted to ask that for a long time.

He seemed to pause for a moment before replying, “It’s part of my body.”

I looked at him with a puzzled expression, not quite understanding.

“They all belong to you.”

I silently placed the dagger on the shelf by the entrance, took off his uniform, and returned it to him. He took it, draped it over his arm, glanced at the dagger, and looked at me again.

“Carry it with you at all times,” he said casually.

I paused for a moment, then picked up the dagger again. There was a small, narrow pocket on the hem of my skirt; I put the dagger in—and it fit perfectly.

While having a weapon for self-defense was good, the thought of carrying his bones in and out every day felt really eerie.

“I’ll be gone for a few days,” he said calmly. “Mop and Morin will stay behind to protect you.”

I recalled the phone call he received in the command center earlier. Was he going to stage a mutiny and kill people? I looked into his calm, dark eyes, and my feelings became inexplicably complicated.

“Are you confident you can succeed?” I asked.

He paused, a faint smile suddenly appearing on his face. You see, he was already quite handsome but usually had a cold, aloof expression. This smile was like a gentle breeze dispelling the haze, revealing his clear features and captivating charm.

He raised his hand and grabbed my chin, his fingertips strong, and I was instantly paralyzed, watching helplessly as he lowered his head. I thought he was going to kiss me, but instead, a warm, slightly itchy breath landed on my forehead.

My face was pressed against his neck, and I felt his lips against my forehead, his tongue gently licking it. I instantly froze—I didn’t want my face covered in saliva!

Unexpectedly, he only took a brief lick this time, letting go of me and saying, “I promise to come back for you within ten days.”

His tone was different from usual, very gentle. I didn’t know what to say, so I remained silent. He looked at me quietly for a while, then turned and strode away. The corridor lights were off, and the starlight outside the window, like ripples on water, reflected his tall, upright figure as he disappeared around the corner.

I stood there for a while, wiping the drool from my forehead, thinking he had misunderstood. I asked him if I was confident, just to know if I would be implicated, but he obviously took it as my concern for him, which is why he smiled and promised to return.

Why does he need my concern? I felt uneasy thinking, “Isn’t he supposed to care about nothing but marital obligations?”

Having decided to accept this kind of life, I felt much lighter. I looked at some information about Planet Softan for a while and decided to travel there next month—didn’t Mu Xian say he’d go with me?

Later, feeling a bit bored, I picked up a dagger to play with, wanting to test how hard it really was, and tried to slash the bulkhead with the blade.

“Swoosh—” It glided past lightly, like cutting tofu.

I stared at the crack, about a foot long and an inch deep, on the metal wall in front of me, feeling a bit amused and exasperated. He gave me such a powerful weapon—wasn’t he afraid I’d use it against him? But considering his terrifying mental strength, even if he gave me a mortar, I probably wouldn’t have to worry about being ambushed.

I jumped out of bed, pressed the communicator button, and told Morin to come over immediately. A few minutes later, Morin appeared, staring at the crack in disbelief: “My God! Your destructive power is astonishing.” I took out my dagger and explained to him, but he became even angrier: “You used the Commander’s bones to cause damage again?”

I gave an awkward laugh.

He found some tools, and I helped him repair the wall. However, cracks remained, and he said a complete repair would require a professional technician after logging in. Mu Xian doesn’t allow other men into this room now.

“How about we hang a painting here first?” I suggested.

“Great idea.” Morin clapped. “The Commander has a lot of your photos; I’ll go print one out later.”

Me: “…Never mind, actually it’s fine this way; there’s beauty in imperfection.”

After finishing all that, Morin said to me, “By the way, the fleet will land in Stan tomorrow. The commander has a mission, so you’ll need to stay at the spaceport first. Mop and I will stay behind to protect you.”

When he brought this up, I took the opportunity to ask him, “Who is His Highness Kenya?”

Maureen raised a trembling finger to me, utterly shocked: “Why are you asking about other men?”

“Speak quickly!”

He replied reluctantly, “His Highness Kenya is the second prince! He also commands three fleets and is responsible for the defense of Planet Stan. I don’t like him.”

Upon hearing this, I realized that this Prince Kenya was quite powerful. It seems that Mu Xian has found a strong backer.

“Who is Nuo’er? What is Mu Xian’s relationship with him?”

Nuo’er—the person Mu Xian and Kenya teamed up to eliminate in yesterday’s phone call.

Morin clearly knew the inside story, because he covered his mouth with both hands, stared at me for a full half minute, and then answered in a very guilty tone, “You know everything? And the Commander told you his name is Mu Xian?”

“Um.”

Morin blinked and sighed heavily. “Mu Xian is the name his mother gave him, and he likes it. As for Prince Nuo’er, he’s the Emperor’s illegitimate son, the joint commander of the Second, Fifth, and Seventh Fleets. Their relationship is beyond my scope of discussion.”

We were in the Seventh Fleet, so Mu Xian wanted to kill his superior?

I felt a little heavy-hearted.

**

About three hours later, Mu Xian led the fleet away, disappearing to an unknown location. I was transferred to a small, “clean enough” spaceship, where Morin and Mop, along with a dozen or so soldiers, protected me in two identical ships.

“The Imperial Space Port is strictly managed; staying in outer space would mean encountering Imperial patrols,” Mop explained. “We register to enter the port as a rescue ship under the commander’s command, so no one will notice. Based on humanitarian principles, no one will cause trouble for the rescue ship.”

I completely agreed. Mu Xian had gone to have done something extremely dangerous. Leaving a large force to protect me would only attract attention. It was much safer to remain hidden in plain sight.

Sixteen hours later, our three spacecraft made their final space jump and arrived outside the atmosphere of Stan.

Making a faster-than-light jump in space felt very mysterious. You would have a momentary sense of weightlessness and feel the surrounded space compressing at an incredible speed. You thought you would be crushed into mincemeat, but after a brief blank in your mind, the feeling of suffocation disappeared, and everything around you is normal, except for a slight feeling of nausea and vomiting in your chest.

It felt like I had suddenly died.

I stood in the aisle, enduring the nausea in my chest and abdomen, gripping the metal handrail tightly. The spaceship was sinking at a frantic speed, cutting through the dark, surging clouds like a storm.

My body trembled violently with the ship’s movements. It felt incredibly dizzying and exhilarating; it was exhilarating.

Finally, the chaos vanished, and my vision opened up. The air in front of me became clean and clear, and I could see the azure sea and the dark yellow outline of the continent. I was a little excited.

We descended more and more slowly, almost floating as we approached the ground. Beyond the winding coastline, towering silver-gray buildings rose into the clouds, their shapes dense and orderly, stretching to the horizon. Interspersed among them were green forests and rolling hills, giving the entire city a sense of both discipline and vitality.

High in the sky, far above the ground, floated several enormous spaceships; these was the planet’s defense force.

Our spacecraft docked in a vast spaceport. As far as the eye could see, apart from lighthouses and warehouses, there were smoothed, flat landing pads, and more than thirty other aircraft are also docked there.

The next two days were uneventful. I stayed in the aircraft all day, at most standing on the balcony of my bedroom for some fresh air (the roof of the cabin can be opened after landing). There were many female soldiers coming and going in the spaceport, and sometimes I would see young and beautiful women coming to greet their families, so my appearance was not abrupt at all.

This calm lasted until the following night.

Stan’s rotation period was thirty-two hours, so the nights were very long. I was watching a DVD in my room when Morin suddenly knocked on the door and came in.

He sighed and said, “Miss, a wanted criminal has escaped into the spaceport, and the port guards have been ordered to search for him. He should be on our ship soon. But don’t worry, we won’t let any males near this room.”

I wasn’t worried at all; in fact, I almost laughed: “Would the plush puppy I saw last time be considered male? I’d love to have one.”

Morin shook his head with difficulty: “If it’s a male dog, it must be neutered. If it’s a female dog, the commander will object…”

A sudden, muffled thud, slight yet clearly piercing the ear.

Morin’s cheerful voice stopped abruptly, his mouth agape in an “O” shape.

“What was that sound?” I asked, puzzled.

“A salute?” Morin hesitated.

“What are you doing—ah!” someone exclaimed from a short distance away.

The communicator in the room rang simultaneously, and Mop’s anxious voice came through: “Morin, it’s the army; quickly take the young lady…” His voice disappeared into a crackling sound of electricity.

Mop gasped, and I was equally taken aback—the army? Coming for me?

But weren’t our messages kept very secret here?

“Mop, Mop!” Morin frantically pressed the communication button, but there was still silence on the other end. He stared blankly up at me; it had all happened so suddenly that we looked at each other in bewilderment.

Immediately afterwards, we heard a dense, chaotic sound of footsteps, like heavy, rapid drumbeats, coming from the front hatch.

Someone forcibly boarded the ship!

We heard several more muffled gunshots, along with the hissing sound of laser guns firing. The sounds of fighting and cries for help continued unabated—a fierce battle was raging on the ship!

“I’ll go out and take a look!” Morin volunteered, rushed to the door, gently opened it a crack, and cautiously peeked out.

“Bang!” Almost at the same instant, I heard a muffled thud on the doorframe.

“Morin!” I exclaimed and rushed over, but Morin had already quickly pulled her head back, slammed the door shut with a “bang,” and was panting heavily.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

However, escaping seemed difficult.

The gunfire gradually subsided, and we stood helplessly in the room. Morin kept pacing back and forth, growing increasingly agitated. He shouted, “What do we do? Communications are destroyed, and now we can’t contact the commander! Oh, I’m a domestic robot, how can I protect you, Miss! How am I supposed to explain this to the commander! Oh! Miss… why are you so calm? Aren’t you afraid at all?”

I was taken aback.

I was quite nervous because I didn’t know what would happen, but I wasn’t exactly scared. So I comforted him, “If one day you were suddenly kidnapped and raped by an alien beast for a whole night, you wouldn’t find anything scary anymore.”

Morin immediately clutched her head, her eyes wide and her face contorted in agony. “That’s terrifying! I don’t want to be raped by a beastman! Wait, but I won’t be raped, I didn’t… Wait! The alien beast you’re talking about isn’t the Commander, is it?”

I didn’t answer because I thought of a possibility.

I hesitated before asking, “Could the people outside be sent by Prince Nuo’er?”

The more I thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Who, besides the royal family, could mobilize the port’s regular army? It must be that Mu Xian’s plan has been exposed. Nuo’er must have gotten wind of it from somewhere and wants to capture me to threaten Mu Xian!

The thought of possibly being tied up like a dumpling and delivered to Mu Xian, coupled with his gloomy and arrogant gaze, filled me with indescribable frustration.

When Morin heard my guess, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped open, as if he didn’t know what to do.

At that moment, heavy footsteps finally echoed in the hallway outside the door, rapidly approaching from afar.

Morin and I huddled close together, holding each other’s hands. He was still whispering, “Commander, forgive me, she needs me now…”

“Bang!” The door was forced open, and a squad of fully armed soldiers stood in the doorway. A handsome young officer strode in, his expression arrogant and his eyes wary.

My heart skipped a beat—Mu Xian had left behind only the elite troops, and it seemed that he was ultimately outnumbered.

Morin bravely stood in front of me and said coldly, “This is a private room. You’re being incredibly rude!”

The officer didn’t even look at Morin and said to me with a stern face, “Miss, come with us.”

I took a deep breath. Sure enough, they were after me. It seemed the so-called wanted criminal was just an excuse; they launched an armed assault as soon as they boarded the spaceship.

For now, we could only take it one step at a time.

The soldiers were all tall and solemn, staring at me. I was only wearing a thin skirt, and for some reason I felt uncomfortable with their gaze. I thought about getting a uniform from the closet, but then I felt it was inappropriate and gave up.

Stepping out of the cabin, it was a bit chilly outside. I gripped the hem of my skirt but unexpectedly touched a small dagger in my pocket. The cold, hard texture of Mu Xian’s hand touched my palm, and I couldn’t help but recall the day he left, his silent, downcast kiss, and his smile as beautiful as after a snowfall.