Chapter 31 — ILK Chapter 31

By the time Sang Ye walked into the kitchen, she saw Lin Changli leaning against the island, helping himself to a piece of chilled Tiramisu from the refrigerator. After being refrigerated, the tiramisu had a texture similar to ice cream—slightly grainy and condensed, offering a distinct charm compared to the soft, pillowy texture it had when freshly made.

Lin Changli’s gaze was distant, as if he were still in a daze. However, seeing Sang Ye enter, he quickly stood up and moved away to maintain a distance between them. Sang Ye didn't even need to extend her mental power to know that his current state was very poor.

She noticed that the clothes he wore, which had been dripping with water just moments ago, had completely dried. They were likely made of a highly breathable material; there was no damp odor, but rather a crisp scent of sea salt mixed with the sweet fragrance of fruit.

Sang Ye opened the refrigerator to think about what sweet dish to prepare for him, only to find that one of the two large-eared glass pitchers of Kumquat Lemon Tea was missing. She leaned back slightly to see Lin Changli guzzling from that very pitcher. He was even using her brand-new, orange-yellow long straw decorated with three chubby little kumquats—something she hadn't even used herself yet!

She stared at him for a long while. Lin Changli returned a suspicious look, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was overstepping. He really doesn't treat himself like a guest, she thought. Remembering her mission on Black Tower, Sang Ye endured it.

She didn't try to ask where he had been. The man was temperamental; at his worst, his mental pressure could make it hard to breathe, and at his best, he was merely mischievous and sharp-tongued. In truth, no one at the base really cared about his whereabouts. To General Asu Ment, it was a case of "not my problem." Wu Huansheng, as his former subordinate, had absolute faith in his strength—it was always a matter of him causing trouble for others, never the other way around. Jiang Sili was practically a ghost himself, let alone caring about anyone else.

Though Sang Ye had been assigned to perform mental channeling for him, she had her own private thoughts. Perhaps the only person who truly cared for him was the Emperor far away on the Capital Star. But Lin Changli had driven away every Guide sent by Lin Shuangxu and unilaterally cut off the surveillance in the West Building, making it an island within the base. His relationship with his mother was clearly abysmal.

Exiled from kin and friends, stripped of power, a shadow of his former glory. He’s a bit pitiful, she mused. But she quickly shook her head, tossing the ridiculous thought aside. Losing military command didn't mean he had nothing; the fact that the base executive officer couldn't handle him proved that his status as a Prince was far more valuable than that of a Marshal.

Feeling pity for a man is the first step toward misfortune, she reminded herself.

Sweet dishes were easy. The lazy way would be to just add more sugar; she could even throw together a fruit salad to fool him. But since she had accepted the pardon from the death penalty, she had to do her job diligently. Moreover, as a chef, Sang Ye had her own moral standards; she couldn't bring herself to be perfunctory with a client.

In the mortal world, people scolded those with "the body of a master but the fate of a servant," but looking at the man leaning there, leisurely scrolling through his terminal, that didn't apply. He was a real prince.

Lin Changli had taken about a third of the tiramisu. With his appetite, he could have easily finished the rest and the second pitcher of tea, but he wasn't quite that selfish. It was clear that Sang Ye had prepared this for their afternoon tea together. This made her realize she’d have to make extra for everything in the future. There was a little pig outside and a gluttonous beast inside. Both were bottomless pits.