'Ah… what to do. I've fallen in love…'

Huang Shu returned to the Imperial Palace, half dazed as he kept holding the bag of coin. He straddled at the small road beside a river. All he needed to do was cross the bridge, jump on the Imperial Wall, and find a secret passage, and then he would find himself at the back of his Palace.

But Huang Shu stopped at the low bridge, and then he stared at the flowing river. The water was very clear, so Huang Shu could see his own reflection on the surface.

He could see the ash and dust that covered his face, his messy hair, and his tattered clothes. Although he was actually handsome under this guise, he still looked very improper, filthy, and even unpleasant to look at.

But that Ger man, Bai Yunyu, still allowed Huang Shu to follow him and walked around the city together. Even with many stares, Bai Yunyu didn't seem to be ashamed.

He also treated that little girl nicely even went as far as feeding the girl Tanghulu and other sweets as a treat. There was no fear in her eyes, and there was no greed or perverseness in Bai Yunyu's eyes.

[Note: Tanghulu — Candied fruits.]

'He gave me this money for helping him, although he said that he didn't need my help.'

Huang Shu could sense that Bai Yunyu always appreciated the people around him. Which was what Huang SHu wanted the most from someone.

He hated some of his Imperial brothers' arrogance because they never thanked the servants or the guards because they were entitled to all things great as the Princes of the nation.

Although Huang Shu generally was on good terms with them, he still wouldn't agree with their way of taking everything for granted.

'Shushu…'

Huang Shu continued staring at his own reflection, then commented, "Why would he give me an endearing name like that? Don't he realize that you shouldn't be too close to strangers?" Huang Shu said while staring at the river.

"You too, Huang Shu, Seventh Prince. You shouldn't get involved with him in the first place. Now that you've suddenly fallen in love at first sight with a random merchant son, what can you do?" Huang Shu complained to himself.

Huang Shu sighed and returned to the Imperial Palace, half dazed. He still had that bag of coins and decided to just store it in his drawer. Huang Shu tried to make himself busy by writing calligraphy, but he was still dazed in the middle of his brush, that he didn't realize what he wrote just now.

When he saw it again, he realized that he wrote something different than what he intended.

'Shushu Loves Wife.'

Huang Shu flipped the small table in front of him, and he ruffled his hair out of frustration.

"Goddamn it! Huang Shu, get yourself together!" Huang Shu was frustrated that he kept thinking about that Ger man, Bai Yunyu. It was like an attack in his brain, as he kept thinking that Bai Yunyu was a bad influence on him.

Why? Because he couldn't get that man out of his head!

Huang Shu rolled on the wooden floor, thinking that it was utterly ridiculous for someone like him to fall in love with a random man at first sight. His heart had always been cold to everyone, both woman or ger man.

None of them ever attracted him!

But this man… seriously…

"Especially when he called me Shushu, it's so sweet that I would've been melted like an ice in the middle of summer."

"Ehe… ehehe~" Huang Shu giggled like a madman whenever he remembered how Bai Yunyu called him Shushu. It was so warm in his heart that he couldn't help but repeat the memory over and over in his head.

"Ah, Huang Shu, something is wrong with your brain. What to do now?" Huang Shu asked himself over and over. He helplessly admitted that his first love was actually a Ger instead of a woman, which was against something that his mother always told him about, to marry a woman.

But what could he do? He was still a human with a heart, especially since he was still young. And his young and inexperienced heart had harbored to a beautiful ger man instead.

**

[Pupa: Ding! Fatemeter increases to 60%! Wow, I can't believe this is actually possible!]

Bai Yunyu giggled as he was helping his sleeping father to count their earnings today as a part of being a filial son. Pupa materialized in front of Yunyu. It couldn't hide its excitement when the notification rang.

"I still can't believe that you're able to actually increase his Fatemeter," Pupa said.

"Why not? You should expect the finest thing from me, Pupa~."

"… Remember when we have plenty of minus meters because of your incompetence?"

"… That's in the past. Aiya, Pupa, why are you talking about the past ah?"

Pupa rolled its eyes, but it still had to give Yunyu some credit for this increase of Fatemeter, "You know the reason for his stagnating 50% Fatemeter in the previous timelines?"

"Hmm, I think it's because he is the Emperor," Yunyu replied. "An Emperor cannot devote himself completely to his loved one. Even though he loved someone so deeply, his mind would still be filled with the worry about his nation and everything around."

"Yes, Huang Shu was an Emperor for two timelines. Even if he loved you so much, he still has other worries that he cannot abandon. So his love got split between two things, you and the nation, 50:50," Pupa explained.

Yunyu smiled when he heard the long explanation. He knew that Huang Shu was still redeemable, just with a different approach, of course.

"Are you still mad with Huang Shu and everything that he did before?" Pupa asked.

"What do you think?"

"Well, based on your pettiness and vengeful nature, I can safely assume that you're still mad at him and wanted to create unnecessary drama just to make sure that everyone suffers, including us."

…

"You really have a grudge against me, don't you?"

"I just feel like it, especially after acting like an idiot for a timeline as that idiotic Larva," Pupa complained.

Yunyu shrugged, "Well, for now, I'm still neutral on Huang Shu. He made a lot of mistakes and hurt me a lot in the past. But he also suffered a lot. If I keep gaslighting, then what is the point?"

"So you're not going to create some drama?! Wow, Bai Yunyu, maybe things have changed—"

"Who said?" Yunyu raised his brow. "I will create drama, of course. My name is Bai 'Drama' Yunyu."

"… more like Bai 'Spicy Chicken' Yunyu," Pupa sighed. "Then, what kind of drama will you create? Don't tell me that you will make some crazy drama again."

"No, I just want to give him a bit of a test… well, maybe plenty of tests. To see if he has changed. He loves glory and fame. That's the reason why he treated me like a trophy wife before. Because he thinks of me as a glorious achievement instead of a long-term partner."

"I want to make sure that he will prioritize me over everything else."