Chapter 47
Lux’s eyes were brighter than Ruan Chen had ever seen them.
Ruan Chen almost instinctively held his breath.
The merman’s words circled around in his head several times before he slowly processed what they meant.
His arms were still pinned down.
The situation was entirely under the merman’s control.
He was like a rabbit caught in a wolf’s jaws.
And yet this wolf still insisted on pretending to be a gentleman and asking first, Can I have a lick?
Dangerous.
And unbearably suggestive.
His heart began beating too fast.
For once, Ruan Chen genuinely panicked.
“I…”
“Y-you let go first. We can talk properly.”
Lux continued staring at him.
His gaze lingered from Ruan Chen’s dark eyes down to the corners of his lips, then finally settled on his collarbones.
The tips of Ruan Chen’s ears burned under that gaze.
The merman gave an ambiguous hum.
Ruan Chen thought he was about to let him go.
Instead, Lux’s lips curved slightly.
“No. If I let go, you’ll run.”
Ruan Chen: “…”
“I won’t run! You’re crushing me!” he gritted out.
In truth, aside from holding his arms down, the merman was barely using any force.
They were underwater too.
It could hardly be called crushing him.
But Ruan Chen had already said it.
He had no choice but to stay stubborn to the end and act as though Lux’s weight was making him deeply uncomfortable.
Lux lowered his head and studied his expression.
“You really won’t run?”
“…”
Ruan Chen, who had just been planning to trick Lux into letting go so he could flee at top speed, felt a little guilty.
Then he steadied himself.
“I really won’t. Whoever runs is a dog.”
Several seconds passed.
Lux finally loosened his grip, allowing Ruan Chen to pull his arms free.
Ruan Chen had put on quite a bit of weight recently, but his wrists were still pale.
The moment Lux gripped them, two red marks appeared.
Still, he genuinely did not run.
He sat up where he was and rubbed his wrists.
Before Lux could ask again, Ruan Chen struck first.
“I need to think about it some more.”
Lux blinked.
“How long?”
Ruan Chen: “…”
This kind of thing had a deadline too?
He looked away and casually made something up.
“Tonight. I’ll give you an answer before we go welcome the warship.”
“All right.”
The merman agreed very readily.
After all that chaos, Ruan Chen was no longer in the mood to discuss combat techniques with Lux.
Fortunately, Lux kept his word.
Once he promised to give Ruan Chen space to think, he truly stopped pestering him and left to handle the military’s welcome ceremony.
Ruan Chen sat alone on the living room sofa, staring at the two seedlings on top of the cabinet.
After a long while, he took down the cultivation bottles.
Then he piled a little more growth medium beneath the seedling labeled with his name until it stood more than half a body taller than Lux’s.
Only then did he feel better.
After putting the cultivation bottles back, Ruan Chen checked the time.
It was still early.
He pulled out his optical computer.
Joshua’s status showed that he was offline, so Ruan Chen opened the Human-Raising Forum instead, intending to browse casually.
The moment the screen loaded, huge promotional words for the Lovers’ Festival appeared, accompanied by pink hearts and the silhouette of a couple kissing.
Ruan Chen: “…”
Sure enough, the forum’s discussion section had fallen too.
Nine out of every ten posts were about the Lovers’ Festival.
The topics were all things like What gift will my partner like?, Why hasn’t the new toy I bought arrived yet?, and This year’s festival ritual.
Only one post stood out dramatically.
Its title read:
[I made my partner angry. He refuses to spend the Lovers’ Festival with me. What do I do??? [Crying]]
Ruan Chen’s finger paused.
He opened it.
The moment he saw the familiar avatar of the original poster, his eyes narrowed.
Wasn’t this…
The merman streamer who had flaunted his relationship during that livestream Ruan Chen accidentally entered back at Base X?
They had been so disgustingly sweet at the time that they practically fused into one person.
And even he could get rejected?
Ruan Chen scrolled down.
[3F: Give him gifts and coax him! Hurry up and make peace. This is serious!]
[OP: TVT I’ve already tried. I’ve given him every kind of gift. He still won’t forgive me…]
[5F: What did you do to make him that angry?]
[OP: …]
Ruan Chen stared at the suspicious ellipsis.
After a long moment, he continued scrolling.
[OP: The specific reason involves his privacy. I can’t say it. If I do, he’ll get even angrier.]
[OP: It’s all my fault. What am I supposed to do…]
[OP: I’m seriously about to break down. Can anyone help me think of something? As long as my baby stops being angry, I’ll give him all of this year’s livestream income. [Kneeling]]
[27F: I imagined my partner rejecting me and I’m already having a heart attack.]
[31F: God. That’s too tragic. [Praying]]
[47F: …I don’t even have a human. Suddenly I’m not sure which one of us is more miserable.]
[OP: I waited more than thirty years for him.]
[OP: Then I waited another two years before he finally accepted me and agreed to enter the transformation period.]
[OP: Heaven knows how long I’ve been preparing for this festival.]
[OP: I don’t want to live anymore. [Goodbye]]
That was where the final post ended.
It had been sent an hour ago, and the streamer had not appeared again afterward.
The replies beneath it were all urging him not to take things too hard.
Some had even urgently contacted the forum administrators and asked them to confirm the streamer’s safety.
Ruan Chen stared at that final string of posts for a long time before closing the window.
Lux had once said…
How many years had he waited before meeting him again?
Ruan Chen ran a hand through his hair and rested his chin on his knees.
After sitting silently for several seconds, he opened his optical computer again and entered Lux’s profile.
The latest post was still yesterday’s photo captioned Anticipation.
There were already quite a few comments beneath it.
[Ah! Did you plant these with Ruan Ruan? They’re so cute.]
[Anticipation? Are you anticipating them growing up?]
[Upstairs, I think the meaning of this plant is “anticipation.”]
[You definitely don’t have partners. This is obviously anticipation for the Lovers’ Festival!]
[Wuwuwu, I’m looking forward to it too. Ruan Ruan is so cute. I’m so jealous. [Crying]]
Jealous my ass.
I never said I’d spend the festival with him.
Ruan Chen shut off the optical computer with a smack, lay back on the sofa, covered his eyes with one arm, and gave up thinking.
Several hours later, Lux returned from the military.
He was carrying two small boxes.
“Ruan Ruan.”
He swam over.
“I brought you jelly balls. Want some?”
Ruan Chen, who had been pretending to be a corpse on the sofa, did not move.
Lux came closer.
Ruan Chen’s nose caught a delicious scent.
His stomach immediately growled and betrayed him.
He abruptly sat up.
“You don’t have to try so hard to bribe me.”
The merman failed to understand.
“What?”
“…”
Ruan Chen lowered his head and stared bitterly at the two boxes of crystal-clear jelly balls.
“Do they sell those at the place where you have meetings?”
“No. I bought them from a nearby shop. I never noticed they sold these before. I happened to see them while passing by, so I bought some.”
Lux then made a move to take them away.
“You don’t want them?”
“Who said I don’t want them?!”
Ruan Chen’s paw shot out and snatched both boxes.
“Give them here. They’re all mine.”
Trying to bribe him with food.
Ruan Chen viciously stuffed a large spoonful into his mouth.
“That Lovers’ Festival thing…”
Lux immediately lifted his eyes to look at him.
“…I…”
Their gazes met.
Every sentence Ruan Chen had rehearsed all afternoon instantly vanished.
He tightened his grip on the spoon handle.
Then, throwing caution to the wind, he blurted,
“I’ll spend it with you!”
Lux’s face lit up.
“Ruan Ruan—”
Ruan Chen hurriedly raised a hand.
“Stop, stop, stop. No more cheesy things. If you say anything disgusting, I’ll take it back.”
The merman immediately fell silent.
He sat obediently beside Ruan Chen and watched him eat his jelly balls.
But the constant swishing of his tail fin still exposed his uncontrollable joy.
It even lifted and gently rubbed against Ruan Chen’s ankle.
Affectionate.
And cautiously ingratiating.
Ruan Chen’s hand holding the spoon paused.
He glanced at the fish tail.
A moment later, he did not move away.
He simply continued eating the jelly balls as though nothing had happened.
The corners of his lips rose almost imperceptibly.
That evening, Ruan Chen left with Lux to welcome the warship back to Ocean Planet.
The warship had not even arrived yet, but the docking platform was already surrounded by crowds of merfolk civilians who had rushed over to welcome the victorious heroes home.
Every face was filled with enthusiasm.
Lux spotted a royal airship and said to Ruan Chen,
“Ruan Ruan, I’ll need to speak with the royal family in a little while. You may have to wait for me.”
“Mm. Go ahead.”
Ruan Chen was still caught up in the fact that he had agreed to spend the festival with Lux.
For some reason, facing the merman now made his face heat up easily.
It had to be because the airship had been running continuously and warmed the seawater.
He lowered his head and thought.
Afraid Ruan Chen would become bored, Lux left him with Captain Cote’s partner, who had come to wait for Cote’s return.
Joshua happened to be nearby too, so Ruan Chen called him onto the airship.
Captain Cote’s partner had successfully passed through his transformation period and was apparently expecting a baby.
This was Ruan Chen’s first time interacting with a transformed human.
He already looked completely like a merman.
He was simply a little smaller than ordinary merfolk.
His lower abdomen did not seem to have any obvious curve either.
At least, Ruan Chen could not tell through his clothes.
While he was lost in thought, Cote’s partner had already begun chatting with Joshua.
“Are you sure you’ve decided to spend the Lovers’ Festival with them?”
Ruan Chen came back to himself just in time to hear Cote’s partner turn toward him and Joshua.
Before Ruan Chen could understand why he was asking that, Joshua had already lowered his head shyly.
“I’m sure.”
Then he added,
“Actually… Hugh and I already had mental fusion once before.”
“I see…”
The worry on Cote’s partner’s face eased somewhat.
“Then your relationship must be very good. I only confirmed my relationship with Cote shortly before last year’s Lovers’ Festival. It was after that that we had our first mental fusion.”
Ruan Chen listened in complete confusion.
Finally, he could not stop himself from interrupting.
“Wait. What does the Lovers’ Festival have to do with mental fusion?”
This time, Joshua and Cote’s partner looked equally shocked.
“You don’t know?”
???
Ruan Chen stared blankly.
“Know what?”
“You and Admiral Lux…”
Joshua seemed to find it difficult to say.
“You two… haven’t had mental fusion?”
Ruan Chen remembered the mental energy riot that had happened before they went to Base X.
“We did. Once.”
Joshua: “???”
Ruan Chen noticed something was wrong.
“What?”
“Are you sure the mental fusion you’re talking about is the same thing we’re talking about?”
Cote’s partner immediately caught the key point.
Ruan Chen frowned.
“Isn’t it just… pressing your foreheads together and then feeling something extremely…”
He remembered that euphoric, floating sensation.
His ears reddened.
“Extremely comfortable.”
Joshua’s eyes widened.
“And then?”
“That’s it.”
Ruan Chen looked confused.
“There’s an ‘and then’?”
Joshua and Cote’s partner answered him with simultaneous silence.
Ruan Chen could no longer stand their indescribable expressions.
“Was I wrong? Then what exactly do you mean by mental fusion?”
Joshua and Cote’s partner exchanged glances.
In the end, Cote’s partner cleared his throat and explained.
“What you described was probably only… the shallowest level of mental fusion? Or perhaps he merely soothed his mental energy and has exceptional self-control.”
Ruan Chen: “?”
Self-control?
He was beginning to sense that something was very wrong.
“What we’re talking about is deep mental fusion. It’s also something merfolk do with their partners during the Lovers’ Festival.”
“The Lovers’ Festival is the most special day on this planet. A merman’s mental energy becomes extremely vulnerable and needs soothing.”
“It’s just… like you said. Pressing your foreheads together and letting your mental energy merge.”
Ruan Chen froze.
“Then isn’t that the same thing?”
“Of course not…”
Joshua gave him a complicated look.
“After their mental energies merge, merfolk receive far more stimulation than humans do. They develop an extremely intense desire for their partner.”
Ruan Chen stared blankly.
“W-what does that mean?”
Cote’s partner sighed.
“I don’t know how Admiral Lux managed to leave you this innocent after mentally fusing with you… but unless there’s something physically wrong with the merman, they’ll have physical needs for their partner.”
“And the higher the compatibility, the stronger the stimulation.”
“At times like that, they can’t control themselves at all.”
Joshua could not bear watching anymore.
“To put it simply, you two will do things only adults do.”
Ruan Chen made one last desperate attempt.
“Do…”
Joshua shattered his final fantasy.
“Exactly what you’re thinking.”
Ruan Chen: “…..”
“That’s why merfolk will try every possible way to obtain their partner’s consent first,” Cote’s partner said with a raised brow. “I heard you and Admiral Lux are one hundred percent compatible. Have you really had mental fusion with him?”
“Cote and I are only eighty-three percent compatible. The first time we had mental fusion, he almost lost control. Their stamina is terrifying.”
“I can’t even imagine how excited a merman would become with perfect compatibility…”
“I suggest you prepare yourself mentally.”
“You might be stuck in his bed for days and unable to go anywhere.”
His words were far too blunt.
Ruan Chen’s face burned so badly from embarrassment that he wanted to flee on the spot.
Lux and him…
Several distinctly not-safe-for-children images flashed through his mind.
Ruan Chen hurriedly shook his head and expelled them.
Only after the other two began discussing something else did he quietly turn and look toward the crowd of merfolk nearby.
He quickly found the golden figure speaking with the royal family.
The image of the merman’s body he had seen when they shared a bed surfaced in his mind again.
The blush on Ruan Chen’s cheeks spread all the way down his neck.
He clenched his little fists through gritted teeth.
Stupid goldfish!
You fucking tricked me again!
Good thing I realized it early!
The author has something to say:
It’s called the Lovers’ Festival because… “Fish Lovers’ Festival” sounded bad, so I came up with this name.
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