The dragon stopped its head in front of him. Just like before, it gently poked his nose tip with its own, then tilted its head and rubbed its slender muzzle against his cheek.

At first, Su Duan stared with round eyes, but soon he was forced to squint as it rubbed, the scales on the dragon's face were the finest and didn't feel too rough, but the sensation was still very strange.

After rubbing his cheek for a while, the dragon tilted its head to nuzzle his chin and neck... When his small Adam's apple was rubbed, Su Duan couldn't help but swallow, letting out a broken sob from his throat.

Su Duan wanted to push the dragon away, but his hands were held by Audrose with an inescapable force, unable to move at all.

"Mmm... Aud..." Su Duan pleaded to the man behind him, his voice trembling, "Don't let it rub anymore."

If it kept rubbing... he was afraid he would bloom.

Audrose hmmed in agreement and cooperatively released Su Duan's wrists. As soon as he let go, Su Duan quickly turned around and buried his face in his embrace, his slender arms tightly hugging his waist, like an ostrich burying itself in a hole in a panic.

Audrose's body stiffened for a moment, then relaxed slightly a few seconds later. He accommodated the little slave throwing himself into his arms, patting his back, "What's wrong? Does it hurt?"

Su Duan shook his head slightly in his arms and said softly, "No, but it feels a bit strange."

Actually, Audrose had no reaction at all. If he bloomed first, it would seem a bit too eager...

Audrose continued to slowly pat his back, "That's my spiritual body..." At this point, he paused for a moment before asking hesitantly, "Do you hate it?"

Dragons were undoubtedly the most powerful among countless beasts. Their spiritual bodies being able to take the form of dragons was inseparable from the blood of the strong flowing in their bones.

But while dragons represented strength, they also brought fear.

When Avid was young, he really wanted to play with peers from other noble families. But his spiritual body was too active and Avid couldn't control it well when he was young. So the huge spiritual body would often unexpectedly emerge from the higher dimensional space. Those peers, upon seeing the dragon dozens of times larger than them, would often turn pale and leave, stammering.

Although Avid's spiritual body showed no signs of harming them, for most people, an overly powerful existence itself was an undeniable threat.

As time went by, Avid, unable to find playmates, could only come back to bother him.

Audrose remembered this very clearly because he was almost driven bald by his annoying younger brother when he was young.

Audrose had been emotionally indifferent since childhood. He couldn't be bothered to even glance at others begging to play with him, let alone be concerned about such trivial matters as whether others would fear his spiritual body. So he had no such troubles.

But he never expected that long after reaching adulthood, he would suddenly experience a bit of Avid's feelings back then.

He had been suppressing his spiritual body from appearing in front of the little slave, fearing that Su Duan would be frightened by his overly huge spiritual body.

Especially after he was angered by Avid's spiritual body's actions and displayed violence in front of Su Duan.

If the little slave said he hated it, he probably... wouldn't be able to control himself from beating up Avid again.

The time waiting for a response was actually only a few seconds, but many thoughts flashed through Audrose's mind.

The Marshal, who had never hesitated or retreated in the face of countless dangers on the battlefield, suddenly felt an indescribable uneasiness in this brief, quiet moment.

......

Su Duan said softly, "I don't hate it." His head was still buried in Audrose's arms, his voice coming out muffled through his chest.

Although this dragon was very rude, stealing his pollen without returning it, Su Duan was a little angry at first, but definitely not to the point of hating it.

After all, the dragon and Audrose were actually the same being. Audrose had just accidentally lost some memories. He couldn't hold it against his sick lover.

Audrose didn't speak, but the dragon rubbed his back again. This time, Su Duan really had nowhere to hide. In front was Audrose's solid chest, behind was the huge dragon. He belatedly realized that he seemed to have dug himself a huge hole to jump into.

Su Duan: "..." Could he change his words and say he hated it?

Fortunately, Audrose released him soon. Su Duan looked back and found that the dragon that had just been nuzzling his back had disappeared. Only he and Audrose were left in the vast training room.

Su Duan asked, craning his neck, "Did it leave?"

Audrose nodded, "It left."

Su Duan let out an "oh", unclear whether he was more relieved or disappointed.

Audrose touched his cheek, his brows and eyes lowered, his slightly curled lashes making those icy blue eyes appear even deeper, "No need to work today. I'll send you back to your room to rest."

Su Duan was led out of the training room door by him without any objection.

Avid was still waiting there, his spiritual body already retracted. Seeing them come out from inside, he raised his head and blinked his emerald eyes innocently.

Su Duan looked at him curiously. This should be Audrose's younger brother mentioned in the information, the empire's other prince. He seemed to be a very cheerful person, much more approachable than Audrose.

He had no airs either, even smiling slightly at Su Duan when their eyes met, appearing very affable.

But Su Duan always felt there was something strange about him, not malicious, just an indescribable sense of dissonance...

Before he could react to Avid's friendliness, Audrose put an arm around his shoulders and turned him away.

Avid, completely ignored by his elder brother: "..."

Watching the two figures turn a corner and disappear, his innocent smile gradually faded as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

The scent of his elder brother on that black-haired slave had become even stronger. If he hadn't specifically strengthened the control over his spiritual body, he would have definitely chased after the scent just now.

Thirteen and a half minutes, that's how long his elder brother had been alone with that black-haired slave in the training room. Just what exactly did they do?

Although he didn't know about Audrose's time... but they were born from the same nest after all, so his elder brother's time shouldn't possibly be this short, right?

......

Avid quietly waited at the entrance of the training room for ten minutes, and sure enough, Audrose returned again.

The mech training room was opened again, and this time, the black-haired slave who was the cause of the accident was no longer inside. Avid nonchalantly followed behind his elder brother's butt and entered the training room for the second time.

—Then he was pressed down and beaten up again.

Avid: "..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Avid directly turned on the mech's loudspeaker, and a huge voice tinged with a hint of despair echoed in the training room: "Bro! I'm going to get a concussion! I'm dying!"

Audrose kicked his younger brother's mech that had already fallen to the ground to the side. The mech that had already given up on treatment crashed into the wall with a clang and bounced once.

A few seconds later, with a click, a small door on the mech's cockpit opened, and Avid crawled out from inside like a dead corpse.

His golden hair, similar to Audrose's, was completely messed up, sweat-soaked and sticking to his forehead, making him look very disheveled. His entire body was powerlessly leaning against the wall, incessantly complaining: "Heavens! Are you trying to kill me? Using such great force, even my mech's legs are broken... It costs so much money to repair it once!"

Audrose, who had nimbly jumped down from the mech, threw a high-grade energy potion that could quickly restore stamina to his feet, calmly stating: "I only used 30% of my strength, and I avoided all the vital parts. It's you who has regressed too much."

Compared to his disheveled younger brother, his condition was very presentable. His hair was only slightly messy, and he wasn't even panting. It seemed as if he hadn't just engaged in a battle, but rather had a leisurely afternoon tea.

"..." Avid picked up the energy potion and opened it: "Cough cough, why did you have to say it so directly..."

Audrose walked to his side, his icy blue eyes looking down at him from above: "Next year, you will regress even more severely. This time, I took three minutes to break your legs. Next time, perhaps in less than a minute, I will be able to snap your neck."

Avid held the energy potion in his hand, his expression stiffening for a moment before quickly returning to a nonchalant look: "This is inevitable... After all, I'm now a delicate researcher, easily bruised with a single touch."

Audrose frowned: "It's not too late for you to join the military now."

Just like the previous times, Avid's attitude remained unchanged, firmly stating: "No, no, my mother said that things should have a beginning and an end. I've already dedicated half of myself to the great cause of scientific research, so I have to dedicate the other half as well."

Audrose didn't banter with him, only calmly stating: "There are always accidents in military campaigns. If one day I am unable to inherit the military power, you must take over."

The offspring of this generation's royal family was rather thin. Empress Sefir had only given birth to the two of them before her death, and the Emperor loved his wife so deeply that not only did he not have any illegitimate children outside, but he probably wouldn't remarry a new Empress in the future either. So the next Emperor would definitely be chosen between him and Avid.

Although theoretically speaking, with his abilities, the possibility of receiving a fatal injury on the battlefield was very small, Audrose had always been accustomed to meticulous planning. He had to consider various unexpected situations and methods to deal with them.

Ever since Empress Sefir passed away, although the outside world hadn't heard any rumors yet, both he and Avid knew that the Emperor's mental anxiety had been getting more and more severe. If something were to happen to him, the only person who could support the royal family was Avid.

Avid gulped down the energy potion and very rudely changed the subject: "Stop— I refuse to discuss such an alarmist topic. Let's talk about something interesting, like that black-haired, black-eyed slave just now?"

Hearing Avid mention his little slave, the scolding words that Audrose hadn't yet uttered were instantly swallowed back. He asked coldly: "Why discuss this?"

Avid innocently widened his eyes and asked with great interest: "Where did big brother get such a little one?"

Inexplicably disliking his younger brother's description when mentioning the little slave, Audrose frowned and replied perfunctorily: "Bought."

Avid half-bent his legs, placing the arm holding the empty energy potion bottle on his knee, looking like he was gossiping: "Big brother is keeping a close eye on the person, not even letting my dragon sniff them."

Audrose's gaze gradually turned cold as he looked at him, as if he could pick him up and beat him up again at any moment.

Avid's scalp tightened: "..."

He lightly coughed: "Look, I was just casually mentioning it, and you're angry again."

"Just joking, just joking. Your things, how would I dare to touch them? Right?" Avid supplemented very proactively with a strong survival instinct.

Only then was Audrose barely satisfied, letting out a "hmm".

"But big brother," Avid paused for a moment before suddenly saying: "That slave, what are your plans for them?"

Audrose was puzzled: "What are you talking about?"

Avid reached out and brushed the golden hair in front of his forehead, tidying up the messy strands from the one-sided beating just now.

His hair color was a bit deeper than Audrose's, a very pure golden color, making his eye color appear even purer.

Avid rested his head against the cold wall, looking up at his eyes and said: "If big brother plans to take responsibility for the person, Father Emperor definitely won't agree, because according to the law, slaves cannot become the legal wife of a noble. But if big brother doesn't plan to take responsibility, then whether they are given to someone else or resold in the future, it will be very pitiful. Such a little one, without anyone to take care of them, they will probably die very quickly."

Audrose continued to frown: "..."

Seeing his elder brother who seemed to be out of sorts, a somewhat unbelievable guess suddenly surged in Avid's mind.

He scanned his tall and sturdy elder brother up and down, his gaze lingering on a certain part for a moment, and his eyes became strange, the emerald pupils flashing with a meaningful light: "... Big brother, don't tell me you haven't even taken the person to bed yet?"

Audrose: "..."