“Ah!!”

When those professors saw there was someone behind them, they screamed out loud.

—While they had been fully absorbed in eavesdropping, suddenly someone popped up behind them and spoke to them in a sinister tone. The shock was no less than having a bloody, mangled ghost suddenly appear right in front of their face in a horror film.

“Gentlemen, please stop your screaming. Making noise in public places was extremely impolite behavior.”

The golden-eyed man standing behind them spoke with an elegant and somewhat lazy voice. He looked polite and gentlemanly, completely ignoring the fact that it was he who had frightened them into screaming.

And when he saw the door of the private room open, the golden-eyed man spoke again with a trace of mockery at the corner of his lips.

“—Oh, it seemed you even startled an uninvited guest inside the room.”

“…So what exactly was the relationship between Count Unobert and that Ye Wangxing?”

Outside the private room, those professors who were industry leaders held their breath, not daring to breathe loudly as they listened to the sounds inside.

When someone whispered about the three people in the room, the others immediately turned their heads to look at him.

The professor, whose gossiping tendency was heavier, saw his colleagues’ eyes saying “At a time like this, you still had the mind to gossip?” and muttered quietly:

“…I don’t believe I’m the only one who’s curious.”

The colleagues present said nothing. Their eyes carried a guilty look before turning back again, as if they had been caught sneaking refreshments during a conference break by the host.

But…

Once again the professors pressed their ears against the door.

The matter of the richest man in the Empire and their vice-dean really was far too enticing!

They simply didn’t believe anyone could resist listening to such gossip!

What was more, the three people inside the private room were all extremely famous in the Capital Star.

That Ye Wangxing needed no further mention—after just half a month in the Capital, rumors of affairs with two other men had already spread everywhere.

Their vice-dean was also a genius among geniuses, an outstanding young talent.

As for Count Uno, he needed no introduction—the richest man in the entire Empire, the Emperor’s treasurer, a man whose wealth was impossible to estimate.

Now all three gathered inside one private room, with their relationships looking extremely complicated. This stirred their curiosity even further.

Very soon, one professor answered the earlier question.

“They should be partners, after all, Count Unobert himself admitted it.”

The other professors and researchers all nodded in agreement, but the professor who had asked before frowned tightly and said: “But if that’s the case, then why did Ye Wangxing previously have rumors with the other two?”

This professor’s soul-piercing question left the others dumbfounded.

Indeed, if Ye Wangxing really was Count Uno’s partner, then didn’t that mean he had cheated?

And one of the supposed affair partners was their vice-dean!

However, they believed their vice-dean would never stoop to being a third party. It had to be that Ye Wangxing deceived their vice-dean.

The more they thought about it, the more convinced they became.

Their eyes even carried a trace of indignation.

Their vice-dean had simply been rushed by project deadlines these days. After he attended a social ball half a month ago, he had locked himself up to focus on the project without even checking the infosphere.

Otherwise, the professors believed their vice-dean would never have run over looking like a victim to question Ye Wangxing, let alone try to reconcile with him.

As for Count Unobert, the explanation was even simpler.

He had been so busy recently that his feet hardly touched the ground. The Ministry of Finance also required a mid-year report. Although as the richest man he wasn’t part of the ministry, he was considered an external member. His Majesty would certainly review his report too, so he probably had no time to care about gossip in the Capital.

Thinking of this, the professors’ anger grew even stronger.

Count Unobert was the patron of these professors. Some of their costly, long-term projects were funded by this magnate.

This was also why, after being frightened, they had held back until this elegant man entered the private room before whispering about it.

But now someone actually dared to entangle both their vice-dean and their patron!

The professors fumed in indignation—and pressed their ears even tighter against the door.

Meanwhile, the trio still standing in the water looked at the additional person in the private room with more serious expressions.

Martha spoke with a commanding tone.

“Alina, Ye Bai, raise your holopads immediately and synchronize real-time lip-reading translation!”

“We absolutely must not miss a single piece of key information!”

Once the trio all raised their holopads, Count Unobert finally sat down elegantly in his seat.

Just moments ago, he had slowly handed his coat and cane to the butler robot at his side, not forgetting to give Ye Wangxing a reassuring glance.

—But he never once looked at Semos.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, no wonder he was an old fox. From the start he directly ignored the other, putting psychological pressure on him. Lord Semos was probably about to lose his temper now.”

Alina and the others did not know about Lord Semos’s bad temper, since this matter only circulated within the research institute.

But as for being unable to hold back, on that point they happened to share the same opinion as the professors at the institute who knew the truth.

Yet just as Lord Semos was about to open his mouth to ask, Count Unobert directly cut him off.

“…So Lord Semos did not know exactly what urgent matter you wanted with Wangxing? So urgent that you ignored basic courtesy and barged into the private room I reserved?”

Count Uno’s expression remained perfectly calm, still carrying a smile. He looked unhurried, yet when translated, his words made Alina let out a “Wow.”

“Count Uno’s sense of pressure was really strong…”

Ye Bai also began to sigh with emotion.

Inside the private room, Count Unobert added another line.

“And you even argued with Wangxing—your aggressive manner just now made it hard for me to believe you came with goodwill to communicate with him.”

As he spoke, Count Unobert held Ye Wangxing’s hand, as if to comfort him. That simple gesture made the young man, who had wanted to speak, falter for half a beat.

“I only came to discuss some personal matters with him. After all, you know the work at the institute was very busy, and it was hard to find spare time. Unlike you, who could change dates every day.”

But in that brief hesitation, the cat-eyed man across from him spoke out everything with an expressionless face.

He even added a line, facing the still smiling and elegant Count Uno, whose hand gripping the armrest had veins bulging.

“For barging into your private room, I offer my deepest apologies. If you don’t mind, I could invite Wangxing to our private room instead, so that we may clear things up?”

Of course Count Unobert did not let the words pass. He replied with utmost elegance: “I’m sorry, this was a private date. I had to work very hard to secure Wangxing’s free time.”

He tapped the armrest with his other hand, one beat at a time, and said:

“After all, with the launch of recent poverty-relief projects, we businessmen had been unbearably busy. Although Wangxing also participated in one such project with us, since it was not the same one, we hardly saw each other. Finally, we both had free time. I’m sorry, but I cannot give this time to you.”

“You—wouldn’t be so rude, would you?”

Count Unobert looked at the cat-eyed man with a smile. In returning his words, he also put him on the moral high ground. Though the counterattack felt satisfying, it also resembled provocation.

—Semos’s eyes looked as if they were about to spit fire.

And judging from Count Unobert’s continued elegance and cheerful demeanor, this was deliberate.

“Lord Semos was also firing on all cylinders, but unfortunately Count Unobert still came out on top. After all, he dealt with old foxes from other planets every day. Lord Semos was still too green.”

Alina shook her head as she watched the cat-eyed man’s full-blown aggression.

“Indeed, Lord Semos was completely suppressed by Count Uno.” Even Ye Bai confirmed it.

This surprised both Alina and Marsha—so he actually knew this was called being suppressed.

And while they whispered among themselves, inside the private room the cat-eyed man finally could not restrain his temper. He looked at the elegant man before him, who seemed to regard him as a child, and said: “Count, what identity exactly were you using to say such things to me?”

The trio of Alina instantly lit up with excitement. It had come, it had come, finally the critical moment!

And Count Unobert’s response did not disappoint them.

“I would like to return the question, sir. What identity were you using to say such things to me?”

“—And in my reserved private room, questioning me?”

Count Unobert spoke with a smile, yet his golden eyes were as sharp as metal. The old-fashioned, stiff three-piece suit on his body radiated a unique charm, looking in this situation like a battle robe.

—It formed a stark contrast with the cat-eyed man across from him, who wore only a shirt and trousers.

“All right, child, don’t look at me with such an angry face. I still had some acquaintance with the Marshal. Perhaps when our date finished, if you still didn’t need to return to the institute, the three of us could sample this restaurant’s afternoon tea together?”

Count Unobert’s words came lazily, as though victory was already in his grasp.

And in the eyes of the onlookers, it really was so.

“It’s over. He was completely suppressed. As expected, an old fox like Count Unobert was not someone Semos could handle.”

Alina sighed as she stood there. Beside her, Martha also nodded.

And others who shared the same feeling were the professors pressed against the private room door.

Listening to the sounds inside, they felt their vice-dean had truly been suppressed by their financial backer. This round had very little chance of success.

“This time the vice-dean was truly countered completely. We researchers feared dealing with businessmen the most. Our tongues were nowhere near as slick as theirs.”

The professors sighed heavily.

Completely forgetting that earlier they had complained their vice-dean and financial backer were not worth it, now they wished their vice-dean would fight harder, suppressing the backer’s aura instead.

And it seemed their vice-dean had heard his colleagues’ words, because soon his voice came calmly from inside the room.

“If I said I was Wangxing’s ex-boyfriend? With that identity, I think our matter no longer needed your eavesdropping, right?”

The professors outside the door instantly raised victory signs when they heard this. Their whispers of cheers never stopped.

“One can’t really say much more about the ex-boyfriend relationship, right?”

A researcher said optimistically.

But…

“Oh? Really?”

Count Unobert spoke calmly, and then it seemed he addressed Ye Wangxing.

“After you broke up with me, did you find someone else? But…”

Count Unobert’s tone turned slightly disdainful.

“This substitute doesn’t look that impressive. Why not come straight to the real one?”

These words plunged everyone, both inside and outside the private room, into complete silence.

A professor trembled and said: “…Count Unobert was also this person’s ex-boyfriend?”

What a legendary figure!

However, Alina and the others weren’t very shocked about the ex-boyfriend matter, as they had already heard this from Ye Bai.

What shocked them more was the substitute remark. This was Lord Semos! Son of the Marshal! His status alone could make men and women across the empire—and even the neighboring Alliance—line up across more than ten star systems!

And now Count Unobert called him a substitute???

This was absurd!

Then an even more absurd event happened.

Alina watched as Lord Semos, upon hearing this, froze for a moment. Then his gaze shifted to Ye Wangxing. He stared at him for a long time, his lips trembling, unable to speak.

As the angle changed, Alina noticed tears welling in Semos’ beautiful cat-like eyes.

But he didn’t let them fall. He stubbornly continued to stare at the young man in front of him.

Alina felt her heart soften, and Martha sighed.

“If Ye Wangxing weren’t cold-hearted, facing Lord Semos like this, he would definitely waver.”

And indeed, it happened.

Under Alina and Martha’s watchful eyes, the young man, who had been held by Count Unobert and restricted from speaking, finally reclaimed his voice.

He spoke, and the neural interface began displaying his words.

“Unobert, don’t say that about Semos. Actually, none of you were substitutes. I truly cared for you both when I was with you. Moreover…”

The young man’s eyes carried some reproach as he looked at Count Unobert.

“Actually, I only met you after I broke up with Semos.”

Silence fell inside and outside the room once more.

The light words struck the golden-eyed Count, who had just risen, like a hammer—he staggered.

The professors outside, upon realizing, were first shocked, then quietly cheered. They felt triumphant, having witnessed the vice director finally prevail.

Alina covered her face silently, unable to imagine how embarrassed Count Unobert must have felt.

Originally, she thought the other party was hostile, but in reality, she was the one caught off guard.

“…At least this confirms that the palace drama wasn’t based on reality. In the drama, they didn’t say the Empress entered the palace later,” Alina said, changing the topic.

Martha’s hand trembled slightly as she opened the drama and handed it to Alina.

—Last night’s latest episode showed that the merchant Empress only entered the palace in the past two years.

The reason was clichéd: the treasury was empty, the Emperor didn’t want the relatives of the court to gain power, so he married a merchant Empress.

This part resembled a palace drama—after all, palace intrigues can only happen with an Emperor lacking real power.

But the Emperor’s actor was so terrible, clearly a capitalist’s ugly son, that Alina always skipped the Emperor’s scenes.

Unfortunately, last night, the merchant scene featured the Emperor.

Alina: “…”

“Was this drama really not based on reality?”

After a long silence, she spoke tremblingly.

—Except for the scumbag Emperor, everything else matched reality!

Meanwhile, inside the private room, the atmosphere became calm rather than tense. But Martha could see that under this calm, hidden currents surged.

Count Unobert had not spoken long after Ye Wangxing struck him, and Ye Wangxing seemed displeased with Uno’s “substitute” remark.

But seeing Unobert’s somewhat forlorn look, he sighed and retained Semos, trying to mediate between the two men.

Both Semos and Unobert agreed, but they remained alert, which made Alina feel anxious.

Luckily, Ye Wangxing controlled the atmosphere throughout, otherwise Alina suspected both men would need stomach medicine afterward.

During the latter half of the meal, Count Unobert adjusted faster than Semos, consciously guiding the conversation. This allowed Alina to see the impressive persuasion skills of the richest man.

—Such abilities in this setting left Alina shocked and speechless.

Fortunately, Unobert did not discuss classified matters, so Alina’s neural interface worked normally.

This time, Unobert mentioned the poverty alleviation project managed by Ye Bai’s mother.

“…Now Ms. Fei has set up local ports and infrastructure, but those logistics departments cannot yet cover the area. Because the planets are remote, transportation costs are increasing,” Unobert explained, also mentioning local industries and tourism projects.

“When I traveled with Director Fei, I experienced the local tourism projects—they were visually impressive, something the empire would enjoy. Unfortunately, local government couldn’t afford subsidies, so it remained unknown.”

The young man listened, expression serious, then relaxed slightly.

“You want them to sell factory products through my platform?”

Unobert smiled: “Your platform reaches the lower tiers. Unlike others, you have strong backing. Logistics groups in various systems dare not interfere, and your platform can help build official logistics.”

“Those logistics teams guard their own cake jealously.”

Unobert didn’t elaborate, but Alina understood some of it.

Her mother and the Emperor had worried about logistics. With the empire’s territory so vast, logistics and material transport were crucial—not only for civilian needs but also military logistics.

Even though the military controlled transport channels, in a large war, civilian channels would be necessary.

Without reliable official-civilian transport channels, authorities would lose sleep.

Unobert and Director Fei had worked on this for years. While the situation seemed good now, the path remained challenging.

—They lacked a reliable partner to maximize logistics.

Power cannot have a vacuum, otherwise, someone will exploit it.

Thus, for logistics rights, they needed a partner.

Ye Wangxing was the best choice.

Though official personnel would later join, with Ye Wangxing’s cooperation, there was no worry of collusion with local aristocrats.

Initially, they considered other platforms, but most were money-making machines of aristocratic families, unsuitable for official cooperation.

Alina then realized why those platforms all promoted luxury goods: aristocrats inflated prices for their gain, ignoring civilians.

When Alina refocused on the private room, the conversation shifted to delivery robots.

Yet Alina noticed something odd—Lord Semos remained silent, eating, unable to speak.

“…Is Count Unobert doing this on purpose?” she asked Marsha, twitching her mouth.

Martha nodded helplessly, even Ye Bai nodded.

What childish behavior!

But perhaps expected from a romantic rival?

They continued translating the conversation.

“…The current problem is delivery robots. Cheap, slightly modified robots that last long are hard to find,” the young man said, face squished against his hand, looking pitiful.

Then the golden-eyed man seized the opportunity to interject.

“…I can help. The military logistics office has many discarded robots. ‘Discarded’ means unsuitable for battle, but they are idle due to bureaucratic laziness. It’s better to deploy them to remote planets.”

The man’s expression returned to cold composure, the earlier spoiled emotions seemed illusory.

This impressed the young man.

“Really? Semos, you’re amazing to know even this.”

The man’s ears flushed. He whispered: “I remembered this for you. After you left, I wanted to go to your planet to see you but couldn’t find you…”

The young man looked regretful: “I happened to meet Unobert and had a project with him, so I changed my schedule…”

Alina glanced at the golden-eyed man beside the young man, then at Semos, looking ready to explode.

“…What kind of Empress-steals-the-scene plot is this!”

 

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