Healing S-Class Beasts Made Me the Empire's Treasure

It was over.

It was really over.

Yu Lan had even said something like that.

The fact that Huo Zhanting and the others had secretly followed her had, without a doubt, crossed a line for Yu Lan.

If Yu Lan could forgive them right now, the three of them felt like they could drop to their knees on the spot.

But Yu Lan didn’t spare them a single glance, turning instead to Jun Lin Yuan, who stood beside them, his body just as stiff with apprehension and guilt.

As he watched Yu Lan start walking toward him, her pretty face growing larger and larger before his eyes, Jun Lin Yuan’s heart pounded like a drum.

His thin lips parted, about to say something, but Yu Lan’s voice came first.

"I’m so sorry you got hurt today because of me."

"Would you be willing to give me a chance to make it up to you? You could come to my place to rest."

’Go... go to Yu Lan’s place.’

A gift from the heavens.

Had it really just fallen right into his lap like that?

Jun Lin Yuan was left giddy by this news.

Facing the sudden, furious, and jealous glares from Huo Zhanting and the others, he hurriedly agreed.

"Okay."

"But... won’t that be a bother for you?"

Jun Lin Yuan hesitated.

As the Master of One Star, he was capable of managing the entire Jade Star like an iron fortress and even possessed the power to challenge the Empire.

How could Jun Lin Yuan possibly be a fool?

He knew, of course, that Yu Lan wanted to use him to anger Huo Zhanting and the others, to knock them down a peg.

So what? For him, wasn’t this also an opportunity?

Jun Lin Yuan savored the prospect; his only worry was that it might be too much trouble for Yu Lan.

Yu Lan raised an eyebrow and replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Not at all."

"How could it be a bother?"

"It’s no trouble at all. You were hurt saving me before, and now you’ve been hurt because of me again. It’s only right that I take care of you."

As she spoke, Yu Lan glanced at the time, a hint of surprise on her face.

"Oh my, it’s gotten so late."

"I should start preparing dinner."

"Let’s go. We should get home."

Home.

Such a warm word, one that filled a male with longing.

As if he had no control over his own body, Jun Lin Yuan fell into step behind the pretty young female the moment the words left her lips.

The two of them walked together toward Yu Lan’s villa.

Behind them, Huo Zhanting and the others glared at Jun Lin Yuan with eyes that seemed to spit fire, wishing they could beat the man up again right then and there.

By the time Shen Zueran got the news from Lanlan’s main husband group chat, a trace of helplessness flickered across his cool, rational face.

"How could this happen?"

’How could Lanlan be this angry?’

All the men knew that Yu Lan had a good temper, a sweet appearance, and a soft voice.

Ever since their relationships had been established, she had never so much as raised her voice at them, always speaking gently and softly.

This had, for a time, made the men grow complacent and push their luck.

But with Yu Lan’s sudden outburst today, they finally realized just how badly they had messed up.

No matter how they looked at it, secretly following Yu Lan, eavesdropping on her conversation with Jun Lin Yuan, and even preparing to gang up on him—every single one of their actions was wrong.

Completely and utterly wrong.

Yu Lan was a free person. How could she be imprisoned by them?

So now, the pretty young female who was always so gentle and soft, who always had a smile on her face, was angry.

A wave of panic gripped Shen Zueran’s heart, and his fingertips, clutching a test tube, turned white from the pressure.

’So, does Lanlan just want to punish them and then let this go? Or has she taken a fancy to Jun Lin Yuan and decided to abandon them altogether?’

At that thought, Shen Zueran could no longer sit still.

He bolted from the Science Research Institute like a madman, piloting his hover car straight toward Yu Lan’s villa.

He arrived at just the right moment.

From a distance, he could see Jun Lin Yuan and Yu Lan walking side by side.

Huo Zhanting and the other two trailed far behind them like defeated dogs.

The familiar villa gate opened, and the figures of Jun Lin Yuan and Yu Lan were about to disappear behind it.

"Lanlan!"

Shen Zueran scrambled out of the hover car in a panic.

He ran straight toward Yu Lan.

He was met with Yu Lan’s indifferent gaze, which swept over him as if he couldn’t even stir the slightest emotion in her.

The next moment,

The villa’s main gate slammed shut.

This time,

Huo Zhanting, Su Xingye, Li Yucheng, and Shen Zueran—all four of them—were refused entry by the pretty young female.

Only Jun Lin Yuan was welcomed inside.

The four men clenched their jaws, flames of jealousy and resentment burning in their chests.

Their hands, hanging at their sides, balled into tight fists.

Veins bulged on the backs of their hands.

’If Jun Lin Yuan could play the victim, so could they.’

Since Yu Lan didn’t want to see them right now, they would wait.

Four distinct, yet equally tall and handsome men stood like stalwart young poplars at the gate of Yu Lan’s villa.

Relying on their 3S-level hearing, they heard the clatter of kitchenware from inside.

CHOP, CHOP, CHOP.

That was the sound of a sharp kitchen knife slicing through ingredients.

WHOOSH.

That was the sound of ingredients being rinsed under running water.

Jun Lin Yuan didn’t know how to cook, but his strength lay in being obedient. An attentive male was the kind a pretty young female would like.

Obedient and proactive, he stayed in the kitchen to help Yu Lan prepare the ingredients, their quiet conversation mingling with the kitchen sounds.

An unknowing observer might have mistaken them for a loving couple.

For the first time, the men outside loathed their own outstanding hearing.

Their jaws were tense, their teeth clamped so tightly that the metallic taste of blood spread in their mouths.

The warmth inside the villa stood in stark contrast to the cold silence outside.

Worse still, this was a privilege that once only they had enjoyed, now usurped by some strange man who had appeared out of nowhere.

Fury.

They were absolutely furious.

But with that fury came an even deeper terror.

They had made a mistake this time. Would they ever have a chance to return to those sweet, warm days?

Jealousy and unease surged wildly, scorching them like a blazing fire and leaving them at a complete loss.

「As dusk fell」

Gradually, night began to envelop the whole of Central Star.

The streetlights outside the villa gate flickered on, casting long shadows of the several men.

WHOOSH~

A night breeze blew past, sweeping up a few withered leaves from the ground.

In the sky, dark clouds were gradually drifting over, and the humidity in the air began to rise.

The next moment,

A light drizzle began to fall.

The four men standing outside the villa gate made no move to take cover.

Without Yu Lan’s permission, they would not defy her wishes again, much less use the rain as an excuse to force their way inside.

If they did that, they really would be done for.

The drizzling rain soaked the men’s dark hair, trickling down their smooth foreheads, past their deep-set eyes, high-bridged noses, and thin lips.

It then rolled from their chins, over their prominent Adam’s apples, and disappeared beneath their collars.

Every last one of them.

The men’s shirts were all soaked through.

The thin fabric clung tightly to their bodies, faintly outlining the contours of their abs, a sight that was reflected, completely unobstructed, in the eyes of Yu Lan on the second floor.