The Mad King's Heir

"What do you mean by smile and be grateful?" he said when his mother took a picture of him complaining.

"Li Jun bought it for you. I am going to send this picture to him and tell him that you hated it," she said, and Yu Wen got out of the bed, yelling,

"No, don’t."

Lu Anu pretended like she was typing while saying, "He said it’s wasteful and he doesn’t like it." Yu Wen’s eyes widened. It was like he was fighting for his life. She laughed and said, "I am joking, geez, calm down."

Yu Wen heaved a sigh. He lay back down, his lips curled into a radiant smile, as if he had received the greatest gift in the world. "Did you ask him, or did he think of it himself?" he asked, looking at the basket with an intense gaze.

She took a picture of him while saying, "Does it matter? All that matters is that he is thinking of you." Boy, was she a proud matchmaker right now. She thought maybe she should be a dating coach after this. Her advice could save lives.

While she was patting herself on the back, Yu Wen opened it. Inside was a QR code that he could scan, so he did. A floating screen popped up with a message personally written to him by Li Jun.

It said, "Get well soon." The words were simple, but to him, it felt like Li Jun had proposed to him. It was giving off the same feeling. The smile on Yu Wen’s face was so dazzling that Lu Anu took a couple of pictures and sent them to Li Jun.

***

Li Jun was hiking with his grandfather and uncle. They had been at this for an hour, and he was getting annoyed by the bugs and the heat. Draco, on the other hand, looked like he was in his element. Like he was in his natural habitat. He knew all the plants and creatures on this mountain.

Li Jun stopped and said, "I thought your only hobby was mechs? Why are you walking so fast?" He bend down, touching his knees as he caught his breath.

Draco looked back and said, "I have plenty of hobbies you don’t know about. Plus I have all the time in the world." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Damian, who was ahead, sat on the rock on the side of the trail while saying, "You do, but we don’t. I could have been playing games at home, but you insisted on bringing us here."

"I could have been watching my favorite shows. Ah, why are you torturing us?" chimed in Li Jun, sitting down, but when he saw a lizard, he yelped.

The old man was starting to realize that his grandson was afraid of tiny creatures and hated the outdoors. He blamed all this on Li Mingze. "Stop complaining. It’s good for you to have some fresh air and clear your mind."

"I can clear my mind in the garden and get plenty of fresh air. Let’s go back," Li Jun said, staging a protest.

Draco pointed his shaky fingers at both of them and said, "You, you will miss me when I am gone. You should spend more time with me."

Li Jun, "..."

Damian murmured, "Oh boy, here we go." That’s how Draco made them do something they didn’t want to. He would use his death over their heads, but look at him. Draco was an ox. He hiked faster than any of them.

Li Jun was about to tell his grandpa to take it back when his phone chimed. He opened the message, and when he saw the pictures of Yu Wen holding his gift basket, his heart leaped in his chest. The smile on his face was so infectious, making Li Jun’s lips curl.

Seeing that smile, Draco’s eyes narrowed. "Who are you smiling at? We said no phones."

Yu Wen took down the message and said, "No one, Yu Xuan just sent me a reel of something funny. Let’s continue." He walked past Draco, even more energetic than before, like he had been injected with chicken blood.

Draco followed his figure, and he had a sneaky suspicion about who could make him smile like that. He knew it wasn’t Yu Xuan. When Li Jun passed Damian, his uncle looked at him before looking at his father.

When he was gone a distance, Draco asked, "Are they still talking?"

Damian got up and said, "I don’t think so. Otherwise, Yu Wen would be at your doorstep right now." It sounded reasonable, but Draco wasn’t convinced at all. He knew that Yu kid. The words "give up" were not in his vocabulary.

"Just keep an eye on him. I don’t want any surprises," he said, and Damian stopped walking, looking at his father.

"If he really likes him, what are you going to do? You can’t possibly keep them apart," he said, genuinely concerned that he would push Li Jun right into Yu Wen’s hands if he kept opposing it.

Draco’s beard trembled as he hmphed. He finally said, "I won’t oppose it. I will just make it difficult for Yu Wen. He deserves it after all the trouble he caused for years."

Hearing his father say that, Damian trembled in fear. It would be better if Draco opposed the relationship. Li Mingze’s suffering only stopped when Li Jun was born. Since the two of them couldn’t have children, Yu Wen could only suffer until the old man had had enough. "Old man, you are so petty. Remind me never to piss you off," he replied.

Draco chuckled dryly before saying, "You piss me off every day, but look at you. Safe and sound."

Li Jun, who had walked ahead, yelled. "Hey, slowpokes. Some of us want to go home ear- AHHHHH!! Get it off me! Hurry and get it off me!"

Draco, "..."

Damian, "..."

They watched as Li Jun jumped around trying to remove a bug crawling on his shoulder. The way he was jumping, you would think something was in his pants. Draco slapped his forehead and said, "Go help him."

Damian sighed. He was starting to question whether he was part of the family. The way he was so scared of little creatures was astounding.