As soon as the door opened, Song Yu saw Rong Shi standing in the doorway.

Song Yu: “Why are you standing at my door?”

Rong Shi: “This is my room too.”

Song Yu: “…”

Seeing Song Yu’s sour face, Rong Shi naturally took his wrist. “Have you had dinner?”

Song Yu glanced down, thought for a moment, and didn’t pull away. “No.”

Rong Shi: “Not hungry?”

Song Yu: “Wasn’t I waiting for you?”

Rong Shi directly led him towards the kitchen.

“What do you want to eat? I’ll make it.”

Song Yu was about to order when an apron was suddenly thrown at him.

Rong Shi: “You can be my assistant.”

Song Yu threw it back and walked out. “I’m not eating anymore.”

Rong Shi, tying the apron, opened a storage drawer. “There’s dessert too.”

Song Yu: “…”

---

Five minutes later, Song Yu stood at the sink, shirt sleeves rolled up, meticulously washing tomatoes.

He absolutely couldn’t figure it out!

Why did he, a dignified Imperial Prince, have to cook for himself again and again whenever he encountered Rong Shi?!

Someone pressed close behind him. Song Yu instinctively tensed up, his hand clenching the tomato tightly.

“If you don’t wear an apron, your clothes will get wet.”

Rong Shi’s voice sounded, his warm breath brushed past Song Yu’s ear. Song Yu felt his waist suddenly tighten as it was encircled, and a black apron appeared around his waist.

“You’re going to crush the tomato,” Rong Shi stood behind him, guiding his hands. “You don’t need to wash these so hard when you’re going to peel them.”

This posture was like being completely embraced. Song Yu felt very uncomfortable, and his tone wasn’t good: “I don’t need to know these things.”

“You do,” Rong Shi rescued the tomato, which was almost splitting in his hand, and placed it in hot water to blanch. “He likes people who can cook.”

Song Yu: “…”

Song Yu muttered: “He probably prefers people to assist him, right?”

Rong Shi’s hand paused: “…”

Rong Shi: “What did you just say?”

His only response was Song Yu rolling his eyes and a cold snort.

Rong Shi’s heart thumped.

Could Little Song Cat have already guessed his identity?

[Impossible, Master. You’re so well-hidden, no one can find out.]

Rong Shi: “…”

His quickened heartbeat suddenly calmed.

---

Fifteen minutes later, Song Yu placed a colorful, fragrant bowl of mixed noodles on the counter.

The hungry wolf Qin Luo, smelling the aroma, immediately pounced.

“It smells so good!”

Song Yu’s gaze sliced across him like a knife.

“I made it.” Do you dare to eat it?

Qin Luo chuckled: “Brother, you’re so nice.”

Before Song Yu could get angry, Qin Luo snatched one of the plates and swiftly retreated from the battleground, returning to lounge in the living room.

Rong Shi set up the household robot to clean the kitchen, then carried his own plate out and sat opposite Song Yu.

“How is it?”

Song Yu twirled some noodles with his fork and offered them to Rong Shi’s mouth, a lazy smile on his face.

“Wouldn’t you know if you tasted it?”

This trick again.

Rong Shi wanted to ignore him and perhaps even retort, but his body instinctively leaned closer.

Just as he was about to eat, Song Yu retracted his hand and put the noodles into his own mouth.

“Never mind. If Bunny found out, he’d get jealous.”

Rong Shi: “…”

In this second life, almost nothing made him hesitate, yet Song Yu repeatedly made him doubt his own judgment.

During this competition, he distinctly felt a change in Song Yu’s attitude towards him.

He wasn’t as easily ruffled, trusted him more, and seemed to be trying to accept him.

But was Song Yu’s change truly because he had guessed his identity?

Weren’t the hints he gave obvious enough?

Rong Shi: “After the award ceremony tomorrow, do you want to go out for a walk?”

Song Yu looked up: “Where to?”

Rong Shi: “I promised to teach you how to date.”

Song Yu’s noodle-twirling paused. He nodded unhurriedly. “Okay.”

---

While the two enjoyed their leisurely dinner, the forums of both the Military Academy and the Royal Academy exploded because of them.

Military Academy Forum—

“Good news from Imperial Capital Star! The Chairman’s team lived up to expectations and took first place, becoming legendary in one battle!”

“Old Salty Fish is incredibly awesome! Worth celebrating with three packs of spicy strips!”

“Where are the tech gurus? We need a video edit of the Chairman’s team, ahhhhhhh!”

“Hahahaha, the Royal Academy’s AI system Motis was completely subdued.”

“The Chairman has never disappointed me!!!”

“Rong Shi: I just went to have fun, accidentally won an award. Heh [dog head]”

Not only students, but teachers too had been discussing Rong Shi constantly these past few days. They even cut their own videos, using Rong Shi’s performances as teaching material for analysis in class.

Everyone seemed to feel like they had won a battle themselves, bragging wherever they went.

No one seemed surprised why Rong Shi, a freshman, could outperform veteran sophomores and juniors in the league.

Many people guarded the forum, waiting for the analysis posts from the regular ID ‘Dawn’s Light’.

Until early the next morning, a post titled #Come see how Daddy Rong led his sightseeing tour to a comeback victory and first place!# occupied the homepage and rapidly grew.

[Dawn’s Light: Too many idiots on the Royal Academy forum, couldn’t tear them apart. Delayed my work.]

The post’s content was as detailed as ever, listing even the minor details of the league process.

Many people, seeing his last sentence, curiously flipped to the Royal Academy’s forum and then decided to stay there.

The atmosphere on the Royal Academy forum was completely different from that of the Military Academy.

Although there were a few posts praising Rong Shi, they quickly sank. The homepage featured a post mocking Rong Shi, another mocking the Military Academy, and a post praying for Song Ke.

“Guests come first, of course, they should be let through. Mortis didn’t even exert itself at the end and just let them pass.”

“Their skill level is just average, I hear they didn’t even dare to accept the goodwill of the major generals for fear of revealing their true abilities.”

“Those who study at the military academy are commoners; their teaching resources are terrible.”

“Rong Shi’s looks are just okay. I don’t know what Song Yu sees in him. They’re completely mismatched.”

“Did you hear? Song Yu severely injured the doctor treating the First Prince, and he’s still in critical condition!”

“Has he gone insane? Hitting people on sight? Why is no one controlling him?!”

The military academy students who had flipped over to see how the Royal Academy would praise Papa Rong were shaking with anger.

These noble idiots’ eyes must be bleeding red, right?!

Do they think there’s no one at their military academy?!

“Who the hell dares bully our goddess?!”

“My Big Shot Rong won first place based on skill!”

Students from both academies were hyped up like they were on steroids, tearing into each other until dawn.

---

Inside the temporary residence, Qin Luo lingered, unwilling to leave.

“Sharing a room with Liu Hong? I’d rather sleep on this sofa!”

Song Yu entered the room, wearing rabbit-print pajamas and carrying a coffee cup.

“Suit yourself.”

Walking into the room, he immediately saw Rong Shi sitting in the single armchair, holding a book.

Rong Shi had just showered; his wet black hair accentuated his sharp features. The cotton-linen home clothes made him seem much more approachable, giving him a vastly different impression from his usual demeanor.

Hearing footsteps, Rong Shi turned a page without looking up. “He can sleep in the room too. There are two beds.”

Song Yu: “You want him to sleep with you?”

Rong Shi: “You sleep with me.”

Song Yu sat in the single armchair opposite him: “Then he probably won’t be able to sleep.”

Glancing at Rong Shi’s hand, Song Yu recognized the quantum universe book he had left on the small table earlier.

“Do you believe in time travel?”

At this question, Rong Shi finally looked up.

Song Yu leaned back casually, looking out at the night sky.

“If time travel truly existed, what would this world become?”

Rong Shi closed the book and placed it on the small table, then stood up.

“If it truly existed, then perhaps I’m from the future.”

Song Yu looked up at him.

The air was silent for two seconds. Song Yu was the first to look away, scoffing: “No wonder you gave up on him so easily. You already knew you had no chance.”

Rong Shi: “…”

With their own thoughts, they lay down, tossing and turning in the dark, until much later they eventually fell asleep.

---

The next day was the award ceremony, and the top three teams were to go on stage to receive their awards.

However, during the ceremony, a post on the Royal Academy forum exploded.

The post featured a video with a pale, sickly-looking Song Ke.

“Hello everyone, I’m Song Ke. I apologize for making everyone worried about my injury. The doctor said I’m recovering well and will be fine after half a month of rest. I hope everyone doesn’t blame my brother, Song Yu. He—hiss!“

Halfway through, he seemed to pull his wound. He clutched his shoulder and paused for a long while before continuing: “He didn’t do it intentionally. Although we have a small misunderstanding, I believe it will be resolved soon. I hope everyone doesn’t over-interpret.”

The post instantly garnered thousands of replies, with thousands more comments appearing with every refresh.

All of them were blaming Song Yu.

“What a huge, smelly white lotus,” Chen Chen said, opening his terminal at the notification and laughing in exasperation.

Hu Feng leaned over to look: “This isn’t telling people not to over-interpret; it’s making sure they interpret it thoroughly enough.”

Chen Chen: “I’m going to rally a group from the military academy to blast him again.”

Old Bai: “If only we had a video from that time! But the Royal Academy definitely wouldn’t allow access to Motis’s surveillance to protect their own student.”

Rong Shi and Song Yu, sitting just one seat away, naturally heard all of this.

Rong Shi looked at the stage and quietly asked, “Have you figured out how to handle it?”

Song Yu rested his chin on his hand, smiling: “Find a time to beat Song Ke up again. This time, he won’t be able to speak.”

Rong Shi: “…”

Despite being mentally prepared, seeing that he truly didn’t intend to take any action still annoyed him.

Whether Song Yu pushed Song Ke or not would be clear if they checked Mortis’s surveillance.

He was a prince; the Royal Academy wouldn’t possibly tolerate such rumors spreading.

But now, not only was it not stopping, it was escalating, indicating many underlying problems.

The Royal Academy’s administration didn’t take Song Yu seriously, or there was someone loyal to Song Ke within the administration, and he authorized them to let the situation escalate.

The king in the palace didn’t value Song Yu. After the incident, he didn’t put any pressure on the school, allowing the matter to blow up.

In the audience of the award ceremony, most people’s attention was on the forum.

Many gathered, looking at Song Yu and pointing fingers.

Little Song Cat indeed had moments of overly aggressive behavior, but that didn’t mean any kind of dirty accusation could be thrown at him.

Rong Shi’s finger tapped lightly on his terminal.

[Received!]

---

On the hotly debated forum, a new post suddenly appeared—

[@Song Ke, please stop your lies and apologize to Song Yu.]

Many people were enraged at the title.

What the hell! Song Ke was already messed up this badly, and he still had to apologize to Song Yu? Heh.

They clicked in, ready to curse.

There was nothing else in the post, just a video.

The video had two side-by-side frames, each with a timer in the top right corner.

Hardly anyone hadn’t watched the league’s live stream. At first glance at the video’s background, they knew this was footage from the league at the time.

In the left frame, Song Yu and Rong Shi were surrounded by worker ants, fighting alone.

In the right frame, Song Ke was hiding behind everyone, a mysterious smile on his face.

The video progressed to 15 seconds. In the right frame, Song Ke was suddenly struck down by something, falling to the ground, twitching and rolling. In the left frame, Song Yu was still dealing with the worker ants.

“Holy crap! What’s going on? Song Yu can attack Song Ke from that far away?”

“Even if Song Yu threw his military knife, he wasn’t even facing Song Ke’s direction.”

“It’s true! If you look at this video, Song Yu couldn’t have attacked Song Ke at all.”

“Damn! The one time I took a side, I picked the wrong one! Song Yu, I’m sorry!”

“All you trash who cursed him, go make separate posts to apologize to him!”

“Maybe this was edited?!”

Some questioned, the video was divided into two parts, perhaps just two different frames from different times, and the timers were fake.

“Dawn’s Light: If you say it’s edited, why don’t you go verify it yourself? As for different times, I’ve circled a few places, go see for yourselves!”

The screenshots circled a tree and a few worker ants in both the left and right frames. Although the angles were different, they were objects present in both frames. Those few worker ants were killed simultaneously in both frames, even the exact spots where their legs fell matched perfectly.

The voices of doubt immediately died down, and public opinion began to shift towards Song Yu.

“Damn it! Who leaked the surveillance footage? Find out!” Song Ke trembled with rage, picking up the cup from his nightstand and smashing it on the floor.

Glass shards splattered onto his special assistant’s trousers, leaving a scratch.

Special assistant: “Those with access are all our people; it’s impossible for it to be leaked.”

“Impossible?” Song Ke sneered, “Then what the hell is this? What?!”

The special assistant pursed his lips, quietly saying, “I’ve already asked them to investigate the video source.”

Moving too much pulled at his wound. Song Ke gasped repeatedly, leaning back against the headboard: “Tell them to keep posting.”

Between a person with a blemish and a perfect person, everyone would first suspect the former. Even if the facts were laid bare, many would choose to ignore them.

His terminal suddenly rang. Song Yu casually swiped it open. After reading the message, his eyes narrowed, and he tilted his head to look at Rong Shi.

“You did this?”

Rong Shi didn’t look at him: “Did what?”

Song Yu: “Don’t play dumb.”

Rong Shi: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Song Yu stared at him for a moment and then suddenly smiled.

Rong Shi felt him draw closer. A warm sensation spread across the back of his hand, his fingertips were lightly brushed, and he heard Song Yu’s lowered voice next to his ear.

“Maintaining me like this will make me misunderstand, Gege.”

Rong Shi resisted and resisted, but still couldn’t help but turn his head to look.

Just seeing the smile at the corner of his lips made him lose his composure.

“Misunderstand what?”

Song Yu’s smile, casual yet triumphant: “Make me misunderstand that you—are someone who loves a good show.”

Rong Shi: “…………”

The smile on Song Yu’s lips deepened.

“Aren’t you going to teach me how to date? Shall we go?”

Rong Shi raised an eyebrow: “Skipping the award ceremony?”

Song Yu: “Why not?”

The two immediately hit it off and brazenly slipped out the main gate.

Some of the people inside the venue hadn’t seen the post yet. Seeing them leave midway, they only assumed it was because they couldn’t stand the pressure of public opinion.

“If you’re going to do something, don’t be afraid of what others say.”

“Even with such thick skin, he wouldn’t dare go on stage to receive an award, would he?”

“Looks like a proper person, but so disillusioned—”

“Holy crap! Look at the forum!”

The faculty and staff who had just reported Song Yu and Rong Shi’s departure to their superiors watched as the audience suddenly erupted.

The clamor directly drowned out the host’s voice on stage.

A staff member listened for a moment and immediately opened the forum, seeing a trending post that had appeared just a minute ago.

[@Song Ke, is pushing him into an ant colony how you resolve misunderstandings between brothers?]

---

After dropping a bombshell, Rong Shi and Song Yu took a public hovercar to Chaocheng Street.

Imperial Capital Star was densely populated. Even though it was a workday, the car was still crowded.

Song Yu, squeezed in among the crowd, regretted his choice within a second.

Having a car but choosing to take public transport—was Rong Shi trying to improve his image or just messing with him?

Rong Shi led him to a corner, propping his hands on either side of Song Yu, shielding him in his embrace.

Seeing Song Yu’s scowling face, Rong Shi found it amusing.

“Didn’t you want to experience the public transport yourself?”

Song Yu: “…I thought there wouldn wouldn’t be many people.”

Rong Shi: “More people is good.”

Song Yu narrowed his eyes.

Rong Shi’s lips curved into a very slight smile.

“When there are a lot of people, you behave yourself in my arms.”

Song Yu: “…”

---

Author’s Note:

Song Cat: Public displays of Alpha-flirting are prohibited.

Rong Bunny: So what if I do?

Song Cat: Then I’ll just have to flirt back.

Rong Bunny: …