Chapter 448: I Don’t Want to Be Your Friend, I Want to Be Your Husband

A Young Man’s Heart

Tonight, the weather in the Twelve Cities was as bad as ever.

Dark, dreary, and suffocating.

After washing up, Jiang Qingli walked to her bed, pulled open the curtains, and looked down.

It was already close to midnight. Most people in the military district were already asleep, with only the dim yellow streetlights for illumination.

So, the young man standing under the streetlight was visible at a glance.

He was wearing a formal suit with a neat tie, his hair combed impeccably.

Standing there so prim and proper, he didn’t look like he was there for a casual chat between friends, but rather as if he was about to attend some grand banquet.

As if sensing Jiang Qingli’s gaze, the young man tilted his head up and looked in her direction.

Jiang Qingli quickly dropped the curtains, cutting off his line of sight.

The action was subconscious. After she’d lowered them, Jiang Qingli felt a strange sense of unease.

’It’s almost as if I have a guilty conscience...’

But Yuan Shiyao’s expression just now had given Jiang Qingli a faint premonition, as if something was about to break through the surface, making her tense up as well.

’Oh, well. I’m probably overthinking it.’

’Maybe they’re just friends having a chat.’

After all, he just beat up a Prince, so it’s normal for him to be emotionally unstable.

After telling herself this, Jiang Qingli rubbed her face, changed into a long dress, and went downstairs.

...

Yuan Shiyao was still standing under the streetlight.

When he saw Jiang Qingli walking toward him, the young man’s eyes lit up. He took a step forward, but then reined in his emotions and took a step back.

Jiang Qingli jogged up to him and heard him apologize in a low voice, "The location is a bit crude. I’m sorry."

"Actually, the streetlights are quite beautiful at night." Jiang Qingli looked up at the light. "The military district is pretty orderly and doesn’t have many recreational facilities. It’s monotonous, but you get used to it after a while."

"I just had an idea. Do you want to see?"

As Yuan Shiyao spoke, he made a fist with one hand and held it out in front of Jiang Qingli, motioning for her to open it.

Jiang Qingli was a little confused, but she pried his fingers open anyway.

In an instant, countless specks of light flew out from between his fingers. Emitting a faint, shimmering glow, they circled around her.

Jiang Qingli caught one of the specks. When she opened her hand, the tiny point of light transformed into a butterfly and fluttered out of her palm.

It was a bit like Yuan Shimo’s Superpower.

Jiang Qingli didn’t voice this conclusion.

She didn’t know when it started, but she and Yuan Shiyao rarely mentioned Yuan Shimo in their conversations anymore.

A strange feeling surfaced in Jiang Qingli’s heart as she suddenly realized this.

But the next second, more butterflies appeared before her, distracting her.

"Do you like it?"

Yuan Shiyao smiled as he watched her.

But his smile was clearly tinged with distraction, his turquoise eyes swirling with complex, irrepressible emotions.

Jiang Qingli deliberately sidestepped the question.

She patted his shoulder reassuringly. "You don’t have to take what Qin Xiangning said to heart. He was just trying to provoke you..."

Yuan Shiyao hummed softly. "I know."

For some reason, Jiang Qingli let out a sigh of relief.

Just as she was about to say something more, Yuan Shiyao suddenly spoke.

"But he wasn’t wrong about his last sentence."

Jiang Qingli froze, her fingers stiffening on his shoulder.

The last sentence.

Before Qin Xiangning was dragged away, he had shouted the threat, "My family won’t let you get away with this!" But that was directed at Xie Youchen.

So what Yuan Shiyao was referring to was...

Jiang Qingli had an excellent memory, and she easily recalled Qin Xiangning’s other words.

Meeting Yuan Shiyao’s gaze, the faint premonition in her heart grew stronger.

Just as Jiang Qingli was about to say something to break the current atmosphere, Yuan Shiyao suddenly spoke—

"I like you."

Her eyes widened.

It seemed even Yuan Shiyao hadn’t expected himself to blurt it out just like that.

The words had been weighing on his heart for a long time. He’d wanted to say them many times, but they always got stuck in his throat, interrupted by various obstacles or accidents.

But now, looking into her eyes, the words slipped out with ease.

Yuan Shiyao thought he would feel the urge to run after saying it, but once the words were out, besides apprehension, he also felt an unprecedented sense of relief.

The girl across from him seemed stunned by his words.

After a few seconds of shock, she hastily averted her gaze and asked, "Is this a dare? Did you lose a game of cards with Ke An and the others?"

"You don’t have to find an out for me," Yuan Shiyao said. "Qin Xiangning was spouting nonsense, but that one thing he said was true."

"This is how I truly feel."

Yuan Shiyao took a deep breath, cupped her cheeks with both hands to make her look at him, and then gazed into her eyes.

Word by word, he solemnly repeated his heartfelt confession for her to hear.

"Qingli, I like you."

Then he let go.

Jiang Qingli stood rooted to the spot, not moving.

"This is probably the first time I’ve said these things to you, and it might be the last," Yuan Shiyao asked. "Can you give me a moment to finish what I have to say?"

Jiang Qingli nodded, her mind still reeling.

Yuan Shiyao continued.

"At first, I really looked down on you. Because you... had a bad reputation. You were always chasing after guys, you had a terrible attitude toward other students, and you... tried to peek at me in the shower."

"But that day I ran into you in the academic building, I had a faint feeling that you were different from before."

"Looking back now, maybe I started noticing you back then."

"But by the time I truly realized I liked you, you were already my..."

He pressed his lips together, unwilling to say the title.

As he brought up the past, Jiang Qingli’s mind drifted.

The one who tried and failed to peek at Yuan Shiyao in the shower was the ’task-doer’ who had entered her body. The person in the academic building, and everything after, was the real her.

’Yuan Shiyao could actually tell something was off. He’s really sharp.’

Seeing Jiang Qingli’s slight daze, Yuan Shiyao couldn’t help but grow anxious, his voice tightening.

He paused, then carefully watched her expression and asked, "I’m sorry, did I scare you by saying all this?"

"A little," Jiang Qingli said. "Not long ago, you were still saying we were friends."

"Because I was too cowardly. I was afraid that if I said it, you would distance yourself from me."

Yuan Shiyao closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Qingli, you are a truly, truly good person. Anyone would be happy and fortunate to be your friend."

"But the last thing I want to be is your friend."

"Because that would mean you’d talk to me, but our conversations would be limited to what friends talk about. I wouldn’t be able to learn more about you."

"We would see each other often, but there would always be a clear, uncrossable line between us."

"Your contact name for me would just be my full name, not a special nickname like you have for them..."

"You are so close to me, yet I can never be yours."

Yuan Shiyao looked at her, the sky full of specks of light swirling around him, flickering like scattered fireflies.

It should have been a romantic scene, but the young man’s gaze tinted it with a somber sadness.

His voice was very soft.

"I’m sorry. I’m being greedy, I’m being shameless, but I have to say it—"

"I don’t want to be your friend anymore, Qingli."

"I want to be your husband."