"Miss Luo... wha... what happened to you?" asked Qie Xieling genuinely worried. He wanted to call her auntie considering his relationship with Luo Muchen but he couldn’t do that now. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

He sat down on the carpet with his legs crossed while Luo Shih reprimanded him. "I am still the king’s concubine even though he tried to kill me so address me accordingly," she said and Qie Xieling nodded his head.

So it turns out that she was like this because of this so-called evil king. Qie Xieling was already coming up with a plot in his mind as he sat there watching her curiously.

"Okay, I will just call you auntie then," said Qie Xieling with a sly grin plastered on his face.

Luo Shih sat up and pointed at his nose. "How disrespectful. Why would you call me that?" she asked and Qie Xieling said,

"Ask your son. He knows why."

Luo Shih crossed her arms on her chest and mumbled her voice filled with grievance. "That stupid son of mine. He never spends time with me. He even restricts my access to the warship so I can’t even go out and fool around. Ah, it must be nice to move around freely."

Qie Xieling felt bad for her so like a good son-in-law he said, "How about I come over to keep you company, auntie? I am not that busy anyway."

"You brat. Will you stop calling me that," she said but Qie Xieling suddenly had the urge to get back at her for scaring him so he didn’t stop.

"Auntie, do you do this kind of thing often? Are you that bored?" he asked and Luo Shih was getting very irritable.

"Aish, you call me auntie one more time and I will get you thrown off the warship... By the way... how do you rate my scaring skills? Were they good? Usually, people faint when they hear my spooky voice but you... you survived the longest. Was I that bad?"

Qie Xieling who was scared shitless by her had to give her credit where it was due. Even if she wasn’t as terrifying he would still praise his mother-in-law on an excellent job.

"You were so terrifying. Auntie look," he said pointing at his forehead, "I am sweating. It was that bad. I thought I was going to die. That laugh sent shivers all over my spine. Look my hands are still trembling."

Qie Xieling showed her his hands and they were really shaking a little. Luo Shih was so flattered she even forgot the whole auntie thing.

"Oh stop, I have only done it a few times. I am still trying to hone my skills," she lied with a straight face. In truth, she had done it twenty-five times hence the legend of the beauty haunting a mysterious deck in the warship.

"Wow auntie, I honestly thought you had done it more than a hundred times. Next time you should project gruesome bloody scenes on the walls of the corridor that way I assure you you will scare grown men to death," he said giving suggestions. For a person who wasn’t a teacher’s pet in school, he was quite good at buttering people up.

"I like you. What is your name?" she asked and the door suddenly slid open. Luo Muchen who was still a dishevelled mess interjected.

"Nobody. Get up now and leave."

Luo Shih who had already taken a liking to Qie Xieling closed the door and locked it before saying, "He is not going anywhere. You however can go."

Luo Muchen, "???"

"But I am your son," he said and Luo Shih snorted as her gaze shifted away,

"No need to remind me."

Qie Xieling, "..."

Unwilling for the mother and son to fight over him he tried to smooth things over. "Auntie, I have duties to attend to so I will be leaving," he said and Luo Muchen was surprised.

As shameless as Qie Xieling was he honestly thought he would cling to his mother like a leech just to get under his skin. He didn’t realise that the only thing Qie Xieling wanted to get underneath was his (Luo Muchen’s) bed covers and do things to him.

"Wait wait wait. Will you come back and see me? Aun-... auntie would be bored without you," she said and Luo Muchen’s eyes widened. How many of his crew members had his mother tormented over the years, he recalled them all but not once had she taken a liking to them so much that she invited them back? And what was up with this ’auntie’ business? Luo Shih was still Her Royal Highness despite the unfortunate circumstances.

"Yes,"

"No,"

They both answered simultaneously before staring at each other. Luo Muchen continued saying, "And I will make sure of it."

Qie Xieling pouted his lips in annoyance before he walked out and left.

"Wow, how mean of you. You always tell me to speak if I need something yet here you are going against your word," she said feeling annoyed.

"Anyone else can keep you company just not him. He is nothing good," he said checking if her life support capsule was still intact.

"Whatever. I will just rot in these white walls with no one to keep me company. My son doesn’t like me... my husband tried to kill me wuwuwu I am so miserable," she said but Luo Muchen just gave her a blank stare before saying,

"Stop pretending. That tactic won’t work."

"Fine," she said pretending to wipe away fake tears. She lay on her side with her back to him seeming very lonely.

Luo Muchen pressed his lips into a thin line feeling guilty. She had done all of this for him and almost lost her life as a result but he really couldn’t risk her interacting with Qie Xieling. The fact that Qie Xieling even knew of her existence was quite concerning in itself. He decided to find someone trustworthy to keep her company.

"That man... what did he say to you... about me?" he asked wanting to know if Qie Xieling mentioned anything about liking him.

"You really think you are the centre of the universe don’t you?" she said in a muffled voice and Luo Muchen had his answer. It was a good thing. At least Qie Xieling didn’t take things too far.

"Okay... did you like the fragrance I brought you?" he asked but she completely ignored him unwilling to respond to him. Defeated, he sighed before turning to leave.