When Will the Wedding Be Held

The third party had spoken, offering both sides a way out.

There was no reason to refuse, and yet...

Annie followed Arthur into the dining room. Charles Lang seated himself at the head of the table with easy familiarity, ordering the servants to pour wine and bring dishes as if he were the master of the Governor's Mansion.

Madam Hado, meanwhile, stood to one side, silent throughout.

Governor Hado had not appeared at all.

"A Hongmen banquet," Annie whispered to Arthur. "Be careful."

Even if she knew Madam Hado would help Boss He, it was still unclear whose side she was truly on.

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Annie: "..."

Seriously? Even if he wasn't a Federation native, as a Federation agent, didn't he have to pass a cultural literacy test?!

This made Annie curious: what exactly was Arthur Kane's background, anyway?!

"Sit, sit."

Charles Lang eagerly gestured for everyone to take their seats, but he remained standing himself.

He took the wine bottle from the maid and, lowering himself, walked over to Madam Hado to pour her a glass.

"Madam Hado and I were university classmates," Charles said. "This is a private dinner, no need for such formality. Make yourself at home, little bride."

University classmates?

Annie tensed: so Charles Lang had been educated in the Empire as well.

As the words left his mouth, Madam Hado removed her veil, revealing an elegant face.

Since the hostess had done so, Annie hesitated a moment, then likewise pulled down her hood and scarf.

The Red Badge officer walked over with the wine bottle, bending down to pour for Annie—

Then, without warning, his face turned toward her.

They were barely an arm's length apart, and he suddenly closed the distance. Annie's heart lurched, but before she could react, Arthur Kane's sturdy arm reached across her shoulder and shoved Charles back.

Arthur's blue eyes locked onto Charles Lang. "What are you doing?"

"Hey, no need to get so worked up."

Charles Lang laughed, retreating half a step to create distance, but he still poured the wine.

"It's just that this is the first time I've seen the little bride's face... I was right after all."

"What?" Annie tilted her head.

"You're the youngest daughter of the An family, aren't you?" Charles straightened up, studying her thoughtfully. "I thought your features looked familiar. I was three years behind you and Madam Hado. You were the genius Omega who skipped three grades and was famous school-wide for your mechanics exam on admission. But before you graduated, you disappeared without a trace. When word reached us, I felt a pang of regret."

With that, he bent down again curiously. "Miss An, where did you go?"

Annie's expression remained utterly still.

But if Arthur's gaze could have become physical, it would have bored a hole straight through Annie's back.

"You've checked my file, sir," Annie said.

Fabricating a complete life from scratch was difficult. To run a long-term operation without any gaps was nearly impossible.

So Meridian had grafted Annie's false identity onto her real one.

The youngest daughter of the An family, a brilliant Omega who had left school in her junior year and vanished—because she had passed the royal agent logistics assessment and been hired directly.

That "blank" was conveniently filled with a love story.

"I fell seriously ill in my junior year," Annie said without missing a beat, spinning the fabricated story. "My parents sent me to a neutral planet to recover."

Charles Lang pulled out a chair and sat down beside Annie. "And then you met my little brother Arthur—what did he do?"

Annie: "Are you interrogating us, sir?"

Charles waved his hands in protest. "Don't be so tense, little bride. An Empire noble marrying a Federation commoner—anyone would be curious!"

"Bodyguard," Arthur said abruptly.

His sudden interjection startled Charles.

The Red Badge officer's gaze swept over him, then realization dawned. "You're Miss An's bodyguard? Ha, brother, you're a lucky man!"

Annie glanced at him.

Arthur said nothing, simply reaching out to wrap an arm around Annie's waist.

His broad palm moved possessively against her, a gesture of ownership and intimacy.

Not bad!

Annie felt a surge of approval: so he wasn't that slow after all. This part of the story wasn't in Meridian's plan!

After all, the logistics team could only falsify identities; the details were up to the field agents to improvise.

"I'm the lucky one."

Annie latched on without hesitation, her eyes sparkling and an involuntary smile spreading across her face.

"Arthur never makes me feel bad about my weak constitution, and he never treats me like I'm made of glass. He says that because I'm sick, I shouldn't stay cooped up indoors all the time—otherwise, why come to a tourist destination when a hospital would do? Arthur brings me out, walks with me, exercises with me. I've never felt time pass so quickly as during my recovery."

She spoke with radiant enthusiasm, the picture of someone glowing with happy memories of being in love.

Annie squeezed the hand he had on her waist, interlacing her fingers firmly with his.

"He was a mercenary passing through the resort planet. Being my bodyguard was just a temporary job, but when the time came... I, I just couldn't let him go," she said, lowering her head shyly. "The rest, you already know, sir."

How they had secretly registered their marriage, how she had been dragged away by her parents, only to elope to New Thebes. Charles Lang had already found the detailed itinerary when they were at the outpost.

Charles listened with appreciative murmurs.

The Red Badge officer was utterly absorbed, and at Annie's tale, he even broke into a smile.

It was as if he had genuinely been moved by their love story.

"That's really something," Charles Lang said with a sigh. "You can't go back to the Federation, and on other planets you'd have to avoid the An family's reach—so that's why you came to New Thebes."

As he spoke, he glanced casually at Arthur.

"Little brother, you're from New Thebes. How did you end up in the Federation?"

Annie tensed.

This was Charles Lang's real goal.

She hadn't expected the Twillight officer to recognize her, but that was manageable. She was confident she could handle it. But Arthur...

There was a traitor in the Federation—Charles Lang certainly knew that.

If he hadn't suspected Arthur, he wouldn't be so persistent in trying to get close.

But this was also an opportunity, because they needed to get close to Twillight to obtain more information about the gene weapon—so far, apart from confirming the weapon's existence and that someone was developing an antidote, they knew nothing about the formula, its location, or the organization's true intentions.

So the Federation had sent Arthur for a reason.

He was from New Thebes—

"Political refugee," Arthur said coldly, interrupting Annie's train of thought.

As the words fell, the room fell into an abrupt silence.

Annie felt as though every vein in her body had turned to ice.

In the decades since, the Interstellar Federation and the Empire had only once, twenty years ago, accepted a group of political refugees from New Thebes.

That was when the leader of the terrorist organization "Twillight" had just taken power, issuing a series of extreme decrees that provoked widespread opposition.

To suppress dissent, Twillight had rounded up hundreds of dissidents, imprisoned them in the Sunrise Ancient Temple—the holy site in the City of the Radiant Sun—and beheaded them all.

This was the infamous Sunrise Holy Land Massacre twenty years ago.

The refugees the Empire and Federation had accepted were the descendants of those resistance fighters.

Annie had never imagined... that Arthur was one of those refugees.

And that he would say it out loud like this?!

While stunned, Annie's mind raced: even if he hadn't said it, Charles Lang was so persistent that he would have found out eventually.

Saying it was the right call; the key was how to handle what came next.

Annie unconsciously tightened her grip on Arthur's hand.

But Charles Lang, sitting across from her, only rubbed his chin with an indifferent air.

As if the orphans of the opposition or refugee status meant nothing to a terrorist like him.

"That's a problem," he said with a pursed lip. "I'm the exception here, brother Arthur. If another officer found out about this, your head and your little bride's would be hanging on the city gates of Radiant Sun by tomorrow."

As he spoke, he picked up the wine bottle again.

Leaning forward across Annie, Charles Lang poured wine for Arthur Kane with a casual air.

The two Alphas closed the distance, and Charles's sidearm gleamed openly at his waist.

"Originally, fate brought us together, and seeing your caliber, I wanted to win you over," Charles said, still in that flippant tone. "I thought, the little bride is from the Empire—that's tricky—but you're of New Theban descent, so we could work something out. But now—"

The glass filled.

"I don't want a conflict with you, but I can't pretend I didn't see it."

Charles Lang maintained his enthusiastic tone as he proposed, "As for this... I blurted things out earlier, so I owe you a proper apology. How about this?"

He raised his wrist, and the bottle base struck the table with a sharp clang, like a gunshot.

"You and the little bride haven't held the ceremony yet, right? Let's do it according to tradition. Sunrise Temple was originally a place for weddings. It's been sealed for twenty years since that incident," Charles said. "I'll grant you a favor—special permission for you two to hold the wedding at the ancient temple. How about it? If you pass the traditional trial, it'll prove you're a perfect match, and also that my little brother Arthur is nothing like his parents. What do you say?"

Annie could hardly believe her ears.

She knew terrorists couldn't be trusted—Charles Lang, despite his amiable demeanor, was still an officer who had earned military merit in Twillight.

But to make Arthur Kane hold his wedding at the very place where his parents were massacred?

Was this even human?!

"No," Annie said without thinking. "Sir, even if—"

"Fine."

Annie turned in shock.

Arthur sat upright beside her, still holding her, his handsome face expressionless.

His blue eyes were as clear as gemstones, and as cold—bereft of any emotion.

"We can hold the wedding at the ancient temple. When?" Arthur asked.

Charles Lang's face split into a sudden, broad smile.