41 chapter 41
◎The Only Rose◎
"You guys start," Lan Ye said, showing little interest in dismantling the things. "Just leave one or two for me to dismantle."
The rest of the production team opened the letters and gifts; they were all congratulatory presents and letters of blessing, nothing special. Lan Ye looked at these ordinary letters of blessing, somewhat disappointed. Had he guessed wrong? he wondered to himself.
Only two items remained to be unpacked. As the absolute star of this launch event, it would be unreasonable for Lan Ye not to unpack a few items. So the others conscientiously left the two most special-looking items for Lan Ye.
These two gifts looked different from the others, but neither was small. One was wrapped in dark blue silk with a subtle pattern, secured at the seam with an antique brass eagle. The other was a black box with a subtle orchid pattern, with a whole red rose with leaves fixed diagonally at the top.
Lan Ye looked at the two gifts, first picking up the one in dark blue wrapping. He twisted the brass eagle clasp ninety degrees, and with a soft click, the tightly closed box opened. Lan Ye opened the box, and the camera followed his perspective, filming him.
Inside the open box was a solid gold statue of a soaring eagle. Lan Ye took out the statue, weighed it in his hand, and chuckled softly, "It's solid."
"Lan Ye's smile is much more genuine than when she was interviewed before."
"He's making a comeback, but his persona remains unchanged. He'll still be as vain and vulgar as ever."
"I think the person who gave this pure gold statue is just making a fool of themselves. The eagle is sculpted extremely well, clearly the work of a master, but it's a pity to give it to Lan Ye. It's just a shapeless lump of gold. He likes anything that is solid and pure gold."
"The person upstairs is absolutely right, it's hilarious."
"Who doesn't like gold? Our Lan Ye is just that genuine and unpretentious~"
...
Lan Ye casually set the statue aside and picked up the envelope that had been placed at the bottom of it. The envelope matched the gift's wrapping style, also made of dark blue paper, with a small golden eagle attached to the seam.
Lan Ye opened the envelope, took out the letter, and unfolded it. The camera continued to faithfully track everything, so the viewers in the live broadcast hall could see the contents of the letter in real time, so clearly that they could even see the texture of the letter paper:
Wishing you all the best, and hoping I won't miss a single moment of your life from now on. —Regassia Gamondon
...
"I saw gods and demons??? Is this signature real?! Tell me, my love! I'm dying of curiosity, jumping up and down!!!"
"Fake! It's definitely fake! It's just Lan Ye using this to promote the movie! I've never heard of His Highness the Crown Prince having any connection with Lan Ye! Aren't you going to do anything about the entertainment industry using His Highness the Crown Prince for publicity? @PelesPalaceOfficial"
"Although... even the entertainment industry has its limits when it comes to hype, right? It's highly unlikely that someone would impersonate the Crown Prince and write such a letter. Besides, didn't you see the Crown Prince's personal crest on the background of the letter? Who would dare use the Crown Prince's crest to deceive people?"
"I don't believe it! I don't believe it! I don't believe it! How could His Highness the Crown Prince have taken a liking to him? It must be a lie!!!"
"Lan Ye's face is still unmatched, isn't it? His Highness the Crown Prince controls the army, and his maternal family is the Sopedu family. He has no shortage of status and power. Unlike the Third Prince, he doesn't need to consider how much help his partner can bring him. It's perfectly normal for him to be attracted to Lan Ye's face."
"His Highness the Crown Prince is not such a superficial person who only cares about looks! Stop slandering His Highness the Crown Prince!"
"But if this letter isn't fake, and it really came from His Highness the Crown Prince, then what do you think His Highness saw in Lan Ye? Besides his looks, is it his shallow, vulgar, and materialistic soul?"
"Aren't you guys focusing on the wrong thing? The point is, if Lan Ye and His Highness the Crown Prince were in contact, would His Highness tolerate Lan Ye spouting such nonsense and even turning these clichéd tropes into a movie? Plus the content of this letter, this is definitely true love, so indulgent of Lan Ye's reckless behavior."
"Lan Ye's fans upstairs, shut up. It's probably because His Highness the Crown Prince is too busy with state affairs to pay attention to this kind of celebrity hype, which gives Lan Ye room to maneuver. Maybe he hasn't even noticed. Stop fantasizing that His Highness the Crown Prince would be interested in your idol. Official statement, please come out and deny this, or His Highness's reputation will be tarnished by some minor celebrity! @PerlesPalaceOfficial"
...
The already incredibly popular live stream hall reached unprecedented levels of popularity, but this letter, signed by Regas, set a new record. The StarNet operations team was overwhelmed, mobilizing almost every available resource just to barely keep the live stream hall running.
Compared to the explosive whirlwind of public opinion on the StarNet, Lan Ye was not surprised at all by the signature on the letter. He had guessed that Regas would do something to make his presence known.
After returning from that universe, he and Regas hadn't met in reality. He went straight back to the Southern Region, while Regas returned to the capital planet. He didn't want to see Regas, and Regas had too many matters to attend to. Moreover, Regas knew he didn't want to see him.
So, on the one hand, they act as if they respect him and maintain an appropriate distance. On the other hand, they try to make their presence felt in this kind of situation.
Lan Ye's gaze shifted slightly, as if he had thought of something, and he chuckled softly. Then, he placed the letter to his lips, kissed Regas on the forehead, and said in a lazy tone with a hint of lust, "Then I'll be waiting for you."
Before viewers could even send their comments, they were all kicked out of the live stream lobby once again—the lobby, overwhelmed by the rapidly rising popularity, finally crashed again…
This time, StarNet posted an announcement saying that it needed a technical upgrade and the live streaming hall couldn't be fixed immediately. This infuriated the entire universe, making StarNet a trending topic of criticism. Some radicals even stormed StarNet's office building in their spaceships, demanding compensation from the crappy StarNet for the severe emotional distress caused by their unexpected disappointment while they were caught up in the drama!
Unable to do anything else, StarNet opened dozens of backup live streaming halls while the main live streaming hall was being repaired. Each backup hall was subject to strict bandwidth limits, and the live streaming halls of various on-site media were also limited to the maximum bandwidth to prevent other live streaming halls from crashing.
Even so, only about one-tenth of the original viewers can actually get into these live streaming rooms; most people simply can't get in. This has led to scalpers and those illegally filming and recording live streams making a fortune.
After unpacking Regas's gifts, Lan Ye only had one last gift left. Unlike the noble feel of Regas's gift with its deep blue background and engraved copper clasp, this box had a black silk background and blooming red roses, exuding a captivating and unique beauty that was impossible to ignore.
Lan Ye looked at the box, and a strong intuition told him that this was the answer he had been waiting for—this gift was from the very person whose gaze had been directed at him.
Lan Ye appeared to be unwrapping the gifts casually, just like before, but in reality, he concealed his cold gaze with his lowered eyelids.
"I paid a high price to have scalpers secure a spot, and it was so hard to get one! I'm crying~ I just wanted to be on the front lines of this gossip!"
"Luckily, I found the main live broadcast room too crowded, and the chat was so packed with people that the viewers were practically blurred out, so I just found a media broadcast room instead. It was so comfortable before, but now it's overflowing with people too, sigh~"
"This black gift box looks so special, who could have sent it to me?"
"If the previous dark blue box was indeed a gift from His Highness the Crown Prince, I'd venture to guess that the black box might have been a gift from His Highness the Third Prince?"
"The person upstairs has a great idea! If it really was a gift from His Highness the Third Prince, I think Lan Ye's popularity is going to explode."
"Hahaha, I think if it was a gift from the Third Prince, it would be absolutely melodramatic. I'm praying it was a gift from the Third Prince!"
...
Unpacking a few gifts and letters was just the most insignificant surprise at the end of the press conference. Usually, by this point, most of the live stream viewers would have left, except for die-hard fans who would stay until the very end. Only Lan Ye could make this seemingly insignificant and unimportant segment so popular that it crashed the live stream chat...
Of course, if it were just because of Lan Ye, it might have been the most popular segment compared to the previous one. However, the direct factor that caused the live stream hall to crash twice and generate even more buzz than the previous interview segment was the Crown Prince's signed letter, the authenticity of which is disputed. Even the most melodramatic screenwriter couldn't have come up with such a bizarre scene.
However, if this were to happen to Lan Ye, the master of creating melodrama, it wouldn't seem so outrageous. After all, so many outrageous things have happened to Lan Ye that even the most absurd events seem reasonable when attributed to him: Lan Ye + outrageous = reasonable.
The viewers in the live stream were arguing fiercely about whether the black box was actually sent by the Third Prince, but in the end, they surprisingly reached a consensus: even if it was sent by the Third Prince, it didn't seem so incomprehensible. After all, this happened to Lan Ye.
Online opinions had no impact on the press conference.
Lan Ye placed the box on the table, pinched the calyx of the rose between her fingers, and picked up the whole rose. The flower brushed against the tip of Lan Ye's nose, the soft and delicate touch like the coolness of lips under the moonlight, flirtatious and ambiguous. The faint fragrance was like a ticklish hook, eliciting a restless itch and unconsciously drawing one's attention.
Lan Ye smiled, pinched the flower with her slender fingers, and squeezed and rubbed it forcefully. The flower was violently torn from its calyx, and the soft petals became wrinkled and twisted. Lan Ye threw the flower into the trash can and continued unpacking the box.
The box was opened, and the camera continued to faithfully record everything inside for the viewers in the live broadcast room:
At the top was a bouquet of blooming red roses. After the red roses were removed, a jewelry box was revealed underneath. Opening the jewelry box revealed a pigeon-blood ruby rose brooch. And beneath the box, just like Regas's gift box, was a letter.
Lan Ye set aside the bouquet of roses and the jewelry box containing the brooch, and picked up the letter. The former two items were of no value to Lan Ye; she had gone to such lengths for this one letter.
"I hope you won't disappoint me," Lan Ye said with a light laugh, looking at the envelope in his hand.
Lan Ye opened the envelope, took out the letter, and unfolded it:
I once possessed a golden illusion, but in the end, I lost everything and was cast back into darkness. You are the only rose in this dull world. I look forward to meeting you again. —SG
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