By the next morning, the entire Country X was in an uproar. From small towns to metropolitan cities, every corner of the nation wanted to know every little thing about Xinguan. Their first meet. Their confessions. They wanted to know everything. Actively, s.h.i.+ppers. The ones who"d wished them to get together. They couldn"t believe, that what they thought to be a mere dream or imagination, would actually turn into reality, someday. "#Xinguan", once again, reached the top of the trending list on every social media platform. Broadcasting media was equally agile. Reaching out to the Xi trio and the Six tigers. They left no stone unturned in their hunt for all the juicy gossips related to the stunning and perfect couple. Many of them tried to reach Rong Xinghe and Xi Yuan too. But the two families were h.e.l.l-bent on protecting and s.h.i.+elding them from the Black sea of cameras. They were, after all, the core members of both the families. And of course, as long as the Business King and Military Chief were intending to avoid the journalists, no one could force them into appearing publicly.
While the Xis and Superfamily faced the wild and diabolical paparazzi lot, Xinguan enjoyed the company of each other. Sitting in their garden, the two discussed their future wedding plans.
"We need to postpone it. The wedding. For now.", Rong Xinghe said, cheris.h.i.+ng the exotic taste of coffee upon her tongue, "I have some pressing matters to attend to, first. Will that be fine with you?"
"Let me guess. Military, right?", smiled Xi Yuan, earning a nod from the girl. "I guess I can live with the t.i.tle of "Fiance" for a while.", he resigned.
"Let us throw an engagement party day after tomorrow. Shall we?", Rong Xinghe raised her brows.
"I will make the proper arrangements.", the man agreed, "Starting with the guest list."
"I will leave that for you and brothers to decide.", Rong Xinghe laughed, "I suck at this "diplomatic invitations" c.r.a.p.
"But on my behalf, could you add twelve names?"
"Sure. May I know who are we talking about?", the man smiled, tucking the girl"s free hair strands behind her ears.
"The Ten Military Hybrids. And the newly elected Prime Minister and President.", the girl smiled.
"Oh, right! The Central Elections are tomorrow. I almost forgot about them.", Xi Yuan tapped the edge of the breakfast table, his tone surprised as if he"d just realized that, "Does the Military Chief get to vote too."
"I do. Separately, though.", the girl rested her chin against the palm of her right hand, staring into her darling"s dark grey eyes, "Actually, the Military"s votes account for 25% of the population. So even if the public has voted for a candidate, he or she won"t be able to sit on the democratic throne, unless the Armed Forces second the idea."
"So basically, you"ll be pretty occupied tomorrow. Am I right?"
"Yeah. One could say that.", the girl admitted, "It"s going to one h.e.l.l of a day. But there is one more thing I need to put an end to. Once, and for all."
Xi Yuan couldn"t help but furrow his brows at the girl"s words, "What do you mean?"
"I texted Zhou Che, earlier this morning. We will be meeting tonight.", Rong Xinghe replied, holding onto Xi Yuan"s both hands firmly, "I read Zhou Zhichen"s letter a week ago. And I was contemplating of how to confront Che about it.
"He deserves to know where I stand, Yuan. He"s holding onto the past, and onto a vain hope. Regardless of what I went through, I don"t want to begin our new journey, without dealing with the Zhous."
Xi Yuan listened to the girl intently before he looked into her eyes. The girl could feel his body stiffen slightly. And it was natural. Zhou Che was her ex-boyfriend, after all. No matter how much he trusted her, a part of him was still afraid to lose her. She understood that.
"I am coming with you."
"W...What?!", the girl took a few seconds to process the man"s words before she finally spoke up, "You don"t have to, Honey."
"Xinghe, I will be there, whether you want me to or not. And it"s not because I don"t trust you or that I am insecure. I don"t even consider that man as my compet.i.tion.
"I simply want to protect you. Because, for a matter of fact, I know that not even an entire army can make you feel safe and a.s.sured, the way I do. Especially, when it comes to your past.
"So I am not going to be there for myself or for him. I"ll be there for you.", Xi Yuan said, his tone filled with absolute love and concern.
"You are already becoming a husband, you know?", Rong Xinghe laughed, placing the man"s warm hands against her cold cheeks.
"I love you too, Bub.", the man smiled softly.
________________________
Meanwhile, MCO ;
"So the Military Chief is getting married, huh?", Ashfakh Ali grinned, staring at the TV screen in his office. "And this woman once told me that she hated the concept of weddings, itself."
"What are we supposed to do with this, Sir? Military Chief"s wedding is of least concern for us right now, Mr. Ali.", Shou Wu sighed, staring at the dead body lying over the red leather couch.
"He was a former soldier. Send the body to the Medical Examiner first.", Ashfakh looked at the 60-something-year-old dead man, indifferently. "He must"ve known something about the attacks, that are being planned currently."
"Should we inform the Chief?", the old man questioned.
"I already did. I texted her an hour ago.", the young man shrugged, tossing his phone over to Shou Wu, "In fact, she was the one who ordered me to send it for post-mortem."
"Oh.", Shou Wu stared at the screen in a daze, "Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"Why do they call you people "Hybrids"? The enemies, the militants, and the terrorists.", the girl"s a.s.sistant asked, with a muddled expression, evident across his face.
"Hybrids means "in-between". The ones who are neither here, nor there. We eleven, are like a pack of Wolves. And there is one thing about those beasts. They stick together. They travel together. They cry, howl, and hunt together.
"Rong Xinghe is stronger than all of us. That"s the reason she became the Military Chief. She is the Alpha of the Hybrids, the Wolves. So no matter how irrational or crazy or destructive her decisions are, the ten of us will follow each one of them blindly."
"And why do they relate all of you to beasts?", asked Shou Wu.
"Trust me, old man. You don"t want to see that side of us. Of any of us. All you need to know is that when wolves are enraged or angered, no one can be as lethal, demoniacal, and bloodthirsty as them."