The Silly Alchemist

“You should go home. You can’t spend the rest of your life taking care of me, you have your own family to look after. You’ve been here for eight years, your life shouldn’t be just about me. It should include your family too. It’s still not too late to spend time with them,” said Ye Lang softly. 

“...” Tigress fell silent after hearing his explanation. She kept her arms wrapped tightly around him, for this might be their last hug for a very long time. 

Ye Lanyu and Long Anqi were ashamed of themselves. They’d always ordered Tigress to take care of him but never once did they ever think about her wellbeing. 

Perhaps only the closest friends would understand your struggles. Ye Lang had never once treated her as his servant. She was his best friend, his childhood friend, his confidant. He wasn’t oblivious to her home-sickness. 

Tigress rarely hid anything about her family from him, always telling him stories about her family members. Sometimes, she’d bask in the moonlight, thoughts distant and eyes locked at a place far away. She missed them. 

It was through her stories that Ye Lang knew she wasn’t an orphan, her parents were still alive and well and her family loved her wholeheartedly. 

He may have been clueless in the past, he didn’t know what to do then. However, eight years had passed in just a blink of the eye,  and he knew he should deal with the matter at hand. But, he had a hard time thinking of letting Tigress go, so letting her stay with him for another three months was a selfish little demand for himself.

Of course, he had done a lot with her in the past three months, he taught her martial arts and some special self-defence tactics. 

Now, it was clear to everyone why Ye Lang wanted her to sleep next to him, he had been planning to let her go since then. The separation was bound to be hard and he had kept it to himself, pretending that everything was alright while his heart ached inside. 

Tigress’s heart clenched at the thought. She didn’t blame him for not telling her about this. 

“Master… If I leave, there won’t be anyone to take care of you. You’re always so clumsy,” said Tigress softly, her tone a wash of sadness. 

“I’m not as dumb as I used to be, I can take care of myself well. Please don’t worry about me,” replied Ye Lang gently, coaxing her. 

“That’s ridiculous! You’re not that different from before, you’re still a klutz,” she exposed him promptly. She understood him better than herself. 

It was a fact. Even though Ye Lang had regained his memories, he was still rather clumsy and slow to respond. Not sure if it was due to his past life or if he was just truly like that. 

But that was just a minor concern, he still was adorable. 

What Tigress was worried about was not much of a problem in the eyes of Ye Lang, his mother or his sister. Minor issues would be attended to, and in regards to major issues, as long as he didn’t mess up too royally, it could be managed. 

Perhaps, Tigress was the only one genuinely concerned about this. 

“It’s alright, I’ll learn how to manage myself when the time comes,” replied Ye Lang rather nonchalantly. 

“...” Tigress was speechless, she stood there staring at the ground. 

Everyone else present at the yard was quiet, letting the time pass by silently, letting both Ye Lang and Tigress savour their last moment together. Oh, how they wished they could stop time. 

Unfortunately, time was merciless. What was bound to happen, would happen. The leader of the Anna Mercenary Group had stepped up to approach Ye Lang, forcing a halt to their moment. They started to discuss details regarding the mission. 

His request was rather simple, he wanted Tigress to be well-protected no matter what. If it was unachievable, the troupe would summon more manpower to aid them. 

The beautiful leader, Anna, was a little taken aback by his request. Was this really what he wanted? 

It was such a low expectation for the mercenary group. Escorting Tigress home was such a simple task, there wasn’t any need for the entire troupe or spend so much money. He could’ve done this for way cheaper! 

Tigress wasn’t an important figure of the kingdom, at least for now. Even if she had travelled alone, perverts wouldn’t even dare to approach her as she looked very powerful. Such protection was unnecessary. 

However, he was their client and he had paid them a good sum of gold coins. Naturally, they’d do their very best to please him. They would protect Tigress to the best of their capabilities. 

After this incident, many would question Ye Lang’s action. No one understood why he paid such a great sum just to escort her home. She wasn’t exactly worth the price, not even for him. 

Ye Lang had always refused to answer their queries, displeased with the discussion about Tigress’s worth. It was disrespectful to her. 

“Master, I’m leaving now. Please take good care of yourself, I’ll be back soon,” said Tigress. She was sad to leave the Ye Residence. 

She made a promise to herself that she’d definitely come back. She had planned to stay with her family for a bit before requesting them to enrol her into the Royal Institute of Education. There was plenty of beastman in the institute. 

Other than that, there was absolutely no way she wouldn’t worry about Ye Lang. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of myself, really. Even if you don’t return, I’ll come visit,” replied Ye Lang, knowing she’d want to return to him. 

“Also, please don’t sleep with the seventh princess when I’m not around. Other girls are a big no-no,” whispered Tigress, it had sounded like a joke but at the same time, it sounded firm like she meant it. 

“It’s alright, I’m not like that!” replied Ye Lang. 

“Would your next sentence be that you’re no longer worthy of a man if you had an erection…” joked Tigress, Ye Lang was stunned by her words. 

“...Who taught you that,” he was rather curious, the usage of words wasn’t popular in this universe. 

“Well, you said that yourself two years ago. Remember, you were…” explained Tigress softly, she told him what had happened back then slowly. 

Ye Lang listened to her quietly, he had almost forgotten what had happened. Her memories of it were still clear as if it had happened yesterday, it was a little amusing experience in her life. 

To see people taking a long time to say their goodbyes were not a rare sight to the Anna Mercenary Group. The mercenaries started to count the times they’d seen this. 

These two little fellas were still very young, who knew what would happen if they were a little more grown up! 

Though so, everyone liked their interactions. The bond they shared was innocent, sweet and pure.  They made everyone dig deep into their memories, reminiscing their old childhood friends… 

Such a bond was priceless, but to maintain it was a rather difficult task. Not many were able to achieve that. 

Seeing their friendship, everyone present had the same wish. They wished their friendship would last forever.