Transmigrated as My Best Friend's Ex

85. The Enthronement of Keqi

Translator: Guy Gone Bad

Nancheng Lie took Li Qinghao’s hand and walked out of the crowd. The reporters didn’t chase after him because they had to interview other VIPs.

“Relax, you’re hurting me.” They walked through the front door of the cathedral which resembled Tian An Men. This cathedral dedicated to the God was a symbol of Leiluo Kingdom, like Tian An Men in China. “Are you nervous because of those reporters?”

Li Qinghao realized that he had subconsciously tightened his grip on Nancheng Lie’s hand just now. Nancheng Lie held Li Qinghao’s hand for fear that they would get separated in the crush and Li Qinghao’s injured leg would and be hurt again. Li Qinghao was shocked by Nancheng’s affectionate words– “No matter where you are, no matter what difficulties you run into, I’ll be there waiting for you to come back.” So he gripped Nancheng Lie’s hand instinctively.

‘Lie, you probably can’t imagine how much your words shocks me and how hard it is for me to keep calm at this moment,’ Li Qinghao thought. He bowed his head and glimpsed some small cuts on the back of Nancheng Lie’s right hand. Li Qinghao was stunned. Those cuts showed that just now his short nails cut into Nancheng’s skin.

“Sorry.” Li Qinghao didn’t know what else to say.

“It doesn’t matter.” The gloomy look in Li Qinghao’s eyes touched Nancheng Lie’s heart. He knew Li Qinghao had a secret. A person with a secret could easily arouse the curiosity of others. A voice inside Nancheng Lie’s head was telling him to keep away from Li Qinghao, but considering that Li Qinghao knew Xu’s whereabouts, he couldn’t help but approach him again and again.

Just then, the church bell rang. The famous people from all over the world stopped talking and walked into the magnificent building in front of them.

They walked along the red carpet in couples, as if they were going to a splendid wedding. The cathedral was no different from other ordinary churches. The only difference was they believed in different gods. The ordinary churches were dedicated to Jesus. But the god of this cathedral was unknown to Li Qinghao and Nancheng Lie.

The cathedral was large in area. In the main hall were rows of seats. The band struck up when the distinguished guests entered the hall. The enthronement was about to begin.

The hall was bustling.

“Xu should have been the protagonist of this enthronement ceremony,” Nancheng Lie said in a cold voice. Li Qinghao knew that Nancheng Lie hated Keqi.

He comforted Nancheng gently, “Han Mingxu wouldn’t like the atmosphere here.” He wanted to release Nancheng from self-accusation. ‘You always put all the blame on yourself, but Lie, you don’t have a moral obligation to me and your love for me shouldn’t be your burden. It’s unfair to you,’ Li Qinghao thought to himself.

Nancheng Lie turned around and looked thoughtfully at Li Qinghao. “Yes, you are right. Xu wouldn’t like the atmosphere here. He’s a quiet man. He likes to go somewhere where the water and the sky are of one hue. He enjoys the feeling of relaxation. Sometimes he talks insincerely. I know he doesn’t hate to go out for fun, but he always pretends to be uninterested. He’ll go only if I beg him.”

“What did you say?” Li Qinghao raised his voice. ‘How could he say that about me? I never talk insincerely! I’m not at all interested in attending a banquet. If it hadn’t been for his sake, I wouldn’t have gone to those noisy places,’ Li Qinghao thought.

Li Qinghao got angry. He had an impulse to kick this asshole to death.

Nancheng Lie mistook Li Qinhao’s meaning. He thought that Li Qinghao was surprised at his words, so he explained with a smile, “You don’t believe me? Xu seems aloof and detached, but in fact, he is a lovely man.” There was no mistaking the deep love in Nancheng Lie’s eyes. He had a dreamy look on his face and wore a genuine, sweet smile. Li Qinghao was annoyed with Nancheng for having said the wrong thing. He was wondering whether Nancheng Lie had spoken ill of him in front of other strangers. He planned to teach him a lesson in the future, but when he saw the look of happiness on Nancheng Lie’s face, his anger disappeared.

Li Qinghao looked fixedly at Nancheng Lie. His handsome profile was incomparably charming. Before Li Qinghao knew it, that naughty boy had grown up to be an enchanting prince who could easily capture anyone’s heart.

With a puzzled expression on his face, Nancheng Lie looked back at Li Qinghao and asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?” After a pause, he warned, “Don’t fall in love with me. I can’t give you anything.”

“Don’t worry. I have a sweetheart.” He had fallen for a man long ago, but he didn’t realize it.

Nancheng Lie raised his eyebrows and asked meaningfully, “Really?” He thought Li Qinghao was lying. ‘His eyes are full of love when he looks at me. It’s obvious that he loves me. How could he deny his love for me?’ Nancheng Lie thought.

“By the way, have you insisted on playing piano in these two years?” Li Qinghao changed the subject. Nancheng Lie had been a naughty boy since childhood, but he was good at playing piano. His brothers had once tried to make a pianist of him, because they were proud of their youngest brother ‘s artistic talent. However, Nancheng Lie was not interested in it at all.

‘There is a grand piano in Lie’s bedroom. The piano is pure black and the decoration of his room is white. To me, Lie’s home is just like my own home. At the beginning, every time I went to Nancheng Mansion, the servants prepared the guest room for me, but I always slept in Lie’s bedroom. Later, the servants gave up doing that and I became another owner of Lie’s bedroom.

Every time I stayed overnight at his home, he played the piano for me. My parents passed away when I was a child, so I couldn’t sleep well at night. But the music he played was so beautiful that I slept well in his room,’ Li Qinghao thought to himself.

But unknown to Li Qinghao, the reason Nancheng learned to play the piano was because he found Han Mingxu always frowned when he was sleeping. Nancheng wanted to relieve him of his anxiety.

When love was in bud, he didn’t notice it. But now he thought back to the past and was greatly touched.

The priest respectfully handed Keqi the ring that symbolized the power of the king and then began his speech. Keqi saw Li Qinghao and Nancheng Lie in the distance. They were talking happily. Keqi had never seen Li Qinghao like this. He was standing in a relaxed posture and laughing heartily.

Did he still love Nancheng? He couldn’t forget Nancheng because Nancheng was his old love? The bitterness rose like bile into Keqi’s mouth.

‘I once thought that I would develop closer ties with Qinghao, but in fact, we have become estranged from each other after coming to Leiluo Kingdom. As for Nancheng Lie… There must be something wrong. Nancheng Lie loves Han Mingxu dearly, and for now, I’m Han Mingxu. Why does he keep his eyes fixed on Li Qinghao instead of me?’ Keqi thought.

Nancheng Lie didn’t notice that when he was looking at Li Qinghao, his eyes were full of tenderness.

After the priest’s speech, Keqi was going to take the royal carriage around the Imperial City and tell the people of Leiluo Kingdom that his enthronement was God’s will. So, Keqi took his eyes off them and left.

The guests didn’t have to go with Keqi. They were led to the Royal Palace for lunch.

Li Qinghao had been impressed by the magnificence of the Royal Palace. Maybe it was because today was a special day and people were walking to and fro, that the Royal Palace looked more magnificent and gorgeous.

Nancheng Lie and Li Qinghao became the centre of attention as soon as they walked into the banquet hall. To be exact, all eyes were fixed on Nancheng Lie. Although Li Qinghao was good-looking, the upper-class didn’t think highly of him because he didn’t have a strong background.

“Hello, Mr. Nancheng.” Other guests said hello to Nancheng Lie in succession. Nancheng Lie knew some of them.

He responded with a smile and weaved his way through the crowd with confident steps.

Li Qinghao leaned against a pillar with his eyes fixed on Nancheng Lie. For some unknown reason, he couldn’t take his eyes off Nancheng. Sometimes Nancheng Lie’s figure was blocked by others, but Li Qinghao could always find him again in the next second.

“Hello.” A blonde, handsome man came up to Li Qinghao with a glass of wine in his hand. Li Qinghao didn’t know him.

Li Qinghao was a well-bred gentleman. He raised an eyebrow and said to the man, “Cheers.”

The blonde man was stunned for a moment, because he hadn’t expected Li Qinghao to be so easy-going. He lifted his glass and drank.

Li Qinghao pressed his lips against the rim of his glass. The red wine soaked his lips, but he didn’t drink it.

It was not because the wine was not good enough; on the contrary, the wine served to the guests was vintage port. It was only because Li Qinghao thought it was interesting to play a cat and mouse game. Besides, he needed more time to study this person.

The man had an aura of nobility. He seemed gentle and courteous, but his eyes were like bottomless, dangerous pools. Their eyes met, and neither of them looked away.

A few seconds later, they put down their wine glasses at the same time. The man had drained the wine from his glass, while Li Qinghao didn’t take a drop of wine.

“My name is Fonda. My father is Keqi’s grandfather’s youngest brother, so I’m theoretically Keqi’s uncle.” The tone of his language seemed decent, but he addressed Keqi disrespectfully by name.