"We thought he was trying to make the Vanguard Commander jealous!"
Ji'an took a step back, raising her hands defensively. "Lady Meng, I implore you to lower your voice and seek psychiatric help—"
"But this!" Lady Meng interrupted, cutting Ji'an off entirely, her eyes shining with unshed tears of tragic narrative ecstasy. "This is so much worse! He's not trying to make the Commander jealous! He is actively cheating on him! He has taken a gigolo!"
The word echoed off the cobblestones.
Gigolo...
Blue's head snapped back to Ji'an, an expression of baffled outrage crossing his handsome features.
"A gigolo?!" Lady Meng's companion gasped, clutching her pearls. "An exotic, wild, fiery-haired paramour from the borderlands! Oh, the tragedy! The Vanguard Commander fought a war for him, carried him from the banquet hall, declared his silent devotion to the world... and the Martial Uncle repays him by seeking solace in the arms of a rough, untamed mercenary!"
