They arrived on Flower Sea Star in the evening, but the fading light couldn’t hide the planet’s beauty.

The entire planet seemed to be bathed in an ocean of flowers. The afterglow of the sunset washed over the city’s buildings, creating a view from high above that looked like something out of a fairy tale.

Any random snapshot was beautiful enough to be a desktop wallpaper.

Lu Xiao and Ares disembarked from the starship together and took a shuttle out of the station. Since they had made arrangements in advance, they saw someone holding a sign waiting for them as soon as they came out.

Given Lu Xiao’s current fame, she was easy to recognize.

The moment she and Ares stepped off the platform, someone recognized her. "Ms. Lu Xiao, it really is you! I’m here to pick you up!"

The person ran over enthusiastically, and only then did Lu Xiao see that he was also holding a bouquet of flowers.

Lu Xiao reached out to take them. "Thank you. Have you been waiting long?"

"No, not at all! The hotel is very close to here. Let’s get in the car. You two haven’t eaten yet, have you? Let me treat you to dinner!"

"Oh no, we couldn’t possibly let you spend your money on us!"

"It’s no problem! Ms. Lu Xiao, you might not know this, but after Release Therapy was introduced, my son’s condition improved a lot. We’re beneficiaries! When we heard you and Vice Admiral Ares were traveling here, we were overjoyed. We absolutely have to treat you well. Please, I hope you’ll give us this chance to express our gratitude!"

Seeing him insist, Lu Xiao had no choice but to say, "Well, in that case, we won’t refuse. But we’re still going to pay for the hotel. Please don’t mix that up with your gratitude!"

"Hey, Ms. Lu Xiao, how can you say that? We were going to cover all your expenses while you and Vice Admiral Ares are on Flower Sea Star! You rarely get to visit, so of course we have to show you the best hospitality!"

"Well, if you’re going to be like that, then we won’t go!"

"No, no! I’ll listen to you, okay? Please don’t say you won’t go!"

"That’s more like it!" Lu Xiao hadn’t expected that the first thing she and Ares would have to deal with at the start of their trip was someone’s enthusiastic gratitude. "By the way, I don’t think I caught your name."

"Ms. Lu Xiao, you can just call me Ben."

"Alright, Ben."

Just as Ben had said, the hotel wasn’t far from the spaceport terminal. It was only a short ride in the hover car before they reached their destination.

In front of the hotel was a large tulip garden. Lu Xiao had chosen this place after seeing it in a promotional picture.

Standing at the entrance now, looking up at the orange-red sunset and down at the beautifully blooming flowers, she truly felt like she had stepped into a fairy-tale town.

Before Ares could lift a finger, Ben had already called a bellhop out from the hotel to take their luggage to their room.

"You two can go on up to your room and rest. I’ll have dinner sent up shortly."

"Thank you, Ben. We appreciate you going to all this trouble."

"You’re too kind, Ms. Lu Xiao. It’s my honor."

Lu Xiao and Ares returned to their room. Pushing the door open, they were greeted by a massive floor-to-ceiling window. Just by standing in front of it, they could take in all the beautiful scenery of the small town.

Lu Xiao fell in love with the place almost instantly. "Ares, the view here is so beautiful!"

She even thought, ’If it were possible, this would be a nice place to retire.’

’Waking up to such a beautiful view every day... Just the thought of it makes me so happy.’

"Should we buy a house here, then?" Ares asked softly, wrapping his arms around Lu Xiao from behind.

Lu Xiao turned to look at the man in surprise. "You want to settle down here?"

"Settle down, or just have a convenient place for vacations in the future, right?"

"You have a point. Should we make time to look at houses tomorrow?"

"Alright!" Ares touched his forehead to Lu Xiao’s, his smile incredibly gentle. "I’ll go run a bath for you. Want to soak for a bit?"

"No, I’ll just take a quick shower." Lu Xiao didn’t want to waste time on a bath right now.

Ares took out their personal belongings and arranged them so they would be convenient for Lu Xiao to use later.

While he was tidying up, Ben personally delivered their dinner. "Vice Admiral Ares, these are all local specialties of Flower Sea Star. Please enjoy. I’ll leave you two to it and won’t disturb you any further."

Even though he didn’t see Lu Xiao in the room, Ben was tactful enough not to ask. He left as soon as he finished speaking, well aware that Lu Xiao and Ares were on their honeymoon. It would be too tactless for a stranger like him to keep getting in the way.

Ares thanked him and personally saw Ben to the door.

When Lu Xiao came out of the shower, she saw the local delicacies on the table and smiled. "Has Ben been here already?"

"Yes. He told us to enjoy ourselves."

"He’s quite considerate."

"Mhm. Should we eat now?"

Lu Xiao shook her head. "You haven’t showered yet. I’ll wait for you. I’m not that hungry anyway. It’s a good time for me to send a message to Grandmother and Father to let them know we’ve arrived!"

"Okay, wait for me then."

"No need to rush."

"Mhm, okay."

Watching Ares enter the bathroom, Lu Xiao sat down on the sofa and pulled Cecilia, Admiral Clan, her aunt, and her uncle into a group chat. "Hello everyone! Ares and I have arrived on Flower Sea Star. It’s so beautiful here! [Image] [Image] [Image] The scenery in every picture is real!"

Cecina: "Wow, that’s gorgeous! Is Flower Sea Star really that pretty? I always thought it was just over-hyped marketing!"

Kelin: "Xiao Xiao and Ares, did you just arrive? Is the hotel nice?"

Lu Xiao: "It’s great! Don’t worry, Uncle. The owner was very enthusiastic and treated us to dinner!"

Cecilia: "You and Ares have a good time. Don’t worry about us, okay? Just let us know if you need anything!"

Clan: "It does look nice. Have fun."

...

After replying to everyone’s well wishes and concerns one by one, Lu Xiao ended the conversation.

When Ares came out of the bathroom, he saw Lu Xiao leaning against the window, taking pictures of the scenery outside. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

He realized his little female truly seemed to love the view here.

Hearing the sound, she turned to look at him, her eyes dyed a warm orange-red by the afterglow of the sunset.

"You’re done showering. Let’s eat. I just finished talking with Grandmother and the others. They told us to have a good time!" Lu Xiao smiled and walked to the table, pulling out a chair for Ares before sitting down on the other side.

Ares was touched by his little female’s unconscious gesture. That was Lu Xiao for you—always exuding a captivating warmth when you least expected it.

The flower pastries on Flower Sea Star were famous. One bite revealed a crispy exterior and a soft inside, leaving a lingering floral fragrance.

"Mmm, this is so fragrant, but not too rich." Lu Xiao ate one and found it surprisingly addictive.

She ate two or three more in a row before nodding in satisfaction. "These flower pastries... we should bring some back for Grandmother when we go home. She’ll definitely love them."

After all, she knew just how much of a sweet tooth Cecilia had.