Chapter 135: Kiss Him: Ulysses Is... Kissing Him

Ulysses... the Marshal?

An Ruo listened to Selerus's words, then looked at the "Zerg egg" in his arms, completely confused.

Just then, Selerus seemed to sense something.

He swiftly glanced toward the door before lowering his voice to An Ruo.

"Don't tell anyone I was here."

The moment he finished speaking, he vanished in the blink of an eye.

The glass door to the balcony silently slid open.

A breeze drifted inside, stirring the sheer white curtains and carrying with it the fresh fragrance of the plants from the sky garden.

An Ruo turned blankly toward the open balcony door.

Something inside his head snapped.

His patient had...

Actually escaped from prison???

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

Still dazed, An Ruo opened the door.

Standing outside...

Was Ulysses, who had unexpectedly come to visit.

The instant the door opened, Ulysses' gaze fell upon him.

His eyes quickly swept over An Ruo from head to toe.

After confirming that he was unharmed, he seemed to relax slightly.

Even so, he continued carefully studying An Ruo's expression, cautiously judging whether he was angry or pleased.

"My Lord, I sincerely apologize for frightening you... I offer my apologies on behalf of my female parent. He never intended to harm you. It was my failure to keep watch over him..."

As he spoke, the corner of Ulysses' eye drifted toward the balcony.

His gaze slowly moved...

Until it reached the floor.

Only then did he truly relax.

Meeting An Ruo's eyes directly, he said,

"I accept full responsibility for my negligence. Please punish me as you see fit."

Even Ulysses hadn't expected that during the brief moment he was handing things over to Cyril...

His female parent would cause such enormous trouble.

He had actually broken into the Male Zerg's residence.

Whether the Male Zerg chose to pursue the matter or not...

Someone had to bear responsibility.

He would take the punishment in his female parent's place.

An Ruo blinked in surprise.

"...Your female parent?"

This was the first time he'd ever heard Ulysses mention any family.

This was someone who had never existed in his story.

His thoughts suddenly connected countless scattered memories.

The furnishings inside Room Number One.

The way Selerus had stared at the Marshal's figure during the Legion Ceremony recording, saying that one day his egg would become just as outstanding.

The day Number One had first escaped and regained consciousness...

The Marshal had personally come to the prison.

Then there had been that sentence.

"I'm incubating a Female Lord for you."

And just now...

"He's unhappy."

...

Ulysses is unhappy.

An Ruo quietly studied Ulysses' expression.

Military Female Zergs always looked like cold weapons in human form.

Yet now...

There truly was a trace of hidden anxiety between his brows.

Lowering his eyes, Ulysses quietly said,

"Yes. General Selerus... Number One... is my female parent."

As he spoke, his lips pressed into a straight line.

It was an almost defensive posture.

"Oh."

The Male Zerg merely acknowledged it before saying,

"Then it's good that you come visit him so often."

Ulysses looked at him in astonishment.

If word ever spread that the Marshal's female parent was an inmate in Military Region Prison...

His political opponents would seize upon it without mercy.

Yet this lord merely responded calmly.

He spoke to him the way a physician might speak to a patient's family.

Only after a brief pause did Ulysses remember...

This lord himself also belonged to Military Region Prison.

His female parent...

And his former Male Lord...

Were both imprisoned there.

"..."

Now even his own office had been moved there.

Everything neatly gathered in one place.

An Ruo continued speaking.

"You don't need to worry too much about his condition. He's actually recovered quite well. The fragments of memory he's already lost can't be restored... but there's always a chance to start over."

"...Thank you."

Ulysses genuinely didn't know what else to say.

There's always a chance to start over.

It really did sound beautiful.

"Oh, right. He just left. Shouldn't you go after him?"

An Ruo asked, glancing toward the wide-open balcony doors.

"He'll go back on his own."

Ulysses answered.

"Really? That's wonderful. Looks like he's recovered even better than I thought."

An Ruo sounded sincerely delighted.

"...You're not angry?"

Ulysses asked in confusion.

"I was startled a little..."

But that was his patient.

As a doctor, there was no way An Ruo would hold something like this against someone under his care.

"He didn't do anything to me. He didn't damage anything either. And he obediently went back by himself."

What an incredibly easy patient!

An Ruo's standards for patients were extremely low.

As long as they didn't randomly start fights...

Or injure themselves or someone else...

They were good patients.

Everything else was acceptable.

"Thank you for your forgiveness."

Ulysses spoke with complete sincerity.

"But as the person responsible, I was negligent. I have to be punished."

"You may punish me."

He voluntarily requested punishment.

An Ruo stared blankly.

"...Huh?"

Me?

Punish the Marshal?

Do I still want to live?

The Female Zerg before him lowered his eyes obediently.

Though he stood well over half a head taller than An Ruo...

He completely restrained his imposing presence.

As though willing to accept any punishment.

He resembled a traditional Female Lord in an old-fashioned Zerg household.

Holding out the whip...

Inviting his Male Lord to strike him.

And An Ruo...

Was the utterly incompetent husband.

He had absolutely no idea what to do.

Seeing him remain motionless, Ulysses quietly asked,

"Would you like me to open my chest?"

"...Huh?"

Lost in thought, An Ruo wondered if he'd heard incorrectly.

"Dig out my heart."

Ulysses spoke slowly.

"Or perhaps my wings? I can remove them intact. Crush my spine inch by inch. Drain every drop of my blood. Cut out my vocal cords."

"Or..."

"Should I gouge out my eyes first?"

Those silver-gray eyes, cold as polished metal, quietly watched him.

"N-No... what are you saying? Where did all of that come from..."

Suddenly...

An Ruo remembered something.

His words stopped.

His eyes flew wide open.

He stared at Ulysses in horror.

Every trace of color drained from his face.

Confusion.

Fear.

Ulysses' expression gradually became puzzled.

"...My Lord?"

Something was terribly wrong with the Male Zerg.

Taking a step forward, Ulysses instinctively raised his hand toward An Ruo's pale face.

After hesitating...

He changed direction and gently took hold of his hand instead.

It was freezing.

So cold...

It felt as though all warmth had already left his body.

Frowning, Ulysses lifted him into his arms, intending to carry him to the medical wing.

Instead...

He was stopped.

"N-No..."

The Male Zerg clutched tightly at his arm.

His voice trembled.

The body pressed against Ulysses was shaking ever so slightly.

Something cold...

Dripped onto the back of Ulysses' hand.

He froze.

Only after several moments did he realize...

The Male Zerg was crying.

He couldn't understand why.

His brows slowly knitted together.

He wanted to wipe away the tears.

But hesitated.

He wasn't even sure whether he should touch him.

He didn't have the habit of carrying a handkerchief.

The Male Zerg kept his head lowered.

His lips were bitten tightly shut.

He made almost no sound.

Yet his ragged breaths...

The faint trembling of clenched teeth...

And each tear that fell...

Were amplified countless times by Ulysses' SSS-rank senses.

He could hear nothing else.

His head buzzed.

As though something inside were about to explode.

He carried the Male Zerg back into the room.

Laid him gently upon the bed.

Handed him tissues.

Offered him candy...

Yet the crying only grew worse.

Ulysses had never encountered a situation like this before.

The Male Zerg seemed to be made entirely of water.

His tears were like a Female Zerg's blood.

Endlessly regenerating.

Soaking everything.

His stiff gaze slowly swept across the room...

Searching for something...

Anything...

That might make the Male Zerg happy.

His eyes landed on the wall covered with pictures of the novel's protagonists.

Ulysses opened his terminal.

Pulled up the Male Zerg's novel.

And began reading it aloud to him.

Reading his story.

Reading about his protagonists.

The instant his voice sounded...

The Male Zerg suddenly clapped both hands over his ears.

A broken sob escaped him.

He immediately burst into even harder tears.

This time...

He cried aloud.

Ulysses froze.

Apparently...

Even the protagonists weren't enough.

He stared stiffly at the crying Male Zerg.

Recalling the scenes he'd seen at orphanages...

When little sub-females cried...

Adults would hold them and comfort them.

He gently lifted the Male Zerg onto his lap.

Patting his back softly.

His rigid mind desperately searched for the right words.

He guided the Male Zerg's hand...

Placing it over his own chest.

Letting him feel the powerful heartbeat beneath.

"High-ranking Female Zergs won't die from losing their hearts."

"They can grow new ones."

Ulysses quietly said.

It still had no effect.

If anything...

It only made things worse.

The front of his uniform quickly became soaked.

Coldness and warmth mixed together.

Leaving his chest in turmoil.

"My Lord, you've misunderstood."

"That isn't true at all."

Ulysses hurriedly explained.

"I... read those things in other books."

"I thought you liked them."

"...Apparently you don't."

Even that explanation failed to calm the Male Zerg.

Perhaps he didn't believe him.

Or perhaps...

Once the floodgates of tears opened...

They simply couldn't be closed.

Silence settled over the room again.

The only sound...

Was the Male Zerg desperately trying to suppress his sobbing...

And failing.

Ulysses truly had no idea what else to do.

What would an ordinary Female Zerg do in a situation like this?

Give jewelry?

He immediately stuffed large gemstones into the Male Zerg's hands.

Fastened every piece of jewelry he could onto his wrists.

When there was no more room...

He piled them onto his lap.

Beside him.

The entire room glittered brilliantly.

Yet...

The Male Zerg didn't even spare them a glance.

Ulysses gently turned the Male Zerg's lowered face toward him.

Staring into it.

The sudden light made An Ruo instinctively lower his eyes.

His eyelashes were heavy with tears.

The brightness hurt.

He turned his head, trying to avoid it.

Then...

Something warm and impossibly soft landed upon his eye.

A shadow gently covered him.

Shielding him from the harsh light.

An Ruo's eyelashes trembled.

When he finally realized what it was...

His eyes widened in shock.

Ulysses was...

Kissing him.

Tenderly pressing away his tears.