Chapter 136: I’m Sorry... I Came Too Late: "May Ulysses Be Happy Every Day."

Gentle touches traveled from his right eye to his left. An Ruo could even hear the faint sound of tears being kissed away. A cool, dusky fragrance surrounded him.

His tear-fogged mind struggled to function.

When the female Zerg's lips descended again, he hurriedly pressed both hands against his chest, his eyes widening in alarm.

Sensing his resistance, Ulysses stopped.

Their eyes met, and Ulysses saw panic and rejection reflected in his gaze.

At least there were no more tears.

He pulled back, set the male Zerg down, and let him sit on the edge of the bed. Supporting his back with one hand, he gently rubbed it to help him catch his breath.

"I'm sorry... This was the only thing that worked."

He had tried everything.

Only this could stop the male Zerg's tears.

There was a reason female Zergs liked comforting male Zergs with physical affection.

Even if, in this case, it seemed more like he'd scared the tears away.

An Ruo's muddled brain was still wrapped in a haze. Hearing that, he instinctively shook his head.

"You shouldn't be apologizing to me. I'm the one who should..."

"You've already apologized countless times," Ulysses interrupted softly. "You've been apologizing ever since we first met."

The god's guilt had always been obvious.

But only now, weighed down by tears, had it become tangible.

Ulysses couldn't understand it.

He was the one who had written him into existence...

Yet he feared these things so deeply that even hearing about them reduced him to this state.

There was an overwhelming sense of unfamiliarity and abruptness to his reaction.

As though he had only just received devastating news.

"Forgive my impertinence," Ulysses said, watching him with silver eyes. "Your reaction is very strange... It's as though you've only just learned all of this."

"...Mm."

An Ruo answered in a low voice thick with tears. He nodded, but the movement made his head ache heavily, as though his brain had been starved of oxygen.

He was gently laid back onto the soft quilt.

An Ruo blinked in confusion as he felt Ulysses' fingers touch his head.

He was massaging his scalp.

His body stiffened. He opened his mouth, intending to refuse.

At the very least...

Ulysses shouldn't be the one taking care of him.

"Relax. Regulate your breathing. It'll make you feel better."

Ulysses had gained an entirely new understanding of how fragile male Zergs were.

Even gods were no exception.

A female Zerg who wouldn't suffocate even in the vacuum of space simply couldn't comprehend such frailty.

An Ruo closed his mouth.

His heavy head rested in Ulysses' palm, and warmth began gathering behind his eyes again.

"You know," Ulysses said quietly, "I only have one method that's truly effective at comforting you."

In other words—

If he cried again...

Ulysses would kiss him again.

The tears were forced back.

An Ruo didn't dare make another sound.

Only after a while did Ulysses ask,

"Can you tell me... what exactly you wrote? About what happened back then."

"...Nothing."

An Ruo answered gloomily.

He hadn't written anything.

He knew nothing.

Years later, while mentioning the final villain's background, he had written only a single sentence:

"He personally sent his own Male Lord to prison."

He could have guessed...

He just never imagined it had been that tragic.

After calming his breathing, An Ruo recited that sentence as steadily as he could.

Ulysses' hand paused.

The answer had caught him off guard.

Then again...

Of course a villain's past wouldn't receive a detailed explanation.

In the pages of his creator's story, he had only occupied a handful of lines.

But...

He rather liked that single sentence.

It sounded almost like a military achievement.

How nice.

Ulysses continued gently massaging the male Zerg's head.

His gaze lingered at the corner of An Ruo's eye.

He wanted to kiss him.

Unfortunately...

There were no tears left there.

Sensing the shift in Ulysses' mood, An Ruo turned his head in confusion.

Supporting the male Zerg's head, Ulysses carefully moved him until it rested across his own lap.

"Changing sides," he explained.

Then he continued the massage.

An Ruo wasn't sure whether he ought to sit back up.

But his head felt incredibly comfortable.

After struggling with himself for several seconds...

He surrendered beneath Ulysses' fingers.

"You're more emotionally sensitive than any other male Zerg."

Ulysses sighed softly.

Perhaps creators were always exceptionally delicate when it came to emotions.

"If it were anyone else, they would never cry over a single sentence they once wrote.

"They certainly wouldn't carry guilt over it for so long."

It wasn't merely heightened sensitivity.

Nor simple compassion.

He had taken the suffering of a fictional character and made it his own responsibility.

He had willingly shouldered it.

Ulysses thought of the royalties the male Zerg had transferred to him.

The male Zerg had said...

That was everything he possessed.

And he had given every last bit of it away.

In that regard...

He had already received far more than Iso ever had.

Quite suddenly...

Ulysses stopped caring so much about Iso.

StarNet was overflowing with condemnation directed at Iso.

But perhaps...

He himself ought to be the true public enemy.

A faint smile curved Ulysses' lips.

For the first time in a very long while...

He found himself genuinely in a good mood.

An Ruo couldn't understand what he meant.

Nor could he understand why Ulysses looked...

Almost happy.

"It should make me feel guilty."

An Ruo argued quietly.

"Anyone.

"Any Zerg...

"Should feel guilty over something like this."

Ulysses looked at him, carefully committing every flicker of emotion in those eyes to memory.

Satisfied, he let out a gentle sigh.

"Does this mean..."

"...that I also possess a great deal of your compassion?"

Truthfully...

He already knew the answer.

An Ruo looked at the character who had been born from his own writing.

The sentence describing his punishment still echoed in his ears like a nightmare.

His female parent had remained imprisoned inside the Military Region Prison until only a few months ago, when he finally regained consciousness.

He had walked this road alone until today.

A path covered in thorns.

Nothing had come easily.

Marshal of the Federation.

God of War of the Zergs.

He stood as steadfast as a divine statue atop the pinnacle of power.

He never allowed a trace of vulnerability to show.

And there had never been anyone...

To brush the dust and frost from his shoulders.

An Ruo slowly sat up.

Then he knelt on the bed, reached forward, and pulled Ulysses' head gently into his embrace.

Holding him tightly, he whispered,

"I'm sorry...

"I came too late."

Perhaps...

That was what he had wanted to say all along.

He had come too late.

If only...

He could have arrived earlier.

Before everything had happened.

He had managed to arrive before the original protagonist's story began...

But he hadn't made it in time for his villain.

He had arrived far too late.

There was so little left he could change.

Even just now...

He had made Ulysses comfort him instead.

...

Ulysses froze with his eyes wide open.

It was the first time a male Zerg had ever held him like this.

The last embrace he could remember...

Had probably been his female parent's, back when he was still inside his egg.

But he was no longer a hatchling in need of hugs.

And a male Zerg...

Wasn't the same as a female parent.

He was so fragile that it felt as though Ulysses might crush him if he leaned his full weight against him.

Slowly relaxing his shoulders, Ulysses supported himself with his core muscles, careful not to press all of his weight [N O V E L I G H T] onto the male Zerg.

He lifted his arms and gently hugged him back.

Breathing in the cool yet comforting scent surrounding him...

He felt strangely dazed.

Confused.

Sleepy.

It resembled the pleasant exhaustion after receiving Psychic Soothing.

He had never desired much.

And from this god...

He had already received an answer that satisfied him.

He should have been content.

Yet...

Greed remained.

He didn't even know what he truly wanted.

He only wished...

That this embrace could last a little longer.

Long enough...

For him to sleep.

...

And he actually did.

Ulysses propped himself up and sat upright.

Looking at the male Zerg's blanket covering him...

The male Zerg's bed beneath him...

He found it unbelievable.

Never before had he lowered his guard so completely in another person's presence.

Much less fallen asleep while someone else was beside him.

Checking the time—

Fifteen minutes had passed.

An SSS-rank female Zerg had completely lost consciousness for fifteen full minutes.

What was this?

The power of a god?

Some kind of hypnosis unique to male Zergs?

Surely...

He hadn't actually fallen asleep in the male Zerg's arms—

And then been moved onto the bed without noticing?

Ulysses' expression darkened.

"You're awake."

The male Zerg's gentle voice came from beside him.

Startled, Ulysses looked up.

The male Zerg had somehow already walked over to the bedside.

Concern filled his eyes.

He really had lost his senses.

His vigilance had fallen below even that of a female hatchling.

"Are you alright?"

An Ruo waved a hand in front of his eyes.

"You've probably been too tired lately. You need some rest. Your mental state doesn't seem very stable either. Would you like me to perform another Psychic Soothing session for you?"

Ulysses instinctively replied,

"My mental score has remained above ninety-five the entire time."

After the male Zerg had soothed him once...

His mental condition had always stayed excellent.

For female Zergs, any score above eighty was already considered outstanding.

At that level, rest alone was enough for natural recovery.

"But you're still five points short."

Doctor An Ruo, who only performed perfect one-hundred-point treatments, believed there was still room for improvement.

The two stared at each other.

Only then did Ulysses realize...

His definition of "good condition" and the male Zerg's definition of "good condition" might be entirely different.

"I didn't reserve an appointment for your Psychic Soothing."

"And..."

"I have nothing suitable to offer you in exchange."

He hesitated.

The copyright authorization had been the only thing he could think of that the male Zerg might actually want.

If there had to be another payment...

He would probably have to go find a photograph of that male star pirate.

"It doesn't matter," An Ruo said.

"I'm free."

"I'm free for you."

"You don't need an appointment either."

"I can do it whenever you need."

Ulysses fell silent for a long moment.

Then he quietly said,

"Only a Male Lord treats a female Zerg free of charge."

And even then...

Only after paying an enormous buyout price.

An Ruo almost said,

"A father would do it for free too."

In a sense...

A creator was also the "parent" of his characters.

But An Ruo disliked framing it that way.

Saying something like that to a fully grown Ulysses felt as though he were taking advantage of him.

Besides...

Considering Ulysses' female parent had been imprisoned after suffering Psychic Riot...

One could imagine what kind of male parent he had.

Either he had already met a terrible fate...

Or...

It would have been better if he had.

"Alright."

Resting his chin on one hand, An Ruo thought for a moment.

"Actually...

There's one thing I need your help with.

And you're the only person who can help me."

"Please tell me."

Ulysses listened attentively.

Whatever the other party desired—

Even without Psychic Soothing involved—

He would accomplish it.

The words reached An Ruo's lips.

Seeing how serious and earnest Ulysses looked...

He changed them.

"May Ulysses be happy every day."

"..."

Ulysses was silent for a second.

Then he sighed helplessly.

"Please don't tease me, Your Grace."

"I'm not teasing you.

"This really is the most important thing.

"Let's go with that!"

An Ruo looked at him expectantly.

"I'm sorry, Your Grace.

"I can't promise something that even I have no control over."

Of course An Ruo knew happiness wasn't something that could be guaranteed with a single sentence.

Still...

He hadn't expected he couldn't even make Ulysses smile.

That left him feeling a little dejected as well.

"Then..."

"Would you play a game with me?"

An Ruo asked after thinking it over.

"I think my account got flagged by the system.

"I just keep losing over and over.

"It's like the game has decided I'll never win!

"It keeps matching me against players who are way too strong.

"They're on a completely different level from me.

"I can't beat them at all!"

It had started as nothing more than an excuse.

But the more he spoke...

The more heartfelt the complaint became.

Finally, An Ruo looked at Ulysses with hopeful eyes.

"If it's Marshal Ulysses...

"I'm sure you can do it.

"Help me beat them back!"

Ulysses: "..."

"...Alright."

He had assumed the male Zerg's game would involve at least a whip.

Instead...

It was astonishingly simple and innocent.

Remembering how the things he had mentioned earlier had frightened the male Zerg into tears...

Ulysses silently reminded himself—

He could no longer judge the male Zerg before him by the standards of other male Zergs.

Some topics could never be mentioned again.

Including whips.

Then...

What about the one involving Xi'an and Claire in the bathroom?

Or...

Was that something that could only exist between Xi'an and Claire?