Chapter 149: The Plushie and Pheromones: "If You Like It, Let the Marshal Give You One."

This was far too strange.

An Ruo wasn't the kind of person who would casually squeeze a shared-sensation plush that belonged to someone °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° else.

...Even though he'd just done exactly that.

"I'm sorry about earlier."

An Ruo apologized.

"My hand just... acted on its own."

He had gotten so used to squeezing plushies that he'd done it instinctively, completely forgetting about the shared-sensation link.

"There was nothing wrong with it."

Ulysses replied.

An Ruo had begun to realize something.

It wasn't only that his own standards for Ulysses had dropped lower and lower.

The great villain was becoming unbelievably indulgent toward him as well.

For a fleeting moment, he felt as though he loved one of his own characters...

And that character loved him back.

Unable to suppress a smile, An Ruo wanted to say something to cover his embarrassment.

"So..."

"Let's go to sleep."

Ulysses' eyelashes trembled slightly.

He lowered his gaze to the soft quilt waiting on the bed and answered quietly,

"Alright."

In the end, Ulysses went to take a shower first.

When he returned, he lay neatly beside An Ruo on the bed.

Watching how seriously Ulysses treated even a game—going so far as to shower first—An Ruo suddenly felt far too sloppy.

His immersion wasn't good enough.

So he climbed back out of bed and went to shower as well.

Even the bathroom still carried the great villain's scent.

An Ruo constantly forgot about pheromones.

He simply assumed that fragrance belonged naturally to Ulysses.

He even found himself wondering why using the exact same body wash never produced the same smell.

Still...

He ended up smelling nice too.

Wearing his long-sleeved, long-pants cream-colored duck pajamas, An Ruo climbed back into the warm blankets.

He and Ulysses lay on opposite sides of the bed.

Between them lay the sleeping Ulysses plush, face-down as always.

An Ruo reached over to straighten the little quilt covering it, accidentally touching the plush's back...

And its little cotton butt.

Beside him, Ulysses' entire body instantly stiffened.

Even his expression tightened.

"Good night."

An Ruo gently patted the plush's head.

Then he turned toward the breathtakingly handsome profile lying only inches away.

"Good night."

Ulysses lay perfectly straight on his back in textbook sleeping posture.

He didn't answer for a long while.

After some time, he finally turned his head.

Confusion filled his silver eyes.

"...You're not continuing?"

An Ruo blinked.

"Continuing what?"

Ulysses pursed his lips slightly before glancing toward the plush.

"The plush."

An Ruo looked puzzled.

Did the great villain want him to use the plush to help him fall asleep?

Tentatively, he patted the plush's back a few times.

Sure enough...

Ulysses fell completely silent.

He peacefully closed his eyes, with only the gentle rise and fall of his chest beneath the fluffy quilt revealing that he was still awake.

So An Ruo continued patting the plush.

Like soothing a child to sleep.

In the process...

He soothed Ulysses to sleep as well.

Eventually his arm grew numb.

Yawning, An Ruo drowsily pulled the plush into his arms, loosely hugging it while absentmindedly stroking its back.

The tiny robe had long since become a mess.

Many times, his hand brushed directly across the plush's soft cotton legs...

Or over its plump little backside.

The texture felt wonderful.

Even nicer than the fabric.

Half-asleep, An Ruo unconsciously rubbed it a few more times as drowsiness overtook him.

The room became so quiet that only the sound of someone desperately suppressing uneven breathing remained.

A cool, elegant fragrance gradually filled the bedroom.

...

When An Ruo woke again...

He wasn't inside the game.

Nor inside the game pod.

He was back in his own bed.

Apparently, Ulysses had carried him out of the pod while he slept.

For a moment, An Ruo looked confused.

He'd actually slept through being carried.

That was sleeping far too deeply.

If one day Ulysses moved everything out of his apartment...

And carried him away too...

He probably wouldn't notice.

Terrifying.

Ulysses was already gone.

He had left.

Checking the time on his terminal, An Ruo saw it was six o'clock in the morning.

As he lowered his gaze again...

He noticed something inside the blanket, pressed right against him.

A plushie.

Confused, he picked it up.

It was the chibi Ulysses plush.

Even its little robe was in disarray.

He carefully straightened the robe, looking puzzled.

How had the plush from inside the game appeared in reality?

Had Ulysses custom-made one?

The image of the Marshal secretly placing an overnight order for a plush in the middle of the night made him want to laugh.

An Ruo gently squeezed the plush's cheek.

Completely satisfied, he hugged it close.

—

At Military Headquarters.

Inside the conference room.

Ulysses was in the middle of speaking when he suddenly paused.

Every officer present immediately looked at him, waiting without blinking for the Marshal's next instruction.

After only a brief pause...

Ulysses calmly continued speaking.

From beginning to end, not a trace of emotion crossed his face.

It was as though that brief interruption had never happened.

...

Cyril's vacation had ended, and he returned to resume responsibility for the Military Region Prison.

Early that morning, he waited outside the room of the prison's only Psychic Soother.

Right on schedule, the door opened.

The dazzlingly beautiful male Zerg stepped outside...

Along with the unmistakable scent of the Marshal's pheromones.

Cyril's expression changed immediately.

Being strangled by the pheromones of an SS-rank female Zerg first thing in the morning...

It was an indescribably miserable experience.

In fact...

He had begun doubting whether the Marshal really was only SS-rank.

Otherwise...

How could nothing more than a trace of lingering pheromones carry such overwhelming aggression and possessiveness?

It was like a beast roaring to warn every intruder away from its territory.

Meanwhile...

An Ruo simply thought he smelled wonderful.

Seeing Cyril frozen in place after stepping outside, he asked in confusion,

"General? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Thank you for your concern."

Cyril practically forced the words out through clenched teeth.

"This way, please."

He stepped aside.

An Ruo couldn't shake the feeling that he looked anything but fine.

Suddenly remembering a rumor he'd once heard, he quietly glanced toward Cyril's abdomen.

From his lower belly to the middle of his stomach, there was a gentle curve.

"...Are you pregnant?"

An Ruo stared in astonishment.

He had heard of pregnant female Zergs.

He had written pregnant female Zergs.

But this was the first time he'd ever seen one with his own eyes.

The sight was unexpectedly shocking.

Like watching a terrifying beast that rampaged across the stars reveal an impossibly gentle side while carrying new life.

"...Hill's little brother?!"

Remembering the relationship between the female General before him and the protagonist of his novel, An Ruo looked even more astonished.

Watching him react like a hatchling who had never seen a pregnant female Zerg before, Cyril couldn't help smiling.

Considering the age gap between them...

The male really was just a little hatchling.

Such a young hatchling...

Yet responsible for soothing the Psychic Domains of so many military female Zergs.

Cyril's feelings became complicated.

Even the wariness forced upon him by the Marshal's pheromones softened somewhat.

"You've never seen a pregnant female Zerg before?"

he asked.

An Ruo vigorously shook his head.

Then he realized that wasn't the answer he wanted to give and hurriedly nodded instead.

Cyril chuckled.

"If you like them..."

"Let the Marshal give you one."

An Ruo's eyes instantly widened in horror.

He frantically waved both hands.

"No, no, no!"

"We're already divorced!"

"Aren't you still his current one?"

Cyril asked.

Although phrased as a question...

His tone left no room for doubt.

An Ruo stared at him in shock.

He even forgot to ask...

Current what?

By then they had already reached the treatment hall.

Cyril pushed open the ceremonial doors.

"Please."

Rows upon rows of military female Zergs were already seated inside, filling the enormous room.

An Ruo could only swallow the questions that had reached his lips.

What exactly did Cyril know?

Had his identity been exposed?

As they walked, he kept secretly glancing at the female General beside him, countless thoughts racing through his head.

But once Psychic Soothing officially began...

He had no choice but to set every distracting thought aside and devote himself entirely to the work.

...

Male Zerg Protection Association.

After spending an entire day waiting without seeing An-shen update his novel...

Aira sat furiously at his desk, writing yet another article criticizing the Marshal.

Maybe it had nothing to do with the Marshal.

But who cared?

Aira's instincts insisted it was the Marshal who had interrupted An-shen's writing.

Female Zergs were all like this.

Always thinking about pheromones.

Always thinking about Psychic Soothing.

The moment they had free time...

They couldn't help wanting to devour a male Zerg.

He certainly didn't believe the Marshal possessed that kind of self-restraint.

Especially after watching this morning's news and seeing how energetic the Marshal looked.

That only strengthened his conviction that Ulysses had stolen An-shen's time...

And exhausted An-shen's energy.

Selfish female Zergs were always like that.

His precious Cassian would never behave that way.

Cassian worried that writing too much would strain his eyes.

Sometimes he even wrote the articles himself while Aira simply dictated them.

So whenever they were home...

Aira would lounge comfortably on the sofa, eating fruit and drinking tea that Cassian had prepared, while enthusiastically dictating page after page criticizing the Marshal.

The more he complained...

The more energized he became.

Meanwhile, Cassian quietly typed everything out, secretly softening a few of the harsher expressions before polishing the manuscript and publishing it.

Every time he did...

His heart filled with guilt toward his superior.

But there was nothing he could do.

Female Zergs completely lost their heads in front of male Zergs.

The only one who could be wronged was the Marshal.

Aira never believed criticizing the Marshal was wrong.

His instinctive vigilance and hostility toward Ulysses had existed long before An-shen appeared.

Back then...

Those feelings had mostly been fear and unease.

But after watching the Marshal take An-shen away right in the middle of the street...

Every one of those emotions transformed into hostility and aggression.

Especially after realizing Ulysses completely ignored every one of his attacks.

That only made him even angrier.

His fighting spirit shot through the roof.

While angrily reading Ulysses' morning news reports...

Aira continued typing today's latest article condemning the Marshal.

Suddenly...

A notification appeared on his terminal.

An-shen had updated.