Chapter 158: Virtual Love Interest × Legion Commander (15): You Stole the Bouquet... Does That Mean You Want to Marry Me?

[What do you mean they're all familiar faces? Just how many Zergs have been secretly playing this game behind our backs?]

[The better question is: just how many Zergs did An-shen write into the story? How many got a chance to appear?]

[The Third Military Region? A married Female Zerg? Did General Cyril show up too?]

[Hard to say. There are plenty of married officers in the Third Military Region. General Cyril alone has an entire family.]

[The Third Legion really has the highest happiness index. The officers never have trouble finding partners. Even ordinary non-commissioned officers have a chance.]

[I joined the Third Legion because I heard they handed out Male Lords if you performed well.]

Philor grew curious after reading the comments and sent his Female Lord a private message.

[Philor]: Does your Third Legion really hand out Male Lords?

Cyril, who was processing work remotely from the prison, glanced at the message and casually replied:

No. We're not Heavenly Garuda.

Only Heavenly Garuda distributed males through the state.

Female Zergs simply needed to focus on earning military merit. Once they earned enough, Male Zergs would naturally follow.

For Female Zergs in the Federation, marriage still depended on being chosen by a Male Zerg.

Without that, no amount of military achievements mattered.

Reading the reply, Philor felt that this made much more sense.

Just as he thought.

How could the Federation possibly hand out Male Zergs?

A little disappointed that the gossip had turned out to be false, he quickly moved on.

That wasn't important.

Instead, he resumed sending completely meaningless messages to harass his Female Lord while he worked.

Female Zergs were all remarkably skilled at handling work while simultaneously dealing with their Male Lords.

After marriage, even Cyril had been forced to master multitasking thanks to having such an incredibly clingy Male Lord.

Sometimes he still found Male Zergs rather troublesome.

Ninety applications a month without fail.

Philor could find absolutely anything to chat about, no matter how meaningless.

But little by little...

...he had grown used to it.

A dull place like prison became much livelier with a chattering Male Zerg constantly providing background noise.

The days seemed to pass faster.

Tedious work became much easier.

The only downside was reduced efficiency.

No Female Zerg could have both perfect efficiency...

...and a Male Zerg at the same time.

Fortunately, Zergs enjoyed extremely long lifespans and required little sleep.

If efficiency dropped a little, then so be it.

The work would eventually get finished.

After successfully disturbing his Female Lord's work, Philor continued reading.

The comment section was still wildly guessing the identities of the other closed beta players.

Besides Cyril and himself...

People even mentioned Hill.

Iso.

Even the Marshal.

Philor laughed.

As if.

Why would the Marshal ever play a virtual dating game?

The theories were becoming increasingly ridiculous.

Still...

If such a game really existed...

He would definitely drag Cyril into playing it together.

Cyril would be returning from Military Region Prison next month.

Philor felt terribly sorry for his Female Lord.

He had spent two entire months in prison.

And he was even a pregnant Female Zerg.

The Marshal really worked his subordinates too hard!

Then again...

His own workaholic Female Lord wasn't exactly innocent.

Work always came before everything else.

Military affairs were forever his top priority.

He had absurd confidence in his own body.

Even while carrying an egg, he never relaxed for a moment.

Well...

He was an S-rank Female Zerg.

He did have reason to be confident.

But no matter how strong he was...

He couldn't overwork himself forever.

Even S-rank Zergs became tired.

Once he came home this time...

He absolutely had to take proper prenatal leave and maternity leave and recover.

Thinking absentmindedly about that, Philor continued reading.

...

【Two high-ranking Female Zergs fought fiercely over the bouquet.

Their battle raged through the sky, refusing to end.

To prevent the aftershocks from affecting everyone below, both spread their wings and deliberately kept the battlefield high above the guests.

As the clash intensified...

...they flew higher and higher.

Several other Female Zergs had originally intended to join the competition.

After witnessing the situation, they all quietly gave up.

Everyone below craned their necks, watching the exceptionally rare aerial battle.

"My neck is going to snap..."

"They're getting higher and higher..."

"They're not about to fly off the planet, are they?"

One Male Zerg couldn't help asking.

It wasn't impossible.

Exceptionally powerful high-ranking Female Zergs could break free of a planet's gravity through their own strength.

Interplanetary flight was entirely within their abilities.

Roy watched anxiously.

His heart was in his throat.

He was terrified Morris might get hurt.

There was no reason to fight this hard over a bouquet.

The bouquet only represented blessings.

Whether two Zergs actually married still depended on themselves.

Perhaps Morris had misunderstood its significance.

It wasn't some one-click "game item."

In the end, one of the companions beside the pink-haired Male Zerg reminded him of something.

The pink-haired Male Zerg hurriedly sent a message to his Female Lord.

The black-haired Female Zerg competing with Morris immediately abandoned the contest and withdrew.

A short while later...

Morris returned carrying the bouquet.

Walking straight toward Roy.

Roy immediately rushed over to inspect him.

Finding only slightly disheveled clothes and no obvious injuries, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

Even then...

He wasn't completely reassured.

What about beneath the clothes?

Were there hidden injuries he couldn't see?

Morris paid no attention whatsoever to his own condition.

Instead, he proudly held the bouquet out in front of Roy.

"I got it!"

Roy: "..."

He was still worrying about that stupid bouquet?!

Most of the petals had already been knocked off.

The ones remaining were wilted.

It wasn't beautiful at all.

Yet Morris's eyes sparkled brightly.

Filled with hope.

Filled only with Roy.

Even if Morris didn't understand the custom...

...his feelings couldn't have been more obvious.

Roy thought furiously.

Did he seriously think stealing a wedding bouquet would let him use it like some kind of game item to win him over?!

He refused to be conquered that easily!

Roy viciously grabbed Morris by the head...

...and bit down on his lips.

Though it was only a kiss...

...it felt like an entirely new battlefield.

The Morris who had just fought an even match against an S-rank Female Zerg...

...was now completely overwhelmed.

His defenses collapsed across the entire front.

His territory fell one after another.

He had absolutely no strength left to fight back.

"Woooow..."

Someone whispered in amazement.

The wedding guests immediately burst into applause for the blessed couple.

"Tch."

One General who had failed to obtain the bouquet looked thoroughly unimpressed.

"Those kissing skills..."

"They've got a long way to go."

The Male Zerg beside him nodded in agreement.

His own Female Lord kissed much better.

...】

The readers were stunned.

A certain pink-haired Male Zerg reading the latest update covered his mouth in surprise.

[Wait... was it really that obvious? That's practically naming General Cyril outright. A married Zerg actually went to fight over the bouquet.]

[The bouquet was pretty. Of course a Male Zerg would like it. He obviously wanted to bring it back for his Male Lord.]

[Lord Philor officially confirms it! General Cyril isn't only invincible on the battlefield—he's also an excellent kisser! (Taking notes)]

[Meanwhile, Commander Morris clearly needs more practice. He got kissed into total surrender without putting up the slightest resistance.]

[Commander Morris really got lucky. Lord Roy kept insisting he wouldn't be won over by a bouquet, yet he still kissed him.]

[(Taking notes) (Taking notes) If you ever play this game, you absolutely have to fight for the bouquet. Winning it earns you a kiss from a Male Lord.]

[You're writing down completely useless things! This game doesn't even exist!]

[But what if it does someday? You should always have hope.]

...

【After the wedding ended, Roy asked Morris whether he wanted to chat with the other players.

"They seemed to know each other."

"No need."

Morris had absolutely no interest in exchanging pleasantries with a shameless married Female Zerg who had tried stealing his bouquet.

Thinking about it now...

He couldn't help feeling grateful that the one inside hadn't made a move.

Otherwise...

There was no way he would have brought the bouquet back.

And he certainly wouldn't have received Roy's kiss.

It was the first time Roy had kissed him since his physiological awakening.

Perhaps...

It meant Roy's attitude toward him had finally begun to change.

Perhaps the Affinity had started increasing again.

At the very least...

...it had to be around forty now, didn't it?

Morris guessed silently.

Ever since making that promise to Roy...

...he had never opened the Affinity display again.

Even so...

He still found himself instinctively wondering from time to time...

How important was he in Roy's heart?

The answer had always been rather discouraging.

Only now...

...did Morris finally glimpse hope.

Roy said goodbye to his classmates.

When several Male Zerg classmates reminded him to invite them to the wedding, he responded only vaguely.

Morris remained beside him the entire time.

Hearing Roy avoid answering when the wedding would take place left him slightly disappointed.

The two boarded the aircraft together.

Roy sat quietly on the sofa.

His mind was completely blank.

He had no idea what he [N O V E L I G H T] should do.

After setting the destination, Morris sat beside him and placed the bouquet on the table.

The moment Roy saw it...

He completely gave up resisting.

Lying flat as if accepting his fate.

Noticing Roy seemed exhausted, Morris gently massaged his neck and head.

"Are you tired?"

"Close your eyes and lie on my lap for a while."

"I'll wake you when we get home."

Roy allowed himself to be lowered onto Morris's lap.

The Female Zerg continued quietly massaging him.

Without making any further move.

He had deliberately fought for the bouquet.

Deliberately placed it before Roy.

His feelings had been made perfectly clear.

Yet now...

He neither said nor did anything.

Making it seem as though Roy had simply imagined everything.

Roy bit his lip slightly.

After staring at Morris for a while...

He suddenly turned his head...

...and bit at Morris's buttons and zipper.

Morris was so startled he nearly leapt straight into the air.

"My Lord?! Roy!"

Morris gripped Roy's shoulders...

Yet couldn't bring himself to exert even the slightest force.

The movement looked as though he wanted to push Roy away...

...or perhaps stop him from leaving.

Pheromones gradually filled the aircraft.

Roy had never done anything like this aboard an aircraft before.

His experience had already been extremely limited.

Aside from that hazy week during physiological awakening...

...he knew almost nothing.

But right now...

He couldn't think about any of that.

He desperately needed to do something.

He pushed Morris down onto the sofa.

He wanted to mark him.

For a Male Zerg...

The best way to bind a Female Zerg...

...was through marking.

But...

His rank was simply too low.

In theory, a C-rank Male Zerg could soothe...

...and mark...

...an A-rank Female Zerg.

Strictly speaking...

Even Super A still belonged to A-rank.

It hadn't yet reached S-rank.

But the difference between them remained overwhelming.

Roy watched the Zerg markings gradually emerge on Morris's neck.

Yet...

He couldn't fully dye them with his own pheromones.

Roy buried his head against him and stubbornly kept trying.

The completely unresponsive markings seemed to mock his own overestimation of himself.

Like a blind man trapped inside an endless maze...

He repeatedly crashed into dead ends.

Morris had already become thoroughly dazed.

Unable to distinguish anything anymore.

Yet he still keenly sensed that the Male Zerg lying against him wasn't emotionally stable.

With great effort...

He raised his arms and gently embraced Roy.

Trying to soothe him.

Roy released his own bitten lip...

...and bit into Morris's chest instead.

Morris didn't utter a single sound.

He simply allowed Roy to bite him.

Holding him gently.

His muscles tensed instinctively, almost as though trying to please him.

Eventually...

Roy was forced to let go.

Only a faint white mark appeared upon the skin.

It vanished almost immediately.

As though it had never existed.

The teeth of a C-rank Male Zerg...

Couldn't even break Morris's skin.

Afterward...

Roy wrapped himself in a blanket and curled into the corner of the sofa.

Hugging his knees.

Shutting himself away.

After getting dressed, Morris walked over to hold him.

Roy still refused to acknowledge him.

"...Was I not good enough?"

Morris asked quietly.

From the perspective of a Female Zerg...

Morris had done everything perfectly.

The problem...

Was Roy's rank.

He simply couldn't mark him.

Even if his rank had been sufficient...

Success still wasn't guaranteed.

Roy slowly looked up at Morris.

To Morris...

This world was only a game.

Only his consciousness had entered it.

His true body wasn't actually here.

Yet everything about him felt unbelievably real.

His breathing.

His heartbeat.

His warmth.

His pheromones...

Everything.

Just like Roy himself.

They were so alike.

Nothing suggested they belonged to entirely different dimensions.

It almost felt...

...as though Roy really could leave his mark upon Morris.

Really could keep him beside him forever.

Yet...

The marking still failed.

Perhaps...

This was simply how their story was destined to end.

Even so...

Roy wasn't willing to accept it.

He wanted to wager everything...

For even the smallest possibility.

"You fought for the bouquet..."

Roy asked softly.

"...Was it because you wanted to marry me?"

Morris fell silent.

He believed in never marrying.

He had seen far too many brilliant Female Zergs destroy themselves because of Male Zergs.

Those lessons...

Were already more than enough.

Yet...

He had still fallen.

And...

He had fallen for a virtual Male Zerg.

He couldn't even summon the will to resist.

He only wanted Roy to be happy.

Nothing else mattered.

"...Yes."

Morris answered quietly.

His voice was soft.

Yet filled with the determination of someone staking everything on a single throw.

Roy made the same decision.

"Use the level-up gift pack."

Roy said.

Meeting Morris's astonished gaze...

He deliberately looked away.

"You..."

"...check the Affinity."

"You should..."

"...be able to claim the reward now."

...】