Chapter 195: Typing with Both Hands to Prove My Innocence: Cherry Stem Knots... Every Female Zerg’s Service Training Is Difficult

At first, An Ruo didn't understand what Ulysses meant.

Only after the heat on his face gradually subsided—leaving all the warmth concentrated somewhere else—did realization strike him.

His face instantly turned scarlet.

The warmth that had only just faded surged back like boiling water in a cauldron.

He hurriedly pushed Ulysses away, quickly sat upright, pulled his knees to his chest, and hugged them tightly, as if searching for somewhere to hide.

Meanwhile, Ulysses remained standing beside the game pod.

Covering his face, An Ruo squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth.

"Y-you... go outside first."

Ulysses understood there would be no chance to serve him today.

It was a little disappointing.

Such opportunities were incredibly rare.

But his God's command had already been given.

It seemed his God didn't wish to see him for the moment.

He didn't dare press the issue.

He was afraid of causing a backlash.

So he could only retreat for now.

Before leaving, however, he picked up the plush doll from beside the bed and placed it next to his God.

An Ruo blinked.

"...?"

What was this?

Was he trying to comfort him with a cotton doll?

He poked it gently before lifting it into his arms.

For a while, he didn't even know what to do with it.

Just now...

He seemed to have felt Ulysses' reaction as well.

Everywhere around him lingered Ulysses' pheromones.

The faint fragrance drifted through the room, intimate and lingering, unbelievably pleasant.

It was the first time An Ruo had found Ulysses' pheromones so embarrassingly blush-inducing.

Quietly, he waited for the heat to fade.

He pressed his face against the doll, hoping it might cool him down.

It didn't help.

Then he remembered who the doll represented...

And suddenly it helped even less.

Setting the doll aside, he walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water over his face.

Raising his eyes through the mist covering the mirror...

He saw a beautiful face with reddened eyes staring back at him.

Droplets of water trembled on his eyelashes each time he blinked.

It was difficult to believe that person was himself.

His lips were redder than usual as well.

They almost looked swollen.

An Ruo pressed them together, trying to hide it.

It didn't work.

If anything...

It only made him look even more pitifully beautiful.

"...Wait."

Why am I describing myself like that?

He covered his face and forcefully chased all those strange words out of his head.

A message from Ulysses arrived almost immediately.

He was apologizing for having overstepped.

Actually...

It wasn't overstepping.

An Ruo himself had agreed to it.

It was just...

The ending had been rather awkward.

He raised a hand to reply.

Then hesitated, withdrawing his fingers.

A moment later, he seemed to think of something.

He immediately began typing with both hands—as if trying to prove his innocence.

[An]: It wasn't overstepping, and I'm not angry with you. Don't overthink it.

Especially don't imagine he was doing anything strange.

[Ulysses]: Then... may I do it again next time? I'll practice diligently (picture), and wait for Your inspection.

Along with the message, Ulysses sent a photograph of a plate full of cherries.

This was an alien fruit.

Most Male Zergs disliked food that was both sweet and sour like this, so it had taken him considerable effort to find some.

He had simply transported them back through spatial transfer.

Seeing the picture...

An Ruo was filled with question marks.

There really are cherries...

Then again...

If strawberries already existed, cherries weren't particularly surprising.

This world had been generated from his novels.

After all, he was a human from Earth.

No matter how fantastical his settings became, traces of familiar things inevitably slipped into them.

Tables.

Chairs.

Utensils.

Beds.

Then familiar objects expanded through imagination—

Aircraft.

Spaceships.

Floating islands.

Or fruits and animals he had written directly into the story.

No matter how deliberately he tried to avoid it...

He could never avoid it completely.

Once the novel had become a complete, living world...

The world's own laws had naturally filled in every missing detail.

Realizing Ulysses genuinely intended to practice with cherry stems...

An Ruo quietly died inside.

...Can I take back something I've already said?

Bracing himself, he replied.

[An]: You don't have to take it seriously. About the... cherries... just treat that as a joke. Do whatever you want with them. Eating them will at least give you some vitamins.

[An]: As for the future... let's talk about it when the time comes.

There was no way he could promise another kiss already.

He hadn't even recovered from the first one yet.

Fresh from his shower, Ulysses sat before his desk in a bathrobe, reading the Male Zerg's replies.

He had absolutely no intention of treating it as a joke.

If it was a task personally assigned by his God...

Then he would complete it.

And complete it perfectly.

Tying knots with cherry stems...

His gaze fell upon the plate of freshly washed cherries on the table.

Then onto the slender green stems only a few centimeters long.

It looked...

Rather difficult.

But every service lesson expected of a female Zerg was difficult.

Compared to studying those cold, standardized service courses...

He much preferred completing a task personally assigned by his God.

He could even report his progress.

Perhaps...

His God would inspect the results.

Thinking of it that way...

Not only did he feel no resistance whatsoever...

He was genuinely looking forward to it.

Besides that...

There was something else.

[Ulysses]: I brought Your Male Zerg protagonist back. Do You blame me for that?

Earlier, he'd been so busy delivering gifts to his God...

And competing for the wedding bouquet in exchange for a kiss...

That he'd postponed reporting the matter.

Having finally calmed down, An Ruo returned to his room.

Along the way, he casually picked up the Ulysses plush from inside the game pod and tucked it beneath one arm.

Just then...

He noticed Ulysses' message.

Holding the doll against himself, he absentmindedly rubbed its little head while replying.

[An]: You only did what you were supposed to do.

Of course An Ruo didn't blame him.

From Ulysses' perspective...

He hadn't done anything wrong.

Not a single thing.

Even if he had...

Wasn't it only natural for the great villain to oppose the protagonist?

His original protagonist had been forced into hiding by Ulysses.

He'd even crawled through sewers.

What couldn't Ulysses do?

If there truly was anything that violated the story's logic, principles, or character motivations...

That responsibility belonged to the author.

An Ruo very consciously accepted the blame himself.

Though...

He'd like to make one thing clear.

He would only carry Ulysses' share of the blame.

Every other character could carry their own.

Otherwise...

He'd be crushed beneath all those burdens.

Feeling the soft strokes atop his head...

The doll's cheek pressed against the Male Zerg's chest, right over his heart...

Then reading the reply on his screen...

Ulysses finally understood.

His God truly wasn't blaming him.

Warmth spread across his face.

Even the pheromones that had only recently settled after his bath began stirring again.

If his God wasn't angry...

Then...

Did that mean He wasn't even upset about the kick he'd delivered to the Heavenly Garuda Emperor?

At the time, he hadn't been certain of the Emperor's condition.

He didn't know whether the Emperor was pregnant.

So he'd deliberately shown restraint.

His foot had landed slightly higher than intended.

He had also held back his strength.

Remembering the Emperor's behavior that day...

Ulysses frowned thoughtfully.

Then carefully asked another question.

[Ulysses]: Regarding what happened in the novel... may I be fortunate enough to receive Your guidance?

Is the Heavenly Garuda Emperor pregnant?

An Ruo: "..."

Really?

Someone is openly asking the author for spoilers?

Spoilers were unacceptable.

Spoilers were sinful.

An unforgivable evil.

But...

The person asking was Ulysses.

After struggling for a while...

An Ruo finally typed a deliberately ambiguous reply.

One that hinted at the current situation...

Without truly revealing anything.

Reading his God's answer...

Ulysses looked genuinely surprised.

...

Heavenly Garuda Empire.

Imperial Palace.

After returning to the Imperial Capital, Emperor Ares was immediately forced by the Prince to undergo a complete medical examination.

Compelled to lie back in a medical chair...

Ares' expression was anything but pleasant.

Standing beside him, the Prince carefully examined the results.

"...How could this..."

Looking at the report on the holographic screen...

Then at the unusually high female pheromone levels...

The Prince looked thoroughly astonished.

After a long silence...

He asked with a complicated expression,

"Should I arrange a meeting for you with some males?"

"Your body needs male pheromones."

"No."

Ares rejected the suggestion immediately.

His expression remained dark.

"You know."

"I only want him."

The Prince sighed helplessly.

"He's already returned to the Federation."

"In a matter like this... everything depends on his wishes."

"If he's willing to see you, then perhaps there's still hope."

"But if he isn't..."

There was no need to finish the sentence.

If "Carl" refused to meet him...

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor would never see him again for the rest of his life.

Ares understood that perfectly.

Even so...

He remained unwilling to give up.

Slowly clenching his fist, he said,

"He performed Psychic Soothing on me."

"My Psychic Domain still bears the mark he left behind."

A psychic imprint?!

The Prince stared in shock.

He had also read the dream sequence involving Carl in the novel.

He'd had his own suspicions.

But he had never dared confirm them.

For a Male Zerg...

To willingly perform Psychic Soothing for a Heavenly Garuda female in unfamiliar surroundings...

To willingly repair and reshape his Psychic Domain...

Even leaving behind his own imprint...

That Male Zerg undoubtedly had feelings for him.

But...

Those feelings had no choice except to retreat before the conflict between two races...

And two nations.

"If there's truly a psychic imprint..."

"...then perhaps it isn't entirely hopeless..."

the Prince murmured quietly.

Ares immediately looked toward him.

The Prince smiled helplessly.

"The answer is still the same."

"In the end..."

"Everything depends on what that Male Zerg wants."

"There isn't much we can do."

"...Though there is something else we can do first."

The Prince smiled.

"Let's remove An-shen's novels from the banned books list."

"If we can negotiate publishing rights with the Federation, even better."

"We have quite a lot of loyal An-shen readers here."

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor's expression stiffened.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

What exactly did those two things have to do with each other?

...Could it simply be that his elder brother wanted to read the newest chapters as quickly as possible and was using this as an excuse?

The Prince looked at his younger brother—who had never enjoyed reading—with affectionate pity.

Then...

He enthusiastically began recommending An-shen's newest novel to him.