Chapter 222: Tianjia Prince × Mixed-Blood Military Female (9): Caleb’s Unforgettable First Love Was Even a Married Male

【The relationship between the Prince and Caleb seemed to have improved, yet at the same time, it seemed to remain exactly where it had started.

Caleb treated him with great respect. He didn't restrict or discipline him with that overbearing "Female Lord" attitude. Metis could still enter and leave the Imperial Palace every day to handle government affairs, while Caleb took responsibility for driving him there and picking him up.

Married life wasn't nearly as unbearable as Metis had imagined. Even physical contact with Caleb remained within what he could accept.

Although sometimes it was a little too stimulating and took him quite a while to recover afterward, he didn't dislike the sensation.

But the drawbacks were equally obvious.

Caleb respected him too much.

Sometimes, Prince Metis felt that they were more like superior and subordinate. Caleb had married him merely to carry out an order, and he only became intimate with him because he was carrying out an order.

Even after Metis had revealed his wings to him, completing that step so many married males went through, Caleb still wouldn't enter his bedroom unless Metis explicitly asked him to.

Yet Metis couldn't bring himself to invite Caleb over every single time. He simply wasn't the type to take the initiative in matters like this.

The shadows his past experiences had left over such matters, along with his aversion to contact between males and females, also made it extremely difficult for him to ask.

Perhaps the wings weren't the most important thing.

Perhaps there was still something invisible standing between them.

It was probably because they had married for the sake of a mission and had no emotional foundation to begin with.

That was also perfectly normal in Tianjia society.

Many females and males met only once or twice before marriage, learned some basic information about each other, and then hurriedly got married just like that.

Their marriage could already be considered quite good by Tianjia standards, far better than the terrible situation Metis had initially expected, yet he still felt strangely empty.

It was as though the estate was enormous, and they lived in separate rooms, saw each other two or three times a day, exchanged only a few words, and somehow seemed both very close and very far apart.

Metis had seen how Ares interacted with the Male Zerg in the book. He had also seen many relationships between Zergs in the novel, so he knew that a life with genuine feelings wasn't supposed to be like this.

He had even personally seen what Ares looked like whenever he mentioned that Male Zerg.

That lunatic, who had always been cold and arrogant and cared about nothing but fighting, would get a different light in his eyes whenever he remembered that Male Zerg. It was like remembering an opponent capable of giving him the exhilarating battle he craved, yet also like some more secret and tender emotion.

After becoming pregnant with that Male Zerg's egg, even the icy aura around him had softened.

Caleb was also a silent iceberg, quietly remaining in the shadows and guarding Metis from behind.

He only became a little warmer when he held him.

During breaks from work, the males on Metis's secretarial team would sometimes talk about their families, and the Prince used his Psychic Force to listen through the wall.

Most of the males thought their Female Lords had been terrifying when they first got married.

They were always stern-faced, tall and powerfully built, with tremendous combat strength. They controlled their food, clothing, housing, travel, and physical freedom. They especially loved touching them and breathing in their scent, and every so often they would come over just to see what they were doing, never quite trusting them to stay alone.

Usually, the males were fed by their Female Lords, stroked, had their bellies nuzzled and sniffed, played with toys and games together...

After enough time passed, they gradually got used to it, lowered their guard, and became willing to get close to their Female Lords.

Nocas shared a different experience.

When he had first gotten married, one of his Female Lords had only spent their wedding night with him once and rarely sought him out afterward. Nocas had always assumed that Female Lord didn't like him.

But whenever that Female Lord came home, he would bring Nocas gifts—local specialties of every imaginable kind, glittering gemstones, interesting and delicious foods.

Whenever they did it, he was also the gentlest of them all. He would patiently listen to Nocas's thoughts and ideas, hold him and let him sit on his lap while they embraced, accompany him while he read novels, and teach him the Zerg writing system. Whenever his leave was long enough, he would even take Nocas out to have fun.

The Prince felt a certain resonance with Nocas's experience.

But Caleb had never given him any gifts...

If he really had to count something, perhaps all the food Caleb had brought him during those years in the golden birdcage qualified?

But Caleb never embraced him anywhere outside the bedroom, rarely talked to him, and certainly never took him anywhere for fun.

For a moment, the Prince felt rather dejected.

But he quickly returned to work. Metis cleared the distracting thoughts from his mind and focused on government affairs.

Dozens of light screens unfolded before him. Under the extraordinarily efficient operation of his Psychic Force, documents opened, were reviewed and approved, then closed again at a speed almost impossible for the naked eye to follow.

The Tianjia Autumn Festival was approaching. With the Tianjia Emperor absent, Prince Metis was even busier than usual. After informing Caleb, he simply decided to stay overnight at the Imperial Palace.

Caleb expressed no objection whatsoever. He completely supported Metis's decision—or rather, obeyed his instructions.

But that very night, Metis saw Caleb inside the palace wearing the uniform of the Royal Guard.

Metis stopped dead in his tracks, staring incredulously at the guard uniform Caleb was wearing.

Although Caleb concurrently served as commander of the Royal Guard, the only things that genuinely required his personal involvement were the coordination of national-level ceremonial events and military deployment during wartime.

At any other time, there was no need for him to personally handle anything.

Who would make a Lieutenant General supervise something as trivial as guards standing watch?

Caleb was waiting along the route the Prince took from his office back to his chambers. When he saw the Prince stop upon noticing him, he stepped forward and greeted him.

"Your Highness."

"Why are you here? And what's with that uniform?" Metis asked.

Caleb looked slightly uncomfortable, but still replied, "I came to inspect the Guard's security arrangements and routine duties to see whether there were any oversights."

"......"

Metis didn't even know whether he should praise him for being so conscientious and devoted to his duties.

Still, it was already late.

Surely it was time to get off work?

"Have you finished inspecting everything?" Metis asked.

Caleb hesitated, then nodded.

"Then go back and rest," Metis said.

Caleb interpreted this as the Prince sending him away.

Although he desperately wanted to stay—even if it meant doing nothing more than standing guard outside the Prince's chambers—since the Prince had already spoken, he obediently took his leave and walked away with obvious reluctance.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Metis was rendered speechless by him.

"My chambers are up ahead."

Caleb stopped and stared at the Prince in astonishment.

"You mean... I'm allowed to stay the night?"

Metis: "......"

Did this military female even remember that they were already married?

Wasn't it perfectly normal for a Female Lord and a male to sleep together after marriage?

Metis had chambers inside the Imperial Palace. Was Caleb seriously planning to leave the palace alone in the middle of the night and fly all the way back to the estate just to sleep?

What a hassle.

Metis simply walked over, took Caleb's hand, and led him toward his chambers.

Caleb stiffened at being held by the hand and followed his steps.

The Royal Guards stationed along the way saw them. They remained at their posts, eyes fixed straight ahead, but inwardly they were incredibly envious.

Lieutenant General Caleb had suddenly come to the palace today, changed into a Royal Guard uniform, and put on an extremely serious expression.

Obviously, he'd wanted to surprise the Prince.

And that surprise had clearly been successful.

See?

Now he was walking hand in hand with the Prince, sweetly heading toward his chambers together.

Although it was somewhat strange for another female official to stay overnight inside the palace while the Tianjia Emperor was away, the Tianjia Emperor had no consorts, and these two were legally married husbands.

No Tianjia was foolish enough to interfere in the affairs of Prince Metis and Lieutenant General Caleb.

Metis brought Caleb into his chambers and told him to sit wherever he liked and look around as he pleased, then asked whether he wanted something to eat.

Caleb originally intended to say there was no need to bother, but then remembered that the Prince had worked this late without eating anything, so he changed his answer.

"Anything is fine."

The Prince opened his terminal and selected several dishes Caleb frequently ate when they dined together at home, added a few things he himself liked, and had the Imperial chefs prepare them.

Caleb stood in the room and looked around stiffly.

This was his first time inside the Prince's private chambers.

The place was bright and luxurious, filled with decorations whose exact value he couldn't determine but which he knew had to be incredibly expensive. There were also many physical books, along with cups and vessels fashioned from the bones of ferocious beasts.

One glance was enough to recognize the Tianjia Emperor's style of gift-giving.

Caleb withdrew his gaze and quietly lowered his eyes.

Metis selected a few drinks from the small refrigerator and returned, handing Caleb a glass of romantically appropriate red wine before sitting beside him on the sofa.

Finding the silence too awkward, he casually turned on the evening news.

That was too serious.

So he switched to a family movie instead.

Come to think of it, despite having been married to Caleb for so long, they had never simply sat together and properly spent time with each other like this.

On the expanded light-screen, the movie showed a female revealing his extraordinary talent and earning the admiration of his superior. The superior's young male son also fell hopelessly in love with him at first sight, insisting that he would marry no one else. The story had already progressed to the point where they were secretly meeting beneath the moonlight.

Metis had absolutely no interest in this sort of female wish-fulfillment movie.

From the corner of his eye, however, he noticed Caleb sitting perfectly upright and apparently watching with great concentration.

Metis leaned slightly toward him and asked,

"Lieutenant General Caleb, during your military career, was there ever a male you liked?"

Caleb jolted and stared at the Prince in astonishment, blurting out in panic, "I... I only... like..."

He faltered, then quickly glanced back at the movie as though suddenly understanding why the Prince had asked.

He hurriedly explained,

"Those things are all fake. Females in the military barely have any opportunity to meet males. Even when there are males responsible for Psychic Soothing, they're not people we can casually meet."

Being invited to a superior's home and then having the superior's male son fall in love with you at first sight?

Something like that was completely impossible in reality.

But Metis had noticed the words Caleb had stumbled over in his initial panic.

Things blurted out in moments like that were usually the truth.

Caleb had liked a male before.

Perhaps he shouldn't have asked.

And perhaps he shouldn't ask anything more.

Metis took a sip of wine without noticing its flavor.

It only felt harsh going down.

"Your Highness..." Caleb looked at him worriedly.

The wine was strong.

Almost no female would give alcohol to a male. In Tianjia thinking, alcohol posed a certain danger to a male's body, so they wouldn't allow fragile males to come into contact with it.

Metis met Caleb's worried eyes and forced the corners of his mouth into a smile.

Yet he still asked.

"Tell me about him. The male you like."

It sounded almost like a male conducting an assessment of a female.

Caleb opened his mouth, thought rapidly, then nervously continued,

"He... is very beautiful. And strong."

Caleb gazed at the Prince, desperately searching his mind for every descriptive word he could use.

"He is the most dazzling sunlight, incomparably brilliant, destined to shine with boundless radiance. He is the most resilient plant, overflowing with vitality, able to grow tenaciously even in the harshest circumstances..."

"He also makes a female's heart ache for him. Just seeing him makes you want to protect him and give him everything. But I... am still not enough."

Not strong enough.

Not worthy enough.

Caleb spoke quietly.

Metis fell silent.

He could hear just how deeply Caleb loved that male.

He was an untouchable first love, the white moonlight in Caleb's heart, the person he had yearned for all his life.

Metis had never felt so heavy-hearted.

Their marriage.

How difficult it would be to dissolve that marriage.

The fact that Caleb loved someone else.

One thing after another pressed down upon his heart until he could barely breathe.

Caleb's words proved that their marriage had been a mistake.

But Metis couldn't understand something.

If Caleb had already loved a male that much, why hadn't he gotten married before?

Metis suddenly thought of something and asked,

"Is he already married?"

At those words, Caleb stared at the Prince and blankly nodded, suddenly looking somewhat uneasy.

Metis thought to himself:

Oh.

So he's even a married male.

Just as expected.

Apparently, that male's Female Lord held an extremely high position and was unwilling to share his male with other females, leaving no possibility for Caleb to join their family.

That must be why Caleb had remained unmarried all this time.

Things had already reached this point.

Whatever the truth was, he shouldn't interfere anymore.

Yet Metis still wanted to know more.

He wanted to understand everything clearly.

"Who is his Female Lord?" Metis asked.

......】