Chapter 61: Male School Heartthrob x Military Academy Student (22): 'Congratulations, You’re Pregnant.'

【Hill put the pink wig on Isidore and took him out.

At the marriage registration office, one could see all kinds of Zergs, and every receptionist had seen countless cases.

But a family as strange as this one was a first even for them.

A beautiful and handsome young couple, accompanied by an adorable pink-haired hatchling.

Whether male or female Zerg, both looked exceptionally young, full of youthful energy, as though they had only recently come of age.

And with a hatchling added to the mix.

No matter how one looked at it, the combination was undeniably strange.

In Zerg marriages, wealth and status were especially important when choosing a Female Lord.

As a result, male Zergs often married Female Lords much older than themselves.

As for Male Attendants, they preferred younger and prettier ones.

These two were too close in age.

The hatchling's presence was also strange.

Was it perhaps a relative's child?

“Isi, we're taking our marriage photo. You can't be in the picture.”

The beautiful and noble male Zerg patiently explained to the hatchling.

Isidore puffed his cheeks. “But I want to be with Dad—”

“Hmm?” The male Zerg narrowed his eyes slightly, the tone of his voice rising.

Isidore froze, pouted, and corrected himself:

“I want to take the picture with Papa and big brother.”

Receptionist: “???”

What kind of relationship was this supposed to be?

The receptionist's gaze moved back and forth between the black-haired male Zerg and the female Zerg, trying hard to figure things out.

There was definitely no blood relationship, or they would never have passed genetic testing.

But the hatchling really did resemble them.

Aside from the overly eye-catching pink hair, the rest of his features looked as though he shared blood with both of them.

The receptionist's brain was about to overheat.

By promising a family trip to an amusement park and photos together, Hill finally coaxed Isidore into behaving.

At last, he and Iso were able to take their marriage photo.

There was nothing particularly romantic about Zerg identification photos.

In the picture, he and Iso stood side by side, facing forward.

A faint smile rested on Hill's lips.

Iso was visibly nervous, his golden eyes nearly unfocused.

Hill quietly brushed against the hand hanging by Iso's side.

In that instant, those golden eyes became lively again.

Hill was very satisfied with the result and chose it as their official photo.

“Are you sure you wish to register him as your Female Lord?” the receptionist asked one final time.

In his eyes, the male Zerg was simply too young and impulsive.

The position of Female Lord held far greater appeal to high-ranking female Zergs than the position of Male Attendant.

Once a male Zerg settled on a Female Lord, he would lose access to many outstanding female Zerg resources.

“Yes.”

Hill had no intention of explaining further.

There was no need to.

Iso was the Female Lord he had chosen.

There would never be another female Zerg.

“Your registration has been entered.”

The receptionist smiled.

“Congratulations on your marriage. May you lay eggs soon.”

A very Zerg-style blessing.

Hill looked down at Isidore, who was standing on tiptoe trying to peek up at them, smiled, and said,

“Thank you. We will.”

...】

[What should you say when Dad and Papa get married?]

[May you reach 999.]

[May you lay eggs soon, and may you give birth to me soon.]

The review section was flooded with endless messages of “May you reach 999.”

The average Zerg lifespan was five hundred years, and higher-ranked Zergs lived even longer.

If one could break through to S-rank and above, living for a thousand years wasn't impossible.

So wishing someone “999” was actually a very practical blessing.

An Ruo, who had logged in to read the comments: “...”

What kind of experience was it to open the review section and see your prison sentence plastered everywhere?

An overwhelming libido killer.

He instantly withered.

Better come back later.

...

【“Papa, Papa.”

At the amusement park, Isidore licked his hatchling ice cream while quietly negotiating with the female Zerg carrying him.

“When Dad comes back with the ice cream later, give me one of yours. I'll destroy it at top speed! Then you and Dad can share the same one~”

Iso glanced at him helplessly and said nothing, only looking toward the other side.

The male Zerg returned carrying the couple's ice creams.

“I heard everything, Isidore.”

Hill spoke in a low voice, looking at the hatchling disapprovingly.

“Even if hatchlings don't easily get stomachaches, you still need moderation.”

“A-Actually, it's not me who wants it! It's Papa!”

Isidore blinked rapidly and immediately threw the blame elsewhere.

“Papa wants to share the same one with Dad.”

“Oh? Really?”

Hill turned toward Iso, amusement in his eyes.

Iso smiled elegantly.

“I'll follow my Male Lord's wishes.”

Hill's eyes shifted slightly. He stepped forward and covered the hatchling's eyes with one hand while bringing the ice cream to Iso's lips.

Isidore blinked in confusion. His long curled eyelashes brushed against the male Zerg's palm, leaving him unable to see anything.

Dad and Papa are bad.

Lowering his head to eat his own ice cream, and unable to see because his eyes were covered, Isidore promptly smashed his face straight into it.

Half his face ended up covered in ice cream.

“Isi!?”

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

Above them, the filming drones turned diligently, faithfully recording every moment.

...】

[Hahaha, this scene is so familiar. It looks just like Isi's lockscreen photo.]

[Both Iso and Lord Hill really have that Papa and Dad feeling now.]

[They got that way after raising a child.]

[The happy life we once glimpsed through that photo suddenly feels so close.]

[It's slowly becoming reality.]

...

【While organizing the recordings, Hill discovered that special photograph.

High-ranking male Zergs possessed exceptional memories.

So exceptional that once they had seen something, every detail remained engraved in their minds, and even years later they could recall it perfectly.

He stared at the photo for a long time.

Eventually, he stored it in his private collection and never mentioned it to anyone, including Iso.

...

After a brief three-day marriage leave, Iso returned to the military academy carrying his male Zerg's mark.

There were still studies to complete.

Male Zerg courses were far more relaxed than those at the military academy.

As a result, Hill spent more time with the hatchling.

During the day, he played games with Isi, assembled mecha models, drew pictures, taught hatchling classes, performed psychic soothing, and coaxed him to sleep at noon.

From evening onward, Iso would take over caring for the hatchling.

Once the energetic child had fallen asleep, he would respectfully ask his Male Lord whether he required service.

Whether he did or not, Iso could spend the night in his Male Lord's room.

The master bedroom became their shared room.

Three months after marriage, Hill and Iso celebrated Isi's fourth birthday together.

Even though Isidore didn't look any older.

Hill entered Isi's birth date into his terminal and, based on the time required for pregnancy and incubation among Zergs, calculated another date and set a countdown.

Their pheromones never went to the wrong place again.

In the third year, Iso was due to undergo his graduation examination.

It consisted of a month-long closed assessment and was rumored to involve deployment to the front lines.

Worried, Hill performed several deep psychic soothing sessions for Iso and accidentally achieved a psychic mark.

Iso graduated with exceptional results and was awarded the rank of Major.

Only after the official report was released did Hill learn that they had encountered the regular Garuda forces during the examination and that the situation had been extremely dangerous.

Under Iso's leadership, a group of military academy students employed an incredibly bizarre fighting style and battled the Garuda regular army among deep-space asteroid belts for several days.

By the time reinforcements arrived, they had nearly ground down the ten-thousand-strong Garuda force to nothing.

They even captured one Garuda field officer, while the only surviving officer had practically been driven insane.

Nearly every student in that class was awarded the rank of Lieutenant or above.

Iso received a special promotion to Major and was recruited into a certain special unit.

The one who personally bestowed his rank was General Cyril of the First Legion.

As the General pinned the insignia on the newly promoted Major Iso, his expression was even more solemn than usual, radiating authority.

Official media captured the scene and used it as that year's recruitment advertisement.

As a result, every time General Cyril passed a recruitment billboard, his expression became extraordinarily grave.

Only two years later, when the advertisements were replaced, did his complexion improve.

This was their fifth year of marriage.

Iso had already spent two years in the military.

Hill had also graduated and frequently visited unusual star regions to paint.

Isi traveled everywhere with him.

Whenever Iso undertook long-range missions and encountered unique scenery, he would photograph it and share it with Hill.

And whenever he came home on leave, Iso would take control of the family's private spacecraft and bring them into deep space to admire even more magnificent landscapes.

“I'm sorry, but you are not pregnant.”

During his routine examination, Iso wasn't surprised by the result.

High-ranking Zergs had difficulty reproducing.

Even after sixty years of marriage, many couples still had no hatchlings.

So six years was nothing.

Iso's mentality remained excellent.

They already had Isidore.

There was no rush for another child.

But he didn't miss the fleeting anxiety that flashed across the male Zerg's brow upon hearing the result.

Iso realized that Hill wanted another hatchling.

Over the years, Hill had made it obvious.

Every advance he made was accepted.

Their meals followed nutritional standards meant for pregnancy preparation.

Their pheromones always reached where they were supposed to, and even when Hill bit him, he never released pheromones carelessly, despite enduring it with great difficulty himself.

“We'll keep trying. Eventually we'll have one.”

Iso hugged the male Zerg and comforted him.

“We're both still young. Isi is still little too. There's no rush.”

Isi truly was still small, looking almost exactly as he had when they first met.

Hatchling growth happened in stages.

Without undergoing metamorphosis, there was little difference between three and a half years old and eight and a half years old.

Although Iso occasionally sighed, “How is the hatchling still this tiny?”, he never considered it a serious issue.

Some hatchlings transformed early.

Some transformed late.

It was perfectly normal.

But Hill seemed increasingly anxious.

Gradually, that anxiety affected Iso as well.

He feared that Hill wanted to abandon Isi.

To a male Zerg, a hatchling that never transformed was indeed less desirable than producing a new one.

Hill knew Iso too well.

And with their psychic connection, all it took was holding him in silence for a while to realize that he had started imagining things again.

Hill let out a soft sigh and decided to tell him the truth.

“There are less than six months left until the day we ‘conceived’ Isi.”

Iso stared blankly at first.

Then, after calculating based on Isidore's time travel and age, he finally understood.

“You mean...”

“We need to conceive Isi within these six months. Otherwise...”

Hill fell silent.

After a while, he turned and buried his face in Iso's chest.

“To be honest, I'm not even sure myself. I just have this uneasy feeling.”

“It won't happen.”

Iso held him, comforting him out of habit, though his own heart skipped a beat.

“I'll go see Isi.”

Hill nodded.

Iso left and entered the hatchling room opposite theirs.

He stayed beside Isidore's bed the entire night.

After that night, Iso requested six months of leave from the military.

Maternity leave.

Preparation for pregnancy counted as part of it.

During those six months, they traveled across countless places in their private spacecraft.

By day, they took Isi everywhere to play.

By night, without saying anything, they worked on making an egg.

In the final days, Iso practically looked ready to die on top of him.

Hill bit Iso's neck and gave all of his pheromones to him.

“Dad, Papa, good night.”

As always, Isidore wished them good night.

“Mm, good night.”

Hill patted his head, making sure the hatchling didn't see his reddened eyes.

Just as Isidore was about to go back to his room, he suddenly ran back and hugged Hill tightly.

Then he hurried to the other side, gently hugged Iso, and pressed his face against his stomach.

“Good night, Dad. Good night, Papa. See you tomorrow.”

After saying it quickly, Isidore ran back to his room, made a funny face at them, and shut the door.

Hill and Iso exchanged glances.

It was already late at night, but neither of them felt sleepy.

“Still sleeping?” Iso asked.

Hill: “...”

Turning this kind of thing into a mission was really something.

It was already the final night.

Their hopes were nearly nonexistent.

But they still had to do what needed to be done.

Giving up early wasn't an option.

By this point, Iso had become surprisingly relaxed.

Lying on his back, he wrapped his arms around Hill's neck and said:

“Maybe tomorrow morning we'll wake up and discover nothing happened, and Isi will still be waiting at the breakfast table.”

Hill wanted to believe him.

But the female Zerg's body clearly wasn't as calm as his words.

It nearly strangled him.

“Congratulations. You have successfully become pregnant.”

...】