Chapter 76: Heavenly Garuda Male x Zerg Military Officer (4): "I’ll release my pheromones, you pin me down and take me, then marry me!"

[What exactly have you Zergs been teaching our males?! (Furious)]

[A male can't release pheromones toward any female other than his Female Lord. That's disgraceful behavior!]

[I told you Heavenly Garudas were the worst.]

[Just report them. Clean up the review section.]

The Zergs were completely numb by now. They couldn't even be bothered arguing anymore—they just wanted to settle things with them offline.

[This is our "Male Zerg," a citizen of our Federation. He can release his pheromones however he likes. You Heavenly Garudas don't deserve to smell them.]

...

【The male wasn't in a good state. He barely touched his dinner.

Enzo was worried.

Carrying a plate of the male's favorite dessert upstairs, he hesitated outside the door for a while, silently organizing what he wanted to say.

Just as he raised his hand to knock, the door opened from the inside.

Axel, who had finally worked up the courage to become a "casual male," met the eyes of Enzo, who had come to comfort him with a late-night snack.

Axel jumped in fright and hurriedly wiped at his face, checking whether any traces of tears remained.

Enzo had already seen them.

His eyes were red.

He had been crying.

The sensation of his heart being tightly gripped felt strangely unfamiliar.

Perhaps...

Perhaps he wasn't a qualified guardian.

He wasn't good at dealing with situations like this.

Whether it was a male's rebellious phase...

Or the male's sudden emotional outbursts.

In the end, he merely said softly,

"Would you like something to eat? I made your favorite Ocean Jelly Pudding."

Seeing the beautiful blue dessert on the tray and feeling the hunger in his stomach, Axel answered honestly,

"Yes."

Enzo carried it inside and placed it on the table. He wanted to ask what was bothering him, but couldn't figure out how to begin.

Axel happily ate the pudding, completely forgetting everything the netizens had taught him.

Only after he finished did he remember.

Looking at Enzo, who was waiting quietly nearby, he struggled for a moment before saying,

"Y-You... squat down!"

Though puzzled, Enzo obediently stepped one leg back and lowered himself beside him, looking up at him.

Facing him directly, Axel rested one hand on Enzo's shoulder, cleared his throat, and prepared to speak.

"I have something to tell you."

"Mhm."

Enzo waited quietly.

He found the male's tsundere expression incredibly adorable.

What was he supposed to say again?

Axel's clear eyes went blank for a second.

Register our marriage.

Release your pheromones. Pin me down and take me.

Summoning all his courage, Axel blurted it out in one breath.

"I'll release my pheromones, you pin me down and take me, then marry me!"

Enzo: "..."

His mind froze.

He understood every individual word.

So why did they stop making sense once they were put together?

Seeing that Enzo hadn't objected, Axel sighed in relief and immediately released his pheromones.

It was his first time doing so.

He had no idea how much was appropriate, so he simply released everything at once.

A sweet fragrance instantly flooded the entire room.

Enzo's expression changed dramatically.

He immediately held his breath, clenched his teeth, and every muscle in his body tensed.

Not even the most desperate battlefield situation had ever made him feel as though he were facing such a formidable enemy.

"Axel!"

The words escaped through gritted teeth.

Axel trembled.

Enzo looked terrifying.

As though he wanted to devour him.

He knew it was normal for a female serving a male to endure pain...

But now he was genuinely frightened.

Grinding his teeth, Enzo lifted the male from the chair. Even through their clothes, the brief contact burned so fiercely that his hands almost trembled.

He threw the male onto the bed and wrapped him layer upon layer in blankets, leaving only his head exposed.

It was useless.

Soft cotton couldn't block the spread of pheromones.

The male was still whimpering, begging him to be gentler when he took him.

Enzo was the one on the verge of losing his mind.

When the male had undergone his physiological awakening, Enzo had injected himself with three suppressants and sealed his pheromone gland before entering the room.

Now he was completely unprepared.

The only thing he could do was scoop the male up together with the blankets, carry him into the bathroom, shut the door, and lock it, separating them.

The moment he did, his legs gave way and he had to brace himself against the wall as pheromones poured uncontrollably from his body.

He drew several deep breaths, desperately trying to steady himself.

Instead, he inhaled even more of the male's pheromones, nearly driving himself insane.

Biting through the tip of his tongue, he used the taste of blood to force himself back to clarity before fumbling to activate the room's pheromone purification system...】

...

[I already knew Claire had legendary self-control. I never expected another one to show up here... (mixed emotions)]

Everyone sincerely admired Enzo's willpower.

It was just... the timing that made everyone's feelings extremely complicated.

[He did it for the male. Enzo is a wonderful Female Parent. It's just that what His Lordship wants is a "Female Lord."]

[Enzo lost the male, but gained proof of his pheromone resistance score.]

[Pheromone resistance is just another mandatory military training subject. My score's pretty good too. (Military female adjusts sunglasses)]

[Then you must be single too, right?]

[What do you mean?]

[Apparently, the better a military female's pheromone resistance score, the better they perform on the battlefield, the higher their rank... and the harder it is for them to find a partner.]

[One military female silently shattered...]

[Two military females silently shattered...]

[Three...]

[Relax. None of you have Enzo's score.]

[Or his rank. Or his abilities. Or his hatchling. Or his male.]

[Thanks for the comfort. Please don't comfort me again.]

Nobody knew anymore whether having excellent pheromone resistance was actually a blessing or a curse.

If Enzo's score had been just a little worse...

He'd probably already have found a partner by now.

In the end, the readers could only joke,

[Thankfully... he almost found one.]

...

【Wrapped tightly into what looked like a giant towel roll, Axel wandered around the bathroom in confusion.

He could smell Enzo's pheromones.

They smelled like sunshine and the sea.

Warm.

Comforting.

He wanted to cuddle with him.

Even though Enzo's earlier expression had frightened him terribly.

As long as it was Enzo...

Even if he was a little rough.

Even if he hurt him a little.

Axel would still be willing.

"Enzo~ Enzo~"

Still bundled in his blanket and towels, Axel leaned against the bathroom door and called sweetly.

After a long moment, Enzo's restrained voice came from outside.

"Turn on the water and wash yourself."

"I already washed..."

Axel muttered quietly.

A faint sigh came from outside.

"Wash off your pheromones..."

Axel suddenly understood.

"...You don't like them?"

he asked cautiously.

Sitting on the floor outside the bathroom, Enzo could still feel the pheromones flowing through his body.

He squeezed his eyes shut.

"I failed to make you feel secure."

Axel blinked.

"I'm not insecure..."

"..."

A long silence followed.

Both of them knew what the real answer was.

Lowering his eyes, Axel untied the blanket around himself and let it fall onto the floor.

Then he sat down with his back against the door.

One inside.

One outside.

Their blurred silhouettes overlapped faintly through the frosted glass.

Drawing his knees to his chest, Axel spoke softly.

"I want to be with you. I want you to marry me. I want you to become my Female Lord."

Perhaps the blurred door between them made it easier to confess his feelings.

"...You're registered as a Male Zerg in the Federation's citizen records. You'll only ever have a Female Consort."

After a long silence, Enzo quietly reminded him.

Axel obediently corrected himself.

"Then... would you marry me and become my Female Consort?"

Silence once again.

"...I'm your adoptive father."

"Stop saying that. We both know we don't have any legal relationship."

Axel continued,

"You couldn't get my adoption certificate back then, so you had no choice but to keep sending me back to the orphanage... So stop thinking about being my Female Parent now."

Axel hadn't actually grown up entirely by Enzo's side.

Quite the opposite.

Until he reached adulthood, he spent half of every year in the orphanage.

Enzo never had full guardianship over him.

He could only care for him during certain periods...

Whenever Axel needed him most.

That was why Axel often deliberately made himself slightly sick.

Nothing life-threatening.

Enzo only believed his health was poor and constantly worried over him.

He never realized...

How desperately Axel wanted to see him.

Back then...

Axel truly wished Enzo were his Female Parent.

But now...

He no longer wished for that.

Wiping away the tears on his face, Axel continued,

"You missed half of my hatchling years, yet now that I'm grown up, you want to receive a fully raised 'hatchling' for free? How could there possibly be such a good deal?"

"At most, I'll let you choose."

"You can be my Male Lord..."

"Or my Male Consort."

"Pick one yourself!"

Pouting stubbornly, Axel refused to look at him anymore.

Enzo remained speechless for a very long time before finally letting out a deep sigh.

"...I'm sorry... for all these years."

But an apology wasn't what Axel wanted.

He wanted marriage.

He wanted commitment.

He wanted something protected by law.

"If you won't marry me, then I'll move out. Tomorrow. I'm leaving tomorrow!"

Biting his lip, Axel forced himself to make a clean break.

"We're strangers. We shouldn't have been living together in the first place. It'll only interfere with your chances of finding a Male Lord!"

He had already released his pheromones.

He had already become a "casual male."

Yet he was still rejected.

There was no point clinging to him any longer.

That would only make him look pathetic.

"From now on... you can find your own Male Lord, and I... I..."

Axel didn't want to marry anyone else.

Nor did he want to take anyone else as a spouse.

In the end, he only whispered,

"I'll have my own life."

The bathroom door suddenly opened from outside.

Leaning against it, Axel nearly fell over.

Straight into the female's embrace.

The scent of sunshine and sea breeze enveloped him.

Axel froze.

"Don't say such childish things."

The female sighed above his head.

"They're not childish."

Turning his face away, Axel refused to look at him.

Yet he couldn't bring himself to leave his embrace.

"You're still young. You don't understand what love is... or what marriage means."

"I'm not young! I'm plenty grown up!"

Axel grabbed Enzo's hand.

To prove it.

Enzo froze.

Then he abruptly yanked his hand back.

The brief contact burned so fiercely that his mind went blank, every prepared word instantly disappearing.

Seeing no reaction whatsoever, Axel dejectedly buried himself in Enzo's arms again.

The female Zergs on StarNet had taught him countless methods.

But none of them worked.

Maybe...

Maybe there really was no future for them.

Axel had cried for far too long that day.

His brain was deprived of oxygen.

Surrounded by the warm scent in the female's embrace, he gradually drifted off to sleep.

When he woke again...

It was already the next day.

Sitting up in bed, he remembered everything that had happened the previous night.

The room had been restored to normal.

No trace of pheromones remained.

Enzo was gone as well.

Staring blankly around the familiar room, Axel thought...

It was finally time for him to leave.

He got up and began packing.

Everything went into his storage button.

Every single object held memories.

He was taking all of them.

Not leaving Enzo a single thing.

Keeping a deliberately cold expression, Axel even dragged a suitcase downstairs, looking every bit like someone running away from home.

Just then, he saw Enzo speaking with someone from the Genetic Matching Center.

He vaguely caught phrases like,

"...early mating season..."

"...Male Zerg..."

"...arrange it as soon as possible..."

Axel froze.

Enzo's mating season had arrived...

Was he about to marry another Male Zerg?

...】