Chapter 77: Heavenly Garuda Male x Zerg Military Officer (5): The Little Heavenly Garuda Loved by Everyone

[Enzo really is on the same level as Claire, a legendary master of self-restraint. A fully grown male was practically in his hands, and he still managed to pull his hand back.]

[And that was while his pheromones were already flowing. Who understands that kind of suffering? He was dying from longing and still endured it.]

[Holding a sweet-smelling male in his arms... he must have been going insane trying to hold himself back.]

[These two put every single stat point into "self-restraint." Their flirting skills aren't even close to Iso's.]

[I have to admit, "One Star Coin" is operating on a whole different level when it comes to this.]

[The male is running away from home! He's moving out! Enzo, hurry up and coax him! Open your damn mouth and coax him!]

[Doesn't the male just want to marry you? Then marry him first. There's no legal adoption relationship anyway, so nothing prevents the marriage. Afterward, you can be both his Female Consort and his Female Parent at the same time. Then help him marry whatever Female Attendants you approve of and help him raise the eggs he has with them. Wouldn't that be perfect?]

[??? That actually makes way too much sense.]

[What's wrong with it? Isn't Enzo already trying to arrange blind dates and find a Female Consort for the male? If he doesn't like any of the candidates, then he should just do it himself—become that Female Consort, then choose the Female Attendants afterward.]

[The logic is flawless... but something about it feels deeply wrong...]

The readers were still arguing over whether they should get married when they turned the page and saw the male heading downstairs, overhearing Enzo's conversation with someone from the Genetic Matching Center.

Instantly, the sky fell.

[We told you to comfort the male! Not go marry another Male Zerg! I just died on the spot...]

[Wait... what do you mean "early mating season"? Whose mating season?]

[Probably Enzo's. After being hit by such an overwhelming concentration of male pheromones yesterday without any relief, it's easy for a female's mating season to be triggered early.]

[Or maybe it's the male's. He's so desperate for Enzo to become his Female Lord and marry him—that's a classic symptom of a Male Zerg entering mating season.]

[It's over. Both of them entered mating season at the same time. Their cycles synced. Just sleep together already.]

[But judging from Enzo's reaction... it looks like they're each planning to marry someone else.]

[So this turns into: I get married on the same day as my "adoptive father"—he marries his male, and I marry my female?]

[I'm broken.]

[Broken.]

[Brok...]

To be honest, the whole reason readers had picked up this novel was because of the words "Heavenly Garuda Male" and "Zerg Military Officer" in the synopsis.

Enzo's move completely stunned them.

[I trust An-shen wouldn't let something like this happen. An-shen, save us! (Sobbing)]

[When you get down to it, it's still the Heavenly Garudas' fault. They engraved all kinds of nonsense into their DNA and turned this poor little male into this.]

The Heavenly Garudas: ?

[How is that our fault?]

Inherited memories weren't something they could control.

Those memories generally contained language, skills, and common knowledge.

It wasn't as though they could simply carve whatever they wanted into them.

Did they think inherited memories were decorative engravings?

[If not you, then who? "It's normal for serving a female to hurt." Heavenly Garudas, come out here and take your beating!]

The Heavenly Garudas: "..."

Well...

About that...

[That's because our muscles are denser and much tighter. We grip incredibly well. Unlike you Zergs, whose muscles feel like you've all been injected with muscle relaxants. Even your Male Lords complain you're too loose. (Rolls eyes)]

They had thrown Xi'an's line from The Instructor back at them—the conversation between Xi'an and Claire.

The female Zergs' blood pressure shot through the roof again.

One after another, they grabbed their virtual keyboards and charged back into battle.

...

【Enzo spotted the male coming downstairs.

He ended his conversation, saw the representative from the Genetic Matching Center off, and walked toward the male.

His gaze swept over the adorable suitcase Axel was dragging behind him.

His pupils contracted for a brief instant.

His expression, however, remained unchanged, as though he'd noticed nothing.

Smiling gently, he asked,

"Going on a trip?"

He was running away from home...

But...

Axel hesitated.

His thoughts were a complete mess.

He wasn't sure whether he should take the offered way out.

If he left...

What if Enzo immediately got married?

His departure would conveniently free up space for that other Male Zerg.

That male could move straight into his room...

The mere thought nearly brought Axel to tears.

Suppressing the impulse, his eyes turning red, he asked directly,

"Are you getting married?"

Enzo paused.

"No..."

"Then what about your mating season?"

Axel couldn't help worrying.

Only then did Enzo realize what the male had overheard.

Only part of the conversation.

His own mating season had come early.

But that wasn't important.

He was nearly three hundred years old.

He had already gone through countless mating seasons alone.

This one would simply be another ordinary one.

It wasn't worth mentioning.

What mattered...

Was Axel's mating season.

After spending an entire night standing under freezing water to calm himself down, Enzo had finally figured everything out.

All of the male's recent unusual behavior...

It was because he had entered mating season after his physiological awakening.

"It's your mating season," Enzo said.

Axel blinked.

"...Mine?"

"I overlooked it."

Enzo sighed.

"You've just undergone physiological awakening. This is naturally the time when you'll most strongly want a mate. But there's only one female around you—me. You don't have anyone else to direct those instincts toward. That's why you've been following me around."

"You mistook those feelings for love."

"You believed you wanted to marry me."

"You mistook your instinctive curiosity toward females for affection toward me."

Something about that sounded wrong.

Axel instinctively wanted to argue.

Yet he couldn't find the words.

"It's not like that."

"I just like you, Enzo."

In the end...

The only thing he managed to say sounded like childish pouting.

Enzo smiled helplessly and gently stroked his head, his fingers brushing through the soft pale golden hair.

"You've never met a better female."

"There won't be anyone better."

"But Enzo is the very best."

Stepping forward, Axel wrapped his arms around Enzo's waist and buried his face against his chest.

It had always been his favorite way of acting spoiled.

The only difference now...

Was that he'd grown taller.

Instead of looking like a hatchling hugging his Female Parent...

It looked like a grown male embracing a female.

Enzo could clearly feel the warmth radiating from the male pressed against him.

In the end...

Things were no longer the same.

Lost in thought for a moment, he raised a hand to the male's shoulder, intending to gently pull him away.

But Axel hugged him tightly.

He refused to let go.

"I'm afraid you'll regret it someday."

Enzo's gaze grew complicated.

"You still don't understand your own feelings."

"This is all driven by your mating season."

"If I took advantage of your confusion right now... agreed to your request... and married you while you weren't thinking clearly..."

"...Then after your mating season passes, you'll discover..."

"...I'm just this."

"Nothing more than a serious, boring old female."

"A female so dull you'd never even want to come home."

Lovingly stroking the male's hair, Enzo let out a heavy sigh.

"If you pour all your passion into an old female like me..."

"...Throw away your marriage on me..."

"...Once you've come to your senses..."

"...You'll regret it."

Resting against his chest, Axel looked up at Enzo's sharply defined jawline.

His handsome, stern profile.

The gentle look that appeared whenever he lowered his eyes.

Even the hair at his temples looked attractive.

He's so handsome.

Where's the 'old' part?

"Enzo isn't old at all."

His cheeks turning slightly pink, Axel smiled.

"Even if you were old..."

"I'd still like you."

But to Enzo...

Those were merely the innocent words of a hatchling.

Childish.

Male Zergs' fascination with females never lasted very long.

Especially when they had such a large age difference...

And shared the relationship of guardian and hatchling.

Unable to persuade his male using the subject of upbringing any longer, Enzo decided to temporarily set it aside.

"So..."

"Still going on your trip?"

He called running away from home...

A "trip."

Axel looked up at him.

He knew that even if he insisted on leaving now...

Enzo would simply climb into his aircraft—or even his private spaceship—and accompany him.

Actually...

That didn't sound so bad.

They could travel together.

Go on dates.

Avoid the arranged blind dates.

After thinking it over, Axel still shook his head.

"Maybe later."

"I haven't decided where I want to go yet."

The truth was...

He didn't really want to leave home anymore.

He wanted to build a nest.

Stay here with Enzo...

In their home.

Do every intimate thing together.

Seeing that the male still wasn't in high spirits, Enzo quietly reached out behind him, folded the suitcase handle back down, lifted the luggage into his own hand, and suggested,

"Let's carry everything upstairs first."

"Then I'll watch a movie with you."

After thinking for a moment, Axel nodded.

The two of them headed upstairs together.

The instant Enzo stepped into the room...

He fell silent.

Everything had been packed away.

Even the bed was gone.

The room looked as empty as one that had only had its cosmetic skin purchased.

After one second of silence, he quickly adjusted his mentality.

As though completely emptying a room before going on vacation were perfectly normal.

"Why don't you stay next door for now?"

"You've lived in this room for a long time."

"It's getting a little stale."

"It could use some redecorating."

In reality...

The room had only recently been renovated for Axel's physiological awakening.

But Axel still nodded.

Turning around...

He headed straight toward Enzo's bedroom across the hall.

Enzo inhaled sharply.

Before the male could step inside, he scooped him up and carried him into the family theater next door instead.

"...Waaah... you don't love me anymore!"

Lifted as effortlessly as a body pillow, Axel kicked his legs in protest.

Watching him behave like this, Enzo knew immediately that everything he'd said earlier had gone in one ear and out the other.

His head began to ache.

Taking a deep breath, he deposited the wriggling male onto the viewing bed, projected the movie screen onto the opposite wall, and handed him the control panel.

"Pick a movie."

Axel puffed up his cheeks in annoyance.

He wasn't even trying to coax him anymore.

Back when he was still a hatchling...

Enzo had treated him so well.

He hugged him.

Kissed him.

Even lifted him high into the air.

Now...

He wouldn't even hold him a little longer.

Enzo went to prepare snacks and drinks.

Resting his chin on one hand, Axel tapped through the movie catalog.

Everything was newly released.

None of it looked familiar.

He rarely watched movies.

Mostly because he'd never had many opportunities.

The last movie he'd seen...

Was a children's animated film with Enzo.

Back then, Enzo adored him.

Curled up in Enzo's arms, watching little hatchlings go on adventures...

He had felt so happy.

By the time Enzo returned carrying fruit and snacks...

Axel still hadn't chosen anything.

"Oh!"

"Let's watch this one."

He pointed at a movie featuring a Heavenly Garuda male and a Zerg military officer.

It seemed to be a newly remade version.

A massive co-production between the two nations to commemorate the anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Zerg Federation and the Heavenly Garudas.

The original film had come out twenty years earlier.

Axel hadn't even hatched yet back then.

Without more than a glance, Enzo's face darkened slightly.

He swiped past the page.

"Not this one."

"Pick something else."

Axel looked at him in confusion.

"You've seen it?"

"No."

Keeping a straight face, Enzo answered,

"Movies jointly produced by two governments always carry too much political messaging."

"They're never good."

"...Oh."

Axel responded quietly.

He knew...

The real reason Enzo disliked it was because one of the protagonists was a Heavenly Garuda male.

Enzo didn't like Heavenly Garuda males.

His orientation was toward Male Zergs.

Looking down at himself...

Axel felt a little sad.

He had spent so many years pretending to be a "Male Zerg."

Yet he still couldn't become the kind of person Enzo liked.

Enzo wanted a Male Lord who could control him.

Make him lower his head.

Make him submit.

Not a little male like Axel...

Someone Enzo always had to look after.

Enzo selected another movie.

"What about this one?"

Axel glanced at the title.

Seven-Year Itch Between Husbands.

His face immediately fell.

"No."

"They're practically getting divorced just from the title."

"I don't want to watch it."

"What about this one?"

Enzo chose another.

The Heavenly Emperor's Beloved Consort.

Axel paused before shaking his head again.

"No."

"I want to watch a Zerg movie."

"A Zerg romance."

It was terrible.

His orientation wasn't toward Heavenly Garuda females.

It was toward female Zergs.

Female Zergs like Enzo.

Enzo could only keep searching.

Fortunately, Zerg romance films had flourished over the past few years.

There were plenty to choose from.

"How about this one?"

The Little Male from the Orphanage and the Governor's Eldest Son.

It seemed to be adapted from the life story of a former Male Association president.

Reluctantly, Axel nodded.

He felt he had something in common with the little male in the movie.

Both had grown up in orphanages.

Both had met the female they loved very early in life.

Only...

Their destinies couldn't have been more different.

The little male stayed together with the one he loved.

The female Axel loved...

Stood what felt like eight hundred meters away from him.

Looking resentfully at Enzo, who was standing beside the viewing bed, Axel said,

"Come closer."

"Hold me."

"I'm cold."

After hesitating, Enzo suggested,

"Should I raise the room temperature?"

"Or bring another blanket?"

Axel glared at him.

His eyes immediately filled with grievance.

"You really don't love me anymore."

"I'm just a poor little Heavenly Garuda that nobody loves."

The more he said it...

The more convinced he became.

Enzo's tastes had always been Male Zergs.

He really was...

A little Heavenly Garuda that nobody loved.

His tears were about to fall again.

Then...

He was suddenly pulled into a warm embrace.

Enzo wrapped an arm around him, pulled a blanket over both of them, and sighed softly above his head.

"Is this better?"

Feeling the familiar embrace...

Resting against the comforting warmth of Enzo's chest...

A smile finally appeared on Axel's face.

Turning toward the movie screen, he nodded happily.

...

For a rare moment...

The review section fell completely silent.

[I understand everything else... but what exactly do you mean by... the anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Zergs and the Heavenly Garudas?]

[A co-produced movie? Between the Zergs and the Heavenly Garudas? Huh???]

Whether they were Zergs or Heavenly Garudas...

Every single reader's attention was completely hijacked by that one sentence.

Jaws hit the floor across the board.

[What... did I just read? My terminal must be dirty. (Old veteran staring at his screen)]

[The Federation Military already warned me that if I keep looking at things like this on my terminal, they'll bombard me with a battleship.]

[I told you An-shen was writing science fiction.]

[This is too science fiction!]