Could He Request That the Commander Never Remarry?

Inside the master bedroom of the Fallen Star Palace.

The atmosphere was as tense as it was before a battle.

Pei Ji's hand remained on Shen Que's arm as he held him.

It trembled slightly.

He could feel the Omega leaning against him, too weak to stand on his own.

Pei Ji whispered, "So what if she's the Empress... does that mean she can make someone else's Omega kneel forever? What if he hurts his knees..."

Shen Que, the only one who could hear this complaint, froze briefly and instinctively looked up at the Alpha.

Pei Ji's features were sharp and handsome. With that frequent upward tilt of his lips, he always exuded a young man's wild, untamable spirit.

Just like his pheromones.

Every particle was brazen yellow sand.

They could tear him apart just as easily as they tore others apart.

Carolina narrowed her eyes.

"What are you muttering?"

Her tone was perfectly calm.

If Pei Ji hadn't personally heard her order the destruction of an entire planet in that same calm tone, he might have believed the Empress was merely asking in passing.

Before him stood the Empress of the Icarus Empire, the woman who had taken a devastated empire from the hands of its incompetent former ruler and personally transformed it into the flourishing realm it was today... the empire's glory and pride.

Their eternal Empress.

Thud.

Pei Ji dropped to one knee.

"I was saying it's very late, Your Majesty Carolina. Even you shouldn't keep someone else's Omega occupied this late."

Silence instantly fell.

I'm done for.

Pei Ji's mind went blank.

He had actually said it out loud.

The Empress isn't already deciding how to kill me, is she?!

Strip me naked and hang me outside the palace to dry, or chop me into pieces and feed me to Desert Worms?

Pei Ji swallowed.

...If I really die, can I request... that Shen Que never remarry?

He sneaked a glance at the Commander.

Only to find Shen Que looking at him with a frown.

I'm done for.

He isn't already thinking about who to marry next, is he?!

Damn it.

Where's that Brain Computer matching list?

I'm going to murder everyone ranked after me!

Carolina gave Pei Ji a strange look. After a long moment, she actually laughed in exasperation.

"Battlefield Demon, Zerg Bane, First-Class General of the Fourth Fleet-Pei Ji..."

She coldly recited Pei Ji's nicknames on the Star Network.

"No wonder those old lords on the Council say you're utterly unhinged... what? Is your Omega so precious that I can't even talk to him?"

With one foot already in the grave, Pei Ji threw caution to the wind and lifted his head. "You can't. You gave him to me, so he's mine."

Carolina's mouth twitched. Through gritted teeth, she said, "You little-"

-Damn it, I don't know how to curse!

Born into nobility, with perfect marks in etiquette and now the image of a Messiah to uphold, the Empress found herself at a loss for words. All she could do was glare at Pei Ji.

And at her precious little cabbage.

What's with that look of fascination and worry?

Where's that noble, aloof First Commander who stood above all worldly concerns?!

Did he get fed to a pig?!

"Forget it..." She suddenly sighed. "I was overly concerned today and made an ill-timed call."

"And ran into a rabid pig."

"I'm in a bad mood. I'm hanging up!"

Without waiting for Shen Que or Pei Ji to speak, she cut off the call.

Shen Que picked up the Terminal from the floor and sighed inwardly.

Overly concerned, my foot... she probably heard some duke gossiping about me and Pei Ji at a tea party, then went looking through the smear stories trending on the Star Network herself.

She knows it's all made up, but she still can't help reading it...

She really never lets me stop worrying.

After putting the Terminal away, Shen Que turned to find Pei Ji still kneeling on the floor.

His usually unruly hair drooped limply, making him look like a dog drenched in the rain.

Considering that the last fool to confront Carolina so brazenly was still being air-dried into jerky in the Capital Star's dungeon.

It was only natural for Pei Ji to come away with a little PTSD after courting death like that.

Shen Que walked back over to Pei Ji and gave the Alpha's shoulder a shake.

"General?"

As though suddenly snapping out of it, Pei Ji grabbed Shen Que's arm and pulled him into his embrace.

"That scared me to death..."

Unlike his earlier forceful hold, the Alpha's embrace was loose. His arms barely rested around Shen Que's waist, his head nestled in the crook of Shen Que's neck.

It was as if that confrontation had drained every last bit of his strength.

After a moment's hesitation, Shen Que reached out to pat Pei Ji's back, only to feel slick, cold sweat beneath his hand.

All that bravado.

The corners of his lips curved faintly.

Yet this man had actually dared to stand up for him before the Empress.

Even if Shen Que didn't know whether it had been out of responsibility or the Alpha's recklessly presumptuous possessiveness, and even if he had spoken too quietly for the Empress to hear.

Shen Que was just about to offer him a few words of comfort.

Then Pei Ji whispered beside his ear, "Commander, why were you talking to the Empress in the middle of the night? You scared me to death..."

"Do you know I almost thought I was the other man just now... but the Empress is so much older than us... surely a lady her age doesn't have any weird kinks..."

Shen Que pulled free of Pei Ji's embrace and, copying his earlier gesture, hooked a finger beneath the Alpha's chin, lifting the head that had nearly been separated from its body.

"Why don't you just donate that mouth of yours to the empire?"

Pei Ji frowned. "How could I? This mouth is vital to your happiness for the rest of your life."

As he spoke, he leaned toward the back of Shen Que's neck and gently licked his scent gland.

A trace of floral fragrance escaped uncontrollably from the gland.

Shen Que let out a soft "Mm."

The Omega's involuntarily released pheromones mingled with the agitated Alpha pheromones in the air.

The taut string inside Pei Ji finally relaxed.

He gave the scent gland beside his lips another lingering lick.

So sweet.

If he hadn't had his face buried against Shen Que's neck, he would have seen the Commander's eyes beginning to glaze over.

The Alpha's scorching pheromones tightly enveloped that trace of floral fragrance released by the physical stimulation.

The gesture was far too intimate, like the prelude to a bite.

Was he going to bite him?

Instinctively clutching Pei Ji's clothes, Shen Que closed his eyes and waited for the Alpha's next move as though carrying out a mission.

But Pei Ji merely gathered up every last trace of pheromones spilling from his neck, then straightened and brushed his fingertips over Shen Que's faintly flushed cheek.

"Let's sleep."

In the end, he still didn't bite.