You're trending

The next day.

The exquisite, lavish dining room of Fallen Star Palace finally welcomed its two masters for the first time.

Old Hall was moved to tears.

"The young lord finally brought his husband down for breakfast. Boo-hoo..."

Pei Ji frowned as he scrolled through his Terminal.

He had meant to check whether the little bastards in the Fourth Fleet had caused any trouble while he was on marriage leave.

And collect the cash gifts from his comrades while he was at it.

Instead, the moment he opened it, all he saw were trending posts the little bastards had forwarded.

Along with a whole string of hahahahas-

His latest trending post from yesterday, [Shocking! General gives new husband the cold shoulder, repeatedly removes trending posts], already had over a hundred thousand comments:

[Finally, a trending post survived a whole day. Pei Ji must've given up.]

[Watching his trending posts go up and down yesterday was hilarious. Someone was really getting worked up.]

[So what if he's rich? He acts like his family owns the Star Network.]

[Let's show him how much free time us spectators have.]

[For every post he takes down, I'll boost another!]

[Well, well, well. Doesn't the demon king usually treat online comments like dirt? He's trended plenty of times before and never taken anything down. What's with the personality transplant?]

[He must still be scared. Shen Que might not be First Commander anymore, but he's still one of the Empress's people.]

[Scared? If he were scared, he wouldn't have stood the Commander up on their wedding day.]

[Seriously, hasn't the Empress already discarded Shen Que? If she really favored him, would she have stripped his position as First Commander of all its authority?]

[Personally, I think Pei Ji only puts on a show of respecting the Empress. With Pei Li's standing in the Icarus Galaxy, even the Empress has to give the Pei family some leeway.]

[I don't really get it, though. Why does the Pei family have such high status? Pei Li's just a lord. The Icarus Galaxy has plenty of lords, and he's not royalty.]

[Clearly, someone didn't pay attention in galactic geography class. Ever heard of sand gold?]

[Of course! It's used to make advanced mecha.]

[Over eighty percent of the Icarus Galaxy's sand gold comes from White Sand Star. What kind of standing do you think the Pei family has with the Empress?]

[Holy shit... someone photographed an Omega leaving Pei Ji's palace yesterday. Don't tell me he really cheated on the Commander the day after their wedding?]

[Trash Alpha.]

[Boo-hoo, I watched the wedding footage. I feel so bad for the Commander. He hasn't recovered yet, has he? He looked ready to collapse.]

[Okay, but the Commander's sickly look is so captivating. That fragile beauty-who gets me, guys?!]

[Pei Ji really doesn't deserve him.]

[Why are all the comments so one-sided, though? Pei Ji is a First-Class General and the only son of White Sand Star's lord. Doesn't anyone think it's a waste for him to marry a ruined Omega?]

[Your reputation's just that bad, General Pei.]

[Ha. Why didn't anyone call him pitiful when he was publicly making insulting remarks about Omegas?]

[Compared to the General, Commander Shen really is the darling of the Star Network.]

[Of course he is... the most popular genius Omega Commander in the seven fleets, utterly loyal to the Empress, and he rarely even shows his face. If he hadn't lost that battle, who could've gotten anywhere near such an unattainable beauty?]

[When the Empress wanted to choose an Alpha for him before, she received a list of over a hundred thousand eligible Alphas.]

[But I heard Shen Que's health has deteriorated so much that he can't have children anymore. Could that be why Pei Ji...]

[Oof... that's a bit...]

[So when are they getting divorced?]

[None of this is anything someone earning a thousand Starcoins a month like me should be worrying about.]

Fourth Fleet Second-Class Major General Luo Yuan: [Hahahaha, General, you're trending.]

[You managed to crash the Star Network five or six times just by getting married. You're something else.]

[I heard Tree of Life's engineers are looking for someone on the dark web to assassinate you. Watch yourself when you go out.]

Pei Ji: [Fuck off.]

He tossed his Terminal onto the table, forked up a fried egg and stuffed it into his mouth, then beckoned Phil over.

"Didn't I tell you to take down the trending posts? Why is all this weird stuff still up there?"

Phil pursed her lips. "General, I've been taking them down. Do you know how many posts about you have hit the top trends these past two days? They've been swarming up like ants climbing a tree."

"That million Starcoins was gone before we knew it."

"Then the General Affairs Office took over the PR work. It's supposed to be seven days of celebrations, but none of them got time off. They're still working overtime."

Pei Ji: "..."

Being cursed out didn't actually bother him.

What he hated was people discussing Shen Que while they cursed him out.

Whether Shen Que had been discarded or could have children-what business was that of theirs?

He married me, not you.

Lunatics.

He stared glumly at Shen Que across the table.

I've already brought him home as my husband, and people are still coveting him.

Annoying.

Shen Que had excellent table manners. He neither checked his Terminal nor talked while eating.

Noticing Pei Ji's gaze, he merely glanced at him before lowering his head and continuing to eat.

He slowly cut his fried egg into small pieces, put them into his mouth one at a time, and chewed thoroughly.

It was like watching him in slow motion.

After finishing the egg, he forked up a sausage and took a bite.

Glistening oil spattered onto his lips, leaving them moist and glossy, as though he had applied a layer of lip balm. It made his face look even more exquisite.

Seemingly disliking the greasy feeling, Shen Que slipped out his tongue and licked the corner of his mouth.

His pink tongue flashed briefly into view.

Pei Ji swallowed.

"Commander?"

Shen Que looked up. "General?"

Pei Ji had intended to ask Shen Que what he thought about the trending posts, but the moment he saw that exquisitely beautiful face, those long lashes trembling, a gentle blink sending ripples through his eyes-

He suddenly changed tack. "Um... is breakfast good?"

Shen Que finished chewing, set down his knife and fork, glanced at the wreckage on Pei Ji's plate, and answered earnestly, "Very good."

Pei Ji's lips curved upward.

Forget it.

In that instant, he thought.

I'll handle those annoying trending posts.

All my Omega needs to do is eat the breakfast I've prepared for him, one bite at a time, just like this.

He doesn't need to worry or fret about anything.

I'll bear all the malice from the outside world.

Pei Ji said, "All right, then. If there's anything you like eating, tell Anya and have the kitchen make it."

Shen Que paused slightly. "I have no dietary restrictions. You can arrange things according to your own preferences, General."

Pei Ji said, "Who asked whether you had dietary restrictions? I'm asking what you like to eat."

"Little cookies or little cakes? Don't you Omegas all like sweet little things?"

"Oh, right, Demi. Contact Dad's private ranch and have them send over some fresh milk."

"We don't need that locally produced sand camel milk anymore. Switch to imported milk."

Shen Que: "..."

A strange feeling welled up inside him.

A little warm, and a little achingly bittersweet.

Shen Que couldn't tell whether much of what Pei Ji said came from politeness or genuine concern.

Last night's embrace had vanished like the wind, leaving no trace.

Since the master bedroom's glass was gone, they had made do for the night in a spare bedroom that was every bit as large.

The Omega who hadn't been bitten and the Alpha who wanted to bite him but couldn't had each taken one side of the bed, sleeping like two strangers.

-That was Shen Que's perspective.

Of course, he hadn't known that he had let out uncontrollable moans after falling asleep, or that an Alpha had rolled over to hold him, releasing soothing pheromones while gently patting him.

"It's okay. It's okay."

And then gone to take a cold shower first thing in the morning.

Shen Que only knew that he had slept very well again last night. He had almost failed to wake up that morning, sitting dazed on the bed for a long while before his head finally cleared.

By then, the bed beside him had already gone cold.

Seeing that the two had nearly finished eating, Demi spoke again. "General, sir, the lord sent letters this morning."

"Dad? What does he want?" Pei Ji asked with a frown.

Pei Li, the lord of White Sand Star, had always lived in the First Oasis with his wife, Ai Fan, enjoying their life as a couple.

Even as a child, Pei Ji couldn't stand how lovey-dovey they were every day.

So after coming of age, he had simply chosen to build his palace in the Third Oasis.

A full half a planet away from the First Oasis.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Demi presented the letters on a silver serving plate.

"The lord sent two letters in total. The first is an invitation to the private banquet-the one where you're supposed to dance the opening dance with your husband. You haven't forgotten, have you?"

Pei Ji paused, then leafed through the gold-stamped stationery bearing the Pei Family Crest, finally remembering the private banquet.

According to White Sand Star's Century-Old Custom, children became entitled to a share of property of their own after marrying.

Though called a private banquet, it was actually a ceremony to formally introduce Shen Que and announce the property he would receive.

An exhausting round of socializing would be unavoidable.

Pei Ji wasn't interested and tossed the letter back onto the plate.

"What about the second?"

Demi said, "The second is a personal letter from the lord to you. It's been sent to your Terminal."

She paused.

"Uh... he said... you need to pay him for the damages."