After midnight, the celebrations on White Sand Star finally ended.
But the Desert Tavern was still lively.
Pei Ji finally gave in to the mercenaries' invitations to play cards and, after getting Shen Que's approval, agreed to a couple of rounds.
Having slept on and off all day, Shen Que wasn't particularly sleepy.
But he was still exhausted.
The mercenaries hooked their arms around Pei Ji and drank with him, white foam rising and falling in their beer mugs like waves.
The young Alpha's smile was carefree and unrestrained.
Shen Que watched helplessly, picking at the sweet-and-tart White Thorn Dried Fruit to stay alert.
Just as the plate was about to run empty, a slender wrist reached over and filled it again.
Safiya, now wearing a sapphire-blue dance dress, sat beside him with a bright smile.
Her silky long hair was pinned up, making her a little less alluring than she had been onstage, but a little more captivating.
Shen Que suddenly remembered that she had worn the same outfit when she visited the Fallen Star Palace a few days ago.
"I was going to bring you a plate of Rose Pie, but Pei Ji said eating too much at night would make you bloated. So have some dried fruit instead."
Safiya winked at Shen Que.
"This is our second meeting, Commander. I'm Safiya, the owner of this tavern."
Shen Que leaned back a little.
He laced his fingers together over his knees.
His gaze remained fixed on his Alpha.
Then he said, "Just the tavern owner?"
His tone was flat, as though it were a casual question.
Safiya looked startled for only a moment before her red lips curled subtly. She followed Shen Que's gaze to Pei Ji.
"Well, did you think I was the General's little lover, Commander?"
Shen Que said slowly, "A little lover who happens to be a mercenary?"
Something flickered in Safiya's eyes. "What makes you say that?"
Shen Que picked up a piece of dried fruit, took a small bite, then carefully chewed and swallowed it.
"The dancers I've seen all take good care of their hands. They're smooth and soft, and generally don't have calluses."
"Even if they do, the calluses are on their fingertips or palms, from years of practice."
"But yours are on every finger joint. As far as I know... only one kind of weapon wears down those spots."
"The Silver-Thread Scimitar."
"A weapon commonly used by mercenaries."
He finished the remaining half of the dried fruit.
"And this."
Shen Que pointed behind his ear.
Safiya reached up to touch the same spot on herself.
Her fingertips brushed a faint scar running from her left ear down to her neck.
"That's a scar from a Mecha light blade."
A woman who had wielded a blade for years and faced a Mecha head-on.
Shen Que gave Safiya a searching look, his dark eyes unusually deep.
Safiya smiled brilliantly. "You're truly charming, Commander. I'm beginning to understand why Pei Ji likes you."
Shen Que repeated softly, "He likes me?"
If he liked me, why would he hire mercenaries to investigate me?
Safiya tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Surely you can feel it?"
Shen Que's expression remained cool.
What did it matter?
Whether he liked me or not, I was already his.
His gaze began following Pei Ji again.
"He's very different from what I knew of him before," he suddenly told Safiya.
"What did you think he was like?"
Safiya thought for a moment.
"An Omega killer? A spoiled rich kid? A monster on the battlefield who won't follow orders? Anyway, that's what everyone on the Star Network says about him."
Shen Que said, "...More or less."
Safiya suppressed a laugh. "How pitiful. And yet a guy like that is our desert's darling."
Shen Que looked up at that. "Why do you call him that?"
"That's because... although Pei Ji was born in Oasis, he's practically half Desert Folk."
Safiya smiled and gestured to indicate a height.
"He's been coming over here to play since he was this tall. Who knows how many times he got scolded for it?"
"You'll never find a more unruly kid. He was like some little street thug, trailing after mercenaries every day. He wasn't even as tall as a blade before he wanted to go kill worms."
"He got a little better when he grew up. At least he was a normal person by the time he went to the Military Academy."
Shen Que fell silent.
He didn't think someone who would enter a Hive alone qualified as normal.
"But..."
Safiya watched Pei Ji's back with a smile.
"The first thing that unreliable brat did after becoming a General was take his fleet out and destroy over a hundred worm burrows in the desert, ending the Desert Folk's long years of wandering."
"Did you know, Commander? Before that, the Desert Folk had no permanent homes. The worms could pick up our scent through the sand, so we had to keep running."
"Worms breed fast. They use a special frequency to transmit messages through the sand. You have to locate every mother worm at once and kill them all within a time difference of no more than 0.1 minutes. If even one escapes, all your efforts are wasted."
"None of White Sand Star's many lords managed it. But he did."
Safiya paused. When she spoke again, even her voice had softened.
"How could we not love him?"
"He gave us our freedom."
Shen Que listened without a word.
The dim candlelight cast a warm glow in his eyes.
Any operation by the Imperial Fleet required approval from the Imperial Court and the Council.
But the Empress had never told him any of this.
A faint light flickered in Shen Que's eyes. "Why... have you never spoken up for him on the Star Network?"
Safiya scoffed. "He doesn't care himself, so why should we bother?"
"Besides, you don't live your life for other people's approval."
"He's our young lord, not theirs."
Pei Ji... didn't care about any of that?
Suddenly, Shen Que wasn't so sure he understood.
Then why had he spent seven million to take down the recent trending topic?
He was so hard to figure out...
Something suddenly occurred to him. After hesitating for a while, he finally asked, "Do the Desert Folk... have any traditions or customs? About marking?"
"You mean marking between Alphas and Omegas?" Safiya smiled brightly. "We don't have that many rules."
"We're not like Messiah or some of the people in Oasis, insisting on a certain compatibility score."
"We Desert Folk enjoy each day as it comes. If we like someone, we mark them."
"I see."
There was no discernible emotion in Shen Que's voice.
He picked up another piece of White Thorn Dried Fruit.
This one was a little sour.
Half an hour later, Pei Ji stared at the empty fruit plate and snapped at Safiya.
"I asked you to keep him company, not feed him like a monkey!"
Safiya looked exasperated. "Seriously? I didn't even charge you for the fruit plate! White Thorn Dried Fruit costs thirty Starcoins a jin!"
"You fed him a whole jin?!" Pei Ji pulled Shen Que to his feet and reached for his stomach. "Will that give you indigestion?"
Shen Que slapped his hand away.
Pei Ji redirected his anger, glaring at Safiya. "I'll settle this with you later."
He hurriedly draped a coat over Shen Que.
"I have something to show you."
At one o'clock sharp.
The town's lights went out one by one.
With an arm around his Omega, Pei Ji climbed onto the tavern's raised terrace.
Beyond the rolling sands.
A full moon hung at the far end of the dunes.
The Alpha's strong, solid chest shielded him from the biting wind and sand.
Pei Ji leaned close to Shen Que's ear and counted down softly. "Three, two, one..."
The artificial moonlight went out.
A dazzling starry sky unfolded before them like a painting.
Shen Que's pupils contracted.
For a moment, he felt as though he were back aboard a warship, gazing through the command room's glass at the brilliant nebulae in space.
"Do you like it?" Pei Ji asked softly.
Shen Que turned his head slightly.
Pei Ji's face was very close. His eyes, filled with starlight, held a rare trace of uncertainty.
The wind lifted their hair, tangling the ends together.
In that instant, Shen Que suddenly wanted to ask Pei Ji so many things.
He wanted to ask whether there had been someone he liked before.
He wanted to ask why he had sent mercenaries to his door the day after their wedding.
He wanted to ask why he wouldn't mark him.
But in the end, Shen Que asked nothing.
He only nodded gently.
At that tiny gesture.
His Alpha's lips instantly curved into a smile.
"This is my apology to you."
Pei Ji explained earnestly.
"I'm sorry I left you alone at the wedding."
Before you continue