Chapter 291: Marriage and the Little Black Room: Punishment Rooms Are Common in Zerg Households. Even If You Don’t Have One Before Marriage, You Have to Arrange On

An Ruo had worried that simply giving Ulysses the ring would make him seem insufficiently thoughtful, as though he didn't value the matter enough.

But Ulysses had already seen his thoughtfulness and how much importance he placed on it.

He had felt it from the moment An Ruo personally went to the jewelry store to have the rings custom-made.

That was precisely why he had wanted the ring so badly.

After seeing the matching rings with his own eyes and sensing the Psychic Power contained within them, Ulysses became even more certain of it.

Even the fact that An Ruo had stubbornly refused to give him the ring and only surrendered it after Ulysses pestered him for three days further proved the point.

Ulysses looked at the matching rings in the box and curled his lips into a smile.

There was no way he could possibly be unhappy about this.

He wanted to kiss him again.

It wasn't until Ulysses carefully protected the ring box while pushing An Ruo down onto the pillows and covering him with his body that An Ruo realized things were going in the wrong direction. His eyes widened in shock.

Hadn't he already handed over the rings?

Why was Ulysses still going to do him?

"Wait, wait."

An Ruo pressed against Ulysses's chest and shoulders, pushing him haphazardly as he desperately searched for a way out and a chance to catch his breath.

He looked up with his bright, moist emerald-green eyes and asked, "Do you like the ring? Do you want me to put it on you?"

After thinking for a moment, he added, "I think doing it on one knee would make it more formal."

An Ruo figured that even without all those romantic decorations, they should at least have the ceremony of getting down on one knee to confess his love and propose.

Hearing this, Ulysses stopped.

It made sense.

They could exercise later. Right now, he couldn't wait for the deity to place the bestowed ring onto his finger.

He handed the ring and its box back to An Ruo. His expression turned °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° solemn. He straightened the formal clothes he'd put on when he temporarily left to deal with official affairs, got out of bed, then bent his knee and knelt.

His back remained perfectly straight, his eyes bright and utterly devoid of humiliation. Instead, they held heartfelt joy and yearning as he swore an oath to the deity he loved, to the male to whom he had submitted himself.

To protect him forever.

Never to abandon him.

To remain faithful forever.

An Ruo, who was still on the bed and had only just propped himself upright, froze.

His brain exploded with buzzing noise, while internally he turned into a screaming chicken.

Wrong, wrong, this was completely backward!

He was supposed to kneel!

He was supposed to propose!

Who had the female... kneel during a proposal?

Only belatedly realizing that Ulysses wasn't a traditional "female," An Ruo blinked blankly.

Ulysses was a Female Zerg, but outwardly he was a "man" just like An Ruo—or "a male 2D character materialized into reality?" Whatever the case, there really wasn't any difference.

He was powerful and courageous, confident and composed, capable of shouldering anything.

Seeing An Ruo staring dumbfoundedly without responding, Ulysses tilted his head in confusion. He thought perhaps there was still something he'd done poorly, making the male unwilling to give him the ring.

So he asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

An Ruo snapped back to his senses and smiled helplessly. "No. It's just that I originally intended to be the one kneeling..."

As he spoke, he got out of bed and formally, seriously helped Ulysses to his feet.

Then another solution occurred to him, and he asked with a smile, "How about I kneel again?"

The more he thought about it, the better the idea seemed. Holding the ring box, he bent his knee and started stepping backward.

Ulysses hurriedly caught him and interrupted the movement.

Still afraid that wasn't enough to stop him, he wrapped both arms firmly around An Ruo and locked him in his embrace.

There was even incomprehensible panic in Ulysses's silver eyes.

How could a "Male Zerg" be allowed to kneel?

Even if An Ruo wasn't actually a Male Zerg, Ulysses still felt that kneeling and swearing an oath was something the Female Zerg should do.

Meeting An Ruo's puzzled gaze, he hurriedly said, "This is already perfect. So... have you accepted me?"

An Ruo nodded. Under Ulysses's unwavering stare at the ring, he took out the black ring and slipped it onto his finger. Blinking, he said, "I think I'm supposed to be the one asking whether you accept me."

"I accept."

Of course Ulysses accepted him.

He wanted to kiss him again.

And he failed to restrain himself.

The self-control Ulysses had always prided himself on frequently went completely out of control in front of An Ruo. He sank willingly into it, unable to change and unwilling to change. Only when he regained clarity would he feel slightly frustrated that he hadn't behaved well enough.

Only after an urgent, passionate kiss did he remember, with An Ruo's reminder, to put the other ring on An Ruo using his method as well.

The two perfectly matched rings settled at the bases of their fingers, reflecting glimmers of light whenever the angle changed.

It was as though their relationship had finally been completely confirmed, binding them tightly together through a special connection.

Ulysses's heart finally settled completely.

He thought An Ruo's hand and the ring on it were both extraordinarily beautiful.

He couldn't tear his gaze away.

It made him want to kiss it, to lick every inch of it, to be touched by that ring-bearing hand.

He whispered his request into An Ruo's ear.

An Ruo, the tips of his ears bright red as he pushed weakly against him, agreed.

...

Their marriage was settled, but the actual wedding would still be a long time away.

The Federation Marshal's wedding would inevitably be extraordinarily grand and would require a great deal of preparation. Everything from sending invitations to preparations by all the involved parties would take time.

This wasn't merely a matter between the two of them. It was also a political event involving the entire Zerg Federation and even multiple nations across the universe.

There was no avoiding it.

As long as they wanted to hold a wedding, their respective identities meant they had to consider many different parties—unless they simply gave up on having a wedding altogether.

Ulysses didn't want to give it up.

But to prevent unforeseen complications from arising during the long wait, he first coaxed An Ruo into registering their marriage on StarNet.

This was also common practice among the Zerg.

Or rather, Zergs who actually held weddings were the minority. Most Zerg marriages consisted of nothing more than registration on StarNet.

Ever since registering, An Ruo opened his personal information page countless times every day just to look at it.

It felt incredibly strange.

He now had a formal and legally recognized identity as the author An, completely separate from his identity as the Psychic Soothing specialist.

Seeing his own name beside Ulysses's, and seeing the words "Female Lord" beside Ulysses's name, gave him an indescribable feeling.

His heart felt warm and full, as though it had finally settled somewhere solid.

It was as if roots had grown beneath his feet, allowing him to finally take root in the Zerg world.

His roots had taken hold around the roots of a giant tree named "Ulysses."

Their roots intertwined, basking together in the sunlight, drinking in the rain and dew, sharing everything the other experienced.

Ulysses was doing exactly the same thing.

Except he didn't merely look at it himself.

He wanted every Zerg to know.

After finishing advanced training guidance for his personal guard Helios, Ulysses seemingly casually asked Helios to add his private contact information. Then, just as naturally, he displayed his profile information, allowing his marital status—married—and the name of his Male Lord to appear directly in front of the protagonist of the original novel.

While speaking with Federal Council Speaker Cassian, who had come to deliver a report, and Cyril, who had returned to duty, Ulysses extraordinarily, incredibly "accidentally" left an unencrypted holographic screen visible on the desk.

Cassian: "..."

Cyril: "..."

Making a public announcement on his private social account was merely the basics.

Casually changing his background page and signature was also very low-key.

Later, however, his madness grew increasingly severe.

He even set the information as his terminal background during a military meeting and "accidentally" let others see it.

Then the official account simply announced the marriage outright and pinned the announcement...

It directly caused an enormous uproar across StarNet and even throughout the entire Zerg Federation.

[The Marshal and An-shen got married?!! (eats a whale in shock) (gnaws on a deep-space giant whale)]

[Expected, expected. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Still, congratulations to the Marshal for getting his wish.]

[Since things have come to this, Marshal × An-shen 999!]

[999!]

[I'm crying to death! I'm so happy for the Marshal, but I can't stop crying! I've been crying and crying and crying, waaaaah—]

[There's no need to be that upset, right? (scratches head) This is wonderful news. Besides, An-shen is a Male Zerg. It's not like he can't marry multiple Female Zergs. The position of Female Lord may be gone, but you can still work hard for a Female Attendant position.]

[Look at An-shen's books and say that again? Every single one of An-shen's books is one female and one male. Following that logic, the chances of An-shen marrying multiple Female Zergs are extremely low!]

[Now that you mention it... that's actually true.]

Most netizens were loyal readers of An-shen and were extremely familiar with the contents of his novels.

Now that An-shen was married, they remembered the exclusive, devoted relationships between males and females in his books and suddenly felt that they had absolutely no hope.

Not that they'd ever had any hope in the first place...

But at least they'd once had a dream.

Now it seemed even that dream had shattered.

If An-shen's Female Lord had been some annoying Zerg, or even simply someone who wasn't particularly outstanding, they might have been able to summon the courage to compete.

But it just had to be the Marshal.

Almost every Female Zerg admired and followed the Marshal and held an extraordinarily favorable opinion of him.

He represented the strongest and finest ideal of what a Female Zerg could be.

He was everything they aspired to become.

Faced with a Marshal like that, they couldn't even summon the thought of competing against him.

They couldn't even bring themselves to insult An-shen's spouse.

They were sincerely excited, happy, and moved that the Marshal had finally obtained happiness.

Naturally, the best Female Zerg should be paired with the best Male Zerg.

But then they thought about An-shen.

And then about themselves.

It seemed that even dreaming was no longer possible.

Their hearts turned sour as extraordinarily complicated emotions churned inside them.

They were so envious that the envy turned sour and bitter, mixed with jealousy they didn't want to admit.

[I'm unfanning the Marshal for one second!]

One Zerg announced.

[Then I'll un-fan him for half a day. I'm too heartbroken.]

[Unfollowed. I don't want to see any news about the Marshal or An-shen for the next month. Call me when the wedding happens. Or when An-shen updates. Either works.]

[Same.]

[Speaking of which, how long has it been since An-shen updated? There hasn't been any news at all. I was worried something had happened to him before, but now I think we've solved the case. (grinds teeth) Marshal, you can't just eat your fill while leaving the rest of us starving!]

[I didn't dare curse the Marshal before, but now I do! (sharpens knife) Hurry up and release An-shen so he can update! Otherwise, I'm charging into the Marshal's residence with a knife to rescue An-shen!]

...

An Ruo still knew nothing about the uproar outside.

Thinking about how the wedding was still a long way off, and how he hadn't written anything for far too long, while life with Ulysses was simply too sweet and comfortable for him to have either the motivation, time, or energy to write...

An Ruo decided this couldn't continue.

So he gritted his teeth and simply asked Ulysses to build a little black-room confinement chamber inside the Marshal's residence.

When Ulysses heard his request, he was extremely surprised.

His expression became complicated. He pursed his lips slightly and remained silent for a while, but ultimately did as An Ruo requested.

Confinement room—or rather, punishment room... In the end, they were merely different names for the same thing. There wasn't much difference in essence.

Such rooms were common in Zerg households.

They had been particularly prevalent during the Imperial Era. Things had improved somewhat after the Federation Era began, but they still existed and were hardly unusual.

A Male Zerg always needed somewhere to discipline the Female Zergs in his household.

Even if a household didn't have one before marriage, it had to be arranged afterward.

Since they had already registered their marriage and the wedding wasn't too far away, it was indeed time to prepare whatever their household still lacked.

Ulysses silently prepared the punishment room and finished arranging everything. Then, at An Ruo's request, he brought him there.

After all, matters like this were private family affairs and shouldn't be spread outside, especially in a place like the Marshal's residence, where military and government personnel frequently came and went.

If rumors got out, it wouldn't be good for their reputation.

So Ulysses placed the room on the first underground level and even incorporated spatial technology. No matter how much commotion happened inside, not a single sound would escape.

An Ruo was delighted by his efficiency.

He happily walked straight inside, casually closed the door behind him, and shut Ulysses outside.

Watching the door slam shut directly in front of him, Ulysses—who had been preparing to follow him inside—froze.

He stared blankly at the closed door for quite some time, unable to react.

Nor could he understand what was happening.

It wasn't long before the door opened again from inside, and An Ruo walked out with his brows furrowed.

He didn't particularly like the interior design.

Cold metallic walls, cold white lighting—those things were one matter.

But there was also a strange bed, a strange metal chair, and an entire wall of cabinets whose contents he couldn't even guess.

It looked even more like a prison than an actual prison.

It felt even more like serving time than actually serving time.

An Ruo wanted a little black room where he could lock himself away and write.

He didn't actually want to go to prison!

Perhaps the metallic style was Ulysses's personal preference. That also fit An Ruo's understanding of military Female Zergs, so he couldn't really criticize it.

He could slowly redecorate the room later and add things he liked.

There was no need to say anything now and hurt Ulysses's feelings.

But there was one thing he absolutely couldn't tolerate!

For a little black room intended for writing, there wasn't even a desk inside!

There was technically a chair, but it was that heavy metal chair. It looked as though it had been welded directly to the floor, and An Ruo couldn't move it at all!

An Ruo had no choice but to tell Ulysses what he needed.

He wanted a comfortable desk and chair.

Something ergonomic—

No, Zergonomic.

Ulysses obediently brought him a desk and chair, though his gaze remained complicated and probing.

An Ruo sat down and tested them. Once he confirmed that they suited his preferences, he waved his hand in satisfaction and told Ulysses to leave.

Then he instructed Ulysses to lock the door and absolutely not let him out until he'd finished writing the first chapter.

However...

If he still hadn't finished by dinnertime, Ulysses should let him out anyway.

After saying that, An Ruo weakly added the last condition with absolutely no confidence whatsoever.

Ulysses: "..."