Chiron pushed the empty coffee cup in front of him aside, folded his hands on the table, and sat up perfectly straight, as if he were attending a formal meeting.
Jiang Lijin put down her optical computer and nodded.
"I received it too," Chiron said.
The two of them looked at each other across the dining table for a few seconds. The atmosphere suddenly became very strange. Even though they were the parties involved, it felt like they were confirming the receipt of an official document with each other.
"If you have any questions about me, regarding my personal situation, my work, or anything else, you can ask directly. I won't hide anything from you."
Chiron spoke first, his tone steady and his wording careful.
Listening to this, Jiang Lijin couldn't help but feel it was weird. No matter how she heard it, it sounded like a negotiation.
But she had to admit, Chiron's attitude was actually quite good. He was polite and willing to be transparent on his own initiative.
"Likewise, I hope that we will get along happily in the future," Chiron added at the end.
Jiang Lijin's mouth twitched. Why did that sound so much like a year-end summary saying, "Wishing everyone a successful new year at work"?
"...Alright."
She responded, then rapidly organized her thoughts in her head. It was better to make things clear now to save them from awkwardness later.
"Since you've been so honest, I'll be straightforward too." Jiang Lijin placed her chopsticks neatly on her bowl. "Lord Chiron, I think we can go with a contract marriage."
"A contract marriage?"
"Yes." Jiang Lijin nodded. "A match is a match, but the marital relationship can be handled flexibly. You have your life, and I have mine; we will each maintain our boundaries. I can cooperate with the spiritual channeling part, but as for the rest... I won't force you to fulfill your duties as a beast husband."
"You won't force me?" Chiron repeated the sentence with a hint of confusion.
"Right." Jiang Lijin straightened her back, looking serious. "I know your heart belongs to someone else. I'm not an unreasonable person."
The living room fell silent for two or three seconds.
Jiang Lijin thought he was organizing his words. After all, having someone point out your inner feelings to your face was somewhat embarrassing, so she considerately added, "You don't have to feel awkward, I really understand. That deceased C-grade female you mentioned to me before... I can tell she was very important to you."
Chiron frowned but didn't answer. He sat opposite Jiang Lijin, his fingers resting on the edge of the table. He wasn't looking at his optical computer, nor was he looking at her; his gaze landed somewhere on the tabletop.
The silence dragged on for a long, long time, so long that Jiang Lijin began to reflect on whether she had been too blunt.
Just as she was pondering whether she should say something to smooth things over, Chiron finally looked up.
"That C-grade female," he spoke, his voice very light, "was my mother."
"...What?" Jiang Lijin's eyes widened.
"She was my mother," Chiron repeated, speaking slowly. "Not my lover. She was my mother. She applied for the interstellar exploration team's genetic modification experiment... and passed away."
Jiang Lijin never expected that when Chiron had talked about that C-grade female in his office the other day, his tone—so restrained, so flat, yet so complex—was actually about his own mother.
She had thought it was an ex-girlfriend, an unforgettable first love, a cherished memory...
She subconsciously covered half of her face with her hand. "...So your heart doesn't belong to someone else."
"No," Chiron answered crisply.
The air grew quiet once again.
This silence was different from the previous one. Before, it was awkward; now, Jiang Lijin wished she could just disappear on the spot.
She had just confidently declared to him, "I won't interfere with your feelings," "I know your heart belongs to someone else," and "You don't have to feel awkward"...
Chiron picked up the coffee that Xiaobai had just refilled, took a sip, and when he set the cup down, he said something that almost made Jiang Lijin's ears burn.
"Regardless of whether this marriage is a contract or some other arrangement to Miss Jiang, I will fulfill the duties I am supposed to fulfill."
The temperature on Jiang Lijin's face skyrocketed. A husband's duties were...
She decided to end the conversation quickly before she said any more stupid things.
"Um, I'm done eating my noodles, I'll take the bowl to the kitchen." She picked up her bowl, turned, and walked away.
[Host, your face is so red.]
[Shut up.]
[Hehe.]
...
Meanwhile.
In the East District of the capital city, inside a private apartment, four people were sitting haphazardly in a dimly lit living room.
Felwin was curled up right in the middle of the sofa, holding a cup of fruit tea. She took a sip, her brows knitted tightly. Kieran sat in the corner with his optical computer on his knees, the screen glowing, though it was unclear what he was scrolling through.
A few minutes ago, a pan-galactic notification had been pushed to every optical computer, including theirs.
"3S?" Arden was the first to blow up, his voice loud and shrill. "Her? Jiang Lijin? 3S? There must be a mistake!"
He paced back and forth by the window, his face full of disbelief. "She was a C-grade just a couple of days ago when I saw her, and now you're telling me she's a 3S? Did the mainframe malfunction?"
Rex's gaze landed on the pan-galactic notification on his own optical computer. The screen flashed with trending topics: #First 3S-Grade Female in the Galaxy Confirmed, Who is Jiang Lijin#
Who was Jiang Lijin? She was the C-grade ex-wife they had abandoned!
He scoffed through his nose.
"Who cares if she's a 3S, what does it have to do with us?" He tossed his optical computer aside and leaned back against the sofa. "We're already divorced."
"But..." Felwin spoke up softly, her fingers twirling the straw in her fruit tea. "I think it's so strange."
The attention of the three men simultaneously turned to her.
Felwin lowered her head, her eyelashes drooping. Her voice was small, carrying a tone of grievance and confusion. "She was clearly a C-grade before, how did she suddenly become a 3S... Could she have done something underhanded during the test?"
After saying that, she quickly shook her head. "Never mind, I shouldn't think like that."
"You're right," Arden chimed in immediately. "Who knows what tricks she used? She's even moved into Chiron's house! Maybe that Chiron helped her tamper with her spiritual power records."
Rex also frowned slightly over on his side. "She's living at Chiron's house?"
"Yes, Miss Felwin saw it with her own eyes," Arden said with a look of disdain.
Felwin quickly waved her hands. "Arden, don't say that... Anyway, if she really is a 3S-grade, then that's actually quite good. At least those lords can be saved."
She paused, her voice growing even softer. "It's just... I'm still worried for her. She has to face five 3S-grade males all by herself. What if something goes wrong then..."
Those words were beautifully spoken; on the surface, it was out of concern, but every single word hinted that Jiang Lijin was incompetent and unworthy of the position.
Arden couldn't read between the lines and was already cursing on the side. Rex didn't pick up on it either; he simply rested his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, looking too lazy to chat any further.
In the corner, Kieran swiped his thumb across his optical computer screen without uttering a single word. He read through the matchmaking list from beginning to end twice before turning off the display.
...
The General Command Room of the Federal Military.
"Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Did you guys see it?!"
An adjutant in full uniform burst into the conference room, clutching his optical computer. His face was flushed with sheer excitement.
"See what?" another officer sitting at the far end of the long table asked without even looking up.
"The matchmaking notice! Lord Baal's matchmaking notice! Issued by the Master Brain! His Lordship has been matched!"
The entire conference room fell dead silent for a split second before erupting like a boiling pot of water.
"What?!"
"You've got to be kidding me. Hasn't there always been a complete lack of 3S-grade females?"
"Holy shit! It's real! Look for yourselves! He actually got matched!"
"Where is His Lordship? Does he know yet?"
At the entrance of the conference room, a figure leaned against the doorframe.
Baal glanced at the push notification on his own optical computer, turned off the screen, and walked away.
Behind him, the cheers from the entire conference room were loud enough to blow the roof off.
...
The Valoran Galaxy, the main estate of the Yunlan family.
"Mom! Mom! I got matched!"
A clear, bright voice echoed all the way from the second floor down to the first.
Tinia bounded down the last three steps of the staircase, holding his optical computer high. The current head of the Yunlan Group, who was also Tinia's mother, was sitting at the dining table sipping her soup.
Hearing his shout, her soup spoon paused in mid-air. "What did you say?"
"I got matched! I have a mate! She's a 3S-grade female, and there's even a holographic projection of her in the email!"
He shoved the optical computer right in front of his mother's face. She set down her spoon, took the device, and read it from top to bottom. Then, she looked up at her husband. Tinia's father, sitting across the dining table, had also put down his silverware.
The couple stared at each other for three full seconds.
Ever since the 3S mental energy grade came into existence, there had never been a single successful match. One by one, 3S-grade males suffered from mental energy rampages, their bodies exploding, leading to their inevitable deaths without exception.
Tinia was their only son. Ever since they found out he was a 3S-grade, they couldn't find it in them to be happy at all. Yet today, a 3S-grade female had actually appeared!
His mother handed the optical computer back to Tinia and stealthily wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand.
...
The Xuanli Galaxy, somewhere.
Two people sat beneath a massive, ancient tree.
One of them was holding a thin tablet that resembled an optical computer but was slightly different, with a few lines of text faintly glowing on its surface.
"Did you also receive the push notification from the Master Brain?"
"I did."
"What do you say? Are we going?"
"We're going."
At the far end of the distant mountain range, the daylight broke through the clouds.
