MCDWTBS Chapter 77

Chapter 77 Chapter 77 “Please get off your male parent’s bed first…”

He perceived a fact that perhaps even the black-haired female insectoid hadn’t noticed: he—felt that the black-haired female insectoid loved him. The newly sprouted bud in the gap was so fragile and precious, even if it was only in the half-awake state at the boundary of dawn and dusk.

It’s not that he didn’t know Edwin loved him. There are many kinds of love. The pity and affection from Edwin are not uncommon, but when Edwin’s dependent cheek lightly rubbed against Serra’s wrist, when he made an intimate hum, when he reached out his arms to Serra—the adult, filled with male oppressiveness appearing at his bedside—desiring a hug, everything was self-evident.

Perhaps Edwin hasn’t realized it yet. The female insectoid is like a blank sheet of paper when it comes to emotions, especially romantic emotions, but the knowledgeable adult human would not miss such an obvious weakness—Edwin loves him, not just in the way a male parent loves a young Chong.

Perhaps it was subtle influence, or perhaps it was just because of the unreasonable influence of the male insectoid on the female insectoid. In short, everything between them had changed, and whether Edwin was willing to accept this change or not, he knew that at least a part of Edwin, suppressed in his heart, even if it was only a small part—yearned for him as he would a lover.

Serra was not a saint, and of course he could not resist the trace of vulnerability and attachment that his beloved female insectoid child revealed when waking up from a dream. He pulled Edwin into a warm embrace, not too tight. The only remaining pity in his heart gave the female insectoid space to retreat and continue to escape, but it was not enough to suppress his urge to ask for more.

“Edwin…” He called the female insectoid’s name. The newly created hands of the adult male insectoid supported Edwin’s back, and his fingers gently massaged the center of the butterfly bones:

“I’ll take care of everything else, you don’t have to worry about anything, sleep a little longer, okay?”

Edwin’s body had almost recovered to its peak state, but the continuous torment of pheromone deficiency syndrome and the reshaping of his body after being marked ultimately caused him to lose some fullness. His back muscles were thinner, and the butterfly-shaped shoulder blades stood out from under the skin, pressing against the palm of the male insectoid. Soon, the female insectoid’s back stiffened, his limbs trembled slightly, and his eyes regained clarity, indicating that he had completely awakened from the half-dreaming state.

Serra didn’t miss Edwin’s dodging eyes and pursed lips. His heart was half soft and half bitter. He knew that perhaps with Edwin’s stubbornness, he would never admit that his “maternal love had deteriorated”, but Serra was willing to wait… he didn’t care how long he waited.

But now… he still wanted to extract a little sweetness before separating, as much as possible.

The female insectoid who had just woken up had a dry and intimate smell from the blanket, like the surface of metallic copper sprinkled with light bergamot scent, with a hint of wine aroma permeating the clean aftertaste, mixed with the male insectoid’s pheromones of bourbon and leather scent. The male insectoid’s arms embracing the female insectoid relaxed a little, but his cheeks couldn’t help but get closer and closer, and the warm breath sprayed on the side of the black-haired female insectoid’s neck, causing the female insectoid to hold his breath and uncontrollably turn his face away.

Edwin’s cheeks flushed, and his body found a strange balance between excessive stiffness and following the tide. He knew that Serra would never hurt him, he knew—he was sure that Serra would not do anything excessive, as long as he refused, the male insectoid would immediately retreat, and he should refuse.

His Chong child had given him everything: trust, honor, life, dignity. He should refuse, in exchange for Serra not getting deeply mired in the quagmire, but his voice was stuck in his throat. He had always been decisive in his life, but he didn’t know what to do now.

Perhaps he also wanted to get close to Serra—that was not the closeness of a male parent to a Chong child. That mark was haunting his body and brain, or some reason he dared not think about, he couldn’t tell.

“…Serra.”

For the first time, Edwin abandoned the title “Young Male Master” in a completely conscious and non-emergency situation, and instead uttered the name Serra. The name seemed to carry a different kind of intimacy. Edwin couldn’t explain it, but a strange and warm vortex swirled, rose, and turned into dust with tiny glitter in his chest.

Serra’s cheek lightly touched the side of Edwin’s neck, and his tall nose pressed tightly into the shadow formed by Edwin’s collarbone with a little weight. It wasn’t the first time their skin had touched directly, even when they were awake, but now the handsome face of the adult male insectoid was completely different from the soft and chubby face of the Chong child, and the intimate warmth was dyed with a trace of hot and ambiguous breath, everything had changed.

The female insectoid’s hand groped up unnaturally, close to the male insectoid’s chest. Now that chest had a clear muscle outline, which was also different from the thin-muscled chest of the young male insectoid. It was even more fiery, making the female insectoid’s heart tremble.

“Thank you for trusting me, Ed.”

The male insectoid said vaguely, his warm breath lingered unwilling to leave, and the black-haired female insectoid held on to him for a while before slowly exhaling, with a hint of helplessness hidden between his eyebrows, but the hand that landed on the male insectoid’s chest finally used a bit of strength to push the male insectoid away.

Their eyes met, and the awkward and stunned love had nowhere to hide. The black-haired female insectoid was like a deer surrounded by lights, stunned for a moment before lowering his eyelids. He opened his mouth first, seemingly wanting to continue the previous discussion, to persuade the male insectoid that their relationship was “unreasonable” and should not continue, but he also knew that it was no different from playing the lute to a cow for Serra.

Serra always accused Edwin of being stubborn, but he didn’t know that he himself was no different. Perhaps because the fallen apple would not be too far from the mother tree, Serra’s resistance would not be less than half of Edwin’s.

“Just… don’t be like this, Serra.”

The female insectoid was unwilling to look into Serra’s eyes, knowing that he would soften with just one glance. And Serra showed the grievance of a young Chong child with the face of an adult male insectoid—there was a component of showing it to the female insectoid, but not entirely.

The feeling of being rejected by the beloved female insectoid was always uncomfortable.

“But I’m about to leave, male parent. You want—you want to stay here, in the Fourth Army, I know, I’m willing to help you achieve any of your wishes and ideas, even if it means our temporary separation.”

The male insectoid’s voice, which became lower and more magnetic after development, almost lost the childishness of his pup period, but every word still tugged at the female insectoid’s heartstrings.

“I will return to your side, when I can control my destiny, when the situation is clearer. But male parent, I don’t want to leave you, because I love you, and I—will also fantasize, even if it’s a fleeting billionth of a possibility, that you will love me a little—like I love you.”

Okay, this level of psychological manipulation is a bit excessive. Serra’s last bit of conscience was wailing, and the system in his mind could no longer help but speak, its tone with humanized disgust:

“Ew.” It said:

“It would be a miracle if you could complete the task like this. You’ve made Edwin have private emotions that he would never have been able to experience in his life. You’re only going to frustrate his vigor. Your current task completion is lower than when you first transmigrated. Congratulations, you’ve scored the lowest score that the system can’t even estimate.”

In Serra’s gaze, even more obvious guilt and entanglement flashed across Edwin’s face. Serra regretted that he shouldn’t have said those implicitly coercive words. He stepped back a little, took the female insectoid’s hand to give comfort, while coaxing the system in his mind:

“Having no perspective after only looking at cold data. You are not a program composed of 0s and 1s, you are a system created by the Life Tribunal, right? Look, love can make people weak, but it can also make life madly grow flesh and wings—the Edwin in front of you may not be as ruthless and decisive as the Edwin in the original timeline, but he will be even more powerful. I’m sure of that.”

“Stop deceiving the system!” The system angrily made an electric current sound: “You, the host, have never wanted to complete the task, don’t talk to me about the big picture! Let me guess, you didn’t let Edwin join the rebel army, but instead have him in charge of the Fourth Army, also because of your selfish motives, right?”

“You’re afraid that the rebel army will be besieged by the Church and the royal family. You know that the rebel army is full of dangers, and the Fourth Army at least has an identity on the surface—so you yourself join the rebel army, but let Edwin take charge of the Fourth Army. But let me remind you, Your Excellency the Host, your leaky little thoughts can’t make Edwin indestructible! Your sugar-coated bullets and love are softening his path to awakening. An incomplete awakening will not allow him to face his destiny! The significance of the Fourth Army is vastly different from that of the rebel army. Under your influence, he will become weak. He is still fighting for the empire, because you exist in the empire! Do you think he will be distracted to seek benefits for you? Your cleverness will eventually backfire.”

“I don’t like hearing that, system,” Serra said sternly in his mind: “It’s okay to say that I’m abusing my power for personal gain, but Edwin is definitely not that kind of Chong! He won’t give up his mission because of me. Look—letting Edwin love me is exactly part of my plan. When he wants me but can’t get me, he will awaken. When he is completely deep in love, I will withdraw, and then he will know the cruelty of love. After a short period of sadness, his heart will become cold and indestructible!”

Serra had long passed the stage of feeling pangs of conscience for lying to the system. Unfortunately, the system had also long passed the stage of believing his nonsense.

“Heh heh.”

The ruthless two words slapped Serra’s thick-skinned handsome face, unable to stir up even a ripple: “Please get off your male parent’s bed first. Disgusting thing.”

Serra’s face finally showed a hint of embarrassment because of the four words “your male parent”. He awkwardly wanted to withdraw, but a hand suddenly landed on his forearm. The black-haired military female’s slightly nervous and worried gaze searched for his eyes, as if afraid of finding a trace of sadness in them.

“…I don’t want to separate from you either.”

It was very difficult for the female insectoid, who wouldn’t even hum when being disemboweled, to admit his weakness and feelings, as if vomiting his heart out of his throat. But Edwin still said it. He would not allow Serra to continue to fall into the quagmire of immorality, but… he also couldn’t bear to see Serra sad.

The young male insectoid, who was still a great distance from being sad, shone brightly with just a little sunshine. He instantly showed a dazzling smile, and rubbed his shoulder, which was about the same width, against Edwin’s. He placed his two claws obediently on his knees, like a curly-haired big dog pretending to be well-behaved.

“Male parent, my mental energy has developed again, it feels a bit strange, do you want to see it?”

Serra said in a low voice. The two small dimples on his cheeks did not disappear because of the two developments, looking a bit sweet, and Edwin knew that was not his intention, but nodded anyway.