I Hate That Jerk of a Spouse - Chapter 3

If you don’t agree, I will force a match! You better think this through.

The rigid biological clock of a military Ci woke Casper up right on time. His memories, which had been blank since before he entered the room yesterday, began to return. As he recalled what he had done, Casper stiffened.

He refused to believe that the insect from yesterday was him.

However, the soft, warm sensation in his arms and the ambiguous red marks visible before his eyes made it impossible for him to deceive himself. Thinking of the proactive insect from yesterday, Casper felt so ashamed and angry he wanted to die. He began to shout at the culprit within his mental domain.

【Come out!】

A voice identical to his own appeared, only the tone was steadier and gentler, carrying the calm and rationality of an elder.

【Something the matter?】

Leslie, in his arms, was still fast asleep. Casper dared not move for fear of disturbing him; he even consciously controlled his heart rate and emotions to keep them stable. He looked at Leslie’s beautiful, angelic sleeping face with complicated feelings, struggling for a long time before finally asking the question he most wanted to know.

【You called him Xiong Zhu (Male Master). Are you two married?】

“Casper” gave the answer without hesitation; he understood deeply what he was struggling with at this moment.

【Yes, I am his Ci Jun.】

The moment he heard the answer, Casper felt a heavy stone lift from his heart. But after the brief moment of peace, a more intense sense of unease arose. Leslie was a prince and an S-grade male insect who had reached that level even before his physiological awakening; he was highly likely to become the next Insect Emperor. Any one of these factors would be enough to attract countless Ci insects, and Leslie had all of them.

Ever since Leslie first confessed to him while drunk, Casper had seen his doomed, bleak future. He was a commoner with no family background, no power, and no wealth. Relying on a little favor from a male insect, even if he became his Ci Jun, how long could he stay in that position? There were plenty of noble Ci insects more suitable for the position of Ci Jun than him. Leslie would not even need to hesitate if he wanted to divorce him and change his Ci Jun.

Because he had nothing, he posed no threat. Rather than ending up in that miserable state, it was better not to start at all. He could not afford to gamble.

“Casper” knew exactly what he was thinking at that moment; those were all things he had thought about before. He could not offer comfort or promises, so he could only try to prolong the fusion of their memories. After all, the Leslie he loved was the arrogant, confident, and dazzling version of himself, not the scarred and pathologically submissive version.

Leslie had not slept this comfortably in a long time.

Ever since he discovered that Casper was always suffering from nightmares, Leslie had rarely slept through the night. And when Casper stopped having nightmares but began showing signs of self-destruction, Leslie would keep part of his consciousness alert even while resting. The last time he had such a sound, sweet sleep was before his physiological awakening.

Because he slept so comfortably and his whole body felt soft, Leslie rolled over while hugging his “peppermint-scented pillow” and continued to sleep on his stomach. The large pillow beneath him turned hard for a split second before quickly becoming soft and resilient again. Leslie did not notice and simply adjusted to a comfortable position to continue sleeping.

Both Caspers looked at Leslie on top of them simultaneously. His long, silver-white hair was smooth and glossy, his cheeks were slightly puffed, his chest rose and fell steadily, and he was softly snoring.

【So cute…】

At this moment, their inner voices became one.

When Leslie finally woke up, he was bewildered.

A large expanse of frost-colored skin was right in front of his eyes, and the warm, soft, and resilient sensation beneath him was clearly not the bedding he was familiar with. Leslie tremblingly propped his body up, his smooth silver-white hair sliding from his shoulders to cover his snow-white skin. His golden eyes looked over with suspicion and uncertainty.

From the firm pectorals to the clear bone structure, from the deep emerald eyes to the messy frost-blue short hair.

When he saw Casper’s completely naked state, Leslie instinctively curled his fingers, feeling flustered all over. Remembering what had happened yesterday, Leslie wished he could find a crack in the ground to hide in. Oh my god! How could he have been so immodest just because he thought it was a dream? That was too bold!

With his earlobes flushed red with shame, Leslie tried his best to steady his expression and beat Casper to the punch before he could speak.

“I will take responsibility for this!”

Casper’s expression turned very strange in an instant. At that moment, he felt like a piece of scum who had bullied an innocent male, while the naive and ignorant male he had bullied thought it was all his fault and was trying to take responsibility for him.

Not to mention that it was Casper who approached him after Leslie had clearly rejected him, even if Leslie had truly forced him to be used to survive his physiological awakening, it would have been justifiable; there was absolutely no reason for a male insect to take responsibility. But now, the male insect, who was blushing all over, looked at him with firm eyes and said he wanted to take responsibility. No Ci insect could reject a Leslie like this. In any case, Casper, who was cold, ruthless, and had a record of doing this twice before, could not do it now.

Leslie took a deep breath, summoned his courage, cupped Casper’s face in his hands, looked directly into those clear, bright emerald eyes, and said with the utmost seriousness: “Casper, are you willing to be my Ci Jun?”

He was even using a tone of request and inquiry, rather than the natural, commanding tone usually used by male insects.

Casper stood there, stunned, and did not speak for a long time. He seemed to understand why he was willing to serve Leslie yesterday, why he was willing to break the principles he had always held for Leslie, and why he was willing to gamble on a male insect’s fickle heart.

If that male insect was Leslie, he was willing.

Casper’s silence caused Leslie’s enthusiasm and expectations to gradually cool. The two previous painful experiences of being rejected surfaced in his heart once again. His heart was in turmoil, beating erratically. His mind raced, and Leslie summarized the lessons from the previous two failures, deeply feeling that he could not just ask with such a simple question.

He had to raise the stakes.

Leslie started with the greatest benefit, trying to persuade Casper to accept his marriage proposal.

“If you become my Ci Jun, you won’t have to go to prison. I guarantee that the Gray family won’t dare to say a single word.”

Casper, who was deeply moved, choked up. He mumbled, “I’m not afraid of prison.”

If he were afraid, he would not have crippled Ritter Gray with one claw; if the guards hadn’t arrived quickly, that piece-of-trash male would have met his end that night.

Leslie narrowed his eyes dangerously when he heard this: “You wouldn’t be able to handle the punishments in prison.”

Unfortunately, Leslie did not know that one should never tell a military Ci insect that they are not good at enduring punishment. This remark was undoubtedly taken by the ignorant and fearless Casper as a questioning of his physical endurance.

He looked back with a firm gaze that carried a hint of eagerness: “I can handle it.”

Leslie was so angry he laughed.

You can handle it?

You can’t handle anything! Who was it that was tortured until they were neither insect nor ghost in just half a month! If it weren’t for the fact that all the surveillance footage during Casper’s time in prison had been permanently deleted, he would have had no way of knowing what kind of torture it was. Otherwise, given how stubborn Casper was, he would have made him undergo a set of punishments at home to teach him a proper lesson.

If the soft approach didn’t work, he had to be hard.

Leslie leaned close to Casper, stared straight into his eyes, and threatened him in what he thought was a fierce manner: “If you don’t agree, I will force a match! With our compatibility, the success probability of my forced match is infinitely close to one hundred percent. At that time, I won’t be as polite to you as I am now!”

“You better think this through.”

Casper: “…”

He quietly said to himself in his mind: 【Does Leslie know he looks like he’s about to cry right now?】

“Casper” was silent for a moment and said honestly: 【He doesn’t know.】

His tone was fierce, his eyes were red, and the hands cupping his face were trembling.

This really makes it very difficult for an insect not to feel love and pity.

According to Casper’s consistent principles, he would refuse. He could die on the battlefield or in prison, but he could not die in a male insect’s backyard. His pride would not allow him to compete for favor with a group of Ci insects, just for a little pheromone from a male insect.

But now, he was destined to lose his freedom and ideals, and he would never be able to create value for the Empire again in his life. Then, let him fulfill his final value: to make Leslie happy.

Casper reached out and hugged the male insect on top of him. He heard himself say: “Okay, I am willing.”

Hearing such a pleasantly surprising piece of news, Leslie was stunned. Then, gorgeous fireworks exploded in the bottom of his heart.

He agreed…

Wow! Casper really agreed to his marriage proposal!

The corners of his lips rose uncontrollably, and his arched eyebrows were full of joy.

“Cough,” Leslie coughed lightly, trying to appear calm. He looked down at Casper from above and said arrogantly: “I’ll give you credit for being sensible.”

In fact, inside, he desperately wanted to roll himself into the quilt and tumble around crazily. To prevent himself from actually doing something so embarrassing, Leslie chose to rummage through his spatial storage device for formal wear. Casper’s spatial storage device had been confiscated by the guards before he was put into solitary confinement; now, he was penniless and naked. He couldn’t let a dignified General walk out wrapped in a quilt, could he? What kind of decency would that be?

Leslie peeked at Casper while rummaging, imagining the formal wear in his hands on him in his mind, but he didn’t feel any of them were suitable. Leslie frowned silently and continued to pick and choose. Finally, he unearthed a set of clothes he had treasured for a long time.

The royal blue military uniform was stiff and sturdy, the snow-white inner lining was covered with dark rose patterns, and a rose was embroidered with gold thread on the epaulet. It was the formal uniform of the First Legion.

It was also… the uniform Casper wore on the day he was invested as a General.

Ordinary formal uniforms required one to match their own inner lining, but the set bestowed by His Majesty came with a snow-white inner lining with dark rose patterns. The superb fabric was a silk produced only by the Dieyun Galaxy for the palace, a type that could not be bought even with money.

Casper knew very well that his set of formal wear was treasured in the safe at his home, so this set that Leslie took out now…

Looking at Leslie, who had no idea that anything was wrong, Casper silently swallowed the words that reached his lips.

Leslie nodded with satisfaction at the formal wear he had carefully selected and then pushed Casper to go wash up.

“Hurry up, hurry up. Once you’re washed up and changed into your clothes, we’ll go register our marriage.”

Leslie finished his grooming at the fastest speed of his life and matched his own attire to Casper’s uniform.

A warm white formal dress with dark rose patterns, an emerald mint leaf brooch, a single olive leaf hair accessory, and a pure white neck collar with gold-threaded roses.

After dressing up beautifully, Leslie secretly screamed in his heart as he looked at Casper, who was dressed neatly and looked incomparably heroic. Seeing that his chest looked a little empty, he added a brooch to him.

The white crystal-carved bird of freedom was lifelike, standing proudly on a pure silver branch. It was a meeting gift that had not been given many years ago; it had been sealed away, but today, it finally came in handy.

The aircraft had already returned to the bedchamber under the program Leslie had set in advance. A group of guards and servants were guarding the outside. The moment the Second Prince appeared, the Chief of Guards and the Head Steward greeted them with faces full of joy.

“Congratulations to your Highness for successfully passing through your physiological awakening!”

Leslie nodded, then took Casper’s hand and introduced him to them, unable to hide his joy: “This is my Ci Jun.”

The Chief of Guards and the Steward were surprised for a moment and bowed respectfully to Casper: “Greetings to the Second Prince Consort.”

Before Casper could even feel awkward, he was dragged away by Leslie.

Leslie instructed the two insects behind him: “Handle the affairs of the Gray family for me. Don’t let them dance in front of me again.”

Steward Val and Chief of Guards Sanger bowed and agreed, watching the Second Prince walk into the bedchamber with joyous steps.

Steward Val sighed in a low voice: “His Highness hasn’t been this happy in more than two years.”

Chief of Guards Sanger nodded in agreement, his face grim. Although he looked down upon that Ci insect who had always made his Highness sad, since Casper had officially become the Second Prince’s Ci Jun, then bullying Casper was bullying his Highness, and they would never be lenient.

“We should go, Val,” Sanger turned and left, “I am going to report to His Majesty, and I will leave that scum Gray to you.”

Val withdrew his loving gaze, lowered his head to tidy his pure white gloves, and his eyes turned gloomy in an instant: “Honestly, isn’t it better to be alive? Why must you seek death?”

Leslie held Casper’s hand all the way, looking for a satisfying background for their wedding photos while introducing him to the layout of the bedchamber. Finally, they took wedding photos in the garden, officially registered their marriage, and uploaded it to the Empire’s marriage system.

Casper watched with his own eyes as Leslie changed his information in the royal family member file to “Adult” and “Married.”

This was no different from announcing it to the world.

Leslie, who was admiring their beautiful wedding photos, looked up and saw Casper’s dull gaze. It was a dullness mixed with a hint of sadness, fleeting; after a blink, what he saw was a gentle smile, full of happiness.

Leslie faintly sensed that something was wrong, so he tentatively asked:

“Casper, are you tired?”

After all, he had been running around like crazy with Casper just now, and Casper had consumed a lot of physical energy just yesterday. Now that the suppressor had not been removed yet, it was normal to be a little tired.

Hearing the question, Casper lowered his eyes and replied in a low voice:

“A little.”

Hearing this, Leslie could not stay still and hurried Casper back to his room to rest. After settling Casper in his own bedroom, Leslie instructed him to get some good rest, saying he would come back after he finished handling his affairs.

Casper nodded obediently, his brows filled with weariness.

Leslie left in a hurry, not wanting to disturb his rest. After he visited his Ci father and Xiong father, and confirmed that the Gray family really couldn’t stir up any trouble, he would come back to have dinner with Casper. The long-cherished wish of many years had finally been fulfilled, and Leslie’s steps as he left were full of lightness and sweetness.

In the bedroom, Casper changed out of his formal uniform and gently stroked the dark rose patterns on the snow-white inner lining. The white crystal bird-of-freedom brooch was placed on the side, shining brightly under the light, as if it would spread its wings and fly to heaven in the next second.

But he would never be able to possess freedom again.

From the moment he attacked Ritter Gray—no, perhaps even earlier, from the moment he refused to become Leslie’s physiological awakening guide—he was destined to walk a path of solitary decay.

When Casper agreed to Leslie’s marriage proposal, his mental domain loosened; the barrier between the two consciousnesses was broken, and his memories rapidly merged. Perhaps because all the tragedies had not yet happened, his current state was much better than before his rebirth, at least he could meet with insects.

But it was different after all.

That high-spirited, arrogant, and resilient General had been tortured until he no longer existed.

The version of himself that Leslie loved the most, he would never be able to possess again.

Casper gently stroked the military uniform, missing his military career that he could never return to.

He had climbed up step by step from the lowest-ranking soldier by accumulating military exploits. It was decades of grueling training and countless near-death experiences on the battlefield that enabled him to reach the rank of General.

He was naturally proud.

To be able to achieve such success at his age, and to have relied entirely on himself without any background, he did indeed have the capital to be proud.

But for a commoner, pride was never a good thing.

He had ultimately paid the price for his own ridiculous stubbornness and self-esteem.

His life had been like walking on thin ice, with endless suffering. In his childhood, it was for his livelihood; in his youth, it was for his ambition; he had never been able to find peace.

Recalling the most beautiful time in his life, Casper saw Leslie.

The underage male prince had come to the First Legion to serve as a mental therapist and had won the hearts of countless Ci insects on his very first day.

Hearing his adjutant’s account, Casper snorted in disdain, thinking it was pure exaggeration.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen a male insect before; was it really necessary to act in such a spineless manner?

Before meeting Leslie officially, Casper thought to himself:

【So, what if he’s a prince? Once you come to the military, you have to obey your superior’s commands. There are no exceptions.】

Casper, who valued rules above all else, would not go easy on any insect, including himself.

But the moment he saw Leslie in the meeting room, Casper’s heart skipped a beat.

The male with silver-white long hair was as beautiful as an angel who had fallen into the mortal world under the light, but those golden eyes, which should have been noble and arrogant, were filled with admiration and joy.

At that time, Casper thought:

【If he begged for mercy while crying, it wouldn’t be impossible for me to go a little easy on him.】

At that time, Casper did not know that there was such a thing as love at first sight in this world.

From the moment he made an exception, he was destined to fall.

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