Reborn: The Female Monarch Is My Life’s Greatest Love - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Cross-Frequency Dialogue

“Is that so?” Nathanael said, taking a sip of his coffee while watching Bai.

“Of course,” Bai replied. Sensing that Allex had something he wanted to say, he followed the other’s lead after a moment’s thought.

However, that brief hesitation felt slightly off to Nathanael. Noticing the “eye contact” between his Master and the guest, he slowly set down his coffee cup.

“What do you think of his physical stamina?” Nathanael leaned back against the sofa, eyes fixed on the sub-female who was smiling so brightly at his Master.

“His stamina isn’t even as good as mine,” Bai remarked, recalling the several times Allex had lagged behind during training. “But his endurance is quite good.”

“Oh? Is it?” The smile on Nathanael’s face grew increasingly pronounced. Constant, catching this change out of the corner of his eye, instantly felt a surge of murderous intent.

His Nal wouldn’t think Bai is talking about ‘that’ kind of endurance, would he?

“Yeah, there were several times he left my back and waist aching,” Bai added, reaching back to rub his lower spine. Because of the recent combat drills where he was paired with Constant, it was still tender—likely bruised.

Before Nathanael could look his way, Constant raised a hand to cut off Bai’s dangerous line of speech. “You mean the wrestling match, right? You can’t blame me for that; you were the one who didn’t stand firm.”

“…Right, exactly.” Seeing Allex intervening again, Bai caught his panicked and frantic gaze and nodded repeatedly, terrified that a slip of the tongue might cause an emotional dispute between the couple.

Breaking into a cold sweat internally, Constant scooted closer to Nathanael and interlaced their fingers. “How about I cook lunch for you today?”

“Then why don’t you stay for lunch as well, Mr. Nate?” Nathanael suggested. They had originally planned to stay for only a month and move back this afternoon, but now, leaving didn’t seem like the most urgent priority.

“Uh… maybe next time.” Bai had already sensed something was wrong with Allex’s constant “corrections.” To avoid saying anything else that might be misinterpreted, he declined the invitation. “I have some matters to attend to, and it’s getting late. Let’s get together another day.”

As if to support his excuse, Bai’s light-brain began to ring incessantly. The urgency of the sound prompted Constant to stand up and usher Bai out even faster.

Under Nathanael’s watchful gaze, Constant walked Bai to the door across the hall. Before he could say anything, Bai saw who the caller was and angrily tapped the “reject” button.

“What happened?” Constant wanted to explain why he kept interrupting earlier, but Bai was clearly in a bad mood. He worried the other might be facing a problem he couldn’t handle.

“It’s my brother again,” Bai grumbled, looking like he wanted to rip the light-brain off his wrist and smash it. “He’s got nothing better to do than set me up on a blind date.”

“A blind date?” Constant recalled what Bai had said when they first met: I don’t want to get married; I want to be a military female, a Zerg as excellent as Major General Nathanael.

Bai turned to look at Constant. “Yeah.” After looking his roommate up and down, he let out a long sigh. “Forget it, a married female like you wouldn’t understand.”

“But your Master looks…” Bai paused, propping his chin with one hand. “…like he doesn’t actually need your protection.”

“He’s a military female,” Constant corrected, using the identity his Nal was most proud of. He didn’t intend to hide that fact from Bai despite his own inconveniences.

“I knew it! No wonder he seemed so…” Bai searched for the word. “Oppressive! That’s it!”

“Maybe a little.” Regarding Nathanael today, even Constant felt a bit suffocated by the way he leaned on the sofa—though most of that was his own guilty conscience.

“But I don’t want him to know I’ve joined the draft. It would worry him,” Constant explained, justifying his strange behavior today. “So, I hope you won’t tell him.”

“I knew I wasn’t wrong about you, Allex!” Bai found this “female” more and more likable. “If you were a Master…”

“What? You’d marry me?” Constant joked, just as they did in the dorms, to better maintain his disguise.

“Then you’d better not close your eyes at night,” Bai smirked coldly. “I’d kick you into oblivion!”

As Constant offered an awkward smile, Bai’s light-brain rang again.

“Fine, fine! If you dare set me up with a date, I’ll dare to kick his ‘reproduction tools’ right in front of you!” Bai rolled up his sleeves, preparing to charge downstairs. “Want to come witness the destruction?”

“No, no.” Constant waved his hands frantically at the agitated Bai. “I have to go back and cook.”

Hearing the excuse, Bai didn’t linger and rushed downstairs.

After returning to his apartment and closing the door, Constant let out a long sigh.

“What? Are you disappointed to hear he’s going on a blind date?” Nathanael took a sip of the coffee he had just poured.

“Nal, you know that’s not what I meant.” Seeing that Nathanael was still displeased by his secrecy, Constant hurried over, took the coffee cup from his hand, and set it on the glass table.

As their hands joined, the displeasure in Nathanael’s heart dissipated somewhat. When Constant leaned his forehead against his shoulder and looked up at him as a peace offering, Nathanael’s lips couldn’t help but curl upward.

Just then, Nathanael’s light-brain chimed. It was a message from his adjutant, Sace: Major General, I need one day of leave to attend a blind date in place of my brother.

A blind date?

After a brief pause, Nathanael glanced at Constant out of the corner of his eye and replied to Sace.

[Nathanael]: Photo.

Sace, who had expected a rejection, was confused by the request. However, trusting his Major General wouldn’t lead him astray, he sent over the details. Nathanael fell into a brief silence.

[Sace]: Blind_Date_Profile.pdf

Opening the file, Nathanael saw the name: Bai Nate. After confirming the photo, Nathanael quickly returned to the chat.

[Nathanael]: Leave approved. Complete the mission as quickly as possible. [Nathanael]: Looking forward to your good news.

Back at the naval base, Sace frowned. Why does the Major General’s reply feel so… wrong? Has he suddenly found a conscience?

Impossible. The word “conscience” didn’t exist in Nathanael’s dictionary.

However, Sace had a reason to go—his idiot brother had once again used his “Rising Star of the Empire” fame to run off for a commercial shoot in some gods-forsaken corner. For the sake of the family, the younger brother had to clean up the mess.

[Sace]: For the glory of the Empire!

He didn’t know what this had to do with Imperial glory, but a high-EQ talent never lets a superior’s message hang.

Nathanael ignored the reply, instead looking at Constant with a smile as he busied himself in the kitchen. His Ale belongs to him alone!

Meanwhile, driving his hover-shuttle toward the meeting point, Sace adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, rehearsing how to make his date lose patience with him in record time.

In the rearview mirror, Sace’s face—which always seemed to be smiling—looked surreal. Even when dealing with annoying tasks, he could maintain a perfect professional smile.

—You don’t meet my standards. —You don’t seem like partner material. —Perhaps you could be one of my lovers.

Having rehearsed these rejections countless times, he stepped into the cafe in a crisp suit, only to find his date already waiting…

“Hello, Mr. Bai Nate.”

Just as Sace prepared to greet him with his trademark fake smile, a sudden kick flew toward him.

The ferocity of it made his blood run cold. Sace had never imagined such an opening. After narrowly dodging the surprise attack, his usually logical, “Imperial Database” brain momentarily jammed.

It was then that he saw his date clearly—a man with a small red mole near his collarbone.

The breeze caught a lock of hair across the man’s eyes, and those wary, sparkling eyes crashed straight into his heart.

Sace had planned a thousand ways to say no. But this time, he didn’t want to use any of them to end this conversation.

Or rather, he wanted this to be the beginning…