The Heroic Master Is Tough-Talking but Soft-Hearted: The Aloof Major General Has Fallen - Chapter 13

The following day, Asher returned to the military department as he had wished. He thought that if every female soldier was destined for death, he would rather die on the battlefield than within the cage defined by a male.

Yero had initially assumed he would not see the Major General for a while. To his surprise, less than a day later, they met again. As Asher’s adjutant, Yero spent nearly all his time by the Major General’s side. He knew that Asher’s personality was like that of most female insects: dull and wooden. Spending all day dealing with cold machinery made him even less appealing to males than the average female.

Thinking this, Yero’s gaze reflexively landed on Asher. As a soldier, the Major General was undeniably excellent and powerful. However, his handsome face had brought him nothing but trouble. In the past, many males had expressed their affection, either through subtle hints or outright coercion. Yero sighed, feeling a sense of lament. In the end, the Major General could not escape the fate of marrying a male, and an ill-tempered one at that.

Yero had seen Cen Li in person before. Although it was only a brief glimpse from a distance, the deepest impression left in his mind was that the male was pitiful and wretched. Not only was his appearance unsightly, but he was also crippled. At first, Yero truly pitied Cen Li, knowing he once had a healthy body. But after the Major General began showing up to work every day covered in fresh wounds, Yero realized how horribly wrong he had been. He should never have tried to empathize with a male.

That male was nothing more than a demon in sheep’s clothing. From beginning to end, the Major General was the truly pitiful one.

During training, Asher changed into his combat uniform. The mental restriction collar around his neck was abrupt and eye-catching, making it clearly visible to the other soldiers who possessed keen eyesight.

“The Major General is actually wearing a mental restriction collar?”

“I have never seen him wear that thing before!”

“His name was not on the list of soldiers with unstable mental power during the last physical exam.”

The soldiers huddled in groups of three or five, whispering among themselves. Although their voices were low, there was no way they could escape the ears of an S-rank female like Asher. Asher felt nothing toward these discussions; he had no desire to argue or prove himself.

He swept his gaze across the room. The soldiers were all gathered together, looking distracted and undisciplined. This sight caused him to frown. In the next second, the soldiers who had been staring curiously felt a chill run down their spines as they met the Major General’s cold eyes. They exchanged glances, quickly stood tall, and returned to their ranks to begin training.

At that moment, a piercing and sudden voice rang out.

“Do you not all know that Asher was forced to wear that collar because he committed a mistake?”

The crisp sound of military boots clicking against the floor echoed through the room. The crowd instinctively looked toward the source. A tall soldier approached from the distance. Two star emblems sat on his shoulders, shimmering brilliantly under the light.

It was Linas, a Major General of the same rank as Asher. He raised an eyebrow, his gaze toward Asher carrying a suggestive undertone.

“Injuring a noble A-rank Excellency is not what a qualified female attendant should do. I am curious how Major General Asher, who was supposed to be suspended, appeared here today so suddenly. Surely, you must have paid a heavy price.”

Linas stared intensely at Asher, scanning him from head to toe before letting out a knowing smile. The soldiers watched the two Major Generals, amazed by the thick tension in the air. They wondered if a fight was about to break out. Everyone in the military knew that Linas and Asher were rivals. Every time they met, the atmosphere became explosive.

However, most believed that it was Linas who held a unilateral grudge. He would mock Asher whenever the latter simply walked past him. Linas’s malicious words successfully turned Asher’s gaze cold.

“Linas, this has nothing to do with you.”

Linas did not get angry at the reply. Instead, his lips curled into a cheerful smile.

“How can it have nothing to do with me? We are colleagues. We should care for one another and show solidarity and love.”

He emphasized the last few words heavily.

“Even if you were punished by the male, there is no need to hide it. We are comrades in arms. Is this not just a part of life for a female?”

Despite his words, Linas’s eyes were full of schadenfreude. He acted as though he were afraid people would not notice Asher’s scars, wanting to tear them open and parade them in front of everyone.

Linas was a typical noble female: high-ranking and elegant. However, he was internally xenophobic and looked down on commoners, which was why he targeted Asher. Initially, Linas had not taken Asher seriously. He was just a commoner who could not possibly cause any waves. That was until Linas saw this commoner’s name appearing above his own multiple times, stealing the spotlight that should have belonged to him.

Only then did Linas begin to truly look at this commoner who had no roots in the Empire. The more he learned, the more he hated him. Even the golden hair that everyone else praised became an eyesore in Linas’s view. He turned his head away with a click of his tongue.

Asher did not show any shame or anger at Linas’s hidden thorns. He remained calm. “Then I might have to disappoint you, Linas. My Male Sovereign did not punish me.”

Upon hearing the second half of the sentence, Linas snapped his head up, his sharp gaze cutting across. “That is impossible!”

Every female in the military knew that Asher’s male had a terrible temper, even if he looked decent on the surface. Every time Asher came to the military, the faint scent of blood, no matter how well hidden, could not escape the sensitive noses of the soldiers. They had long since accepted that their Major General was living a miserable life, suffering through unimaginable tortures in private.

Asher knew they would not believe him, but it was the truth. Come to think of it, the Male Sovereign had not whipped him in a long time. He wondered if Cen Li had lost interest lately, or if something else had changed.

Before Asher could finish that thought, he was interrupted by the voice across from him.

“Asher, do you think you are lying to a three-year-old child?”

Linas logically interpreted Asher’s distracted state as a sign of a guilty conscience. He ignored his own spark of surprise that Asher would actually lie. He raised an eyebrow, and his gaze toward the collar of Asher’s military uniform turned to one of pity. He wondered how many scars were hidden beneath that fabric. The poor female could probably only rely on these thin clothes to hide his pitiful self-esteem.

Asher had lost the patience to continue this entanglement. He offered a few perfunctory words and unilaterally ended the conversation. The soldiers who had been hiding in corners to watch the drama straightened their backs as Major General Asher walked past, terrified of being caught in the crossfire.

Linas narrowed his eyes as he watched the tall, retreating figure. He should have been angry at Asher’s dismissal, but the thought that Asher was living unhappily made him feel much better. Perhaps that calm exterior was nothing more than a forced act.

He let out a light huff, his mood significantly improved.

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