Top-Tier Arranged Marriage, but the Dom-Husband Has Amnesia - Chapter 5

“You were just too cute, I couldn’t help but…”

Igris lowered his head to look at him.

The young Excellency hugged his arms, his chin raised slightly, and his expression was cold. He stared at Igris with an unfriendly gaze, radiating a beautiful yet dangerous aura from head to toe.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

During their brief eye contact, Igris was the first to look away. He turned his body to the other side, lowered his head, and his shoulders shook silently.

Noah: “…”

His fist clenched.

In that instant, many thoughts flashed through Noah’s mind: “How many years in prison for killing a Zerg and disposing of the body?” “Is it too late to kill my husband now and destroy the evidence?” “Can I avoid crying at the funeral? After all, we aren’t really that close.” “When I offer incense to him next year, I’ll choose dogtail grass as the bouquet; it suits him perfectly.”

However.

Just as he narrowed his eyes, preparing to teach his husband an unforgettable lesson, he suddenly remembered the persona he had adopted upon waking up to test the other party:

A Zerg who had just lost his memory and, therefore, was ignorant, obedient, and instinctively close to and dependent on his husband.

And such a Zerg, even if caught in an embarrassing moment by his husband, would most likely shrink into a corner and sulk softly if he saw the other party struggling to hold back laughter, rather than retaliating aggressively on the spot.

Noah fell silent.

He reflected on himself: Although acting like a pig to eat the tiger is very useful, and although it is the most rational judgment and choice to act like a beautiful, harmless vase to lower the other party’s vigilance when facing a husband who far exceeds him in experience, power, and means in a strange environment.

But.

But!

Is this kind of persona a bit too idiotic?

Looking at the current circle of high-privileged species in the Federation, it does not look like he would survive three days!

His resentful gaze was too obvious, appearing almost tangible; it was as if he wanted to burn holes into the Zerg. The latter seemed to notice and gave a light cough, turning back as if nothing had happened.

“I’m sorry.”

Igris lowered his head sincerely, looking honest and submissive. “Can you please not be angry with me?”

Too late!

If apologies were useful, what would the Zerg Protection Association be for?

Noah wanted to say that, but considering the stone he had dropped on his own foot earlier, he frowned slightly and thought about how a naive, simple, or perhaps slightly intellectually disabled Zerg would react to a relatively sincere apology from his husband.

Noah figured it out.

So, he flicked his tail hook perfunctorily, made a soul-less “puff” of hair, turned his head away coldly, and walked away fuzzily.

He did not get far.

Igris leaned over and scooped him back, sighing helplessly, “Be careful not to bump into the wall.”

“Oh.”

He could not say thank you.

Noah hugged his knees and sat back down, pretending nothing had happened.

He seemed to have suddenly taken an interest in the patterns and colors of the carpet. He lowered his head and focused his attention on researching it, not even glancing at the other party.

Igris poked the corner of his clothes and said the truth, “You were just too cute, I couldn’t help it. It’s my fault, don’t be angry anymore.”

Is it my problem that I’m too cute?

Noah ignored him.

The Speaker racked his brains to apologize and beg for mercy. “How about this, to show my sincerity in repenting, I will write an apology letter? 1,000 words… No, 2,000 words! I will deeply reflect on and apologize for all my disrespectful behavior toward His Excellency Noah, and I solemnly promise that I will never do it again without permission. Is that okay?”

The ears hidden behind the white hair moved slightly.

A 2,000-word apology letter.

This count should be quite long, right?

Noah thought for a moment and reluctantly agreed.

As for the second half of the other party’s words, that ambiguous “never do it again without permission,” he selectively ignored it, pretending he had not heard it.

“Alright, let me apply the medicine for you,” Igris said. “I won’t tease you this time, it will be done soon.”

He let out an “oh” and moved back reluctantly.

Igris leaned in close.

Worried about making another overly childish reaction, the young Zerg lowered his long eyelashes. His expression remained cold and calm, but his fingers hidden under the blanket curled slightly, refusing to give the other party any more chance to mock him.

The next second.

The Zerg suddenly lowered his head, supporting himself on the bed with one hand, and touched his forehead against Noah’s.

Feeling a subtle, electric-like sensation surging beneath his skin, flowing from his forehead down his spine to his whole body, Noah widened his eyes slightly.

—Mental Communion.

Just as a Zerg can use pheromones released during a bond to help a Zerg sort out the chaos in their mental sea, a Zerg can also use Mental Communion to help their bonded Zerg share all physical or mental discomfort and pain.

If the pain tolerance of a Zerg is a ladle of water, then the tolerance of a Zerg is an ocean.

It was a feeling that was hard to describe.

As that ladle of water fell from the sky into the boundless ocean, the dizziness, tinnitus, and pain that had plagued Noah since he woke up, as well as the mental fatigue caused by long-term worry and exertion, disappeared in an instant.

Replacing them was an unprecedented sense of lightness and comfort.

The little Zerg, who had just turned eighteen and was inexperienced in Zerg affairs, did not understand what Mental Communion was. He only felt that in a daze, he seemed to have returned to his egg, and a gentle energy wrapped him layer by layer like a stream of water, making him feel so at ease and satisfied that he grew drowsy.

He blinked his eyes and, in his confusion, closed them again.

This time, he was truly asleep.

…

Noah had a dream.

Perhaps because this sleep was too comfortable, he had a long-lost dream of his childhood.

The Holy Land, Uranus.

Midsummer.

The cicadas were noisy.

Eleven-year-old Noah Villoria avoided the attendants, pushed aside the bushes, and climbed onto the lower branches of the World Tree.

He narrowed his eyes and gave a small yawn, preparing to lean against the thick trunk and close his eyes to sleep, but when he turned his head, he bumped into a pair of lazy, smiling eyes, dark as the night, amidst the layered leaves.

Noah froze for a moment, not knowing if he should greet the other party.

He knew that Zerg.

The protection of the Holy Land for young Excellencies was strict, but not so harsh that it was completely closed off. In addition to the weekly visiting day, the [High Tower], which represented the highest administrative organ of the Holy Land, would select aristocratic Zergs of the same age for the young Zerg to serve as playmates and act as little bridges between them and the outside world.

Noah, of course, had his own Zerg playmate.

However, he and his Zerg playmate were, in fact… er, not very close.

They were really not close.

Perhaps because of some unknown tacit understanding, or simply because both of them lacked interest in this kind of superficial socialization, Noah would not stick to the Zerg and ask him about the world outside the Holy Land; the Zerg would not politely inquire about his recent situation according to social etiquette.

For Noah, the weekly Day of Freedom in the Holy Land was more like a pleasant time for solo enjoyment, unrelated to socializing.

Usually, he would sit on a bench in the garden, quietly reading his favorite books; the Zerg would always maintain a distance of nearly three meters, dozing lazily in the sun, or resting his head on one hand, staring distractedly into the distance.

They were indifferent to each other and did not interfere with one another.

They did not communicate.

They did not speak.

Only on the rare occasions when Noah was tired from reading and took a short break would the little Excellency tilt his head slightly out of curiosity and secretly observe the Zerg opposite him with the corner of his eye; the latter would lean lazily under the tree, head up, whistling leisurely at the skylark curious to stick its little head out of the branches above.

—Only to be strictly reprimanded by the attendant on the side, saying that it was forbidden to be disrespectful to His Excellency Noah.

Noah felt that his playmate was a bit innocent.

After all, from beginning to end, the other party had never once looked up at him.

…It was only that degree of friendship.

And now.

He sized up the Zerg opposite him without moving.

His long black hair was tied into a high ponytail, and a few buttons of his clothes were undone, revealing blood-stained skin and sharp bone spurs. His hair ends were soaked red with blood, and stray hairs stuck to the side of his face, still dripping with blood in clusters.

Noticing his gaze, the black-haired Zerg raised his eyes to glance at him, but quickly withdrew his gaze without much care, returning his focus to the void in front of him.

Noah hesitated for a few seconds before realizing that the other party was on a call.

The Zerg did not turn on privacy mode.

Perhaps he had forgotten, or perhaps he thought it was not necessary, so Noah, who was close at hand, also heard the reprimand coming from the other side of the communication. The voice was cold, indifferent, and condescending; it was both an order and a reprimand, yet the black-haired Zerg supported his head with one hand, his expression indifferent.

The scolding lasted for a full ten minutes.

The communication ended, and the Zerg finally turned his head to look at him.

His posture remained relaxed and languid throughout, with no shame at being seen in a sorry state, nor any sharpness at being offended. Seeming to mistake Noah’s hesitation for confusion, the black-haired Zerg shrugged, sneered, and mocked lightly, “My good father.”

Noah: “…”

For the sake of knowing each other, should he respond?

But it did not seem like something he should respond to.

Fortunately, the other party did not need him to answer. The Zerg’s mouth curled up slightly, revealing a crisp smile. As if he saw the embarrassment in Noah’s heart, his expression was natural, his tone could be described as light and casual, and he patiently explained, “It’s okay, I’ll kill him sooner or later.”

Noah: “.”

Considering the non-existent friendship between them, he thought for a moment and wished him well, albeit sincerely, “That… er, good luck?”

…？

It was as if a pebble had been thrown into a lake.

The black-haired Zerg raised his eyes and stared at him steadily.

Those dark pupils were as clean as a clear spring, bright and transparent, as if a hunter had seen a strange new species, filled with pure curiosity and scrutiny.

“Ah,” he laughed, saying in a good mood, “I’ll take your word for it.”

…

When he opened his eyes again, it was the next morning.

The sleep had been refreshing, and the previous fatigue and dizziness had disappeared entirely under his body’s instinctive self-repair.

Noah stretched and sat up from the bed, feeling relaxed in body and mind. Sunlight spilled through the gaps in the curtains, casting flickering shadows. Recalling the scene from last night’s dream, it all felt like it had happened yesterday.

…Strange, why did he dream about such distant things?

Speaking of which, what was the name of that playmate of his?

He could not remember.

He thought for a while but had no clue, so he simply threw it to the back of his mind.

Unless the parents of both parties clearly set an engagement, the playmates of an underage Zerg were usually not fixed. After that incident, his playmate was replaced, so it was inevitable that he would forget the name of a Zerg he was not very familiar with.

His thoughts drifted back.

His consciousness cleared completely, and everything that happened before he went to sleep last night surfaced in his mind.

Noah: “………………”

He smiled and clenched his fists.

Although he did not know what his layout was before he lost his memory, he would just put this matter aside for now. The young Excellency thought coldly. The top priority was to bypass the laws of the Federation, complete the murder of his husband, and dispose of the body, all in one go.

Perhaps the great enemy he was willing to risk his life to set a trap for was exactly this cheap husband?

A double blessing!

Thinking about it, he did it.

With the idea of knowing oneself and the enemy, he opened his terminal and tried to enter the words “Noah Villoria.”

On the transparent webpage that only he could see, a long string of news jumped out instantly.

He scanned them roughly.

Most of the news was rhetoric, either singing praises to the Federation’s only Saint, or documenting the political movements of the Saint in an official manner: things like “His Excellency the Saint appears at the disaster planet reconstruction zone, strongly supporting the revival,” or “His Excellency the Saint visits the border legion with his husband and approves billions in military supply subsidies,” and so on.

It was meaningless.

His gaze paused on the word “husband” for a moment, thought about it, and tried to enter “Igris Orwell.”

There were even more webpages searched this time. Compared to the information related to the Saint that required moderate control and confidentiality, the high-level Zerg obviously had fewer such scruples, but the content was much the same as the previous results. Noah only obtained one piece of information from it: his husband was the current Speaker of the Federation [Parliament].

It was not surprising, Noah thought.

In the history of the Zerg race, there would usually be, and could only be, one Saint in each generation. New Saints were, without exception, all born after the passing of the previous one. From the moment he was promoted to S-class, his husband was destined to be the top Zerg in this civilization, no one else.

This news was of some value, but not much.

Was there no more detailed data?

Noah thought distractedly, his fingertips unconsciously poking at the panel, deleting the word “Igris” and keeping only the suffix “Orwell.”

The StarNet refreshed instantly, jumping out a large string of new pages.

He moved his fingers, prepared to close the extra useless webpages, when his gaze stopped as it inadvertently swept over a news headline.

《The Star General Falls! Iron-Blooded Marshal Alaric Orwell Passes Away Suddenly》

…！

Noah’s heart skipped a beat.

Wrong.

Since the Star Sea Era, the Zerg race had not had a real foreign war for nearly a thousand years. Marshal Orwell was in his prime, with the strongest individual vitality. If it was not a war, how could this famous Federation God of War die accidentally?

Wait or well?

“Knock, knock.”

While he was lost in thought, a light knocking sound came from outside the door. Getting no response from the host, the sound paused for a few seconds before the door opened with a click. Igris Orwell lowered his eyes slightly, his eyes filled with some exploration and scrutiny as he watched Noah curiously.

But it was only for an instant.

The next second, the Zerg tilted his head slightly, and that gaze that made Noah uncomfortable instantly dissipated.

“Good morning, my mate.”

The Zerg’s voice was lazy and casual, sounding no different from yesterday, but Noah’s spine stiffened inexplicably, and the back of his neck beneath his hair felt slightly cold.

“How did you rest last night?”

As he spoke, the door was pushed open further, and golden sunlight poured in without restraint, landing precisely on Noah, yet failing to bring him the slightest warmth.

In the wisps of sunlight, the black-haired Speaker curved his eyes and gave him a fresh smile.

Without a trace of haze.

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