Chapter 1: Political Marriage (Part 1)
“Sir, today is your day off. The Marshal’s spacecraft will arrive at the estate in half an hour.”
“Understood.”
Jin Chi’an lightly sipped the tea handed over by the butler while lazily flipping through the files sent by the Empire.
“You may leave first.”
“Yes, Sir. Please call for me anytime if you need anything.”
After watching the butler leave, Jin Chi’an let out a breath and reopened the interrupted holographic call on his optical brain device. The face of Talier—the Imperial Family’s exclusive therapist—appeared before him once more.
“Looks like married life suits you pretty well, Jin Chi’an. Though that makes sense. The royal family has no use for a guide who’s lost his healing abilities.”
A trace of mockery flashed through Talier’s eyes as he crossed his legs and leaned back against the sofa.
Jin Chi’an gave him a perfectly fake smile.
“You didn’t come here just to say that, did you? The Emperor’s favorite. I’ve been hearing quite a few interesting rumors about you lately.”
Before he even finished speaking, Talier’s hologram was suddenly blocked by a fluffy ball of fur. A Kemier Maine Coon cat smacked at Talier’s forehead through the video call, only to droop its tail in disappointment after failing to touch anything physical.
Seeing this, Jin Chi’an instantly changed expressions. He scooped the cat into his arms and buried his face deeply into its fluffy neck fur with a satisfied inhale.
“Our little Puff is so beautiful. Way cuter than some people’s vicious hairless dog.”
Talier shot him a sidelong glance, his tone sharp and biting.
“Seems you’re pretty satisfied with this marriage arrangement. I suppose the Marshal’s beast form suits your tastes well enough. But I’m afraid you may have forgotten your actual job. So please hand over your investigation report, Chief Guide.”
Getting back to business, Jin Chi’an released the still-struggling Puff and met Talier’s ill-intentioned gaze head-on.
“Of course.”
.
Three months earlier — outer star region of the Iskan Beastman Nation.
After enduring a wedding banquet that lasted more than ten hours, Jin Chi’an boarded a transport headed for Marshal Felix’s residence, exhausted to the bone.
Powerful beastmen retained strong primal instincts, including an intense sense of territoriality. Marshal Felix was no exception. He had claimed the underdeveloped forest planet Sector Seven as his territory. As a result, most residents there were beastmen whose original forms lacked offensive abilities.
For this journey, Jin Chi’an rode in a royal beastman aircraft. Meanwhile, his new husband, Marshal Felix, informed him on the very first day of marriage that he would basically be living as a widower before immediately rushing back to military headquarters day and night.
Felix’s residence was located atop a mountain in the northern hemisphere of Sector Seven. Due to restrictions from the defense system, the royal aircraft could only dock at the city port at the mountain’s base.
By the time they arrived, it was already deep into the local night.
The moment Jin Chi’an stepped out, he heard a loud ape-like howl.
Several local security soldiers immediately blocked his path and saluted formally.
“Sir, an incident involving a beastman in a manic state has occurred ahead. Please return to the aircraft and wait for the moment.”
“A manic state?” Jin Chi’an was about to ask further when the butler beside him immediately responded first.
“Please resolve the situation quickly and ensure Sir safety.”
The previously stern-faced butler then turned back with a professional smile.
“For safety reasons, Sir, please return to the aircraft and rest for now.”
With his line of sight blocked by the security forces, Jin Chi’an could only helplessly return to the aircraft. But just one second before the hatch fully closed, a Kemier Maine Coon slipped out at lightning speed.
Approaching the area surrounded by the security troops, Puff agilely leaped onto the top of a tall building with an excellent view. Through the gaps between the soldiers, a long-tailed leaf monkey immediately entered Jin Chi’an’s vision.
Accompanied by a frenzied ape howl, the long-tailed leaf monkey dodged the energy gun attacks with astonishing speed before lunging at one of the security officers.
Its nearly abnormal reflexes and attack power made Jin Chi’an sigh in amazement. The strength of an ordinary beastman was actually comparable to an Empire S-rank sentinel.
Just as the officer was knocked down, only a scattered military uniform remained on the floor. Immediately afterward, a wolfdog pounced forward and engaged the monkey in a vicious fight. The long-tailed leaf monkey also fought back fiercely with both arms.
The battle soon reached a stalemate. The surrounding security troops all transformed into their beast forms and began suppressing the frenzied monkey together.
As if sensing danger, the long-tailed leaf monkey used all its strength to slam the attacking wolfdog to the ground before taking advantage of its beast form to flee toward the higher buildings.
Seeing the monkey approach, Puff—who had been hiding atop a tower—instantly lowered itself into a guarded stance, its pupils narrowing into thin vertical slits.
The moment their eyes met, the long-tailed leaf monkey instinctively launched an attack at Puff.
Inside the aircraft, Jin Chi’an, whose vision was synchronized with Puff’s, immediately extended his mental tendrils to counterattack the moment the beast moved. But just as the tendrils were about to invade the opponent’s consciousness cloud, a barrier completely blocked them outside.
The sudden change made Jin Chi’an lose focus for a split second. In that instant, the monkey’s fist arrived before him. Although Puff dodged in time, its foreleg was still struck by the terrifyingly fast punch.
The intense pain shooting through his arm snapped Jin Chi’an back to reality, while Puff was steadily forced backward under the monkey’s relentless attacks.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Grinding his teeth, Jin Chi’an endured the severe pain in his arm and launched another mental attack. After several assaults, only a tiny crack finally appeared in the opponent’s mental barrier.
And that tiny crack was enough.
Jin Chi’an controlled one mental tendril and squeezed it inside, spreading countless branches in an attempt to reorganize the chaotic consciousness cloud within.
But just as the tendril was about to reach deeper levels, the opponent’s consciousness produced a rejection response. Its mental network expanded outward, launching indiscriminate attacks on the invading tendrils.
Several branches were severed instantly. The sharp pain exploding in his mind made Jin Chi’an instinctively try to withdraw the tendrils, only to discover that the opponent’s mental network had already blocked his retreat.
At the very moment the main tendril was about to be cut off, Jin Chi’an decisively redirected it toward one of the deeper consciousness pathways. The instant the connection with the main body broke, a fracture appeared in the opponent’s consciousness as well.
The long-tailed leaf monkey, which had been attacking everything in sight during its manic period, suddenly froze in place. The surrounding security forces immediately rushed forward to suppress it and locked the temporarily incapacitated beast inside a specially made containment unit.
After the fierce struggle, Jin Chi’an weakly leaned back in his seat, gasping heavily. The pain in both his arm and mind continuously stimulated his nerves. Only after quite a while did his blurred vision slowly refocus.
He had barely recovered when the aircraft hatch opened once again. A security officer stepped forward and gave a respectful salute.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to you. The beastman has now been completely restrained by our forces. Please travel without concern.”
Jin Chi’an glanced toward the square containment box trembling in the distance. After hearing several muffled ape cries, he asked the officer before him:
“Will he remain like this the entire time?”
“Beastmen experience a manic period once every month. During that time, they maintain their beast forms, and all physical abilities greatly increase. Sedatives also become completely ineffective,” the officer explained.
Jin Chi’an was about to continue questioning when the butler interrupted once again.
“Sir, once you safely arrive at the estate, you must report to the Marshal.”
“…Understood.”
Since he could not continue asking further, Jin Chi’an could only give up. After nodding politely to the officer, he boarded the shuttle together with the butler.
Felix’s estate was located halfway up the mountain. Inside the enormous villa, only the butler served as actual staff. The rest were housekeeping robots, while the cold furniture and monotonous decorations made the entire place feel utterly devoid of warmth.
“Sir, your room has already been prepared. Please follow me.”
Jin Chi’an followed the butler into the room. The moment he stepped inside, the lights automatically turned on.
The layout before him left him stunned.
Whether it was the furniture or the decorations, everything was an exact replica of his home back in the Empire. The only difference was that a single room here was already as large as the entire apartment he used to live in.
Seeing Jin Chi’an frozen in place, the butler reminded him from the side:
“The Marshal specially instructed people to prepare this.”
Jin Chi’an’s expression stiffened slightly. Ignoring the intentional implication in the other man’s words, he simply replied:
“Thank you.”
After sending the butler away, Jin Chi’an shut himself inside the room.
Soon after, the sound of a window opening rang out. A cream-colored figure jumped in from outside.
Puff landed on the floor and limped pitifully toward Jin Chi’an while letting out soft whining noises.
Jin Chi’an hurried over and pulled the cat into his arms. As he checked Puff’s injuries, the pain in his own arm flared up again.
“Hiss…”
After removing his formal wedding clothes, a horrifying patch of bruised purple skin came into view on his arm. Just as Jin Chi’an was about to stand up and get medicine, a wet sensation suddenly brushed against the wound, accompanied by a tingling itch.
Puff was licking the bruises on his arm while occasionally rubbing against him with its fluffy head. That seductive little fox-like behavior made Jin Chi’an itch with frustration.
Under Puff’s relentless assault of rubbing and exposing its belly, Jin Chi’an completely forgot about his injuries. He buried his face into the cat’s soft stomach fur and rubbed wildly a few times, then, beneath Puff’s fixed vertical pupils, kissed the cat’s nose several times in a row.
At the very same moment, surveillance footage of a Kemier Maine Coon entering the estate and sneaking into Jin Chi’an’s room was transmitted directly to the military headquarters in District Eighteen of the Iskan border star region.
At that moment, Felix was reviewing military documents in his hand.
The adjutant, who had been complaining nonstop about overtime work while secretly hoping the Marshal’s marriage would finally give him a chance to rest, froze the next second.
He turned his head only to see the Marshal—who had been calmly handling official business moments earlier—staring viciously at the synchronized footage. In his hand, the strategic deployment simulator was crushed into pieces.
“Edwin. Prepare the aircraft. We’re returning to Sector Seven.”
Late night, Sector Seven.
A cream-colored fluffball slept beside Jin Chi’an’s pillow.
Light from the corridor seeped through the half-open door. Sensing movement, Puff suddenly opened its eyes.
A figure was standing beside the bed.
The sharp fangs before its eyes frightened Puff so badly that it rolled straight off the bed. Just as it was about to cry for help, sharp claws pressed against its throat.
A pair of feline eyes coldly stared down at it, seemingly considering what kind of death suited it best.
Under the overwhelming pressure of the white tiger, Puff—who had originally wanted to figure out the situation—finally could not endure the fear any longer. Right before the white tiger’s eyes, it hid itself inside Jin Chi’an’s spiritual sea.
Meanwhile, Jin Chi’an himself remained in deep sleep from exhaustion. The earlier disturbance merely made his breathing become slightly hurried.
Puff’s sudden disappearance did not surprise the white tiger too much. After pausing for only a second, it concluded that this was some special evolved ability unique to cat-type beastmen.
The next moment, the white tiger vanished from the room as well, replaced by Felix sitting quietly at the bedside.
Carefully, Felix lifted the thin blanket covering Jin Chi’an. The short-sleeved sleepwear exposed his arm completely, revealing the horrifying bruises beneath.
Felix frowned deeply. With a dark expression, he took out specially made medicine from his pocket and gently applied it onto Jin Chi’an’s injured arm.
After finishing everything, Felix picked up several scattered strands of white fur from the floor before slowly leaving the room.
Outside in the hallway, Edwin—who had been waiting by the door the entire time—was nodding off from sleepiness. The instant he heard the door open, he snapped awake.
The moment he looked up and saw his Marshal’s terrifyingly cold face, he silently recited his final words in his heart.
Unexpectedly, Felix merely glanced at him before handing over the tuft of white fur.
“Investigate this cat-type beastman.”
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