Chapter 233: Tianjia Prince × Mixed-Blood Military Female (18): This Was Exactly What Caleb Wanted Most, the Life He Had Dreamed Of

[Caleb had a long dream.

In the dream, he rescued the imprisoned Prince and wandered through the universe with him.

The Prince was with him again, intimate with him, performing Psychic Soothing for him, and even allowing Caleb to call him Male Lord.

When Caleb woke from the dream, his awareness settled back into place, and along with it returned his ability to think and reason. He remembered what exactly had just happened.

Looking at the Prince lying on the bed, his breathing gradually changing as he began to wake, Caleb suddenly froze.

Had everything that happened before really been a "dream," or...

If that had been the Prince's Psychic Domain, if he had been connected to the Prince, would the Prince know about the things he had said?

The Prince slowly opened his eyes. His magnificent purple eyes first looked upward, awareness rapidly gathering within them before his gaze slowly turned toward Caleb, light appearing in his eyes.

"Caleb..." the Prince called.

"Your Highness, I'm here." Caleb hurriedly answered, immediately asking about the Prince's condition. "How do you feel now? Is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable?"

Metis examined himself for a moment and said with some surprise, "My Psychic Power... seems to have gotten stronger."

It wasn't only his Psychic Power. There were changes throughout his body as well. He felt lighter, yet at the same time filled with strength. It was an extraordinarily comfortable sensation.

The greatest and most obvious change was in his Psychic Power. The range of his perception had expanded and become much more precise, while its intensity had increased as well. Metis even felt as though he could now use his Psychic Power in all sorts of unexpected ways.

Seeing that the Prince showed no signs of discomfort, Caleb breathed a sigh of relief and was happy for him as well.

"Congratulations on advancing. Would you like me to call the doctor in for a comprehensive examination?"

An examination was certainly necessary, but Metis needed to take a bath first.

He had been lying in bed for far too long, and along with the physical strengthening brought about by his advancement and transformation, there was a sticky feeling of accumulated pheromones all over him. He didn't think he was presently in a suitable state to meet other Tianjia.

Besides, males tended to care more about their appearance. Metis hadn't cared before, but now that he was with Caleb, he also wanted to know how his appearance had changed after advancing.

Caleb went to adjust the hot water for him and prepared his clothes and bathing supplies. Only once everything was ready did he let the Prince go bathe. While the Prince was in the bathroom, Caleb tidied the room and collected and purified all the pheromones.

In the bathroom, Metis studied himself in the mirror for a while.

There hadn't been much change to his features. He still looked familiar, yet there was some indescribable new charm in the finer details.

If he had to put it into words, it was as though he'd received some special bonus to his attractiveness.

Extra points in the seduction skill—very useful for courtship in ancient times.

Unlike females, males didn't possess overwhelming combat power. Their most outstanding characteristics were their Psychic Power and the courtship abilities granted by their extraordinary beauty.

The old Metis had believed that being excessively beautiful would only bring trouble. But now, he wanted to know whether Caleb would like it.

Caleb wasn't some shallow female who would be infatuated with looks.

During all those years when Metis had been trapped in the golden cage, Caleb had secretly helped him without ever asking for anything in return.

...

Metis underwent a full-body examination, saw Ares after his return, and asked his secretarial staff about the government affairs that had accumulated during this period. To his surprise, he discovered that while he had been advancing, Ares had actually been properly handling government business.

By the time all that was finished, night had already fallen.

Only then did Metis finally have time to sit down and rest, as well as spend time with Caleb.

At the small family dining table, he sat opposite Caleb, propped his chin on his hand, and blinked at him.

And blinked again.

Caleb looked at him in confusion and asked somewhat nervously, "Your Highness, is there something wrong with your eyes?"

Metis: "..."

It was over. Caleb really wasn't the kind of shallow female who could be moved by beauty.

The enhanced courtship abilities he'd gained from advancing were completely useless.

If beauty and charm couldn't get him a mate, Metis could only find another approach.

He sat upright and smiled with reserved elegance. "You're not calling me 'Male Lord' anymore?"

Caleb stiffened and said in a panic, "Your Highness, I..."

Metis gave him a reassuring smile. "I saw Nocas today, and I also met Colonel Kane when he came to pick him up after work—your younger brother. And then... I found out some things that surprised me quite a bit."

Metis wasn't a dull-witted Tianjia. Setting aside his uncertainty when it came to emotions, he was usually extremely perceptive.

Caleb's behavior within the Psychic Domain, the way Nocas and Colonel Kane interacted, and Caleb's previous remark that his entire family was very good at the Zerg language—when Metis connected all these things together, they led him to certain conclusions.

And a male's sixth sense was usually very accurate.

Metis had originally intended to say, "I understand you better now," but when he saw Caleb's face instantly turn deathly pale, he realized he might have gone too far and hurriedly apologized:

"I'm sorry. I didn't deliberately investigate you. It's only because I care about you very much, and I was curious... If you don't like it, nothing like this will happen again."

"And then?"

Caleb asked blankly.

He didn't blame the Prince for investigating him. How could he possibly blame the Prince?

This matter had always been an enormous land mine buried between them. Because of his own selfish desires, Caleb had done everything possible to conceal it, but the mine had still exploded.

There was no hiding it forever. Sooner or later, it would have been discovered. He simply hadn't expected that day to arrive so soon.

It had happened precisely when his relationship with the Prince was at its deepest after their marriage. They had already decided to have a hatchling, and Caleb had also learned that there was no male-female relationship between the Prince and His Majesty. The Prince had only him.

And then, at this exact moment, the secret Caleb had desperately concealed his entire life was discovered—and by the Tianjia whose discovery he feared most, the one he cared about more than anyone else.

In despair, he asked the Prince, "And then? What do you intend to do with me?"

Metis: "?!"

Wasn't "do with me" an excessively serious way of putting it?!

"Why would I do anything to you? It's not like you've committed treason."

Metis was genuinely baffled. How had things turned into this? Had he said something wrong?

Caleb lowered his eyes. He understood that since he hadn't actually committed any crime, the Prince wouldn't divorce him. He would still remain one of the Prince's Female Lords... at least in name.

"Then... will you choose a new Female Lord?" Caleb asked softly.

He wasn't a Tianjia in the fullest sense.

He couldn't give the Prince a true "Female Lord." Perhaps the Prince would invite another female into their household and form a real family.

Metis truly didn't know what to do with him anymore, so he decided to solve the problem through actions instead.

He stood up, cupped Caleb's face in his hands, and planted a kiss on him.

Caleb's eyes widened as he stared at him, his blue eyes filled entirely with astonishment.

Metis continued kissing him.

"I don't want some Female Lord," Metis said between kisses. "You're the exception."

"If you want to call me Male Lord or Male Consort, call me whatever you like. Either way, you're the only one I want."

"I love you. It has nothing to do with your bloodline. That's the least important thing of all."

Metis said a great deal in one breath. When he raised his head, he discovered that Caleb had completely frozen.

"Hm?" Metis waved a hand in front of his face to bring him back to his senses.

Caleb's gaze focused on his fingertips, then slowly moved upward to his face as he asked in disbelief:

"You said... you love me?"

Metis was somewhat speechless. He had said so much, yet that was apparently the only sentence Caleb had heard.

But being asked so directly made Metis's face grow a little warm as well. Even so, he answered seriously and firmly:

"It's love. I love you. Is there really any need to be this surprised? Didn't you already confess your feelings to me?"

If Caleb had never revealed his feelings, Metis might not have dared to lay his own heart bare so frankly.

A male who had never experienced a sense of security would always be afraid of getting hurt.

It was precisely because he had become certain of Caleb's feelings, because he trusted that Caleb wouldn't hurt him, that Metis dared to reveal himself in return.

But to Caleb, these were completely different things.

It was only natural that he loved the Prince.

And he had never thought the Prince needed to give him anything in return.

When the Prince told him that he loved him, it was as though Caleb had suddenly won the grand prize—a prize so impossibly enormous that it shouldn't even have existed. He had been struck senseless by it and couldn't recover.

"But you know that I... I'm not entirely Tianjia?" Caleb said uneasily.

"No one has the right to judge whether you're complete or not," Metis said seriously.

As for Caleb being mixed-blood, Metis actually thought that was a good thing.

It wasn't that he discriminated against pure-blooded females, but he genuinely felt resistance toward Tianjia females. It was a physiological aversion to interacting with females, something he couldn't control. Perhaps that aversion might even include Zerg females as well.

But it was still the same answer.

Caleb was the exception.

For Caleb's sake, Metis was willing to accept a "pure-blooded" Tianjia female Caleb.

And naturally, for Caleb's sake, he was equally willing to accept a mixed-blood Tianjia Caleb.

It had nothing to do with bloodline.

It was only about Caleb.

For a moment, Caleb vaguely sensed the thoughts the Prince was conveying to him.

He was stunned.

Perhaps the weight he held in the Prince's heart was far greater than he had ever believed.

"Your Highness..." Caleb's gaze intertwined with the Prince's, their breathing drawing closer.

"Ahem."

A dry cough came from the doorway. Both Tianjia turned their heads simultaneously and looked at the uninvited guest at the entrance—the Tianjia Emperor.

Caleb hurriedly stood and straightened his appearance. "Your Majesty."

Ares was a little awkward too. He was accustomed to being straightforward and hadn't considered how married Tianjia spent time together.

But since he was already here, turning around and leaving halfway through would have been strange.

So he braced himself and said, "My Male Zerg asked me to bring you a wedding gift."

Ares and Carl had a special relationship. Given the nature of their relationship, neither "Male Lord" nor "Male Consort" was appropriate.

So whenever Ares spoke about Carl, he usually referred to him as "my Male Zerg."

It was also a subtle way of showing off their relationship.

Ares took a deluxe collector's edition set from his spatial device and handed it over.

Metis accepted it and, from an angle Caleb couldn't see, secretly rolled his eyes at Ares and shot him a look that clearly said, Go find somewhere else to be.

But he still particularly loved this collector's edition of An-shen's works. His hand stroked the exquisite book gift box, and a smile returned to his face. He thanked the Male Zerg he had never met for the gift and asked Ares to pass along his gratitude.

Caleb, however, noticed the wording His Majesty had used.

"Male... Zerg?"

Ares nodded, showing no intention of hiding anything.

"You still don't know?"

Metis, on the other hand, was somewhat surprised. Smiling, he took a book from the collection and shared it with Caleb:

"The story of the Tianjia Emperor and the Male Zerg Carl is very popular among both the Zergs and the Tianjia."

Caleb had actually heard a little about it. When an entire population was following a book, Tianjia inevitably discussed it over meals and in their spare time, so naturally he had heard some things.

But he'd thought it was only a novel!

Ares had already been given an unmistakable signal by his older brother to leave, so he didn't tactlessly continue interrupting the married couple. He found an excuse and departed.

Now that he had a book he wanted to share, Metis pulled Caleb over to read with him.

"I've heard that in many Tianjia households, the Female Lord reads novels and stories aloud to the male."

Metis was a fast learner and fluent in the Zerg language. He didn't need another Tianjia to read to him. Unless he was so busy and exhausted that he needed to grab someone else for the job, he could read perfectly well by himself.

But reading together with Caleb didn't count.

This was a bedroom game.

He wanted Caleb, who was equally fluent in the Zerg language, to read to him.

Naturally, Caleb had no reason to refuse.

By now, he could also see that the Prince genuinely didn't care about his bloodline in the slightest. Metis had even taken out a physical book printed in the Zerg language and eagerly asked him to read it.

Caleb sat on the sofa, opened the book, and began reading the novel aloud to the Prince.

The Prince simply lay down with his head in Caleb's lap, enjoying being read to.

Metis closed his eyes and listened to Caleb's steady voice entering his ears. Truthfully, Caleb's stiff way of reading aloud wasn't much better than the Tianjia Emperor's, but the feeling it gave Metis was still completely different.

Aside from the emotional intimacy, Caleb was reading in the Zerg language. Compared with Ares's machine translation, it was infinitely better.

As Caleb read about how the Tianjia Emperor and the Male Zerg Carl had met and come to know each other, he was surprised that His Majesty, as a Tianjia female, could accept a Male Zerg. He was equally surprised that the Male Zerg could accept a Tianjia female who belonged to an entirely different species and came from a radically different culture.

Then he thought about the Prince's acceptance of him...

It turned out that among all these Tianjia and Zergs, Caleb was the only one who had been imprisoning himself.

Caleb suddenly let out a long breath and relaxed completely.

He accepted his own mixed-blood identity.

There was no longer any need to hide it, no need to struggle with contradictions and uncertainty. His male had completely accepted him, accepted everything about him—both halves.

"Can I still call you Male Lord from now on?" Caleb put down the book and asked.

"Hmm..." Metis thought seriously for a moment before saying, "Only in private. Outside, you still have to properly play the role of my Female Lord."

This was exactly what Caleb wanted most.

The life he had dreamed of.

...]