Chapter 99: Accidental Injury

Chapter 99: Accidental Injury

Ludwig slipped in through the window, intending to startle Amber, but before he could even touch him, the male insect struck with lightning speed, sweeping his legs and sending him crashing to the ground, each move filled with lethal intent.

Military females have a natural savagery in their blood, easily provoked into anger.

Ludwig reacted instinctively, his right fingernails instantly elongating into an insectoid state, aiming a vicious jab at Amber's neck. At the critical moment, he suddenly regained his senses, halting his movement. In that split second, he was struck on the shoulder, forced backward by Amber, a metallic taste filling his throat.

"Ludwig—?!"

The light in the room had been broken during the scuffle, leaving everything dimly lit. Amber thought it was the assassin returning, and he had struck hard, never expecting it to be Ludwig. He quickly moved to help the other up, his expression changing for a moment:

"Why didn't you use the front door? What are you doing climbing through the window?"

Ludwig's face was pale as he clenched his teeth inwardly, feeling inexplicably wronged. "I was afraid your grandfather would see me."

They had no relationship now; a midnight visit without proper reason meant he had to find 'alternative routes.' He hadn't expected Amber to strike so harshly, nearly costing him his life just then.

Amber found a spare rechargeable lamp from the drawer, finally bringing some brightness to the bedroom. He helped Ludwig lie down on the sofa, his brows furrowed. "Unbutton your coat, let me see your injuries."

His attack had been uncontrolled; if he had truly injured vital organs, it would be troublesome.

Ludwig pressed his hand over where Amber was unbuttoning his coat, a faint flush appearing on his pale cheeks, his expression fierce. "Sir, I am an unmarried female insect. How can I undress in front of you?"

Hearing this, Amber paused, pretending not to know his thoughts, and retracted his hand. "Alright, then you can go to the hospital yourself."

Ludwig choked on those words. "But my injury is your fault."

Amber smiled ambiguously. "I know, which is why I'll cover all your medical expenses."

Ludwig: "!!"

Ludwig was furious. He suddenly sat up from the sofa, but due to accidentally aggravating his injury, he grunted and fell back.

Seeing this, Amber's fingertips twitched, subconsciously wanting to support him, but remembering something, he quietly hid them in his sleeves. Leaning against the sofa, he sat cross-legged on the carpet, looking composed.

Amber heard Ludwig's muffled voice from behind. "Did you ever intend to engage with me?"

Amber turned back suspiciously. "Why do you say that?"

Ludwig's lips were pressed into a straight line, unsure how to begin. After all, it was shameful for a female insect to bring up such matters. He shifted his gaze away, noticing the chaos in the bedroom, as if a battle had taken place. "Why is your room so messy?"

Feathers from the duvet floated in the air, chairs and tables were askew, and even the vase was shattered beyond repair, like a war zone.

Amber didn't elaborate much. "It's nothing. A thief suddenly broke in, we fought, and he managed to escape."

Upon hearing this, Ludwig's expression changed. This was the central protection area; there weren't even pickpockets on the streets, let alone a burglar suddenly entering Amber's room. But the most pressing matter wasn't this. He temporarily set aside his doubts, his gaze landing on the male insect. "Are you injured?"

Amber shook his head. "No, although he wanted to kill me, his skills were lacking."

Ludwig forgot his pain at this point. Covering his shoulder, he sat up from the sofa, his tone solemn. "Since he wants to kill you, it means he's not an ordinary thief. If we don't find out who he is this time, there will definitely be another attempt."

Hearing this, Amber rose from the floor, sitting on the edge of the sofa. Perhaps because of the night's stillness, his deep voice seemed strangely gentle. "You don't need to worry about this. I'll handle it myself."

Getting involved wouldn't benefit anyone.

Ludwig raised his eyebrows defiantly. "What if I insist on getting involved?"

He was always a protective insect, chin slightly lifted. "Tomorrow, I'll review the surveillance footage. Within three days, I can issue a full network arrest warrant and catch him. Then, lock him up in the interstellar prison. Whether he lives or dies will be at your discretion."

Amber knew the intruder had cloaked himself, and Ludwig's surveillance search might end up fruitless. He couldn't help but chuckle, finding this female insect quite interesting. "What if the one caught is a male insect? Would you dare to kill him?"

Underneath his joking tone lay a hint of serious curiosity, as if he genuinely wanted to know if the other would dare to do something punishable by execution for his sake.

Ludwig didn't dodge or retreat. Leaning close to Amber's ear, his eyes seemed to burn with two passionate and fiery stars, whispering with a smile, word by word. "Sir, if you were my partner, our fates would intertwine."

"My glory would be your glory, and your responsibility would also be mine."

So,

"What does it matter to kill a male insect?"

A monarch's thoughts are always veiled and selfish, giving three parts while keeping seven. Amber's memories from his past life were fragmented, and for a moment, he couldn't recall if he had ever met someone as candid and passionate as Ludwig, like a fire too hot to touch yet carrying a fearless determination.

And now, this fire was in his grasp.

Amber couldn't resist inching closer, stopping only when they were mere inches apart. He carefully studied the female insect before him, their breaths mingling, long and warm. "General Ludwig, are you trying to imply something?"

Ludwig countered, "Am I?"

Amber brushed a kiss against him, murmuring softly. "Yes, you are."

Ludwig's cheeks burned. "No, I said I'm not."

How stubborn.

Amber kissed him directly, leaving Ludwig dizzy as he pulled him down onto the sofa. His fingers moved lightly, eventually reaching the platinum buttons on the female insect's military uniform collar, asking softly:

"Can I undo them?"

Although he only wanted to check the injuries, as Ludwig had said, a female insect's reputation was precious. If the other was unwilling, he wouldn't force it.

The night was cool, but inside the room, the temperature was scorching.

Upon hearing this, Ludwig remained silent for a moment before unbuttoning his military uniform himself. He turned his head away, not daring to meet Amber's gaze, feeling a chill on his skin as his clothes were removed.

Years of intense combat had endowed Ludwig with a body of beautifully streamlined muscles, his skin as smooth and clean as cold jade. Now, because of embarrassment, a faint blush appeared, making the scars left by battles more noticeable.

Most military females, fearing their male partners' displeasure after marriage, would choose medical treatments to remove scars. But Ludwig had never entertained such thoughts. Their lives were forever entwined with ceaseless wars, and scars represented honors. He wouldn't erase his proud honors just to please a male insect.

Amber rubbed Ludwig's shoulder with her fingertips, where a large bruise had formed, thinking that she had indeed hit him too hard. In a daze, he seemed to sigh, propping the female up against his chest. He gathered his inner strength in his palm and gently massaged the bruise away: "Don't climb through windows next time."

Ludwig pursed his lips, somewhat unhappy. "What should I say if I come through the front door and run into your grandfather?"

Amber was unconcerned. "Say whatever you would normally say."

Fernan couldn't interfere with any of his decisions.

Upon hearing this, Ludwig simply laid his head on Amber's lap, looking up at him. His platinum hair was messily scattered across his face, his amber irises reflecting the fragmented light. The sofa couldn't accommodate his long legs, forcing them to hang down half-way. His black military boots swung back and forth: "What should I say? That I came over in the middle of the night for a rendezvous with you?"

He wouldn't rest until he had shocked the insect to death with his words.

Amber looked at him with interest. "Dare you?"

Ludwig smirked triumphantly. "Why shouldn't I?"

Perhaps it was because Amber was so cold that teasing him was particularly interesting. Ludwig hesitated for a moment, but finally discarded the shame that neither fed nor quenched, reaching out to wrap his arms around Amber's neck. He forced the other to lower their head for a kiss.

Ludwig bit Amber's lips lightly as if in retaliation, his voice low, tinged with dissatisfaction and complaint. "When do you plan to remarry me?"

When he was in the military department, he couldn't talk much to Amber. After work, he couldn't be overly intimate in public places. Even their meetings had to be late at night, sneaking through windows. Ludwig always felt a sense of frustration akin to having an illicit affair.

Amber's dark eyes flashed with a hint of amusement. "In a hurry?"

He wasn't actually in a rush, as there were many things that needed to be taken care of. However, if Ludwig was that eager, moving up the schedule wasn't entirely out of the question.

Ludwig furrowed his brows, biting Amber's earlobe. It was icy cold, yet became moist and warm under the caress of his tongue. "Sir, there are countless benefits to being my partner. Why do you always hesitate?"

Amber: "Benefits?"

Ludwig gave examples. "Wealth, status, power. Is that not enough?"

Amber remained silent, wanting to say that he had once possessed vast wealth and held all power in the world within his grasp. Those things were valuable, yet also worthless. They could never compare to the moon and stars in the sky or to someone's true heart, for these things could not be obtained by force.

Had anyone ever given him a true heart when his dynasty was at its peak?

Time had been long, and Amber had forgotten.

He just felt that the female in his arms had a strange sense of familiarity. His usually emotionally detached mind seemed to have developed a crack, slowly spreading outward.

The system silently appeared behind Amber. If it had a human face, its expression would certainly be one of deep concentration and confusion. This was because it discovered a thin, pale pink light thread suddenly appearing in Amber's brain. Although extremely faint, weaker than mist, the system clearly recognized it as a strand of affection.

Something Amber should not possess.

Affection represented the seven emotions and desires, and the thread of affection was the physical manifestation of these things. In his previous two lives, Amber had already had his threads of affection extracted twice. Naturally, he lost some of the normal emotions that belonged to humans.

This was a very frightening phenomenon. Over time, Amber would gradually become a cold-blooded and emotionless person. The coldness of his character in this life was already evident, but the system never expected that a new thread of affection would begin to grow in his mind.

"..."

What was going on here?

The system couldn't understand, slightly deflated, and disappeared from view. The following scene was simply too intimate to watch.

"Ludwig, those things don't attract me that much..."

Amber traced her fingertips lightly over Ludwig's eye corners. "Do you know what is the rarest thing in the world?"

She didn't say most precious, only most rare.

Ludwig remained silent.

Amber's fingertips slowly descended, landing on his chest, drawing a circle over his heart. It was both ticklish and tight:

"It's a true heart, a genuine heart."

Upon hearing this, Ludwig's eyelashes fluttered for a moment. He was born and raised on Aliga Star and had never seen such a thing among the insectoids. He didn't even know if he had a true heart himself.

Perhaps he did, otherwise why would he do things unlike himself, like climbing through windows at midnight or sharing wealth and status with another?

Thinking this way, Ludwig subconsciously pursed his lips, refusing to utter a word.

Amber gazed down at him, her dark eyes mysterious and seductive. Half-serious, half-jokingly, she asked, "Ludwig, can you give me these?"

Ludwig frowned. "You don't want power, you don't want wealth, you just want this?"

Amber lowered her eyes. "You don't understand. These are merely byproducts of a true heart."

Ludwig, if you are willing to give your true heart to someone, then your power, wealth, and status will belong to that person.

Upon hearing this, Ludwig fell silent for a moment before asking defiantly, "Then, sir, what can I get?"

Amber was momentarily stunned, then chuckled softly. "Ludwig, what do you want?"

"..."

Ludwig didn't know himself. Throughout his life, he seemed to have gained many things, yet also seemed to have gained nothing. He reached out to hook Amber's tie, pulling slightly to bring the other closer. His amber eyes, now nearly black in the shadows, revealed an ambition unseen during the day:

"You know what I want."

Amber indeed knew. She thought that this female insect refused to take any loss. After a moment of contemplation, she smiled. "Then... how about I go to Duke Bach next week to discuss the marriage contract?"

Actually, Amber had planned to go next week anyway. As long as Ludwig wasn't engaged, the interstellar media would continue to smear and slander him, pinning all sorts of false accusations on him. Previously, they said he was a husband-killer, and who knew what they would say next.

Upon Amber's words, the tension in the tie finally eased, the fingers slowly sliding down.

Ludwig pursed his lips. "No need. I'll go myself. You don't have to show up."

Duke Bach didn't approve of him being with Amber in the first place. Knowing the news, he might oppose it in ways that could make the situation awkward. To avoid such embarrassment, he preferred to handle it himself.

Amber, however, directly lifted him from the sofa in a horizontal embrace, turned and left the messy master bedroom, and strode towards the guest bedroom next door. The frost-like temperature around him had somewhat melted, inexplicably becoming steady and reliable.

"Paying respects to elders is a duty; it's not as if we should emulate you by climbing through windows every day."

Upon hearing the words, Ludwig's expression eased slightly, and he awkwardly averted his gaze: "I didn't say that, it's just that my grandfather doesn't approve of me being with you. What if we end up in an argument..."

Amber tilted her head and tenderly kissed his hair, succinctly saying, "Leave it to me."