Free Web NovelChapter 59: Chapter 59: His Heart Softened
Beast Husband matching?
Shi Lan froze when she heard those words. ’What on earth is that?’
She immediately went on the Star Network to look it up. After a while, she logged out in a daze.
’It’s over. This country assigns you a spouse if you don’t get married...’
The era of having more males than females had led to a system of polyandry. Since the average age of marriage in the Empire was about 25, females were required to have at least one Beast Husband by that age. Then, within the following three years, they had to gather a total of five.
Every female was required to have five husbands. If a female reached the age of 25 and still hadn’t found a husband within a month, the state would forcibly match her for marriage.
The matching process usually presented ten candidates per round. The female could choose at least one she liked from the ten. If one round was unsuccessful, it would proceed to the next, until a match was made.
Similarly, any remaining husband slots not filled within those three years would also be filled by compulsory assignment.
Since there were so many males, a significant number remained unmarried even with the state’s assignment policy. This was why there was a saying in the army about killing the Insect Clan to accumulate military merit and get a better spot in line, all for the sake of winning a wife sooner.
When Shi Lan learned all this, it felt like a bolt from the blue.
In her original plans, she hadn’t even intended to get married. But now, it seemed she had no choice.
She lowered her gaze to Leo’s reply on her chip. ’I’m 24 now,’ she thought. ’The original owner’s birthday is in mid-February of next year. That means I have about seven months until I turn 25.’
For the next seven months, she would likely still be working on Black Star. That meant she had no way of meeting other males and would be forced to marry a complete stranger.
A sense of resistance grew in Shi Lan’s heart. She subconsciously dismissed the men in the prison. After all, she knew they were from a different social class. Even though she had spiritual power, her low Fertility Value was an unchangeable fact.
’Someone as outstanding as them would surely have their families arrange for them to be with a female with excellent overall qualities, to produce an even more exceptional heir.’
Besides, she had seen them at their absolute worst, during their spiritual power collapses. She didn’t think it was possible for feelings to develop under such circumstances.
A wave of melancholy washed over Shi Lan at this thought. Perhaps it was a form of imprinting, having transmigrated into this book. After spending several months together, they had truly started to feel like her family—caring for her, helping her. ’The thought of us going our separate ways... it makes me a little sad.’
Still, if she really did cure them and they could get married and have children, she would be happy for them, thankful that they had escaped the deadly fate from the original book.
Her mood lifted slightly in that instant. ’In that case, I should start making plans for myself, too.’
Shi Lan didn’t give Leo a direct answer. Instead, she wrote, "Thank you for your feelings. But I still have some time before I have to be matched, and I’d like to think it over."
"If you find another female you like in the meantime, I hope you’ll boldly pursue your own happiness instead of waiting for me."
This was a common strategy for males in this era. After all, females had a vast range of choices. To increase their chances of being chosen, males would cast a wide net, pursuing multiple females at once.
So, despite what Leo had said, Shi Lan didn’t believe he was exclusively interested in her.
Leo was very happy. "It’s wonderful that you didn’t reject me outright, Miss Shi Lan. In that case, please accept the gift. It’s something I genuinely want you to have."
Since he’d put it that way, Shi Lan felt she no longer had to insist on returning it.
"Alright. Thank you."
Leo replied with a smiley face, and their conversation finally came to an end.
Shi Lan let out a long sigh of relief. She looked at her remaining breakfast and went back to eating.
After she finished, she immediately headed to the back garden.
The weather on Black Star wasn’t great; there was very little sun year-round. While the same month of July was perfectly comfortable on Capital Star and scorching hot on the Border Defense Star, Black Star felt like early spring. The wind carried the scent of dust and a slight chill, but it was still much warmer than when she had first arrived.
The back garden was housed in an outdoor heated greenhouse, about a three or four-minute walk from the prison. Shi Lan, wearing a cream-colored, mid-sleeved long dress, headed that way. An overlayer of light gauze on her dress danced and shimmered, catching the light in a rainbow of colors. As she moved, the dress seemed to come alive.
She left the prison, which was always kept at a perfectly comfortable temperature. She had expected the walk to the back garden to be cold, but surprisingly, just as the online description had claimed, she didn’t feel any chill at all. On the contrary, she found that today’s breeze felt wonderfully refreshing.
「A few minutes later, she arrived inside the greenhouse.」
Inside the greenhouse, two robots were diligently pruning and tending to the plants. Under the care of these robot gardeners, the garden was a riot of color, with countless flowers vying for attention in vibrant clusters.
Today, Shi Lan didn’t pick just one type of flower. Instead, she chose several different colors, added some complementary leaves, and used materials she had stored in her Space Bag to wrap them into a bouquet.
It wasn’t a large bouquet, containing about ten blossoms and some decorative leaves. In addition, she prepared a separate bunch of flowers for his bath.
Once everything was ready, she went to the detention area, satisfied, holding the two bundles of flowers.
Shi Lan’s daily flower delivery had become a routine in the prison. Now, whenever anyone heard footsteps, they would instinctively look toward the door.
Perhaps it was because she had dressed up today, but the flowers in her hands only served to accentuate her beauty, making her seem even more delicate than the blossoms. She looked as fresh and lovely as a budding flower in early spring.
Suddenly, a familiar feeling of inferiority crept into He Hanshi’s heart.
’I really am getting old,’ he thought. ’No wonder Shi Lan likes Mu Tangfeng and Jiang Xia. They’re both still so young, while I... I must be 37...’
More than two years in prison had made He Hanshi lose track of time.
He unconsciously raised a clawed hand to touch his face and glanced toward the small mirror in the room. The high-spirited vigor of his youth was long gone, replaced by a quiet composure honed by years on the battlefield, like a pool of still water.
’Would Shi Lan really like someone like me?’
He Hanshi started to wonder if the perfume he’d received was just a beautiful dream. Meanwhile, Shi Lan had already placed the flowers at the window of cell five.
She first passed him the flowers for his bath. After a robot had taken them away, she smiled sincerely and offered the bouquet in her hands. "Thank you for the locator." ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
A flicker of light suddenly seemed to enter Yan Huoshui’s dark, listless eyes. He looked at her in surprise. "This... is for me, too?"
Shi Lan nodded. She could sense his mood had improved, so the corners of her own mouth lifted into a wider smile.
’As I thought, everyone likes pretty flowers.’
Yan Huoshui’s gaze shifted from her bright, warm, almond-shaped eyes. His eyes lingered for an imperceptible moment on her rosy lips before finally settling on the carefully wrapped bouquet.
He could tell this bouquet was different from the loose bundle of flowers for the bath.
He hadn’t expected Shi Lan to give him two gifts of flowers today.
’Is she this kind to everyone?’
A female like her could simply wait for males to offer their loyalty and their lives, yet she never took their help for granted.
’She really is different.’
In that instant, Yan Huoshui felt his perpetually cold, hard heart begin to soften.
