You’ll Become Mrs. Virex

I almost left Eclipse Crown at the fastest speed possible. Kade escorted me back across the street to the small motel ‘Vian Lodge’. Standing at the entrance, I hesitated for a moment before asking carefully, “Kade… how long will Mr. Virex be staying here?” Kade glanced at me with a polite, professional smile. “Mr. Virex is only passing through Y-926. He has a busy schedule—he’ll be leaving tomorrow.” I understood immediately. He had come here just to see me on the way. But instead of feeling offended, the heavy stone that had been hanging in my chest finally dropped with a loud thud. Good. Leave quickly. Really—leave as soon as possible. Caedmon already made me sleep with one eye open at night. If Cassian got added into the mix—I might as well die on the spot. My relief must have been too obvious. Kade looked at me. His smile remained flawless, but there was a faint hint of amusement in his eyes. “Ashley, if you ever need anything in the future, you can contact me via your neural communicator.” As he spoke, he directly displayed his contact information. Internally, I rejected it a hundred times. Outwardly, I waved my hands immediately. “No need, no need! I really don’t need anything. Don’t worry—I won’t tell anyone about this, and I definitely won’t cause Mr. Virex any trouble.” Kade’s smile didn’t change in the slightest. “Ashley, I think you may not understand the importance of genetic matching. Since Aegis Prime selected you, it means that among trillions in the Federation, you are the most suitable candidate for Mr. Virex. Barring unforeseen circumstances, you will become Mrs. Virex in the future.” I froze for a second. Then I couldn’t help but ask, “Even if I don’t have feelings for him? Even if I’m just a drifter from Null Terra?” Kade nodded. “Yes.” I fell silent for a moment. Honestly, I really wanted to ask—does Mr. Virex know I have four other matches? But I swallowed the words back down. If they didn’t know, wasn’t I basically confessing on the spot? As for being “Mrs. Virex”—I genuinely had zero interest. Even if Cassian was good-looking. Even if he was ridiculously rich. Even if he could casually throw out trillions of pulses without blinking. Even if, after marriage, there was no emotional connection, and he probably wouldn’t even come home—leaving me a life of luxury where everything was handled for me— My answer was still the same: No. Interest. At all. In the end, I reluctantly added Kade’s contact anyway. He even offered to escort me to my room door, but I quickly waved him off. “No, no—it’s just a few steps. I can go up myself. You can head back.” Kade didn’t insist. He turned and walked away toward Eclipse Crown. I stood there for a moment, watching his back, then quickly looked away and went back into the motel. The moment I stepped inside, I immediately met the receptionist’s wide-eyed stare. Her curiosity was practically written all over her face. She glanced at the luxurious hotel across the street, then back at me—the girl who had just returned again. Her expression clearly said: What on earth is going on? Feeling oddly cheerful, I walked up to her with a smile and tapped the counter. “Hi, I’m back. My room’s still available, right?” Her mouth twitched slightly, but she remained professional as she handed me the key card. “... Yes, it is.” “Thanks!” I took it and headed straight upstairs. Back in the small, cramped, but inexplicably comforting room, I locked the door behind me and collapsed onto the stiff bed, instantly relaxing. I didn’t even bother turning on the light, just stared up at the dark ceiling. Cassian said he’d be leaving tomorrow, but with the Virex network spread everywhere, finding me would be effortless if he wanted to. And… what about Caedmon? A Federation general—if he decided to look for someone on a planet, that probably wouldn’t be difficult either. Thinking of Cassian’s smile that somehow still controlled everything, I had zero expectations left for the other four “matches” I hadn’t even met. Maybe each one would be worse than the last. They might not kill me. But if they treated me like some kind of “asset” or “property,” casually locking me away somewhere and keeping me completely under control… That would be far too easy for them. I rolled over and stared blankly at the corner of the wall. Back on Blue Star, when I lived with my father, I used to imagine something like this—doing nothing at all, just letting my dad support me for life. But that only worked because that person was my father. The absurd number of pulses in my account—Cassian’s “spend whatever you want”—I didn’t dare touch a single cent. No explanation needed. I was just… scared. And I valued my life. I still had things I wanted to do. I didn’t want to become a bird locked in a golden cage. In the darkness, I lit up my neural interface. With the determination of someone preparing to face reality head-on, I started searching— What exactly is this so-called “genetic matching law,” anyway? And the moment I did, a whole new world opened up in front of me. It turned out that behind this law lay what could only be described as a blood-soaked history in the development of the Beastkin race.