Chapter 22

In the study, Asher heard the noise from the living room. He wondered whether he should go out and check on her. Right now, he didn't really want to face Wu Ying, a powder keg, but he was also somewhat worried.

"What are you doing?"

Asher came out anyway. Wu Ying's head was resting against the back of the couch, twisting back and forth. At the sound of his voice, she paused, then pursed her lips. "Getting ready to eat. I get hungry too."

Her tone was unapologetically curt, and Asher had long since prepared himself for that. If she'd suddenly turned pleasant, that would have been surprising.

Asher didn't take the bait. Instead, he went over to check the dishes she'd ordered. Given her current condition, there were certain ingredients that might trigger fluctuations in mental power, and she couldn't have those.

Wu Ying watched him walk over without a word, and her chest tightened with frustration. A man of few words, wasn't he? She'd said so much, and he hadn't replied with a single word.

Angry!

"Asher, why did you suddenly come?"

Wu Ying wondered—could it be that he was worried about her? After their big fight?

"That insect was captured by the Fourth Army, and you were injured. As your guardian, I needed to come check on you."

Besides, he had the time and the reason. Asher had set out the moment he received the news. Even though the Second Army had already taken over the transport, it was ultimately related to the Fourth Army, so he naturally had to come see.

Wu Ying ignored the latter part. "Oh, so that insect was your catch. You didn't watch it properly, and it got out and attacked people."

"It wasn't released—it escaped."

Asher turned back and corrected her sternly. The meaning was completely different. If someone overheard, they might think Asher shared that belief, and that would be a big problem.

"Well, it was still because of your negligence in watching it that it managed to escape."

Asher couldn't refute that, because he thought the same way himself. The Second Army clearly knew that the insect race excelled at space jumps, yet they still failed to take proper precautions and changed the cage without authorization.

Upon discovering the insect's escape, they didn't notify the nearby stars in time, hesitating and dawdling. That indirectly led to the Boska Star government being unable to respond promptly and prepare defenses.

"Where are you going? Come over and keep me company."

Wu Ying stopped Asher, who was about to leave. Her tone was arrogant, and her behavior was bold. She tilted her head, wore a sour expression, and patted the couch beside her—a full display of provocation.

"I'm someone who likes to see things through to the end. I don't like it when arguments end half-heartedly, so come over and let's talk."

But she didn't look like she wanted to have a proper conversation. Asher looked at her silently, confirmed several times that she was serious, and then sat down next to her.

Seeing him sit, Wu Ying turned around, her back against the armrest, and lifted her legs onto the couch, sitting cross-legged with her hands folded, her face serious.

"First, I want to hear your take on this fight."

Asher sat bolt upright, staring straight ahead, both hands resting on his knees, his proper posture a sharp contrast to Wu Ying's.

He mused silently—could Wu Ying really want to seriously resolve the conflict?

"At first, I did jump to conclusions without considering the objective facts. But later on, you were the one who was emotional the whole time. I barely had a chance to speak."

That was Asher's summary of the fight. In fact, Asher felt that Wu Ying had deliberately provoked him later on; otherwise, something that could have been settled in a sentence or two had turned into an argument.

"Hah, I was emotional? Fine, let me lay it out for you properly. Wasn't it you who questioned and suspected me first?"

"...I was just trying to understand the situation."

"Really? Do you need me to repeat your exact words? Your tone and expression?"

"Yes."

"First, you questioned and suspected me. That's why I got angry and emotional. Do you admit that logic of cause and effect?"

"...I admit it."

"But I was just asking questions based on facts. You could have simply—"

"Why should I follow your personality and your logic? Asher, I'll say it again: I'm not your subordinate. I'm your wife. Do you understand what 'wife' means?"

Silence. As Wu Ying's last word fell, the entire room fell quiet. Even the robot seemed to understand the atmosphere, as its movements quieted.

Asher sat even straighter. A slight twitch ran through his hand, and the fabric of his trousers over his knees tightened.

Wu Ying looked at him. The man didn't move an inch, like a statue. If she hadn't caught the slight rise and fall of his chest, she'd have suspected he was a statue from the Middle Ages.

"Say something, will you?"

Wu Ying couldn't take it anymore. She uncrossed her legs and kicked forward, presumably hitting his thigh.

Asher immediately turned to look at her, his eyes quickly locking onto her mischievous foot. Wu Ying pulled her foot back, coughed lightly, and averted her gaze before looking back at him.

"I'm reminding you."

Asher stared into her eyes, his brow twitching as if suppressing something. His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice was low and hoarse. "State your thoughts directly. Don't ask me."

"Is it that hard to answer? And telling me not to ask—what, are you feeling guilty? Hmph."

Asher turned his head as if he didn't want to deal with her. Wu Ying frowned, and her foot, which she'd just pulled back, began to stir restlessly. The next second, Asher whipped his head back around, his right hand suddenly placing onto the couch beside him. From Wu Ying's angle, she could see the veins bulging on the back of his hand, the cold white skin stark against the black uniform.

Although Wu Ying guessed this guy was about to explode, she only felt even more like kicking him. If she stomped right on his hand, he might grab her foot hard.

"Ahem, my thought is: you must apologize to me. And I don't mean a flimsy 'sorry.' I mean from the bottom of your heart—spell out exactly what you did wrong, hand over a complete list of corrective measures for my review, and finally, make it very clear that you were wrong."

Wu Ying nodded as she spoke, her eyes fixed on Asher's face, trying to read his expression. Finally, she tilted her head and slowly let out, "Got it?"

Asher stared back at her. The two locked eyes, and in the space between them, sparks seemed to fly.

He understood perfectly well what Wu Ying meant. She wanted him to humble himself. Asher had never said "I was wrong." At most, he'd said "sorry," and he'd said that most often to Wu Ying alone.

"Understood. But I think, in order, you should first reflect on yourself. You left the training base without permission, which led to everything that happened. That violates regulations—that was your mistake."

Asher spoke slowly, his deep eyes gazing at her. "You should first give me a recitation following your template."

His profile, cast in the interplay of light and shadow, was the very picture of a dashing villain. Wu Ying internally scoffed at him, then quickly fired back: "Ha? Speaking of military training, I have a few things I'd like to ask you."

The things Wu Ying had repeatedly questioned and hated during the training finally found an outlet. She adjusted her posture, her gaze burning. "Do you know what our military training is about? All kinds of weighted runs, frog jumps—physical conditioning takes up at least half the time every day. We're so exhausted we don't have time to talk or get to know our classmates. To this day, I don't even know who my roommates are."

Asher started to refute that this was normal for military training, but Wu Ying cut him off, telling him she wasn't bringing this up to complain.

"In that context, mecha training, weapons training, and all those functional, knowledge-based courses like survival and first aid are squeezed in. I want to ask: what's the point of the military training? What is it trying to teach us? Each thing alone seems useful."

But when the body is utterly exhausted, she couldn't remember any of it. And the instructor—he didn't care why you couldn't remember. He only knew you didn't complete the task in the limited time, and then he'd punish you with more physical training. It was completely meaningless repetition, a waste.

"Students from our College of Plant Science generally have low physical fitness and low mental power. We've never been exposed to this kind of teaching or popular science before. This is our first time with all of it, and the instructors don't bother to teach us properly—they just punish us. Because deep down, they think we'll never touch these things again."

Wu Ying's chest tightened as she spoke. "This training was arranged as a military reserve program, right? So if they truly treated us as reserves, why not teach us the relevant courses beforehand? Everyone, regardless of mental power or physical fitness, should be treated equally. Military cadets start learning about mechas and weapons from high school, so during their training, instructors only need to issue commands. But we're not like that."

"If they'd told us from the start, 'Everyone is a soldier; this is how we all go through it,' then no matter what, I'd accept it."

"But now? On one hand, they say our mental power is low and physical fitness is low, so we're unsuitable for military service. On the other hand, they torment us during training. On one hand, they want to give up on us and classify us into other categories based on our physical and mental limits. On the other hand, they demand we meet the same standards as military cadets. Does that make sense?"

"Since they've already confirmed that our mental and physical levels are too low for military service, why doesn't the training fully account for our actual situation and design a suitable plan? The instructors say anything can happen on the battlefield—this is a must, that is a necessity. As if we're going to be deployed any second. But before the training, no one thought we needed to learn these things. And after the training, no one would let us go to war. We don't even have the chance to practice with mechas online."

Wu Ying was genuinely confused. Here, everyone seemed to remember only those hard, bitter times. There were so many people along the border, yet those within still felt war was right next door.

"What is the purpose of war? Is it to make all of us so jumpy and fearful, trudging through painful training every day? You stand on the defense line—what you should be protecting is happiness and beauty. So isn't it right to let those who aren't suited choose their own path? You've let us run wild for all these years, and then suddenly you want to turn us into soldiers in just two months—that's ridiculous."

"Since you've said we're not suited, then give us the freedom to choose a different road. Since you've said we should be protected, then let protection have meaning. What you should protect is beauty, not pain. If the meaning of war is just standing there, that's too tragic."

"This is what this training has shown me. I can't accept that philosophy."