Chapter 4 Three New Males

Samuel stood still as shock took hold of him, and his heartbeat slammed against his chest. He never thought he would hear something like that.

Instead of being used or mistreated by Lillian, he found himself in a position he couldn't even begin to process. She didn't treat him like an object. She regarded him as the only male for her.

Did that really mean he was the only one she chose?

That moved him more than anything else ever had. It sounded almost too good to be real. Still, doubt lingered in his mind, because he knew better than to trust a female easily.

However, at this moment, all he could do was comply.

"I understand," he replied as he lowered himself and pressed a soft kiss against her hand.

Without wasting time, Lillian ordered a set of clothes for Samuel online. After that, she told him to head into the bathroom and wash up. She planned to deal with his injuries once he was done.

While he stayed in the shower, she moved around the kitchen, putting together something to eat while also checking her emails.

She received a list showing the new males assigned to her. This time, the number caught her off guard. There were three.

"Name: Erik Harvey. Species: Succubine. Level: Unknown."

"Name: Nikolas Dixon. Species: Merman. Level: Unknown."

"Name: Darren Lloyd. Species: Vampire. Level: Unknown."

Lillian's brows pulled together as she read through it again. Something didn't add up. Based on what she knew, each bonded male should have a visible level. Yet none of these entries showed one. On top of that, their species were far from ordinary.

She studied the names more closely, and one of them made her pause.

Nikolas Dixon. That name wasn't unfamiliar. It was the name of the heir to B32 Planet, the son of Leviathan.

Lillian's eyes widened as the realization hit, though she quickly tried to dismiss it. The male probably just had the same name as Leviathan's son.

No matter how she looked at it, the situation made no sense to her. With her weak spiritual power and her barely useful F-level esper ability, she had always depended on raw strength to kill aberrant beasts. Someone like her shouldn't even be considered for a bond with Leviathan's son.

There was no way the Yggdrasil assigned someone like that as her fated mate, right?

A heavy weight settled over Lillian as the thought sank in. If "unknown" meant their level had already surpassed S-level and the system had locked it, then dealing with any of the three males would be far beyond what she could handle.

After thinking about the matter for a while, she finally reached out to the bonding center. She explained her situation clearly, stating that her weak ability and F-level spiritual power made it impossible for her to properly soothe any male. She requested that the bonds this time be canceled.

However, her request was denied.

"Yggdrasil's decisions are final when it comes to bond assignments, and there is no reversing them. You have already canceled your bonds once. If you wish to apply again, you'll have to wait three months. Until then, you are expected to get along with any males assigned to you. Who knows, things might work in your favor."

Letting out a quiet sigh, Lillian tried to steady herself and look at the situation from a different angle. If those men truly came from such powerful backgrounds, then they probably wouldn't take any interest in her at all.

There was a chance they would request to cancel the bonds themselves, and that would solve everything for her.

At that same time, the system's allocation reached the males.

In the depths of Ember Planet, an endless stretch of darkness swallowed everything within Rapture City. Chaos ruled the underground as Succubine factions clashed, leaving the streets soaked in blood.

Seated on his throne, Erik, the King of Succubine, found himself surrounded as the uprising unfolded. The rebellion had been set in motion long before, leaving him with no chance to arrange his guards to fight back. Before he could react, Alice Campbell's attack struck, driving a weapon straight into his heart.

With his guards holding the line behind him, Erik forced open a tear in space and threw himself through it, escaping into the vast emptiness beyond.

He eventually landed in the Aberrant Thicket on Azure Planet. Blood soaked through his body, and his silver hair clung to him in tangled strands, streaked with dirt. It took effort just to move, and he had to brace himself against a tree to stay upright while he struggled to steady his breathing. His strength had been drained, and his body reacted by slipping into rut. At that exact moment, Yggdrasil's bond assignment reached him.

He opened his communicator and glanced at the screen, and the haze in his eyes cleared at once.

"Bond with a domina?"

Being the King of Succubine, he had never once needed anyone to soothe him, so this sudden arrangement made no sense to him.

A cough tore from his throat as he tried to gather his power, yet nothing responded the way it should. No matter how he pushed, he couldn't control his own energy.

The attack he had taken earlier wasn't ordinary. Alice had struck him with a Soulreaper Bolt, a weapon meant to drain life force, and it was designed to work against the Succubine bloodline. The wound wouldn't kill him outright, but it would continue to consume his life force, just like a slow and steady bleed.

At this rate, he wouldn't last longer than three months, unless he found a way to replenish his strength with a strong external source.

His eyes dropped back to the communicator as he read the details again. "Bonded Domina: Lillian Clark. Spiritual Power Level: F. Esper Ability Level: F. Residence: No. 17 Rosary Lane, District 3, Azure Planet."

F-level?

Erik went still for a moment before a harsh laugh broke out of him. The sound came low and dry, edged with anger.

"Yggdrasil," he called out, lifting his gaze toward the broken canopy above, "are you trying to help me, or is this some kind of joke?"

He was the King of Succubine. His kind excelled at wielding the power of enticement and using it to bend wills. He could command an army with his spiritual power, but now, he had to rely on an F-level female to soothe him?

Could she even manage that?

No matter how he looked at it, the situation sounded ridiculous.

Even so, the truth remained unchanged. He didn't have the option to refuse. If he wanted to survive, he would have to go find Lillian.

Far away, in Leviathan's Deep on B32 Planet.

Nikolas sat on a throne carved from crystal. A rare diamond spun between his fingers as his eyes drifted toward the figure kneeling before him.

"A domina? I'm being assigned to a domina?" he said.

Kneeling with one knee pressed to the floor, his subordinate could feel the surface beneath him cracking under the pressure in the air. Even so, he forced himself to respond.

"Yes. Yggdrasil has paired you with a domina from Azure Planet."

At the mention of that place, something in Nikolas shifted. His gaze sharpened, and a name slipped from his lips without thought. "Is it Justine Clark?"

If it turned out to be that S-level female, then the matter would be somewhat acceptable.

The subordinate hesitated for a moment before answering, his unease growing, "No, that's not the case. Based on what we found, your domina only has an F-level spiritual power. She's Ms. Justine Clark's older sister. Her name is Lillian Clark."

Nikolas tightened his grip ever so slightly at that. The pink diamond between his fingers shattered into dust in an instant.

"How could that be? Yggdrasil is giving me a useless domina?" Anger flashed across Nikolas' face as his expression darkened.

Silence spread through the hall, thick and suffocating. No one dared to respond. They all understood Nikolas' temper, especially when it came to females. Over the years, the only one he had ever tolerated near him was Justine.

Lucas Hampton, Nikolas' advisor, was the only one who stepped forward, breaking the silence. "Mr. Dixon, I know your preference lies with Ms. Justine Clark, but Yggdrasil's decisions aren't something we can ignore. You'll have to make a trip to Azure Planet and meet the domina assigned to you."

A cold edge crept into Nikolas' voice as he responded, "And if I choose not to?"

Carefully choosing his words, Lucas replied, "Your esper ability has just advanced, and that has pushed you into rut. You need someone to soothe you. An F-level female won't be able to handle that. You could approach Justine directly. Offer Lillian a sufficient amount of beast cores and convince her to give up the bond on her own. That would settle everything."

Nikolas fell quiet for a brief moment before speaking again. "You think she'd actually agree to sever the bond with me?"

From his perspective, females at that level usually reacted the same way. Once they learned who he was, they would cling to the bond Yggdrasil had given them and refuse to let go.

Confidence showed in Lucas' tone. "I've already looked into her situation. Lillian doesn't hold any real standing in her family. Even as a female, she lives under poor conditions. If you present the right offer, she won't hesitate to accept."

If possible, he would prefer to simply bring Lillian here for negotiation. But in this era, females were too rare, and Yggdrasil ensured their protection. No male had the authority to force anything on them. Their status stood above all.

A faint chill settled in Nikolas' tone as he made his decision. "Then she'd better accept. If she refuses, I'll find another way around Yggdrasil and force her to sever the bond."

He wasn't planning to kill her or anything. Instead, he would push her further into hardship, tightening the pressure until she had no choice but to give in and end the bond.