The powerful leader was tough on the outside but soft on the inside; the aloof major general fell fo

"Knock, knock, knock—"

Ashel, whose consciousness had become a jumbled mess, was suddenly jolted awake by several knocks on the door.

"A mighty ruler, a mighty ruler."

The disjointed sounds were uttered with difficulty, trying to stop the male insect that had caused all this.

Unfortunately, Cen Li was unlikely to stop easily when the time came.

In the end, only Ashel remained, trembling with fear.

"Why didn't any insects open the door?"

"Isn't Cen Li in this hospital room?"

Chloe looked at the terminal information with a puzzled expression.

That's right, the ward number Cen Li sent in the message is exactly the same as the one in front of us.

"Perhaps His Excellency Cen Li is not in the ward right now."

"Chloe's female servant," Lega said from the side.

"That's possible."

Chloe nodded, placed her hand on the doorknob, and pushed it in. "Then I'll go inside and wait."

The door was pushed open a crack, then quickly closed again.

A soft "bang" startled all the insects inside and outside, followed by the clear sound of the door locking from the inside.

Chloe exclaimed, "Huh? There are bugs in there?"

"Why are you closing the door? Is Cen Li inside? Hey! It's Chloe."

Chloe knocked on the door again, the knocking sound urgent.

Lega suddenly spoke up to stop Chloe from continuing, "My Lord, let's wait outside for a while. Lord Cenli... probably still has other matters to attend to."

Lega phrased it delicately, and Chloe naturally didn't understand.

Something?

What important thing could possibly be keeping the guest insects outside?

Lega carefully chose his words and said, "My lord, perhaps you just caught a whiff of pheromones."

"Pheromone?"

Chloe looked bewildered. He sniffed the air in front of him, then slowly frowned. "No, is it Cen Li's pheromones?"

Male insects are not sensitive to the scent of their own kind of pheromones, but female insects are different; they are very sensitive to all scents, especially the scent of male insects.

Lega was sometimes quite exasperated by Chloe's slowness. "Lord Cenli should be here to open the door for us in a little while."

"How long is 'a while'?"

Chloe made a crying face, "Why isn't Cen Li coming out to open the door for us? I sent him messages but he hasn't replied. Why did he lock us out?"

Seeing the misunderstanding, Lega hesitated for a moment, then whispered something in Chloe's ear.

Chloe's eyes widened slowly, and she looked at Lega with a look of surprise and uncertainty. "Really?"

After speaking, Chloe's probing gaze fell on the door locked by the insects.

Lega nodded. "Normally, the male insect's pheromones aren't this strong."

Although the door was only open for a short while, Lega still managed to catch a faint, unmistakable pheromone scent.

By combining a series of clues from before and after, Lega was able to make a basic guess.

Chloe coughed lightly, her right fist pressed to her lips, then belatedly realized her embarrassment. "Cen Li... isn't he still in the hospital? Has he fully recovered?"

Lega shook his head, unsure as well.

Finally, Chloe sat down on the bench by the door, seemingly talking to herself, and murmured, "Cen Li and his queen seem to have a pretty good relationship..."

Lega sat down next to the male ruler and nodded in agreement.

When the door was pushed open a little, Ashel's heart almost stopped beating.

"Male master, female, father"

Ashel's words sounded like they were being crumpled up; he spoke very softly, afraid that the insects outside would hear, and only a few words could be vaguely discerned.

The instant Ashleigh had the idea to push the door back, two hands were faster than him, fastening the door shut and locking it from the inside, all in one swift motion.

"hiss……"

Cen Li took a breath, his temples throbbing. He immediately patted the firm curve in front of him and warned through gritted teeth, "Relax."

Ashel had never been treated like this before. The lord, the lord actually…

In Ashel's mind, only little insects would be reprimanded in this way when they made a mistake.

Ashel, suppressing his shame, knew his female father might be just outside the door, so he whispered a plea to the insect behind him, "Master, please..."

If Ashel were to turn around, he would surely find the lord's eyes terrifyingly dark, and he would be so intimidated by that deep, dark gaze that he would not dare to utter another word.

"Please..."

The insect was enveloped in a layer of shame, and it could no longer control the sobbing sounds that escaped its mouth.

Her mouth was also covered, and a voice even closer came into her ear, almost kissing it, "What are you afraid of?"

Even so, Cen Li still went along with Asher's wishes.

The door finally opened.

Chloe and Legar exchanged a glance, both seeing the words "Why did it take so long?" in each other's eyes.

Ashel opened the door.

When he saw the insects outside the door, a look of surprise clearly appeared in his eyes. "Lord Chloe."

It then nodded to Lega behind the male insect.

"...We've come to visit Cen Li."

After learning those words from Lega, Chloe's gaze lingered subtly on Ashel.

She twitched the tip of her nose again.

Chloe did indeed smell a faint scent of pheromones.

Ashel felt even more uneasy as he was swept by the male insect's gaze, sensing that they both knew what had just happened.

Instinctively, they cast pleading glances toward their dominant lord.

Cen Li was sitting on a small, soft leather sofa against the wall, leaning back comfortably. He was dressed neatly and appropriately, and to outsiders, he appeared to be a handsome and elegant male insect.

Cen Li's gaze was calm, showing no sign of panic or unnaturalness, a stark contrast to Asher's. When he met the female insect's slightly bewildered gaze, a subtle smile flashed in his eyes.