Inside the First Military District, Graces had just walked out of a conference room when someone grabbed him by the collar. The man's face was contorted with fury as he accused, "What kind of tricks did you pull, Graces!"
The man frowned slightly. He had a naturally cold-looking face, and the expression gave him an indescribable frosty air. Graces raised a hand, swatted away the hand gripping his collar, and put some distance between them. "Colonel Ko Fei, please control your emotions."
Hearing this, a few others who hadn't left yet also chimed in to placate him. "That's right, Ko Fei, calm down. The formation of the special legion was personally assigned to Graces by Admiral Snop. If you're dissatisfied, you can take it up with the Admiral. What's the point of confronting Graces?"
That only made things worse. Ko Fei whipped his head around to face the speaker, his horns nearly scratching the man. "On what grounds? He's a defective! On what grounds does he get to be in charge of the special legion's formation? He must have used some kind of trick to force Admiral Snop's hand!"
At his words, the expressions of everyone around them turned strange to varying degrees.
Graces straightened his disheveled collar and glanced at Ko Fei, who was now being held back by the others. He had no desire to argue with someone with such a bizarre way of thinking.
'He thinks he's so clever,' Graces thought, 'but has he even considered that Admiral Snop isn't an idiot?'
Seeing Graces about to leave, Ko Fei immediately shouted, "What, am I wrong? If you ask me, Graces, since you're already Duke Lu Xia's husband, you should just stay home and properly serve your Female Master! What are you doing still hanging around the military district? You're a defective. If something major really happened, what use would you be? If I were you, I would've gone home ages ago instead of staying here making trouble for everyone!"
"Ko Fei, don't talk nonsense. Colonel Graces's return to work was permitted by his Female Master. Besides, his contributions to the military district are plain for all to see. You shouldn't speak of him like that," someone who couldn't stand it any longer said, speaking up for Graces.
But Ko Fei was unmoved. "Don't you stand there defending him. No matter what you say, he's still just a husband, and that's all he'll ever be for the rest of his life. A defective should know his place. What kind of future can the special legion have if it's entrusted to someone like him?"
Graces lifted his gaze, his eyes cold as he looked at Ko Fei.
Sensing the hostility in Graces's eyes, Ko Fei's lips curled into a smirk. "What, you don't like what you hear? If you've got a problem with it, why don't we go a few rounds?"
"Ko Fei, have you lost your mind? How could Graces possibly fight you? That's enough! Like we said, if you have a complaint, take it to Admiral Snop. Stop bullying your colleagues here!"
"Ha! See? Even you think he's a defective who's no match for us Gene Fusion Experts, don't you? So why should someone like him be allowed to stay in the military?" This was clearly the main point of Ko Fei's tantrum today.
"A match is fine. But what happens if you lose?" Graces suddenly asked, his voice calm, but his gaze remained cold.
His question, however, made Ko Fei burst out laughing. "HAHAHA! Me, lose? Are you joking? Me, lose to a defective like you? If I lose, I'll leave the First Military District immediately. How about that?"
"Fine. I hope you're a man of your word," Graces replied instantly, as if Ko Fei's loss was a foregone conclusion.
The onlookers couldn't bear to watch anymore. "Graces, are you crazy too?" one of them interjected. "Ko Fei is being irrational, but so are you! This isn't something you can just joke about. Both of you, calm down! We're all colleagues here, what's the point of all this?"
"There's no need. Since Colonel Ko Fei is so dissatisfied with me, let's settle this once and for all. I assume Colonel Ko Fei isn't just all talk, right?"
"If you're not afraid to die, why would I be afraid?" Ko Fei retorted.
Just as the two were locked in a tense standoff, a guard ran in from outside and shouted, "Colonel Graces, your—your Female Master is here to, to see you!"
His trembling shout instantly froze the atmosphere in the room.
Before anyone could process what they had just heard, a sneer escaped Ko Fei's lips. "Colonel Graces, what did you do at home to make your Female Master so angry that she'd chase you all the way here? Perfect. In a moment, she'll get a good look at how pathetic you are. Let her see exactly what a defective is."
Graces ignored Ko Fei's taunts and quickly walked over. "My Female Master is..."
He was about to ask the guard where Lu Xia was, but before he could finish, he saw Lu Xia walk in with an old butler. Seeing the crowd, she asked with some surprise, "Graces, are you busy?"
Lu Xia truly hadn't expected so many people to be with Graces. 'Did I come at a bad time?' she wondered.
Her tone held a hint of surprise, but there was no trace of coldness or disgust. On the contrary, she sounded very gentle.
This stunned everyone present.
Many of them were married, after all, and even for those who weren't mere husbands, their Female Masters had never once come to the First Military District to visit them.
Yet here was Graces, a 'defective' male and just a husband, and his Female Master had actually come to the military district to see him.
And by the looks of it, their relationship seemed quite good.
"Heh. Graces, you'd better tell your Female Master what you're about to do," Ko Fei reminded him with a cold laugh, but he couldn't hide the jealousy surfacing in his eyes.
At that moment, everyone frowned in unison. They all felt that Ko Fei's actions today had gone too far.
To act like this just because of the special legion's formation was far too petty.
Hearing this, Lu Xia looked over, raising an eyebrow slightly. She then listened as Graces, his voice a little tense, began to explain.
When she heard that Graces was going to duel Ko Fei, Lu Xia looked with interest at Ko Fei, who was standing not far away. The seething resentment in his eyes was obvious.
"Are you confident?" Lu Xia didn't try to stop him, only softly voicing her concern.
"Yes. I'll do my best," Graces replied, his voice steady. He showed no lack of confidence just because his opponent was a Gene Fusion Expert.
Lu Xia didn't know where Graces got his courage, but since he was confident, she had no intention of stopping him. Instead, she curled her lips into a smile and looked at his opponent. "The two of you duel, and the loser leaves the First Military District. That doesn't seem very fair. After all, my Graces is taking the greater risk. As a Gene Fusion Expert, surely you're not lacking in a bit of backbone, are you?"
Lu Xia's words made everyone's expressions shift, but no one had expected this. Not only did she not mock Graces for overestimating himself by dueling a Gene Fusion Expert as a 'defective,' but she was actually defending his interests.
What's more, she had just said "my Graces." Even though it was just two simple words, it was an endearment that male Beastmen like them could not easily obtain.
And yet, Duke Lu Xia had bestowed it upon Colonel Graces so effortlessly.
In an instant, the way everyone looked at Graces changed slightly.
'Colonel Graces... is he really just a husband?'
'Why does it feel like even a main husband isn't treated as well as he is?'