A Matchmaking Event for Alphas and Female Insects

Besides war, humanity and the insect race have a second option.

① Victorious human crown prince x defeated insect prince who warms his bed

[Albert x Dix]

The insect race's defeat is already a foregone conclusion. The two sides have ceased fire, and His Highness Prince Albert, the alpha crown prince, has brought his personal guard to the insect race to discuss peace negotiations.

The old insect emperor is all bluster and no backbone, selfish and incompetent. He swiftly offers up his eldest prince, Dix, in exchange for peace.

Dix has become a casualty of war, a scapegoat, the most suitable sacrifice. He should have been put to death by public fury as soon as they lost the war, but his female parent surrendered command of the First Legion and willingly entered the temple to repent, thereby saving his life.

Amid endless grief, the gentle, loyal insect does not wail or beg for mercy. He simply waits solemnly for fate's cruel blade.

This time, though it is called a political marriage, in truth he is to be a slave, a servant, and a hostage. Dix considers himself dull and boring, and fears he will be repulsive in bed as well, earning nothing but beatings and abuse from the humans, and a life forever deprived of daylight.

Even if rumors say that the human crown prince is famed for his good temper, marriage is a serious matter. Who would want to face that dead-fish stare day and night? No one thinks Dix will get so much as a kind word, let alone favor or affection.

Yet, to everyone's surprise, Albert is pleased at first sight of Dix. The insect wears silks and military medals, but when he lowers his eyes, he looks like a shriveled, dried-up honey fruit, never having known what it means to be nourished and filled.

Still, surely even the most stalwart insect will blossom into softness after love ripens him.

So Albert tells him, "Stay by my side."

② Antisocial, vile second prince x imperially beautiful empress who grew alluring through hardship

[Ajili x Yilisolan]

Everyone knows that the king and queen had two sons. One was upright and refined, praised by all, while the other was a little devil incarnate who did every evil under the sun. Yes, the notorious His Highness Ajili is the one in question.

Ajili has racked up quite a list of "accomplishments" since childhood. At eight, he drove thirteen tutors away, and no one dared teach him. A little older, he sneaked into the home of a senior parliamentary official and blew up the man's toilet with firecrackers, splattering him with shit from head to toe...

There are countless such incidents. Ajili was a menace as a child, and as an adult he is even more mercurial and extreme. When handling serious business, he takes unorthodox approaches and enjoys seeing blood, leaving the representatives of every state too frightened to complain.

To Ajili, there are only fun things and things that aren't fun. He has neither boundaries nor any sense of morality.

The moment he saw Yilisolan, the insect emperor's consort, he was captivated. Yilisolan has a terrible reputation, but all Ajili sees is the insect's stunning beauty, and he wants to toy with him.

Though over forty, Yilisolan has lost none of his charm. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes cannot hide how kindly time has treated him. He is cold to the extreme, yet a scorching beauty spills from the corners of his eyes. He has none of a young man's fresh loveliness, only a deep richness forged by years of hardship, like a flower that withers as soon as it blooms, beautiful and poisonous.

Even if he's poisonous, why should that old insect emperor get to keep him? It's only fair that Ajili gets a taste of him too.

So Ajili lays a cunning trap. Yilisolan has nowhere to go and no way to retreat, so he can only willingly submit, biting his lip in silent endurance as he sheds the last layer of dignity he has left.

Who could have known that beneath it all, he would be covered in wounds, without a single patch of unblemished skin?

③ Jealous without realizing it, cold-faced tough guy x virtuous, traditional mute wife raising a child

[Li Yue x Xi Er]

When humanity and the insect race first clashed, pheromones ran wild on the battlefield, and Li Yue and Xi Er fell onto a desolate planet, spending several reckless nights together.

Afterward, the humiliated insect, barely covered by a wrinkled shirt, struggled to write on the ground: his name was Xi Er, and he had a child. His husband was addicted to gambling, and their child suffered constant abuse. His only hope now was to return alive and protect his child. He had no intention of making an enemy of Li Yue.

A fleeting affair, a gentle wife, words spoken with conviction and feelings expressed with sincerity. Li Yue, for once, felt compassion and treated him with considerable care.

Who could have expected the insect army to land with pinpoint accuracy afterward, and Li Yue to be captured at once? The one in charge of interrogating him was none other than Xi Er, who had dropped his tender, fragile disguise. Only then did Li Yue realize he had been deceived.

Back then, in the blood-scented interrogation room, the insects often gossiped that Major General Xi Er was lucky: he had married an honest, decent husband, had a little insect child, and become a virtuous wife and mother. His marriage was loving, his family happy, and everyone envied him.

Li Yue listened in silence, with nothing left in his heart but ice.

Even now, he still cannot let go of that hatred. When they meet again, Major General Xi Er is in dire straits, detained for investigation as a suspect in an attack on his husband.

What goes around comes around. The insect interrogator who once held the whip has now become a prisoner. Frail, gaunt, and pale, he sits in the suspect's chair like a platter of succulent meat served up on the table. The knife is in the hands of others, and he is the meat, delicious in every way, waiting for the human to take a bite.

Li Yue has waited six months for this moment. He mocks, sneers at, and humiliates Xi Er to his heart's content, then grabs the barely fleshed-out cheeks of the married insect and, gritting his teeth, plants a vicious, spiteful kiss.

④ Opportunistic, fence-sitting undercover agent x dark-skinned brute rebel leader

[Lu Wei x Huolunsi]

A retired professional undercover agent is forced back into the old line of work. Truly, it brings tears to the eyes of anyone who hears it and heartbreak to anyone who sees it.

After finally infiltrating the group, Lu Wei is bullied at work, goes hungry for days, and is assigned to deliver food to the leader during his rut. Starving, he gulps down the leader's suppressant, mistaking it for a delicious nutritional supplement.

It proves true that you always have to pay for what you do. Instant karma arrives right on time.

Instead of feeding the leader, Lu Wei becomes the delivery. The leader's hot, dark-skinned, broad-chested body pins him down over and over. The deed is done, and then Lu Wei accidentally sees the leader's enormous insect form. His terror is no less than Xu Xian seeing Lady White Snake's true form. With a snap, he faints dead away.

The next morning, the first thing he sees is the leader's powerful biceps, capable of taking on ten men at once. A wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him, so Lu Wei resolutely takes the path of living off a rich lover.

As it turns out, his service is so outstanding that before long, Lu Wei receives a red flint from the leader himself, a token of a proposal...

Come on, man. Telling an undercover agent to "stay forever" is that supposed to be a joke? What is he, checking in with the King of Hell or something???

That night, a trembling Lu Wei dreams of a dark-skinned, stunningly seductive incubus with a broad chest, slim waist, and shapely hips, wild and intensely sexy. The next second, it turns into a terrifying, hideous, frightening insect form, huge and radiating menace. Both his erotic dream and his nightmare are about the leader, and Lu Wei keeps switching between getting hard and going limp with fear.

Huolunsi narrows his eyes dangerously. "Are you afraid of me?"

Afraid, afraid, terrified to death! Lu Wei is so startled he shivers. How could he dare nod? He can only grit his teeth and work harder in bed, striving to demonstrate the unique value of his labor, which no one else can replace.

⑤ Handsome, wealthy young gentleman x love-starved, sickly poor student

[Di Lang x Die Ci]

At the First Human-Insect Joint University, Di Lang receives a blackmail letter containing incriminating photos of his biological younger brother bullying other students.

That lousy kid has always been spoiled by their family and loves getting into trouble. Even if he were caught and shot, it wouldn't matter, but the election for the next planetary governor is just around the corner. At this critical moment, Di Lang cannot let his brother tarnish the family name.

Di Lang has no choice but to hold his nose and go to the agreed meeting place. It's not far, just the abandoned garbage shed behind the school.

Inside the shed is an insect everyone hates: ugly red blotches, bony and emaciated, with bandages covering his whole body, concealing who knows what horrors. The only thing abundant about him is his pair of pink eyes, which turn feverishly alluring when he sees Di Lang.

This malnourished blackmailer is called Die Ci, nicknamed "Ugly Freak." He has no friends and no reputation, and is often bullied en masse at the head of Di Lang's brother. Driven out of the school, with no money to rent a room, he can only live in this garbage shed.

Di Lang asks what he wants and what compensation he expects, saying he can do whatever is within his means. He assumes the other is after money.

But Die Ci doesn't ask for money. Instead, he says, "I want you to come here and keep me company every Saturday night."

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Di Lang has never stayed in a hotel that cost less than five thousand a night. Now he is expected to sleep in a garbage shed once a week. Di Lang suspects this insect is deliberately messing with him.

Yet the garbage shed Di Lang despises is Die Ci's only refuge. Like a rat in a sewer, Die Ci makes his nest there. Like a moth to a flame, he insists on dragging the favored child of heaven down to debauch himself with him.

This is the vicious love that Die Ci has nurtured amid extreme hardship, trapped in a web of misery.

⑥ Tsundere, straight-laced, invincible hero x scheming, seductive femme fatale

[Adiluo x Lan He]

As the second-generation crown prince in a time of peace, Adiluo has admirers in droves, yet not one of them can get close to him.

That's because Adiluo has an incredibly powerful insect crown-prince fiance, Lan He, beautiful as a hibiscus and venomous as a snake, meticulous, clever, and fiercely possessive.

They say that back then, little Adiluo saw how pretty Lan He was and couldn't walk away. He cried and wailed, clinging on with snot and tears, making such a huge fuss that the situation got completely out of hand. Albert and Dix were at their wits' end, and had no choice but to arrange an engagement between the children.

Grown-up Adiluo is silent. Adiluo is speechless. Adiluo has absolutely no memory of any of this.

Who can remember what happened when they were that little? Besides, it was fifteen years ago!

For all fifteen years, Lan He has monopolized the seats of Adiluo's desk mate, roommate, and partner. Most importantly, Lan He looks cold and gorgeous, but in private he's a total pervert. Adiluo has to guard against fire, thieves, and his roommate. Before drinking, he checks whether there's anything in his cup. After washing his underwear, he has to make sure it won't be stolen. Every time he gets into bed, he has to feel around several times to confirm there's no suspicious person there.

Who the hell could put up with this?

No matter how beautiful Lan He is, he's still a man-eating flower. Adiluo feels he is not worthy of such a fate and wishes Lan He would stay as far away from him as possible.

Until Lan He gradually grows up, becoming more mature and beautiful each year, like a flower in full bloom, unconsciously giving off an alluring hibiscus fragrance. A bunch of toads appear, drooling as they surround Lan He and dream of eating swan meat.

Adiluo is instantly furious. "Shoo, shoo, shoo, get lost! Every last one of you toads, go die!!!"

⑦ Arrogant, tsundere, sharp-tongued widower x dull, amnesiac, devoted lover

[Lufasi x Chi Li]

Before he turned twenty, Lufasi had a little red insect friend who boarded at his house. Chi Li was five years older, taciturn, and unable to speak his language.

Later, whenever Lufasi got into trouble, Chi Li would either take the blame or clean up after him, without a word or complaint. That made Lufasi a little interested in teasing him.

Lufasi deliberately asked, "Hey, big dummy, do you like me?"

The answer was Chi Li's ears turning bright red in an instant.

This was a one-sided love that never had the chance to begin, belonging to Chi Li alone. Though the devoted monster knew he was unworthy, he still plucked off his scales and put on decent clothes. They kissed and went to bed, holding each other tightly in the deep darkness of night. Every step they took as they grew up bore the mark of the other.

Lufasi enjoyed the insect's strong body and sincere love to the fullest. On the night before his twentieth birthday, he threw a huge tantrum, demanding that Chi Li finish his military academy training as soon as possible and come back to celebrate with him.

But nobody could have imagined that the next day, all his comrades would bring back was Chi Li's bloody left arm, the only part of his body that remained.

Five years passed. After a long period of grief, Lufasi poured his heart and soul into biomedical research. He kept the arm perfectly preserved and never gave up searching for the fragments of his lover's remains, waiting for the day they could be buried together.

Once so proud that he believed in neither gods nor buddhas, he now prayed every night, begging fate to show mercy, wishing he could tear out his heart and split open his liver, utterly devout.

In the sixth year, above the Sea of Echoes, Lufasi leapt into the sea to protect his research. Between life and death, a huge one-armed man found him and locked him away in a shabby little hut.

The huge man is called Venus. He only dares appear with the lights off. His gland is completely ruined, and all he smells of is a pungent sea breeze and nauseating fish stink. His head seems broken too. He cannot understand human speech, and his beat-up body is ravenously hungry. Even when Lufasi loses his temper, kicking and cursing him, he refuses to back down, acting as if he is inexplicably infatuated.

Reader Notice

1. This is a fictional setting unrelated to reality. Please do not draw parallels to real life. Thank you to all the lovely readers who support legitimate works. The novel is available legitimately only on Jinjiang. All pirated copies constitute [Infringement]. To protect the rights of legitimate readers and my own rights, Qiuqiu will pursue legal responsibility and appropriate compensation for piracy and the distribution of pirated works.

2. A special note: who pampers whom depends on their character settings, so there's no need to overthink it. If our preferences differ, don't force yourself to read. This novel is not suitable for readers with extreme character preferences.

3. The romantic leads in the second and third arcs have prior sexual experience. They are both married and have children, after all.

4. There are many personal headcanons. The protagonists' values and morals do not represent the author's. Writing and reading are just for fun. If this makes you uncomfortable, please swipe left and leave. Personal attacks on Qiuqiu in the comments are prohibited.

5. There are quite a few side couples.

6. The approximate sweet-and-sour ratio is: sweet, sour, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet. To thank everyone for your support, there will be no anti-piracy measures during serialization. Feel free to choose whichever arc you want to read. Qiuqiu's future anthology-style works will follow the same policy.

Theme: Love is a choice.