Chapter 51: From the Capital Planet
Cillian Forrest stopped her just in time. If she had continued any longer, she wouldn’t have been able to take it.
Sophie Wexler stared into Cillian Forrest’s eyes, saw the undeniable certainty in their depths, and knew he wouldn’t let her continue.
So, she retracted her spiritual power.
The moment she did, the immense spiritual power was gone, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
She couldn’t help but marvel, "Your spiritual power is incredibly strong."
Back when she was F-level, soothing him had been an exceptionally draining process; it was truly like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water.
She hadn’t thought much of it at the time. After all, her Level was low, and his was obviously higher, so it was only natural that she struggled.
But now that her tests showed she was S-Level, she was theoretically High Rank, yet facing his Spiritual Sea still felt like a struggle.
After catching her breath, Sophie turned to him with a suspicious gaze. "Are you really just a soldier?"
She had thought he was from the Seventh Legion, but when she arrived, she was told that wasn’t the case.
She had wanted to ask last time, but since Ethan Cross was there, she’d suppressed the question and said nothing.
"You said you’re not from the Seventh Legion. So where are you from?" Sophie asked, her eyes locked on him.
At her words, Cillian Forrest faltered, and the look he gave her was long and profound.
The atmosphere in the room instantly shifted. Sophie wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt a strange undercurrent stirring between them.
Sophie felt her chest tighten under his gaze.
She recalled that when this body’s original owner first saved him, his injuries had been catastrophic. He must have gone through something terrible, likely involving some state secrets.
’Everyone has secrets they don’t want to share,’ she thought. ’As long as I can be sure he won’t harbor any major hostility toward me in the end, that’s all that matters.’
Other than her own life, nothing else was that important.
"Never mind, if you don’t want to say..."
"The Capital Planet."
Sophie hadn’t even finished her sentence when three words came slowly from Cillian Forrest’s lips.
For a moment, Sophie was stunned, her eyes widening in surprise.
She had been fully prepared for Cillian Forrest to refuse to answer.
She never expected him to actually answer.
"The Capital Planet, huh," Sophie murmured. ’So he’s from The Capital Planet. That explains everything. No wonder his spiritual power Level is so high.’
Wait!
’Where did he say he was from?’
The Capital Planet?!
Sophie snapped back to her senses and whipped her head around to stare at him. "You’re from The Capital Planet?"
’Isn’t the Imperial Marshal from The Capital Planet?!’
Cillian Forrest grunted in affirmation. Since he’d already said it, there was nothing to deny.
"Are you sure you don’t know the Imperial Marshal?" Sophie asked, eyeing him with suspicion.
"His rank is too high. Not everyone gets to meet him," Cillian Forrest said flatly.
Sophie nodded. ’That’s true,’ she thought. ’His file is even encrypted and never released to the public. With a rank that high, he’s not someone an ordinary person could ever meet.’
Cillian Forrest’s gaze flickered. He looked at her and asked, "Why are you so interested in the Imperial Marshal?"
This time, and the last time, too.
She had even made some completely baseless judgments about him before.
’I don’t remember ever coming to Karath before, so it’s impossible that I know her.’
’So what was the reason?’
"Me, interested in him?" Sophie’s eyes widened. "Of course not."
’I’d have to have a death wish to be interested in him.’
She finished speaking and turned to see Cillian Forrest’s disbelieving expression.
Sophie was speechless. ’...Right. It’d be a miracle if he actually believed that.’
In the end, she could only wave her hand dismissively. "You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you."
’If I told him I’d transmigrated into a book and knew that the Imperial Marshal would eventually kill me, no one would believe it.’
"Besides, it’s not like I’ll ever go to The Capital Planet anyway." ’We’ll never cross paths, so there’s nothing to worry about,’ she thought.
Cillian Forrest listened to her words, his gaze growing profound, but he said nothing.
Then another thought occurred to Sophie. "Does that mean your superior, Ethan Cross, is an officer from The Capital Planet too?"
Cillian Forrest grunted in affirmation.
"Will you both be going back eventually?" Sophie asked.
"He will," Cillian Forrest stated unequivocally.
Sophie let out a subconscious "Oh," then processed his words a moment later. "Huh?"
’What does he mean, ’he will’? What about you?’
"Sophie Wexler, have you forgotten something?" As he spoke, Cillian Forrest’s voice took on a faintly mocking tone.
His finger pointed to the device around his neck.
The existence of this neck ring meant he belonged to Sophie Wexler. He couldn’t leave.
Sophie’s expression froze. How could she have forgotten the neck ring? "That... I’ll find a way to get it off you, don’t worry."
Watching her make the promise, Cillian Forrest realized that at this point, he was willing to believe she was telling the truth.
If she could, she would willingly help him remove this humiliating neck ring and let him leave.
But Cillian Forrest knew she couldn’t remove it yet.
’Perhaps when her secondary growth period ends, she might be able to.’
Sophie, completely unaware of his thoughts, was already wondering, ’How can I get this thing off?’
The StarNet only had instructions for putting it on, but none for taking it off.
’Probably because no one ever wants to remove a Slave Collar once they’ve put it on someone,’ she mused.
Perhaps because they both knew the neck ring couldn’t be removed for now, the topic died. Neither of them brought it up again.
But the atmosphere in the room was no longer the same as before. Sophie pursed her lips. "Your Spiritual Sea should be feeling better. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going."
With that, she beat a hasty retreat.
Cillian Forrest watched the door SLAM shut and didn’t look away for a long time.
As for Sophie, she took two deep, ragged breaths the moment the door was closed.
She chided herself, ’Note to self: don’t touch on a sore subject like that again. With Cillian’s Level, he must have a certain status on The Capital Planet. How could a man like that possibly remain calm when confronted with something as humiliating as the neck ring?’
For the next two days, Cillian Forrest didn’t see Sophie Wexler at all. It was as if she were deliberately avoiding him.
He glanced at the closed door of the adjacent room and spread out his spiritual power, but he couldn’t sense any fluctuations from Sophie.
’Not here?’
A humorless smile touched Cillian Forrest’s lips. ’She told me to find her for soothing, and now she’s nowhere to be seen.’
Ethan Cross, who was passing by, saw his Marshal standing in front of Sophie Wexler’s door and looked surprised. "Marshal, are you looking for Miss Wexler? She’s at the base cafeteria."
"Who said I was looking for her?" Cillian Forrest retorted.
Ethan Cross fell silent. ’But you’re standing right in front of her door,’ he thought.
Then, Ethan Cross watched as his Marshal finished speaking and walked away. It was just that the direction he was heading in...
’Why does that look so much like the way to the base cafeteria?’
’And he says he’s not looking for Miss Wexler.’
「The Cafeteria.」
Usually, everyone just drank nutrient liquid, so the cafeteria with its terrible food was almost always empty. But today, it was packed to the gills.
The moment Cillian Forrest walked in, he was met with a clamorous scene. A large crowd was gathered together, everyone chattering excitedly.
"Miss Wexler, is this the Tammy you were talking about in your last stream?"
"That’s right," Sophie Wexler nodded.
Cillian Forrest, standing nearby, overheard. ’Isn’t Tammy at home?’
"What Tammy?" a familiar voice asked from right beside Sophie’s ear.
Sophie’s hands froze mid-action.