Chapter 122: Successful Match
Cillian Forrest looked into Sophie Wexler’s eyes, surprised that this was the conclusion she had reached.
"It is a bit difficult," Cillian Forrest said.
Sophie Wexler let out a sigh of relief. ’I knew it. Why else would he ask me to match with him for no reason?’
’It must be because my request to avoid matching is too difficult for him to arrange, so he came up with this as a last resort.’
After all, Leo Fane had also told her how difficult it would be. The powers on the Capital Planet were intricate and complex; it was nearly impossible for a Level 3S Healer-class to avoid matching.
Even if she didn’t want to, there would be people pushing and forcing her to make a choice eventually.
That Shane Thorne she had just seen was the best proof. Looking back, their "chance encounter" at the mall was no coincidence.
Not only the mall encounter, but the subsequent ones weren’t coincidences either.
And there was more than just one person like him.
In that case, if she absolutely had to match, she would much rather choose Cillian Forrest—whom she’d known for some time—over any of them.
At the very least, she knew him to a certain extent.
"Since that’s the case, I know you better than I know them, so naturally, I’m more willing to..."
Before Sophie Wexler could say the word "match," Cillian Forrest interrupted her.
"Sophie Wexler, matching means we will become partners in the future."
"I want to match with you. That is my wish. But I will not force my will upon you. I hope that you are matching with me willingly."
Cillian Forrest’s gaze was fixed on Sophie Wexler as he spoke, word by word.
Sophie Wexler looked at him. For some reason, her heart began to race. It was an indescribable feeling, almost like she was nervous.
She swallowed softly and looked away from Cillian Forrest’s incredibly earnest gaze, her eyes blinking rapidly.
"I am willing."
She didn’t know many people in the Galaxy; Cillian Forrest was the one she was most familiar with.
She hadn’t wanted to match, because she felt the whole system was a farce—a bit like an arranged marriage to a stranger. She didn’t want to decide her future partner that way.
But if her match was Cillian Forrest... it didn’t seem so hard to accept.
Sophie Wexler chalked it all up to the fact that Cillian Forrest was someone she knew, and that matching was just a matter of convenience.
After convincing herself, Sophie Wexler looked up at Cillian Forrest and said with a smile, "Cillian Forrest, I am willing to match with you."
At her words, Cillian Forrest’s pupils contracted sharply, and the fingers clenched at his side slowly relaxed.
No one knew that when he had asked, he hadn’t been confident at all. He was afraid Sophie Wexler wouldn’t want to match with anyone.
If that had been the case, he probably wouldn’t have forced her. Even if things got difficult later, he would have protected her and kept her safe.
But she had agreed.
A slow smile spread across Cillian Forrest’s lips. He raised his hand, revealing the bracelet on his wrist.
His long fingers tapped lightly on it.
With a DING, a message popped up on Sophie Wexler’s bracelet.
[Cillian Forrest has requested to match with you and become partners. Do you agree?]
[Yes / No]
Unlike the previous candidate applications, this was a direct match request.
As long as both the Healer-class and the candidate agreed, the match would be finalized.
Sophie Wexler gazed at the request on her bracelet, her eyes crinkling with a smile. She moved her finger over it and tapped lightly.
[Yes.]
The next second, both of their bracelets received a message at the same time.
[DING! Dear Sophie Wexler/Cillian Forrest, congratulations. You have successfully matched with Cillian Forrest/Sophie Wexler and become partners.]
Sophie Wexler stared at the final word, "partners," for a long time.
Suppressing the strange emotion stirring in her heart, she looked up, smiled, and extended her hand to Cillian Forrest. "Cillian Forrest, I look forward to our future together."
Cillian Forrest gazed at her delicate, pale fingers, then reached out and enveloped her hand with his. "Alright."
—
Meanwhile, Shane Thorne was still searching for her, growing more and more agitated as time passed.
He had been so close to reaching her location just moments ago, but then she had vanished.
’Where the hell did she go?!’
Just as he was reaching his wit’s end, his communicator rang. He answered it and immediately demanded, "Why did the Healer-class’s location signal disappear?"
"You can stop looking," the person on the other end said.
"What?" Shane Thorne stopped dead in his tracks. "What do you mean?"
"That Healer-class has matched."
"What?!" Shane Thorne could hardly believe his ears.
"With who?!" He had to know who it was.
"We don’t know," the person on the other end replied.
Normally, after a Healer-class successfully matches, their partner’s identity is automatically displayed in the system.
But Sophie Wexler’s wasn’t.
It was probably because her Level was too high. To protect her and her partner, their identity was not displayed, just as much of her other information was hidden.
Her status only showed that the match was successful; as for who her partner was, it was unknown.
At the same time, Shane Thorne wasn’t the only one who received the news.
Evan Adler and the others were also staring in disbelief at the "Match Successful" status next to Sophie Wexler’s name in the matching system.
For a moment, they were completely bewildered.
’A successful match?’
’With whom?’
Previously, they had thought Shane Thorne was the most likely to succeed, since he had actually interacted with her.
But they had all been following Shane Thorne tonight. He hadn’t just failed to match; he hadn’t even caught a glimpse of the Healer-class.
’So how did the match even happen?’
Utter bewilderment was written all over the faces of Sophie Wexler’s candidates.
One by one, they all began frantically contacting their families, asking them to investigate the identity of the person who had matched with Sophie Wexler.
The candidates weren’t the only ones in shock. So was Ethan Cross. He had been following Cillian Forrest’s orders to deploy personnel for defense.
The goal was to ensure Miss Wexler could leave safely if she chose not to match.
But could someone please tell him why, just after he had dispatched a team, he received news that Miss Wexler had matched?
Ethan Cross was baffled.
Completely poleaxed.
After being stunned for two seconds, Ethan Cross snapped out of it, immediately pulling out his communicator and rapidly sending a message to his Marshal.
[Ethan Cross: Marshal, Miss Wexler has matched!]
’The Marshal is still looking for Miss Wexler. I wonder if he knows yet.’
[Ethan Cross: Is her partner Shane Thorne?]
’Don’t tell me the Marshal was a step too late, and Miss Wexler really matched with Shane Thorne.’
[Ethan Cross: I’m sending people to intercept them immediately!]
After a successful match, there was a special channel for departure. Although many people were assigned to protect them, a good number of them were from the First Legion, whom he knew all too well.
Ethan Cross was even thinking, ’I can’t expose the Marshal. I’ll have to wear a mask during the interception to avoid being recognized.’
He had even planned out his escape route after the interception.
Just then, his communicator chimed. Ethan Cross snatched it up, afraid that a second’s delay would mean he’d be too late to intercept them.
Cillian Forrest: [I know.]
Cillian Forrest: [It’s not him.]
Cillian Forrest: [No need to intercept.]
Ethan Cross was dumbfounded.
’No need to intercept? Why? If I don’t stop them now, Miss Wexler and that son-of-a-bitch partner of hers will be long gone!’
The next second, another message from Cillian Forrest popped up.
Cillian Forrest: [It’s me.]
Ethan Cross stared at those two words, confused. ’It’s me?’
Cillian Forrest: [Her partner... is me.]
Ethan Cross’s mind went blank.
And then it rebooted with a jolt.