The pale neck, the slender collarbone, and then... she yanked his hair hard. Where was he trying to bite?
"Hmph." Indigo let out a muffled grunt. He didn't let go, instead gripped her like he was draining her, licking and kissing her with wet intensity.
Aenwyn held the clump of hair she had pulled out, ready to knee him and teach him the consequences of harassing a girl.
"Ah— that hurts!" Aenwyn cried out. A sharp pain pierced her collarbone.
He bit her? She was in disbelief. She had been kissed before, but bitten? This was her first time. The pain made her tear up.
Aenwyn looked down. A deep bite mark was clearly visible, still tinged with blood.
She glared at him. "What are you doing?"
"What am I doing? Who told you to sneak out? If you do it again, next time I won't bite you here." Blood still clung to Indigo's lips, and his gaze slid downward with a heavy warning.
Pervert. Beast. Aenwyn gave him a death stare and strode out quickly.
Indigo grabbed her from behind.
Aenwyn sighed helplessly. "I'm begging you, let me go. I don't belong here."
She tilted her head up, still wearing that overly bold makeup. The makeup here wasn't waterproof, and it had already started to smudge.
She looked pitiful.
Indigo couldn't help lifting his hand to gently stroke her hair.
He said, "A girl without an identity seal will be taken as a slave. Anyone can force themselves on you, and it won't even be considered a crime."
Aenwyn's face turned grim. She knew women had a very low status here.
Indigo wanted to give her a rightful place.
He was obsessed with the idea of giving her a personal seal. But he couldn't.
With his current status, he didn't even have the right to possess her, let alone claim her publicly. If she was exposed, he would lose her completely.
The continent of Qianchu was vast and rich. A hundred years ago, there were hardly any wars, and the people lived peacefully.
But around fifty years ago, for reasons unknown, the number of women began to decline rapidly.
Among the newborns in each village, more than eight out of ten were boys. In some towns, only a handful of girls were born.
Strangely, every girl born during this time had a red birthmark on her forehead. Boys were born normally.
That red mark would turn blue once the girl got married and had a child. At first, people wrote poems praising it, calling it a gift from heaven.
Whether it was a gift or not, it looked more like a curse.
People were thrilled when boys dominated births. Boys were strong, useful, and valuable. More boys meant a stronger nation, better armies, and greater prosperity. No one saw anything wrong.
But the curse deepened. Girls became even rarer, across every country.
After twenty more years, that generation of boys grew up and wanted to marry—but there were no brides.
It became common to see hundreds of men pursuing one girl. Even poor girls were married off to rich or noble families.
Girls walking alone on the street were often snatched away. Young men who couldn't find brides began raiding other nations.
With pressure to continue bloodlines, the custom changed from one man one wife to one wife many husbands.
Still, girl births kept declining. When the risk of extinction became real, nations began openly stealing women from others.
Everyone trained in combat. Only the winning country could have women.
Those who lost wars were enslaved. Women from losing nations were assigned as slaves to citizens of the winning side.
Because of this, household registration became extremely strict. Men and women in Dongling had to carry identity tags, unique and unforgeable.
Naturally, wherever there are people, there is privilege.
Since women from other countries entered, a ranking system was created for girls.
Dongling had harsh laws regarding baby girls. If a family hid a girl, the entire village would be executed. Forging a seal meant death for nine generations.
For decades, every baby girl had been taken from her birth family and given a large sum of money in return—essentially buying her.
Since then, young girls became rare in the population. As the old generations died, some boys never even saw a woman their whole lives.
Except for foreign slaves, every girl born in the country received a seal on her hand. The ranks were: maid, concubine, and noble lady, each divided into four sublevels.
What about daughters of local slaves? Slaves weren't allowed to have children. In this society, even commoners hardly ever saw women.
The only hope for commoners to have children was to rise in status. Or defeat another nation and claim their women.
Otherwise, they had to save money to deposit seed in the breeding halls.
The female slave system was cruel. They were locked in breeding halls for life, bearing children until death, never seeing daylight again.
That was true hell. Indigo would never let his girl end up there.
Without a seal, she was automatically classified as a slave.
Life was hard for women, and just as hard for men. Without a national seal, Aenwyn would be sent to the breeding halls as a slave. Even if she had a rank like maid or concubine, he still could not legally own her alone.
Unless she was of a sovereign rank and he held an official post of third grade or above, only then could he marry her openly and justifiably.
Indigo thought about it as he twirled a strand of her hair, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
Aenwyn said, "I won't be a woman."
After realizing how low women's status was in this society, she had firmly decided to live as a man.
"Heh, my silly girl, you don't know how beautiful you are." Indigo sighed softly.
He couldn't help but laugh, as if mocking her innocence. Even though there was no cinnabar mole on her forehead, anyone could tell she was a woman at a glance.
"Stay with me." He looked at her gently and said firmly, "I'll give you everything you want."
Was this not working out?
Aenwyn took a step back and shook her head. "No." No one had the right to decide whether she stayed or left, no one.
She went wild and rushed toward the door. She tried to pull the latch open but couldn't. "Open the door, open it!"
"Aenwyn, don't be like this. Stay with me, I'll treat you well." He hugged her from behind, trying to comfort her with pain in his voice.
"Go away." Aenwyn was furious. "You just want me, don't you?"
She wasn't a fool. She had felt his desire many times. This world was truly insane. Every man here seemed to want her.
Aenwyn trembled, all the fear and panic she had bottled up over many days suddenly erupting. For the first time, she deeply regretted ever going to see the aurora, ever coming to this twisted, distorted world.
"Let me go. I've repaid your kindness for saving me. I, Aenwyn, never owe anyone anything." She cried and shouted, trying to tear open her clothes.
It wasn't like she didn't know how to play the game. In the modern world, she might have been called a player. One-night stands weren't new, especially with such a handsome guy.
But now she just felt disgusted. So disgusted she wanted to throw up. When had she become so useless that she had to repay kindness with her body?
Her pale skin stung Indigo's eyes. His face darkened as he walked over and gently pulled her clothes back together.
"Stop crying." He frowned. A dull ache pulsed in his chest.
Tears streamed from Aenwyn's eyes, one after another, endlessly. She cried until she lost control, until she passed out.
Indigo carried her back to the room and cleaned her up. Once all the makeup was washed off, her bright and clean face was revealed. As she lay fainted, so fragile, it made one's heart ache.
Even in her sleep she wept. Indigo comforted her like a child, gently patting her back.
"I want to go home… I want to leave… let me go." She murmured in her sleep.
The Yue residence in the capital.
After the rain, the sky was bright and clear. Elder Yue frowned and told people to extinguish the incense in the three-legged golden beast burner. The smell was giving him a headache.
"My lord, do you want to rest for a while?" a servant asked softly.
"No need, I'll finish the work first." Elder Yue, now over forty, refused. He was unusually thin, with a stern face, and rarely smiled.
He had served through three reigns and was now the head minister of the Inner Cabinet. At home, he had one wife and two sons, admired by many. But every family has its own struggles. No one's life is truly easy.
It was nearly noon when Elder Yue finally finished handling state affairs. After washing up and changing, he was just about to rest.
"My lord, urgent news from Danzhou." Sender Yi knelt before him under a servant's guidance, dusty from travel, and handed over a sealed letter.
Elder Yue took it himself and quickly opened it. "Something happened to the second young master?"
"My lord, don't panic, let's see what the letter says."
Elder Yue's brows tightened as he read.
Servant Mo noticed the usually stoic Elder Yue frowning. "My lord?"
"He's coming back," Elder Yue said, handing the letter over to be burned completely. He opened the window and let the ashes scatter in the wind, leaving no trace behind.
Servant Mo was confused. "Isn't that a good thing?"
Elder Yue gave a bitter smile. "With the current situation in the capital, how could it be a good thing?" He had thought his son would live and die in distant Danzhou. Who would've thought
"Then should we stop Second Young Master from returning?"
"No. Prepare the household for his return." Since he wanted to come back now, how could he be stopped? What followed would depend on his own fate.
"My lord, I heard the sons of the Zhou and Ning families also went to Danzhou. They won't cause trouble for Second Young Master, right?" the old servant said with concern.
Elder Yue replied, "Ishmael wouldn't allow it." The sons of the Zhou and Ning families were Ishmael's close friends. He knew what that meant.
The old servant said, "Young Master Ishmael is noble and upright. Of course, he wouldn't, but the madam…"
"Did you hear something?"
The old servant looked around, leaned close to Elder Yue's ear, and whispered something.
"She dares" Elder Yue slammed the table in fury.
Ludovic didn't understand how just stepping out for a bit had ended with Young Master Zhou being beaten half to death.
After checking the pulse, Doctor Ri shook his head. "Young Master Ludovic, I am helpless. Please seek someone more skilled."
Ludovic thanked him and personally walked him out. Then he returned to the bedside, frowning.
"Young master, the doctors down here at the foot of the mountain aren't just unskilled, they also lack any medical ethics." Ziqian's servant, Mo Si, couldn't take it anymore. This was already the fifth or sixth doctor.
"Do not be rude."
A true gentleman is like jade, refined and polished, enduring the world with grace. Ludovic seemed the very definition of such a man. Dareng awkwardly smiled at him. "It's nothing. This place is small, and good doctors are rare. Also, it was indeed my failure that allowed Young Master Zhou to be harmed."
"It's not your fault. Zhou sought pleasure in women and was bound to face trouble." Ludovic didn't mention what he really thought he brought this on himself.
Trying to steal a woman and not even bringing enough men? Were people like them short on women? What kind of beauty was worth such stubbornness?
He looked at the unconscious Young Master Zhou, who was still clutching several strands of long hair tightly in his hand, and shook his head with a sigh.
Author's note:
A little angel asked how men came about when women are scarce. This chapter explains a bit. Such a twisted world, in its final madness.