Chosen Mate Of The Beastmen Empire

A guy dripping with class strode straight to Nyx and cut to the chase. “Hi, can you date me?"

His rare green eyes held only her reflection right then. His voice was low, but the room froze-everyone gaped at the drama unfolding.

Nyx went quiet. This guy was her partner, no doubt-but not quite how she remembered him.

First time she met Kai, he'd been a wild leopard-human form later, he'd seemed polished outside, but inside, he was scarred, stubborn, extreme.

Now, the man before her had sharp eyes, a dangerous edge rolling off him-like a beast in human skin. Broad shoulders, back slightly hunched, he loomed over Nyx, waiting for her answer.

"No," Seafarion said, face like stone, answering for her. Forgetting appearances, he grabbed Nyx's hand to pull her away.

Kai stepped in front, long legs blocking them, blunt as hell. "You're not her husband-you don't get to say no for her."

Boyfriend or not, unmarried meant fair game-let alone just "brother and sister" as he had claimed.

"Mr. Kai, you're not from here-maybe you don't grasp our language or customs," Seafarion shot back. "Here, asking a strange girl out like that's rude."

After jabbing Kai, he turned to Nyx, badmouthing, "Foreigners are real loose- messy relationships. This guy's some big-shot noble from abroad, thinks different than us-don't take it to heart, Nyx."

"I'm not," Kai snapped, hating the smear, proving himself to Nyx, "I'm not loose or messy-I've never dated anyone else."

Still, he hadn't been here in ages-didn't know the local rules. Asking her out like that might've actually ticked her off.

To boost his chances of a successful date, Kai was itching to move forward but decided to hold back for now. He would go home to brush up on his skills and figure out how to pursue Nyx according to local customs.

He eased off a bit, no longer pressing her step by step. Seafarion seized the chance, grabbed Nyx's hand tight, and pulled her far away from the scene.

The drama kicked off out of nowhere and wrapped up fast. The onlookers felt like they didn't get their fill. They could tell this juicy story was far from over, but a front-row seat to gossip like this might not come around again.

The usual scandals in their circle-mistresses, illegitimate kids, and petty fights- were old news. They'd grown sick of it. But two big shots fighting over a girl, that was a fresh twist that perked everyone up.

On one side was the world's richest man, on the other a revered foreign noble with a massive following. Two evenly matched guys turning into love rivals, that beat any TV show hands down.

Putting everything else aside, just looking at their faces, these three outshone any TV actor. Together, they were a sight for

sore eyes.

A rich kid who'd had his eye on Nyx didn't dare entertain a single thought now. He shrank into a corner and downed a bitter drink. Compared to Seafarion and Kai, he felt like a total toad.

On the way back, Nyx kept wondering what to do next. Heavenly Law always seemed to mess with her, throwing tricky problems her way.

Handling two guys at once was honestly tough. Back in the day, she wouldn't have even tried playing the field had no choice-she'd decided to stick with them forever and couldn't bear to ditch either one.

now she

Seafarion lifted his gaze, sneaking a peek at Nyx's thoughtful profile. He held back as long as he could before blurting out, "A guy who asks you out the first time he meets you is flaky and up to no good. He's not someone you should get serious with."

Nyx snapped out of her thoughts at his words. She weighed it for a second, then shook her head. "But I don't think he's a bad guy," she said, "Plus, he's really good-looking."

A faint smile played on her lips, her cheeks turning a little pink, like she was picturing Kai's face. In that instant, jealousy hit Seafarion like a truck. "What about me?" he demanded.

"You're good-looking too," Nyx answered honestly. "You're just different types. I think you're both handsome."

Her tone was so casual, like she was just appreciating their looks, but her eyes hinted at something deeper-something hard to pin down.

Seafarion's throat bobbed. He wanted to say more but stopped himself. A wild sense of danger he'd never felt before crept up inside him. Sure enough, it turned into another sleepless night.

It wasn't until the sky started to lighten, with faint rays slipping through the curtain gap, that Seafarion finally dozed off for a bit.

But as soon as he fell asleep, he dreamed of a soft little bunny kicking its legs, hopping out of his arms, and bolting ahead without looking back. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't catch up.

Panic and sadness drowned him. Seafarion jolted awake, sat bolt upright, his heart pounding like crazy. "Nyx, Nyx," he murmured.

He fumbled around, tripped and fell, ignored the pain, scrambled into his wheelchair in a mess, and didn't even change clothes before rolling over to bang on her door next door.

He'd messed up. He was a complete idiot. He'd acted all rational and let her go, but he couldn't handle the idea of Nyx leaving him for real. He wasn't the only guy in the world. Tons of people liked her, and he didn't have anything special to offer.

Nyx was a young woman. She'd want to date, maybe even get married. If he stingily refused to give her what she wanted, she wouldn't stick around wasting time with him forever.

He knocked, but no one answered. He rang the bell a few times-still nothing. The door stayed shut tight. Clearly, no one was home. Seafarion wheeled back to grab his phone and called Marilyn. "What's today's work and schedule? Where's Nyx right now?"

Marilyn's puzzled voice came through. "It's a rest day. Unless I got it wrong, I already reported that to you yesterday."

As for where Nyx was, she didn't know. Rest day plans weren't her job to track.

But Nyx rarely went out-maybe a short walk nearby at most. When there was no work or classes, she liked to stay home and laze around. A rest day, and yet she wasn't home-totally out of character.

Panic swelled in Seafarion's chest. He moved to call Nyx, hesitated, then switched to texting: [Nyx, where'd you go?],

He worried he'd blurt out a confession over the phone. Something like that needed to be said face-to-face to feel official.

His special notification chime rang out crisply once. Nyx: [Kai asked me to grab food with him. We're out right now.]

His worst fear came true. The dread from his dream practically solidified. Seafarion slumped back, then propped himself up fast and dialed Nyx's number.

He couldn't let some shady guy trick Nyx away. He had to find out where she was and bring

her back.

Nyx's phone buzzed. She reached to answer, but a veiny hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.

+45

"Who're you texting? Whose call is that? Why aren't you looking at me?" Kai's green eyes glared down at her, his brow furrowed. "You're on a date with me. No chatting with other guys."

Nyx blinked, totally thrown off. She thought, 'So bossy?'

Their eyes locked. A lightbulb went off in her head, and she suddenly figured out what felt off about Kai compared to how she remembered him.

Before he lost his memory, his gaze had more warmth and attachment. Now, it carried a fierce, possessive heat. Like a leopard gone wild back in the day-once he locked onto her, he'd stubbornly decided she was his.

Nyx knew how to handle this kind of leopard. She lowered her eyes and softened her voice. "You're squeezing my wrist a little too hard. It hurts."

Kai let go right away, a flash of regret in his eyes. He didn't dare touch her fragile frame again. Instead, he pulled out a document and handed it to Nyx. 'Another contract?' she thought. Nyx took it, glanced at the title, and her face twisted weirdly. She read through it slowly, stayed quiet for ages-long enough that the guy across from her started squirming-before asking, "What's your thinking

here?"

"Why'd you give me a sugar baby contract?" She was genuinely curious about this. She didn't believe a memory wipe would turn her partner into some sleazy jerk who'd skip love and duty for a cash-and-sex deal.

Kai sat up straight, dead serious. “Because I'm loaded, and our social standings are miles apart. Last night, I looked into your country's customs and culture. For situations like ours, it usually starts with a sugar baby contract for a long-term, steady dating setup."

Nyx was speechless. She thought, 'Is this legit research? Did he dig up his info from some trashy romance novel site?'

He'd just lost his memory, but it felt like this leopard got dumber. It was like a wild animal barely learning to shapeshift, trying hard to fit into human society but always letting its tail slip out.

Nyx stared at the clause saying the sugar baby can't fall for the sponsor for a bit, barely holding in a laugh. She signed her name carefully in the blank.

She didn't point out that this contract went against basic decency and had no legal weight. She nodded at him all serious- like. "Alright, I'm in."noveldrama

A cold, cash-only deal was locked in. Kai rubbed her signature with his fingers a couple times, perked up instantly, and slipped into full-on sugar daddy mode.

He picked up a piece of steak and plopped it on her plate, jutting his chin. "Eat it."

Nyx raised an eyebrow but went along and ate it. Seeing this, Kai's eyes lit up. He scooped her some soup-Then came fried shrimp, grilled beef, truffle omelet. Nyx glanced at the omelet. "I don't like this one." She hated black truffles. Kai snatched it back, stuffed it in his mouth, and mentally blacklisted the dish.

After feeding her for a while, Nyx got full first and set her fork down. Kai frowned, muttering she ate too little. When she didn't budge, he finished the rest himself. After the meal, he sipped some tea, secretly pleased. Being a sugar daddy rocked. He could figure out what she liked and didn't like.

"Starting today, I'm calling you Nyx, Kai declared, all bossy. "No one else gets to." He'd heard Seafarion call her that last night.

12:35 Tue, 18 Mar

Nyx looked troubled. "But it's my first name. My friends have always called me that. I can't exactly tell them if's reserved for my sugar daddy now, can I?*

Sugar baby deals were hush-hush, not something to broadcast. Realizing that, Kai backed off, dropping his dumb demand Guess being a sugar daddy wasn't all that great.

He shook off the sour mood, kept trying to flex his sponsor perks, and stood up to walk over to her. I want to hug you

He reached out, testing the waters by resting a hand on her slim waist, then wrapped his arms around her lightly. His hears started racing, and when he touched her hand, his face heated up. Everything felt off.

His body heat was insane. Nyx felt like she was stuck in a furnace. She tilted her

head up, studying him with a weird look for a moment, then said, "Want me to kiss you?"

Kai's arms tightened hard, his throat bobbing. "No, no need for now." He managed to fight the temptation. TII tell you when I want a kiss. Just do what I say."

For a split second, Nyx swore she saw fluffy ears flicker above his head, but when

she looked closer, nothing was there. Maybe just her imagination. She dropped her gaze, lost in thought.

After hugging her a bit longer, Kai let go reluctantly. "That's it for today's date. I'll

take you home."

"Don't I need to live with you?" Nyx blinked, testing him. A sugar baby was

supposed to stay with the sugar daddy.

Kai shook his head. "Nope."

Since that was the case, Nyx turned down his offer to drive her back. No need to

risk running into Seafarion and sparking a world war.

Kai seemed a little bummed but oddly conflicted too. He didn't push it. They each

took a copy of the contract and headed their separate ways.

Though he mostly lived abroad, Kai had a place in Broskel-a hillside villa in a quiet suburb. The whole mountain was his.

The car pulled up, the door shut, and the man vanished in a flash. His sturdy

clothes ripped apart into shreds on the floor. A massive leopard bounded out on four strong legs, charging into the woods behind the house.

After tearing through the forest, roaring and sprinting like mad, startling every bird

and beast around, Kai's adrenaline finally simmered down. He shifted back to human form.

He opened his phone's chat group. A bunch of unread messages had piled up.

Little Sparrow: [Ahhhh! What's up with Lord Kai?]

Little Sparrow: [Scared me to death.]

Little Squirrel: [Scared me to death.]

Little Hedgehog: [Scared me to death.] Little Fox: [Scared me to death.]

Big Black Bear: [Scared me to death.]

Sunflower Parrot: [What's going on?] Sunflower Parrot: [What happened?]

Sunflower Parrot: [You guys don't know? Lord Kai went on a date with a human

today!]

Sunflower Parrot: [1 even gave Lord Kai some tips!]

Sunflower Parrot: [Lord Kai, how'd the date go, my lord? How was it?]

Sunflower Parrot: [Did she sign the contract?]

Old Ox: [Is that contract legit? No humans I know do that for dating.]

Sunflower Parrot: [You're talking about regular humans! Is Lord Kai some regular human? He's the leader of our demon clan!]

Sunflower Parrot: [How can our lord date a human the normal way! For dating,

just toss humans some cash-they love that stuff!]

Old Turtle: [Yeah, demons don't last long with humans.]

Kai glanced at Old Turtle's last message and snorted. The demon clan was crazy

strong. As long as he had power, he wouldn't age or die. A puny human couldn't take him.

He brushed off the nonsense and replied to Sunflower Parrot: [It went great. She

agreed.]

Kai: [She listens to me. She even offered to kiss me and move in with me.]

No one knew how tempted he'd been. If he weren't worried about losing control and revealing his true form, scaring her off, he wouldn't have said no. Sure, he didn't get the full perks, but that didn't stop him from wanting to brag a little.

The group chat blew up with praise, Sunflower Parrot leading the pack, gushing about Kai's unmatched charm-winning over demon ladies left and right, and now even human chicks couldn't resist him.

Kai got tired of the flattery. He didn't care how many females adored him. He just

wanted to figure out everything about -Nyx.

He'd been human-shaped for over a hundred years, learning useful human stuff, stacking wealth, climbing higher, and helping out other little demons along the way. This was his first stab at love-unfamiliar and confusing. He had no clue what

he was doing.

Kai: [When I hugged Nyx, my heart was racing, my body got all hot, and I felt

awful. What's that about?]

He'd barely kept himself from shifting back into beast form. Otherwise, he wouldn't have cut the date short like that.

Old Ox: [That feeling sounds familiar. But it's not mating season yet.]

Sunflower Parrot: [Who cares if it is! Lord Kai's a natural!]

He privately messaged Kai, sending a video file called "World of Animals."

Sunflower Parrot: [Check this out, my lord! I found you some material!]

He wasn't great at searching online yet and could only find animal stuff. For demons, it was close enough anyway.

They were demons, sure, but demons came from animals that tapped into cosmic

secrets. They all carried some beast instincts deep down.

Kai clicked the video without a second thought. Birds chirped, flowers bloomed, and a narrator's voice flowed out soothingly.

"Spring has arrived, nature awakens, and it's mating season for animals once

again."

It was a rest day, so Nyx didn't call her assistant for a ride. She just grabbed a

random taxi home. She'd been stuffed to the brim at lunch, and the driver's wild skills left her carsick from all the jostling.

She got out, let the breeze hit her, and felt a little better. But the elevator ride

brought the dizziness and nausea roaring back. She shuffled out weakly and spotted someone at her door. Seafarion sat there, pale as a ghost, eyes red, not moving an inch-who knows how long he'd been waiting. He looked like he might shatter.