Lu Xia was jolted awake by a sharp pain in her chest. She opened her eyes to see a man, draped in sheer gauze, kneeling on one knee on the bed and trying to approach her.
Then, a flood of unfamiliar memories, none of them hers, rushed into her mind. 'I've transmigrated!'
She had crossed over into a world where females held supremacy over males. The man before her, nearly naked in his sheer drapes, was her `husband` for the night: Graces, a `male` from Duke Leslie's family. Because his `gene fusion degree` was below 30%, he couldn't even beast-shift. He was considered defective and held an incredibly low status within his own family.
As such, he had been sent to her bed as a gift to congratulate her on inheriting the title of `Duke`.
And she had four other `husbands` just like him!
This was because the body's original owner had been a notorious pervert in the `Empire`. Limited by a heart condition that left her incapable, she had resorted to sadism for pleasure. Tonight, in a bid for indulgence, the original owner had ignored her health and taken a forbidden drug. She died in bed before anything could even begin, giving Lu Xia the chance to cross over.
'I won't even comment on the original owner's death wish,' Lu Xia thought. 'Right now, I just need to deal with the problem at hand.'
"You..." Lu Xia began tentatively, still searching for the right words. But before she could find them, she watched as the man slowly slipped the sheer gauze from his body. His voice trembled with restraint. "Please, Female Master, enjoy me."
Lu Xia's heart clenched. She told herself to stay calm. "Put your clothes on," she said. "I'm not in the mood tonight."
The moment the words left her mouth, she saw the man's face pale. He pressed his thin lips together. He had a naturally cool and aloof look, but in this moment, it was tinged with an air of desolation.
The man suddenly rose, only to kneel on the floor. The sheer fabric slid to the ground, pooling around him and revealing his flawless body, which gleamed like the finest white jade under the lights.
Smooth and delicate, with fluid lines of muscle that were full without being exaggerated, he was impossibly beautiful. "Please, Female Master, punish me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the man produced a whip from goodness-knows-where and offered it to her with both hands.
Seeing this, Lu Xia felt her vision go dark. 'Great,' she thought. 'The original owner might be gone, but she left me with this huge mess.'
Lu Xia got up and sat on the edge of the bed. "I told you, I'm not in the mood tonight. You may leave."
The man kneeling on the floor remained motionless, stubbornly holding the whip aloft, as if determined to kneel there all night if she refused.
She snatched the whip from his hands, feeling his body tense involuntarily. The next second, Lu Xia tossed the wretched thing aside. 'I'm not a sadist like the original owner who gets off on this stuff.' "What exactly are you trying to do?"
The man prostrated himself fully on the floor. "To receive the Female Master's favor."
Upon hearing the word "favor," Lu Xia was jolted by a memory, recalling exactly what female supremacy meant in this world.
In this world, females held absolute dominion over males simply because females were rare. They also possessed the ability to soothe a `male`'s `spiritual power` and to bear children. Once a `male` was chosen by a female, he was required to not only surrender all his assets but also to win his Female Master's affection and obtain her "favor."
And this so-called "favor," to put it crudely, meant accepting the `male`'s physical devotion—to engage in carnal acts with him.
Furthermore, after their first time, a professional `male` management agency would inspect the `male`'s body to verify whether favor had been granted.
If the `male` was found to be untouched, he would face restrictions and punishments, even "re-education" in certain areas, all to make him more obedient and better at "serving" his Female Master.
Worse still, if a `male` had the misfortune of losing his virginity before finding a Female Master, he would be branded a "wanton man," his reputation ruined forever.
'The dregs of feudalism have nothing on this!' Lu Xia thought.
"If my Female Master is displeased, you may punish me, but please, I beg you, grant me your favor!" With that, the man scrambled on all fours to retrieve the whip, once again raising it above his head.
"..." Lu Xia stared at him for a long moment, considering his background. He was the eldest `male` of a `Duke`'s household, yet his family had given him to her predecessor simply because his `gene fusion degree` was below 30%. They showed a complete disregard for whether he lived or died. If she were to refuse him now, she could well imagine what fate awaited him.
This world was incredibly harsh towards males, and even more so towards those with a low `gene fusion degree`. The discrimination was obvious just from the label "defective."
Males branded as "defective" had no agency whatsoever. Before marriage, they were controlled by their mothers; after marriage, by their Female Master. They could only ever exist as a `husband`, no matter how exceptional they might be on their own.
This so-called `gene fusion` was, in essence, a pursuit of power. Over time, `Beastman` had evolved from humans through this technology. A high `gene fusion degree` allowed a person to switch freely between their human and beast forms. In fact, to show off the superiority of their `gene fusion`, `male` `Beastman` would typically display some of their beast features even in human form. It was said that the `male` with the highest `gene fusion degree` in the entire `Empire` had only achieved an 80% rate.
The "defectives" with low fusion rates, like Graces, only exhibited human traits, showing no signs of beast transformation at all.
'On that particular point, though,' Lu Xia thought, 'I can actually live with that.'
"I hear you're currently a `Colonel` in the `Imperial First Military District`?"
Hearing this sudden question, the man holding the whip lowered himself even further, his posture impossibly reverent. "I am," he replied.
"Given your circumstances, it must have been difficult to climb to your current position."
"...If my Female Master is displeased, I can resign from my post and stay home to serve you." Even as he spoke, Lu Xia could hear the resentment simmering beneath his restrained tone.
But the reality was, no matter how resentful he was, if Lu Xia truly disliked it, she had the absolute authority to forbid him from working.
Lu Xia, however, had no such inclinations. She'd just had a sudden realization. Despite having the original owner's memories, she was still utterly alone and helpless in this world.
She needed an ally—someone intimate, obedient, and controllable, who knew this world inside and out and could help her acclimate.
As someone who had survived an apocalypse, she knew the most important rule in a new environment was simple: 'Survive first.'
Lu Xia rose and walked over to the man. She took the whip from his hands once more, tossed it to the floor, and commanded, "Lift your head."
`Graces`'s body went rigid. He kept his gaze slightly lowered as he slowly raised his head.
Lu Xia reached out, tipping the man's chin up with her fingers. She had to admit, `Graces`'s appearance was perfectly suited to her tastes—flawlessly, exquisitely beautiful. It was as if he had been crafted to her exact preferences. 'With a face that cold,' she mused, 'he must be stunning when he's flushed with passion.'
"I can grant you favor," she said, "but you must enter into an obedience contract with me."
The obedience contract was exactly what it sounded like: from that moment on, he would obey only Lu Xia. Any resistance would trigger `spiritual` punishment, and a severe enough violation could result in complete mental annihilation.
`Graces` heard her words, his expression showing little surprise. Instead, a bleak sense of resignation settled over him, as if to say, 'Of course.'
'He knew it.' How could the woman known as the most depraved female in the `Empire` possibly let him off easy? He closed his eyes, lowering his head in acceptance of his fate. "As you command, my Female Master."
"Good. Then you may now receive your favor."