【Interstellar Contract Magician】Ruyuanke

His voice was as cold as a metal blade pressed against his throat: "Then let's talk—who exactly are you?"

The tone was flat, devoid of angry shouts, only a suppressed calm. A military officer's calm, suffocating in its intensity.

But it was this calmness that suddenly snapped something inside me.

Perhaps it's the pain. Perhaps it's the instinctive reaction of being cornered. Perhaps it's... that stubborn streak deep in my bones, the stubbornness that I never want to be interrogated by others.

He said, "Let's chat." Okay, I'm going to chat anyway.

My chest felt like it was being bulged open from the inside. I suppressed my trembling throat, my voice rough but clear: "Alright, then let's talk about who I am."

He narrowed his eyes, as if he hadn't expected me to still have the strength to talk back, or that I would dare to talk back at this moment.

My breathing was erratic and rapid, but it didn't stop.

I forced myself to lift my eyelids slightly and stared at his dark, brooding face.

"who am I?"

I gave a cold laugh, my throat aching as if it had been slashed by a razor blade, but my voice was more steady than I had expected.

“I am your father’s personally acknowledged heir, and I am a ‘legal child’ registered in the Ye family. The documents can be checked, and the food chain can be verified. You can’t possibly not know that.”

Ye Lin's gaze paused slightly at those words—very lightly, yet enough to be noticed.

I straightened my chest, trying to muster the last bit of breath I had:

"According to regulations, I have the right and the obligation to travel to my father's jurisdiction before reaching adulthood to be raised. The procedures are legal, the route is legal, and the landing is legal."

I stared at him, each word like a nail: "I have come to this planet."

The light flickered, obscuring what was in his eyes, but his breathing was noticeably deeper.

“Then,” I continued, “I was forcibly sent to the Eleventh Military Academy without my consent. There was no consultation, no discussion, no right to be informed.”

"Now I'm almost dying on the battlefield, which is also part of your mission."

My voice was lower and colder:

"And all of this—is happening under what you call a 'false identity'."

The air inside the room seemed to freeze instantly.

Ye Lin stood there, as if surrounded by a still blizzard. He didn't move. His back was as stiff as iron, and even his breathing became barely audible.

But that silence is more dangerous than a roar.

I don't know what he's thinking. But I do know.

I will never again use "silence" to take responsibility for others.

This time, I'm going to make things clear. Even if it ignites another storm.

I don't remember where that conversation went after that. Maybe the air froze completely after I said those words; maybe he retaliated in a way I didn't hear; maybe our confrontation was interrupted by some external sound; maybe... nothing happened, only the silence added pressure.

In short, my consciousness suddenly collapsed amidst wave after wave of sharp pain.

It felt like someone was tearing my soul out of my body and then slamming it back in. My head was burning, my vision went black, and I felt myself falling deeper and deeper.

When I woke up again, the world had changed.

No longer was Ye Lin's gloomy, oppressive face that seemed to swallow people whole; no longer was the cold smell of medicine and the dim lighting; and no longer was the suffocating silence in that room.

What I saw was—a girl.

A very beautiful girl.

She sat at the head of the bed, the light falling behind her, softening her features and making them appear unreal. Her long, black hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her skin was as white as snow yet possessed a living warmth. Her eyes were clear and gentle, as if she already knew from the first time she saw me that I wasn't a "troublemaker," but a "patient."

She bent down to check my IV drip, her movements so light they were almost silent. Her fingertips touched the back of my hand, slightly cool, yet carrying a kind of cautious kindness.

I was stunned.

How could there be girls on a war planet?

From top to bottom, from the military to civilians, from classrooms to streets—there are never any women here.

At least, I've never actually seen it.

She noticed I was awake, looked up, and gave me a gentle smile that seemed out of place on a war-torn planet: "You're finally awake. Don't move around too much, your injuries haven't stabilized yet."

Her voice was clear and gentle, a voice I had never heard before in this icy land.

I stared at her blankly, even forgetting to breathe.

"you……"

I managed to ask, "Who are you...?"

She blinked gently, as if she were smiling but also somewhat helpless: "Don't be too surprised, I know you haven't seen a woman in a long time."

She paused, looked down, and readjusted the IV drip rate. "I'm a medical professional."

Healthcare worker? This word is almost never associated with "woman" in my mind these days. In this star system, in this land so cold that even breathing can cause frostbite, I never imagined I would see a living, real, smiling girl.

She seemed to notice my shock, and gently raised her free hand, pressing my shoulder with a mixture of reassurance and helplessness: "Don't be afraid. I'm here because you need treatment."

Her tone carried a professional strength, yet without any coldness, as if she were used to pulling people back from a pile of corpses while still maintaining the warmth of a "human being".

I suddenly had an urge to laugh but couldn't.

So... there really are girls on the war planet. They just hide so well that it's almost as if the world consists only of men and corpses.