That one.

My mind tells me, and I don't need to be told twice. The middle one wears a black cape, he is taller than the males on his sides, he is taller than any Tzarian male in this room. If I said earlier that half naked Tzarians here have impressive bodies, I don't need the middle male to bare his chest to know he can easily put the rest of the male in shame. His physic is in the borderline of impossible, the sight of him makes me want to run away from him. His chest adorned with a lot of red and gold embellishments, his sleek long black hair is neatly combed away from his face.

His face...

His chin is squared, his jaw is sharp, his lips are fuller at the bottom, his nose is rather wide and high although something tells me it has been broken several times, and his eyes... His browless, eyelashes-less eyes are hooded. The color of his sunset eyes are redder than orange, and it holds so much sadness I feel my eyes water.

It takes one to notice one, I guess. But what catching my eyes is the old scar from his left bumpy brow to underneath of his left ear. Clearly, I can see the depth of sorrow he's holding, layers of pain he keeps inside him, the impossible strength to be here, and live his life when his eyes tell me the only thing he wants is probably to stop existing.

He is broken just like me, or even more so.

The trio stops by the dais and engaged in a serious conversation with one of the authorities. I noticed that none of them are wearing silver bands.

They are unpaired.

With that in mind, I take my first determining step. Nobody pays me attention as all eyes are on the three males. But as I'm getting closer, the middle male noticed me, his eyes lock with mine for a moment and I feel heaviness in my chest.

Perhaps, we can tend to each other's wounds?

The other two notice the middle one's distraction and follow his eyes, I stop a few feet away from them.

"Hello? Can we help you?" The left one asks me.

"Yes," My eyes are still with the middle one. "I'd like to give you this." I handed him the silver band and all three take two steps back with horror expression on their face.

"Are you the representative of Earth? The unpaired Tzarian are lining behind you." The right one told me.

"So are you," I told the middle male again. I look at his wrist again just to double check if he's already wearing silver band, he has none.

The two males are looking at the middle one in shock. Nobody says a word for a while and it's getting awkward.

"Have you paired already?" I ask him.

He looks at me for a moment, "No." His voice is deep and slightly rough, just like him.

Then I don't know what is stopping him, "I have been told to give this only to one of the unpaired males."

The left male opens his mouth to object but quickly closes it.

The right male tries to say something but nothing coming out of his mouth.

I look at the middle male again, if it's possible, his eyes are filled with pain and... fear? It's as if I ripped open his bandage and exposed his deepest nastiest wound. I don't want to cause anybody any pain. I, from all living creatures, know what pain can do to somebody, especially an old pain.

So I bring my hand down.

"If you're unwilling, I will not push you," I tell him. With that, I turn myself around.

"Wait," His heavy voice stops me. I look back at him and see mostly uncertainty in his eyes. He eyes me warily and full of cautions as if I'm the one who can inflict pain to him, not the other way around. "I accept."

The other two males on his sides seem to let out a breath we didn't realize they were holding. I open the band's clasp and fix it around his wrist, the silver twinkles, stunningly contrasting with the darkness of his skin.

The left male clears his throat, "I will give the closing speech," he informs us and walks toward the dais.

"I will get your documents ready." The right one says and leaves us towards the other end.

The middle male and I just stare at each other with no words exchanged. His eyes are studying me as I do the same to him. He seems to look for a motive as if I'm hiding a master plan. His arms are folded in front of his chest, flexing his biceps. His shoulder is wide and broad I shudder with the strength he might possess.

"My name is Kate, from planet Earth," I say to break the silence.

"I'm High General Zer from Tzar, Leader and the first man of Universe United Battalion, Ruler of the exile galaxy, Master of the 17 years war, Protector of the Relish."

Good luck with remembering your soon-to-be husband's title.

"May I have your attention please." A booming voice broke our small introduction. From the dais, I can see the left male speaking. "First I'd like to express on behalf of Tzarian gratitude for all the females participating today. Your presence is the greatest gift to the whole planet. Secondly, congratulations to all males and females paired today, may your pairing bring a new beginning to Tzarian."

He means babies.

"All new pairs please proceed to the exit door where our court men will identify your new status to our and your database. Tzarian will thank you and your home planet according to our agreement and I will officially close today's event." He walks down from the dais and walking toward us.

"Congratulations," He simply says to us.

The midd—my male doesn't reply and I copy him, although I give him my smile.

"My name is Lor, welcome to Tzar." He says lowly before walking away from us.

I can see all paired males and females are taking a line in front of the Court Men, some of them giving us a puzzled look, and some us them glaring at us. I wonder why. I waited for a while thinking my male will lead us to the line, but instead, he stands as still as a statue until there is only one pair of male and female left to register.

He takes a step and I take two, I fast walking on his side until we are in front of an older Tzarian male. When Zer stops in front of him his whole body becomes rigid.

Suddenly he stands up and fisted his hand and places it on his chest. "High General Zer!" I guess that's how they salute?

On his side, I can see the other male with a dark green cape. He swipes and types something on a small transparent tablet in front of the court men. When he tears his eyes to look at the tablet he takes a step back.

"T—This..." He stutters.

"We don't have all day," The green cape man warns him.

The court man's eyes bouncing from me to Zer for a while before Zar clears his throat. "Let's begin the process." He says slowly, in threatening notes. The Court man rushes to grab the tablet and swipes a few times.

"Y—Your file is locked, High General." He says apologetically.

Zer pulls the tablet towards him impatiently and swipes it himself before type something. When he hands it back to the court man, his eyes fast reading whatever written on that.

"My information is classified, unless you want to have your head targeted I advise you to stop reading."

The court man gasps and quickly swipes the tablet a few times. "Please check your data." He says finally. Zer takes the tablet and some weird writing is all over the tablet. He reads them carefully, there are few of his pictures, long hair, short hair, grey uniform, black uniform, and finally I catch a picture of what looks like a female, but he quickly swipes up before I can make sure and it goes on for what seems like an hour before he finally nods.

"Correct." He says to the Court Man.

"Please sign here."

Zer takes out a long, cigarette looking metal from his pocket and presses one end to the tablet, it turns green as soon as they connected.

"And for the female, please check your data." Now he hands me the tablet, but I can only frown.

"I cannot read it," I tell them.

Zer takes the tablet and translates it to me, "Katherine Lillian Jones. Born 11th of June 2020. The daughter of Elizabeth Marie Jones and Matthias Alexander Jones. Formerly Residence of planet Earth from Galaxy A1 509."

Huh, I guess Milky Way is galaxy A1 509?

"Correct," I tell them.

"Please sign here," The Court Man gives me a long looking metal which I assume is a pen.

"Wait," I say and suddenly three men around me stand too still for my liking.