Emma only had Edric in her corner right now, which was a problem because he couldn't always be there for her 24/7. Thus, he needed someone to stay by Emma's side at all times to protect her. So, he followed her into the kitchen. After a beat, he finally asked, "Emma, about your nine other matches… Where are the others, aside from the ones I've already met?" He had met Damian and Drake so far. He could trust those two as far as he could throw them, which was not very far. Kael had gone through dissolution for whatever reason. Therefore, he was a non-entity as far as Edric was concerned. Corvin wasn't exactly someone he could count on right now. That left four other possible candidates. Emma let out a sigh as soon as he brought her other matches up. "Aside from the ones you've met, I haven't been able to contact the remaining ones," she said. "Drake and I have agreed to dissolve our match. Our relationship is purely business. I provide him with mental comfort, and he pays me in star coins. You already know about Kael and Corvin. As for Damian…" she trailed off, searching for the right words. Her mind flashed to that sly fox and said resolutely, "I've decided to dissolve my match with him as well." Now that she was aware of just how dangerous her identity as a human was in the Interstellar Empire, she wasn't about to put herself in any risky situations. Damian was as sly as they came. Suffice it to say, she had no faith in him. Edric wasn't surprised by her decision. "Emma, I'll support any decision you make," he replied calmly.He wasn't about to say a word in Damian's defense. A therian had to pay for his own actions. If Damian wanted a bond with Emma, he first needed to prove his sincerity. Judging by Emma's decision, it was obvious that he had fallen short. "Emma, since you've decided to dissolve your match with Damian, I think you should try to reach out to your remaining matches. This is a special case. You need someone to be with you at all times for the sake of ensuring your safety." In the Interstellar Empire, it was normal for a female to always have a male Etherian or her mate by her side. A female living all by themselves was practically unheard of. Emma found his logic sound. Edric was worried for her safety, and she wasn't that arrogant to think she could protect herself from all harm. After all, she was just a Rank 4 Etherian."I'll try to get in touch with them again," she said, turning on her lightcore. Then, she tagged the remaining four in the group chat. One minute passed. Then, two. In the end, the group chat was still as silent as the grave even after 30 minutes. She had waited till her beast meat noodles were ready. Edric was also in the group and had been keeping an eye on the situation the entire time. His expression turned thunderous when he saw that 30 minutes had passed with no reply. These b*stards are such irresponsible good-for-nothings! Where is their sense of responsibility as a potential mate? Emma quickly saw that he was getting worked up, so she hastily set the steaming bowl of beast meat noodles in front of him and said gently, "It's alright. I'll just dissolve our matches if this drags out. I can easily reapply for new matches through the Beastmate System." To her, they were just men, absolute strangers even. Since they weren't going to be of any use, she might as well replace them with better ones. Frankly, she'd already been thinking of dissolving those matches for a while now. However, she was worried that they had been in a similar situation to Edric's—he had been stuck outside the Empire with no lightcore signal. She had to admit that the rest had slipped her mind when Edric came into the picture. She might've forgotten all about the remaining four if Edric hadn't brought them up. Emma ladled another bowl of noodles for Corvin as she said her piece. Coalball probably couldn't consume food like theirs, so she cut up some beast meat and set it aside for him. Edric went to grab the cutlery, calling the two over. Soon enough, Corvin returned with Coalball on his back. To Emma's surprise, Corvin had gone to wash his paws before eating. Before she could comment on it, she saw Coalball imitating him by washing its claws. Her eyes went as wide as saucers, murmuring in disbelief, "They're washing up before they eat. How are they so smart?" Edric explained patiently, "Emma, Corvin's a therian. Although he's as dumb as a cub right now, he still remembers some basic manners. As for Coalball… Well, he might be ugly, but he's definitely a smart bird. "Although there's a chance it doesn't understand what it's doing and is only parroting Corvin's actions." Neither Corvin nor Coalball bothered with cutlery. Instead, Corvin ate with his head buried in his bowl, chomping away.Coalball was a lot more graceful. It stood beside its small plate, picked up the meat with its beak, and tilted its head back before swallowing the meat whole. Emma only left them to it once she was sure they were fine on their own. In the meantime, Edric was shoveling Emma's noodles down, utterly amazed by her cooking. He had assumed that the beast meat she'd grilled was the best thing that ever existed, but this… this was even better! After they were done, Edric wasted no time instructing the smart robot to clean things up. He also told Emma to rest. Emma had already gone out of her way to cook for him, so he wasn't about to let her lift another finger. Besides, he only had to order the robot to do the cleaning.