-Unedited-
Chapter 35 - Randy's Secret
Aide took out his necklace. Craig stared at the familiar shape of the pendant, his face becoming stiffer and stiffer.
“Did your father give you that?” Craig asked.
Aiden looked at him confusedly, answering: “My father gave it to me when I was still very young. But General, this ring of yours, the material and shape seems to be the same as my necklace, how did you get it?”
The little boy spoke with a soft voice, looking up politely at Craig.
Being stared by the teenager's clear eyes, Craig unexpectedly found himself unable to tell the truth.
–How did I get it? This was something that your father accidentally left after our night together, when he ran away without a word.
Craig was silent for a moment, before asking Aiden in a whisper: “Where is your father?”
“He went to the central hospital.” Aiden said, "Something about meeting Uncle Louis.”
Craig frowned: “Uncle Louis? Who is that?"
Aiden: “He is a doctor in the Central Hospital, a good friend of my father’s.”
Craig nodded, then turned away. The man’s body fitted his suit uniform handsomely, making his body seemed taller and his back exceptionally upright. The four teenagers watched as the man leave so suddenly, sharing a look at each other.
After a while, Carlo frowned: “What’s going on? How could he leave without saying a word?”
Aiden was also puzzled, he turned to look at Xi Wei: “Xi Wei, how can that General have a similar ring as my necklace? Does he know my father? But I remember when he came to my house before he grabbed my dad because he thought my father was a stranger."
"…..I don’t know. ” Xi Wei scratched his head, as clueless as them. He had seen General Craig's ring in the palace before, but back then he merely felt that it looked familiar. Now he finally realized the reason why, it was because he had also seen the same shape on Aiden's necklace!
At that moment, Klaire suddenly whispered in Xi Wei's ear, “Do you think that perhaps General Craig has some relation with Aiden’s life? That's why he was so shocked upon seeing Aiden’s necklace?"
Xi Wei's eyes brightened, he immediately nodded: "Actually, he acted very strangely today. I happened to see him gazing dazedly at that ring in the palace, looking as if he were missing his lover. If our speculation is right, then he is probably… ”
The two people looked at each other, Klaire then whispered, “He is probably the alpha we’re looking for.”
Who would have expected that they would come upon this breakthrough without any effort. The one they were searching for was actually right in front of them.
Carlo saw the two teenagers whispering to each other and couldn't help asking, “What are you whispering about? Can this general be Aiden's father?"
“…” Xi Wei gave him a blank guy. This insensitive guy incredibly just said it outright, with Aiden on hearing distance!
Sure enough, hearing this, Aiden suddenly turned back and looked at Carlo with a pale face, “What did you say? My father?"
Carlo, who leaked the info, could only scratch the back of his head in embarrassment: “I, I… I didn’t say anything…”
Aiden: “I want to go to Central Hospital.”
Xi Wei hurriedly came forward and said, “We'll accompany you."
At the same time, at the Imperial Central Hospital, inside a doctor’s office.
Randy’s face was very pale, and his fingers were clenched firmly on the side of his body, “Louis, is there no other way?”
The male doctor looked at him helplessly, shook his head, and said: “I have told you, the root of your son’s illness is the defect of his hematopoietic system. Medicine can only help you control it, he will still need hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for complete recovery. When you asked me to participate in the Central Hospital's medicine development, I have explained the progress in private to you. Now the new drug can finally be put into use, you'll have an additional four years."
Randy said, “Within four years, perhaps a better medicine can be developed?”
“Don't depend on such luck. What if it doesn't happen? Then even if you want to save Aiden, it will be too late.” Louis sighed and patted Randy on the shoulder,” Haven't you found that alpha yet?"
Randy reluctantly said, “I can't find that person… You have to know, at that time Andromeda Galaxy was disturbed by electromagnetic waves. There was a blackout in the hotel, the room was dark, I did not see his appearance… ”
After saying this, Randy turned away with an upset look and took a cup of cold water from the table, pouring it down his throat to keep himself calm.
That night, he accidentally entered estrus because of failure in the inhibitor he used. He then met an Alpha soldier, and they hurriedly completed the marking in the dark hotel room. Randy was afraid that the other guy would find out his secret, so he quickly fled the scene without even taking a bath.
With green and purple bruises covering his body, he then managed to find Louis. The sky wasn't even bright yet, Louis was still sound asleep in the laboratory. Randy stepped forward to kick his feet, saying with an ugly expression, “What the hell did you give me? Wasn't that a long-lasting inhibitor? How could I enter accidental estrus just now?"
The vaguely awake Louis looked at this friend of his in confusion before suddenly startled awake, “You, what happened to you?”
Randy reached out for a cup next to him and poured the water down his throat. His throat was burning, which eased slightly after he drank the water. Randy took a deep breath and said as calmly as possible: “I was marked. I was going to kill that man, but he has a high-grade machine armour, he must be an officer. Murder of a military personnel will certainly be investigated. I didn't want to cause trouble, so I knocked him out and escaped."
“…” Louis said somewhat awkwardly, “This medicine that I developed, in theory, can be a long-term inhibitor to control omegas' pheromone level, but it hasn’t been used by anyone. Everyone's physique is different, newly-developed medicines may have some side effects, although I did not expect this kind of accident to happen…”
Soon as he said this, he immediately commanded his intelligent robot to do a comprehensive examination on Randy. The result showed that although the level of pheromone in his body was somewhat disorderly, it was gradually declining. It was strange that while the medicine had caused his estrus to happen sooner than scheduled, it unexpectedly passed after only one day.
“Maybe I’ve added too few ingredients to the medicine, which resulted in premature and shorter estrus effects?” Louis said cautiously.
“Forget it, since things have already happened, no use in talking about it now. You can just continue your medicine research, I'll think about what to do next.” Randy interrupted him, then turned around in exhaustion, “I'm going to take a bath in your bathroom.”
When showering, Randy had to grit his teeth in resentment upon seeing the kiss marks all over his body.
He was just trying a new drug, yet unexpectedly it led to an advanced estrus, and now he was completely marked.
Although the fact that he was now marked by an alpha stranger made him feel really annoyed, he could still recall that the one taking the initiative to pull down the serious alpha was him, and in the process, he had also enjoyed it… Since it had happened, it was more important to think about how to make up for it.
When he came out of the shower, Randy was completely calm as he asked Louis, “Do you have any morning-after contraceptive pills?”
Louis quickly turned over the medicine box and handed over a few pills to him, “Here, eat three tablets."
With a calm expression, Randy swallowed the medicine, drank a mouthful of water, then said, “A riot suddenly happened at Ellen College's Anniversary Celebration. I managed to escape the chaos, but there will certainly be a long list of victims, especially among the students. I want to put my name on the list of the students killed in this accident. Let people think that I'm dead, so I don’t have to go back to that bad marriage arrangement… I will be able to live with a new identity.'
“This …” Louis scratched his head, “What if I'm found out?”
Randy said, “Can you ask the boss to help me? If I go home now, they will know that I've been marked before marriage, do you think I will have good fruit to eat?[1] If he asked me to continue marrying my decades-older fiance, how much would I suffer? Have you thought about this?"
Louis was silent for a moment before finally shaking his head: “Alright, I’ll help you.”
Looking at his friend's tired look, Louis couldn't help feeling a bit distressed. He patted the other guy's shoulder and said, “You should have a good rest first, leave the other things to me and the boss.”
Louis sent him to the bedroom next door. Randy was so tired that he fell asleep right after lying down.
A few hours later, Louis came to wake him up. He handed him a video communication device, saying, “The boss is looking for you, the matter has been completed.”
This was Randy first time seeing the leader in the transmission. The man on the virtual screen had a gentle smile, as gentle as his voice as he said: “From today onwards, your name is Randy. You can start a new free life now. If someone finds out you are an omega and asks where your partner is, tell them that you were married and your alpha died in the front line. Say that you really love him, and won't remarry because you are loyal to him."
This excuse could easily deceive ordinary people. In the case of Alphas who sacrificed themselves on the battlefield, the Imperial Omega Association would not force their wives to remarry if they didn't want to. The alpha had died for the empire, forcing their lover to remarry was too cruel, it would also leave a bad taste for the other alphas who enlisted in the army. The military certainly showed more consideration for families of the fallen soldiers.
For the boss thoughtfulness, Randy immediately thanked him, “Thank you.”
“Don’t hesitate.” The man smiled, and then said, “Unfortunately, I do not have the authority to modify the military information, I can't forge a fallen alpha identity in the army for you to use as proof. You should be cautious, be as low-key as possible. As long as you don't have contact with the military, no one should be able to find out that your alpha hasn't really died."
Randy nodded seriously. “I know.”
The man continued, “The failure in the newly developed inhibitor is Louis' responsibility. It seems that the development of a long-term inhibitors still have a long way to go, we have really wronged you… What do you want to do with the alpha that has marked you?"
Randy was silent for a moment, only to then say: “It’s okay, it’s over, I won’t think about it anymore. Thank you for giving me a new identity, I will use the name Randy to live a new life."
Later, Randy was secretly sent to the Capital Star, and with his own designing talent, he personally designed his home. He planted a lot of flowers in the yard and raised a lot of lovely animals. He spent every day designing some fun things in the house, such as plates, hangers and other household items, and then put them on the internet to sale.
Because of his excellent designing talent, a lot of things he designed were in a fresh and elegant style, they were popular within the Empire. He opened a shop in the virtual network, the sales were good, so he had quite a huge income.
To be able to support himself doing something he loved to do, his days were filled with warm and routine. He didn’t even think about what happened before.
But fate seemed to deliberately tease him. Although at that time he had obviously eaten the morning-after contraceptive pills, after a while he began to vomit. At first he thought he must have eaten something bad, but later, as he continued to vomit even after changing his diet, he finally realized that something was wrong and quickly went to the hospital to find Louis.
Louis told him he was pregnant, leaving Randy speechless. In the end, he scolded, "The newly developed inhibitor failed, the contraceptive pills also failed, how do you actually study medicine?”
Louis' face was the epitome of innocent as he said, “That contraceptive medicine was not developed by me. It was bought in the drugstore, don’t blame it on me. According to scientific research, the morning-after contraceptives were not as effective as the contraceptives eaten before the estrus, with a probability of about 1 being invalid, as was stated in the medicine instructions. You must have encountered this 1 probability. I can only say you won the prize, God cares for you, so He sends a baby to accompany you. "
Randy: “…”
“What are you going to do?” Louis looked at him and asked carefully, “Do you want to do the surgery?”
Randy was silent for a long time, then he softly said: “Forget it, since it's already like this… The child’s life is innocent, perhaps you are right, perhaps heaven really sends this baby to accompany me. I will not kill him, that is too cruel."
Looking at Randy’s calm look, Louis couldn't help but sigh in amazement at how incredibly powerful the omega's mental capacity was. After being marked by an alpha stranger , he could quickly forget about it, acting almost as if it was a dream. Now that he was pregnant, he was also able to bravely face it, wanting to give birth to the baby. He always acted like any setbacks and hardships could never bring him into a pessimistic mood.
Randy felt that the baby was given to him by God, and with this idea in mind, he later gave birth to the baby with a very joyful feeling.
The child looked like him, the big light-coloured eyes and the soft locks looked particularly lovely. Randy loved his little baby, holding his hands very carefully as if afraid of breaking them. He gave the baby the name Aiden,, buing a lot of clothes and toys for him.
However, when Aiden was three years old, when they went to the hospital for his first comprehensive health check, Louis discovered a startling problem: “The child’s hematopoietic system is inherently flawed, and he has a kind of… very rare blood diseases… ”
It was also the day when Louis first saw a sad expression on Randy’s face.
He held the quiet child lying in his arms, his face dazed, looking as if the world had suddenly turned into darkness.
After a long silence, he said with a trembling voice, “What should I do to save him?”
Louis explained the cure method of stem cell transplantation and the medicine-control method as emergency measures. After thinking about it, Randy decided to use medicine to control the child’s condition, then slowly look for the alpha and see if they can save the child.
In fact, he didn’t want to see that alpha anymore. Some omegas saw marking as some sort of a ritual, that once they were marked, they must be loyal to their alpha. Lanti did not believe in this concept. In his opinion, that ridiculous night was just an accident. Since the accident had passed, there was no need to worry about it anymore. He liked the warm and peaceful life he had with his child now.
But…… Randy’s heart ached to see how weak the child in his arms was.
“I must save him.” He gently kissed the baby’s forehead. Perhaps because of the feelings shared between the father and son, the child's warm and soft touch gradually calmed his emotions. His eyes became gentle as he said, “In any case, he is my son. Since I let him come into this world, I should take responsibility for him. Medical expenses are not a problem, I will find ways to earn them, but I have to ask you to please pay more attention to the development of the medicine."
“You can rest assured. This disease can be controlled for many years with the current medicine, you still have time.”
Randy nodded, “I’ll figure out how to find that alpha.”
Louis asked, “How are you going to find him?”
Randy thought to himself, “The army that was sent to the Andromeda Galaxy that day was the Star Corps, right?”
“Yes, this matter was later reported by the Imperial press… However, the media was particularly vague about it, they only said that the Star Corps managed to drive out the enemy troops, but there is no explanation about the specific situation that happened."
“It may involve military secrecy." Randy fell silent for a moment before continuing, “The alpha who marked me should be an officer. According to my judgment, since his machine armor can be deformed, it must be a class B or above large machine armor. And since only certain officers are eligible to drive them, he is definitely someone of a major or above level.”
Louis said: “As far as I know, the Star Corps is huge. They have Majors, Lieutenant Colonels, Senior Colonels, plus Major Generals and Lieutenant Generals. There are at least hundreds of officers that fit that criteria, you can't be planning on looking at them one by one, do you? Is there no other information that you know about the alpha? Any characteristics that can be used to recognize him?"
Randy said seriously “He spoke in a really serious manner."
Louis: “… Are you serious? How to find him with only that! Most officers are serious, aren’t they?"
Louis looked helplessly at his friend. Randy also frowned, then said: “His height should be about 1.88-meter.”
Louis waved his hand, “It’s not uncommon for alpha males to reach this height. This information is useless.”
The two of them disscused for half a day, but still couldn't deduce who that person might be. Louis had to turn to the boss again, but the boss also couldn't help them, saying reluctantly: “Military details are top secrets, I can't access it easily. Though I can help you get the names of all major-level and above alpha soldiers in Star Corps? You can filter it according to their names, ages, and heights."
Unfortunately, Randy was left very dumbfounded as he received the list containing information of hundreds of soldiers.
The Star Corps was very tightly managed, every soldier who entered the camp had their fingerprints and pupils scanned. If an ordinary person could easily enter the army to see an officer of major or above level, the empire would have long been smashed by the Federation Government.
As an ordinary person, Randy had no chance to contact the generals in the military. It would also be too troublesome to risk being arrested and brought into interrogation. Moreover, the Star Corps in recent years was often taken by General Byron to patrol in other galaxies, their time stationed in the capital star was limited. Randy had no access whatsoever to those soldiers.
After years of investigation, he was still unable to determine who that alpha was.
Fortunately, there was progress in the medicine development. Randy was full of hope that the medicine could be used for life, that Aiden would be saved. As a result, he finally received this news from Louis today: the medicine could only help control the disease until the user was 18 years of age…
At the thought of how his good son could only live until 18 years old, Randy’s heart felt as painful as if it was stabbed by countless needles.
Louis looked at his pale face and could not help sighing. He patted the man’s shoulder lightly and said, “I heard the Stars Corps happened to be in the Capital Star right now, General Byron is also here. We can go to the general’s home and ask to see him if you want? Your son Aiden and his son Claire are good friends, aren't they? Can't you find a way to get Claire to introduce you to his father?"
“An omega stranger looking for him at his house, the general will certainly doubt my identity.” Randy frowned, “Also, I have always told outsiders that Aiden’s father has died. If I go around searching for that alpha now, my story would obviously be flawed… ”
As the two were chatting, the door bell suddenly rang.
Louis looked up and saw a handsome man in a military uniform standing in front of the door without a serious face, looking stiff as if he were a tall statue.
Upon seeing the picture showed on the screen projection, Randy wondered in a confusion, “Isn't this man the Alpha General who escorted Xi Wei? What is he doing here? Right, today the First Prince said they will come to my house to see Aiden. Did something happen with Aiden… ”
Thinking of this, Randy instantly felt worried. He immediately turned to open the door: “What's wrong? Nothing happened to my child, right?”
Craig: “…”
At their last encounter, they were only supported by the streetlight, so this was Craig first time to see Randy clearly at such a close distance.
The omega in his memory was still a green teenager, should only be around 18 years old. However, the one standing before him right now was a grown man. He had a very gentle temperament, his features delicate, skin fair, but the man's height was still the same as in his memory, just up to his shoulder.
Craig gazed down at him. Being confronted by the wide-eyed anxious look, his heart was suddenly filled with a complex emotion.
“I … I have something to tell you, come with me please."
Seeing how serious the general's expression was, Randy thought something must have happened to his son. He immediately followed the man with impatient steps.
Craig led Randy to his suspension car. Randy anxiously asked, “Quickly tell me, what’s wrong with Aiden?”
Craig was silent for a moment, then he whispered: “Aren't you… the man from that year?"
The grim-faced general said this, seemingly embarrassed as he removed his gaze from Randy’s face.
Randy freeze: “What year?”
Craig carefully took the ring out, placed it in his open palm, then whispered: “This ring, is this yours?”
Randy: “…”
– –