Xi Wei really had no alternative but to find an excuse to escape the monitor room. Klaire’s sappy confession made his cheeks feel hot, and when he was gazing at him tenderly, Xi Wei almost felt like his whole body was going to burn up.
—It was really terrible getting confessed to by your best friend twice in a row!
Xi Wei hated that he couldn’t dig a hole to bury Klaire in, who’d actually gotten his wires crossed enough to like his own best friend!
When he arrived at the lounge, sure enough, Aiden was sitting on the couch, eating fruit with a calm expression. When he saw Xi Wei come in, his eyes brightened. He immediately stood up and smiled, saying, “Xi Wei.”
Xi Wei walked over and gave his friend a light hug. He frowned and said, “Carlo actually had you help send Joen over, what if you’d met with an accident on the way?”
“I wouldn’t have. My father gave me a travel permit. I just said that I was going to travel out of boredom, no one would be suspicious of me.” Aiden patted Xi Wei’s shoulder. “Relax.”
Unexpectedly, when Aiden turned for a look, he found that there was a light imprint on the back of Xi Wei's neck. It had been several days and the mark wasn’t that distinct anymore, but with one look at the shape you could tell it was the imprint of an alpha’s teeth.
Aiden couldn’t help but ask, “You got marked?”
Xi Wei: “......”
He was clearly wearing a turtleneck sweater, and even then he was found out. Aiden really deserved the full score he had gotten on the Ellen Academy graduation exam.
Xi Wei coughed twice and said, embarrassed, “It was an accident.”
Aiden asked earnestly, “It was Klaire, right? That’s great, I wish you two all the best.”
“...What do you mean you wish us the best! I said it was an accident!” Xi Wei hurried to explain.
Aiden had an expression full of understanding. He took Xi Wei’s hand gently and said, “Actually, I’ve known for a long time that Klaire likes you. You were able to meet someone who loves you deeply, so you have to treasure it.”
“...” Xi Wei looked away with a headache, and changed the topic. “How are you getting along with Carlo?”
“It’s still the same.” When he spoke of his alpha who had the clumsy mouth, Aiden couldn’t stop a smile from rising. “He’s so long-winded all day long, nagging about this, worrying about that, hating that he can’t clip me to his belt and carry me around with him.”
“It looks like you two are getting along pretty well.” Xi Wei smiled and said, “When are you planning to get married?”
Aiden’s eyes darkened a little and he said, “He wants to hold an official wedding at the end of the year, but I don’t want to make the wedding public. We had a fight over it just a few days ago.”
“He dared to argue with you?” Xi Wei asked, surprised.
“He didn’t argue with me, he just hid away sulking, thinking that I didn’t want to hold a public ceremony because I didn’t like him, feeling hurt by himself for a few days.” Aiden didn’t really understand what that alpha was thinking. He smiled helplessly and said, “You know my dad’s true identity is the older brother of Hooper, the head of the Rose Corps. If I hold a public wedding, my dad has to come. I’m worried he’ll get recognized by somebody, and it’ll stir up unnecessary trouble.”
Aiden paused and then continued, “My father and I have lived peacefully for all these years. I don’t want anybody to break that peace. I hope Carlo can understand.” Although his tone was gentle, his gaze was very firm. It was clear that he really cared about his dad’s hard-won peaceful life, and he didn’t want his dad to be implicated because of him.
Xi Wei patted Aiden’s shoulder lightly and said, “Don’t blame Carlo, it’s obviously because he likes you that he wants to hold a grand wedding for you. Your refusal was definitely a blow to him. He’ll recover after a while. Find a chance and explain things to him.”
“Okay, I will.”
Just as the two of them were talking, a knock came from the door. When Xi Wei opened the door and looked, Klaire was standing there elegantly. There were two AI androids beside him, bearing plates laden with delicacies.
“You guys are still hungry, right? How about eating something first?” Klaire said with a smile.
Xi Wei met his gaze and immediately looked away uncomfortably. He looked back, walked back into the room and said, coughing, “Aiden, are you hungry? Let’s eat.”
“I actually am hungry.” Aiden walked over and looked at Klaire. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Klaire had the robots put the plates down on the table and said, “You guys continue chatting. Right, Aiden, when you return, remember to thank Carlo for me.”
“Got it.”
After Klaire left, Aiden said approvingly, “Klaire’s really considerate of you. When he guessed you’d be hungry, he brought you food right away, and they’re even all the things you like to eat. Look, there’s your favorite-”
“Eat your meal!” Xi Wei stuffed a big chunk of dessert straight into Aiden’s mouth.
***
Klaire arranged for Aiden to stay in the room next to Xi Wei’s that night.
Regarding Joen’s punishment, Xi Wei couldn’t really make a decision on it under his own authority. He could only go find Klaire to discuss it.
Klaire had been living in Bluestar’s cockpit for the last few days. It was already late at night, and he had taken off his trim military coat, leaving only the white shirt underneath and a pair of leisure pants. His sleeves were lightly rolled up, exposing his muscled arms. Two of the buttons at his neckline had been casually undone, showing his honey-colored chest. In whole, he looked both languid and sexy.
Although Xi Wei couldn’t know this man any better, when he all of a sudden saw how handsome and sexy he looked, his heart skipped half a beat.
“Xi Wei, you came?” When Klaire opened the door and saw the man he loved, his face couldn’t help but show a smile, and his gaze gentled. “You’re looking for me so late, it must be because of Joen, right?”
He had always understood him this much, had always been able to guess what he was thinking right away…
Xi Wei looked at him, in a complicated mood, and deliberately overlooked the way his heartbeat had quickened when he saw him. He feigned calmness and walked into the cockpit, finding the sofa and sitting down.
Full of excitement, Bluestar jumped out, twisting around in the air. He said, “Egret, Egret, aren’t you going to say hello to me? We haven’t seen each other for a few days, did you miss me? I really missed you!”
Egret: “...”
Having just entered a sleeping state, Egret didn’t want to pay attention to this guy.
“Don’t fall asleep, I have something urgent to tell you.” In deadly earnest, Bluestar said, “The Mecha Association doesn’t have any regulations covering mechas getting engaged, but the way I see it, since mechas have intelligence similar to humans’, then we can also have emotions like humans do. Just like how my owner likes your owner, I like you too, Egret!”
Xi Wei: “......”
Egret: “......”
Klaire rubbed his nose awkwardly and said, “Bluestar, you go off to the side for now. I have something urgent to discuss with Xi Wei.”
“Oh…” Looking wronged, Bluestar went over to the side.
Egret immediately turned himself off.
Klaire considerately poured Xi Wei a cup of warm water and asked, “How were you planning to deal with Joen?”
Xi Wei thought about it and said, “Joen’s already been missing for three days. If his grandfather starts investigating, we’ll be forced to take the consequences. But this man knows too many secrets. We can’t just send him home like this.”
“I understand.” Klaire sat down beside Xi Wei and said in a low voice, “Joen’s always been a guy who likes to idle about. He hasn’t returned for three days, but I think his grandfather still isn’t clear about the situation. But once this stretches on too long, it’ll definitely arouse the suspicions of the Orlando family. When that time comes, and they start searching, it’ll be troublesome.”
Klaire looked down and thought for a while. “How about this, we secretly arrange a surgery for him.”
“A surgery?” Xi Wei said in surprise, “You mean, arrange a surgery to erase his memory?” As if he could read his mind, Xi Wei quickly grasped Klaire’s meaning. He smiled and said, “That’s not a bad method, it’s a good thing you thought of it!”
Imperial techniques in neurosurgery were already very sophisticated. They could insert a needle into someone's cortex and artificially remove their memories. Years ago, Randy's grandfather had forced his younger brother Hooper to undergo a memory removal surgery, and he’d forgotten many things. Of course, Hooper had undergone long-term memory removal, and the risks of such an operation were higher. Short-term memory removal usually only necessitated erasing a week’s worth of memories, and that was just right for making Joen forget everything that had happened between him and Xi Wei. The operation’s success rate was also very high.
“But we can’t let people notice traces of the surgery. You should have Egret black out as much of the hotel’s surveillance videos as possible. We absolutely can’t leave any recordings of Joen and us entering and exiting the hotel.” Klaire lowered his voice and said, “I’ll have my father arrange the surgery. Tomorrow, you and Aiden can return to the capital planet, what do you think?”
“Alright, let’s do it like that.” Xi Wei nodded straightforwardly.
They had, after all, been partners for so many years. The two of them got down to business, and their tacit understanding was just like it was in the past.
But once they finished discussing business, the atmosphere in the room suddenly seemed ambiguous.
Klaire sat beside him, and his scent flooded Xi Wei’s nose. His arm would occasionally touch Xi Wei’s, making him shift restlessly.
He didn’t know whether it was because he’d been marked, but the familiar scent of Klaire’s alpha pheromones made him feel as if he was in bed in the wintertime, wrapped up in a comforter. His whole body felt really comfortable. That warm scent made it so that he couldn’t help but want to get closer.
When he realized how his body was reacting, Xi Wei immediately jumped up like a cat who’d gotten his paw stepped on. Red-eared, he said, “It’s not early anymore, I’ll leave first.”
And then, under Klaire’s surprised gaze, he escaped at high speed.
Klaire gazed at this big beast’s seldom-seen look of fleeing in defeat, and couldn’t help but start to smile.
At his side, Bluestar griped in a low voice, “Owner, it looks like there’s hope for you and the eldest prince. Can you help me out and have me marry Egret while you’re at it? That way, the four of us can be together forever…”
Klaire interrupted him. “How is there hope for Xi Wei and me?”
Bluestar reported energetically, “I analyzed the pheromones in the air just now, and I found that after the eldest prince saw you, the suppressed omega pheromones in his body showed clear signs of activity. This is because after you temporarily marked him, according to omega nature, he’ll have a certain degree of affection for you! Take this great opportunity, owner, and keep up the effort! Only once you marry the eldest prince will there be hope for me to marry Egret!”
Klaire smiled and didn’t reply.
To tell the truth, he didn’t hope for Xi Wei to have some affection for him only because of pheromones. More than that, he hoped that one day, Xi Wei would like him for real. This kind of love had nothing to do with the genders of alpha and omega, and nothing to do with the influence of pheromones. It was just a pure love for who Klaire was as a person.
***
After he returned to his room that night, Xi Wei went immediately to the bathroom and took a cold shower. He extinguished his body’s reaction, then said to Egret, “Has the drug Joen gave me not been completely cleared out yet? How come my body’s not quite right?”
The results of Egret’s analysis were the same as Bluestar’s. He gave his opinion: “Owner, you don’t need to worry too much. The effects of the temporary mark will only last for three months. After three months pass, when you see Klaire again, you won’t have such an intense reaction.”
“...It turned out to be like this.” Xi Wei rubbed his temple with a headache. He thought to himself, the temporary mark he had heard of really was formidable. It even made a completely straight guy like himself feel good about another man…
Xi Wei blamed all the changes of the past few days on the effects of the temporary mark, and after he finished his cold shower, he lay down in bed with a clear conscience.
The next morning, Xi Wei was woken up by a strange dream. In the dream, he saw again the scene of Klaire holding him and kissing him, and the scene in the dream was even more stimulating than the one he had experienced back then; Klaire even took off all his clothes.
The two men held each other and did this and that, lots of things that were enough to make you blush. After that dream, Xi Wei actually dreamed that he saw himself with a big stomach, pregnant with Klaire’s child.
Fuck! Those damn pheromones actually gave him that kind of dream!
Xi Wei irritably rubbed the place where he’d been bitten on the back of his neck, and thought to himself, everything should be fine after three months. He’d return to the capital planet first, and get far away from Klaire!
After breakfast, Xi Wei hurriedly packed his bags, and planned to set off with Aiden and the unconscious Joen in tow.
To his surprise, Klaire didn’t come to send him off. Instead, it was the familiar two little alpha attendants who came to him and said respectfully, “Your Highness, the general wanted us to escort you two back to the capital planet.”
He didn’t know why, but when the time came to part and he didn’t see Klaire, Xi Wei’s heart actually held a strange kind of emptiness.
“What about your general?” Xi Wei frowned and asked.
“The general, he…” The alpha paused and said, “He’s too busy with military affairs to leave. He had us take responsibility for protecting Your Highness’s safety.”
Xi Wei saw their serious expressions and could only nod and say, “Then let’s go.”
The two alpha officers piloted the Morningstar Corps’s small battleship, taking Xi Wei, Aiden and the unconscious Joen towards the capital planet. Xi Wei sat on the comfortable sofa inside the battleship and watched the white planet Rennes grow smaller and smaller through a porthole. A strange thread of restlessness suddenly rose up in his heart.
—Klaire, you’re really busy with military affairs, right? You’d better not let anything happen to yourself! If you dare to lie to me, see how I’ll deal with you!
Xi Wei clenched his fist slightly and said silently in his heart.
***
5 hours and 5 minutes for 2,617 words, or 11.7 minutes for every 100 words. An increase in rate by 0.1 minutes.
I know some of y'all would rather focus on Xi Wei and Klaire, but I think the three different relationships helped illuminate the wide-ranging effects of this universe's anti-omega policies. There's Randy who had to hide his identity, Carlo who was chauvinistic at first, and Xi Wei who couldn't accept his gender... It wasn't just the omegas who were affected, but the alphas as well.
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