I like him a lot

by M1zushi

Thank you A and KoshkaHP for the donation!

After hanging up with Yu Chen, Bai Ling returned to the dormitory in a daze.

A voice lingered in his mind, telling him that six o’clock in the evening was an extremely important time, but he couldn’t remember why.

Oh… six o’clock. That was the time he used to wait for the milk truck in the square as a child.

But that wasn’t right, either. His memories of the milk truck were warm and soft. Yet, just now, when he’d heard Yu Chen’s voice, his heart had been uncontrollably flooded with a sour, lost, and sad feeling, as if some long-cherished wish had just been… extinguished.

Sava saw his crestfallen look and deliberately waved a hand in front of his face, mocking, “Got cooed over by your ‘9.9-point’ guardian for a while? Feeling much better now, are we?”

He hadn’t expected Bai Ling’s reflexes to still be sharp. Bai Ling slapped Sava’s hand away, and when he looked up again, his eyes were clear. “Of course.”

Sava secretly let out a breath of relief, but at the same time, his brow furrowed. “I’m not trying to criticize you, but if you have such a reliable guardian, why are you still taking alpha pheromone supplements? Don’t you know alphas are mutually exclusive? Especially the extremely possessive ones. They’ll even get jealous of a synthetic capsule. If he thinks you’re taking medicine, he’ll see it as you saying he’s not capable, and when he finds out, he’ll definitely ‘discipline’ you.”

This was also why Sava disliked alphas. Their territorial instincts were too strong, and they were hard to manage.

“He wouldn’t. He’s not that petty,” Bai Ling instinctively retorted.

Sava laced his hands behind his head and yawned. “Fine, whatever. He seems to love you a lot. Just based on the fact he bribed me with two bottles of milk, I’ll generously give him a passing grade.”

Bai Ling’s lips involuntarily curved in a smile, but after a few seconds, he realized something was wrong. The “guardian” Sava was talking about… was Yu Chen? Sava must have misunderstood.

But for some reason, after a long internal struggle, Bai Ling pressed his lips together and gave a soft “Mm.”

For the first time in his life, he had lied about his guardian.

He couldn’t control the thought… What if Yu Chen was his guardian? What if, truly, there had always been someone silently caring for him from afar…

Even if it was just for a few days, he wanted to pretend that his guardian loved him very much.

“I… I like him a lot, too,” Bai Ling turned his head away, taking two difficult breaths, as if an unprompted emotion was stuck in his chest, threatening to destroy him if he didn’t let it out.

He knew it was guilt from the lie. But he felt that if he was just a little honest, it would lessen the sin and he might be forgiven— forgiven for his… desperate wish for something he didn’t deserve.

Sava watched him for a moment. He saw Bai Ling’s slender, pale neck, which looked as if it might snap with every emotion, and his gasping breath. This was a common physiological reaction for an omega in the throes of pheromone addiction. It was an instinct that even the strongest will couldn’t fight.

Not even a human weapon.

“Alright, alright. If you really like him, just lay a few extra eggs for him on his birthday. Bake them into a pudding and feed it to him. He’ll be eternally grateful,” Sava, who had no idea how to comfort someone, just patted Bai Ling’s shoulder and offered his own brand of sincere advice.

Bai Ling: “……”

He had been detached from omega society for so long that he had almost forgotten how ridiculous and… lewd… their normal lives were.

It was getting late. Bai Ling walked the AI to the door and gave it a few more careful instructions: to turn on the backup power in Yu Chen’s palace, just in case the external voltage was unstable. He didn’t want the newly repaired circuits to burn out again and leave that old merman to suffer in the cold night.

The moment the AI hooked onto the dedicated transport rail for cleaning robots, it eagerly raised its pincer to report to its master. “Hello? Moshi moshi? I have perfectly completed my mission!”

The merman’s calm voice asked, “Did you discover anything?”

“Because you cannot see, I will describe it all for you. Oh, what style would you like? I have Tolstoy, Márquez, Shelley… Given that it’s currently snowing, I recommend the Siberian style: ‘Oh, my Master, you will surely agree, we must bring our lovely little bird pudding home and eat him up while he is warm’—”

Yu Chen: “…Switch back to simple description mode.”

“—Mode switching. Action: He is living in a four-person room for the lowest-grade concubine. The indoor temperature is 3°C. He is wearing black sports shorts with white trim; his left knee is red from the cold. His upper body is in a faded gray crewneck T-shirt; his collarbones are clearly visible. On his desk is a bottle of artificial alpha hormone supplement, and—”

“Alpha hormone supplement?” Yu Chen repeated, his knuckles tapping the desk.

He had locked Bai Ling to the bed last night and had only heard the young man say he needed medicine. Out of respect for the omega’s privacy, he hadn’t pressed the issue, so he hadn’t known what Bai Ling was taking. Now that he understood the situation, his heart tightened.

“Yes. He was taking it when I arrived. He was sitting in the little nest he made with your trousers, and he poured five pills into his palm.”

Yu Chen gripped the fountain pen in his hand. Snap. He broke it in two with one hand. Thick black ink instantly stained the white paper.

No wonder his voice had sounded so thick and nasal on the call. He was even secretly using my clothes to nest…

The protective pheromones he had intentionally left on the omega would undoubtedly clash violently with the medication, triggering a ferocious addictive effect.

He blamed himself for not having investigated more thoroughly.

The AI, afraid of omitting details, re-read its video storage and found a clip that seemed likely to satisfy its master’s bird-raising hobby. “The little bird told his friend that he likes you a lot.”

Yu Chen pushed back his chair, quickly fumbled under the desk for the electric ankle shackle, and fastened it back on himself without hesitation. He regretted his earlier indulgence and said in a low, heavy voice, “In the future, that kind of important information must be reported first.”

The AI innocently tapped its “fingers.” “I did say it! ‘Little bird pudding, bring home…’ Hm? From the sound of it, are you opening the wardrobe to get a coat? But according to your schedule, you have an online meeting in ten minutes.”

“You will handle them. I am going downstairs to bring him back. Otherwise,” Yu Chen draped a thick, camel-hair coat over his strong forearm and sighed, “I will not find peace tonight.”

The AI was so moved it almost wept. If it had been equipped with mechanical tear ducts, it would have already started waving a little handkerchief.

After more than a hundred years, Master has finally learned to be a doting, foolish ruler! Thank you, mechanical little bird! If I get the chance, I will definitely convince Master to buy your annual membership!

But it suddenly realized a serious problem. “Er… I don’t think I can do that.”

“Did you burn out your CPU roasting marshmallows again?”

“…That’s not the problem. Ever since you began the mental nourishment therapy, my processing power has also nosedived. It’s currently maintained at minimum efficiency, to the point where I can only control a single cleaning robot’s body. If you want me to face that ‘think tank’ of yours, that pack of cunning, 200-IQ geniuses, I must request that you release a portion of my processing power from containment. But—”

“No ‘buts.'” The door slid open automatically, and a flickering, unlit lamp in the corridor illuminated his somber profile, making him appear both imposing and eerily beautiful. A gust of cold wind swept in, making his golden hair ripple like a turbulent twilight sea.

He strode into the darkness with his cane, his voice seeming to carry shards of ice. “THEMIS system, unseal. 20 percent.”

“Voiceprint confirmed… Iris scan confirmed… Confirmation successful.”

The cleaning robot’s cutesy voice disappeared, replaced by an imposing, mechanical tone that echoed from the corridor ceiling: “Welcome back, My Lord.”

[Imperial Palace Tower, 69th Floor. The Crystal Palace.]

This had originally been the Merfolk Dynasty’s exclusive hall for state banquets. The walls were inlaid with aquamarines, forming a magnificent, surging ocean wave. Twelve giant crystal chandeliers blazed with light, illuminating the entire hall until it shimmered like the sea meeting the sky at noon.

Now, it had been reduced to the tyrant’s playground.

Spilled wine flowed freely on the floor. After many rounds of drinks, everyone was a little tipsy. In the center, on the throne, slouched the tyrant Kaide. His face was slick with a drunken, sated expression. Six octopus tentacles extended from his back, coiling around two soft, delicate omegas, one on his left and one on his right.

A group of military aristocrats gathered around, fawning over him.

“I heard Your Majesty has acquired a new group of beauties. Why not bring them out for us to see?”

“Not only that! I heard that little omega from the Duke’s Eagle-Owl family was also overwhelmed by Your Majesty’s power and volunteered to serve you.”

“An Eagle-Owl? Hiss… You don’t mean that famous little troublemaker, Sava, do you?”

Kaide waved a large hand, his tongue thick. “What… troublemaker or not… once they enter this palace, they’re all just toys for my… pleasure. Right! Heinz! Heinz, get over here—”

The rowdy crowd parted. The gleaming toe of a leather shoe lightly kicked a wine bottle out of the way as the man walked forward with unhurried grace.

Heinz had soft, pale skin and delicate, almost feminine features. His long, aqua-blue hair was draped over a precisely tailored suit. As he approached Kaide’s aggressive pheromones, he didn’t even frown.

Clearly, this was a beta, who couldn’t smell pheromones.

“Heinz, that Sava they were just talking about… he’s your former young master, right? I remember you used to be a servant in the Duke’s mansion, didn’t you?”

Heinz gave an elegant bow, and his face showed no sign of shame. Instead, he looked almost proud. “Of course. And I am still a servant now. We are all your servants, Your Majesty.”

Kaide was very pleased. He had chosen Heinz as his internal secretary precisely because the man not only had a “bad nose,” but was also exceptionally good at seeing which way the wind was blowing and reading the room. He was very much to his liking.

“Heinz, this rowdy bunch wants to see my new omegas. Go pick a few pretty ones and bring them down to play.”

As soon as they heard this, the eyes of the military officers and aristocrats in the group lit up.

Everyone knew that the Empire’s top-tier beauties were sent only to the Imperial Palace. Men like them, usually stationed on desolate planets, were long sick of stewing in a pile of stinking alphas. To finally come back, get a chance to let loose, and get to play with the Emperor’s own hand-picked concubines… it was an incredible thrill.

One after another, they knelt to give thanks, kissing Kaide’s boots.

Only Major General Gram stood to the side, unappreciative. “Your Majesty’s omegas are all too weak,” he said. “They don’t suit my usual tastes. I’ll pass.”

Major General Gram was Kaide’s childhood friend and had a Marine, Swordfish bloodline. Last year, relying on his iron-clad relationship with the Emperor, he had been “parachuted” into the Outer Space Mecha Legion, becoming one of the military’s youngest Major Generals.

Kaide knew his brother’s usual hobby was “falconry.” He loved to break the wings of those arrogant, high-and-mighty raptors, beating them until they knelt in submission.

A while ago, Gram, in the process of taming a stubborn Peregrine Falcon, had almost taken it too far and lost his own life. He had spent a full month in a treatment pod just to recover. After he got out, he felt even more strongly that this hatred in his heart could not be eased unless he was torturing raptors. Naturally, he looked down on those soft omegas who would fall over with a single poke.

It just so happened that an Eagle-Owl had arrived at the palace. Kaide, wanting his brother to have fun, said, “You like playing with little hawks. I’ll reward you with that owl to play with, how about it?”

Gram glanced at Heinz. “Playing with Heinz’s ‘little young master’… the Secretary won’t get angry, will he?”

Heinz, standing to the side, stiffened involuntarily, but he quickly concealed it and said smoothly:

“The entire Empire belongs to Your Majesty. Whoever Your Majesty wishes to reward an omega to, that is who gets to play. Even if you bestowed all the omegas in the rear palace upon everyone, that would only be a sign of Your Majesty’s benevolence and generosity.”

Kaide was extremely pleased to hear this and nodded repeatedly.

Gram gave Heinz a surprised look, then turned back to Kaide and suggested, “Your Majesty, why don’t we play a more exciting game today? Just like we used to play when we were young.”

“You mean…”

“Cut the power, herd all the rear palace omegas together, and listen to their screams as we—”

Gram’s eyes filled with a crazed, eager light. “Hunt!”

Author has something to say:

AI (in tears): Master can’t sit still! A lonely old man, starving on a snowy night, and the elevator’s out, so he’s going downstairs himself to pick up his Little Bird takeout. Is this a shining example of morality, or the depravity of merfolk?

→The old Merman after finding out the stinky octopus is causing trouble:

Yu Chen: Boss hasn’t even picked up his chopsticks, and you’re all already spinning the table?! (Begins reading the execution list.)

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