Ward
by M1zushiThe name “Mental Tonic” had the word “mild ” in it, but in truth, its effects were fierce, as seen from one of its side effects being complete blindness.
If the patient ignored medical advice and stopped taking it arbitrarily, a chain of negative reactions could occur.
Such as falling into a coma.
The moment Bai Ling realized he couldn’t wake the merman, his heart clenched. Now, listening to the AI explain the reason and confirming his suspicion, he was…
Furious!
The area above the palace was an air traffic control zone; mechas couldn’t be airdropped there. Therefore, transporting the merman could only be done via the waterways.
With his water buoyancy, Bai Ling hauled the unconscious Yu Chen, swimming through the straight section of the L-shaped channel.
At the turning point, the AI deftly lowered a cage. Bai Ling placed Yu Chen inside, grasped the bars himself, and was pulled up at a steady pace by the drive shaft suspended over a hundred stories above.
Thankfully, Yu Chen didn’t transform into a fish upon contact with water, or they’d have needed a freight elevator.
Bai Ling spat out a mouthful of water, surfacing amidst churning foam. He swept his hair back from his forehead and shook off droplets, with an icy-cold expression as he climbed ashore.
A mechanical click sounded behind him. The hoist axle above the bath ceiling had stopped running.
Below the rusty iron contraption hung a steel cable as thick as a child’s arm, swaying, and the wet cage jerked violently.
But the merman inside remained still.
His pale cheek rested against the bars, his long, curly hair was damp like seaweed. He looked like an eerily beautiful creature who had just been hauled from the deep sea by a whaling ship.
The more Bai Ling looked, the angrier he grew, gritting his teeth in frustration.
To go through all this trouble just to see him with his own eyes.
The older he got, the less sense he had. This demanded discipline. A firm stop. Lest this man keep using the guise of a “parent” to do foolish things with righteous ease.
Yu Chen slept for three days. Bai Ling’s heart was in his throat for three days.
On the fourth morning, Yu Chen opened his lifeless eyes, lifted a hand, and rubbed his temples, trying to rouse himself.
After a moment, his vision remained dim. Realizing he had been re-administered a full dose, he let out a soft sigh.
The sound was faint, but it stirred the other.
Yu Chen felt a shift in the warmth against his chest. The small creature curled there immediately propped himself up alertly. Then, a hand gripped his shoulder; a slender leg hooked over, and the bird straddled his waist, staring down at him in silence.
That gaze was icy, tangled with complex emotions.
Yu Chen had meant to say, “Don’t worry,” “Don’t be upset.” But hearing the bird’s suppressed breathing, he knew words were useless. The worry had already happened. Now, he needed to hold him and soothe him.
But the bird deliberately avoided his reach, refusing to be held, and warned him hoarsely:
“This must never happen again.”
The bird’s hands pressed against his chest. As he spoke word by word, his bony fingers dug into his chest, leaving ten small marks right over his heart.
Yu Chen realized that this anger was deeper than before.
Bai Ling steadied his breathing, yet his tone remained cold and detached, as if negotiating with a world power at an international summit:
“Until your condition is fully stabilized, you’d better behave. Otherwise, I’ll pull up all those precious flowers of yours and feed them to the chickens.”
Yu Chen, having slept so long, was hoarse, but it didn’t stop him from smiling. “Just my flowers?”
The other looked down at him with icy arrogance: “If you push me too far, I’m capable of anything.”
Before he finished, Yu Chen felt a wave of warm breath. The bird patted his cheek, arrogant and overbearing as a crook:
“Such a handsome face, I’d hate to bruise it. Take good care of yourself. From now on, behave, and be a good housewife for me.”
At that moment, a red light flashed by the door.
The AI, triggered by keywords as it passed by immediately activated: [Did you mean: Interstellar bandit forcibly takes the former emperor as his captive queen?]
With those strong legs locking him down, Yu Chen felt no challenge to his alpha dignity. Instead, he relaxed his shoulders, settled back against the down pillow, and said with a pleased tone:
“Being nagged by my child… feels rather nice.”
Bai Ling: ?
You can never know when an old man finds pleasure.
From a military tactical standpoint, Bai Ling always followed one truth—
If you can beat them, they’re the enemy. If you can’t beat them at all, they’re basically your dad.
Still, Bai Ling implemented some disciplinary measures. Like a three-point agreement with the merman: this week, he must eat properly, not stay up late, avoid using coffee to stay functional, and every medication dose after meals must be taken under the supervision of the “ward.”
Yes, the “ward” was now monitoring his “guardian.”
Bai Ling crossed his arms, stepped on the chair he’d been sitting on and proclaimed: “Violate any rule, and the penalty period extends by another week.”
Yu Chen was utterly unafraid: “Such rules only tempt me to break every single one.”
Bai Ling nodded coolly: “Exactly. That’s the point.”
Let the old bastard try to abuse his noble lineage now.
After a second thought, it seemed too lenient. Bai Ling added: “To prevent you from slacking off in enforcement, I’ll sleep in my dorm these two days.”
“Then how will you know if I’m following the [Little Bird Regulations]?”
Bai Ling held up two fingers, pointed at his eyes, and snorted: “I have my ways to monitor you.”
Yu Chen slowly turned his head and though empty, his gaze pointed toward the small robot.
AI: “…I am forever loyal to my master!”
Which, of course, didn’t stop it from forming a united front with the mechanical bird on internal procedures.
How wonderful, Master. Accept the loving surveillance of the mechanical bird~
Red hearts excitedly pulsated in the robot’s lens.
That evening, Bai Ling did indeed return to his dorm after his omega class. Aside from enforcing discipline, there was another reason—
He’d fallen behind in his coursework. With the big exam approaching, he opened the [Omega Code of Conduct] and found it still utter nonsense; he couldn’t memorize a single line.
Mostly, it was because the book was truly poisonous!
Every time he read a passage, like omegas should “practice self-restraint, strictly control oneself,” his mind didn’t go to his own actions, but to the alpha’s past behavior.
Sava passed by to hang up his underwear, and gave him a suspicious glance: “You’re smiling way too much.”
Bai Ling: “…I’m studying how to be a proper omega.”
Sava put his hands on his hips, scrutinizing Bai Ling’s ruffled feathers, and solemnly concluded: “You do seem to smell more omega-ish lately.”
Bai Ling found the phrasing jarring: “That’s your imagination.”
“Nope.” Sava cooed teasingly. “Don’t believe me? Go look in the mirror. See if your eyes aren’t curved and your lips upturned. Your whole body glows like you’re a bird who ate deep-sea nutrients.”
Bai Ling subconsciously touched his face. He didn’t notice any change.
North chimed in with a giggle: “It’s true, Birdie’s been smiling a lot more.”
In any close relationship, exposing flaws was easy; giving positive feedback wasn’t so simple. Sava knew this well.
Seeing this grumpy bird go from gloomy to showing the vitality appropriate to his age, Sava’s teasing masked genuine happiness for Bai Ling.
Disabled military birds had a hard time finding suitable guardians.
It was good that this grump had someone to spoil him—at least it lessened Sava’s regret. And an older alpha knew how to take care of someone, unlike that dead jellyfish who just made him grind his teeth in rage all day.
Sava’s terminal in his pocket was silent.
He knew he’d turned off the notifications, otherwise, the messages every ten seconds would drain his battery.
[London’s Fledgling]: My little chicken drumstick heir, you haven’t replied in over fifteen minutes.
Sava was currently in a spat with Heinz, and the cause was this newly changed ID.
He hadn’t paid it much mind at first, assuming it was just another of Heinz’s usual bouts of madness, changing his username on a whim. But then Heinz had started reminiscing, with that disgustingly sweet tone:
[London’s Fledgling]: Doesn’t the young master remember? Of course the young master’s memory is too full for such things. When I was nine, still a pretty little boy in shorts, the young master, starving after being denied meals, came to my room in the servants’ quarters, leaned by my bed, and begged for help. You said, “I’m so hungry. Your tentacles look so delicious. Can I have a bite? I’ll take responsibility afterward.”
[London’s Fledgling]: So I, humble and full of love for the young master, scooped up the young master who had turned into a fluffy little fledgling, climbed over the landlord’s fence, and prepared to run away. On the road, someone lifted the clothes I was carrying you in and asked if I was holding a large Barred hen. Me and the Hen Master—it’s a perfect interstellar adaptation of the London’s Fledgling —
[You have been muted]: Shut up!! Stop bringing that up! And my fledgling form is obviously charcoal gray. Are you drunk again? Stop losing your mind with me.
After finally receiving a reply, Heinz could breathe again.
He was leaning against the office windowsill, with a glass of shallow brandy in hand, full of ice.
The small amount of alcohol was far from enough to get him drunk. Still, his neck had flushed red, and he had unbuttoned the first button of his shirt.
Even so, the young master had accurately diagnosed his state through the network.
Heinz had a creepy grin: “I really want to stuff my tentacles into the young master’s ears.”
The deputy secretary not far behind him shivered. He clutched the compiled documents in his arms, unsure whether to step forward and report.
His superior seems a bit mentally unstable.
But then again… these days, anyone mentally stable couldn’t possibly be a civil official.
Heinz suddenly turned and beckoned to him. The deputy secretary’s eyelids twitched, but he composed himself and walked over.
But his unstable superior pointed to the sky and said:
“Look—there are lots of jellyfish up there too.”
Jellyfish in the sky wasn’t unheard of. The seafood that had come to this planet had evolved various branches to suit the environment—for instance, jellyfish capable of surviving in air.
These ancient jellyfish were light and ethereal, drifting with the wind to hunt for micronutrients in the atmosphere. A little water vapor was all they needed to survive. Their bodies were transparent, with water sloshing inside, swaying gracefully as they floated across the pink-hued planet.
A truly dreamlike sight.
Heinz had once devoured hundreds of jellyfish species, learning many refined skills, including the ability to communicate with these ancient ones.
He raised his glass toward the sky, greeting the jellyfish drifting among the pink-gold clouds with an exaggerated theatrical flair:
“Hey, have you eaten yet?”
The ancient jellyfish pointed at him, then formed a heart shape with its tendrils.
The deputy secretary was confused: “What’s it saying? A declaration of love?”
Heinz: “…….”
Ancient jellyfish, furiously gesturing with hearts: Use your damn brain, will you?
Author’s note:
When an eagle owl sits down in its adult form, it’s huge—really looks like a hen, lol. You can look it up.
Old Merman: (pleased) (splashing water) The little one managing me means he loves me.
Little Bird: (expressionless) (feathers ruffled) Get your tail off my leg, or I’ll bite.
Old Merman: (holding out arm)Mark me.
Little Bird: ???
PS: I revised the previous chapter, just a heads-up for the sweet little angels reading this.
Translator’s note:
tbh did i already have this chapter done? yes but i stopped at the oliver twist reference and I had no energy to try to find out what author was talking about, so I just procrastinated it. i was also swamped with exams and writing essays but I had time to doomscroll so it’s totally my fault. No cute chat formatting bcs I think translation notes break them? I never manage to make them work together
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