An old lion returning to his pride, preparing to reclaim his lost territory.

M1zushi: thank you Unsinn for the donation!
Warning: SA trauma

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After replying to the little bird’s friend to confirm his safety, Yu Chen turned off voice input and put down the terminal.

The AI retrieved the heavy box and respectfully placed it beside him.

Yu Chen had never thought he would have occasion to use the bite guard again.

Even though it was locked deep in the safe, nearly a hundred years could still seep through the cracks of the steel door and cover it in a thick layer of dust.

The fingerprint lock had long since failed due to battery degradation, so he had to hold the lid down and forcibly break the hinges. The moment the vacuum-sealed box opened, an overwhelmingly domineering aura diffused out.

It smelled like a newly painted wooden warship hitting the deep harbor waves for the first time.

A flicker of amusement crossed Yu Chen’s lips. Such arrogant alpha pheromones. They smelled like the kind of conceited young people he currently disapproved of.

A person’s character stabilized and matured with experience over the years, and their pheromones also underwent subtle changes.

His dense, brilliant golden eyelashes lowered. Yu Chen couldn’t help but turn his thumb ring, a symbol of power, on his hand, briefly recalling a few moments.

He had used this bite guard no less than ten times. All those times were concentrated in the years when he was an overlooked prince, enduring with bone-deep forbearance, lying low and waiting for the right moment to seize power. To conceal his mental strength level from the outside world and make his rivals complacent, he had locked himself in a water dungeon and used this device to train himself to suppress his aura as much as possible.

It was in that environment, surrounded by enemies in his youth, that he had learned calmness, restraint, and endurance, ultimately becoming “Izsu Paraiso.”

“5% of the muzzle bars are rusted. Would you like me to clean it with rust remover?” The AI, acting as his eyes, dutifully reported the condition.

“No need,” Yu Chen refused. The rust might be slightly toxic, but for a Polluted Species bloodline, it was nothing.

Besides, he remembered his habit from his youth—

Gnawing on the rust of the cage, letting the bitter taste fill his mouth to distract himself and pushing back the suppression of his alpha nature for another second, and another…

“Cough cough… ngh…” A low mumble, thick with congestion, drifted faintly from the master bedroom nearby.

The cold, icy little white fluff, under the fierce backlash of the addiction effect, had been melted, brought to a boil, and was now simmering, emitting an intense and sour aroma.

Just sitting in the outer room and taking a couple of gentle breaths was enough to make Yu Chen’s willpower waver instantly.

He pressed the heel of his palm to his forehead and his five fingers dug into his thick golden hair, unconsciously gripping his own roots. The special alpha fangs used for marking trembled slightly. His self-control, reinforced for nearly a hundred years, showed faint signs of cracking, like a dam about to burst.

“Tsk.” His sharp teeth bit down on his thin lip and nerve pain shot to his brain. Yu Chen immediately suppressed the surge of agitation.

He could control himself. He had to control himself.

Yu Chen’s expression turned mild again, as if in the blink of an eye, he had reverted to the harmless “discarded Empress” image Bai Ling remembered. He slowly stood up with his cane, hooked the bite guard’s leather straps with his fingers, and carried it step by step towards the bedroom.

He didn’t look like he was going to possess or mark.

He was more like an old lion returning to his pride, preparing to reclaim his lost territory.

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When Bai Ling regained consciousness amidst the chaos, he did not immediately open his eyes.

The survival instincts honed over a long time told him he was in an unfamiliar place. And most likely, someone’s lair.

Beneath him was thick, soft fur, so comfortable it could practically suck a person in. The air was filled with an intoxicating, fermented scent, easily reminiscent of rotting algae in an undersea cave.

Bai Ling deliberately slowed his breathing, matching the rhythm of when he was unconscious. He moved his fingers and subtly felt around the bed. His dry cuff brushed against the tips of the animal fur; someone had clearly changed him into pajamas. He was thirsty and hungry. He quietly swallowed and felt his lips were moist; someone must have held him and fed him warm water recently.

Fed water… Perhaps there’s a ceramic cup or spoon nearby? Either could serve as a temporary weapon…

“What are you looking for?”

A warm, mellow voice suddenly murmured from the foot of the bed.

Bai Ling shot up like a startled cat, or an alarmed bird, and his actions outran his thoughts as he flipped backward to retreat. His movements were fluid, as if trained countless times, but there was one fatal flaw: his right prosthesis was gone.

By the time the thought flashed through his mind, he had already tumbled sideways like a broken doll.

“Always so reckless. It makes one worry.”

He unexpectedly crashed into someone’s chest. That magical voice was suddenly right beside him, close enough he could feel his breath.

Bai Ling opened his eyes, his cold gray pupils swirling with ruthless frost. He shoved the person away and retreated into a corner like a wounded, crazed stray dog, neurotically clutching the fur blanket, his sharp nails scratching and tearing it.

The tall man before him was still perfect, so perfect even his hair seemed to gleam in the dimness.

He stood backlit, his lean, powerful frame casting a large shadow that fell directly onto Bai Ling’s trembling pupils.

Yu Chen lightly smoothed the crease in his trousers and sat sideways on the edge of the bed. His long, wavy hair swayed gently against his back, like some living, ethereal creature.

He spoke in a tone one might use to reason with a child. “As you can see, your condition is not good. I must keep you here. After considering all the solutions…” Yu Chen paused, his voice becoming even more coaxing. “I hope to temporarily mark you.”

Since he was addressing him like a child, it meant the decision was already made. There was no room for negotiation.

Rrrrrip—

Bai Ling tore the fur blanket. An omega’s natural instinct when threatened flares up. He squeezed his thighs together with all his might, so tight not even a needle could slip between them.

Yu Chen had no experience taming stray puppies. However, whether it was a puppy or any other small animal, once it had experienced abandonment and lost its basic trust in people, no matter how fragrant the food in its bowl, it would still whimper and kick it over.

Especially his little one, a raptor with an incredibly high sense of territorial security.

…A raptor with a broken leg.

Bai Ling, already distant towards outsiders, had strong psychological defenses. After being severely injured, he found it even harder to get close to alphas.

And yet, he had convinced himself, time and time again, to help the merman, to get close to Yu Chen, trying his best to repair and improve this dilapidated palace as repayment for the food he had received.

Bai Ling hugged his one remaining knee, trembling as he buried his face.

It’s laughable, isn’t it…

He always falls into the same person’s trap.

In the other’s eyes, all his efforts were probably superfluous. He had fixed the lighting circuits, but the merman was blind. He had refurbished the heating pipes, but the merman preferred cold baths.

Whether it was Izsu Paraiso or the merman named Yu Chen, that debt of kindness… he could never repay it.

And now he wanted to mark him…

Bai Ling let out a trembling sneer. He knew this routine all too well. Those kind-faced parents who took their child’s hand, promising to buy balloons in the square, only to abandon them.

He had promised his mother he would live well in the Empire and not think of her.

He couldn’t agree to Yu Chen’s request, acting like nothing happened, while actually living like a walking corpse after being marked and then discarded.

A temporary mark… temporarily becoming Izsu Paraiso’s little slave, only to be separated, faded, like the disappearing milk truck…

He would rather die from the addiction withdrawal than accept such a thing!

Yu Chen listened quietly, catching the faint, broken sobs in the little white fluff’s throat. They hurt more than shattered glass.

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly reached into his pocket. “While organizing old things today, I found something. I wanted to give it to you as a gift for your second differentiation.”

Giving a gift to a young female just entering second differentiation was something only a guardian would do.

“…I don’t want it…” Bai Ling choked out his first words of the evening.

“You haven’t seen what it is yet.” Yu Chen took out a silk-wrapped bundle.

“I don’t want anything! I don’t want anything from you!” After Bai Ling vehemently said this, he hatefully turned his face towards the wall and was completely unwilling to look at the alpha’s face anymore. He dug his nails into his palm, unaware he was breaking the skin, and gasped through gritted teeth, “I can tell you this: anyone in the world can mark me! I could pull a dog off the street! Anyone but you!”

“Why?” A storm gathered in Yu Chen’s voice.

“…No reason!” Bai Ling forced the words out. His gaze was unfocused, frantically scanning his surroundings, as if he suddenly couldn’t remember where he was.

Alphas on the street… That thought surfaced again. Suddenly, his shoulders trembled, his fingers spasming in confusion, like a fledgling backed into a corner. He began to ramble, a blustering threat: “…If they dare touch my tent, I’ll kill them! If they bare their teeth at me, their marking fangs, I… I’ll rip them out and throw them in the sewer! I’ll treat them like neutering a dog! Shove rocks in their mouths to stop them from biting my hands! And, and… put a plastic bag over their heads, cover up their hateful, unbelieving eyes! Hahaha, an omega? How dare I lord over them? I’ll prepare a hood, like this—”

The mentally unstable little bird began to gesture with trembling, long fingers.

Anyone else would have found this strange, abnormal behavior incomprehensible.

But Yu Chen suddenly… suddenly felt his throat tighten, as if he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t stop himself from tilting his head back, letting out a pained sigh.

This wasn’t hatred for him.

It was clearly an excessive attachment, so much so that he refused to associate him—Izsu Paraiso, the milk truck, the things that had once given him hope—with the filthy alphas who had caused him such severe trauma.

He knew. His upright, brave little bird had always preserved his kindness. No matter how much humiliation he had experienced, a place of pure sincerity remained.

But he hadn’t expected that there were traces of him left on that safe zone.

“…And now you want to bite me too, just like them…” the little bird murmured.

Yu Chen smiled faintly as he realized. The hand hanging at his side silently closed around the bite guard in his pocket. “Just pretend it’s the milk truck’s headlight biting you.”

“The milk truck would never bite anyone!” the little bird retorted protectively.

“Neither will I,” Yu Chen said lightly, his gentle eyes lowered.

The merman took out the crumpled bite guard, shook out the leather straps, found the right position, and quickly fastened the buckles on himself. Even though he couldn’t see, his movements were practiced and decisive. Because the young merman from before had often struggled in the dark, clenching his jaw hard and forcing himself into restraint.

But it was different now… Back then, he had done it to seize power, to stand at the world’s apex, and his heart was filled with all kinds of burgeoning desires.

But now, he only wanted to protect this child.

Bai Ling blinked his damp eyelashes. He didn’t have Sava’s excellent night vision and couldn’t quite make out the merman’s  small movements.

In the Peregrine’s eyes, only the merman’s silhouette was reflected—deep-set eye sockets, a handsome, straight nose, features sharp and magnificent, beautiful as a master’s painstakingly detailed painting, a phantasm unforgettable once seen.

But right now, some incongruous bars cast shadows over the merman’s mouth and nose.

“Are the lights off in here?” Yu Chen asked.

“Can’t you move like lightning and overpower me even when you can’t see? What do you need lights for?” the little brat sneered mockingly.

“It’s better with the lights on. That way, you can observe my movements and expression. I don’t want you to feel any more uneasy.” Yu Chen’s magnetic voice held a hidden trace of indulgence.

Uneasy.

Bai Ling’s throat moved unnaturally. He was looking at the merman, but another scene floated before his eyes. The statue, the only thing lit in the cold night, became a magnificent Lodestar. The fledgling, drawn by the light, just needed to run without stopping until he reached the shelter of its robes…

…Then he would be safe, protected.

In his blurred vision, the merman stood up, felt for the control panel on the wall, and adjusted the two bedside lamps to a soft glow.

The warm-toned lamps cast a gentle halo from the side. The merman approached him, sat on the edge of the bed before him, the muscles on his broad shoulders relaxing slightly. He rested his arms on the bedframe before slightly turning his jaw. The light perfectly illuminated his beautiful profile.

Exactly the same… Everything else was the same as the view the fledgling had seen when he looked up as a child.

Bai Ling was dazed, unable to tell if this was a dream or reality.

“Darling… come here.” The merman opened his arms, like a statue bending down to embrace him.

But looking closely, every muscle line on this old alpha was taut, as if desperately restraining himself. The slightest misstep, and who knew if he might reveal savage fangs and devour the supple young form before him whole.

Bai Ling shifted his inorganic-like, cold gray eyes, his gaze roaming over the merman’s face. Suddenly, his pupils contracted and fixedly stared on the muzzle.

A senseless anger rose in his chest. Dissecting the emotions one by one revealed shock, fury, an inability to bear it, and a host of other complex emotions.

Some part of him, already on the verge of destruction, wavered and crumbled further. Ultimately, combined with the severe addiction withdrawal, it manipulated his limbs, pushing him toward the merman.

This time, the merman didn’t hold him in a suffocating embrace as before. Yu Chen even kept his arms loosely around his waist, leaving him plenty of room to escape.

The ruffled, startled, stressed bird finally lowered some of his defenses, shuffling forward step by step on his broken leg to reach his side. Yu Chen needed to be gentler, to fully consider the little bird’s physical and mental state, and avoid causing further harm. Therefore, he preferred to take the consequences of the marking upon himself.