Wanting to… monopolize him.

Thank you Van, Duckygeneral and Z R for the ko-fi donation!

“Don’t hang up.” Yu Chen’s voice trembled, and he exhaled a slow, controlled breath. “Stay right where you are. Don’t move. I’ll pick you up.”

Bai Ling stood in the drafty wind. The cold air lunged at him with bare claws, mussing his soft hair damp with cold sweat and chasing away some of his drunken haze.

He parted his lips in a daze before lowering his cold grey eyes.

I’ll pick you up.

It was a very ordinary sentence. Many fledglings have heard it from their guardians. When they feel unwell, throw a tantrum, or run into trouble, if they call their guardian, they usually receive such a responsible instruction.

It wasn’t sweet talk; just a simple message of action.

But such words are still foreign to Bai Ling.

He lowered his head, and his hand silently pressed an indentation into the aluminum beer can. “Don’t come out. It’s not safe outside.”

No matter how bad he felt, he still knew his place.

Yu Chen wasn’t like others; he wasn’t an ordinary alpha. His identity and history meant he couldn’t be held to the same standards as other guardians.

Bai Ling kept this in mind since the moment he established a relationship with Yu Chen.

That was why Bai Ling reported to the palace on time, brought back cupcakes, and agreed to report his itinerary… everything was meant to tell Yu Chen—

He’s a low-maintenance omega. He’s an adult and doesn’t need excessive care.

Even if Yu Chen is blind, he is easy to take care of.

“…I’ll throw a fit for a bit, then I’ll come back on my own. I know the way back… back to…” His voice faltered in the middle. Bai Ling bit his lower lip until it turned white; he wanted to say it, but he simply couldn’t utter that single word.

Home.

Is Yu Chen’s palace his home?

He didn’t dare think too deeply about the answer to that question.

The old man was gentle and polite. To protect Bai Ling’s pride, he could say any kind of comforting word; Bai Ling simply couldn’t tell which was real and which was just polite talk.

Calling him “darling” or whatever was just romantic atmosphere; it was fine to listen to and be happy for a moment. Bai Ling wasn’t so arrogant as to think he could completely capture Izsu Paraiso’s heart in less than a month.

By the same token, the “late wife” issue was the same.

Perhaps more than a Schrodinger’s “White Moonlight,” what terrified Bai Ling the most was suddenly seeing the vast chasm between himself and Yu Chen.

Age, experience, methods, control…

After all… he wanted to say—

He is Izsu Paraiso.

This merman, this century old Emperor, had once flourished in the long river of time, leaving a deep-rooted ideological mark. He is the Empire’s richest cultural heritage; it’s just that he is currently being sealed under the guise of “recuperating,” hidden away from public view. But no matter where he goes, one can catch a glimpse of the former grandeur of this civilization in the eyes of others as they look at him—whether in awe, reverence, or fear.

His fingernails dug deep into his palm. Bai Ling could barely breathe.

He originally thought that maintaining the status quo was fine. But after spending some time together, he developed unrealistic thoughts—

Wanting to… monopolize him.

That’s not right…

They’re just in a relationship of guardian and ward.

“I’ll go back tomorrow… okay? Tomorrow morning…” Bai Ling leaned against the frozen wall, his body slowly sliding down. The whistling wind echoed in his ears. He didn’t even notice his own voice was trembling:

“Give me some time. I’ll figure it out…”

On the other end of the line, Yu Chen was receiving a long-handled umbrella handed to him by the AI before his grip on his terminal unconsciously tightened:

“Good children don’t get candy.”

“Then give the candy to someone else.”

“How could I bear to?” Yu Chen sighed, a flicker of heartache crossing his face. “I still have to take you home.”

He nagged him for ages, but in reality, he was aggrieved to death. The poor child didn’t dare to have any expectations from him, only forcing himself to compromise.

During the differentiation period, many omegas experience these moments of extreme insecurity.

Yu Chen didn’t find it irrational; rather, he felt he hadn’t taken enough care of Bai Ling’s emotions.

But the information he could obtain was truly limited. He only had the little bird’s own confessions, at most supplemented by the AI’s descriptions.

Many times, Bai Ling had to endure his shyness to explain his needs to him in detail before he could react. This sounded like nothing, but in reality, it over-analyzed and exposed the omega’s psychological safety zone, worsening his insecurity.

If he could see and rely on visual cues to read Bai Ling’s emotional shifts, this problem would be greatly alleviated.

Yu Chen subtly covered the terminal’s receiver and whispered to the AI: “How much longer is this course of my medication?”

The AI pulled up the records: “According to the Galactic Universal Mental Pressure Scale, normal pressure should be around 100 Pa. Your value is 5679 Pa, which is 55 times the norm, and that is with the continuous use of the mental tonic.”

“Get to the point.”

“It is recommended that you continue the medication.”

“And if I want to stop?”

A red light flashed in the AI’s camera. “Then, you must prepare for the worst, such as death.”

The cute mechanical voice suddenly became deep and somber: “Or worse, being eroded by that curse until…”

Before it could finish, it was interrupted by a loud shout from a strange man on the terminal:

“Hey! Don’t move! Hands up! I’m the district search officer. I received a report that you’re beating innocent passersby around here. White hair? Hmph, then I have reason to suspect you’re involved in the ‘ship’ attack. Get down! I’m going to conduct a body search.”

Bai Ling let out a cold snort on the other end.

The officer was enraged: “Who are you talking to? Give me that terminal immediately!”

At this point, the call abruptly ended. It was unclear if the officer had snatched it away or if Bai Ling had turned it off.

---

Late at night, water splashed under the bridge near the square. A series of pursuit shouts gradually died down by the waterfront.

The search officer stamped his boots and spat: “Dammit, he got away.”

He had taken a bribe from those thugs and wanted to find an excuse to arrest the white-haired kid, but he hadn’t expected the other party to run so fast—in the blink of an eye, he had vaulted over the railing and jumped into the sea.

The officer cursed viciously: “Freeze to death, you brat.”

Ten minutes later, at another shallow beach far from the square, someone was clawing at the frozen mud, shivering as they crawled ashore.

The -10ºC chill seeped miserably into the crevices of his bones. The water-soaked coat turned into a thick block of ice within minutes, making every step heavier until his knees could buckle at any moment, sending him falling to pieces.

Bai Ling was forced to find a small hostel to stay in.

The kind receptionist brought him a large bath towel and asked if he needed anything else.

Bai Ling’s dull eyes moved slowly. After a long pause, he groaned: “Give me alcohol. The stronger, the better.”

The girl at the front desk delivered the alcohol to the room, but her gaze kept trailing after him.

This guest had taken off the coat that was frozen stiff, and it was as if he had suddenly been unwrapped, revealing a thin but upright physique.

He was pale and bony, with a hint of indifference and cold-bloodedness occasionally flashing in the corners of his eyes. His finger bones were slender yet sharp; even with his fingertips resting still on the edge of the table, it felt like he could tear someone’s throat at any moment.

A desperate outlaw.

That was the girl’s first impression.

But she couldn’t help but steal glances at that face, exquisitely lined, with grey eyes that looked a bit unfocused, reminding her of a documentary she recently watched —

Antique porcelain with crackle gaze, looking clear yet aged, a must-have item collected by nobles and placed high on mahogany shelves.

A contradictory sense of beauty.

“Is there anything else?” Bai Ling glanced at her.

“No, nothing.” The girl lowered her head, blushing, and added as a cover: “Oh, I just wanted to remind the guest not to open the windows. This building is quite old; there are fire escapes outside, and occasionally people climb up to stuff small cards in. Just ignore them.”

“What small cards?”

The girl struggled to gesture: “Uh, you know, the ones for… massage and ‘special services’… anyway, a beautiful guest like you certainly wouldn’t need them!”

Bai Ling’s eyelashes lowered as his teeth snapped open the bottle cap with a crisp clack, as efficient as any bottle opener.

He spat the cap aside, his expression carrying a hint of weary desolation. “That’s not necessarily true.”

The girl’s mouth hung open in shock as she silently retreated.

So wild… he has to be an alpha, right? Cold and gorgeous as a sculpture, better looking than any celebrity, but those manners…

His vibe is as wild as a gang leader!

The receptionist was a beta and couldn’t smell pheromones. As she was lost in thought, wondering what kind of partner such a beautiful alpha would match with, another guest arrived.

Business is quite good tonight.

The girl gave a mechanical bow. “Welcome, how many people stay—”

“Excuse me, we are here to find someone.” The man in front pushed up his glasses, which were as thick as the bottom of a wine bottle. He looked quite kind with his smiling eyes; it was Uriel.

“I can smell his scent,” a voice murmured, deep, magnificent, and low, like a waltz.

The speaker was clad in a low-profile yet luxurious cloak, mysteriously concealing most of his face; from this angle, one could only glimpse a few golden strands of hair. He took a stride with long, straight, powerful legs, directly heading up the stairs. The hallway, wide enough for two, suddenly felt cramped.d.

“Guest, you can’t go there!” the girl cried out, leaning forward.

The tall back turned around, and he curled his lips slightly at her. In an instant, the entire dilapidated hostel seemed to be basked in golden splendor by that face.

“I’ve come to find a child who hasn’t returned home. May I?” he asked flatly.

The receptionist, like a robot infected by a virus, repeated incoherently, “Yes, yes.”

“Thank you,” the man replied politely.

After Yu Chen left, the girl remained dazed for a long while. It took a good minute before she snapped out of it and pinched her arm. “Sss, it hurts… so it wasn’t a dream…”

Uriel propped his forehead in his hand, feeling helpless.

This is probably why the Imperial Uncle never appears in public.

Who would want to work if they saw that face all day? Even the national GDP would drop. The only thing that might rise is the production rate of unfertilized white eggs…

In short, it’s a massive drain on the populace’s health!

This kind of “painful” happiness was best left for one person to endure. Uriel began to pray for the little white bird.