Chapter 37

Chapter 37 — Birthday

Who always said she'd never be a slut for comments? *Raises hand* It's me, who's now grinning like a loon... You guys have melted my icy heart. ☺️

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When Craig returned to the hovercar, his heart was still beating violently. He reached out a hand and gently touched the corner of his mouth. There seemed to still be a trace of Randy’s kiss lingering there. Craig couldn’t help but think, This omega feels so soft when you kiss him...I really want to kiss him some more... But actually, in September, I’ll have a chance to embrace this omega once again. When he thought of this, his heart rose. His whole body felt a bit hot.

After he returned to the palace, Craig went to look for King Trent. After he greeted him, he said seriously, “Your Majesty, I’d like to request leave to take care of personal matters on August 25th, and on September 7th to September 10th. At that time, I’ll pass the duty of protecting the prince to Lieutenant Anderson. Is that alright with Your Majesty?”

King Trent was quite surprised. Craig had requested leave very rarely over the years. Not to mention, the reason for his leave this time was summed up in those two ambiguous words, “personal matters.” Craig's father had long since passed away, and his mother was living on the capital planet, with his younger brothers to take care of her. His siblings had all married and started careers. Exactly what personal matters did he have to take care of? Could it be a problem of his own? Maybe he had fallen ill and needed to visit the hospital? Or he had encountered some other thorny difficulty?

King Trent doubtfully asked, “Do you need me to dispatch some men to help you?”

“...” Craig awkwardly rubbed his nose and said, “No need, I can handle it myself.”

Although King Trent was extremely curious, Craig so rarely opened his mouth to request leave, so of course he would allow it. He smiled and said, “Alright. If at any time you want to take a leave, just let me know and it’ll be fine. Recently it’s been very peaceful on the capital planet, and there are no pressing matters in the palace either. Since the lieutenant is here, it’s no problem if you leave for a while.”

Craig respectfully bowed to the king. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

On the way back to his quarters, he fortuitously bumped into Lieutenant Anderson, who looked to be pleased as punch about something. When the lieutenant saw Craig, he walked over and saluted him. “General.”

Craig greeted him and said, “From now on, I may often be on leave. When I’m not here, the duty of protecting the palace will fall to you. If there’s an emergency, contact me immediately. I’ll rush back to the palace in a few minutes.”

“Yes, General!”

This lieutenant was a classmate from his days at the military academy, whom he had known for several decades. He could be counted as an old friend. The two of them, general and lieutenant, led the soldiers of the Royal Guard in protecting the palace. Over the years, they had gotten so close they told each other almost everything. The only exception was the accident that had befallen him that one night in the Andromeda Galaxy. Craig had been too embarrassed to mention it to him.

Anderson was an alpha, and he was already married to an omega. They had two children together, and the children had already entered school. A few days ago, he had suddenly requested leave and returned home. Craig, of course, knew what this was all about. Now that he had finally returned to his station, his face was flushed with contentment. Apparently married life was going well for him.

Craig deliberated for a while, and couldn’t help but ask: “What do omegas usually like?”

“Ah?” He never thought that the normally serious general would ask a question like this. Anderson gave him a blank stare for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh and say, “What do you want to do, asking about something like this? Could it be that there’s actually an omega that you like? Oh right, I heard that the king and queen wanted to introduce a beautiful omega girl to you before, but you refused without even seeing her.”

Craig coughed and touched his nose as if he were trying to cover up something. “I’m just curious. When you give your wife gifts, what do you usually give her?”

Anderson said, “I usually give her flowers, or I’ll take her to the mall to buy pretty clothes. At the mall, we’ll watch a movie together, and she’ll be especially happy.”

Craig caught the key words: “flowers,” “clothes,” “movie,” and silently made a mental note of them.

After a moment, Craig said, “Uh, can you lend me your film storage chip for a minute? I need to look up some information.”

All the alphas of the Royal Guard knew of this so-called "film storage chip." Its contents were more detailed than that of the school’s health class, showing from start to finish the process of how an alpha marked an omega. It covered all kinds of different positions and scenarios. Although the characters were all virtual, the effect was very realistic, and the art quality was excellent, so it was much-loved by alphas.

In his heart, Anderson felt it was rather funny. He didn’t know what kind of omega had suddenly moved Craig’s heart, to make him rashly start researching this kind of thing. Being a good friend, Anderson naturally helped Craig out and handed him the materials he had gathered. Then he went over and said in his ear, “The important parts are all in here.”

As if he had received an important mission assignment, Craig took it with a serious face and said, “Thanks.”

After that, he turned stiffly and went back to his room. He connected the chip to his computer and started watching from the beginning.

The first part’s plot consisted of a handsome alpha officer marking a delicate boy. The setting was an ordinary home. In the bedroom, the two held on to each other and rolled around on the wide, snow-white bed.

Looking at the omega on the screen spreading his arms to hold the officer tight, the events of that night years ago suddenly flashed into Craig’s mind. That night, Randy had also held onto his shoulders like that...it was just that, cough, their positions had been the reverse of what was shown onscreen.

It was Randy who had pushed him down onto the bed, and Craig who had been pressed beneath him…

Craig rubbed the back of his head. Up until now, he still hadn’t been able to forget Randy’s fierceness that night. He had been wild and aggressive, going at it again and again until Craig had almost collapsed. Then, when morning came, he was gone. This matter had stayed in Craig’s heart for many years.

It was good he had finally found him.

Thinking of Randy’s gentle appearance and bold nature, the corner of Craig’s mouth couldn’t help but lift slightly.

It was as if heaven had destined him to meet this unique omega. Although the circumstances they met in were strange, Craig wouldn’t be opposed to being with him. Rather, he felt that Randy held some interest. Compared to those soft, weak omegas you often saw, who didn’t even dare to raise their voices, Randy was much more appealing.

This time he wouldn’t let go of him again. This time, he was going to take back the initiative.

As an alpha, he couldn’t always be pushed down by an omega. That would be pretty bad.

Craig had made up his mind. He stared attentively at the screen, eyes gleaming, studiously watching the film.

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At Aiden’s house, seeing that his father had come back from sending Craig off with red and swollen lips, Aiden asked confusedly: “Dad, what happened to your mouth?”

Randy smiled and sat next to Aiden, saying in a gentle tone, “Right now you’re still young, so you don’t understand these things. After you turn eighteen, you’ll meet your own alpha. When the time comes, he’ll kiss you and mark you. If you’re interested, I can teach you about this in detail. You haven’t learned about it in school, right?”

Aiden shook his head. “St. Paul Academy doesn’t teach these topics. Teacher Kelly says when I go to Ellen College with Xi Wei, they’ll have special classes on omega physiology.”

“Yes, the teachers at Ellen College will teach you about this in more detail, so it’s just as well if you go to school and learn about this with your omega classmates.” At this point, Randy couldn’t help but gently ruffle his son’s hair. “According to the laws of the empire, when you’re eighteen years old, you’ll have to choose an alpha. I definitely won’t mistreat you; when the time comes, you have to choose an alpha that you like. If you can’t find one that you like, it’s also fine if you don’t marry. I have money, I can afford to take care of you for life.”

Aiden: “...”

Dad just has this kind of headstrong nouveau riche character.

Aiden couldn’t help but say, “Dad, exactly how much money do you have saved? Even if you have lots of money, that doesn’t mean you can just squander it. You have so many membership cards, where’s the need for all of them? Some restaurants you just go to once and then never again, so aren’t you paying all those membership fees in vain?”

This conscientious son was actually trying to take care of his father. Randy laughed and rubbed his head, saying, “Alright, I know, I’ll start saving more.”

Aiden continued, “It happens that I have some time during break, so I can help you with the handicrafts you’re making.”

“Okay, tomorrow you can start helping me.” Randy smiled contentedly. He knew his son had chosen design electives at school. Since he was small, this child had been thoughtful and attentive. In choosing design, he must have wanted to learn some ideas and skills to help his father. This kind of filial son was really hard to find.

The thought that his savings would surely continue to grow put him in a good mood.

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That night, after he returned to his dorm, Aiden told Xi Wei about what he experienced that day. From the age of five, he had enjoyed the benefits of Xi Wei’s protection and care. Xi Wei also often helped him out with school. The relationship he had with Xi Wei was unique. He was willing to share all his secrets with him, because of the trust he had in him.

“Dad told me that General Craig is actually my birth father. The year they conceived me, they had to separate because of family reasons.” Aiden said seriously.

Xi Wei smiled and said, “That’s great Aiden, congratulations on finding your father! General Craig looks a bit strict, but he’s really a good person. He’ll take good care of you.”

“Yeah.” Aiden said, “Right, can you not tell anyone about this?”

Xi Wei was a bit surprised. He had originally wanted to ask his parents to give General Craig a few weeks of honeymoon leave, to let this bachelor of more than ten years happily bring a wife of his own back home. He never thought that Aiden would actually ask him to keep it a secret.

Xi Wei asked in confusion, “Why? Or is it not convenient to say?”

“Because I feel like things aren’t that simple. If he’s really my father, why didn’t he come find us for all those years? Not to mention, he hasn’t set a date for the wedding...he seems to think that if one day they plan to marry, it won’t be too late to talk of it then.”

Aiden’s expression was quite serious, so Xi Wei could only nod and say, “Alright, I won’t tell anyone.”

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Xi Wei hadn’t thought that right after he got the news, he’d get a video call from Klaire asking, “So General Craig is Aiden’s father, right?”

Xi Wei said, “Aiden won’t let me say.”

Klaire smiled a little and said, “Now I understand.”

Xi Wei asked curiously, “You understand what?”

“My prediction shouldn’t be wrong. General Craig is his father, and he and Randy had to separate temporarily because of some unclear reason. Aiden must have asked you to not tell anyone about this because he didn’t want to implicate his father. This probably has something to do with Randy’s background.” Klaire calmly analyzed the situation. “Maybe Randy has a lot of hidden secrets that aren’t convenient to say out loud. If not, then how could an ordinary couple separate for so many years?”

Xi Wei nodded. “That makes sense. Randy has always given off quite a mysterious feeling…”

Seeing Xi Wei seriously pondering this matter, Klaire couldn’t help but smile and say, “Alright, it’s better for us outsiders not to stick our noses in these family matters. Since the alpha has finally been found, you can be at ease. There’s hope at last for Aiden’s illness.”

Xi Wei smiled, nodded and said, “Yes, it’s really a piece of good news. No matter what, General Craig is still a good man. Since he’s Aiden’s father, he’ll definitely think of a way to save his son. I hope they can quickly have an omega child.”

Klaire said, “You’ve eaten dinner, right? How about coming to the battle arena to play a few rounds?”

Xi Wei said eagerly, “Sure, just wait for me to come beat you up!”

The two boys connected to the battle arena and created a small room. They started up their mechas and entered the room to begin battling.

Xi Wei already had a very high number of points in the battle arena, and Klaire wasn’t far behind. This time, Xi Wei chose an eagle mecha, which had steady flight capability. Klaire chose a wolf mecha, which was the best at running and jumping among all the mecha.

One soaring through the sky, one running on the ground, the two of them battled on a vast simulated plain. Xi Wei would often fire his particle cannon downwards, and Klaire would strafe the sky with rifle rounds. The two chased each other around for ten minutes, but each of them always nimbly avoided being caught.

Xi Wei suddenly came across an obstacle in front of him. He narrowed his eyes and immediately took hold of the opportunity to finish Klaire off with a bomb. He didn’t expect that Klaire’s mecha would, at the critical moment, shoot out a rocket and blow his mecha’s wing to pieces. The sounds of two explosions rang out at the same time, and the two players died simultaneously.

Xi Wei couldn’t help but give Klaire a thumbs up. “Your progress sure is fast. Even when I’m using an aerial mecha, you can still fight to a draw with me.”

Klaire smiled and said, “My luck is good, I managed to hit your wing.”

Xi Wei asked, “Want to go again?”

Klaire said, “Let's go!”

The two boys put in the password to enter the room and sparred for a few more rounds. The time flew by, and it wasn’t until after eleven o’clock at night that Klaire said softly, “Alright, let’s not play so hard that you lose sleep. You should disconnect and sleep early, we can come again tomorrow.”

Xi Wei put his mecha back in storage and said, “This game platform is pretty fun. The scenery is lifelike, and the effect is thrilling. In half a month, I’ll have enough money to upgrade my mecha to B class. I want to upgrade it before school starts.”

The empire’s virtual battle platform gave out points depending on your win-loss record. Xi Wei had played for this long, so he had won many victories, and accumulated many points. Points could be used to upgrade or buy higher-class mecha. As an omega, he had only been able to use a C-class mecha at best at school. He didn’t have the qualifications to use a higher-class mecha in real life, but online, he could satisfy his heart’s desire and upgrade to a high-class mecha.

B-class mecha had the power to transform. Xi Wei had wanted one for ages, but unfortunately he had only saved half of the points he needed.

Of course Klaire knew what was in Xi Wei’s heart. He smiled a little, and directly transferred 200,000 points to Xi Wei’s account.

“Your friend LittleK wants to transfer 200,000 points, accept or deny?”

Xi Wei saw the notification and said, surprised, “What are you doing?”

Klaire said, “I’ll just give all my points to you, that way you’ll have enough to upgrade your mecha.”

Xi Wei said, “You’re not going to use them?”

Klaire said, “It’s no problem, I don’t want to upgrade my mecha for the time being. Not to mention, after school starts, I’ll have to take mecha operation classes. I won’t have much time to come online anymore, so those points will just be wasted. It’s better if you use them.”

In any case, Klaire could still take mecha operation classes at St. Paul Academy. Real-life practice with mechas was much more interesting than battling online. Xi Wei didn't continue to be polite. He happily accepted the points, and said, “Thanks.”

Klaire then sent him a bunch of materials and equipment to use for upgrading his mecha. He smiled and said, “You still need to be polite with me?”

Xi Wei couldn’t help but laugh, and said, “In that case, I won’t be polite. After I upgrade my mecha, I’ll come beat you to death every day. At that time, you’d better not regret it.”

“...So your goal for upgrading was just to come and kill me every day?” Klaire sent him a tearful emoji.

Xi Wei said, “Regretting is futile!”

After they finished talking, they went to the mall to pick up his points, then to the warehouse to upgrade his mecha. Afterwards, Xi Wei waved goodbye to Klaire, his heart full of satisfaction.

After he disconnected, Klaire sighed softly and thought: School is about to start. I really want to just tie Xi Wei to my side, I simply can’t bear for him to run all the way to Ellen College to study. In the future, the times we’ll meet will grow fewer and fewer. We’ll never be able to attend class together again, the way we did at St. Paul's.

But it doesn’t matter. In these four years, Xi Wei will grow up, and I’ll also become an adult. When Xi Wei turns eighteen, his coming of age ceremony will be my biggest opportunity. I have to seize it. So for these four years, I can’t relax. I have to make the most of this time and get stronger.

Klaire took a deep breath and calmed down, then went to take a bath.

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During break, Xi Wei and Klaire fought daily in the battle arena, with Carlo joining in occasionally. Aiden stayed quietly at home, helping his dad to make handicrafts to sell online. It was the mechanized age of science and technology. Most people used products that were mass-produced in factories. So Randy’s purely handmade products were like a clear stream in the sweltering summer, and were immensely popular online.

Randy’s shop was located on B Street, District 15 of the commercial zone of the empire’s virtual network. The shop’s name was Cerulean Dreamland. When the imperial citizens browsing the streets walked into the store, the first thing they would see would be clusters of elegant blue moon orchids. On the counter the moon orchids were decorating, all sorts of delicate handicrafts were laid out. There were various little toys woven from silk, fruit bowls, flower baskets and other kinds of everyday items. There were also decorative pieces such as wooden picture frames and the like.

Randy was very business-minded. Every month, he’d have a little event for the sake of marketing. He’d auction a limited-edition item to stimulate sales volume. Oftentimes, the item to be auctioned was advertised as “the only one of its kind in the universe,” with great commemorative value. A lot of people fought to buy it, the price rose and rose again, and Randy was left counting money until his hands felt sore.

This time, the item Randy was auctioning was a piece called “Setting Sail,” a blue sailboat made completely by hand. It could be used as a storage device. They had used moon orchids and blue crystals for the raw materials. And under Aiden’s suggestion, they had stuck lots of silver five-star fruit leaves on the sides of the boat, so that the boat would glow with a calm blue light at night, blended with the silver rays from the leaves. The boat seemed to exude the natural light of the moon and the refreshing scent of grass. As a decorative piece, it had much more style than an item made with cold metal and colored lights.

What’s more, it could be used as a storage device. All the scattered objects in the house could be put inside this beautiful sailboat, making the whole house more beautiful.

As soon as he put this item on display, no small amount of people started eyeing it. Randy had only made this one, representative item, and it had become a hot item all the local tyrants were vying for.

That night, guests crowded into Randy’s store. Randy personally presided over the online auction. He announced the starting price at 10,000 crystal coins.

“20,000!” Someone immediately raised the price.

“25,000!”

“30,000!”

Just then, a cold, serious voice suddenly shouted, “40,000!”

Randy focused the computer's camera on the source of that voice. When he saw the username, it was actually “General.” The avatar was a soldier wearing a military uniform. Could he actually be the captain of the Royal Guard, Craig? What was he doing at the auction?

Randy felt confused. He kept the camera on him, following him as he mixed in with the crowd and raised his bid.

“60,000!”

When the general called out his bid, he was very serious, and his voice was detached.

When Randy made this sailboat, he had only spent a bit more than 50,000 on the blue crystals he used for it. He had picked up the leaves and such pretty much for free. So 60,000 gave him some profit. That this kind of small handicraft had been able to sell for more than 50,000 was already pretty good. Randy was quite satisfied, and he smiled until his eyes were squinting.

“70,000!” A local tycoon gritted his teeth and raised the price by another ten thousand.

“80,000!” The general said calmly.

“...” The tyrant seemed to be hesitating. After he was silent for a moment, he finally ground his teeth and announced a number: “100,000! If you think you have the ability, come fight!”

The general said, “I won’t fight, I'll give it to you.”

After the auction ended, Randy took the initiative to invite the general into the VIP lounge. “So you’re a general?” He asked.

“I am, I’m Craig.”

Sure enough, it was him! Randy was quite confused: “So you also like this kind of thing? How about I make a different one and give it to you?”

Craig said seriously, “It’s fine, I just came to take a look. Where’s Aiden?”

“He’s at home.”

Craig said, “How about I pick you two up? We can celebrate Aiden’s birthday together.”

It just so happened to be the 25th of August. Randy had originally planned to wait until after the auction to buy a present with the money he earned, then happily celebrate Aiden’s birthday. Then Craig came to visit. In the past, Randy and his son had always celebrated his birthday together. This year, there was suddenly one more person than usual. It was a little hard for Randy to adjust. But on second thought, he was after all Aiden’s birth father, and Randy needed his cooperation to give Aiden a sibling. Randy could only agree. “Alright, we’ll have to trouble you then.”

Craig said, “No trouble.”

After a moment, the robot outside the door sent a message: General Craig has come to visit.

Randy changed his clothes and went out to open the door. When he opened the door, an expressionless man stood before him, holding a big bouquet of blue flowers. As if he were carrying out a mission, he stuffed the flowers into Randy’s arms and said seriously, “For you.”

Randy: “...What’s this for?”

Craig coughed and embarrassedly rubbed his nose. “I can’t come empty-handed on our first night out.”

Randy: “...”

Randy, who had his arms forcefully stuffed full of flowers, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Aiden, who was standing behind him, looked at the two of them in bemusement. Craig beckoned to Aiden and said, “Come here, son, we’ll go out to celebrate your birthday.”

When he heard these words, Aiden’s throat couldn’t help but ache. For so many years, he had never said that one word, “Father.” He had always believed that his father had long since died on the battlefield. But today, there was this tall man standing in front of the two of them, holding a gift, looking at them with a warm gaze. It felt like as long as he was there, he could hold up the sky for the two of them and make a bright world for them to live in.

Under his gentle gaze, Aiden stepped forward. Craig reached out his hand and tousled Aiden’s hair, saying, “Happy birthday, son.”

Aiden didn’t avoid it this time. He discovered that this alpha’s gesture held a kind of clumsy affection. His hand was large, firm, and very warm.