Runaway Guide

Chapter 55

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The president of the Omega Protection Association came to the palace the next morning to tell His Majesty Trand the results of the genetic match. The Association had filtered out ten unmarried alphas in total. Besides Klaire whose degree of genetic compatibility exceeded 95%, among the alphas of a similar age, Carlo and Joen also had compatibility degrees of more than 80%.

His Majesty Trand considered past causes and future effects, and finally decided to discuss this matter with Berg.

When Berg came to the palace, he saw the genetic match results. He frowned and said, "Brother, what do you plan to do?"

"Xi Wei and Klaire grew up together, and their relationship is very good, but Klaire’s father General Byron’s stance is unclear at present. I don’t feel at ease marrying Xi Wei to someone from the Warwick family." Trand was silent for a moment, then said, "What do you think about that boy Carlo?"

Berg smiled and said, "He’s not bad as a person, and his character is upright and straightforward. It’s just that he’s got a clumsy mouth, and doesn’t quite know how to express himself."

Trand said, "Aren’t Xi Wei and Carlo also classmates? In a few years, when Carlo graduates from military school, I plan to have him and Xi Wei marry."

Berg said, "With Xi Wei’s temper, if he doesn’t like Carlo and you just set the engagement, who can say but it might produce the opposite of the desired result. How about this, I’ll go find Xi Wei and sound out his opinion, and then we can make a decision."

"Alright, that’s good too." Trand patted Berg’s shoulder. "The person he trusts the most is you, his uncle, so go and ask him what he thinks."

When Berg arrived at Xi Wei’s room, Xi Wei was looking at a map of the universe on a big screen. His mecha Egret had turned into a little white bird and was sitting quietly on his shoulder. Owner and mecha watched an introductory video about the universe’s galaxies together, seeming very absorbed.

When he saw this scene, Berg couldn’t help but smile. He said, "Xi Wei, you’re this interested in astronomy? And Egret’s watching too?"

When he heard his uncle’s familiar voice, Xi Wei immediately paused his video. He turned back, smiled and said, "Uncle, you came? I had nothing to do, so I was just taking a look. Who can say but you might send me to another galaxy in the future to carry out a task, so I have to at least be familiar with the interstellar hyperleap routes."

As he said that, he invited his uncle to sit on the sofa beside him. He poured some coffee and brought it over to him.

Berg took a sip of coffee and said, "I came to find you today to tell you a piece of news. The results for the Association’s genetic matching came out. Do you want to guess who the alpha that matches you best is?"

Xi Wei also sat down and drank some coffee. He waved his hand and said, "I’m not interested in that."

Berg looked back at him and said, "It’s Klaire."

"Pfff—" Xi Wei sprayed out his mouthful of coffee. He hit his chest and coughed nonstop.

Berg laughed and said, "You didn’t expect it, huh? You were born on the same day as Klaire, you grew up together with him, and your genes are also a good match. If you two get married, you’ll definitely have the smartest and cutest children in the future."

"..." Xi Wei pressed down on his chest and calmed down a little from his complicated mood. He gave his uncle an embarrassed glance and said, "That," he coughed, "Klaire and I are only very good friends. Marrying him...I’ve never thought about it. Having children with him...that...never even occurred to me."

When he thought about Klaire, who he knew so well, doing this and that with him, and that he himself would even get pregnant with his children, Xi Wei felt all the fine hairs on his body stand up.

Berg saw Xi Wei’s embarrassed face as he was saying those words, and he couldn’t help but laugh and say, "Then what about Carlo?"

Xi Wei choked. This time he couldn’t spray out coffee, and could only cough with all his might.

Don’t even talk about Carlo. Xi Wei had always seen him as a brother, not to mention, the way Carlo said things was really infuriating. Every time Xi Wei heard him talk, he really wanted to thrash him. If he really got together with Carlo, they’d definitely argue from morning to night. His daily life would become a torment of quarrelling.

Berg said, "You don’t like Carlo? That guy’s just got a clumsy tongue, but he’s not a bad person. He’s honest and loyal. If you really do marry him, he’ll definitely take good care of you."

Xi Wei had a face full of displeasure, and he waved his hand madly: "Forget it, forget it!"

Berg saw Xi Wei’s resolute attitude, and could only smile, turn back and say to His Majesty Trand, "We’d better take our time to talk about this. Xi Wei doesn’t think about Klaire and Carlo in that way, and he only sees them as good brothers. In any case, Xi Wei’s still very young. It won’t be too late if we bring it up again in two years."

Trand nodded and said, "Alright, we’ll wait until he grows up a bit and talk about it again."

Although he said that, in his heart, His Majesty Trand had actually already planned things out. Berg had married Drew from the Bech family, and after getting married, he lived very happily. If he then paired Xi Wei up with Carlo of the Bech family, then the palace and the Bech family would have an additional tie, and their relationship would naturally be further consolidated. Even if Xi Wei only saw Carlo as a good friend right now, it didn’t matter. Trand believed that feelings could be slowly cultivated.

As for the Association’s match results, His Majesty Trand didn’t tell them to anyone else, and Xi Wei laughed it off, completely not taking it to heart.

Time passed quickly. On the surface, after graduating, Xi Wei stayed at the palace all day and idled his time away. In reality, he was helping his Uncle Berg carry out tasks for the Underground Alliance in secret. For the sake of the Locke Castle underground factory’s mecha manufacturing, Xi Wei successfully smuggled materials from the major galaxies to the capital star several times. With his help, the progress on developing the giant mecha advanced by leaps and bounds.

Aiden was already eighteen years old, and he wanted to find an alpha he liked to marry and have children with before his heat came. Randy was highly in favor of his son’s way of thinking. So Aiden got Maynard’s contact information from Klaire, had General Craig help him find some detailed information on him, and in a few days, he boldly found Maynard’s studio.

Sure enough, as he had heard, this was an alpha with a great talent for painting. The studio he had opened was quite large, and the walls were filled with various paintings. From the signatures in the bottom right corners, these paintings were all his own work. There were majestic landscapes of subjects like an ocean with waves surging forth, the mysterious, boundless universe, and a mountain range that went on forever into the distance. And there were pictures that were outstanding in their details, like a picture of tender and lovely flower buds, or a warm scene of two people’s shadows embracing under a streetlight.

Aiden took a walk around the studio, and couldn’t help but be bowled over by Maynard’s talent and dedication.

What was even more remarkable was that, unlike some alphas who had an impulsive, childish nature, this young man who was six years older than him had a mature, refined demeanor. When Aiden walked into the studio, Maynard was sitting there and painting a landscape. The sunlight shone through the French windows and lit up his face, so that his golden hair glowed with a dazzling radiance. Aiden almost couldn’t move his eyes away.

Feeling an inexplicable gaze upon him, Maynard looked up from his sketchpad. Seeing the gentle, cute boy in front of him, he smiled slightly and said, "Hello, were you looking for me for something?"

The other party hadn’t recognized him, so Aiden couldn’t avoid feeling some disappointment. However, faced with his smile, Aiden still couldn’t help but smile himself. He stretched out a hand and said, "I’m Aiden. I heard that your paintings were very good, so I took the liberty of coming to your studio, so I could take a look at your work."

Maynard stood up, smiled gracefully and said, "So it was like that. Help yourself, then, you can take a look at whatever you like."

Aiden walked around the studio, then came to him again and said, "Are you selling the paintings here? I want to buy one to hang on the wall at home."

Maynard said, "Which one do you want?"

Aiden pointed to the painting of two people embracing under a streetlight and said, "How much is this painting?"

He wanted to buy this painting because he felt that it really gave people a feeling of warmth. The scene in the painting was very simple, and with the way the figures had been handled, you couldn’t clearly see their appearances. But from the way the people under the streetlight were embracing, and the way their shadows merged on the ground, you could see at a glance that they were lovers who had an intimate bond between them.

However, what surprised Aiden was that Maynard actually said, "I’m sorry, but this painting isn’t for sale."

Taken aback, Aiden asked, "Why? You can set the price you want."

Maynard smiled and said, "There are some things that can’t be measured with money. This painting is a work from my youth. It’s unsophisticated, but for me, it holds a very special meaning. To tell the truth, it’s a painting I made as a gift for the person I love the most."

"..." The smile on Aiden’s face gradually disappeared until nothing was left. His fingers at his side tightened slightly. "The person you love the most?"

Maynard nodded. "Yes, he’s about your age. He’s still in school right now, I plan to give this to him when he graduates."

"Oh." A sour feeling suddenly surged into Aiden’s heart. That feeling was just like he had seen a big, delicious apple in a tree, and was filled with anticipation for picking it, only to find when he put it in his mouth that the taste was bitter and sour.

He was eighteen years old and experiencing his first flush of love. It was his first time feeling good about an alpha, and it turned out that he actually already had a lover.

Aiden took a deep breath, feigned calmness and smiled, then said, "Never mind then. Give this painting to the person you like, he’ll definitely be very happy."

Maynard pressed his forehead helplessly and said, "That’s not for sure. He’s a guy who completely doesn’t understand how to appreciate art. He talks too much, and he’s got an irritable temper. I’m even afraid that after giving him the painting, he’ll use it to pad the leg of his table."

Maynard’s happy tone when talking about his lover let Aiden know that he didn’t have a chance.

Aiden was ready to turn around and leave when a boy with a utilitarian short haircut suddenly rushed into the room. That boy had a pair of bright black eyes. As soon as he sat down next to Maynard, he scooped up the cup of water on the table and unceremoniously took a drink. He said, "Hey, can you not hide in here all day painting? It wasn’t easy for me to get a few days on break. Klaire’s not paying attention to me, he says he has to study at home. Why do you alphas always have so many things to do? Will he die if he doesn’t study for a day?!"

This guy really was a chatterbox. Once he started talking, he’d babble on to no end. However, at his side, the gaze Maynard looked at him with was gentle. After he finished babbling, Maynard put down the brush in his hand and smiled. He rubbed the boy’s head, saying, "Alright, alright, I’ll take you out. Where do you want to go?"

That guy’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately stood up and said, "Let’s go, let’s go, we’ll go climb a mountain! It’s been so long since I’ve exercised, my bones are getting stiff."

Seeing the way the two people were talking and laughing, Aiden could only quietly withdraw.

On the way back, Aiden’s mood was very bad. The seeds of affection that had been budding at the bottom of his heart had been mercilessly trampled to pieces, just like that... He didn’t even have the chance to confess. He was doomed to fail utterly.

He was walking forward with his head down when suddenly, a hand clumsily patted his shoulder.

"Hey, what’s, what’s wrong? You look like you’re really upset."

He could hear at once that it was Carlo. Aiden turned his head and gave him a glance, and said, "It’s nothing."

Carlo had actually been secretly following Aiden all along, and he was very clear about everything that had happened in the studio. He knew that Aiden had definitely suffered a blow today. He had just started having feelings for an alpha, when it turned out that the other party had long since had a sweetheart. If anybody was in his place, they wouldn’t be happy either.

Although this was a great outcome for Carlo, when he saw Aiden hanging his head in a downcast mood, he couldn’t help but feel his heart hurt.

"That, you, you don’t have to be too sad. Right now, you were able to back out before things got too awkward. It’s still better than waiting until you’ve paid a lot of effort and fallen deeply before you find out the truth..." Not really knowing how to comfort people, Carlo was at a loss for a long time. He finally decided to reach out his arms and carefully wrap them around Aiden’s shoulders.

"For things like feelings, there’s no way to force them... About that Maynard, I heard from Klaire that every day, he doesn’t do anything besides painting. Even if you did get together with him, who can say but he might neglect you for painting. Not to mention, he likes someone else, and doesn’t like you; that’s bound to be his biggest loss."

Aiden: "..."

Hearing Carlo rambling on beside him, saying a bunch of things that fell wide of the mark, Aiden couldn’t help but stop walking to turn and look at Carlo. "Does this matter have anything to do with you?"

"Uh..." Carlo awkwardly scratched the back of his head, and after a moment, he said with conviction, "Of course it does! Because I, I..."

Aiden said, "You what?"

"I..." Carlo’s voice suddenly fell, and his volume was as low as that of a mosquito. "I...like you..."

Aiden didn’t hear him clearly, and he moved closer curiously. "What did you say?"

Carlo’s face suddenly turned red, and as if he was trying to cover it up, he said loudly, "Nothing! What I mean is, that Maynard’s not that great. You’ll definitely meet an alpha who’ll love you wholeheartedly, care for you, and treasure you, you hear me?"

Aiden nodded seriously. "I think so too. So I won’t be sad anymore. I’ll get in touch with some more alphas, and see if there’s any suitable ones."

"Ah?" Seeing Aiden turning to leave, Carlo immediately caught up to him. "No no no, that’s not what I meant. Maybe your fated partner has already arrived, and you just haven’t realized it yet..."

Aiden looked back at him. "Is that right? Could it be that you’re talking about yourself?"

"..." Every time he was in front of Aiden, he’d be so nervous that he couldn’t speak. Carlo forcefully pinched his palm that was full of sweat, and said in a small voice, "Y-yes, didn’t I confess to you before? I like you."

This guy who was clearly usually serious and upright, was actually hanging his head with a red face. His embarrassed, overcautious manner looked very laughable to Aiden’s eyes.

"Really?" Aiden thought of the times in childhood when he was given the cold shoulder every day, and he had a mind to tease him a bit. With a heart full of mischief, he smiled and stood on tiptoe in front of him, getting closer and saying, "You really like me?"

His soft, warm breath brushed against his face, and his rosy lips were only inches away. Carlo only felt that his heartbeat was about to come to a standstill, and as if his brain had crashed, he stared at Aiden numbly.

Aiden stopped when his lips were only an inch away, and after a moment of silence, he found that this guy was still in a lifeless state as if he had gone offline. Only then did he laugh and stand back up again. He patted his shoulder lightly and said, "You were too disagreeable when you were young, I don’t have a good impression of you at all. But...I’ll give you a chance. Before the start of the next school year at your military academy, if you really like me, let me feel your sincerity."

It wasn’t until Aiden’s back disappeared from his sight that Carlo finally came back to himself, and reacted to the words he had just said. He jumped up in excitement. "Great! He said he’d give me a chance, it’s great that I have a chance!"

The people passing by on the street saw an alpha jumping up and down on the same spot, and one after another, they gave him a sidelong glance. Many of them couldn’t help but swear: "What a nutjob."

6:01 for 3,066 words, or 11.8 minutes per 100 words. Another improvement in rate by 0.6 minutes.

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