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When Randy saw the ring, it was as if he had seen a ghost. His expression was one of complete shock.

Craig glanced at his face and said, “Do you recognize it?”

Randy came back to himself and asked in a rush, “This ring, where did you get it?”

Craig said: “Fifteen years ago, on the eighteenth of November, the 500th anniversary of the founding of Ellen College, I was at a hotel in the Andromeda Galaxy. I suddenly came across...um...I spent a night with an omega in heat. When he left...he accidentally left behind this ring…”

The general hadn"t finished speaking when Randy interrupted him in surprise: “The alpha that night was you?”

“...It was.”

Only the four walls around them and the two men in bed had witnessed the events of that night. Since Craig had the ring, and could even tell him the exact date and place of that event, there was no doubt that the alpha from that night was precisely the general standing in front of him.

Standing about 188 cm tall, speaking in a serious manner, he seemed to fit the memory he had of that man.

Randy hadn"t expected that the alpha he had been searching for for so long would actually turn out to be the captain of the Royal Guard. No wonder he couldn"t find any clues after looking for such a long time; he was looking in the wrong place to begin with. Randy had been investigating the officers of the Star Corps, but he had forgotten that that year, Queen Anna returned to Ellen College to celebrate its 500th anniversary. The Royal Guard had also been at Andromeda Galaxy, and they also had alpha officers within their ranks.

Taking a deep breath, Randy finally asked: “This matter of accidentally coming upon an omega in heat, you haven"t told anyone about it, right?”

“Of course not.” Having spoken to this point, Craig couldn"t help feeling a bit strange at heart. No one in the world but the two of them knew what happened that night, and Craig didn"t want to share that secret with anyone. That was also his first time marking an omega.

“Exactly who are you?” Craig frowned and asked, “You stayed behind to live in the Empire, so, how to say...could it be that you"re a spy sent by the Federation?”

Randy asked with an expression of astonishment, “Do you think I seem like a spy from the Federation? Is there a spy who"d be stupid enough to give birth to a son?”

Craig: “...”

Struck dumb by a single sentence, Craig coughed and shut his mouth, and didn"t say anything else.

Randy gave the general in front of him a sidelong glance. He didn"t really have a good impression of this alpha. He"d always felt that other than knowing how to talk, this guy was no different from a walking statue. That day, when Craig sent Xi Wei back, Randy hid close by to observe out of vigilance. He didn"t think that Craig"s reaction would be so quick as to immediately turn and catch him. The scene of that general subduing him, without the slightest trace of lenience, was still vivid in his mind. He never would have thought he would be the alpha who marked him years ago.

The alpha then was so young and green, not even knowing how to embrace an omega, and requiring Randy to personally guide him. Ten years had pa.s.sed. The man in front of him had matured, and his voice had become deep and rich, so even when Randy happened to meet him, he didn"t recognize him.

Craig found that the other had been taking the measure of him, and couldn"t help but awkwardly rub his nose.

Under his serious gaze, he felt strange, as if a kitten"s claws were scratching gently at his heart. At that moment, the memory of this omega embracing and kissing him flashed again in his mind. The tips of his ears couldn"t help but feel hot.

After looking at him for a while, Randy finally asked: “Are you married?”

“What?” Asked this kind of question so abruptly, Craig looked up at him in bewilderment.

Faced with his blank look, Randy felt a little unhappy, and repeated: “I asked, are you married? Is there some other omega at your side?”

“...There isn"t.” Craig hurried and replied honestly.

At this, a smile finally arose on Randy"s face. “Good, because I need your help.”

“Help with what?” Craig asked, full of suspicion.

Randy said seriously, “Next month, I"m having my heat.”

Craig: “...”

Randy hesitated, and said in a soft voice, “Can you help me?”

Craig: “...”

The general felt that his brain was about to crash yet again.

As an omega, can you be a little more reserved?!

That year, when he accidentally met this omega in heat, Randy took the initiative to strip off his clothes and say “Hold me,” and somehow they ended up rolling in the sheets for the entire night. For Craig, that was also his first time, and before that, he"d never even held hands with someone. The memory of being boldly pushed down by an omega stayed indelibly in his mind for many years. Don"t mention knowing the exact date, he remembered every moment of that night with absolute clarity. He had always wanted to find this omega and ask him exactly what was going on, but after searching for the past few years, he couldn"t find any information on him.

Perhaps it was a natural instinct designed to protect omegas that was haunting him, but after he marked Randy, he couldn"t summon up any interest for other omegas at all. His whole heart was devoted to studying the memory of that one night, the omega who laid in his arms, his warm, soft body and his burning kisses.

Craig was a little angry. “You, exactly who do you think you are to me? It"s only when your heat has come that you think I have some use?”

Randy thought it over carefully, and said: “Well...on the whole, I really couldn"t use your help. I can earn money and support my son by myself…”

Craig asked furiously, “These last few years, have you also asked other alphas to do this?!” It was a rare expression of anger from him. Although his facial paralysis was still unchanged, his voice was distinctly raised, almost to a shout. When he imagined that the omega in front of him might have been embraced by other alphas, might have been taken by them, he felt a bolt of rage flashing from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. He wanted nothing more than to take those alphas who had touched him and tear them all to pieces.

Randy who had been shouted at had a face full of innocence. He gazed softly at the general in front of him: “So you"re not willing to help me?”

Craig: “...”

Randy sighed sadly and said, “Aiden is also your child.”

Craig"s entire train of thought was thrown into disorder. “What does Aiden have to do with it?”

The omega in front of him was the very one he had marked, and he had even given birth to a child. What was more incredible was that the child had already grown so big, and Craig had somehow instantly become a father… The shock Craig had received today was even more terrifying than when His Majesty was kidnapped. However logical it was, if you took any man and told him he suddenly had a fourteen-year-old son, he might not be able to easily accept it.

Craig had just been undergoing an intense mental struggle when Randy raised this unreasonable request of helping him with his heat. He didn"t know why every time he met this omega, he always gave him so much anxiety, and he never knew the right way to deal with him.

At this point, Randy realized that he hadn"t been explaining himself clearly, and the general had misunderstood him. He hurried to explain: “The thing is, my son Aiden, he has a rare blood disease. In order to treat it, he needs a transplant of hematopoietic stem cells from an omega sibling. So I have to give birth to a brother or sister for him, and what"s more, they need to be an omega. As a single person, I obviously can"t give birth to one, so I need your help.”

“...” After listening to this point, Craig couldn"t help but frown and said, “You said Aiden"s sick?”

Randy nodded and lowered his eyes. His expression was a little sad. “His illness is genetic, and we"ve been suppressing it with medication for all these years. The only method to cure the root cause of his illness is to transplant hematopoietic stem cells from an omega sibling. I"ve been searching for the alpha from that night for all this time; it"s good I"ve finally found him. The doctor said that Aiden still has four years, and we can have two or three children at the most in that time. The probability of having an omega isn"t necessarily high, so we need to make the most of this chance.”

“...” Hearing Randy treat having children as if it were the same as cooking rice, Craig suddenly felt quite uncomfortable.

So it turns out what you were looking for wasn"t me, but my genes?!

He didn"t know why, but Craig felt he had suffered a blow to his pride. He couldn"t help but ask, “The only reason...the only reason you were looking for me was to give Aiden a sibling to save him?”

Aiden softly said, “Well, Aiden is my son, and I love him. I can"t watch him die. I hope you can help me.”

Craig: “...”

Thinking of that young boy who had eyes like his father, who was polite in manner and mild in temperament, and who actually had such a severe illness, Craig also couldn"t help but feel pity.

To just mark Randy again like this, though, he felt a little unwilling, as if something were missing...

Randy looked at him earnestly. “Can you help us? I"d be very grateful to you.”

Faced with this omega"s damp eyes and soft, pleading voice, Craig"s heart melted instantly. He almost blurted out “Sure.”

But since he was after all a military man, reason prevailed. Craig suppressed his impulse to agree on the spot. He was silent for a moment, then said: “If it"s just a matter of helping, then of course I can help you. After all, Aiden is also my son, so finding a way to save him is something I should do. The only thing is...is it really okay to just go ahead and mark you like this?”

Randy softly said, “Do you mind? Don"t worry, I won"t make any trouble for you, and I won"t ask that you marry me. All you have to do is be with me for a night. If you feel disgusted, you can close your eyes. If that still doesn"t work, you can take a pill…”

This omega is really too excessive, actually saying he can take a blue pill. G.o.d, I"m not impotent, okay, do I need pills to have s.e.x?! Craig had been talked at until his ears were red. He quickly interrupted: “That"s not what I meant!”

Randy was full of doubt. “Then what do you mean?”

Craig: “...”

Craig remembered a key word from what Randy said: “marry.”

No mistake, it was “marry!”

Due to how rare and precious omegas were, the government gave them every protection. It was almost impossible for an alpha to mark an omega before marriage. Most alphas and omegas in the Empire waited until just before the heat to wed. On the wedding night, amid the candles and flowers of the bridal chamber, they finally marked each other, and counted it as the completion of their wedding vows.

As for the two of them, well, they marked each other under such confused circ.u.mstances. Now their child was already half-grown, and they hadn"t even received their marriage certificate yet.

Craig thought and thought and finally figured it out. That mysterious thing he felt was missing was actually their marriage certificate. Only after being married could the two of them mark each other and raise children in any kind of reasonable or legitimate way! If not, then what? They screwed around and had a kid, and now they"d screw around some more and have another? Did that sound like the proper thing to do?!

After he thought about it, Craig opened his mouth and said seriously: “Since we already have a child, let"s go register to get married. If we become a proper married couple, we can have a couple of children openly and legitimately.”

Suddenly becoming a father made it temporarily hard for Craig to adapt, but looking at the gentle-mannered omega in front of him, and thinking of that sweet, polite young boy, he suddenly felt that taking this pair of omegas back home with him wasn"t a bad idea at all.

After thinking to this point, Craig thought of a scene on TV he"d seen, of a man proposing marriage to an omega with a ring...cough, he hadn"t prepared a ring, so let"s just use this blue ring for now and replace it later.

But as it turned out, Craig hadn"t even finished taking out the ring when Randy"s expression changed slightly and he bluntly refused: “We can"t get married.”

Having never expecting that the other would decisively refuse him, Craig was frozen in surprise. After all, he had zero experience in chasing after omegas; before, it had always been omegas chasing him, thinking of every method to get close to him in hopes of marriage. He had always only been impatient with their efforts. Today he had actually taken initiative to propose marriage, and the omega had refused without the slightest hesitation.

Craig"s face sank into gloom. “Why?”

“...” Randy was silent for a moment. Quietly, he said, “In any case, I can"t do it.”

The Imperial Marriage Registry would conduct a thorough investigation on the couple to be married, especially if it was an alpha and omega pair. They would research their genetic and family backgrounds in detail, in order to ensure that they could have excellent offspring after marriage.

Randy"s ident.i.ty and name were forged. As soon as he went to the Imperial Marriage Registry, the person in charge would check the imperial census and genetics archives, and he"d pull up all his records starting from after his birth. He"d immediately find out who Randy was.

As for being marked, he was fine with that. When the time came, he could just lie down and enjoy it. When he was marked for the first time, it hurt, but it felt pleasurable too. In the end, it was just a physiological need, so there was no need to stress over it.

He wasn"t against having children either. Aiden was very cute and well-behaved, so having a few more kids like him wouldn"t be a big deal. The handicraft shop he had opened on the internet was very popular; he could just casually make some products and pull in considerable profits each month. Randy could already be considered nouveau riche. Just his savings account held several million crystal coins. In these last few years, he had added a floor to his villa. He could afford to raise a few more children.

Too bad the alpha in front of him had to go ahead and propose marriage. What a headache.

After thinking it over for a moment, Randy said in a soft voice, “Besides getting married, I can grant any other requests you might have. Can you reconsider?”

Craig was a little angry. The very first time he proposed marriage to someone, he"d actually been turned down. It was a great blow to his self-esteem.

However, thinking of Aiden"s critical condition that was in need of immediate treatment, Craig finally agreed with a stiff expression. “If you don"t want to get married, that"s fine...we can discuss it again after a few years. But you have to promise me that I"ll be the only alpha for you. If I find out that you"ve been with anybody else, I absolutely won"t tolerate it!”

After the words were out, Craig was shocked at himself. He didn"t understand where this fierce possessiveness was coming from. In any case, he just didn"t want any other alphas to touch Randy. Not even a finger was allowed to touch him.

Randy gazed seriously at the general, and couldn"t help but smile slightly. He said softly, “I understand. I"m not so idle as to go looking for other alphas. I"ll go back first to tell my son this good news. Is there some way to contact you? Where"s your communicator?”

Craig opened his hand and said, “You can connect to my mecha"s AI.”

“Oh.” Randy nodded and put his hand gently in Craig"s palm, pressing his fingertip against the mecha storage device lying on his hand. It verified his fingerprint. He then took out his communicator so Craig could enter his fingerprint on it. This way, they could open a direct line of communication.

After he finished, Randy smiled and said, “I want to return, so could I trouble you to send me home?”

Feeling the soft and slender fingers leave his hand, Craig felt inexplicably disappointed.

Faced with Randy"s gentle gaze, Craig could only expressionlessly nod, start the hovercar and head towards Randy"s house.

He had only driven halfway there when he unexpectedly saw the motorcade of the Royal Guard. Craig stopped immediately and connected to the viewscreen in the prince"s car. He asked in confusion, “ Your Highness, why did you come out here?”

Xi Wei said, “We"re going with Aiden to the hospital to look for his father.”

He had only just finished speaking when he discovered that on the viewscreen, there was a familiar man hidden behind Craig"s tall form. This man had apparently also seen Xi Wei and the others, and he smiled and stepped out, saying, “Aiden, daddy"s here, is there something wrong?”

Everyone: “...”

Why were Randy and Craig together?

The four boys looked at each other. Klaire scooted over and said to Xi Wei, “Looks like we guessed right, and Craig really is Aiden"s father. With Randy"s aversion towards alphas, there"s no other way he"d ride alone in a car with one.”

Xi Wei nodded. Looking at the screen in front of him, there really were only those two people in the car. Randy"s previous dislike for Craig had already vanished like smoke, and he was smiling brilliantly. Randy continued, “Aiden, let me tell you some good news. You"re saved, this person next to me is…”

He hadn"t finished talking when Craig coughed and interrupted him. “We should say it in person.”

Craig decisively closed the connection. He frowned and looked at Randy: “You actually want to tell him right now that he was an accident? If you just tell him like that, won"t he be sad about it?”

Randy was at a loss. He looked up at Craig: “That"s true...then what are we going to say?”

Craig said, “Let"s just make up an excuse. We can say that we fell in love many years ago, but had to temporarily separate because of family matters.”

Randy thought it over and felt that Craig"s suggestion was a good one. Aiden definitely wouldn"t want to know that he was conceived by accident—that his parents, without the slightest trace of mutual feelings, happened to roll in the sheets for a night and conceive him. How could parents be so casual about their future children? If he knew the truth, Aiden would definitely be unhappy. For the sake of safeguarding his son"s feelings, inventing an excuse wasn"t too difficult to do.

After thinking to this point, Randy couldn"t help but smile: “You come up with the best plans. I"ll go back and tell him. When the time comes, you can back me up, okay?”

Looking at the warm smile of the omega in front of him, Craig suddenly felt his heart give a violent tremor. It was as if his heart had caught on fire. His whole body felt hot. He couldn"t help but want to forcefully kiss the slightly curved corner of Randy"s mouth, kiss him until he couldn"t form words anymore.

Randy"s expression was calm. He looked out of the car window and said, “You can park here.”

Craig parked the car in a midair parking lot next to a restaurant, and they both got off. Xi Wei and his friends, as well as the bodyguards from the Royal Guard, had also gotten out of their cars.

Aiden saw his father and walked quickly towards him. He asked in a worried voice, “Dad, is something wrong?”

Randy shook his head and reached out to gently hug his son. “Nothing"s wrong.”

Looking upon this loving scene of father and son embracing, Craig"s heart felt warm. This was his omega...although at the moment they weren"t married, and this was his son...though at the moment he didn"t know it. But at least, in this world, he had two people who were intimately related to him. Blood was thicker than water, and the connections between family members could never be erased.

When he saw that beautiful boy in the arms of his father, Craig"s eyes couldn"t help but soften.

After Randy let go of his son, he turned to look at Craig. “Let"s go and eat lunch first. It"s my treat today, why don"t you invite your team too?”

Craig hadn"t said anything yet when Randy walked to the restaurant entrance and handed a golden card to the doorman. He smiled and said, “Tell your manager I want to reserve all the seats on the third floor.”

“...” The guards standing nearby were stunned. As soon as he opened his mouth, he reserved the entire third floor. This guy their boss knew really had money!

The restaurant in front of them had a revolving floor plan, so guests could enjoy a 360 degree view. It could be counted as one of the top-tier fine dining establishments on the capital planet. The amount of guests allowed to eat there wasn"t high. The restaurant used a membership system. If ordinary people wanted to eat there, they had to have a restaurant member bring them. One could tell at a glance that the card Randy had in his hand was a top-level membership card. The restaurant manager gave Randy face, and immediately brought his group of guests to the third floor.

Watching Randy swipe his card and pay the bill with a smile on his face, Craig really felt awkward. Should he really let an omega pay for all of them? And where did he get so much money?

Full of doubt, Craig followed Randy into a private room on the third floor. The rest of the guards sat freely elsewhere to eat.

There were only the two men and the four boys in the private room. At first, Carlo looked at Craig with displeasure, but then he reflected that Craig might have some relation with Aiden. He might even be Aiden"s father. After that, Carlo didn"t even dare to look at Craig. He bowed his head and was silent, afraid that he would say something to anger the general.

Aiden and Randy naturally sat together. Randy affectionately added food to Aiden"s plate, saying, “Hungry? Eat a bit more.”

“Okay. Dad, you should eat more too.” Aiden pa.s.sed his dad some of the beans he liked to eat. The warm feelings between them were evident.

After the meal was over, Randy smiled and said, “Xi Wei, why don"t you and the others go back first? I"ll bring Aiden home with me. We have some things we need to discuss.”

Xi Wei was still confused, but Randy obviously didn"t want to explain the situation in front of so many outsiders. This was a family matter, so after Xi Wei and Klaire exchanged a look, they tactfully turned and left. Carlo walked a few steps and felt uneasy, so he came back. He went over to Aiden and said in his ear, “If your father tells you some shocking news, you should try to accept it, don"t get too upset. It won"t be good if you faint.”

Although they were originally caring words, Aiden heard it as: “You troublesome omega, you definitely won"t be able to take the slightest irritation without fainting.”

Aiden looked at him, smiled and said: “My thanks to the cla.s.s leader for his concern.”

Carlo stayed where he was and watched Aiden leave, awkwardly touching his nose. With a lowered head and dejected air, he finally turned and left.

What puzzled Aiden was that the general actually let his lieutenant escort Xi Wei back to the palace, and took it upon himself to send his dad and him back home.

Randy invited Craig into the living room, and personally poured him some tea. Then he smiled and said, “Aiden, come say h.e.l.lo to your father.”

Aiden: “...”

Father and son looked at each other with awkward expressions on their faces.

After a moment of silence, Aiden said, “Dad, didn"t you say that my father died in battle long ago?”

Craig: “...”

Randy laughed and explained, “That was a lie. In fact, when I was still a teenager, my father arranged a marriage for me. The alpha I was engaged to was a few decades older than me, his character was cruel, and I heard that he often drank. I didn"t want to marry him, so I ran away from home. As it happened, I met your father on the road, and he got me out of a sticky situation. We fell in love at first sight, and we were very happy with each other. So we secretly got together.”

Craig: “...” This omega"s skill at spinning tales with a straight face truly approaches expert level.

Randy continued, “ But Craig had an urgent matter, so he had to return to the capital planet. I also had to hide from my family that was trying to track me down, so we could only separate for the time being. After he left, I realized I was pregnant. I knew we couldn"t be together openly, so I never told him about you.”

Having said all this, Randy"s eyes turned soft and he looked at Craig. “It"s good that we can finally be together now.”

Craig rubbed his nose, and could only join this fellow in acting out the play: “I was searching for you all these years, but I never thought you"d actually be on the capital planet.”

The two men were just in the middle of gazing affectionately at each other when Aiden interrupted them: “Didn"t you come to our house several times before? How come you didn"t recognize my dad back then?”

Craig: “...”

Randy: “...”

Having a kid that was too smart wasn"t necessarily a good thing. It wasn"t that easy to fool him with a story.

Craig coughed and said, “I didn"t look that closely back then. Also, after all these years, your dad changed a lot, so I didn"t recognize him at first.”

Randy hastily added, “It was like this. Back then, we weren"t too clear about each other"s ident.i.ties. We were both quite young back then, and I had run away from home. I never thought that we would be together forever. We were able to finally recognize each other because of that blue ring you saw. That was a love token I left him, to remember me by.”

Craig: “...” That was what you dropped by accident when you knocked me out and ran away!

Aiden looked doubtfully at the two men. His dad had a gentle smile on his face, and his eyes were full of joy. He really did look like someone who had found a long-lost lover. The general was still as expressionless as before, but when his dad had mentioned the ring, he had shifted his gaze in an unnatural manner.

In reality, Randy was so happy because he could finally cure Aiden.

Randy gently held Aiden"s hand, and said, “Aiden, this is your father.”

Aiden looked at the handsome man in front of him, and after he was silent for a moment, he walked over to him. Politely, he said, “Right now, I can"t persuade myself to just go ahead and call you “father.” After all, we didn"t meet for more than a decade, so you"re a bit of a stranger to me. I hope you can understand…”

Craig hurried to say, “It"s alright. In these past years, I also never fulfilled any of my responsibilities as a father, so if you can"t call me that yet, I understand.”

The more he looked at the well-mannered son in front of him, the more he liked him. He actually smiled a little. With a gentle look, he said, “From now on, I"ll take good care of you. After we become more familiar with each other, it won"t be too late to call me “father” then.”

Aiden nodded. “Okay.”

Seeing that they had successfully deceived his son, Randy could finally let out a breath of relief. He said, “General, if you have some things to do, you should go back first. It won"t be good if His Majesty can"t find you and gets worried.”

This obvious dismissal made Craig a little unhappy, but he finally stood up and said, “Alright, I"ll come see you again sometime.”

“Okay, I"ll send you off.”

When Randy and Craig had reached the door, Randy leaned next to him and said quietly, “My next heat should arrive on September 7th. At that time, I"ll trouble you to come over. It"s best if you take three days off.”

“...” This feeling of being used put Craig in a bad mood. He frowned and said, “I know.”

Randy smiled and said, “Thank you.”

He had barely finished speaking when his waist was seized. Craig"s firm arms tightened fiercely around him, and in the s.p.a.ce of a moment he kissed him.

“Ah…” Having been kissed so suddenly, Randy"s face was full of surprise.

Craig"s kissing technique was pretty c.r.a.ppy. His only previous experience was from that one night years ago, and he never even really watched movies. So in this area, his skill was a bit clumsy. He pried open the other"s jaw and licked inside. Only after this could Randy push him away, gasping for breath.

Randy wiped his lips that had been kissed until they almost tore, and asked in confusion, “What are you doing?”

With a blank expression, Craig said, “Practicing for later.”

Randy understood now. Military men tended to do things in a disciplined manner. Practicing in advance is a good idea, that way problems won"t crop up later on.

It"s just that, the general"s ears seem to be a little red?