SPW 6

Florian Dietrich Wellington was a very sensible, exemplary, and ideal person, but he was not the type to be kind and generous to everyone. Rather, his sharp business acumen was often hidden behind his outstanding looks and charming demeanor.

In other words, he was not someone who acted this way with just anyone. Of course, strictly speaking, the Asian boy did not belong in the ‘just anyone’ category. He was a dominant alpha, and his compatibility rate with Florian was a whopping 92%. However, that Asian boy had a fatal flaw. He was currently 17, a minor whose ink hadn’t even dried on his trait-user registration certificate. To Florian, who needed a heat cycle partner right now, an alpha who wasn’t even an adult was no different than a shiny rock.

Of course, there were people who falsified birth records to secure heat cycle partners, but minors were outside Florian’s range of tolerance from the start. That was true even if the other person was an alpha with a 92% compatibility rate.

So why was he so concerned?

Did he suddenly develop an interest in soccer? If so, he would have gone shopping for a club, not a youth player who had just made his debut. It could be that he was suddenly tempted by the 92% rate in a situation where he would have been grateful for 30 or 40%. Even if the boy wasn’t his type now, he wouldn’t be a minor forever.

However, this Asian boy was a case with clear pros and cons. He showed a rare compatibility rate, but he was a minor, and his parents were betas. This meant he was suitable as a heat cycle partner, but not as a spouse. This was also why Bailey, unable to ignore the uncommon 92% compatibility rate, had formally placed his name near the end of the list.

A trait-user with beta parents had a high probability of having beta or recessive children themselves. In a world where non-dominant traits were treated as atavistic genes, a dominant born to beta parents was inevitably treated as a latent recessive factor. If the family elders found out that such a person had been put on the list, they would tear Bailey apart, but it wasn’t Bailey’s way to arbitrarily exclude and hide information he had uncovered.

“Are you going to the villa yourself, sir?”

“I don’t feel comfortable leaving it in the hands of others.”

No, when on earth have you even met him? Besides, he’s a stranger to you, too.

Hiding his inner thoughts, Bailey soon followed behind Florian. A question was a question, but Bailey also sympathized with Florian’s haste.

Simon Kaia. Matthew Kaia’s only legitimate son and the Kaia family’s troublemaker.

There was a reason the old beta man was on his eleventh marriage to a trait-user. There were more than a few rumors circulating, so he had guessed it would be sordid, but it was more vicious than he thought. Bailey also agreed a hundred times over with Florian’s assessment: ‘disgusting.’

As if behaving filthily throughout the competition wasn’t enough, they had just begun a full-scale investigation into the Kaia Corporation, which was suspected of being behind the recent terror attack. Thanks to that, they were able to quickly acquire information on the correlation between the old beta man’s eleventh marriage—also called trait-user fever—and Simon Kaia.

If he had confirmed this information a little sooner, Bailey would not have put the name Kim Sarang on Florian’s partner list, not even at the very bottom. Instead, he would have put him on the list of persons of interest surrounding Matthew Kaia.

The fact that Simon’s paraphilia was not widely known was due to Matthew Kaia’s thorough efforts. Simon had first revealed his paraphilia when he was just over 17 years old. He had been charged with a**ault and received suspended sentences several times. The targets of the a**ault were all trait-users, and it was accompanied by sexual a**ault bordering on torture. In particular, Simon was engrossed in breaking alphas rather than omegas.

Matthew Kaia focused on managing his legitimate son’s paraphilia instead of treating it. He made arrangements so that Simon would cause trouble where his own hands could reach, so that the cleanup would always be easy. That method was Matthew Kaia’s marriages, which had already reached the eleventh.

The person the alphas who went through the wedding ceremony would face in the bridal chamber was not Matthew Kaia, but his son, Simon Kaia. The first night began with a gang r**e by the alpha men who swarmed in following Simon Kaia. Simon Kaia was a severe voyeur and a serious trait-discriminator. It was, of course, no coincidence that the previous ten spouses had either died in accidents or gone missing within three years after their divorces.

The Asian boy of Korean nationality, who had just lost his only guardian, was about to become the eleventh victim.

The eyelids slowly closed over the black eyes that were looking out at the chaotic scene outside the window, then opened once again. The weather in Canton City, which was whimsical to begin with, was being even more tyrannical today. The gently blowing wind suddenly grew fierce, and just as it seemed a sliver of pale sunlight was shining through, thick raindrops began to fall, plop-plop, from the sky obscured by dark clouds.

Night came a little earlier to the villa on the outskirts, which had already grown dim. Sarang, who had been gazing out the now-darkened window, suddenly turned around.

Whoosh— Whoo— Was it because of the silence? The sound of the wind, which had sounded even stronger, was repeatedly drowned out by a commotion outside the door. Just as the sound of the wind was completely buried by that commotion, the sound of footsteps—thump, thump—drew closer, whether from military boots or dress shoes, he couldn’t tell.

Sarang, who had been keeping watch over the bridal chamber alone, stood up without realizing it. He then backed away until he was stopped by the wall with the window. Sarang’s complexion darkened as he glanced down at the view outside. It was the second floor, but it was 10 meters high. If he jumped from here, he would have to be prepared to break a leg. And could he even run away properly with a broken leg? A flicker of conflict crossed Sarang’s eyes as he looked down at his own legs. Whether his leg was broken or he stayed here, he wouldn’t be able to play soccer either way.

‘You’ll be meeting a court process server before we ever come looking for you. Guys like us just throw a few punches and call it a day, but people like the owner of this house screw people over with the law like it’s their daily bread.’

He was right.

‘Why do you think a seventy-year-old man spent all that money to buy you?’

It didn’t sound like he meant he was bought for his value as a soccer player.

‘Did you think you would automatically get to stand on the pitch just by transferring?’

It was confusing whether he meant he wouldn’t be able to play because he wasn’t skilled enough, or if he meant he wouldn’t get to be on the pitch at all.

“…”

If he hadn’t been bought as an investment for his value as a soccer player, then there was only one reason left. Because I am an alpha.

However, Sarang was a mutation. An alpha born to ordinary beta parents, who were not trait-users, could not escape being treated as a recessive factor, no matter how dominant he was. Besides, Matthew Kaia was a beta. Sarang also knew that there were betas who exclusively dated trait-users.

If Matthew Kaia was that type, it made even less sense. There must be countless dominant alphas around him who were more outstanding than Sarang. Why…

Sarang’s thoughts could not continue. Thump, thump, thump. They were just footsteps, but it must have been because he was so nervous that they felt like an earthquake. Those footsteps stopped right outside.

“…”

Suddenly, his mind became a jumble. There was only one person who was supposed to enter the bridal chamber, so why had so many footsteps crossed the hallway to come to a halt right in front of that door? Did the police raid this place too, like at the wedding hall? There was no one here but me. Sarang, who had committed no crime, tried to calm his pounding heart, and could only stare helplessly as the door opened without his permission.

“…”

Only one person entered through the open door. He could feel the presence of many people behind him, but they were cut off abruptly as the door closed immediately. Sarang’s eyes, as he stood pressed against the window wall, gripping the railing tightly, widened. He even held his breath for a moment.

Why… that person.

The man who entered through the door was dressed stylishly in a classic suit. Beneath elegant blond hair, piercingly blue eyes slowly scanned the spacious bridal chamber. Eventually, the man’s lips drew into a gentle curve as he looked at Sarang.

Florian Dietrich Wellington.

Even a citizen of the Commonwealth living in the boondocks could never fail to recognize him. He was the most perfect omega among all living trait-users, the heir to the Commonwealth’s House of Duke Dietrich, and the second son of the prominent Wellington family of the United Federation. And that man greeted Sarang.

“Hello, Sarang.”

It was a room with a great deal of sunlight.

Perhaps because he had relaxed, or perhaps because he was more tired than he thought, Sarang had uncharacteristically overslept. For a very long time, at that. The midday sky, past noon, was clear without a single cloud. It was weather that was hard to see in Canton City. Even if it was summer.

Waking up in the spacious bed, Sarang looked down at the sunlight that seemed close enough to grasp in his hand, then raised his head. It was an unfamiliar place. The wide, pleasant room with a somewhat classic atmosphere was similar to Matthew Kaia’s villa—that is, the bridal chamber—but the mood was very different. The warm and serene interior made one feel at ease. Above all, it felt lived in. Matthew Kaia’s villa had also been well-maintained, but it had felt somewhat neglected, whereas this place showed the meticulous care of the person who managed it in every corner.

As he looked around the unfamiliar room, Sarang turned to the door at the sound of a knock. Before he could answer, a strange voice said, “I’m coming in, Mr. Kim,” and the large door opened.