A Fight to the Death?

Shi Sheng gestured excitedly. "Elaine, you said you were worried about Yumian directly. Elaine has improved!"

Elaine laughed at his teasing, and the coldness in his expression finally faded.

"This looks better." Shi Sheng stood on tiptoe and pressed two fingers to the corners of Elaine's lips.

Elaine lowered his gaze to look at him.

Shi Sheng withdrew his hand and gestured with a smile. "Elaine should smile more."

"You look very handsome when you smile."

Elaine curled his lips again. "Mm."

Shi Sheng tilted his head and asked in sign language, "Were you looking at the restaurant just now because you felt guilty for being harsh with Merico?"

Probably no one in the world would believe Elaine was capable of guilt.

Elaine only said, "I know it puts him in a difficult position."

"Right, Merico was only following our instructions."

"But I was worried about you." Elaine paused. "And I'm not... always able to remain fair and rational."

Shi Sheng's eyes curved as he took Elaine's hand and used his free hand to press the voice device.

"Mm, I know Elaine worries about us."

"It's okay. Elaine can apologize to Merico."

"Merico won't be angry."

Elaine was slightly stunned. "Apologize."

Shi Sheng nodded like a little puppy, and an emoji popped up on the voice device.

It showed a black-and-white kitten rubbing against a large dog.

"Family members can apologize to each other."

Elaine did not speak for a moment.

Shi Sheng looked at him with a smile.

In the Empire, a country where obvious class divisions still existed.

No one would think there was anything wrong with reprimanding a servant or a butler.

But Shi Sheng knew Elaine was not like that.

Merico was also a person, and an elderly one at that.

In Elaine's heart, he would never consider it natural to make an old man bear undeserved anger.

After coming to Carlos, Shi Sheng had learned that Merico had been hired by Elaine's Omega father while he was still alive.

By now, he had worked for Carlos for more than thirty years.

These days, many nobles used robotic butlers. They were sufficient for daily work and far more cost-effective than paying someone's wages for thirty years.

Yet Elaine had never dismissed Merico.

Merico had also kept Carlos in impeccable order, and despite his age, he learned how to use new models of robots every year.

Shi Sheng gestured and pointed at Elaine.

"Elaine learned to express concern. Elaine is good."

"If you don't know how to apologize, you can give Merico a gift."

He smiled. "Or give him a raise."

Elaine laughed again.

After being with Shi Sheng, what had changed in him was far more than just his smiles.

The tall Alpha bent down and solemnly took Shi Sheng's hand in his own.

"Okay."

This Omega had taught Elaine—love.

The next day, as evening approached, an Omega bundled up in a mask and hat arrived at a property registration center in the capital.

Ji Sui adjusted his mask, covering the bruises on his cheek from being beaten.

Lowell had left those marks yesterday when he was in a bad mood and took it out on him.

Ji Sui clenched his fist.

That useless idiot was only relying on the fact that he was the son of a Cabinet minister.

Ji Sui had wanted many things before, so he had no choice but to depend on him.

But things were different now. Soon, all of the Shi family's assets would be his.

Once he had something to rely on, he would definitely report Lowell to the Omega Protection Agency!

Thinking of this, Ji Sui's mood finally improved. He took a number ticket and prepared to handle the procedures.

However, the staff member expressionlessly informed him that he was not qualified to take away this batch of property transfer consent forms.

"Why?" Ji Sui asked impatiently. "The original owners have already completed all the paperwork. Don't I just need to sign?"

"The original property owners did indeed initiate the transfer process," the staff member said. "However, the transferee's name is not yours."

Ji Sui was startled. "Then who was it transferred to?"

The staff member said, "I'm sorry, but that is confidential."

Clearly, neither of the Shi family's children was home. He had already persuaded Father Shi and Mother Shi; all these things should have belonged to him!

How could those two old fools go back on their word?!

Could they have given it to Shi Sheng?

No. Father Shi was an old-fashioned man to the extreme. In his eyes, Shi Sheng already belonged to Carlos. How could he give most of the Shi family's property to him?

Shi Yi—Shi Yi did not even know where he was!

Ji Sui turned back to the counter. "You really can't tell me who it was transferred to?"

The staff member still looked troubled. "I'm sorry, sir. I can't."

Ji Sui was furious, and his expression darkened.

The Shi family actually dared to set him up!

Since that was the case, they could not blame him for being ruthless.

Ji Sui viciously threw the documents he had brought into the trash can and opened his wristband.

He was going to post the secret of the substitute marriage on the Star Network and make the entire Shi family suffer with him!

In any case, he had already transferred a huge sum of Mother Shi's money. Even if Carlos pursued the matter, he could have long since fled far away on a starship.

Ji Sui thought smugly as he logged into his Star Network account.

At that moment, several cries of surprise suddenly arose in the property center's lobby.

They were followed by waves of discussion.

Ji Sui keenly caught keywords such as "Carlos," "Thanatos," and "Omega."

He turned and looked around. Nearly everyone was browsing the Star Network.

One look was enough to tell that some huge news had broken, or that some gossip capable of dominating every Star Network forum had emerged.

Ji Sui's heart stirred, and he hurriedly opened the webpage—

Time returned to that morning.

When Shi Sheng woke from his dream, no one was beside him.

He sat in a daze for a moment, then rubbed his eyes awake.

Judging from the faint light filtering through the curtains, dawn had only just broken.

The bedroom door was gently pushed open. When Elaine came in, traces of the morning mist still clung to his shoulders.

He hung his coat by the door before walking back to the bedside.

"Why didn't you sleep a little longer?"

Shi Sheng shook his head. Still somewhat groggy, he instinctively held out his hand toward Elaine.

Then the Alpha gathered him into his arms and gently patted his back as though coaxing a child awake.

After a while, Shi Sheng finally woke up fully and gestured, "Not sleeping, because today is our date!"

He emphasized the last word with an extra-forceful gesture.

Elaine chuckled. "Let me show you a magic trick."

Shi Sheng's eyes widened in surprise.

"Look." Elaine held out his palm. "Can you see it clearly?"

Shi Sheng looked at his empty palm and nodded uncertainly.

Elaine's voice held a smile. "Now I'm going to make it appear."

In Shi Sheng's field of vision, Elaine seemed to do nothing more than turn his hand over, and something appeared in his palm.

A milky-white petal still beaded with morning dew.

"When I went out, I saw that the flowers you planted had bloomed," Elaine said gently. "I thought that I hadn't given you flowers today yet, but then..."

He paused beneath Shi Sheng's gaze. "I was afraid you'd be angry if I picked your flowers, so I only dared to take one petal."

Shi Sheng blinked, then suddenly laughed for no apparent reason.

He laughed happily, his fair face slowly filling with delight.

Elaine asked, "What is it?"

Shi Sheng picked up his voice device and selected an exaggerated male voice.

"Elaine is cute!"

Before Elaine could speak, Shi Sheng took one of Elaine's fingers and carefully pinched the petal with his other hand.

"I like it."

The electronic voice of the device said.

Shi Sheng jumped out of bed, ran to the storage cabinet, and stood on tiptoe to take out an exquisitely crafted wooden box.

On the box's red velvet lining lay the shell he had given Elaine yesterday.

Shi Sheng carefully placed the petal inside, happily snapped a picture with his wristband's camera, then put the box away and ran back to Elaine.

"A date." He gestured happily. "Going on a date with Elaine!"

Elaine took his hand. "Okay, but we have to eat first."

"Eat out." Shi Sheng gestured repeatedly. "Want to go to a couples' restaurant."

After signing that, he grew a little embarrassed and smiled with his lips pressed together.

Elaine said gently, "I know. I already had Merico reserve the restaurant you wanted to go to. They don't open until the afternoon."

Shi Sheng wore the same disappointed expression as a puppy.

"But you'll be able to see the sunset. It's very beautiful," Elaine comforted him. "We can have breakfast at home. Merico prepared a date-themed heart meal for you."

Hearing such an unfamiliar phrase from Elaine's mouth gave Shi Sheng a strange feeling.

Shi Sheng's disappointment was fleeting, and he immediately became happy again.

Seeing every emotion written plainly across his face, Elaine thought:

So cute.

The cutest in the world, like an angel beside a goddess, had descended into his life.

He lowered his eyes and took Shi Sheng's hand. "Should we change clothes first?"

Only then did Shi Sheng realize that Elaine had even prepared the clothes he would wear today.

Back at home, a robot would bring clothes to his bedside every morning.

Shi Sheng never went out, so there was naturally no need to care about matching outfits. Mother Shi had no reason to choose his clothes for him either.

His brother often gave Shi Sheng some of his new clothes, but Shi Sheng did not really need them.

After coming to Carlos, Elaine had selected his clothes every day.

Not only his necessary clothing, but his hats, scarves, gloves, even expensive cufflinks—aside from the beast-bone neck ring Shi Sheng liked to wear, there was scarcely a single item on him that had been repeated.

And Elaine's taste was always excellent.

For instance, at this moment, he personally dressed Shi Sheng in a snow-white shirt with delicate ruffles, tucked its hem into black balloon shorts, and hung tiny stars from the silver metal chain on his belt.

He crouched to put socks on Shi Sheng, the fabric brushing all the way over his snow-white calves.

Shi Sheng shifted his legs uncomfortably, only for Elaine to catch his ankle and pull it back.

"What's wrong?"

Shi Sheng actually liked hearing Elaine ask him that. The Alpha's voice was always full of patience and tolerance.

Embarrassed, Shi Sheng gestured, "Never worn this before."

Usually, he wore long pants more often. Even the formal clothes he wore to palace banquets were the same.

"When I was choosing clothes, the brand said this was this year's trend." Elaine finished putting on Shi Sheng's socks. The sight of him smiling with lowered eyes nearly left Shi Sheng staring blankly.

"At the time, I thought that if our Shengsheng wore this, he would definitely look the best."

He raised his eyes, his gaze nearly melting Shi Sheng.

"Mm, I was indeed right."