A Truly Unromantic Alpha

Chapter 8

Spore.

His Mushroom Spore was gone.

Ye Nanxun returned to the lounge looking dejected. He had left in such a rush that only upon returning did he realize he had not even asked the other person's name.

That realization made Ye Nanxun feel even worse.

His pheromones were Poison Mushroom, carrying potent toxins, and his Companion Beast, Mushroom Spore, was the same.

If he had not accidentally awakened Mushroom Spore as his Companion Beast as a child, poisoning the little alpha who had provoked him in class and leaving him unconscious, his family would not have moved to Dream Star.

"Mr. Ye, General Zhu and Teacher Jiang came looking for you just now. Since you weren't here, they asked me to give this to you."

Seeing Ye Nanxun sitting in the lounge, Aili breathed a sigh of relief. If she still could not find him, she would have had to ask the Imperial Palace guards to help look for him.

"General Zhu and Teacher Jiang?" Ye Nanxun stood and walked toward Aili.

Aili held an exquisite silver business card and handed it to Ye Nanxun. "It's Teacher Jiang Yuenian. He's a renowned musician in our galaxy."

The hollow ache in his chest from losing Mushroom Spore was quickly filled with warmth by the sudden news.

Ye Nanxun accepted the card. Three words were printed on the elegant silver surface: Jiang Yuenian.

With Jiang Yuenian's card, Ye Nanxun could throw away all the cards he had tucked into his pocket earlier.

Jiang Yuenian was not only a young musician famous throughout the galaxy; he also had another identity: General Zhu Yucheng's lover.

Among the four male leads in the original novel, one alpha was named Zhu Shixin.

The book's assessment of him was: reckless, simple-minded, arrogant, and sharp-tongued.

Ye Nanxun's assessment was: barbaric, rude, arrogant, ill-mannered, and foul-mouthed.

The domineering young master who ran roughshod over everyone became like a mouse before a cat in front of Zhu Yucheng, the head of the Zhu Household.

His fingers clenched the card so tightly that pale crescents appeared along the edges of his nails.

"Thank you, Aili."

The chill from the wind and snow outside still lingered on him, yet Ye Nanxun felt as though his heart had been submerged in a warm spring, swollen and heated.

Though some unexpected things had happened during the banquet, he had never expected to catch Jiang Yuenian's attention.

There was no need for him to stay any longer.

Before leaving, Ye Nanxun asked, "Aili, I saw a Little Yellow Dog in the garden just now. Do you know who its owner is?"

Although Aili worked in the Imperial Palace, the area she was responsible for gave her no contact with Yan Beiyou.

She shook her head. "A Little Yellow Dog? It might belong to one of the guests. I've never seen one in the Imperial Palace."

Ye Nanxun said, "If someone with a Little Yellow Dog comes looking for me, please give him my contact information."

Aili smiled and nodded. Ye Nanxun had disappeared for a while, and now he was bringing up a Little Yellow Dog again.

He had probably met an alpha in the garden and fallen in love at first sight.

But Ye Nanxun was such a beautiful, gentle, noble, and elegant omega. How could any alpha not take the initiative to leave his contact information?

Aili frowned inwardly. What a truly unromantic alpha.

That particular unromantic alpha fell silent after listening to Song Ren.

After a moment, Yan Beiyou spoke. "You mean that because my Companion Beast swallowed the Mushroom Spore, my pheromones fused with that omega's pheromones and became this egg?"

Song Ren raised his eyebrows. "An omega?"

He looked at Yan Beiyou, whose brows were slightly furrowed.

Then he looked at the white egg with black patterns, as large as a goose egg... a Mushroom Dragon Egg?

Their Majesty either did nothing at all or did something astounding.

So what if he had not held an omega's hand in over thirty years?

So what if he had never been in love?

He had gone straight to the final step and even had a child already.

Song Ren suppressed the gossiping urge stirring within him and asked, "Your Majesty, what are you planning to do? If that omega is unmarried..."

He wanted to say, why not try dating each other?

The odds of pheromone fusion were so low they could be ignored. Yet an omega's pheromones had fused with Yan Beiyou's. In a sense, the sudden connection could be described with the word "fate."

Yan Beiyou said, "I don't know his name."

He looked very young. Judging from his formal attire, he should have been one of those attending today's omega coming-of-age ceremony.

Only eighteen?

Too young.

Song Ren grumbled inwardly. So what if he did not know the name? If Yan Beiyou wanted to investigate someone who had been in the Imperial Palace, it would be effortless.

Yan Beiyou's expression revealed little. "What will this egg become in the future?"

Song Ren answered truthfully, "There is a certain chance it can hatch, but there are too few precedents for pheromone fusion. I need to go back and look through the records."

Yan Beiyou held the softly glowing Mushroom Dragon Egg in his palm. "You'll take it back?"

Song Ren repeatedly shook his head. "This is Your Majesty's..."

Egg.

After a pause, Song Ren continued, "It would be better kept by Your Majesty's side."

After Song Ren left, only one person and one egg remained in the study.

Yan Beiyou quietly watched the dragon egg beside him. His fingertip lightly touched the shell, and the dragon egg trembled as if it sensed him. A streak of light flowed over its white shell patterned in black.

At one of the Imperial Palace's side exits, Ye Nanxun turned back to wave goodbye to Aili.

He looked up at the solemn, magnificent Imperial Palace, unaware that his Mushroom Spore had already fused with someone else's pheromones and become a special egg.

"Xiaoxun!"

Seeing Ye Nanxun emerge, Chen Mingzhu and Ye Xiangsong, who had been waiting outside, waved at him from a short distance away.

"Mom, Dad—"

Pulling his gaze away, Ye Nanxun ran toward his parents.

The moment he entered the car, the heat inside dispelled some of the cold clinging to him.

Chen Mingzhu smiled and raised a hand to brush the snow from Ye Nanxun's shoulder. "Xiaoxun, did you enjoy the ball tonight?"

Thinking of Jiang Yuenian's card in his pocket, Ye Nanxun smiled and nodded. "I did."

The family chatted throughout the drive. As they were about to arrive home, Chen Mingzhu suddenly teased, "Were the alphas at the ball handsome?"

Ye Nanxun opened his mouth, and a tall, upright figure beneath the garden streetlamp suddenly surfaced in his mind.

A high nose bridge, thin lips, and a handsome jaw.

But because he had not dared to look the man in the eyes, he had not seen his full appearance.

He should have been an alpha.

He was so tall.

By the time they arrived home, it was already late. Ye Nanxun showered and changed into pajamas.

He placed Jiang Yuenian's card beside his bed. Jiang Yuenian might already have been resting at this hour, so Ye Nanxun planned to contact him tomorrow.

That night, Ye Nanxun had many strange dreams.

The Little Yellow Dog that had accidentally eaten the spore, the tall and stern man beneath the streetlamp, and an egg that sprouted mushrooms.

By the time he woke, he had forgotten most of those dream fragments.