Are you angry?

It was an afternoon.

Pei Ji, who was being punished in the flower garden with ten books balanced on his head for beating up his piano teacher, gazed at the great clusters of wisteria and suddenly posed a soul-searching question.

"Mom, why do you like wisteria?"

The sunlight was lovely that day. Ai Fan, who was reading in the garden, turned a page without even raising her head.

"One more hour."

Pei Ji sadly shut his mouth.

After a while, bored enough to grow mold, Pei Ji posed another soul-searching question.

"Mom, do you like wisteria because it's expensive?"

This time, Ai Fan looked away from her book.

"Are you a paramecium, Pei Ji?"

Pei Ji froze. "Mom, what's a paramecium?"

"A single-celled organism from Ancient Earth."

Ai Fan closed her book.

"It has no brain."

Pei Ji sadly shut his mouth for the second time.

Just when he thought his mother would open her book again and ignore him,

Ai Fan suddenly spoke again with a sigh.

"It is indeed a precious plant, Pei Ji. Your father spent over a hundred million Starcoins recreating this variety."

"But your father recreated it because I liked it. That was how it became a precious plant."

"Otherwise, it would exist only in books. You could see an illustration of it for just ten Starcoins."

So it had become expensive because she liked it.

She did not like it because it was expensive.

Little Pei Ji only half understood.

With a rare show of patience, Ai Fan asked him another question.

"Do you know what wisteria meant in the language of flowers on Ancient Earth?"

Pei Ji tilted his head. "Mom, I don't know."

Even now, Pei Ji clearly remembered the slight upward curve of Ai Fan's lips as she answered him, dappled sunlight falling over her.

All her coldness and indifference melted into the sunlight.

She said, "Obsessive love."

"And steadfast waiting."

The flowering vines blocked the moonlight, casting cool shadows over Shen Que's white-jade profile. He was as beautiful as a dream.

Maybe I should plant some at the Fallen Star Palace, too?

The thought suddenly came to Pei Ji as he entered.

Shen Que looked up alertly when the door opened, then visibly relaxed when he saw Pei Ji.

Pei Ji ran a hand through his messy hair, draped his jacket over his arm, and sat down beside the bed.

He pressed the back of his hand against Shen Que's cheek.

"Still feeling hot?"

Shen Que shook his head.

The suppressant had worked quickly.

Faster than any of the previous times.

His fever had subsided before he even lost consciousness completely.

But for some reason, Shen Que felt deeply uncomfortable.

There was none of that warm, floating sensation from before.

The unfamiliar artificial pheromones had forcibly stripped away Pei Ji's scent.

It was as if cold water had been poured over him from head to toe, washing him completely clean.

And now Pei Ji's hand was against his cheek.

For some reason, he felt a little drunk.

Their clasped fingers tightened, and Shen Que suddenly said, "I don't feel very well."

"You don't? Where?" Pei Ji immediately leaned closer. "Does your arm hurt?"

He reached to check Shen Que's injured arm as he spoke, but Shen Que turned aside to avoid him.

Pei Ji grew irritated. "Didn't you say you weren't feeling well?"

Shen Que gave Pei Ji a brief glance, then turned his head away. "...It's not my arm."

Pei Ji crossed his long legs and folded his arms, frowning at him. "What are you being so coy for? Where exactly does it hurt?"

A fierce, unruly defiance radiated from the Alpha, impossible to contain even beneath his crisp military uniform.

Shen Que froze slightly, his throat shifting.

Almost forgot.

This man doesn't listen to reason...

He slowly lowered his eyes.

After a while, he slowly reached out, inching his hand across the bedding toward Pei Ji until he caught the hem of his shirt.

The lofty Commander turned his head away in embarrassment and whispered,

"My... scent gland feels uncomfortable... Could you... give me some of your pheromones?"

Pei Ji's unruly expression cracked little by little.

He had only been running his mouth.

But Shen Que really was being sweet and needy!

The faintly reddened tips of his ears came into view.

His slender wrist was abruptly seized.

Pei Ji planted one knee on the bed and leaned over him, catching Shen Que's delicate chin and turning his face back before kissing him without another word.

Those cool eyes widened, and the warmth of the contact made Shen Que tremble.

He was just about to pull away when the Alpha's pheromones enveloped him like a soft mist.

The dry scent of sand slipped into his body through his lips, through their mingled breaths, through every pore.

In that instant, the icy water evaporated into a gentle warmth.

Like the warm sun just past noon, like a fire in winter, like a cat's thick, soft fur.

Shen Que was utterly intoxicated.

He liked this scent.

Pei Ji pulled away after only a brief kiss.

Even after their lips parted, he stayed where he was, their foreheads resting together.

Then Pei Ji gave a soft chuckle. "Was that enough, Commander Shen?"

Shen Que pressed his lips together, drawing in every trace of pheromones lingering there, and let out a soft, languid hum through his nose.

"More or less..."

Pei Ji pinched his lean cheek. "Spoiled."

Laughter shone in the Alpha's sparkling eyes. He looked like an entirely different person from the grave-faced man who had left earlier.

The mood was good.

Shen Que steadied himself and spoke again. "Are you angry?"

"Angry?" Pei Ji gave him a puzzled look. "About what?"

Shen Que said, "About the ore trade. I thought you left to ask the lord about it."

"Oh." Pei Ji sat back in his original spot. "I did ask him about that."

Shen Que's expression remained unchanged as he quietly waited for him to continue.

Pei Ji said, "I asked him if he thought I wasn't good enough. For three hundred years, White Sand Star's ore trade has always passed to the lord's heir. Why was I the exception?"

Shen Que's grip on the blanket slowly tightened, and his lips paled slightly.

His long lashes lowered.

Just as I thought...

But then Pei Ji abruptly changed tack. "And guess what? My mom said yes! She really does think I'm not good enough."

"She said my dad and I are both idiots. The ore trade has already gone downhill under him. If it passes to me, we might as well just wait for it to die out."

"So..."

Pei Ji suddenly took Shen Que's hand and looked up at him, arranging his defiant face into a shamelessly pitiful expression.

"Please save us! You can't just stand by and watch White Sand Star fall to ruin in my hands!"

When he finished, he even made a show of wiping away a "tear."

Shen Que's expression was a sight to behold.

First he opened his mouth, then closed it again. His brows furrowed, and he tugged at his hand, only to find he could not pull free.

He could only look at Pei Ji.

At last, Shen Que sighed.

"...I understand."

Pei Ji's lips curved, and he swept the Omega into a bear hug.

"You're such a good person!"

Shen Que burst out laughing. The corners of his mouth lifted a little before he hurriedly forced them back down.

As a Combat Soldier, Pei Ji had well-defined muscles. Beneath his shirt, his body felt firm and springy, brimming with masculine heat.

Shen Que stiffened for an instant, then allowed himself to lean against the Alpha.

It turned out that communicating with Pei Ji was even simpler than he had imagined.