Deflower Me If You Can Chapter 5

“The, um, duke—how high of a rank is that? He doesn’t actually hold much real power, right? Since the king is just a symbolic figure in England.”

At the cautious question, Ashley answered without much concern.

“You can think of him as a relative of the royal family. The Strickland family doesn’t engage in politics directly, but they wield considerable influence both within England and externally, so building ties with them is the more advantageous route regardless.”

He then added indifferently.

“Seeing as they’re bringing their child along, we should take it that they’re also thinking of establishing some degree of relations with us.”

“I see, understood.”

Koi, who had nodded, suddenly looked up at him as if something had just occurred to him.

“How old is their son?”

He asked wondering if perhaps one of his own children was close in age. Ashley narrowed his eyes for a moment as if searching his memory, then spoke.

“He’s similar to Nathaniel. I heard he just started university this year.”

Having said that much, he dismissed the topic casually.

“I’ve organized the necessary documents, so get changed first and come out. It won’t be too late to read them after you’re ready.”

“Ah, okay. Got it.”

Koi, who had nodded hastily and was about to enter the bathroom connected to the bedroom, hesitated and turned back to look at him.

“Um, can you just tell me one thing first—what their traits are?”

Koi could not smell. Because of this, he couldn’t detect the scent of other people’s pheromones, let alone his own, and it always weighed on his mind, worrying that he might accidentally leak his scent and commit a rudeness. As if understanding his feelings, Ashley answered without much ado.

“They’re Betas.”

He then added, as if to reassure him.

“The duke, the duchess, their son—all of them. So you don’t need to worry about pheromones. And…”

As the end of his sentence trailed off mysteriously, Koi looked up, and as if he had been waiting, Ashley kissed him. At the lips that lightly touched and then parted, Koi’s eyes rounded in surprise, and Ashley smiled as if finding that reaction amusing.

“If your scent happens to leak out or anything, I’ll tell you right away, so don’t worry.”

That was an utterly obvious statement. Just the mere thought of someone other than himself smelling Koi’s pheromone scent made Ashley feel as though his blood was boiling in reverse. As if aware of his thoughts, Koi blushed bashfully, nodded and said, “Okay.”

“I’ll be out soon.”

With a smile and a wave, Koi promptly went into the bathroom. Left alone, Ashley headed for the dressing room. While he leisurely picked out clothes for Koi to wear, his mind, on the contrary, was filling up with imaginings of taking them off.

∞ ∞ ∞

The car, having left the main road, continued driving for a long time after. Just as the endlessly continuing forest scenery on both sides of the road was becoming tedious, the duke, who had been silent until then, opened his mouth.

“It’s quite far.”

It was a short remark, but it was enough to convey his mood. Perhaps to soothe her husband, who seemed to be gradually growing weary, the duchess sitting beside him spoke up.

“I hear Mr. Miller has six children? That’s a blessed, lovely family.”

“Yes, and the children are all manifestors of their traits as well.”

The duke, who had readily nodded, continued.

“For their traits to have been passed down from the previous generation to the present—that alone is very extraordinary, is it not.”

Alphas and Omegas make up a minority of the total population. Among them, Extreme Alphas and Extreme Omegas were even rarer. Unlike Extreme Alphas, who could be recognized at a glance due to their distinct physical characteristics, Extreme Omegas could conceal their pheromones without drugs and even showed up as Betas on trait tests, making them extremely difficult to discover. The person they were heading to see now was an Extreme Omega, a being of whom it was said that even glimpsing one once in a lifetime was considered tremendous luck.

Koi Niles.

Having borne six children with Ashley Miller, an Extreme Alpha, he was one of those rare Extreme Omegas, and thanks to that, all the children between the two had inherited those special traits intact.

“Since they’re all the same trait, there must be many advantages. I hear the eldest, especially, is a genius.”

“He may simply be cunning.”

The duke spoke with reservation. It was from the thought that judgment was still premature. Cunning and brilliance were often confused, after all.

“Yes, indeed. There hasn’t been any particular talk about the youngest’s trait. I suppose he’s too young, still too early to manifest?”

At the duchess’s words, the duke answered without much import.

“I understand that several of the children in that household were manifestors from birth, but that child hasn’t manifested yet, as far as I know. Let us confirm once we arrive.”

“I’ve heard he’s an exceedingly cute child.”

As if suddenly remembering, the duchess added this remark, and the duke turned to look at her. His wife continued speaking.

“The Millers are all Extreme Alphas, you see. Naturally, they are all of good appearance. But the youngest, even though he’s still young and pre-manifestation, there are rumors that he is exceptionally cute. We’ll be able to see him today, won’t we? I’m quite looking forward to it.”

“Hmm…”

The duke let out an odd exclamation and stroked his chin beard. The only child between the two of them was Cassian, sitting alone in the seat opposite the couple. His wife had wanted a daughter, but due to her poor health, she could bear no more children. Because of this, she was prone to showing unconditional fondness for any household with children. In that sense, today’s visit had undoubtedly stirred great excitement in her.

“I, too, am looking forward to it. Cute to such an extent, you say.”

Watching his wife like that, the duke gently took up her words. The duchess nodded, saying “yes,” and then suddenly, as if a thought had struck her, asked her son.

“Cassian, you attended that party yesterday, didn’t you? Did you happen to see anything?”

The bespectacled man, who had been silent without a single word until then, finally spoke slowly.

“No, not at all.”

He smiled toward his mother and said.

“I saw nothing.”

∞ ∞ ∞

“Sniff.”

Meanwhile, left alone, Bliss sniffled audibly and took a deep breath. If he kept crying, his eye would puff up even more, they said.

“Hic.”

After swallowing another big breath, his eyes suddenly fell upon a small wrapper lying on the sheet. It had been around the caramel he had just eaten.

I want more.

But it was an impossible request. Koi was always gentle, but once he said “no,” he would never be swayed. On top of that, his baby teeth had been wobbly lately, as if about to fall out, so snacks were being restricted even more strictly.

“No fair.”

Bliss grumbled petulantly and jutted out his lip. Just as he was fiddling with the wrapper out of lingering regret, he suddenly heard some sort of noise from outside.

What’s that?

Bliss immediately scrambled off the bed and rushed to the window. Standing on a chair and looking down, he saw all the household staff lined up in front of the mansion. Just as he was tilting his head in curiosity, he spotted several cars driving across the garden.

Huh?

Startled, Bliss pressed himself against the window, trying hard to see below. Even to a child not yet ten years old, the cars driving up in a line were clearly far from ordinary.

Are those people the guests?

Normally he would have joined in greeting them, but today was different. Daddy had said it in a roundabout way—that it was because his eye looked like this—but maybe the real reason was that a mere six-year-old kid had no place there. It didn’t matter. They’d just drone on with boring and uninteresting talk anyway. What mattered was the fact that right now, Papa, Daddy, and all the adults in the house had absolutely no time to pay attention to Bliss.

“Tch.”

After pouting his lip slightly, Bliss was about to climb down from the chair when he paused. Oh, wait a second. If that’s the case.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea popped into his head. Right now, the kitchen would definitely be empty. Papa and Daddy would be busy greeting the guests, and the staff would be the same. Wasn’t this the perfect timing to turn the fantasies Bliss had always had into reality?

After hesitating for a moment, he soon steeled his resolve.

Take action immediately!

No sooner had the thought struck than Bliss jumped off the chair and dashed straight across the room. Even if he ended up getting spanked by Daddy later, that was a problem for later. Right now, making his life happy took priority.

Setting off for sweet caramel…!

He was about to, but even though his mind was made up, after grabbing the door handle he still had to take a deep breath. Letting out a short huff, Bliss immediately opened the door and peeked just his face out, scanning the long corridor left and right.