Chapter 31: He smelled Lin Xu’s scent.
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Heinrich’s expression froze for a moment, and there was a flash of confusion in his pale golden pupils, which were always sharp and eerie. He knew for the first time that Lin Xu could make jokes, so he didn’t know how to reply.
“What did Marshal want to say to me?” Fortunately, Lin Xu himself asked, breaking the brief stalemate between them. Heinrich finally had a chance to say, “In a moment, you will follow me to my side of the long table for dinner.”
But Lin Xu glanced in through a gap in the dining room door at the end of the long hallway and shook his head gently, “Marshal, you’re sitting next to Commander Hill, so I’m not going to join the fun.”
“Who’s going to keep you safe?”
Lin Xu gave a light laugh, “After so many days, can’t Marshal trust my ability to protect myself?”
He had fought alongside Heinrich in Star Ocean and had never thought to conceal his skills. If not mecha, in close combat alone, Heinrich, a commanding officer floating in the universe every day, would not necessarily be able to beat Lin Xu.
Heinrich frowned, lightly, but as if Lin Xu had seen a large dog aggrieved by its master, and explained in a soft voice, “Or does Marshal want me to continue talking to Miss Hill about the predicted results of the ancient Earth expedition?”
“No, take your seat and be safe.”
—
The electronic clock ticked down to seven o’clock at the fortress and the guests were seated, the nine long tables in the spacious dining room large enough to accommodate all the invitees.
Supreme Commander Carl Hill occupied the front and center table, with Heinrich, Zhou Pingbo and other Abyss Fleet and expedition executives on his left, and Hill Family members and Fortress officers on his right. Katherine was sitting next to Carl Hill, facing Heinrich.
Zhou Pingbo saw that Heinrich had spoken to Lin Xu before he was seated, but he didn’t know what the content was, and now his eyes were cold, looking up from time to time for Lin Xu sitting at another long table.
Zhou Pingbo, who did not want to be affected by the freeze ray, took the initiative to help Heinrich take over the conversation of the officers.
But he couldn’t take Carl Hill’s words for Heinrich, so he listened with trepidation as Carl Hill introduced the dishes to Heinrich and asked, “I wonder if Marshal Chu remembers the royal New Year’s party three years ago? That was the first time my sister saw Marshal’s gallant presence, but the little omega was too shy to express her reverence on the spot, and only after the party was over did she ask me who the tall alpha in the black military uniform was.”
Katherine, along with her brother’s words, revealed a smile, which was a far cry from the shy girl Carl had spoken of back then.
“I told her that was the Blade of the Empire, Marshal Heinrich Chu,” Carl asked the waiter to fill Heinrich’s goblet with amber liquor, “Unfortunately, Marshal Chu is always away on war. Let’s raise our glasses and wish Marshal Chu all the best in his mission.”
Katherine also placed a glass of aromatic wine in front of her, omega slender fingers touched the wall of the glass. Heinrich’s hand holding the knife and fork paused, but did not make the next move.
Katherine’s face stiffened, but quickly regained a delicate smile, “It’s a pity that I’m not very good at drinking, please forgive me Marshal Chu. I wish Marshal Chu all the best for this mission.”
Finally, Heinrich put down his knife and fork and took a sip from his goblet, the liquid wetting his dry lips, and through the crystal glass wall, Heinrich saw Lin Xu sitting at another long table.
He put down his glass and his hazy vision became clear. Ika, as chief engineer, should have sat next to Zhou Pingbo, but he had always been low-key and socially fearful, and even on the Victoria, only the technical staff had seen him in person, so even though he had changed seats, almost no one noticed. Ryan warmly welcomed Ika to sit next to Lin Xu.
For a moment, Heinrich wondered if he wasn’t a marshal, could he have followed his heart and sat next to Lin Xu? But he was. Even Lin Xu would call the intelligent chief engineer of the Victoria by his first name Ika, whom he had only known for a day, but still called him Marshal.
“Ika, does this necklace have any special meaning? I’ve seen Godric Chapman has one too.” Lin Xu asked.
The three of them barely touched the tableware and stemware, and fortunately there were other guests at this table who refused to use the cooked food because of digestive discomfort or disordered tastes, without making the three of them look too conspicuous.
Ika pinched the necklace in the shape of an eye and looked to Lin Xu, “This is… a special Haven trinket called ‘The Path of Truth’, Chapman is also from Haven, so he will wear it. Does dr. Lin like it?”
He said, trying to take the silver necklace off and give it to Lin Xu, but was refused and Lin Xu pushed it back by pressing it in Ika’s hand, “If I ever go to Haven, I’ll buy one as a souvenir of my trip.”
“Oh.” Ika buried his head in the necklace, sounding a little regretful. As soon as he looked down, Ryan noticed the scar on the gland at the base of Ika’s neck that was uncovered by the necklace, a hideous mess of scars that looked like they had been gouged out alive.
Ryan hesitated several times before finally finding the courage to ask, “Ika, what happened to your gland?”
“Huh?” Ika touched his neck as an afterthought, “Oh, I dug up my own gland.”
“Why?! You, you…”
Ryan’s voice froze, he couldn’t think of how much pain and helplessness it would take to make such a calm and inquisitive character like Ika dig out his own glands with determination and ruthlessness, was he being forced to marry some alpha? Or is his family forcing him to marry?
No! Ika’s talent should not be buried by trivial life and marriage!
Ika, “The hormones secreted by the omega gland were confusing my thinking and I couldn’t do the questions properly, so I dug it out.”
“Huh?” Ryan was dumbfounded.
Ika, “I later found out that it only solved the estrus phase, but the omega male itself also has organs that can be used year round…”
“Stop, stop, stop, stop.” Ryan was about to be shocked by Ika’s dedication to science, only to see Lin Xu’s calm face, and couldn’t resist continuing, “So you used a knife…?”
“No.” Ika replied, “With a potion, so as to avoid a wound recovery period.”
The old man in the next seat listened to Ika’s words, his eyes widened, more shocked than Ryan, and turned his head trembling to stare at the unconventional young men. Ika was used to it, but Lin Xu, a little tired of the stares cast by strangers, got up and urged Ryan to take care of himself while he went for a walk outside.
Ryan nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, and after Lin Xu left his seat, he looked at Ika with trepidation and skittishness, as if he was afraid that Ika would give him a bottle of desperate love potion if he was happy.
As soon as Heinrich Chu saw Lin Xu get up and walk to the door, the waiter in front of the garden respectfully opened the glass door for him, said “Excuse me” and immediately got up to follow Lin Xu, and sent a message to Arnold to tell him to keep an eye on Ryan.
Carl Hill’s face sank, and he passed a look to Katherine, who rose gracefully and followed Heinrich.
—
The entire Hill family backyard was a giant greenhouse, an electromagnetic barrier that bound the warm, humid gases in the garden and melted the drifting snow that fell on it into rain, which rolled down the hemispherical barrier into the water recycling system.
There were no habitable planets around Silver Airfield, and all water in the airfield had to be brought in by starships from Earth-like planets ten astronomical units away.
The Hill family used this water to raise exotic flowers that even the noble gardens of the Capital Cities could not match. Tulips and lavender sent out their fragrance under the moonlight, and across the lawn, the garden designer had created a giant maze of ancient Earth shrubs, a three-meter-high wall of verdant shrubs, their leaves spreading and dripping with moisture.
With the cover of the shrubs, it was more convenient for possible peeping toms to conceal their forms. The banquet hall was crowded, and with Fortress Commander Carl Hill personally in charge, Lin Xu felt that no assassin would choose to sabotage the Hill family on their own turf and get into a fight with them.
However, when Lin Xu left the banquet hall alone, and entered the dark and deserted shrub maze, he wondered whether they would have the courage to strike again.
The night was quiet, and the garden was free of birds and crickets. Lin Xu walked alone for a while down the maze without purpose, followed by a footstep, but never quite coming forward. He concentrated on listening with his ears sideways and, being too conscious, was startled when Katherine’s voice rang out unobtrusively.
From the sound of it, Lin Xu and Katherine were only a wall apart, and Katherine’s words drew him to stop and approach the high wall of shrubbery.
“Marshal Chu, please stay…. . Heinrich Chu, stop!”
The footsteps that had been following Lin Xu stopped. Lin Xu recognized the metallic crunch of the military badges on his chest hitting each other as Heinrich turned through the high wall of shrubbery.
“Miss Hill.” On the other side of the high wall, Heinrich’s voice was as cold as the metal exterior of the airfield, reflecting the countless moonlight, with its pale starlight.
“Marshal Chu, we need to talk.” Katherine’s voice was devoid of its usual delicacy, confident and calm.
“What does Miss Hill want to talk about?”
Katherine said bluntly, “About the marriage between the Hill family and Marshal Chu. Marshal, I can see that you like Dr. Lin.”
Heinrich’s hands were clenched, his lips pursed into a straight line, and he didn’t answer. Katherine smiled, “I heard you bit Dr. Lin in the susceptible period, but he’s a beta, you couldn’t have marked him successfully.”
“I’m the one who offended him.”
“Marshal Chu, let me show you my hand, join forces with me and ally yourself with the Hill family’s Sixth Legion, and I promise you won’t regret it when you see the benefits. The outside world says you can’t, I won’t go deeper into this. After the marriage we’ll each live our own lives, raise a child with genetic synthesis technology and thereafter I can help you deal with outsiders no matter what kind of rhetoric you desire.
“I’m not leaving the capital star. You like Dr. Lin, take him with you, bring the Victoria, the golden house, and I won’t say a word more. Marshal, it’s a sure thing.”
Heinrich was silent, Lin Xu could not see the expression of Heinrich’s movements, only heard the familiar breathing rate on the other side.
Katherine waited, seemingly certain that Heinrich would say yes, but after a long time, she heard Heinrich reply, “Miss Hill, you have misunderstood many things, and I am not interested in your plan. There are many noble sons of the capital star who are willing to woo you, you don’t have to stop me.”
“You… . Heinrich Chu, of course I have my own way back, but what about yourself? The old aristocratic neophytes of Capital Star are all human supremacists and Imperial supremacists, how can they so easily tolerate a monster like you? What’s more, you’ll be looking for things you shouldn’t be looking for, and when you can’t even protect yourself, will you be able to protect a little beta?”
“What do you mean, what I shouldn’t be looking for?”
Katherine suddenly turned pale, “Nothing… Think about it yourself, bring the tulips to me at the ball later, I’m leaving.”
Katherine’s high heels sounded hurriedly away, but in the artificial atmosphere of the breeze, Heinrich seemed to be still parked in the same place.
Lin Xu waited for a while, and suddenly heard, “Lin Xu, Miss Hill has left, come out.”
Lin Xu blinked gently and walked slowly around the high wall of shrubs to Heinrich, he had some suspicions that his years of neglected practice in coming to the interstellar had made his concealment skills quite a bit worse.
Heinrich slowed his breathing to let the night breeze, wrapped in a faintly sweet aroma, linger longer in his nostrils.
The sound just now was just Heinrich’s attempt to smell the fragrance belonging to Lin Xu, but he also wondered if it was the fragrance of some flower in Hill Manor, but in the end it was Lin Xu who stepped out into the light of the pale blue night moon, with eyes like an abyss.
Heinrich still hasn’t figured out what exactly to call the sweet scent of Lin Xu’s body.
“Marshal.”
“Do you have a favorite flower?”
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