The Married Alpha Who Refuses to Be a Heartthrob (A/B/O · Alpha POV) - Chapter 2

Kaes sat up. The two of them faced each other on the bed, sunlight filtering weakly through the curtains. His voice was calm.

“He’s an old classmate from military school.”

Keith’s lips curved with an unreadable smile. “Oh?”

That one simple sound carried a teasing, knowing weight.

So that’s the so-called ‘white moonlight,’ huh? Kaes thought dryly. Does the original host really have to hang himself on this one tree?

If he didn’t pursue Long Shi, what would happen?

Honestly, for revenge against a mighty empire like Bain-Perella, chasing after a difficult Beta hardly seemed meaningful. Long Shi was a native of Lanqi and winning him over wouldn’t help much in a rebellion.

[System: “Host, please don’t go off-script! If you don’t follow the plotline, your mission time will be cut to two years and a half, and I won’t be able to grant you any artifacts. That’s Hell Mode!”]

“Hell Mode?” Kaes actually perked up a little. He was an SSS-level marksman and one of the continent’s strongest sharpshooters. Why would he be afraid of a little ‘Hell Mode’?

[System: “??? Please, I’m begging you cause if you break me, I’ll glitch!”]

Keith brushed back his tousled green hair, his voice still a little husky from sleep.
“Governor, you never told me why were you so upset last night that you had to drink that much?”

Kaes hesitated. There was no way he could say, Oh, the previous host drank himself into oblivion because he couldn’t woo a Beta in five years.

So he made something up.

“Yesterday was my birthday,” he said casually. “It was rude of me to drag you into drinking.”

Technically, this was his first day in this world. Calling it his “birthday” wasn’t wrong.

“Your birthday?” Keith blinked, looking flustered. “But I didn’t prepare a gift!”

He jumped up, hurried over to his coat, and unpinned the brooch on the lapel. It was a small piece set with glittering gems. “Here, a birthday present. I hope you don’t mind it’s a bit simple.” The brooch was shaped like a green parrot.

“Thank you, Keith.” Kaes accepted it politely, turning it in his fingers. The craftsmanship was delicate, though a bit flamboyant. He glanced between the brooch and Keith, amusement tugging at his lips. “You like parrots?”

Keith, whose name sounded suspiciously like “chicken silk” in Kaes’s head, nodded cheerfully.
“Mhm! I even have a pet parrot. If you’re free, Governor, you should visit sometime.”

As Keith fastened his shirt and shrugged on his coat, sunlight filtered through the curtains, slanting across his sharp features. Kaes raised a hand to block the glare—his blind left eye registered nothing but darkness.

Keith leaned in, close enough that Kaes could see the small mole beneath his foxlike green eyes.
“I’ve asked a friend to search for medicine. I don’t know if he’s found anything yet… but let me look at your eye. Does it hurt at all? Maybe, in time, we can restore your sight.”

Standing there, backlit by sunlight, Keith looked almost otherworldly. Kaes studied him in silence.

Up close, the man’s beauty was striking, refined and aristocratic, with an air of quiet mystery. He dressed impeccably but never flaunted his status.

No wonder the previous host fell for this one so fast, Kaes thought. Anyone who tries to heal your blindness is easy to grow attached to.

But who exactly was Keith? Why was someone of his caliber so eager to help a colonial governor?
And what was his second gender, anyway? Asking directly would probably be rude.

“You know how to heal eyes? Are you a doctor?” Kaes asked instead. “I don’t feel anything, not even pain.”

Keith smiled faintly. “Not a doctor, I’m a mage. But I have a sorcerer friend. I’ll go now. If I find anything, I’ll come back. Or,” he added lightly, “you can always come to me.”

“Wait.” Kaes rose to his feet. Standing behind Keith, he noticed the mage was half a head shorter, his frame slimmer too.

“Where are you from?” he asked.

“I’m from a mage family in Bain-Perella,” Keith said simply. “Why? You look surprised.”

Bain-Perella. The ruling empire, the colonizers. Of course. Kaes schooled his expression back to calm. “It’s nothing. We rarely see mages here. I’m just curious though, why help me?”

Keith smiled, eyes glinting. “Because you’re one of Bain-Perella’s strongest snipers. It’d be a shame for that talent to be wasted.”

The words made Kaes’s stomach twist. I’m not one of them, he thought bitterly. I just wear their uniform.
An Alpha governor under foreign rule, how humiliating.

Just then, voices came from outside.

“Commander, you can’t go in! The Governor isn’t awake yet!”

“Move aside. Don’t try to stop me.”

The door burst open.

Long Shi strode in. He was tall, broad-shouldered, his skin a warm bronze, a sword hanging at his waist.
He was the commander of Lanqi’s forces and technically Kaes’s subordinate, though they had grown up together.

“Long Shi,” Kaes greeted, voice cold. “What brings you here?”

But Long Shi’s gaze swept over the room. He noticed the tousled sheets, the disheveled clothes, the faint smell of alcohol. His expression darkened after seeing these.

“You…” He gritted his teeth. “You don’t even have a marriage contract, and yet you… Kaes, I’m disappointed in you!”

And just like that, he turned on his heel and stormed out.

Kaes stared after him, dumbfounded. A complete misunderstanding!

He hadn’t even done anything, and now his so-called childhood sweetheart thought he’d slept with another man. Wonderful.

Keith raised an eyebrow, his tone dry. “So that’s the Long Shi you were dreaming about.”

The look on his face screamed rival alert. Kaes sighed. “You should go. I’ve got things to handle. I’ll come by your place another day.”

Keith chuckled softly and left.

This world, Kaes mused, was absurdly complicated. Its time period was something similar with 19th-century Europe blended with a fantastical ABO system.

He went to wash up, studying his reflection in the mirror. The face staring back was vaguely familiar yet utterly foreign: pale skin, soft golden curls, noble features. His image exuded elegance and restraint. A perfect aristocrat.

Only the scar across his left eye broke that illusion of perfection.

He’d have to play the part for now. A noble with a patient & calculating demeanor waiting for the chance to strike back. But how was he supposed to avenge anyone against an empire as powerful as Bain-Perella? And if he failed, he’d simply vanish like the host before him.

After washing, a maid entered to help him dress and tie on his black eyepatch. He considered confronting Long Shi but decided against it. Better to gather information first.

When he reached his office, his adjutant handed him a sealed letter.

“Governor, this arrived for you.”

The envelope was gold-trimmed, faintly scented, stamped with the royal sigil of a lion. Kaes’s instincts prickled. Bad news. Still, he broke the wax seal and read.

From Her Majesty, Queen of Bain-Perella:

Governor Kaes, regarding the matter of marriage. You once told me you already have someone you love. I wished to assist you in finding a suitable match, but you said that person was a Beta.
A Beta hardly seems fitting for the position of a Governor’s spouse. Who exactly is this Beta you favor? Do you have a preference for that gender?
If so, I regret to say I have no Beta to recommend. Perhaps you might reconsider? I could find you a proper Omega instead. One who is suitable for marriage.

Kaes’s expression tightened.

Perfect. The last host really left me a mess.

Clearly, the Beta in question was Long Shi. The Queen likely suspected as much, though she hadn’t said it outright. She wanted him to marry an Omega from Bain-Perella. It should be someone loyal, someone to tie him down.

It wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order.

Great, Kaes thought bitterly. A royal arranged marriage. In an ABO world, no less.

He’d been single all his last life. He was too busy working as a detective to even date and now a queen was shoving him toward forced fatherhood. He exhaled slowly. “There has to be a way to avoid having kids and still fool her…”

[System: “What about Long Shi? If you don’t complete this romance quest, I’ll probably glitch out. Everyone who’s ever liked you will end up hopelessly devoted!”]

Kaes: “I’ll find my own way. My fate’s mine to decide.”

[System: “…You are from Qidian, aren’t you?!”]

Kaes ignored it.

Getting together with Long Shi wouldn’t solve the real problem. The Queen barely trusted him as it was, so marrying a Lanqi native would only make her suspicious. If she decided he was a traitor, he’d be stripped of office or worse, thrown into a dungeon. That would really be Hell Mode.

He didn’t reply to the Queen’s letter just yet, but he knew he couldn’t ignore it either.
At least not for long.

“System,” he said at last, “tell me about this world’s power structure.”

[System: “Yes, sir! The highest innate level is SSS. Every profession scales differently. The marksmen are currently the strongest. Talent grade only determines your potential damage output after training. It’s basically your ceiling.”]

“Can talent be raised?” Kaes asked.

[System: “Almost never. Unless you’re blessed by some cosmic miracle. Most people’s rank is fixed at birth.”]

“And buffs?”

[System: “Buffs are bonuses granted by support units. In this world, supports are very important. The strongest one alive is the Pope. He can boost attack power by eight hundred percent! That’s why the Church dominates combat support.”]

“So they’ve monopolized it,” Kaes muttered.

[System: “Exactly! Only Church supports can enhance any profession’s output. Other supports just do healing. The original host used to have a personal marksman support, he boosted attack by four hundred percent. Died in the war. Now, all of Lanqi’s offensive supports are dead.”]

“And the Queen banned training new ones,” Kaes finished grimly.

[System: “Right. Without supports, no one in Lanki can rise again.”]

Kaes leaned back, pinching the bridge of his nose. “The original left me nothing.”

No chance of charming the Pope, either. He’d have to think of another plan.

[System: “So… what’s your plan, sir?”]

He exhaled, a thin smile tugging at his lips. “First, survive. Then find a way to reload this whole damned world.”