The Married Alpha Who Refuses to Be a Heartthrob (A/B/O · Alpha POV) - Chapter 29

Facing a top-tier wizard and necromancer, Keith gathered books on witchcraft and summoning. Summoners aren’t just about conjuring stereotypical skeletons.

 

Whenever he had free time, he studied these books, scaring the Mansion’s staff into thinking he was changing careers.

 

These texts only documented the most basic witchcraft and summoning techniques. Intermediate spells required a teacher, while advanced ones weren’t recorded—those were a wizard’s personal, exclusive skills.

 

Essentially, every wizard’s advanced abilities were unique.

 

The nun and the dog were just part of the wizard’s standard repertoire. Kaes had no idea what other powerful tricks the wizard had up his sleeve, and the disappearance of Abe’s body left him with a nagging unease.

 

Every day, men were sent out to search for Abe’s body. Three days passed, yet not a trace was found. Where the wizard was hiding remained a mystery.

 

Kaes sat at the table flipping through the grimoire. He could not grasp these teachings; the content was too rudimentary. He could not deduce what “big moves” the evil sorcerer possessed.

 

Kaes recalled the magical stones he had looted. He took out the ghost nun’s stone, mentally summoning her.

 

The ghost nun’s summoning stone flashed with light.

 

The nun’s semi-transparent, terrifying form appeared beside him. She still wore her filthy, tattered habit, the lower half of her face was as if gnawed away by an animal.

 

“Nun, can you hear me?” A sudden thought struck Keith. Perhaps asking the ghost nun about the puppy would yield more direct clues.

 

The ghost nun stared at him with lifeless, vacant eyes, showing no reaction whatsoever.

 

For now, he could only summon her to observe. The summoned entity could not hear his words nor accept his commands.

 

Kaes realized he needed a summoner. This was a niche profession; elemental mages dominated the field. Finding a summoner seemed highly unlikely.

 

…

 

Kaes arrived at the annex, where the sound of nuns and butlers performing their daily prayers echoed from the small chapel inside.

 

The maid led him to the annex chapel: “Lord Keith and the Bishop are inside the chapel.”

 

Three coffins lay within the chapel, while Keith and the others gathered around them.

 

Keith turned to see Keith: “Keith, you’re here. We’re holding a memorial service for the deceased butlers and nun.”

 

The three who died in the small dark room.

 

“May their souls rest in eternal peace.” Keith approached the coffins, each containing the personal garments of the butlers and nun, along with a grimoire.

 

“Their bodies weren’t recovered, so we had to bury their personal effects instead.” Bishop Vansen, clad in crimson vestments, held three cross pendants. He placed one on each coffin.

 

After a brief memorial, the lids were placed on the coffins, each engraved with the deceased’s name.

 

Emerging from the small chapel, the trio walked along the corridor. Kaes remarked, “I think we need a summoner. If we could communicate with these summoned entities, we might learn more about that sorcerer.”

 

“A summoner?” Keith paused, taken aback. He didn’t know any summoners; it was a rare profession. “Neither I nor Vansen know of any summoners. Summoners are hard to find even in Bain Pereira.”

 

Vansen pondered, “It is a good idea though… We can try hiring an investigator to help find one but who knows how long that would take? We might not have enough time.”

 

Summoning was an extremely unstable skill. Most summoner can’t even command their summoned creatures to attack specific targets; they could only instruct them not to harm certain individuals.

 

The skill’s monster farming capability was too slow. Its damage wasn’t direct and the number of summoned creatures was limited. Between the ghost nun & dog, they can only choose to investigate one as there wouldn’t be someone powerful enough to study both entities.

 

That wizard appeared and vanished without a trace and Kaes is having a hard time thinking of a more direct solution: “You two figure something out… Find a way to communicate with the summons.”

 

Keith still agreed even when “summoning” is a skill that is world’s apart from his field of mage craft. “Don’t worry, we will find a way.” Trying to reassure Kaes while holding his hand.

 

…

 

The library at the annex was reactivated. Both Keith and Vansen spent day and night studying summoning magic inside, though neither of them became true summoners.

 

Keith possessed an SS-tier talent. Mastering ice, fire, and lightning—three elemental magics—along with some psychic magic.

 

While Vansen was an SS-tier support mage who mastered auxiliary spells plus some witchcraft.

 

The library’s long table was piled high with summoning manuals, yet they could not even master summoning a simple skull which was a basic skill for summoners.

 

Meanwhile Kaes added numerous magic books to the library, procuring any book they might need.

 

Five days has passed, yet the wizard still has not made a move.

 

It seemed a bit far-fetched for two mages who aren’t summoners were actually studying summoning magic, but Keith still believed they could pull it off.

 

…

 

Before they knew it, it was midnight. Kaes sat by the library fireplace while Keith and Vansen conducted experiments at the long table ahead.

 

Vansen had sketched several summoning-type magic circles on paper—ones compatible with their mage magic, since they couldn’t use summoner-specific ones.

 

Keith spread his hands, white psychic energy flowing through his palms. Following Vansen’s blueprint, he summoned a magic circle in the open space ahead.

 

A pentagram magic circle adorned with a skull appeared on the ground.

 

“Did it work?” Kaes stood up, visibly excited. He had spent nearly every waking hour with them in the library these past few days.

 

Keith and the others had been so engrossed in their research the past two days that they’d forgotten to eat. Worried they might starve in the library, Kaes visited them daily to make sure they ate.

 

The one-meter-wide magic circle flickered and vanished. “No good,” Keith said disappointedly.

 

The maid entered carrying a late-night snack: “Master, would you like something to eat?”

 

The maid also feared they might starve inside; they’d eaten far too little the past few days.

 

The tray held bread, tea, and pastries.

 

Kaes instructed the maid to place the tray on the table before him, then said to Keith and the others: “Are you hungry? Eat something and get some rest. Staying up late won’t get us anywhere anyway.”

 

Keith felt somewhat discouraged. He walked over and picked up a piece of bread. “This is too hard.”

 

Just creating a magic circle to command the nun and the puppy was this difficult, let alone summoning anything by himself.

 

Keith devoured the bread in large bites, ravenous. Kaes handed him tea: “So you don’t choke.”

 

Vansen picked up a pastry and chewed it elegantly, slowly, his mind filled with examples of failed attempts to mimic the summoning magic circle: “I feel like I’m just one step away. What exactly is wrong?”

 

Xiaolu flew in through the doorway, searching everywhere for Keith. It landed on his head: “Keith, you don’t want me anymore.”

 

Keith hadn’t paid Xiaolu any attention for days. Thinking it had been abandoned, the bird stood on his head, pecking at his hair incessantly.

 

“Don’t you dare peck me bald,” Keith muttered, trying to grab the bothersome bird.

 

Xiaolu flew away to avoid being caught, then found an opening to land back on his head and peck at his hair: “You don’t want me.”

 

Trapped by the bird, Keith resorted to luring Xiaolu with a snack: “Xiaolu, come eat.”

 

“No, no.” Xiaolu shook its head vigorously. “Not hungry.”

 

“Keep this up and I’ll lock you up.” Keith frowned. If this continued, his research would be impossible. Neither he nor Vansen planned to sleep tonight.

 

”Xiaolu.“ Keith called. Xiaolu turned its head with a ”squak.“ He had no bird toys here, but he remembered bringing some money. He pulled out a small gold coin. ”Here, play with this.”

 

Keith placed the coin on the table. It spun rapidly, then fell with a crisp clink.

 

“What’s this?” Xiaolu stretched its neck, curiously pecking at the coin. It was shiny gold and made a clear sound.

 

Keith let Xiaolu pick up the coin in its beak: “Your toy.”

 

Xiaolu ran off with the coin in its beak. After a few steps, it tossed it away, watching it spin and make a crisp sound. It could even stand the coin upright and roll it like a ball.

 

Xiaolu was having a blast playing, no longer bothering them.

 

Kaes noticed it was getting late. Both Keith & Vansen had dark circles under their eyes these past few days. He said, “Let’s continue our research tomorrow.”

 

Vansen stared so intently at Xiaolu playing with the coin that he didn’t notice the pastry in his hand crumbled and fell onto his robe.

 

“Vansen, should we continue tomorrow?” Keith waved his hand in front of Vansen’s face.

 

“I’ve figured it out!” Vansen exclaimed excitedly. He stood up, brushed his robe, and returned to the long table.

 

“What is it?!” Keith’s face lit up with excitement. He stuffed the last bite of bread into his mouth and hurried over.

 

Wizards in this world represented scholars, dedicated to research and the pursuit of truth.

 

They were as thrilled as if they’d solved an academic conundrum or more accurately, discovered a new field of study.

 

Completing it within a month was already impressive.

 

Vansen pushed aside the discarded drafts, pulled out blank paper, and referenced the previous magic array sketch. He drew an improved version, replacing the surrounding circle of skulls with gold coins.

 

“I have a feeling this will definitely work… We can’t use the imitation summoning magic array, so we’ll try a different method.” Vansen’s hand holding the pen trembled with excitement, the feather quivering. “We’ll establish a magic circle that channels and commands through monetary conversion.”

 

Keith was intrigued: “Huh? I’ve never seen a magic circle like this before.”

 

Keith: “Is this the legendary ‘money talks’ principle?”

 

Typically, magic circles only consumed magical energy; he’d never heard of one that consumed money.

 

Vansen handed the diagram to Keith. Keith gathered his psychic energy in both hands and waved, summoning a magic array onto the floor.

 

The array radiated golden light. Coin patterns swirled around the pentagram. They held their breath in anticipation. After a full minute, it hadn’t faded. It was proof the array was stable and successful!

 

The golden magic circle shimmered brightly in the library.

 

“……Holy shit!”

 

Kaes was momentarily speechless.

 

Specialization truly pays off. This world has no such thing as a sewer-level profession, every field has its own master.

 

Vansen was seriously impressive, creating a new magic circle in just six days!

 

Though this was a pay-to-win project, at least they could afford it.

 

Vansen explained, “You can only summon one at a time. Place the magic stone on it, then add an item the summoned creature loves. Only then can you insert the gold coins… It’s like hiring someone. One hundred gold coins per day, however many days you need, you pay that many hundreds.”

 

A few hundred gold pieces meant nothing to them.

 

“We actually did it! Vansen! I feel like myself again!” Keith suddenly hugged Vaneon, then ran over to embrace Keith.

 

“That’s incredible!” Kaes caught Keith as he lunged forward, kissing him lightly on the forehead. “You’ve worked so hard.”

 

Kaes suddenly felt he wasn’t alone. He didn’t only have Keith but also Vansen, it was like they were a team.

 

Vansen cleared his throat, still unaccustomed to being the third wheel: “Try putting the nun’s magic stone inside.”

 

Only then did Kaes release Keith. He pulled out the ghost nun’s magic stone and placed it inside. The nun’s ghost materialized beside them, though communication remained impossible for now.

 

“You need to place an item the nun likes inside. The person who offers it becomes the new master.” Vansen had Kaes take a grimoire and placed it inside.

 

The nun stared blankly at them, showing no reaction.

 

Vansen sighed slightly, resigned: “The nun doesn’t like the grimoire. She won’t accept it. We need to try something else.”

 

Kaes tried a cross, but there was no luck in that. Keith fetched a brand-new nun’s habit, but that didn’t work either.

 

The nun showed no interest in religious items. Unable to communicate, they could only guess what the summoned entity liked. Only after presenting gifts could they proceed with the “pay-to-win” process.

 

The nun yawned, her gaping mouth revealing blood-stained teeth. She showed no interest in their boring gifts, it amusing to see that even ghosts get sleepy.

 

Kaes: “This nun’s pretty picky.”

 

…

 

It was nearly 2 a.m. Kaes urged them to sleep, deciding to tackle the problem tomorrow.

 

Kaes had been staying at the annex these past few days. He escorted Keith back to his room, only relaxing once he saw Keith lie down.

 

“You must be exhausted after all this. Get some proper rest.” Kaes leaned down to tuck the blanket around Keith.

 

“I feel like I’ve downed ten cups of coffee. I can push through.” Keith was too energized to sleep, shifting restlessly.

 

Kaes held the blanket down, trapping him in place, and looked down at him. “You haven’t slept much these past few days. Be careful you don’t burn yourself out. Don’t sneak off to keep messing with that magic array.”

 

Keith cradled the handsome face above him, pondering as he spoke. “There’s something I want. Will you help me buy it tomorrow…?”

 

“What?” Kaes assumed his fiancée wanted a small gift too. To reward his hardworking fiancée, he’d buy anything. “Just say the word. Whatever you want, I’ll get it.”

 

“Nothing much… Help me buy a dress. Pink, with a fresh, simple style.” Keith spoke while still thinking.

 

Kaes was a bit stunned. Was his fiancée into cross-dressing? And pink, of all colors?

 

He didn’t know if male Omegas could wear women’s clothes. He wanted to ask if it was normal for his fiancée to wear this.

 

He looked at Keith’s beautiful face, those fox-like eyes with their upturned corners fixed on him. He pictured Keith in a pink dress.

 

Did it have to be pink? If he insisted on wearing it… he’d much rather see him in light green. Light green felt more fresh and delicate.

 

“What’s wrong? Your face feels warm.” Keith’s thumb brushed against Kaes’s cheek as he studied him closely. He seemed to be blushing a little.

 

Of course, Keith had no idea what was going through Kaes’s mind.

 

“Um… well, go to sleep. I’ll buy it for you tomorrow.” Kaes surprisingly accepted the fact that his fiancée was into cross-dressing rather quickly.

 

It was just a harmless little hobby.

 

He would support his fiancée’s interests unconditionally. He planned to buy two pairs—one pink and one light green.

 

Kaes left after planting a goodnight kiss.

 

Listening to the door close, Keith felt wonderfully content. He rolled over, blew out the candle, and wrapped himself in the blanket, his mind still on the magic circle.

 

He had no plans to leave the villa tomorrow. He’d stay in the annex with Vansen to research what puppies liked. He suspected the nun might enjoy little dresses, which was why he’d sent Keith out to buy them.

 

Keith drifted off to sleep, utterly content.