In a dark-toned room, thick black carpets that were warm and soft when you step on them were laid on the floor.
Its walls were made of red and black masonry, and the lines of the masonry meander into beautiful patterns. A huge black wooden table rests against the black carpets with its table corners wrapped with thick fur.
Gold murals were embedded in the red and black masonry walls, refracting golden light.
Although there was a large vintage fireplace in the corner of the room, it was only stacked with smooth wooden blocks for decoration, and has never been used. Inside this majestic tower controlled by an artificial intelligence, the temperature and humidity of air that are most suitable for humans have been maintained, letting the air have a light and fresh fragrance all the time.
An old man in comfortable home clothes stood in front of the huge black wooden table, fiddling with a roly-poly toy wobbling on the table. He silently watched the strangely funny roly-poly toy waggling on the table without saying a word.
His son stood honestly and obediently behind him with his head slightly bowed.
The golden hairband tying his dark brown curly hair slightly shimmers; this man wearing Chinese silk brocade clothing was unusually conspicuous in this dark-toned room.
The old marquis turned and looked at his son who was standing there obediently waiting for his instructions with a gentle face.
What emerged from his mind was the handsome face of the young major general. At any given moment, that young man exudes an unspeakable powerful momentum that can make people can feel clearly.
It’s been a long time since he had seen such a sharp-eyed, aggressive young man.
In this dull empire, this blade-like young man is so brilliant that people unconsciously set their eyes on him.
Even paying respect in front of someone with a higher status than himself, the young man was still in a cold and arrogant posture, and would not give the slightest impression of someone bowing their head.
Looking at his son in front of him with his face docile while bowing his head, the old marquis couldn’t help but want to sigh.
If only that young man was his child.
“Beiat.”
He called his son’s name as his wrinkled hand gently turned the golden ring on his right hand.
“I remember teaching you that you have to choose appropriate clothes that respond to the guests’ clothing.”
He glanced at the man’s Chinese silk brocade clothing, his eyes containing unhappiness.
This gorgeous clothing should’ve been worn as a matter of course at the banquet tonight however, Beiat this child wore it when he went to meet Major General Taylor.
It should be very clear to Beiat that the people he would meet had just returned from the war and would be wearing military uniforms, but he still wore such Chinese clothing to greet them.
Perhaps from the perspective of others, Beiat was just that well-dressed because of the importance he attaches to welcoming Major General Taylor but, as the father of this child, how could he not know what Beiat was thinking?
He admires Major General Taylor, but who knows why this child always had a subtle resistance to this.
But regardless, Beiat shouldn’t have done so even if he doesn’t like the major general.
…….Being arrogant and suppressing people through posturing clothes; this is not something that a noble should be doing.
“Beiat, you let me down.” said the old Marquis calmly.
Beiat didn’t speak and instead just lowered his head down. The curly hair covered his face, making it impossible to see the expression on his lowered face at the moment.
The old marquis looked at his son who was bowing his head in front of him; the attitude that he had always held in front of himself, and could not help remembering the straight figure of the young major general at any given time, making him feel more and more disappointed.
If replaced with that young man, even if it was in front of him, he would still dare to confront him unceremoniously.
In those days of cooperating with that young man, he could see that Taylor was a resolute and decisive man. He would never let himself be under other people’s mercy, even if that person was his elder.
When they annihilated the rebels together, the young man was not afraid of himself who had a high status and strong military presence. When other generals did not dare say a word straight to his face, only that young man dared to refute his proposal and bluntly pointed out the loopholes in his strategy.
At that time, he was irritated by the young major general’s unequivocal rebuttal but he couldn’t deny the mistake pointed out by the other side so he could only hold his own breath and sulk.
Later, he contemplated and thought that for so many years, it has been a long time since anyone dared to face him like this. The young man was really a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers.
Arriving at this thought, he suddenly felt it a bit interesting. A rare curiosity was roused that urged him to watch the young man’s fight from beginning to end.
At this point, that bit of sulkiness was instantly thrown out of the clouds of the ninth heavens.
The process of that battle was so great that even an old guy like him who fought all his life could not help but want to admire it.
The entire fleet spread out at the fastest speed in the shortest amount of time, but it was not chaotic at all. The lightning-fast speed could give onlookers a sense of orderliness throughout the fleet. In the critical moment of the attack and the siege, the timing was very accurate and precise that almost no loopholes could be found.
The whole process was like floating clouds and flowing water. The enemy rushed around like headless flies inside the net set up by the young man. The unanticipated net was like a still sharp wire that encaged bloodshed.
If that young man was his child, that kind of arrogance and disrespect towards his elders would have had him Beiaten three to five times [metaphor for often] due to driving him mad…… But even if he would be filled with anger every three to five times, the old Marquis would still feel very happy afterwards.
My son is capable, my son is great.
What’s wrong with being a bit cold-tempered? What’s wrong with a little bit of arrogance?
I would be happy even if I’m really angry.
…… It’s just that the young and promising young man is not his child after all.
Thinking of this, the old marquis looked at the son who was obediently standing in front of himself.
Beiat this child is indeed filial and never violates his intentions.
But Beiat is the future head of Mia clan. If he only knew to obey him blindly, how will such a warm personality be able to support this big family after he grows old?
Marquis Mia sighed softly.
No matter how disappointing Beiat is, he is his only child. He is old and must pave the way for Beiat as much as possible while he is still alive.
This time for his birthday feast, he invited Taylor to attend just to win over the young man.
He can see that this young man has the ability and was capable. Most importantly, he is deeply well-received by His Majesty——but even if he wasn’t, it will still not be impossible for him to sit at the young general position because of his capabilities alone.
The future of this young man is boundless.
He draws him in, making him want for a good relationship to develop between Taylor and Beiat, and also in order to give Beiat more help in the future.
As his mind turned in this direction, the Marquis Mia said, “Remember, entertain him well.”
“Father……” Beiat stopped his rare desire to talk.
The man named Taylor was just a major general nothing more. Although he is said to be from an influential ancient aristocratic family, that family has long since declined, making Taylor the only person with a high rank at present.
And now he, the only son of a marquis, was actually given the task of running around to please a major general who was half younger than him?
The old marquis naturally saw Beiat’s reluctance, thus he shook his head.
“Beiat, don’t look at that man merely as a major general of the present because his future is unlimited. If you build a good relationship with him now, there will naturally have more help in the future.”
“……Understood.”
The man lowered his head again, indicating obedience.
The old marquis looked a little unwilling, but obediently responded to his son, his heart a bit fretful.
If it was that young man whom he made do things he doesn’t want to do, he would probably just give himself a cold glance, then turn around and leave.
“You can go.” He said.
“Yes, father.”
Beiat replied meekly. He bent slightly to salute his father, then turned and left the room.
The old man sat down on a chair covered with thick blankets and rubbed his temples. Thinking about the son who was gentle with him and never refuted himself versus that young man’s cold, arrogant profile and straight figure; a bit of helplessness flickered within his eyes.
…………
……………………
After leaving his father’s room, the man who kept his head slightly lowered immediately raised his head.
The meek expression showed in front of the old marquis had disappeared without a trace. The corners of his eyes rose up, and this raised arc made his face that appeared honest in front of the old marquis instantly become cold.
He laughed lowly, as though venting his anger, making his laugh sound strange.
When Beiat returned to his room, he changed out of the gorgeous clothing and leaned on the soft lounge chair.
He groaned a little and said something to the attendant standing next to him. The attendant raised his hand and a line of information was entered into the small hologram that appeared above the metal ring on the attendant’s wrist.
Soon after, a young petite girl in maid clothing was led in by the attendant.
When she entered, Beiat was lying obliquely on the soft chair. Two beautiful maids stood in front of him. One was rubbing his shoulders and the other was kneeling below the soft chair, gently tapping his calves.
“Master Beiat.”
The maid bowed her head in salute before raising her head afterwards. This seemingly innocent face with a somewhat flattering expression at the corners of her eyebrows was the same maid who led Major General Taylor to his room.
Beiat frowned.
“He didn’t let you serve?”
He specifically arranged for this woman to serve that person beforehand. However, now that she has appeared in front of himself, it meant that she wasn’t able to approach that major general’s body.
“Do you remember the child who was following the Lord Major General from behind?”
The maid said, looking at the nose and sincerely at the nose. She did not dare squint. After passing through special training, she naturally knew that the flattering tricks she had were not allowed to be used on the person in front of her.
Being unable to approach the major general was her failure of her mission, but the reason for the failure was not on her, so she spoke quite calmly.
“The Lord Major General did not allow me to enter the room but rather brought that child in instead.”
Her words stunned Beiat, but he quickly responded afterwards.
He waved his hand to let the two maids massaging him withdraw. He gave a low tsk.
“It turns out… I believe I thought too much. It wasn’t in my expectations for that guy to be fond of such tastes.”
He said so, remembering the young boy who was apparently still a little bit childish. He couldn’t help but curl his lips.
To be actually interested in that kind of little kid, it was indeed an error with the way he looked at things.
He sneered disdainfully.
“Is there any news from the person whom we arranged?” The attendant next to him bowed and answered, “No.”
“Soon after the talents we arranged boarded on Ishtar, we didn’t dare make too much movement.”
He said, “But…”
“But what?”
“But he mentioned that Major General Taylor has recently taken quite a fancy to an under-aged youth——according to the report, the youth is the last descendant of the Uriel family and was sheltered by Major General Taylor as his subordinate.”
“Uriel family… the name is very familiar…” Beiat murmured confidently.
Afterwards, he was able to found out about the information of this family from memory coming from the strict education for noble sons and daughters he received since childhood.
“It turned out to be this very ancient family, a family that has existed since the era of humanity’s universe tens of thousands of years ago. But it has almost vanished without trace for the past several thousands of years…”
He frowned and said, “That little kid is the last descendant of the Uriel family?”
He raised his hand to stroke his clean chin, the well-maintained fingers fair and delicate.
To be honest, even if he sees Taylor as someone not pleasing to the eye, Beiat can’t deny that person’s excellence, especially the glamorous beauty that makes one dazzled with a glance.
It didn’t pass Beiat’s mind that that youth who has mediocre body figure and mediocre looks could have such a huge amount of attractiveness that it can make that handsome young major general treat him differently, so much so that he wouldn’t let him leave his side even for a moment.
A descendant of the Uriel family…
Maybe there is something important hidden in that little kid.
“Think of a way,” he said, rapping on the chair’s armrest with one finger.
“…think of a way to get through that little kid, and come up with some words.”
——
“Yes, Lord Major General, everything is normal.”
The image of the blue-haired Lieutenant Colonel appeared on the hologram, reporting to his superior.
The black-haired major general pressed the suspended virtual key to cut off the connection with Via.
Via did not follow him to planet Mia, and was left behind on the Ishtar flagship just in case.
Taylor walked to the window. This room was on the upper level of the tower which is higher than most of the spires in this city.
He stood by the window looking down at the ground. On top of the golden ground full of sand, there were many spires with varying heights.
The sky is always bright and hot, even if the sun goes down, it is still bright.
This is his second time coming to this planet.
Seventy to eighty percent of Mia’s surface is desert.
The numerous fine gravels that form a tulle around Mia star absorbs the light of the sun, and then emit that light, causing the sky of Mia star to be full of small but bright light spots at all times. Because even the night is bright, it is even more scorching during day when the sun rises.
Taylor bowed his head, and the silver-blue metal ring on his hand followed his thoughts and a three-dimensional clock emerged.
Almost time.
He thought. Then he turned around and walked to the side of bed, picked up the military uniform jacket that was placed there, and stretched his hands to put it on.
The white cloak was lifted backwards, winding around his shoulders as the golden string was fastened.
The wind raised when the cloak was lifted backwards awakened the teenager who was asleep on the bed. After squinting in a daze, Miao Te fully opened his eyes and saw Taylor who was looking down at the black cuffs of the military uniform jacket. .
As soon as he looked up, the slender phoenix eyes lowered and glanced at him.
“Stay here and don’t go out.”
The Major General shot a glance at him and said before turning to leave.
“Wait, are you going to attend that banquet or something right now?”
“En.”
“…You’re going on your own?”
“En.”
“No… I mean, can’t I go?”
The youth’s opinion of that banquet or something was that it was very high-end and very classy in appearance. He was very interested to see it.
“Stay here.”
The Major General repeated this sentence once again and was about to go.
But after taking a step, he couldn’t move. The boy who got up from the bed has taken a hold of his cloak.
Taylor frowned.
“Let go.” He uttered in coldly.
“You can’t be so unrighteous. Attending the banquet all by yourself and not letting me go!”
Miao Te held with a death grip onto the Major General’s cloak, refusing to let go.
He was really curious about what the banquets of the future would look like. Moreover, he felt that since it was a banquet for the aristocracy, there must be a lot of delicious food.
Taylor stared at Miao Te.
“What are you going to do when you go?”
The boy wasn’t able to speak for a moment, but then immediately found a reason.
Naturally, he can’t say that he wanted to go after thinking that there would be a lot of delicious food at the banquet, so he gave the usual reason that normal men would have for wanting to attend banquets.
“I… I want to dance with those pretty girls, too.”
The Major General’s phoenix eyes narrowed, becoming increasingly slender.
He said: “You like men.”
Miao Te: “………………”
Can’t refute.
The youth silently loosened his hold, silently watched the Major General’s back go further away, and silently crawled down from the bed and sat by the window, watching the night sky that was said to still be bright even at night in a daze.
He raised his head, and distressedly looked at the bright and beautiful sky in a forty-five degree angle.
So to speak, why did I say I like men at the beginning!
He was silently feeling stifled here when a knocking on the door sounded.
Miao Te shouted to come in. The door opened and a young man dressed as a waiter came in.
The fitted clothes outlined the young man’s slender and tall body. The buttons on his collars were slightly open, revealing a half-clavicle arc.
He walked over to Miao Te, leaning over slightly as he brought the drinks and snacks on the plate to Miao Te.
He bent down, sketching more and more of the beautiful waist curve and the lines of the raised buttocks.
Because he leaned over, the collar of the chest clothes open all the more. The small and strong chest muscles were exposed in front of Miao Te, the firm and smooth honey-colored skin inexplicably tempting at first glance.
As the young waiter tilted his head slightly, his curls were scattered and a pair of peach blossom eyes looked slightly diagonally at the youth. A glimmer appeared inside the bottom of his eyes as he blinked gently, the thick eyelashes trembling faintly like butterfly wings. Being in line with that seductive gleam in his eyes could make people’s throats tighten the more they watch.
Why does this person blink so often, does his eyes not feel well?
On the side, Miao Te was immersed in sipping a drink chilled with ice cubes while watching the waiter who was casting flirtatious glances his way.
Why is he watching me lick my lips?
Eh… lick once more.
The youth thought for a while before he suddenly understood. He raised his hand and passed a small piece of dessert from the small white porcelain plate.
“Just eat it if you want.” He said full of consideration.
The male waiter who is trying his best to distribute attractive male hormones: “……………………”
This was the consequence of using beautiful men schemes on a teenager who claims to like men but in reality is purely and incomparably straight.