Omega Manual chapter 71

My only love

Shelley’s gland wound healed better than expected.

Despite the deep bite marks, there was no infection, and the swelling improved day by day. Of course, in addition to their high compatibility of pheromones, credit was also due to Irey’s careful marking and subsequent hypersensitive care.

Even the ship’s owner, married for thirty years, couldn’t help but praise Irey as a rare and excellent husband. Anna complained while pinching her husband’s ears, urging him to learn how to take care of his wife.

Only Irey knew that it wasn’t that he knew how to take care of people, but rather that a certain young master lacked common sense in life and was rarely seen in the world.

He didn’t know he shouldn’t touch water when he had a wound, or that he shouldn’t bathe when he had a fever.

He didn’t know he shouldn’t eat spicy food during recovery, shouldn’t lift gauze casually, and definitely shouldn’t pick the scar that had just healed…

Sometimes Irey even had the illusion that if he left Shelley alone for a while, he would find all kinds of ways to disable himself.

How did he survive to the age of 31?

Fortunately, Shelley had the advantage of listening to advice. If Irey asked him to put down spicy food, he would. If asked not to scratch the wound, he wouldn’t. At most, he would show a puzzled and slightly aggrieved expression, making Irey itch to disregard how many people were watching and kiss him.

On the third day of the fishing boat’s voyage, Mount Yinbu finally appeared on their distant horizon.

It was a towering snowy mountain standing silently at the other end of the sea, its peak towering into the clouds. The first rays of sunlight shone upon it, momentarily arousing a natural awe of the world.

Shelley stood on the deck for a while, watching Mount Yinbu from a distance, then turned back to the lounge. About half an hour later, Irey knocked on the door of the room, waited for more than a minute, and then Shelley’s low voice came from inside, “Come in.”

Irey walked into the room and found Shelley sitting at the small table in the lounge, staring at a map spread out on the table in a daze.

It was the map they had referred to at the start of their journey, densely marked with many annotations, some ticks, and some crosses. Shelley seemed to have made old plans with this map and made modifications to the original marks after completing the new journey.

Not far from the map, near the mark labeled “endpoint” at Mount Yinbu’s location, there was a question mark circled around it. Irey didn’t know if the question mark represented doubts about the arrival time or suspicions about the motives for arrival.

He pulled a chair opposite Shelley’s and sat down casually, reaching out his hand in front of Shelley, “I brought this for you.”

Shelley looked up and saw Irey holding a stalk of fresh green dogtail grass in his hand. He couldn’t help but laugh, “What is this thing, where did it come from?”

“You might not believe it, but just now a seagull flew over the deck with this in its beak,” Irey said while twirling the grass between his fingers. “Probably picked it up from Fuba Port. Just look, in the few days we’ve been gone, weeds have already started growing.”

“And what about the seagull?” Shelley asked.

“The captain made stew out of it,” Irey said offhandedly. “Seagull soup for lunch.”

Shelley’s eyes widened in surprise, and Irey couldn’t help but laugh at his expression. “I’m kidding, we let it go. Anna even called it a messenger of peace, which is nonsense. Real messengers of peace carry olive branches, not something this big.”

“…Childish,” Shelley rolled his eyes.

Irey laughed and took Shelley’s hand, squeezing his fingertip. “You just looked so distracted, easy to fool. What are you thinking about?”

Shelley pursed his lips and shifted his gaze from the map. “Nothing much. Just wondering when we’ll arrive.”

“I just asked the helmsman. He said it usually takes another day or two from when we first see the snow-capped mountains to reach their base,” Irey said.

“I see,” Shelley responded quietly.

Irey could feel Shelley’s fingers tightening in his palm. Several minutes of silence stretched out in the small cabin, neither of them speaking.

The grass lay quietly beside the map, adding a touch of color to the monotonous table.

“Shelley,” Irey broke the silence, pulling Shelley’s retreating fingers back. “If—I’m just saying if—if you were willing to come back from Mount Yinbu, what would you want to do?”

Shelley’s expression showed a hint of confusion, clearly not having thought about the answer to this question before.

“It’s just casual talk, don’t overthink it,” Irey said.

“Maybe… I might want to visit Lansai again,” Shelley thought for a moment.

Irey was a bit surprised by this answer. “Hm? Why?”

“The first time was a mess, and I didn’t get a good look at where you live and your surroundings,” Shelley said, pursing his lips. “I want to know more about you.”

Irey chuckled. “There’s really not much to see in Lansai. My place is very simple, but if you’re curious, I’ll definitely show you around. This is the living room, this is the sofa, this is the bedroom and the white wall of the bedroom, done in three minutes.”

“Not necessarily,” Shelley said. “Last time we toured, just the bed took two hours.”

Irey was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter.

Who would have thought that his well-mannered, polite boss could one day crack such a bold joke with a straight face?

He wasn’t sure whether to say you can’t judge a book by its cover or that he, as a teacher, taught too well.

“Alright, I’ll aim for a three-hour tour next time, the guide will do his best.” Irey, smiling, leaned on the table, getting closer to Shelley. “Anything else you want to do?”

Shelley leaned back in his chair, looking up as he thought. “I want to go back to Nantes and watch a movie.”

This wish seemed quite ordinary for the eldest son of the Manta family, so Irey gave him a questioning look.

“After the meteorite incident, cinemas in Nantes no longer allow Omegas unless they are marked and accompanied by their Alpha,” Shelley said. “I actually really like watching movies. I didn’t have time to go to the cinema when I was busy with work, but later I became freer than anyone else, yet I couldn’t go anymore.”

Irey felt a brief pain in his heart and nodded. “No problem, I’ll take you.”

“And the fountain square in Nantes, I’ve never been there either,” Shelley continued. “There’s a garden nearby and a grand hall that’s said to be very beautiful, but it’s also an Omega-restricted area now.”

“I know that place. I used to have an employer who got married there,” Irey said. “His second and third marriages were there too. His social media album is full of photos of that hall, people might think he’s a real estate agent.”

Shelley couldn’t help but laugh.

“If you want, I’ll accompany you to visit all the Omega-restricted places, in Nantes or Lansai,” Irey said. “If you like the atmosphere of Fuba Port, we can stay here for a while, a month, two months, a year or two. There are many places we haven’t been to in the northern cities, like Marwen or North Luna…”

“Irey,” Shelley interrupted him, lowering his head to avoid eye contact, then slowly said, “You said these are just ‘ifs.’ But if I still want to stay at Mount Yinbu, what will you do?”

Irey didn’t respond.

The slightly eased atmosphere began to stagnate again like glue, silence spreading in the room, with the sound of waves mechanically echoing outside.

Shelley’s fingertips trembled slightly.

Maybe he shouldn’t have said that, shouldn’t have ruined the mood Irey had painstakingly created.

But both he and Irey knew that until they reached their final destination, this question would always hang between them like a thorn buried in a wound, causing a dull ache, never truly healing.

“I won’t die.”

Shelley heard a rustling sound and looked up to see Irey playing with the wild grass.

His expression was unexpectedly calm, his tone as casual as their previous chat. “I love you very much, Shelley, but not more than I love myself. So don’t worry, I won’t join you in a tragic end. I’ll live, take my share of the money, go back to Lansai, return to that small house that can be toured in three minutes, and continue my life. I might buy another house with the money or build a small building, and as I said before, I’ll buy a plot for you nearby and set up a tombstone.”

Irey continued to bend the grass as he spoke. “At first, I’ll visit you every day, bring flowers, talk to you, tell you about my day. After a while, I might go every few days, then maybe once a month. Because I can’t stay sad forever, I’ll get new jobs, work, find ways to make money, and live my own life. I might do well or I might mess up, but as long as I earn enough each day to eat and drink, I’ll manage. Just go to bed at night and wake up the next morning.”

Shelley stared at him without saying a word.

“Then, one evening while I’m having dinner, I’ll suddenly think of you,” Irey said. “I’ll remember the venison steak you made for me at Leisau, the expression on your face when you took your first bite of the fried dough, and the way you handled your knife and fork. You’ll be like a bomb, exploding in front of me when I think I’ve started to get used to life without you. You’ll be everywhere: in my pajamas, my pillow, the sky, and the moon. You’ll sneak into my dreams in the unguarded hours of the night, wake me up, and remind me that there’s no one else by my side.I’ll be alive, but just barely.”

Shelley felt like a heavy wad of cotton was blocking his chest, making it hard to breathe.

His throat bobbed up and down several times, unable to suppress the soreness in his eyes and the hoarseness in his voice. “Irey…”

Irey slowly exhaled, lifted his head, and looked at Shelley. His expression remained calm, and in his brown eyes reflected a glimmering star and Shelley’s image. “Shelley, I’m not saying this to make you feel guilty or to force you to change your mind. I haven’t experienced the pain you have, so I have no right to tell you not to die, to keep living. I’m saying this just to let you know that no matter how worthless you feel, you are not without value.”

With a crisp snap, Irey broke off the grass roots in his hand. Shelley looked down and saw that a green blade of grass had somehow been woven into a ring in Irey’s hand.

He grabbed Shelley’s hand and slipped the grass ring onto his right ring finger. “You are my only love.”