Omega Manual chapter 75

Cherish Very Much

On their way down the mountain, they didn’t encounter another snowstorm.

The weather was clear, the sun was high in the sky, and even some of the snow had melted, revealing solid ground.

When they followed their original route down to the foot of the mountain, the fishing boat that had brought them there was quietly waiting at the shore. The Alpha captain, well past fifty, was smoking a hand-rolled cigarette, and Anna was on the deck, waving excitedly at them.

The boat sat much lower in the water than before, now loaded with freshly caught deep-sea fish.

As soon as they set foot on the deck, Anna eagerly asked, “Did you reach the top of the mountain? Was it fun up there?”

Shelley, caught off guard by her enthusiasm, stammered, “Uh… yes, we did. It was okay, I wouldn’t say fun exactly…”

Before he could finish, Anna cheered, “Awesome! I knew you could make it to the top, so cool!”

The captain handed Irey a cigarette, which he accepted.

“How come you’re here?” Irey asked. “Weren’t you supposed to take a different route back?”

The captain exhaled a puff of smoke and glanced at the bouncing Anna out of the corner of his eye. “The little girl was worried you might run into trouble, so she asked me to wait for you here as we passed by.”

“Trouble?”

“Her intuition is usually spot on,” the captain said. “She said your looks weren’t those of regular hikers, but more like people going to seek death. Luckily, this time her intuition was wrong.”

Irey laughed and took a drag of his cigarette. “Indeed.”

And so, they took the same boat and returned to Fuba Port three days later.

During their absence, spring seemed to have snuck into the city. The snow had long melted, new green buds sprouted on the trees along the roadsides, and the wild grass in the suburbs swayed lushly in the breeze.

They were warmly welcomed back by Douding, who eagerly invited them to stay in Fuba Port a while longer. He even went outside to pick two wildflowers, placing them in the empty vase on the nightstand in their room.

Shelley, moved and unable to resist the kid’s enthusiastic invitation, extended their stay by two weeks. He couldn’t help but laugh when he saw Douding joyfully counting the money in the hallway after they paid.

The two weeks in Fuba Port were spent leisurely.

After a series of exhausting adventures, he finally had time to rest and relax.

During those days, Shelley could sleep in until late morning, often sleeping more than ten hours a day, as if he was catching up on all the missed sleep from the past years in those two weeks.

Irey let him sleep, never waking him up early, and would take him out to explore once he was up.

In just two weeks, they had almost visited every spot in Fuba Port worth seeing, spending enough money to astonish the average citizen.

But for Shelley Manta, this small amount of money was like a drop in the ocean, insignificant.

When the pear blossoms in the yard began to wilt, they left the small, beautiful coastal town, driving their old second-hand SUV. After refueling in Marwen, they headed towards Nantes.

The weather became warmer, and the journey was smoother than before.

At the tail end of spring, they returned to Irey Halton’s hometown, Lansai.

The SUV attracted almost everyone’s attention as it drove through the checkpoint into the city. Homeless people on the roadside made way for the massive vehicle, their eyes filled with surprise and awe.

But to Robert, the overlord of Lansai’s west side, this was clearly a blatant provocation.

Lansais were known as the most unwelcoming people in the world. If a rich man strayed into this city, he would be stripped of everything, even his underwear.

Such a fat sheep, others might not dare to touch it, but Robert intended to devour it whole.

When the SUV entered an alley, Robert and his men surrounded the car, armed with iron rods and nailed clubs, shouting, “Get out! Hand over everything valuable!”

The SUV slowly came to a stop. The driver rolled down the window, sunglasses perched on his nose. Even without revealing his full face, the slanting sunlight highlighted his strikingly handsome features and inexplicable roguishness.

Irey curled his lips, resting his elbow on the window’s edge, and took off his sunglasses. “What if I don’t? What will you do then?”

Upon seeing his face, Robert was shocked. “Halton? Didn’t you die in a ditch?”

“Sorry to disappoint you, I’m very much alive,” Irey said lazily. “If it’s convenient, could you please move aside?”

Robert’s eyes were about to pop out as he pointed at him, stammering, “You… is this your car?”

“My car, my sunglasses,” Irey said, wrapping his arm around Shelley in the passenger seat and raising an eyebrow. “And by the way, this is my Omega.”

Shelley, both annoyed and amused, whispered, “Childish.”

It was unclear if Robert recognized Shelley, but the big Alpha’s face turned red with anger, and he jumped up, “No way! You, you useless coward…”

Irey didn’t bother arguing. He pulled the lever next to him. The off-road vehicle could still spray windshield washer fluid, but since it was so old, it sprayed directly at Robert’s face instead of the windshield.

Robert, drenched in washer fluid, dropped his iron rod and screamed. Irey stepped on the gas, and the engine roared to life, scaring Robert’s lackeys into moving aside.

Irey sped forward, the wheels splashing water from the roadside onto the group of street thugs, covering them in mud.

Irey drove the bumpy road to an old courtyard.

Old Angus was still asleep in his rocking chair, the engine noise not bothering him at all. His hearing had deteriorated, and unless someone shook him awake, no noise could disturb him.

Mr. Monroe, however, was drawn out by the engine sound. Seeing Irey get out of the off-road vehicle, he stammered, “You… you’re back? My God, everyone said you died in that ditch by the city gate…”

Mrs. Monroe followed him out, but her first reaction was not to the vehicle but to the gushing water pipe in the yard.

“Did you turn on this water pipe? Has it been running all night?”

Mr. Monroe was bewildered, his face turning red as he tried to argue, “You said not to turn it off at night in case it froze—”

“Are you stupid?” Mrs. Monroe looked exasperated, pulling at his ear, “That was in winter, winter! Try freezing it now! Leaving it running like this will flood the yard!”

Irey chuckled softly.

Mrs. Monroe finally noticed him and his vehicle, her eyes widening as she craned her neck to confirm, “Irey? Are you Irey Halton?”

“Good morning, Mrs. Monroe.” Irey opened the car’s trunk, took out a bag of fruit and snacks, and handed it to her. “I brought you some local specialties.”

The Monroe couple, eyes wide in surprise, quickly opened the bag to see what was inside, their argument forgotten, smiles spreading across their faces.

Shelley got out of the car, looking somewhat dazed at the courtyard and the familiar old wooden door.

Two months ago, he had indeed been pulled into bed here by a strange Alpha and marked temporarily.

The memory felt distant yet nostalgic, hard to believe it was just two months ago.

The Monroes pulled Irey aside, bombarding him with questions about where he’d been and what he’d done. Irey smiled, answering selectively.

“Oh, and this is my Omega, my boyfriend,” Irey introduced. “We met during the trip.”

“Shelley Manta.” Shelley extended his hand, shaking Mr. Monroe’s.

“Nice name.” Mr. Monroe gave him a thumbs up. “Same name as that big-shot CEO of a phone company.”

Shelley couldn’t help but laugh.

Irey lifted a flowerpot by the door and took out his house key. As he approached the door, his gaze fell on the window covered with an entire floral quilt.

He picked up a broom from the corner and was about to knock when the second-floor window opened.

A thin, wrinkled man stuck his head out, “What the hell is all this noise… Irey Halton!”

The way he said Irey’s name was as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

“Wh-what are you doing back here? Didn’t they say you died? I thought you…”

“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m still alive.” Irey used the broom to knock the quilt off, then unlocked the door and led Shelley inside.

His little house was just as it had been before he left: simple, bare, with only the essential furniture. Even a thief would leave empty-handed, disappointed.

There was a faint musty smell inside. Irey opened the windows to air it out, and the small bed in the bedroom caught the sunlight, revealing tiny dust particles floating in the air.

“Did you take it all in in just three minutes?” Irey asked softly.

“Not if I take a closer look at the bedroom,” Shelley replied.

Irey chuckled.

Footsteps sounded upstairs, and the thin man came down, standing at Irey’s door and peering inside. “So, what’s the deal now? Are you planning to stay here with this Omega?”

“Don’t worry, I’m just cleaning up before selling the place.” Irey washed a rag under the faucet and started wiping the table. “I’ll probably move to Nantes or somewhere else. You won’t be seeing me much longer.”

The thin man looked surprised, then quickly shifted to a look of envy and jealousy. Muttering under his breath, he went to pick up the quilt from the ground.

The room was sparsely furnished, with the most important items being only two photographs of Jenny and Caroline.

With Shelley’s help, Irey cleaned up the house, taking away the two photos from the dining table, disposing of the whisky bottle and the fake flowers inside it. After a moment’s thought, he decided to take the cross Mrs. Jones had given him from the shoe cabinet.

As he was about to leave, he saw Mrs. Jones standing outside his small cabin door, smiling warmly at both of them, though he wasn’t sure how long she had been standing there.

Irey stuffed a bag of local specialties into Mrs. Jones’s arms. She neither refused nor thanked him, just smiled and said, “I told you.”

“Yes,” Irey smiled, “He is my only love, and I treasure him very much.”