By Zephyria 
“Alright, go wait in the car first. Papa and Daddy will come with Bliss.”
“Okay~.”
Ashley, who had been staring intently at Grayson’s retreating back as he walked away with a light step, humming his reply as if singing a song, muttered under his breath.
“He didn’t say anything strange to Bliss, did he?”
“Don’t see Grayson in such a bad light, Ash.”
Koi, catching Ashley’s low, almost self-directed mutter, chided him.
“That child just has slightly less empathy and is very curious. He hasn’t caused any major trouble since then, has he?”
Despite Koi’s point, Ashley, still expressionless, watched the direction his son had disappeared and said,
“That’s right. Because I managed it thoroughly.”
Koi couldn’t say anything more and just closed his mouth. The biggest characteristic that distinguishes a Dominant Alpha from other traits is pheromones. The pheromones of a Dominant Alpha grant them exceptional immunity and regenerative abilities, making them less susceptible to common illnesses and immune to addiction from alcohol or drugs. Moreover, with slower aging and longer lifespans, Dominant Alphas were objects of both admiration and awe for the majority with other traits.
However, the very pheromones that make them ‘special’ can conversely become poison to them. If pheromones are not regularly expelled, the buildup attacks the brain, causing disorders. If this persists, the pheromones turn toxic, driving them insane or killing them.
To prevent such worst-case scenarios, Dominant Alphas had to regularly expel pheromones, and the most effective and easiest method was sex. Therefore, the need to ‘expel pheromones so as not to go insane and die’ was sufficient to rationalize the promiscuous lifestyles of Dominant Alphas.
And the same applied to Ashley’s children. Unfortunately, all the children except Bliss were Dominant Alphas, and Grayson, Stacy, and Larien were born with purple eyes. This made managing their pheromones all the more crucial, and he had constantly strived to ensure the children, who couldn’t feel emotions due to the pheromones’ influence, didn’t end up harming others.
Yet, it seemed there were things human will alone couldn’t achieve. Recalling the accident long ago when the children were young, where they had almost killed Koi, Ashley let out a deep sigh, Hoo. Closing his eyes and pressing a hand to his forehead, he muttered in a low voice to Koi, who was looking at him worriedly.
“I’ll go get Bliss, so wait here.”
“Okay.”
Leaving behind Koi, who nodded, he began walking with long strides. As midnight approached, the hall where the party was held was still filled with the clamorous mix of loud music and voices. Soon, Ashley, having found Bliss, got into the car with the rest of the family and headed home.
It was the next morning when Bliss, who had eaten his favorite ice cream to his heart’s content and fallen into a deep sleep, burst into tears.
“Waaah, I can’t open my eye!”
Bliss cried loudly, sobbing, and Koi was flustered, not knowing what to do, while the other siblings curiously examined his face from all angles. One eye, which Bliss had punched with all his might the previous day, was bruised purple and swollen to this extent.
“Uhh, uhhh.”
“Don’t cry, B. Crying makes your eye swell more.”
“Waaaaah.”
Koi tried to soothe him somehow, but Bliss only cried louder. Koi explained the situation to Ashley, calmed Bliss down, changed his clothes, and even had breakfast with him, but the child continued to cry until then.
“Sniff, sob, sob.”
Even after returning to the room, seeing his youngest son still sniffling and rubbing his swollen eyelid with his fist, Koi let out a frustrated sigh.
“It’s okay, Bliss. If you stop crying, it’ll get better.”
“Gulp, gulp. Gulp.”
At Koi’s words, the child seemed to try to hold back his sobs, holding his breath, but nothing really changed. Koi, well aware that Bliss had been trying hard to stop crying since earlier, could only look at him with pity.
“Here, B. It’s caramel.”
When Koi held out a snack, deliberately trying to distract him, Bliss glanced at it, then quickly looked away again.
“B, come on, try it. Hmm?”
At the gentle, coaxing voice, Bliss didn’t budge, but Koi saw it. Despite the stubbornly turned head, the eyes that subtly rolled sideways.
Barely holding back a smile, Koi instead asked again, affectionately coaxing.
“It’s the sweet caramel you like, don’t you want some?”
Gulp.
Bliss swallowed hard. The pain, fear, and sadness vanished instantly, and his mind filled only with caramel. Bliss stealthily rolled his eyes to sneak another peek at the caramel. As Koi unwrapped it and placed the caramel on his palm, holding it out, Bliss fell silent for a moment as if pondering.
Of course, the hesitation was very brief. Bliss stealthily reached out his hand, his body naturally turning toward Koi. Heh, his mouth naturally parted, drool leaking out. Bliss hurriedly wiped his mouth with his arm, grabbed the caramel from Koi’s palm, and put it in his mouth.
“It’s gooood.”
As the sweet taste spread through his mouth, Bliss immediately felt much better. Seeing the child, cheeks in hands, happily beaming, Koi also felt relieved and smiled.
“Good thing you ate it, right?”
At Koi’s question, Bliss nodded, Mm, then immediately asked again.
“Daddy, can I have one more?”
Looking down at the expectant eyes, Koi smiled.
“No, you can’t.”
Bliss immediately hung his head with a disappointed face. As expected, it wasn’t allowed.
Since Koi, worried about tooth decay, didn’t often give snacks, today’s caramel was a special opportunity. Given that he’d eaten a ton of ice cream under similar circumstances the previous day, the probability of not getting a snack today was actually very high. Thinking that even though his eye looked like a frog’s, it wasn’t a total loss, Bliss slowly savored the caramel in his mouth, sucking on it bit by bit.
“Haa.”
Even though he thought he ate it very slowly, the caramel soon melted and disappeared in his mouth. Immediately, Bliss slumped his shoulders again.
“My life is too depressing.”
“What?”
As a flustered Koi tried to speak again, a knock was suddenly heard. When Koi turned around, the door opened, revealing Ashley standing there.
“Time’s up, Koi.”
“Ah, okay.”
Koi awkwardly got up from his seat. The reason Ashley, who should have already left for work by this time, was here now was singular. A visitor was scheduled. Thinking he needed to change clothes and prepare quickly, Koi had no choice but to change the subject.
“B, an important guest is coming to the house today. Can you stay quietly in your room?”
“A guest?”
At the unexpected words, Bliss asked curiously, and Koi nodded, saying yes.
“Since you’re not feeling well today, let’s rest in the room. If you need anything, tell April…”
After adding a few more words of advice, he patted the child’s head and left the room.
“Hoo.”
As Koi closed the door behind him and unconsciously sighed, a question immediately flew at him.
“How is it? Bliss.”
“Ah, yeah. He’s calmed down a bit. He’ll probably be okay.”
Then he furrowed his brow and said.
“Bliss says his life is too depressing.”
“What?”
Hearing the unexpected words, Ashley furrowed his brow and asked.
“I don’t know either, where could he have learned such a thing?”
Shaking his head and sighing, Koi saw Ashley seem to think for a moment before quickly changing the subject.
“Let’s go for now, we’re late.”
“Ah, okay.”
Taking Ashley’s outstretched hand, Koi hurriedly followed his stride, almost jogging, and belatedly asked a question.
“The guest coming today, they’re very important, right?”
Ashley answered simply.
“That’s right, seems so.”
I see, Koi nodded, recalling the information he’d heard from Ashley the previous day. The person scheduled to visit today was a noble from England; he’d heard it was three people in total: the current Duke and Duchess, and the eldest son who would inherit the family. That was all Ashley had told Koi, so he was quite nervous.