By Zephyria 
“That’s, I mean….”
Koi hesitated, struggling to find the words. As he agonized over where to start, Ashley issued another stern warning.
“I told you to tell me everything.”
“I know… I will.”
Koi mumbled, shrinking his shoulders and avoiding eye contact. Ashley listened in silence as Koi gave a long, rambling account, starting from the time Ariel had come to visit. One might have expected him to get annoyed by the tedious story, but he never once interrupted. It was as if he wouldn’t let Koi get away with it the moment he sensed an attempt to gloss over the details. Consequently, though bewildered, Koi had no choice but to confess everything that had happened.
“…And that’s how it happened.”
After finishing the rather long story, Koi stole a glance at Ashley. Ashley, who had been sitting with a serious expression throughout, remained silent and lost in thought even after learning the full story. Searching Ashley’s face to discern his thoughts, Koi summoned the courage to speak.
“Um, Ash. Grayson is still young, so….”
“Koi.”
Ashley cut him off before he could even get to the main point. Startled, Koi shut his mouth and nodded hurriedly.
“Uh, yeah, mhm.”
Staring at him with a cold face as he stuttered from nervousness, Ashley finally declared.
“From now on, I will handle all the children’s education. Don’t you dare go near them.”
In an instant, Koi’s face turned pale. He looked as though he had never imagined such words would come out, but Ashley’s expression remained unchanged.
“B-but Ash….”
As Koi urgently tried to say something, Ashley cut him off again.
“Listen to me, Koi. Your opinion is not needed. Do as I say, understood?”
Koi usually just nodded and said, “Okay.” Furthermore, Ashley had never been the type to crush Koi’s will with such coercive language. But this time, neither of them could back down.
“Ash, that’s too harsh. This is ridiculous. I’m their daddy; how can I not see the children? You know they are my precious….”
“You can’t do it.”
Once again, Ashley cut him off mid-sentence.
“You can’t handle them. This is a job for me. If things stay like this, you might actually die one day.”
His voice trembled slightly when he uttered the word ‘die.’ Just recalling the image of Koi losing consciousness before his eyes made Ashley feel as if his heart were burning. If such a thing happened again, and if his own child were the one to do it…
This time, I would truly kill it.
“Ash, there are many people in the mansion. I was just careless this time, and if I’m careful from now on….”
“Koi, if we just leave them be, they will surely kill someone and go to prison. Is that what you want? Do you want the children to be hanged?”
In reality, since lethal injections were used and the number of states practicing the death penalty was decreasing, it wasn’t a precise description. However, this would be far more shocking to Koi.
Sure enough, Koi turned pale with a terrified expression. Was that more frightening than the fact that he had almost died? Ashley felt a surge of inner anger.
“But Ash, not all Extreme Alphas are like that. So if we start together from now….”
“Koi, Koi, Koi!”
Finally, Ashley shouted, calling his name repeatedly. As a startled Koi tensed up, Ashley suppressed his anger and spoke.
“This is not a request, it is an order, Koi. If you don’t follow my words, I will buy an island and isolate those monsters entirely, do you understand? I’ll keep them shoved in there for ten years, twenty years, for the rest of their lives! So they can never appear before you again!”
His eyes were full of murderous intent. He looked ready to do whatever it took, and Koi could no longer try to stop him. His silence, overwhelmed by the intensity, clearly showed that his will had been completely broken, but that wasn’t enough. Ashley pressed him again in a harsh tone.
“Do you understand? Answer me.”
Ultimately, Koi had no choice but to surrender. Dropping his head, Koi murmured softly with a gloomy face.
“I understand….”
An uncomfortable silence descended. Ashley had finally elicited the answer he wanted, but that didn’t mean his own heart was at ease. Regardless, since Koi had accepted it, he didn’t want to hurt him any further. Ashley softened his anger and tried to soothe Koi.
“Every child has a specific type of discipline they need. I’m simply taking over the parts you cannot do. I’m not saying you can never see them again; it’s just for the time being. Once the children understand and can distinguish between what they can and cannot do, you can approach them as much as you like. Do you understand?”
After a moment of silence, Koi dropped his head and gave a small “Yes.” My good Koi is back. Thinking this, Ashley kissed Koi’s forehead.
“Just for a while. Children grow quickly, so they’ll learn soon.”
“Yeah, I think so too.”
It was a small glimmer of hope, but it seemed to give Koi his strength back as his face brightened slightly. It was then, as Ashley smiled softly and brushed back his hair, that Koi asked with a desperate look, appearing to hesitate for a moment.
“B-but, it’s okay if I talk to Chase occasionally, right? He hasn’t manifested yet, and his eyes are still blue.”
“Koi.”
“Chase is so young. He’s different from the others. He cried so much yesterday, I felt so sorry for him that I….”
“Nathaniel came to see me.”
Ashley dropped this sudden piece of news on Koi, who was working hard to persuade him. Startled by the unexpected news, Koi looked up at him, and Ashley continued with a cold face.
“He said he needed a way to discharge his Pheromones. Bernice told him the party schedule, so he must have gone. He probably came back drenched in Pheromones, though of course, you didn’t notice at all.”
Koi couldn’t react immediately and just gaped. He knew he should say something, but he was too bewildered for words to come to mind.
“That… happened….”
“Yes.”
As he barely managed to stammer out the words, Ashley nodded readily.
“The children are growing much faster than we imagined. Chase will manifest soon. Of course, he will also need education, just like the other children.”
Was that so? Koi was skeptical, but he had no grounds to argue against Ashley’s words. After all, as a fellow Alpha, Ashley would know far more about traits.
“Koi, did you know that our children have no expressions?”
“Uh, huh, what?”
Koi instinctively stuttered at the abrupt question. As Ashley stared at him, he hurriedly composed himself and searched his memory.
“Uh… it was a bit like that… but since Nathaniel was like that too, I wondered if it was because of their trait….”
“It is because of the trait.”
Ashley continued coldly.
“Unfortunately, Koi, our children cannot feel emotions. If we did a brain scan, the parts responsible for emotion might be dead. It can’t be helped; they were Extreme Alphas from the moment they were born.”
The color drained from Koi’s face. However, since he didn’t look completely shocked, Ashley realized that he had been bracing himself internally.
Then again, he spends almost all day with them; there’s no way he wouldn’t have known.
Recalling this bitterly, Ashley continued.
“Even if we are smiling or angry, they won’t know. Therefore, they won’t understand why we smile or why we are angry. We have to teach them that. If they can’t feel it, we must make them at least pretend to feel it.”
“…Is that… possible?”
Koi asked in a voice lacking confidence. Ashley answered firmly.
“I will make it possible.”
Then, he softened his tone as if coaxing him and added,
“Don’t worry. As I said before, it won’t take long.”
“…I trust you, Ash.”
Koi managed a difficult smile. Seeing the smile that hid disappointment and hurt, Ashley’s heart ached.