By Zephyria 
What a godforsaken country.
Ashley Miller had been in a foul mood ever since he decided to attend the party. His employees, who had long since noticed his deeply unsettled state, moved about busily, trying their best to stay quiet and out of sight.
Why on earth did every single event require a partner?
The more he thought about it, the more unreasonable it seemed. Why should he have to parade his precious Koi around everywhere? When building this mansion, Ashley had paid the most attention to the panic room. It was a place where he could lock Koi away if it ever came to that, though he hadn’t used it yet. Koi didn’t even know such a place existed. Of course, Ashley had made extensive preparations to ensure such a situation would never arise. Above all, this fortress-like house, thoroughly isolated from the world and requiring over thirty minutes by car just to reach a main road, was essentially a quarantine facility where Koi couldn’t go anywhere alone.
Naturally, it was nearly impossible for anyone to visit. Not a single friend had been able to come since the wedding, either.
He is mine alone.
Just the fact that Koi existed made Ashley look forward to coming home. Waiting for him at the entrance, pulling him into a tight embrace the moment he threw himself into his arms—it felt like having the whole world. How satisfying every single day was, knowing that Koi was finally his. It couldn’t get any happier than this.
He cherished him so dearly.
Unfortunately, the ‘social climate’ had him by the ankle. In short, it was the fact that whenever and wherever there was ‘any kind of gathering,’ a ‘partner’ was absolutely required.
Of course, until now, he had ignored it and lived his life. He often went to parties alone, and when necessary, he brought Bernice. No one harbored suspicions about his relationship with the woman, who was close to his mother’s age. Various speculations about his private life continued but always fizzled out.
However, after it became known that he had married Koi, the atmosphere changed completely. ‘That’ Ashley Miller had chosen a partner? Who on earth, and how, had landed such a big fish? Naturally, everyone waited for the day Ashley would show up with him. Finally, Ashley Miller was attending a party with a partner.
Unfortunately, that was a misconception. Ashley was still alone. It was merely a simple possessive desire not to show Koi off, but people thought differently.
Is it just a physical relationship?
Ashley Miller, who married a gold digger but doesn’t accompany him
Ashley Miller has a weakness held by the gold digger
All sorts of speculations and dirty rumors circulated. Until now, Ashley hadn’t given a speck of attention to what people said about him or anything else. But when it came to Koi, he couldn’t tolerate it for even a second. Moreover, he was far too easy prey for the gossip-loving crows of high society. If he exposed Koi defenselessly before them, it was obvious he’d be torn to shreds in less than ten minutes. Therefore, keeping him hidden away was an all too obvious choice.
How dare they insult Koi.
He had a thousand ways to sue every tabloid and make the people spouting nonsense weep tears of blood, but that would take too much time and was far too inefficient. Simply accompanying Koi and appearing before people would be enough. The easiest and fastest method. If only he could suppress his own desire to monopolize Koi.
But after making the difficult decision and notifying them of his attendance, as the day approached, his mood grew progressively worse. Even though Koi was curious and delighted, until the very end, Ashley wanted to avoid putting Koi before the social climbers of high society. He wondered if there was any other way, but time passed uselessly, and eventually, this day had arrived.
For this reason, the only exceptional being who could soothe Ashley’s mood, which had been an extreme low-pressure system since early morning, was, as always, Koi.
“Ash, how is it? Okay?”
Koi, wearing the suit prepared in advance with his hair neatly swept back, stood before Ashley. The handmade shoes, polished clean, were spotless without a speck of dust. The near-white gray suit, perfectly fitted to his body, suited him as well as expected, and his slightly flushed red cheeks were utterly adorable. The black pearl tie pin and the diamond cufflinks on his sleeves were clearly the butler’s idea.
“Good.”
When Ashley nodded in satisfaction, only then did Koi’s face brighten up.
“That’s a relief.”
Smoothing his chest in relief, Koi continued, somewhat awkwardly.
“It’s my first time at a place like this… I shouldn’t make you embarrassed because of me. So I was really worried…”
No way, that would absolutely never happen. Why did he think that?
Ashley frowned momentarily, then narrowed his eyes and asked.
“Koi, you’re not thinking that I’ve been going alone all this time because I’m ashamed of you, are you?”
“Uh… uhh?”
Koi flustered and looked away. The situation where cold sweat was pouring down his back was visible to the naked eye.
“No, well, I’m not used to those kinds of places… I might be a bother to you, and there’s no reason a partner absolutely has to go along…”
But in this godforsaken country, that’s just how it is.
Ashley fell into thought for a moment, looking at Koi’s face, which was interpreting the situation completely differently from his own intention. That said, he had absolutely no intention of honestly revealing why he hadn’t accompanied Koi until now.
If he finds out I’m so obsessed that I don’t even want to take him outside, Koi will get sick of me.
Most people never like their partner being that restrictive. Koi is quite lenient towards Ashley, so he might even accept that, but he’d definitely feel awkward.
Then there’s only one way.
Ashley, with a nonchalant expression, lightly wiggled a finger at Koi. As Koi approached as instructed, he opened the accessory drawer and scanned the leather boxes placed inside at regular intervals. Koi tilted his head, watching as Ashley chose one of them.
“Huh.”
At Ashley’s action of silently taking the watch from the box and fastening it onto his wrist, Koi blinked in confusion. He had left off the old watch he always wore because it didn’t match today’s outfit. Feeling the heavy weight on his previously empty wrist, Koi looked at the watch in a daze, examining it this way and that. Seeing the gems densely embedded not only on the watch face but also on the band, it was clearly an astronomical price.
“It’s a token of gratitude.”
“Huh? For what?”
As Koi, not knowing what to do, looked up from the watch, Ashley kissed his lips as if he had been waiting.
“A reward for coming to the party with me.”
“Huh? No, there’s no need…”
Koi hurriedly tried to shake his head, but stopped short as Ashley immediately wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him close. Seizing the moment Koi paused, Ashley continued with a sweet smile.
“I didn’t know you were thinking that. I was just trying to be considerate of you.”
“Considerate? …Of me?”
“Yes.”
Before Koi could start thinking nonsense again, Ashley quickly, but at a pace Koi wouldn’t notice, opened his mouth.
“You’re not used to this kind of life, and after giving birth to Nathaniel, you were completely absorbed in the baby, right? So I thought you’d rather spend time with the baby than waste time on such pointless things.”
Of course, it was a lie. Ashley never wanted to share Koi with anyone else. Even if it was his and Koi’s own child. He had merely made the unavoidable choice that it was better to let him play with the baby than to take him to a party and expose him to countless people. Naturally, there was no chance Koi would sense such hidden feelings.
“Ah…”
Koi’s eyes widened. Looking down at Koi, who was already almost convinced, Ashley gave a wry smile.
“I wanted to go with you, but I held back for your sake.”
“Ash…!”
Just as expected, Koi called Ashley’s name with a face mixed with apology and gratitude. Ashley naturally embraced Koi, who wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed him, enjoying him rubbing his lips against his to his heart’s content.