Chapter 35: False Happiness

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: False Happiness

Once the Martinez siblings had gone, the VIP room held only the two Masons and a few members of the service staff.

Mr. Mason signalled for the staff to leave. They quickly cleared away the leftover food, wiped the table clean and then left the room.

When only the two of them remained, Daniel looked down at the mandarin and the half-peeled segment in his hand, then lifted his head to look at Mr. Mason. Mr. Mason sat down unhurriedly, sipped at his half-finished cup of tea, said calmly:

"If you want to eat it then eat it, you don’t have to ask Daddy’s opinion."

Only then did Daniel pick up the segment Benjamin had peeled for him, putting it into his mouth. The sweet-sour flavor and the fresh fragrance flooded his tongue. Daniel’s eyes lit up. He chewed slowly, spat each seed he met into his napkin, then went on chewing. Only when he could no longer feel any juice in his mouth did he swallow.

Daniel finished the whole mandarin Benjamin had peeled for him before he remembered that his Daddy was still sitting there. Red in the face, he took another one to peel for his father, saying quietly:

"Daddy, you eat some too. They’re very good."

Mr. Mason took the mandarin from his son’s hand, peeling off a segment to put in his mouth. He nodded: "Mm, it really is good."

Daniel peeled another for himself, then meant to peel a second for his father, but Mr. Mason wouldn’t take it.

"One is enough for Daddy, keep the rest for yourself."

Daniel made a small sound, ate another one himself. He remembered Benjamin telling him not to eat more than five, so once he had finished the third he stopped, putting the crate of mandarins away with some regret. He planned to take them home to share with his eldest brother, setting a few aside for his second brother as well.

"Daniel."

"Yes?"

"That Martinez family." Mr. Mason picked up his teacup, blowing on it gently: "You are to treat them properly. Don’t look down on them for being poor."

Daniel lifted his head, a little aggrieved: "I don’t look down on anyone! Liam is my friend."

"I know." Mr. Mason took a mouthful of tea: "I’m only reminding you."

He set the cup down, then said: "But bear in mind it stops at friendship. You have a fiancé, and you shouldn’t go beyond the line with another Alpha."

Daniel’s face registered surprise, then a certain displeasure: "Daddy, today was the first time I’ve ever met the Martinez brother, and we’ve barely exchanged a few words. And I’ve told you already, I am not marrying that debauched layabout Jacob, so give up on this idea of marrying me off!"

Mr. Mason set his teacup down hard on the table: "This isn’t a question of what you want. For generations the main line of the Mason family and the Eugene family have maintained a marriage alliance. This is a rule our ancestors laid down, it isn’t something I’m forcing on you. You have to think about your role in this family."

Seeing Daniel’s face go pale and his eyes turn red as though he were about to cry, Mr. Mason’s voice softened: "I know you don’t want to marry the Eugene boy. Your brothers and I have dragged this out four years for you. But that is as far as it goes. Our Mason family is no longer what it was, and we need this marriage alliance with the Eugenes to hold our standing in our circle."

Daniel sniffled: "Why does the family’s standing have to be carried on my marriage? If he were a decent, upright Alpha, then even without any feeling for him I could close my eyes and get on with it. But you know perfectly well what sort of man Jacob Eugene is. In one year the Omegas who turn up pregnant looking for him, male and female both, are more than the fingers on both hands. He isn’t even married and he already has a pile of children, so how exactly am I supposed to live over there?"

Daniel sprang to his feet, shouting: "I don’t care! I’m not marrying him and that’s that! If you insist on marrying me off to him, I’d sooner drive into the meteor belt and be done with it!"

That said, he shoved the door open and ran out, jumped into his car, shot away.

Mr. Mason rubbed his forehead in exasperation, a deep worry in his eyes. It wasn’t as though he wanted his son married to a wretch, or he would never have dragged the wedding out four whole years.

But the Mason family’s situation at present was genuinely desperate, and he truly had no other way.

...

Daniel drove straight home, then shut himself in his room. He threw himself onto the bed, buried his face in a pillow, his shoulders shaking hard.

He had only needed to wait one more year, because his eldest brother’s promotion to Deputy Marshal of the 1st Legion was as certain as a nail driven into a board, at which point Daddy would have raised the matter of breaking the engagement with the Eugenes. Nobody expected that at the critical moment the former Crown Prince would be caught in a scandal of adultery with his younger brother’s wife.

His eldest brother was caught up in it as well, sentenced to exile at the galactic belt to fight the Insectoid race. On the way into exile the ship met with an accident, leaving his brother the simpleton he was now. And so the Mason family lost its standing in that circle, losing any ground from which to propose breaking the engagement.

Daniel had lost his temper with his father, but he knew perfectly well that his family had no road left to retreat along. Without a position of their own, the moment the Masons so much as raised the matter of breaking it off, old Eugene would make the Mason family vanish from galactic history forever.

About twenty minutes later, Daniel’s smart watch buzzed with an incoming call. Daniel lifted his head to look, hesitating when he saw the caller’s name, not wanting to answer. It wasn’t until the call was about to cut off that he pressed to accept.

"Second brother." Daniel’s voice was rather hoarse, and there was something wounded in the pitch of it.

Michael Mason looked at his younger brother’s red eyes and red nose through the screen, feeling a pang. He frowned and said: "Why is our precious Daniel crying? Who’s been bullying you, tell me, and I’ll flatten their whole house."

Daniel pouted, the tears coming down again: "You’re at the front line right now, what could you possibly do. And besides, even if you were home you couldn’t do anything to the Eugenes. Daddy says I have to marry over there by the end of this year, and I don’t want to at all. Second brother, can I come to where you are? I don’t want to be at home anymore."

Michael frowned: "What nonsense is that? The front line isn’t a tourist planet, are you coming out here to be food for the Insectoids?" He scolded him for a moment, then softened again: "If you’re feeling that stifled, go and stay on the tourist planet Eva in the Solaris star system, I bought a building there facing the sea with everything you need in it. Go and enjoy yourself there, and I’ll speak to Daddy about the Eugene business."

Daniel sighed despondently: "Eva has only the same handful of things whichever way you turn, I’ve no interest in it. And talking to Daddy is useless, he’s already made up his mind."

Michael shook his head: "As long as you haven’t married over there, the whole thing can still be salvaged. There now, stop being sad, I’m going to talk to Daddy right now. He certainly won’t make you marry over there anymore."

He gentled his voice to coax Daniel: "Don’t you like browsing the galactic network for interesting things? Rather than lying there crying, wouldn’t it be better to go online and enjoy yourself?"

Daniel puffed out his cheeks: "I am not crying!"

Michael laughed: "Mm-hm, my little brother isn’t crying. My little brother just got dust in his eyes, didn’t he? So does little Daniel who doesn’t cry want any pocket money? I’ll transfer some over."

Daniel shook his head: "There’s no need, I still have plenty. Didn’t you say time at the front line is always precious? Go and get some rest while you can, I’m fine. I’m going to browse online and relax."

Michael nodded: "Mm, but don’t stay up too late, remember to go to bed early."

Daniel said sweetly: "Yes. Goodnight, second brother."

Michael smiled gently and wished his brother a good night, then ended the call. The instant the call was off, his gentle smiling face changed at once, turning utterly cold. Without any expression he pressed to transfer two million silver stars to his younger brother as pocket money, then opened his contacts, connecting to Mr. Mason.

The tone rang twice before Mr. Mason picked up. His face on the screen looked exhausted, so the reproach Michael had ready reached his lips only to be swallowed back down without his meaning it. Mr. Mason rubbed at his forehead, saying:

"You’re calling me about Daniel’s engagement, aren’t you? I’m out of options as well. Lately the Eugenes have been stirring up trouble everywhere, and our businesses are close to collapsing under the pressure from them."

Michael pressed his lips together, then asked: "Has there still been no change in eldest brother’s condition? And what about that person?"

Mr. Mason sighed: "Your brother is the same. As for that person, his lucid periods are growing shorter, and he may well fall into a deep sleep after a while longer."

Michael frowned: "Still no sign of that Omega?"

Mr. Mason shook his head: "We dug out a little information, and learned he’s the Hall family’s adopted Omega son. His name is Liam Hall. But our people haven’t been able to reach this Omega, and never mind the person, we haven’t even seen his shadow. We suspect the Halls have quietly moved him off the Capital planet."

He paused a moment, then went on: "We can’t make open inquiries, and we can’t dig too deep either, so all we can do now is hope that Omega contacts him of his own accord. For a month now, every time he’s lucid he sits staring at that secret smart watch of his."

Mr. Mason’s face was full of gloom, Michael’s hardly better. Then, as though remembering something, Mr. Mason said quickly to his son:

"Michael, I have good news for you. I’ve found a medicine that can stabilize mental power and heal damage to the mental sea. In perhaps a year your brother may get his awareness back. And that person can probably be cured as well."

Michael started: "Daddy, don’t joke with me. If such a medicine existed, why hasn’t the Research Institute announced it? You have to consider that Alphas losing stability in their mental power is becoming more and more common and there’s no medication that cures it outright.

Does this medicine of yours have a clear provenance? Don’t be so desperate to cure my brother that you’ll use anything at all!"

Mr. Mason glared: "Of course I tested it before I dared use it! And I haven’t used it on your brother yet either. Two of that person’s subordinates with moderate mental sea damage volunteered to trial it. If those two genuinely recover without any side effects at all, only then will I let your brother and that person use it!"

Michael let out a breath, only then saying: "If that’s how it is, then good. But don’t put too much hope in it, in case you have to be disappointed. Oh, and Daddy. Daniel’s state of mind isn’t good, and I’m afraid he might do something foolish. For the time being, arrange for him to go somewhere and take his mind off it."

Mr. Mason pressed his lips tight, nodding heavily.

Michael told his Daddy a number of important matters from the front line, then ended the call.

He sent Daniel a message: [I’ve spoken to Daddy, so don’t fight him for the time being. Daddy worries about you a great deal too.]

A long while later there was still no reply from Daniel, so Michael switched off his smart screen in low spirits. He lay on his bed, turning his head to look out the window. Under the light reflecting off the meteor belt, heaps of rubble showed and disappeared, desolate and cold.

Reconnaissance satellites flew across the sky, the small red dots on their tails blinking now and then.

Michael’s thoughts wandered. After a while, he forced himself down into sleep. Time at the front line was extremely precious, so he had to treasure every scrap of it.