MRG Chapter 41: The Beach and the Ocean

Translator: Kii

Editor: yuki_shuichi

In the closed room, the atmosphere was tranquil; there was only the occasional shallow breathing sound.

The bed, which was piled with thick bedding, was like a warm nest for the merman. He held the “prey” who had volunteered to fall into the net and greedily sniffed the scent on the other’s neck.

There was a damp, sticky scent in the air, similar to the smell of the sea, which inexplicably reminded people of wet sand washed by the waves. However, this time, the sandy ground was warm, and water seeped out if pressed.

Light was that sand.

He was trapped in the merman’s nest, his skin was gradually soaked by the waves, and the breath coming out from his nose was moist and warm.

In this hot and tight embrace, Light vaguely smelled a faint scent of the sea.

This reminded him of the pheromones Kole had once mentioned.

He had said merfolks secrete a special pheromone during their mating period to attract mates, but it was not clear whether it had any effect on humans.

Light couldn’t tell if this was a pheromone. In this hot atmosphere, his brain had long since turned into a mess and he couldn’t think straight. Even his body started to feel weird.

He stiffly straightened his back, trying his best to remain calm.

Little did he know that the merman’s pheromones had already had a subtle influence on him.

This process was very slow, so slow that Light himself wasn’t aware of it. The pheromones constantly released by the merman were like a slow-acting neurotoxin injected into his body, causing his spine to unknowingly begin to weaken.

If they knew about the ancient deep-sea merfolks, they would know that when hunting, the merfolks would release powerful mental forces that caused shock waves to the surrounding sea, rendering the targeted prey unable to move.

The release of pheromones was a manifestation of the male merfolk’s inherent desire for dominance and possessiveness. Just like a hunting strategy, it made the other party willingly become their marked “prey.”

And at this moment—

Feeling the strange touch on his neck, Light bit his lips hard, trying to resist the tingling numbness spreading down his spine. The faint pain from his teeth pressing into his lips barely kept his muddled thoughts at a tenuous level of clarity.

Mu Chen held the soft area of flesh on the side of his neck in his mouth and sucked on it intently and repeatedly.

He was like a hunter with a very specific purpose, only targeting this small area.

It made Light feel ticklish and painful…

The skin that was repeatedly rubbed became extremely tender and turned into a deep rose red.

Light could feel the other’s wet breath and the outline of his lip print close to his own.

Suddenly, something soft and warm scraped across the back of his neck.

It was the tip of Mu Chen’s tongue.

The electric shock-like stimulation made Light’s pupils shrink suddenly. He straightened his waist and tried to get rid of the strange touch, but all the muscles in his body seemed to have lost their strength; he was like a fish that could not struggle to get away.

“Hng.”

The person holding him seemed to sense Light’s resistance. Mu Chen let out a puppy-like whimper and rubbed his nose against Light’s neck.

Mu Chen was very much aware that if he did this, Light would be softhearted, and then would completely follow his intentions.

Sure enough, in the next second—

The other party stopped struggling and his muscles became less taunt.

The atmosphere was silent for a while. Light patted Mu Chen’s back in comfort. He resisted the urge to escape this confined nest and tried to relax his body.

He told himself that the mating period caused Mu Chen discomfort.

It would be fine if he held it in for a bit.

The prey in the trap retreated again and again. Mu Chen hugged him contentedly.

Mu Chen’s gaze traced along Light’s inwardly pressed white shirt, outlined the curve of his narrow waist and firm hips. He could almost imagine the expression on Light’s handsome face—lips tightly pressed together, enduring silently despite clearly feeling uncomfortable.

Because Light couldn’t bear the discomfort he felt in his mating period, he would agree to all of his unruly requests.

In the dark, the merman’s Adam’s apple rolled up and down…

Soon, very soon, he would be able to claim the spoils of victory that belonged to him.

The scent of the ocean slowly engulfed the warm room.

The two maintained this posture in silence.

After an unknown amount of time, Light felt the arms around him lose some of their strength, and then he heard long and even breathing come from beside him.

It seemed Mu Chen had fallen asleep.

Light slightly scooted back, and under the dim light, he saw the merman’s soft silver hair sliding down from his forehead. His sleeping face was exceptionally peaceful.

Mu Chen had his eyes closed, his feather-like long eyelashes cast a small shadow around the bridge of his high nose. The sleeping merman looked remarkably well-behaved, his handsome face carrying a hint of boyish innocence, completely devoid of the earlier aggression. It was a sight that made it impossible to look away.

It was only when the person in front of him pursed his lips that Light snapped out of it. He carefully pushed away Mu Chen’s arm that was on him, then slowly moved away from the messy bed.

The moment he got up from the bed, Light felt his legs suddenly soften.

“Haaa…” He couldn’t help but let out a sigh. Light put his hand on the edge of the bed, his ears stained with a layer of red. Fortunately, due to his skin color, it didn’t look so obvious.

He steadied himself, his eyes trembled slightly…

They clearly only hugged, how’d he ended up like this?

Light unconsciously looked back to the bed. Fortunately, Mu Chen was still sleeping soundly and had not been woken by the noise he made.

The moment he stood up and leaned against the closet, the strange feeling subsided.

After leaving Mu Chen’s room, Light sat in the chair of the living room for a while. It was only when the fresh, cool air completely calmed down the hot feeling that he returned to his own room.

He walked to the full-length mirror and tidied up his appearance, but then he surprisingly saw an ambiguous mark near his jawline on the side of his neck. The skin there had turned rosy red, and upon closer inspection, it was slightly swollen.

It was like…

Although Light didn’t want to use that word.

It seemed to be a hickey.

He unconsciously reached out his hand to touch it.

The moment his fingertip pressed on it, the skin felt a sour and itchy sensation, which was mixed with a faint tingling pain, uncontrollably bringing his mind to the merman’s enclosed nest and the damp, lingering sensation of his lips.

The tip of Light’s ears were hot. He turned his eyes away and stopped looking at the mark…

It was too noticeable.

He needed to cover this up.

Light took out a new white dress shirt from the closet and buttoned it neatly, but the red mark could still be vaguely seen through the edge of the collar.

He furrowed his brows, then took out a bandaid from the first-aid kit. After carefully sticking it along the edge of the red mark, he turned his head with satisfaction.

Looking at his meticulous appearance in the mirror, Light lifted a strand of hair from his forehead, and then went to the dining hall.

When he arrived, Jorah was eating.

“Father.”

Light greeted him.

Jorah nodded slightly, motioning him to sit down. “You’ve been helping Mu Chen pick a partner recently?”

Light, “Mhm.”

Jorah, “Have you found one?”

Light didn’t know why he suddenly asked this and was stunned for a moment, saying, “No.”

Jorah snorted softly from his nose, as if expressing some dissatisfaction.

Light glanced at Jorah, then ignored him. He spread out his napkin and prepared to have the waiter serve the food.

Jorah used his knuckle to knock on the table. “It’s one thing for you to be stubborn, but now you’re holding Mu Chen back too. I really don’t get what you’re thinking.”

His eldest son was too stubborn, his second son was too playful, and his third son was hopeless. The only one who seemed to have any promise was the sweet-talking, people-pleasing merman child.

Jorah sometimes wondered whether he would have grandchildren in his lifetime. He couldn’t count on his own three sons, so he had been thinking that when Mu Chen grew up, he would find a good girl and have a nest of cute merfolk babies, making the palace more lively by then.

As a result, it was stopped by Light.

He didn’t get it—was being single infectious, one infecting two?

Light answered seriously, “I just couldn’t find a suitable one.”

Jorah, “Ah, yes, yes.”

Light, “…”

The two started eating with their heads down.

Knock, knock, knock. A moment later, there was a knock on the door outside of the hall.

Light raised his head to look and saw Mu Chen standing at the door with a slight smile. Because he had just woken up, his cheeks were still a bit pink.

The moment their eyes met, he avoided his eyes as if he had been electrocuted.

Jorah, who was sitting at the side, looked at Mu Chen. Just as he opened his mouth to call out, he furrowed his brows, as if he’d forgotten the words. After a moment of hesitation, he finally said, “Lance, you’re here.”

Mu Chen was stunned for a moment. “Your Majesty…I’m Mu Chen.”

The atmosphere in the room was silent for a while. Light turned to look at Jorah.

“Ahem…” Jorah embarrassingly rubbed his nose, then pointed at the seat in front of him, saying, “Sit. Look at my memory, I’ve got it mixed up.”

Seeing Light still looking at him with a puzzled expression, he raised his voice, “What? When you were little, I also mixed up both of your names frequently.”

Light retracted his gaze.

“You guys eat, I’ll leave first.” Jorah was pretty much done eating, using a napkin to wipe his mouth. Then he lowered his head and kept looking at the side of the chair, as if looking for something.

But he couldn’t find it. He furrowed his brows and muttered to himself, “Um…where did it go?”

Jorah’s attendant immediately went up to him, asking him as he bent down, “Your Majesty, what are you looking for?”

Jorah, “Scepter, my scepter, where did it go?”

Attendant, “You didn’t bring it with you.”

Jorah, “I didn’t?”

The attendant nodded. “Your Majesty, before, you said you were just eating so you don’t need to bring it. The scepter is still in your room. If you want it, I’ll immediately go get it for you.”

“No need.” Jorah waved at him, then stood up from his seat.

Light furrowed his brows as he looked at his retreating back. Just as he lowered his head and was thinking…

“Ge, oh…what’s wrong with your neck? You’ve been bitten by something?”

Suddenly, a loud questioning voice came to his ears.

This time, Lance was really here.

His shout attracted Mu Chen’s gaze as well.

After glancing at the bandaid on Light’s neck, a barely perceptible smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

Light’s movement went stiff; he felt a little uncomfortable with Lance’s fussing look.

His long lashes trembled, and he unconsciously raised his eyes and looked at Mu Chen who was sitting across from him. The latter had just stuffed a large piece of fish into his mouth, and his cheeks were bulging.

He looked like a squirrel hoarding food.

For some reason, this thought popped into Light’s head.

If Mu Chen was a squirrel, he must have shiny, fluffy, and silky fur all over his body, the best-looking squirrel.

But Light’s mind subconsciously emerged the image of the merman’s smooth and cold tail, as well as the protruding and hard scales.

His thoughts drifted away involuntarily…

He only looked like a squirrel, but in fact, he could be a python.

Lance called out to him, “Ge?”

Light retracted his gaze and explained, “Was stung by a bee.”

“Is it serious?” Lance peppered his beef while chattering with Light, “I heard that bees are poisonous, do you need to have a doctor look at it…”

Seeing that Light didn’t want to listen, he raised a brow.

“I’m not lying. Last time, I saw a mutant man-eating bee. If it bites a person, they will mutate. Then the whole skin will be necrotic. And if you are stung by a bee, it isn’t good to cover the wound all the time. Why don’t you…”

Hearing this, Light’s eyebrows slightly furrowed, and he reflexively put his hand to cover the side of his neck. “I’m fine.”

“Oh.” Lance glanced at Light, who had a stiff expression, then looked at Mu Chen, who was sitting opposite him without saying a word…

He couldn’t shake off this strange feeling.