Bondage and Marriage - 76

“Hmm… let’s see, what color eyes would be good…”

Mikhail stood in front of the eye display case with a very pleased look on his face, examining the eyeballs floating in the preservation liquid. On one side, there was a wide spread of oiled synthetic leather, and on the other side, there were scattered teeth and fingers, while one wall was covered with numerous eyeballs floating around, making it look like a room from some gore movie.

After much consideration, Mikhail finally carefully picked up one container. It contained a pair of amber-colored eyeballs floating lazily. Mikhail, wearing gloves that stuck to his hands, carefully lifted one eyeball. Eyes were an essential part of a beautiful appearance. Mikhail always paid the most attention to the eyes among all the parts of an android.

Just as he was carefully fitting the eyeball into the empty sockets of a skull where the facial tissue had been removed, revealing all sorts of intricate mechanical parts, and was about to pick up the other pair… smack – no, more like a fierce thud – a hand violently slapped Mikhail’s hand, causing the eyeball to drop from his grasp, roll over the workbench, fall into an oil container, and with a sizzle, deflate.

“Aah… what are you doing? That was a color I particularly cherished.”

“What are you doing with people standing around? Do you really want to die?”

Ian growled fiercely. The momentum was so intense that Mikhail reluctantly let go of the eyeball. Well, odd eyes aren’t so bad. Amber and blue… oh, let’s go with a cat concept. Mikhail, who often lost himself in another world while making androids, thought about a series of animal-themed androids until he just managed to come to his senses right before Ian might have killed him. Not that Ian’s feelings towards Mikhail were good to begin with, and now he was contemplating whether to carry out his threat while glancing at a large wrench used for tightening android joints. Mikhail coughed and hid the wrench behind him.

“What’s the matter, friend?”

“Stop talking nonsense. Since when were you my friend?”

Well, that was true. Ian and Mikhail weren’t close enough to be friends. Seeing Ian’s eyes blaze with anger, Mikhail slightly regretted having fun at Ian’s expense when he was fooled by Noah Frost. It was meant to be entertaining after destroying an android, but now, it seemed like Ian might destroy all the android parts here.

“You knew Noah was a member here. Don’t even think about denying it.”

“That was… all… for you two to get along better…”

Mikhail trailed off cunningly, making Ian smirk. Want to see another android destroyed? No, not just one… Though Ian’s threat was unpleasant, Mikhail had no choice but to surrender. Now, he truly regretted inviting Ian Miller to his workshop. This is why working on androids is problematic. It feels like I’ve lost a screw somewhere…

“Alright. Honestly, I watched because it was fun to see you.”

“…”

Mikhail’s overly honest confession left Ian speechless. I was going to tell the truth, but you brought that android in such a state that day. Mikhail added, while quietly removing important parts from around Ian, like the main power unit, which could be considered the heart of the android, or the carefully crafted artificial genitalia, made with as much attention as if they were taken from a real person.

“Well… didn’t it work out in the end? …or not.”

Seeing Ian’s expression, Mikhail realized it hadn’t worked out at all and responded half-heartedly. He wanted to finish this conversation with Ian quickly and continue working on the android he had left unfinished. However, Ian didn’t seem inclined to do so, sitting on the workbench and reaching into the open abdomen of the android where all the internal parts were visible. As Ian’s finger wrapped around a wire, Mikhail’s face turned a bit pale.

“You shouldn’t touch that. If that wire breaks, the android will have erectile dysfunction.”

“Oh, really?”

As Ian pulled the wire, Mikhail’s fingers twitched. Finally, unable to bear the tension, Mikhail raised his hands while looking at Ian’s expressionless face and the fingers that seemed about to rip the wire.

“Alright, what do you want from me?”

“I’d love to kill you for deceiving me, but that would ruin my business, so I’ll hold back. Tell me everything you know about Noah.”

“Information fee?”

Mikhail heard the sound of Ian’s finger moving away from the wire and decided not to tease him further.

“Here you go.”

Mikhail, after telling Ian to wait, went outside and came back with a document for him. It was a document he had prepared, knowing Ian would one day investigate Noah Frost. He had planned to sell it for a high price, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way. Still, it was fun.

“If you’re going to use it for divorce, it won’t be much help. If you want, I can gather more useful information.”

“Shut up.”

Ian gritted his teeth while flipping through the pages. Inside, it listed everyone Noah had been involved with in the past and how many times he had visited this club. The names on the list were quite irritating, but Ian wasn’t interested in the past. His eyes stopped at one place after going through the list before marriage – after the marriage date, there was no one else’s name but his own. Ian’s previously furrowed brows finally relaxed.

“Oh… you’re not planning to divorce?”

“I told you to shut up.”

“That’s surprising. It’s beyond my expectations. I thought you two would divorce for sure.”

Mikhail, who couldn’t resist anything he found entertaining, spoke in an excited voice. What’s the reason? I knew you had some feelings for Noah Frost, but I thought you couldn’t overcome the betrayal. Ah, right… or is this part of your revenge plan? No, that plan has already failed.

Ian, who had intended to read these unpleasant documents here and then dispose of them on the spot before leaving, was trembling with irritation and anger. He knew Noah was this kind of person when they joined hands, but he hadn’t expected him to be so annoying…

Ian ignored Mikhail’s voice for now and skimmed through the documents. Starting with the letter A, Alex was at the top of Noah’s social circle. After that, there were Alicia, Benjamin, …Heather… and so on. Seeing the warning mark next to Alex’s name, which was usually reserved for family members, Ian felt an intense jealousy, but just as he was about to read about James Frenet, who also had a warning mark under J, Mikhail exclaimed in surprise. My God, do you really like Noah Frost that much? At that, Ian’s irritation exploded, and he grabbed a handful of the android’s internal wires and ripped them out.

“No!!”

Mikhail screamed and rushed towards the android. No, Amber…! It was almost complete! Oh, Amber… Mikhail was deeply saddened as he held the dangling wires. Although it was irritating, Ian knew well that Mikhail, who looked like an angel but was more like a four-dimensional madman, would be annoying, so he left the workshop before Mikhail could bother him further. He could look at the documents back at the mansion.

As Ian left, carrying the documents, Daniel, who had been waiting outside, followed him. Daniel’s face looked a bit gloomy, clearly aware that his boss was in a bad mood. Whatever had happened, Ian had been quite low-spirited recently.

“There’s a schedule at the main office in 30 minutes, Chairman.”

“Cancel it and postpone it to tomorrow.”

Canceling the only schedule meant going home early. Daniel, who didn’t want to be with Ian, who had been particularly low-spirited today, tried not to show too much pleasure as he bid Ian goodbye until tomorrow. Regardless, Ian, lost in complex thoughts, didn’t even look at Daniel as he got into the waiting limousine.

Since learning about Noah’s unknown side a few days ago, Ian’s mood and mental state had been flipping dozens of times a day. While it wasn’t completely erased, he felt some relief knowing that he hadn’t caused Noah any trauma or emotional scars, despite having tormented him, but at the same time, he felt betrayed… Amidst the betrayal, he was also bewildered by his own feelings of fondness when looking at Noah.

Ultimately, the emotion left at the end was the pain and frustration from realizing that Noah had never truly liked him. Ian had never imagined before that he would draft such a ridiculous contract to hold onto someone. It was extremely damaging to his pride, but he was willing to bear that damage… because he wanted Noah. Even if having him by his side was painful, it was better than seeing him with someone else. Besides, it wasn’t all pain.

“Stop for a moment.”

“Yes, Mr. Ian.”

After telling the driver to stop, Ian got out of the limousine. The place where the limousine gently came to a halt was a dessert shop that Ian had been visiting frequently for Noah recently. Despite its somewhat modest exterior, the interior was decorated very classically. Under the soft orange lighting, the display cases were filled with desserts so beautifully decorated that one would hesitate to touch them. The difference from regular shops was that none of the desserts had price tags.

“Welcome.”

The clerk, who had memorized Ian’s face by now, greeted him kindly. Perhaps because the shop mainly dealt in sweet desserts, it was staffed by omegas or betas, and the clerk was an omega as well. Ian’s gaze stopped at one spot while looking around the interior. A dessert, which clearly seemed to be the epitome of sweetness, was displayed prominently at the top of the case like a king.

Without hesitation, Ian picked up that dessert, chose a few more, and approached the counter. The clerk, blushing slightly due to Ian’s handsome face and the alpha pheromones, sneakily added one more pastry, but Ian remained indifferent.

Finally, carrying the desserts of unknown price, Ian got back into the limousine. The sweet aroma filled the car throughout the journey. Ian glanced down at the desserts he had bought, deep in thought. Indeed, this dessert shop had the best reaction last time… Come to think of it, Noah had quite picky eating habits. He liked sweets, and there were foods he wouldn’t eat… Like a child’s taste.

“Ian, you’re back.”

When Ian entered the mansion, as always at the time of his return, Noah came out to greet him with Hayden. Just a few days ago, his face was so bright you would never guess there had been a major incident. Yes, this too was somewhat reassuring. Ian thought to himself. Noah might have hidden his tastes, but he hadn’t faked his personality. There was no particular difference between past and now.

Seeing the familiar dessert shop shopping bag in Ian’s hand, Noah’s eyes widened adorably, but Ian pretended not to notice, handing his coat to Hayden before heading to the drawing room. Noah following behind him like a pet with a treat in its owner’s hand was somehow cute. As Ian sat on the sofa, massaging his shoulders as if tired, Noah sat down beside him in a daze.

“It’s before dinner, but one should be fine, right?”

“Of course, it’s fine!”

Ian thought as he took out one of the desserts he had bought today. He understood why so many people were drawn to Noah. This was just too easy to entice… I’ll have to keep a better watch over him from now on. And while watching Noah’s eyes sparkle, Ian took out a tart, glistening with nicely spread syrup, and with a fork, cut off a piece…

He pushed it into his own mouth right in front of Noah.