AHEIAID Chapter 63: The Fool Turns Out to Be Me (Part 2)
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As a clerical officer, Amon was not as vigilant as combat personnel like Reina. He only noticed Joey after Joey deliberately made some noise.
"Joey?" Amon was startled and glanced behind Joey. Not seeing his superior, who was usually glued to the human, he asked in confusion, "Why are you out here? Where is Lord Heine?"
"He's working."
"So, did you get lost on your way to the bathroom?"
"...No!" Do I look like the kind of idiot who would get lost outside my own bathroom? Damn!
"Uh, then you..."
Joey crossed his arms over his chest and squinted at Amon, the chief aide to Garius. His flashing black eyes sent a shiver down Amon’s spine, filling him with an ominous premonition. His hair stood on end.
"Amon~" Joey dragged out his words, looking at the ‘head steward’ with a half-smile. "I have something to ask you."
Amon: "..." That smile definitely meant trouble!
Amon cleared his throat and instinctively straightened his posture. "Ask away."
Joey's smile faded. "Garius..."
"Hmm?"
"Does he have a lover?"
"Phff—!"
Amon clapped a hand over his mouth, nearly spraying snot. He turned away, coughing for a long time before looking back at Joey with an expression of utter horror!
Who has a lover?
Their Lord Heine?!
Holy crap, this must be a joke!
But seeing the serious look on the human's face, he quickly connected it to the ‘ex-lover crisis’ he'd just been dealing with.
Amon's shocked expression calmed.
His tone softened as well.
This man, who always radiated an inexplicable "life coach" aura, crouched slightly to meet the frowning human’s gaze and said in a quiet, amused voice, "You know, before you came along, Lord Heine had many nicknames. The most famous one was ‘Walking Ticket’."
"..."
T-Ticket??
Amon nodded and sighed.
"Don’t be fooled by Lord Heine’s good looks, noble lineage, and high-ranking position. In reality, because he avoids any political entanglements, he refuses to marry someone with a prestigious family background. As a result, the noble ladies don’t really care for him.
After all, who wants a piece of meat they can only look at but never eat?"
"..."
"Besides, we in District 13 are in charge of surveillance. When we’re around strangers, we only make them wary and nervous—we can’t exactly make friends."
It's like a homeroom teacher—just seeing them is stressful enough. Who the hell would want to marry one? That would be suffocating.
Amon concluded, "Anyone who dares marry into District 13 is a warrior. And someone who could be Lord Heine’s lover... well, they’d have to be a warrior among warriors—no, a dragon."
Not afraid of being investigated, able to escape if caught.
Or, like little Joey here—‘Go ahead, investigate me. I'm endangered. If you push me too hard, you’ll regret it.’
Joey: ...
Amon's words were like a pair of scissors, snipping at the taut string suspending his anxious heart. The thread swayed violently, nearly breaking.
Joey asked himself: Maybe I already knew the answer.
His inexplicable jealousy, his stubborn pursuit of the truth—it wasn’t really about Garius having a past lover.
It was like a dodder vine clinging to a great tree, tightening around it, bringing pain to both, constantly demanding confirmation:
Tree, oh tree, do you love me?
Garius, oh Garius, do you love me?
Even when the other party had already given a clear answer, his own lack of trust made him seek more proof.
...Immature.
So damn immature!
Joey pressed his lips together. After a pause, he met Amon’s gaze again and asked, "You also know the secret about Garius in District 13, don’t you?"
"Huh? Oh, that." Amon blinked, as if only just remembering, then suddenly realized something. "So you thought that secret was some kind of romantic scandal?"
The elite assistant looked amused, and Joey immediately understood—he had definitely gotten it wrong.
"If it’s not, then what is it?"
"Hmm, I can’t tell you that. Actually, Lord Heine doesn’t even know about it himself. Haha. Don’t worry, it’s just an utterly ordinary little thing."
Joey was silent for a moment. His frown eased a bit. He bid farewell to Amon and continued walking forward.
This time, there was no more anger or suspicion—just a need to process his chaotic feelings of regret, frustration, and gloom.
At first, suspecting Garius of having a past lover had made Joey burn with jealousy, his head clouded with irrationality. But now that he was certain it wasn’t true, he felt an indescribable sense of dejection.
The system sneakily popped up, acting like an emotional expert, and said: "It’s really not a big deal. Garius is so outstanding, it’s only natural for you to feel insecure sometimes. Besides, jealousy is super common between lovers. Plenty of people get jealous just from their partner looking at someone else’s picture. You have nothing to feel down about."
Joey muttered, "I wasn’t calm enough. I wasn’t magnanimous enough."
The system rolled its eyes: "Who the hell is magnanimous in love?!"
Ever heard of the song Overboard?
You think giving your partner a bunch of freedom proves how generous and cool you are, letting them party whenever they want—until reality slaps you in the face with a harsh lesson.
"But Garius might think I'm annoying..."
Joey slouched, absentmindedly picking at his fingers. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like he had overreacted. Why do I always lose my cool in situations like this?!
The system was exasperated seeing Joey act so cowardly. It wriggled its jelly-like body and sighed:
【Listen to me, Joey. You’re already married, you know that, right? Do you understand what that means?】
“Huh?”
【Huh, my ass! It means you two are partners! Lovers! You should trust Garius more, but Garius should also step up and explain things to give you a sense of security.】
Love and marriage are meant to be exclusive to two people.
There’s no room for a third party.
Jealousy and envy are normal, as long as they don’t turn into baseless, irrational tantrums.
If handled well, they can even become little moments that strengthen a relationship.
Someone who truly loves you will tolerate your jealousy because it shows how much you care. They’ll reassure you softly and make compromises for your peace of mind.
When they feel jealous, it’s also your duty to ease their insecurities and respond patiently.
That’s what love is!
That’s the responsibility between partners!
【If you just bottle up your jealousy and force yourself to suppress it, or secretly snoop around gathering unclear information, things will definitely go wrong in the end.】
The system let out a loud huff.
【Go find Garius right now and tell him you’re jealous! Tell him you don’t like these little secrets, you don’t like his ex, and you just want him to like you—what’s wrong with that? Huh? What’s wrong with that?!】
If he hears this and doesn’t respond with a sweet chuckle and an explanation but instead gets impatient, brushes you off, and tells you not to overthink things because they’re “just friends”... then he’s definitely trash!
24k pure trash!
“……”
Joey knew the system was making sense, but the sheer embarrassment of it made his ears turn red, his whole body stiffening.
T-This kind of insanely possessive, cutesy whining—how the hell was he supposed to say that out loud?!
He was a grown-ass otaku, not some adorable little thing!
… He’d die.
He’d suffer social death, dammit!
“Ugh, maybe… maybe I just won’t say anything. Ahem, I mean, everything’s clear now anyway…” Joey averted his gaze.
【Where’s your backbone?!】
The system could see right through him and akimboed its tiny arms.
【What are you afraid of? Just go for it!】
“Cough, cough, cough, I… h-hah, of course, I’m not afraid.” Joey straightened his back, speaking with forced bravado that got quieter and quieter. He muttered, “It’s just that Garius isn’t here right now…”
But the system casually said: 【He is.】
Joey: … Huh?!
【He followed you right after you left. He’s been carefully trailing behind, watching you droop your little head like you’re heartbroken. He’s so distressed he’s about to break off a corner of the wall.】
Joey: …
No, no, no. That’s bullshit!
How the hell did this stupid system know his dad followed him? It had to be lying—yes, definitely lying—
As if reading his thoughts, the system deadpanned: 【I’m not leaving my job without making the most of it. I stole a bunch of plugins from the main system before quitting. Tsk, I’ve got all sorts of features. Oh, shit, turn around now—your dad’s about to come out!】
“……”
Joey stiffly turned his neck with an audible crack and came face to face with Garius, who had just stepped forward.
As Joey’s brain short-circuited and his mouth hung open, unsure what to say, Garius stepped closer, bent down, and gently took Joey’s left hand. He placed a small data card in his palm.
“Uh, this.”
“This is my file. The person who archived it is my father. It contains all my records from my teenage years to my early adulthood—everything from top-secret operations in District 13 to trivial details like my daily rest schedule.”
Garius gazed down at the dazed human, his eyes betraying a hint of nervousness. With Lucian unable to assist him for the time being, this was the best solution Garius could think of.
“All my secrets are in there.”
“This document has never been altered. Even after I took over as District 13’s Recorder, it remained unchanged. If you want to know anything about me, you can find it in there.”
Garius added, “Joey, don’t be mad.”
“……”
Joey stared at the data card in his hand, unable to say a word.
The system nodded in satisfaction. See? This was a good man.
Standing before Joey was a man like a recently exiled beast—one who would gently kiss his partner’s lips to express affection. His entire posture screamed that he wanted a hug.
But he didn’t step forward. He restrained himself, waiting for Joey’s response.
If Joey rejected him, he would respect that and hold back his closeness, patiently waiting for Joey’s anger to fade.
If Joey accepted, however, those large hands hanging at his sides would, without a doubt, wrap around the small human’s back in the next instant, pulling him into an intense embrace.
Familiar with Garius’ subtle gestures and expressions, Joey’s lips twitched. In the end, he couldn’t hold back a grin.
With a head full of bouncing curls, he threw himself into Garius’ arms.
“Garius!”
Gold-green eyes lit up with delight, and Garius immediately caught him, half-squatting as he buried his nose in the soft black hair, inhaling the scent of chamomile.
He wasn’t mad anymore.
What was there to be mad about? Who cared about stupid secrets?
In the end, it was him who would be living with Garius!
“You have to treat me super well…”
“Mm.”
“No looking at anyone else, no liking anyone else—only me…”
“Mm.”
“You have to come home from work on time every day…”
“Okay.”
Muttering and whining, Joey buried his face in the man’s chest, as if that could hide his burning cheeks. He spouted embarrassing, clingy demands that made him want to crawl into a hole.
And with every sentence, he received a low, amused response in return.
District 13 had a well-known secret.
This secret concerned the highest-ranking officer in District 13 but only circulated among the ordinary staff.
It wasn’t particularly important,
Yet to the employees, it was absolutely essential.
As for what the secret was…
A new recruit, curious and excited, leaned in to listen as a veteran employee mysteriously whispered:
“The secret is—”
The newbie: “Yeah? Yeah?!”
The veteran: “—Every Saturday, we can eat dog food in the cafeteria~”
Newbie: …………
So… the employees of District 13 had already lost their minds, huh?
The veteran grinned knowingly. “Of course, I don’t mean actual dog food. You don’t know, do you? Our District 13 houses the world’s last human. And that human and Lord Heine are~~ in that kind of relationship, you get it?”
“Every Saturday, the human comes to District 13 to see Lord Heine. They eat together in the cafeteria, and we get to observe all kinds of human behaviors.”
The newbie’s eyes widened in slow realization, their breathing growing heavier.
“S-See a human? For real?!”
“Hehehehe, of course! Look at you getting all worked up—I knew you were a ‘human fan’ too! And today’s Saturday. Wanna go to the cafeteria?”
“Yes! Absolutely!”
“Alright, just remember—this is a secret only among us. Don’t let Lord Heine or the human find out. The human is super shy, and Lord Heine wouldn’t let us watch.”
“Got it, got it!”
“Alright, I’ll add you to the group chat. Kid, time to join the faith!”
“What faith?”
“The ‘Human Protection and Observation Club.’”
“I’m in! I’m in!”
Damn it, who wouldn’t join if it meant seeing a real human?!
And so, arm in arm, the veteran and the newbie joined their colleagues—who all exchanged knowing smiles—and made their way to the cafeteria.
From that day on, the family protecting District 13’s secret welcomed yet another member (chuckles).
T/N: Please give support on my ko-fi page, thank you🍊🍊🍊
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