RL Chapter 36

Chapter 36 – The Mother

Resonance 4, Part 5

Novel Title: 共鳴劣情 オメガバース (Resonance Lust: Omegaverse)

Author：岩本薫 (Iwamoto Kaoru)

Illustrator: 蓮川愛 (Hasukawa Ai)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 本浄天音 (Honjou Amane) & 苅谷煌騎 (Kariya Kouki) / 首藤煌騎 (Shutou Kouki)

*Please read at knoxt.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

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“He might not show up at all,” Amane muttered.

“I don’t think so. It’s a direct invitation from my brother, and for Kourogi, this party is a golden opportunity to get closer to the upper class. He’s probably just running late because of a prior engagement.”

“I hope you’re right…”

Amane muttered with a troubled expression. And then, almost as an afterthought, he quietly asked: “Do you ever feel like going back?”

“Going back?” Kouki echoed.

Amane turned to face Kouki, getting his sharp bluish-grey eyes locking onto him. 

“This is where you truly belong. Don’t you want to come back?”

Kouki seemed to grasp the meaning behind Amane’s words with his eyes widening slightly. But then, with a firm tone, he replied, “No, I don’t.”

“Sure, it’s not uncomfortable being around people I know well here, but…”

“This isn’t about comfort. You’ve been a detective for two months now, so you’ve realised it, right? The police force is brutal. They overwork you, you’re constantly in danger, and the pay is lousy. It’s a total black company.”

“I won’t argue that the police force is a tough workplace. But becoming a detective has been my dream since I was a kid.”

The word ‘dream’ made Amane cringe slightly.

(Come to think of it, he said something like that when we first met on the rooftop.)

―――I’ve finally achieved my childhood dream. I won’t quit so easily.

He had said the same thing when they first connected physically and revealed their identities to each other as well.

―――Becoming a police officer has been my dream since childhood.

“Why? Why did you want to be a detective?” 

Amane had always found it odd that the third son of the Shutou family would go out of his way to hide his identity and stick to being an ordinary detective. He had assumed it was just a whim of a rich boy and had never really pressed for an explanation, thinking it was just a temporary fling.

However, Kouki turned out to be more serious than Amane had expected, and there was no sign of him getting bored of his ‘detective game’. On the contrary, Kouki had been steadily honing his investigative skills and, recently, was even starting to look the part of a detective.

Could Kouki actually be planning to continue this path seriously?

Amane had been harbouring these suspicions. And after seeing Kouki shining in the setting he was supposed to belong to, Amane couldn’t resist the urge to finally get to the bottom of it.

Why did Kouki feel the need to stay a detective, even at the cost of throwing away his promised status and future?

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever told you the full story, Honjou-san.”

Kouki began speaking in a calm, even tone, as if it wasn’t something he’d intentionally kept secret.

“I was kidnapped.”

“Kidnapped?!”

Amane couldn’t help but raise his voice in shock at this unexpected confession.

“Yeah, it was right after I started elementary school… I was six years old. It was an abduction for ransom, and the kidnapper was—”

“The kidnapper was…?”

Amane leaned in, eager to hear the rest. But just then, a woman’s voice called from slightly behind them.

“Kouki-kun.”

Amane turned in the direction of the voice and saw a tall, glamorous woman. She was older, but still incredibly beautiful. Her rich chestnut hair was styled in an elegant updo, and her well-toned figure was wrapped in a deep crimson mermaid-style gown. The dress, with its plunging neckline, showed off a stunning décolletage, and her well-shaped ears glittered with what appeared to be large diamond earrings. Judging by the brilliance, they were probably real.

“…Mother.”

Kouki’s murmured word made Amane’s mind reel.

(Mother? This is Kariya’s mother?!)

Amane was surprised. She didn’t look like someone who had a 23-year-old son, especially not having three sons. But now that he knew, he could see the resemblance. They had the same rich chestnut hair colour and bluish-grey eyes.

Kouki’s mother, her authoritative Alpha gaze fixed on Amane, opened her lips, which were painted the same shade of crimson as her dress.

“And who might this be?”

Kouki answered, “This is my colleague, Honjou-san.”

Introduced to Kouki’s mother, she didn’t bother with even a polite smile, instead furrowing her perfectly shaped brows. There wasn’t even the standard phrase of ‘Thank you for taking care of my son’.

Amane had heard that Kouki’s parents were strongly opposed to him becoming a detective. Given that, it wasn’t surprising that his mother’s reaction was far from welcoming upon meeting one of Kouki’s colleagues.

“Honjou-san is a very capable officer. I’ve learned a lot from working with him as my partner. I invited him tonight to thank him for all he’s done for me.”

Despite Kouki’s explanation, his mother remained unmoved, staring at Amane with an unwavering gaze. Without so much as shifting her posture, her eyes travelled slowly from the top of Amane’s head to the tips of his shoes, as though she were carefully evaluating him. 

Was she reluctantly accepting her youngest son’s misfit colleague, or was she still considering whether he should be discarded right from the start? Or perhaps she questioned whether this Beta even had the right to step foot inside the Shutou household. Amane gritted his teeth, trying to suppress the uncomfortable prickling sensation crawling from his back to his hips.

(Isn’t it bad manners in Alpha society to openly judge people like this?)

It’s not like I ‘wanted’ to become your son’s partner, Amane grumbled internally. If anything, I could break off this partnership right now. And just so you know, it’s your son who’s attached to me!

Amane barely managed to swallow these retorts, deploying every ounce of his self-control. If he got thrown out of the party now, the plan to capture Kourogi would be ruined.

But at the same time, it wasn’t in Amane’s nature to just sit there and take it. He glared right back at Kouki’s mother, his black eyes clashing with hers. Her finely arched brow twitched slightly as she returned his glare with just as much intensity.

“Mother,” Kouki interjected, sensing the tension between Amane and his mother.

“………”

“Where is father?” Kouki asked, attempting to redirect her attention.

“………”

“Have you already met with my older brother?”

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*Translator’s Note: Bravo, Honjou-san. It’s good that you didn’t back down! -K

Next update: 2025.02.06

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