“……”
Linus spoke in a slightly prim voice.
[A Royal Alpha, and on top of that — looks, money, and a pioneer of goodwill. Achim, you already know what he looks like, but this man…… his personality seems to match his face. The press, the public — it’s all glowing praise across the board. It’s like he’s got the entire world on his side. Remarkable, honestly.]
And here you were suspicious of how spotlessly clean he was just a moment ago. Achim narrowed his eyes at the space in front of him, as though glaring at Linus, who had somehow shifted to singing Michael Bernhardt’s praises in an increasingly animated voice.
[Achim, what if you just seduced the man instead?]
“……”
[That might actually be faster. You might even turn your whole life around……]
“Shut it, Linus.”
[Hmm, should I?]
Achim’s expression went flat, and Linus cleared his throat with a small ahem.
[Anyway — good news. He seems to have a gentle temperament, fitting for someone who leads a welfare organization. “He’s always warm and at ease.” That’s something people who’ve actually met him say all the time. That’s what you were banking on too, isn’t it?]
The baseless belief that even if things went wrong, Michael Bernhardt would be lenient. As a longtime friend, Linus had read Achim’s mind with dead-on accuracy, as always.
Achim answered honestly, and Linus snickered, saying he’d figured as much.
[Right, and if you do get caught, he might actually go easy on you, just like you said. Though of course, that’s nothing more than wishful thinking.]
The remark landed right on the bone, and Achim let out a pained sound. Linus snickered again.
[That aside, Achim — there’s good news.]
“What is it?”
Achim’s ears perked up.
[This is fresh off the press, practically still warm — it’s about Michael Bernhardt’s semen. It might actually be easier to get your hands on than you think.]
“Yeah? How?”
[Apparently it’s something the government keeps classified, but they collect semen from Royal Alphas. Like preserving a national cultural heritage site, apparently.]
It was genuinely the first he’d heard of this. Achim fell into focused silence, and Linus kept going.
[They collect the semen and keep it frozen. Freezing sperm is common enough that you’d already know about it, but…… the key point is that it’s not voluntary. This is my guess, but I think the governments of each country probably convinced the Royal Alphas with some plausible-sounding excuse. The rarity of a Royal Alpha goes without saying. The reality is they violated their human rights for the benefit of the majority.]
Achim nodded slowly.
“Then Michael Bernhardt’s frozen sperm would be at Bellevue Palace?”
Bellevue Palace was the presidential residence. If the government was managing it directly, that seemed like the logical place.
In what world is having to break into the presidential residence good news. Just as Achim was about to voice that thought, Linus beat him to it.
[No. Babe, why do you think I said it might be easier to get your hands on?]
“……”
[It’s at the mansion where he lives. Even I found that a little unexpected. I wondered if it was just a Michael Bernhardt thing, but it wasn’t. Two other Royal Alphas in the UK and Switzerland are also keeping theirs at their own residences and managing it themselves.]
That meant the rest were being managed by the government. What determined the difference, Linus added, was unclear.
He’d tried to find out whether there had been any underhanded dealings behind it, but Linus said he hadn’t been able to find anything amiss either. It left a bad taste, but with nothing concrete to go on, there was nothing to grab onto.
“Alright. So for now, I need to infiltrate Michael Bernhardt’s mansion.”
[God must be looking out for you, Achim.]
“What do you mean?”
Linus’s words pulled Achim out of his near-murmuring, and he shot back the question immediately.
[As it happens, Michael Bernhardt is currently looking to hire staff at his mansion.]
“What? Seriously?”
[Told you.]
There was a slight note of excitement in Linus’s voice. Achim shared the feeling. The timing falling into place this perfectly — God looking out for him wasn’t entirely wrong.
Infiltrate Michael Bernhardt’s mansion under the cover of employment, and retrieve his frozen sperm.
The corners of his mouth twitched on their own at the thought that things might actually go more smoothly than expected. Achim made a deliberate effort to keep his hopes in check.
“So — what are the hiring conditions?”
The man was famously wealthy, so the mansion he lived in was bound to be large. That would mean a guard, or a gardener, or maybe a chef or a warehouse manager……
Achim was running through each possible role in his head when Linus’s voice came through the receiver.
[Maid.]
A brief silence followed.
“……Maid?”
Achim repeated it half a beat late. And understandably so — it wasn’t even a complicated word, and yet it was hard to take at face value.
[More precisely, a housemaid. Apparently it’s working under the direction of a housekeeper to manage the mansion — mainly handling room upkeep and cleaning. Might actually be less difficult than you’d think.]
Linus’s voice as he said it was perfectly even. Achim felt himself relax, and swept the image of a maid that had sprung to mind right back out of his head.
“Linus, you gave me a scare. I thought you were going to say I’d have to cross-dress or something.”
Linus laughed out loud.
[What do you mean, Achim. You’re stating the obvious.]
“Right, the obvious…… Wait.”
What? Achim’s voice jumped up a notch. Linus burst out laughing at that, and Achim’s face went red as he gripped his phone hard.
“Don’t tell me I actually have to wear a maid outfit?”
[A maid wears a maid’s uniform — what else would they wear?]
“……Are you insane.”
Linus laughed airily at the curse. Achim looked down at himself with a stricken expression and the words poured out of him.
“No, realistically — do you think that’s even possible? Setting aside whether I want to or not. With — with this body, cross-dressing isn’t exactly feasible.”
He was well below the national average in height, but he’d lived the life of a mercenary — his body was, by anyone’s standards, unmistakably male. That was the problem, if anything was.
Achim looked himself over with a pale face, then lifted his head. He turned, and his eyes landed on the splotchy mirror stuck above the small kitchenette sink. The first things he noticed were his unevenly hacked hair and the naturally hollow look under his eyes from spending so long in dark spaces. His skin looked a bit dull, didn’t it.
He studied his own face this time, let out a sigh, and readjusted his grip on the phone.
“It’s not just the body, it’s — hah…… No, Linus. Think about it objectively. Do you actually think it’s possible?”
[Have some confidence, Achim. Why are you already tucking your tail before you’ve even tried?]
“……”
[In my opinion, it doesn’t seem completely out of the question. Achim, you might not know this about yourself, but you’re kind of……]
“……Kind of?”
Achim echoed his words.
[Well — this isn’t my take, by the way. Did you know there were three guys who had a thing for you back in the mercenary days?]
“……What?”
Achim repeated it as if he’d misheard. It was a group of barely twenty people. And all of them were Beta men……
[Do you have any idea how much Bastian used to drool over your ass? I can’t even count how many times I caught the guy completely zoned out staring at it.]
“For fuck’s sake.”
