At the Imperial Omega Academy, early in the morning Yan Qiongyu received news of the Seventh Princess’s banquet.

Compared to Alphas, Omegas need more time to prepare for a banquet. In a certain sense, tonight’s banquet was Yan Qiongyu’s first time truly entering a social banquet.

Because before having an Alpha partner, the only gatherings an Omega can attend are those made up entirely of Omegas; only after having a betrothed can they enter open banquets.

Like an item of merchandise—only after it is bought by its owner will it be taken out for social exchange and display. In the Thorn Empire, Omegas exist in just such a dependent role.

What Yan Qiongyu received was the secondary copy of the invitation. The invitation was issued to his betrothed; holding this invitation, he could not enter the banquet alone and could only go accompanied by his betrothed.

With a light tap of his finger, the invitation scattered into fine fragments of light and vanished before his eyes.

Yan Qiongyu set down his teacup, stood up, and walked toward the wardrobe. Inside were various formal outfits sent by the Wang family, and today his task was to package himself well and serve as a qualified ornament.

Beauty is a requirement placed on every Omega at the Academy. Many courses teach them to use beauty to please their Alpha. Yan Qiongyu inherited his mother’s intelligence and excelled at everything he learned.

To him, all the Omega courses were simple and dull, far less interesting than the hobbies he had taught himself.

Preparation for the banquet included not only grooming one’s appearance but also safety preparations. As an Omega who had not yet been fully marked by an Alpha, attending such a banquet required him to wear a kind of neck accessory.

It was a simple black choker. This choker could cover the glands on the neck and prevent pheromones from leaking.

The publicity claimed it was for their protection, but in Yan Qiongyu’s view, the appearance of this thing stemmed from the Alphas’ terrifying possessiveness and perverse tastes.

The black choker clung tightly to the long, fair neck, pressing against the Adam’s apple; seen in the mirror, it was inexplicably sensual.

Especially when the figure in the mirror put on a shirt—the clean white high collar touching the choker and hiding everything beneath—it gave off a mysterious, enticing allure.

Unfortunately, no matter how alluring the beauty, when facing a woman with psychological shadows, it could not exert its proper effect.

After getting into the Wang family’s hovercar, Yan Qiongyu at once saw his betrothed, whose face was written all over with lifelessness and fatigue.

This Miss Wang Luan leaned tightly against one side window, and in the limited space of the car, she somehow managed to leave a large empty area for him.

Yan Qiongyu seemed not to notice the surveillance device placed in a concealed corner of the car, nor did he see Wang Luan’s evasive attitude. With utmost gentleness, he greeted her.

“Miss Wang Luan, good evening.”

They say one should not strike a smiling face. No matter how angry Wang Luan was, or how unwilling she was to attend the banquet, it would not be appropriate to vent her anger on an innocent person.

The other party’s body capable of bearing children was innate; drawing so many “love rivals” to her was not something he did on purpose. Becoming her betrothed—she believed this was something neither of them wanted. This Yan Qiongyu was probably even more helpless than she was.

She dully and indistinctly replied with the words “good evening,” then quickly leaned her head back against the car window, resolutely not looking at him again, and also controlling her thoughts from making terrifying associations.

Yan Qiongyu sat calmly. It was not until the hovercar stopped at the entrance of an estate and the two prepared to get out that Wang Luan suddenly felt her hand being grabbed.

Startled, her body reacted first, goosebumps racing to erupt over her skin. Wang Luan swiftly yanked her hand out of Yan Qiongyu’s grasp, staring as if she had suddenly been punched.

She turned to look and found that the expression on Yan Qiongyu’s face was even more stunned than hers—stunned, and hurt as well.

She saw him slowly withdraw his slightly reddened hand. It seemed he had been hurt by her instinctive gesture of disgust. Lowering his lashes, he said in a low voice, “According to the rules, I should be linking arms with Miss Wang Luan as we go in.”

Wang Luan awkwardly stepped back. “No…”

“No need.” She said firmly.

Having not missed her stress reaction just now, Yan Qiongyu lightly rubbed his fingers together, curiosity rising in his heart—what on earth had happened to make an Alpha avoid an Omega as if fearing the worst?

Afraid of being touched by him again, Wang Luan quickened her pace forward. Yan Qiongyu followed behind her, smiling as he looked at the back of her head, yet his tone was cautiously tentative, not matching his composed expression.

“Miss Wang Luan, did I do something wrong and make you dissatisfied?”

“…No.”

“Then, Miss Wang Luan, do you dislike me?”

Wang Luan felt her scalp start to tingle. She kept telling herself over and over that Omegas in this world were just like this, both men and women alike.

She did not want to have much interaction with this universally adored betrothed, but listening to the probing questions behind her, along with the footsteps closely following, she always felt an urgent sense of being hunted down.

Suddenly, she stopped, stepped aside, and said to Yan Qiongyu, “You walk in front.”

“Hm?” Yan Qiongyu was slightly surprised.

When walking together, Omegas generally habitually lag one step behind Alphas, walking diagonally behind them—this is a symbol of status. Yan Qiongyu often sneered inwardly at how arrogant and fragile these Alphas were, that even walking involved a kind of incomprehensible pride.

“You walk in front,” Wang Luan emphasized.

Yan Qiongyu stepped forward, turned slightly, and smiled. “Alright.”

Looking at his tall, elegant back, Wang Luan finally let out a breath. With no one trailing behind her, she felt much safer.

The person walking ahead leisurely asked another question: “I wonder how much distance Miss Wang Luan can accept between me and you?”

Since he was being so direct, Wang Luan answered just as directly. “At least twenty centimeters.”

Yan Qiongyu said nothing more. Along the rest of the way, he indeed maintained a safe distance from Wang Luan.

Wang Luan thought to herself that if this person didn’t have oo and OO¹ oo / OO: A shorthand used in this setting to refer to the ABO secondary genders and their corresponding reproductive anatomy. “oo” refers to Omegas, and “OO” refers to Alphas. The capitalization reflects different roles/statuses within the ABO system rather than literal spelling., he would be such an easy person to get along with.

When they were about to enter the banquet hall, Yan Qiongyu deliberately slowed his pace and walked side by side with Wang Luan, keeping a distance of twenty centimeters, not letting outsiders see the awkwardness between them.

His sense of measure was just right, precisely within the range Wang Luan could tolerate.

And Wang Luan soon discovered how perceptive he was.

After the two of them walked into the banquet hall together, Wang Luan unexpectedly saw that the hall was packed with people, far more than she had imagined. Their arrival sparked a round of low murmurs nearby.

Noticing her discomfort with such an occasion, Yan Qiongyu naturally guided her to a quieter corner, letting her lean against a table and separating her from those unfriendly, appraising gazes.

In contrast to Wang Luan’s unease, Yan Qiongyu was completely at ease in such a setting.

Even though they deliberately stood in a corner, quite a few people still came over to greet them or simply to watch the spectacle. Wang Luan basically didn’t recognize any of these people, but Yan Qiongyu was able to respond to every one of them appropriately.

Wang Luan, who had already braced herself to endure verbal attacks, stood to the side and watched helplessly as Yan Qiongyu casually steered the maliciously mocking topics raised by the visitors toward some harmless, inconsequential directions.

His ability to control the flow of conversation was admirable.

With a master of deflection beside her, drawing away most of the attention, Wang Luan’s tense posture quietly loosened and relaxed.

Only after relaxing did she have the leisure to discern the verbal barbs hidden in these strangers’ words.

This curly-haired female Omega who liked to drag out her final syllables when speaking was probably Yan Qiongyu’s classmate. The two of them were likely not on very good terms, which was why her words were so unpleasant.

Wang Luan glanced at Yan Qiongyu’s expression and saw that this beautiful man, gentle and compliant in appearance, smiled at everything. No amount of sarcastic remarks could provoke even the slightest anger from him.

Was his temperament really this good, or was he simply accustomed to this kind of conversational environment? Wang Luan wondered, distractedly sizing up the female Omega speaking with Yan Qiongyu in front of her.

So this was what a female Omega was like. At a glance, she didn’t look any different from an ordinary girl, and she didn’t have any extra organs growing on her either.

Yan Qiongyu half-heartedly dealt with the annoying classmates in front of him, as bothersome as flies, while the corner of his eye kept observing Wang Luan beside him, taking in all of her reactions.

She was observing the female Omega. She seemed not to have the same kind of aversion toward female Omegas as she did toward him—could it be that she liked female Omegas?

The banquet was about to officially begin. The protagonist of the banquet finally appeared on the upper steps, and the sounds of conversation immediately faded as everyone focused their attention on the Seventh Princess who had come into view.

Wang Luan, on the other hand, looked even more listless. She knew very well that the few Omegas who had come to talk to Yan Qiongyu earlier, while expressing their disdain toward her with their eyes, were merely the appetizer of this banquet. There were plenty more trials waiting for her afterward.

For example, the Seventh Princess, who was delivering welcoming remarks under everyone’s gaze and continuously casting glances in their direction.

Today was the banquet held to celebrate the Seventh Princess’s inheritance of a territory. After finishing her polite remarks, she carried everyone’s attention with her as she passed through the crowd and came to stand before Wang Luan and Yan Qiongyu.

Wang Luan could not help shooting a resentful look at Yan Qiongyu beside her. Little classmate, your ability to draw aggro is really something.

Yan Qiongyu returned a look that was innocent and puzzled.

Wang Luan: Forget it, don’t take it out on him.

She straightened her posture and waited listlessly for the approaching Seventh Princess to speak.

“So this must be Miss Wang Luan of the Wang family. I’ve long heard your name but never had the chance to meet you, what a pity. I’ve heard that Miss Wang Luan has always been in poor health and never participates in gatherings. Being able to accept the invitation and come this time, has your health already improved?”

The Seventh Princess was very tall, giving off a dashing and valiant air. Although she looked like a girl on the outside, she, like Wang Luan at present, had that organ.

Thinking of this, Wang Luan made an effort to control her stress response and answered, “It has.”

She did not explain how her body was; everyone was well aware of it anyway, so she ended the topic with just two words.

Nobles favored florid styles of conversation. Her way of speaking was not especially pleasing, and immediately someone let out a cold laugh and said, “Of course it has. If her body weren’t better, how would she have the energy to find an Omega?”

A male Alpha with an unfriendly expression stood beside the Seventh Princess. The two looked to be on good terms. He interjected casually, and the Seventh Princess showed no displeasure, merely fiddling with her cuff in a posture of letting the dog loose to bite while she stayed safely out of it.

“Miss Wang Luan, you’ve really been in the limelight recently. Thanks to this Omega of yours, we were reminded that the Wang family still has an Alpha. We’d never heard of your reputation before. I wonder whether you study at the military academy or at Beidou Star Academy?”

The unnamed male Alpha asked knowingly, and a round of low laughter immediately rose nearby.

Wang Luan glanced at him, then squeezed out three words: “Who are you?”

The male Alpha seemed to have his pride wounded and immediately said, “You’re pretending not to know, how could you not know who I am?!”

Wang Luan responded perfunctorily, “I’ve been ill for a long time, poorly informed.”

Footnotes

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  oo / OO: A shorthand used in this setting to refer to the ABO secondary genders and their corresponding reproductive anatomy. “oo” refers to Omegas, and “OO” refers to Alphas. The capitalization reflects different roles/statuses within the ABO system rather than literal spelling.