“This court declares that the defendant, Ling Yi, is guilty of manslaughter and is sentenced to death.”

The gavel fell, and the case that had shocked the empire was finally settled after a trial more than a month long.

Ling Yi stood silently at the defendant’s stand, eyes downcast, with no objection to the verdict.

This young man from the lowest rung of society had been admitted to the empire’s number one military academy through his own efforts, and had achieved excellent results year after year, leaving many of his peers from aristocratic families far behind.

In time, he would surely become a shining star in the military.

Who could have imagined that such a rising star would be brought to the defendant’s stand in the royal court for murdering a relative of the emperor? 

There was much discussion amongst the audience.

“Such a shame. What an excellent young man.”

“Who told him to kill the Prime Minister’s youngest son of all people? The Prime Minister’s first two sons died in accidents, leaving this one son who’s been spoiled and lawless since childhood. If he was beholden to the law, he would have been executed countless times. I say he brought it upon himself.”

“It’s said that the Prime Minister is so angry that he’s bedridden. No wonder His Royal Highness Oser attended the trial today…..”

Ling Yi looked up and saw a man of extraordinary bearing slowly standing up in the VIP box that was suspended mid-air. Their eyes met across the courtroom.

Standing at such a height, the man looked particularly tall. His tailor-made royal uniform displayed his royal status, and the sharp, knife-like contours of his body made him look like a statue with a half-smile on his mouth.

Fengdi Oser, born into the only family in the empire that was qualified to use a compound surname, was a child of destiny from the day of his birth.

Not only was he the Crown Prince, with first rights to succession, but he was also the only grandson of the current Prime Minister.

The person Ling Yi had killed was none other than His Highness Oser’s biological uncle.

One was a noble prince, and the other a commoner student. These two completely separate destinies had intersected because of the death of a scumbag.

Upon seeing Oser leaving his seat, everyone present, including the Chief Justice, stood up and saluted to see him off. Only Ling Yi, looking up at him fearlessly, was the odd one out.

Oser wasn’t bothered by his rudeness. He just curled his lips haughtily and turned around, disappearing through the exit of the VIP box. 

“What are you looking at? Let’s go.” A guard shoved him from behind. “You will be publicly executed at the Northern Outskirts execution grounds at twelve noon tomorrow. Cherish your last twenty-four hours alive.”

Ling Yi said nothing, marching obediently in front.

The guards tasked with escorting him were not surprised. They had witnessed many prisoners who had been sentenced to death collapse on the spot and have to be carried back, as well as those like Ling Yi, who had already numbly accepted their fate.

But this time, the moment they exited the court gates, they were overwhelmed by a riotous crowd. Even the experienced guards subconsciously took a step back.

“Ling Yi isn’t a murderer! He’s a hero who bravely stands up for justice!”

“The Prime Minister’s youngest son molests minors and takes human life for granted! He deserves death a thousand times over!”

“We demand judicial justice! The court cannot be in collusion with nobles!”

Outraged by a justice system that failed to distinguish between good and evil, the common people had come from all over the empire to support Ling Yi.

The clashing voices of the crowd ultimately merged into two powerful slogans: 

“Aquit and release Ling Yi!”

“The Prime Minister should resign!”

Fully armed bailiffs did their best to stop the angry crowd and clear a passage in front of Ling Yi and the others.

“To gain such love and esteem before dying is a worthy death.”

Ling Yi turned upon hearing this voice, and saw the noble Alpha whom he had seen in court pacing toward him, followed by his personal guards.

The bailiffs bowed their heads respectfully and greeted: “Your Highness Oser!”

The bluster of the crowd lessened slightly at the sight of His Highness Oser. A top level Alpha such as him was able to exude an invisible pressure on his surroundings just by standing there without saying a word.

Oser approached Ling Yi and said teasingly: “You shouldn’t be so dejected in front of your supporters. Act a little more moving and tragic. After all, any words you say from now on could be your last words engraved on your tombstone.”

Ling Yi turned back silently: “Your Highness, what if I say I don’t want to die?”

Oser smiled disapprovingly: “Then you may require a miracle.”

Ling Yi lowered his eyes: “Is this the miracle Your Highness is referring to?”

In a flash, the handcuffs fell from his wrists and became a weapon tightly wrapped around Oser’s throat.

The crowd cried out in unison, and those in the front row reflexively took a few steps back. The people squeezed in behind were forced to retreat, much like ripples caused by throwing a heavy stone into a pool of water.

The well-trained guards drew their weapons in unison and leveled them at their target.

The bailiffs had lost their vigilance due to their easy lives, and were frightened by Ling Yi’s outrageous behavior. They reacted belatedly and took out their pistols, aiming them tremblingly at Ling Yi – and his hostage.

“D-don’t mess around.”

The bustling square from just moments ago was now silent. As the captain of Oser’s guards, Tang De’s hands were as steady as stone around his weapon.

“Please release His Highness Oser. Do you plan to murder a member of the royal family before so many witnesses?”

“I have no intention of harming His Highness. I just need a way out.”

“Is this the attitude you have when asking for help?” Oser was calm and composed, as if he had no awareness of being taken hostage at all.

Tang De moved slowly sideways, making sure to bypass His Highness Oser while keeping Ling Yi within shooting range.

“I advise you not to be impulsive and take one of the most distinguished people in the country hostage. Where do you think you can escape to?”

Ling Yi moved behind Oser without making a sound.

“Would you advise a gambler to take his last chip to the grave?”

“You don’t get it.” Tang De’s eyes contained sympathy. “You can’t take His Highness Oser hostage at all.”

Ling Yi didn’t have time to parse the deep meaning in his look. Intense Alpha pheromones exploded outward with him at the epicenter, and an unprecedented mental shock spread throughout his nerve endings like an electrical shock.

Almost everyone fell to their knees at once, trembling in pain.

Only a small number of people remained standing, looking at those around them in bewilderment. These people had one thing in common – they were all Omegas.

Tang De, who possessed fairly high mental strength, knelt on one knee and raised his head with difficulty, trying to confirm whether that unlucky fellow was still alive.

Ling Yi was pressed hard against a wall, his shrunken pupils filled with shock and fear.

Tang De understood him very well. Not everyone had experienced the pheromone suppression of a top Alpha. An Alpha with inferior mental strength might even be turned into a vegetable by such an outburst.

Oser stood very close to Ling Yi. Ling Yi tried his best to turn his head away, but he couldn’t avoid the whisper in his ear: 

“I underestimated you. Someone who dared to murder the Prime Minister’s son naturally wouldn’t balk at holding the Emperor’s son hostage. It’s a pity that you chose the wrong person. I’m different from that loser you killed.”

Beads of cold sweat slid down Ling Yi’s forehead. At this moment, he was like prey being toyed with by his natural enemy. He couldn’t die, nor could he escape.

“That scumbag…..deserved to die…..”

Ling Yi squeezed these few words between his teeth. Under the oppression of Oser’s pheromones, it was difficult for him to speak.

“You’re absolutely right.”

Oser actually agreed.

“I acknowledge that he deserved to die. The life or death of such trash doesn’t matter to me, but it’s different for you.”

Oser shamelessly leaned closer to Ling Yi’s face.

“See those people down there? They all treat you as a hero. If you die on the execution grounds, the anger in everyone’s hearts will be ignited, and their resentment will erupt ten or even a hundred times greater than it is now.”

“Your Highness…..what exactly do you want?”

“I want you to die gloriously, like an immortal hero. My dear grandfather has been holding onto political power that doesn’t belong to him for too long. If I want to speed up his downfall, I must brew a big enough storm. And you are exactly that butterfly flapping its wings.”

“Your death will be the fuse that brings an end to an era. In the future, people will pay tribute to you and record your achievements in history books. Doesn’t that have more meaning than living in vain?”

Ling Yi moved his lips with difficulty. Oser couldn’t hear him clearly, and lowered his mental power a little.

“What did you say?”

“I said,” Ling Yi gathered all of his strength, “I don’t want to die in a blaze of glory. I just want to live with dignity. I’m a human being, not a pawn in your political struggle!”

He turned his head with everything he had and looked Oser straight in the eye: “Fuck being a hero!”

Oser stared into his resolute eyes, somewhat distracted.

After a moment, he took a step back, and the oppressive feeling receded like the tide. Ling Yi leaned against the wall, exhausted. The long period of near-suffocation had made him dizzy.

Tang De struggled to stand up, still a little weak in the legs.

“Your Highness, leave him to me…..”

Oser cut him off with a raised hand.

He turned the man around easily and lowered his head to inspect the handcuffs in his hands.

“He opened them so easily. Pretty impressive, huh?”

The corners of Oser’s mouth curled up, a dissonant note of indulgence in his voice.

“He is worthy of being the future pillar of the Imperial Army. What a waste.”

Contrary to his previous roughness, he put the handcuffs back onto Ling Yi’s wrists as gently as a husband putting a jade bracelet on his beloved wife.

Having lost his freedom once more, Ling Yi chuckled, his voice full of fatigue.

Oser raised his eyes: “Did you remember something amusing?”

“It’s rumored that the Prime Minister has committed many wicked deeds, and has been punished by the heavens to have no descendants. None of his three sons received a good ending, and his only grandson was born defective and impotent.”

He happened to glance toward the Omegas in the crowd. Oser’s pheromones were viciously strong, but they had no effect on these Omegas. 

“That seems to be the case.”

Tang De immediately grew nervous: “Don’t talk nonsense, His Highness isn’t…..”

“It’s fine.” Oser didn’t react to the jab, as if it had hit the wrong place. “A dying person has the right to speak freely.”

He waved to a guard, who was just barely able to get to his feet and stagger over.

“Your Highness, what are your orders?”

“Whatever he asks for tonight, do your best to satisfy his requests.”

The guard glanced at Ling Yi in confusion. He had thought that His Highness Oser would have him “entertain” this death row prisoner who even dared to kidnap the Crown Prince.

“Wait a moment.” 

Ling Yi had only been escorted a few steps when he was stopped again.

Oser gave him a smile like a warm spring breeze: “Pick a place you like. When you die, I’ll erect a monument for you.”

Tang De stowed away his gun with lingering fear and walked quickly to His Highness Oser. He lowered his voice: 

“Your Highness, are you not going to tell him the truth? The execution grounds in the northern suburbs have been rigged, and after twenty-four hours of being in a death-like state, he’ll wake up unharmed – though he’ll suffer a little beforehand.”

Oser stroked his reddened throat: “He deserves to suffer a little.”

Tang De paid close attention to His Highness Oser’s micro-expressions. Although he had followed him for many years, he still couldn’t guess the thoughts of this Alpha every time.

“So we’re still sending him overseas tonight as planned?”

“What else?” Oser glanced at him. “Send him to my bed tonight instead?”

Tang De: “……”

“This subordinate understands.”

Tang De lowered his eyes and stepped back. Just for a moment, he had the illusion that Oser actually meant it.

. . . . . .

It was the most heavily guarded prison in the Empire, where no one could escape with their life.

In consideration of Ling Yi’s past as an excellent Military Academy student, he was given the full respect of replacing his handcuffs with heavy metal shackles.

A portly prison guard brought in a sumptuous table of food and cautiously sent it to the cell.

“Eat something.”

The person sitting inside didn’t move.

“Even if you have no appetite, you still have to eat. There’s a saying that goes, ‘you can only hit the road on a full stomach.’ If you don’t like these, tell me what you prefer and I’ll have it prepared.”

There was still no movement.

The portly prison guard sat down with a sigh.

“I understand you very well. The Prime Minister’s youngest son was a bastard. Who wouldn’t want him dead? You just disposed of this evil for the people.”

“But the entire judicial system is full of the Prime Minister’s lackeys. If they want you dead, you’ll die. Unless you can get a royal pardon…..but that’s impossible, of course.”

The person who’d been silent ever since his arrival finally showed signs of movement.

“What did you say? What royal pardon?”

“You don’t know about the royal pardon?” The prison guard scratched his head. It all started with our country’s founding emperor. When Emperor Fengdi was writing the code of law, he said, ‘The ruler of a country must be completely impartial. However, I selfishly hope that the descendents of the Fengdi family will have the ability to protect the important people in their lives at least once in their lifetime.’ So a law was made that every member of the royal family with the right of succession have the ability to pardon a person of all charges only once. And the corresponding price is to permanently give up the throne or the right to inherit the throne.”

“The prince who currently holds the first right of succession is His Highness Oser, even though he was diagnosed as ‘destined to be alone’ by the Royal Medical School in his twenties and will never match with an Omega in his lifetime.”

He abruptly lowered his voice: “Gene mutation is congenital. Anyone who hears it would say that it’s the Prime Minister’s retribution.”

His volume returned to normal, as if he hadn’t said the previous sentence.

“But His Highness Oser is a man who refuses to accept his fate. There’s no telling how much money he spent on the medical school over the years before they finally figured out how…..to turn an Alpha into an Omega. But what’s the use in that? The operation is supposed to be extremely painful, and the success rate is terribly low. There’s no way an Alpha would go through with it for the slightest chance of becoming a princess.”

The prison guard seemed to realize that he had talked about too many irrelevant things: “But enough about that. His Highness Oser has ordered that no matter what requests you make tonight, we should do our best to accommodate them. If you’re not interested in food, how about I find an Omega for you? If you think optimistically, at least you won’t be a virgin until death like His Highness Oser.”

“An excellent Alpha like you should be favored by Omegas. What type do you like? Innocent? Or bold?”

Ling Yi suddenly got to his feet: “His Highness Oser. I want to see His Highness Oser.”

The portly prison guard was dumbfounded: “Hero, your request is a bit much, ah.”

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Table of Contents >> Chapter 2