Xi Lei turned around, as stiff as a mummy.

The temperature of the medicine box in his sleeve gradually increased, like a bomb ready to go off at any time.

He gulped, then blurted out the “confession” he had just exchanged with Ling Yi.

“Reporting to Captain Tang De! I came here to inform him of my dad’s latest condition! I thought he was awake, but later found out he wasn’t. This is all because I was too impatient!”

Tang De was amused by his appearance and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Look how scared you are. Am I that frightening?”

To prove his friendliness, he stepped forward and patted Xi Lei on the shoulder.

“I did threaten you last time, but that was just a test. You’ll be able to report to the Guard Corps soon. We’ll be colleagues in the future, so don’t be so nervous.”

Xi Lei stood at attention: “I dare not!”

“You dare not join?”

“No! It’s my honor to join the Guard!” Xi Lei covertly nudged the medicine box inward. “You’re the Captain of the Guard, my immediate superior. I dare not…..call myself a colleague.”

Tang De felt that this young man was cute. If he trained him well, he might be able to free himself from the burden of following His Highness day and night.

“Relax, we don’t have such a strict hierarchy here. All team members are divided into three shifts that take turns on duty. Everyone is equal and works the same amount.”

“Why? I thought I would have to serve a few years and put a lot of effort in before I could join His Highness Oser’s personal guards.”

Xi Lei felt adrift, as if he had lost his goal.

Tang De thought to himself that apart from him, who else wouldn’t lose their mind spending extended amounts of time with His Highness Oser? Working in three shifts already put the ultimate pressure on their team members.

But he naturally couldn’t say that, so for fear of scaring this person away, he just smiled and didn’t explain.

“Let’s go up to the terrace and smoke.”

“Captain Tang De, I’m still a student. I can’t smoke.”

“There aren’t many students as obedient as you. Back when we were at Luban, we secretly broke the rules several times.”

Tang De shook a cigarette from the box and held it between his fingers: “Then join me while I smoke a cigarette. I have something to give you.”

He casually glanced at the door when they passed by Ling Yi’s ward, and Xi Lei took the opportunity to slide the medicine box hidden in his sleeve into his shirt pocket.

After making sure it wasn’t exposed, he smoothed the hem of his shirt and quickly followed.

Tang De didn’t light the cigarette in his hand until he was outside.

Xi Lei asked as he breathed in the fresh air: “Captain Tang De, you just said you have something to give me?”

Tang De handed him a paper bag. Xi Lei poured out the contents, and the look on his face changed.

Tang De blew a smoke ring: “These are the documents for your family of three, right?”

Xi Lei’s throat tightened slightly: “Y…..yes.”

“Please keep important documents in a safe place so that you don’t lose them. It would be very troublesome to get them reissued. As for Ling Yi’s copies, I’ll keep them for now and return them when he needs them.”

Xi Lei responded unconsciously: “O….okay.”

“By the way, along with these four sets of hard copies, I found another four sets. You’re a good student, so you know that some things shouldn’t be copied casually. If you do so, you might even go to jail.”

Tang De shook the ash from his cigarette: “I’ll destroy the sensitive items for you first. The forger has been apprehended. Don’t try this again.”

Xi Lei stared wide-eyed at the four identical certificate covers.

He had hidden the eight sets of documents Tang De mentioned in what he’d thought was the most secluded place, and he was also a quasi-graduate who had received professional military training.

How naive he had been to think he had the ability to take his entire family away.

“Just to satisfy my personal curiosity, where did you originally plan to escape to?”

Xi Lei knew there was no use hiding anything at this point, so he stiffly uttered a name: “Tiansu.”

With a deep sense of respect, Tang De gave him a thumbs up: “You have courage and insight.”

Fearing that this well-behaved young man would make a big mistake in a moment of impulsiveness, he gave him warning in advance: “But don’t underestimate His Highness’s perseverance. If the person he wants flees far away to Tiansu, he’ll send an army to bring him back.”

For the first time, Xi Lei distinctly felt the disparity in power between their two sides.

No, let alone making it to Tiansu, he feared that their entire family would be apprehended before they crossed the border.

“I’m giving you advice because I truly admire you. In addition to this, you can’t spend time with Ling Yi as casually as before. I know that your relationship is like that of brothers, but things are different now – you aren’t related by blood, so you must take care not to raise suspicions. Do you know why I took you away from there just now?”

Xi Lei shook his head blankly. He really thought that Tang De just wanted to give him these documents.

“Because His Highness Oser will arrive in a minute. He is an Alpha who just completed a marking, and is at the peak of his protectiveness and possessiveness. If he found another Alpha in Ling Yi’s room at this time, what do you think His Highness would think?”

The night wind blew through his clothes that were soaked through with cold sweat, chilling him from head to toe.

“But when I left, there was still another Alpha in the room.”

Tang De’s fingers shook as if he’d been burned by the cigarette butt: “What did you just say?”

. . . . . . .

Pat’s legs trembled. If this was a survival game, he would be able to accurately choose the option that led to death every time.

The good news was that His Highness Oser had been called to the royal palace for most of the day but was unusually full of vigor. When he spoke, his voice was a little hoarse and leisurely: 

“And who is this? Isn’t this Doctor Pat, the next winner of the Imperial Medical Award?”

The ending tone of each word touched Pat’s fragile little heart. Lan Ze had said the exact same thing. He’d thought it was sarcasm at first, but later realized he was serious.

Similarly, when His Highness Oser said this, he thought it was sarcasm, but later realized…..it was definitely sarcasm.

Pat smiled and said: “You flatter me. I should be congratulating Your Highness. The operation was very successful, and there were no adverse reactions. There were some minor incidents, but the success is due to Your Highness’s merit and virtue.”

“Do you have nothing else to explain to me?”

“What explanation does Your Highness wish to hear?”

Oser readjusted his legs: “If you can’t think of anything, just ponder it slowly. You should know that I’m always very patient when listening to someone’s last words.”

Pat shrank his neck in fear: “Your Highness, accidents can happen in medicine, like a healthy person suddenly dying or a terminally ill person suddenly recovering. No one can explain these things clearly. The fact that there’s no 100% guarantee is the charm of medicine, isn’t it?”

His voice became weaker and weaker, lowering to a mosquito’s buzz toward the end. He must be at a loss for words to use Lan Ze’s unusual logic to convince His Highness, a logic that he couldn’t even convince himself of.

“Yes, like a healthy person suddenly dying…..who can explain that?” Oser repeated.

Pat: “……”

Ling Yi yawned at the right moment, and Pat immediately saw hope of survival.

“I know Your Highness is always full of energy, but Ling Yi is weak after the operation, and he especially needs to rest after receiving such a fright. His pheromone sample has been sent for analysis. Tomorrow…..tomorrow morning at the latest, I’ll give you detailed results!”

Oser turned his head to look at Ling Yi sitting on the bed. He wore a sleepy look, with tears at the corners of his eyes.

For some reason, the words Ling Yi had spoken not long before came to mind: I’m an Omega now, can’t I be a little more delicate?

Seeing Ling Yi’s defenseless “weak” side exposed, Oser unconsciously raised the corners of his mouth. Even Pat was dumbfounded.

Such a harmless, innocent smile actually existed? Was this still the same Highness he knew, the one who sneered, ridiculed, smiled maliciously, and mocked anything and everyone?

At this moment, Ling Yi had no desire to guess what was going on in these two peoples’ heads. He had exaggerated his eye symptoms to Pat, but it was also a fact that they had been irritated by the poison gas.

Just now, Pat had insisted on giving him eye drops again. After yawning, the drops mixed with natural tears and flowed out, prompting him to rub his eyes. He was completely unaware of Oser’s strange imaginings.

Oser was in an unusually good mood. He waved his hand, indicating that Pat could leave. Such a nonchalant response made Pat uneasy.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have advised His Highness to rest early. Perhaps he should have restricted his access to Ling Yi in his capacity as a doctor.

“Um, Your Highness Oser…..”

Oser’s attention was still on Ling Yi, but he eventually realized that there was still an extra light bulb in the room, dazzlingly bright.

“Do you have something else to report?”

Pat wanted to persuade Oser not to rush things, as there was plenty of time, but although the words were on the tip of his tongue, he couldn’t bring himself to say them.

“No, nothing, just a little thing…..nothing important…..”

“If there’s nothing, then get out.”

“Eh.” Pat responded quickly: “Then the two of you should rest well.”

Ling Yi watched Pat leave. But Oser had no intention of leaving, so he said directly: “Doesn’t His Highness need to return to his own residence?”

“Are you that eager for me to leave?” Oser asked. He already knew the answer.

“This is a hospital, and accommodations are simple and crude. I don’t want to wrong Your Highness.”

A single bed in the medical college was 1.5 people wide. It wouldn’t be difficult for two people to sleep in, but the conditions were far inferior to the crown prince’s bedroom.

“You think this place is simple and crude?” Oser looked around. “I’ll send someone to replace all the furniture in here tomorrow.”

Ling Yi had nothing to say about Oser’s ability to grasp the key point. He had perfected the art of avoiding important issues.

Oser handed him a folded handwritten note.

“These are Luo Li’s instructions.”

Ling Yi unfolded it and read it line by line.

“Things to note after marking: Try to spend time with the Omega, especially at night.”

“Maintaining close physical contact helps alleviate the insecurity an Omega feels after being marked.”

“If you must leave, leave behind clothing that smells of your own pheromones to comfort them.”

“Words can be a supplement to physical contact. You should express your love for your Omega more often. You can refer to books like <<Three Hundred Sweet Words>> and <<Cheesy Love Sayings For An Entire Year>>.”

“What do you think?” Oser asked.

Ling Yi folded the note back with an expressionless face: “I miss Nan Ting very much.”

Oser was like a patient’s family member who strictly followed the doctor’s orders as he held him in his arms. Ling Yi’s pheromones were even more intense and attractive at night than during the day.

This scent was so impossible to resist that Oser didn’t notice that he was getting closer and closer to the source of it – the back of Ling Yi’s neck.

While he was savoring Ling Yi’s scent, Ling Yi was also continuously receiving a pheromone baptism from Oser.

Those molecules poured uncontrollably into his nasal cavity, and there was a restlessness in his body that responded to their call.

Ling Yi clamped his legs together in discomfort. His body temperature continued to rise, and his lips became dry due to lack of water.

“Your Highness, you can stay, but can you please control your pheromones?” He really couldn’t bear it any longer, and began to negotiate.

It was unknown if Oser didn’t hear him or was deliberately turning a deaf ear, but the pheromones not only failed to subside, but only became more rampant.

Ling Yi’s rationality was almost gone, and he struggled to raise his head in a final effort: “Your Highness?”

“How do I control them?”

Ling Yi: “……”

. . . . . .

Tang De had accumulated a lot of experience in just two days, and had already prepared a change of uniform in advance as he waited outside the door.

The styles of royal uniforms were complex and varied, with standardized combinations for different seasons and occasions. Even minor things like ribbons or buttons had strict regulations.

In the palace, there were special servants who selected and dressed Oser in these accessories and clothing every day. Oser hadn’t brought any servants with him to the hospital, so Tang De had to do everything himself.

If he continued to have to do the work of several people, he’d have to ask His Highness Oser for a raise.

When he was allowed inside, Oser had just come out of the bathroom. He was wrapped in a simple bath towel, steam coming off him from head to toe.

His sculpted figure made Tang De, a fellow man, envious. Perhaps heaven was envious of him too, not allowing such a top-tier specimen to enjoy the favor of an Omega for thirty-five years.

The bed was empty, and dripping water could be heard through the half-open bathroom door.

Tang De had been with Oser for a long time, and was much more daring than Pat when it came to giving bold advice.

“Your Highness, please forgive me for speaking frankly. The first time was out of necessity, but considering his physical condition, it’s better to exercise restraint.”

Oser tossed aside the towel he’d used to wipe his hair: “It’s not my fault. A certain person kept rubbing himself against me in my arms. How could I control myself?”

A dark form flew out of the bathroom. Tang De had years of professional training and experience, and knew that even if it was a bullet or a missile, he would intercept it at the risk of his life.

He caught the “concealed weapon” without thinking, and upon closer inspection, he found that it was a shower gel bottle.

Oser immediately sent him a meaningful look.

Tang De decisively smacked the bottle against his head and let it fall to the floor, shouting toward the bathroom: “Aiya! Your Highness, are you alright? Does it hurt?”

After the performance, Tang De assisted Oser in getting dressed, whispering: “Hurry, hurry.”

Oser couldn’t grasp the intentions of his capable subordinate, and impatiently followed his pace until he was ready.

Tang De practically shoved Oser out of the ward, and before leaving, he shouted toward the bathroom again: “Your Highness, Doctor Pat said that the report you requested has been completed. Please come over now!”

He didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until the door closed behind them.

But when he opened his eyes, he saw that many details of the uniform were improperly applied, and didn’t meet standards.

If the palace etiquette officer saw this, he would definitely be severely punished.

“What are you doing?” Oser asked in dissatisfaction.

Tang De replied: “Based on my understanding of Omegas, if he threw shower gel now, there’s no telling what he would throw next. It’s better to just remove yourself from the situation.”

Oser shook his head in disdain: “What a fuss.”

“Besides, I wasn’t lying. Pat did send me a text message, but I haven’t had time to read it yet. He should be asking you to come over.”

Tang De opened the text message and read: 

[Pat: Brother, save me! Try to delay His Highness longer, please, please. (folding hands together)]

Tang De: Oh…..

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Chapter 18 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 20