"Eldest Sister-in-Law" Duties

Lindsay hurried into Yumian's bedroom with the medicine, only to find the two brothers sitting in silence.

Yumian looked a little pale as he sat expressionlessly on the sofa.

Elaine stood by the floor-to-ceiling window in casual clothes, apparently having just come from Shi Sheng's place.

"Yumian, take some medicine first." Lindsay sighed inwardly and crouched in front of Yumian. "This has a sedative effect. It'll keep you from having another episode tonight."

Yumian had always been fairly obedient toward his adoptive older brother. He tipped back his head and downed the medicine in one gulp.

Seeing that neither of his older brothers spoke, he forcefully set down the empty vial and repeated what he had said before. "Big Brother, I want to marry the Crown Prince."

Elaine remained fairly calm. "Give me a reason."

"He's suitable." Yumian said, "I actually talked to A-Zhao about it before. He doesn't have an Omega he likes, and he doesn't want to mark anyone else. Doesn't that make him perfect for me? It saves a lot of trouble, and it won't ruin anyone else's life."

When Elaine said nothing, he paused, then said lightly, "Besides, even if I don't get married now, sooner or later that old Emperor will casually marry me off to some Alpha family. Wouldn't he be more at ease if I married into the royal family instead?"

Lindsay frowned and looked toward Elaine.

In this household, probably only Elaine, as the Marshal, knew the Emperor's true attitude toward the Carlos family.

Yumian was thinking too simply.

Half of Elaine's profile was hidden in shadow, and the moonlight made his figure look cold.

Unable to bear the silence, Lindsay could only persuade him. "But what about you? Yumian, you should marry an Alpha you like."

"I like A-Zhao quite a lot." Yumian leaned back into the sofa indifferently. "He has a gentle personality, he's perfect, and we know each other well."

"But does he like you?" Lindsay asked softly.

Yumian grew a little impatient. "Brother, can you stop being so naive? I'm a Carlos! Is liking someone really that important? Even if he likes me, what use is that?"

"Look at the blood on me, and what I was like just now, when I couldn't even control myself. Just because of so-called love, am I supposed to bond with an Alpha who knows nothing?"

He raised his head and stubbornly looked at Elaine by the window.

"That reason doesn't hold." Only after a long while did he hear Elaine say that.

Yumian was about to flare up when Lindsay hurriedly said, "Right, Yumian, you're still young. You can wait a few more years. In a few years, your condition will get better..."

"How will it get better?" Yumian demanded sharply. "This is a curse, not an illness! If it could be cured, would Big Brother be like this? Would Izel be like this?!"

Unable to hold himself back, he stood up and stubbornly questioned Elaine with his head raised. "If it can be cured, then what are you doing, Big Brother? You don't even dare to mark an Omega from a political marriage!"

The moment he met Elaine's gaze, Yumian's words came to an abrupt halt.

He had always feared this eldest brother.

But Elaine merely gave Yumian a calm glance. "Get some rest. We'll discuss this later."

Lindsay pulled Yumian back and softly coaxed him into the inner bedroom.

The door slammed shut in front of him. Before Lindsay could sigh, he quickly turned and caught up with Elaine.

"Head of the family, Yumian only..."

"I know," Elaine said flatly. "I'll consider it."

Lindsay froze. "But His Majesty won't agree..."

Elaine said nothing.

Lindsay suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

He could not continue the subject, so he could only ask, "Have you been alright lately? Have there been any episodes of losing control?"

"I'm fine." Elaine only said that. Yet when he reached a room, he paused, turned, and pushed open the door. "Bring some more medicine. I'll wait for you here."

Lindsay hurriedly turned and left.

He was still troubled by the situation. The current version of the medicine was already becoming less effective.

Cold moonlight spilled across the seemingly endless corridor.

This home had been desolate for far too long. After Yumian's mother died, even the luxurious Carlos Manor had become a deathly prison.

Feeling heavy-hearted, Lindsay was about to cross the garden when he suddenly heard a mechanical voice—

"You, hello, Lindsay, little brother."

His footsteps stopped abruptly as he saw an Omega crouching beside the flowerbeds.

He was younger than Lindsay, yet he called him little brother in that strange mechanical voice.

"...Eldest Sister-in-Law, what are you doing here?"

Shi Sheng blushed at the way he addressed him and rapidly tapped at his voice device.

"Elaine, came, to, find, Yumian. I'm, fine, looking, at, flowers."

He smiled at Lindsay. "Elaine, finished, being, busy?"

Lindsay was silent for a moment before lying. "You should go back and rest first. The head of the family... the head of the family is still talking with Yumian."

Shi Sheng silently mouthed an "ah." "Is, it, a, serious, problem?"

"Mm... sort of." It was inconvenient for Lindsay to tell the truth. Facing Shi Sheng's sincere eyes made him feel a little embarrassed. "It's fine, don't worry. Yumian has his own thoughts. It's just that no one dares go against the head of the family's opinion."

Shi Sheng tilted his head and tried to understand for a while, then shook his head and seriously tapped at his voice device.

"Then, you, persuade, Yumian. Don't, argue."

He looked up at Lindsay, then lowered his head. "Elaine, must, be, doing, it, for, his, good."

A strange feeling rose in Lindsay's heart.

If those words were told to Yumian, he definitely would not believe them.

Neither Lindsay nor Yumian and Izel, his biological younger brothers, had ever directly received Elaine's concern.

Over the years, only Lindsay knew why Elaine supported his genetic research.

If it were not for Yumian, Elaine would not have needed to withstand so much pressure from the royal family.

But no one aside from Lindsay knew any of this.

Thanatos of the Empire had actually always been a qualified older brother. Who would believe that if it were said aloud?

He opened his mouth, then after a long while shook his head with a smile. "Aren't you afraid? Of a place like this?"

Shi Sheng blinked and lowered his head, rummaging through his voice device for quite some time.

Lindsay watched in confusion as a meme reading "Superman is here!" popped up in the air.

Then he saw Shi Sheng's eyes curve into crescents as he said in his mechanical voice, "Why, should, I, be, afraid?"

"This, is, Elaine's, home."

Lindsay stood stunned for a long time.

Shi Sheng squatted where he was and looked at the flowers for a while. He did not notice Lindsay hurrying past behind him again after leaving.

After an unknown amount of time, a low voice fell behind him.

"What are you looking at?"

Shi Sheng abruptly turned and stood, but he lost his balance. Elaine quickly reached out and caught him.

"You, finished, being, busy." Shi Sheng held up his voice device. "Going, back?"

Elaine reached out and brushed the leaves from Shi Sheng's shoulder. "Mm."

The two walked back beneath the moonlight. Shi Sheng carefully looked up at Elaine's profile and tugged at his sleeve.

"Did, you, argue, with, Yumian?"

Elaine's lips curved faintly. "No. It wasn't really an argument."

Shi Sheng tilted his head and watched him for a while, but did not press further.

When they returned to their bedroom, he walked straight to the table and moved the beautiful vases one by one onto the windowsill.

The Empire's technology was advanced, and there were already mature methods for keeping flowers fresh for a long time. Shi Sheng had carefully preserved all the flowers Elaine had brought back recently.

Elaine leaned against the side and watched Shi Sheng bustle about.

Shi Sheng occasionally looked back at Elaine, his eyes darting around.

Elaine asked, "Do you have something to say?"

Knowing that nothing could be hidden from such a perceptive Alpha, Shi Sheng slowly walked over to Elaine and opened his wristband, pulling up an interface for him to see.

It was the enrollment notice uniformly sent by the military academy. The date was only a few days away.

Shi Sheng felt terribly guilty. Given the current situation, he could only force himself to attend school in his brother's place.

Yet Elaine asked, "I understand. Do you need me to request leave for you?"

Shi Sheng looked up in surprise.

[Is Elaine an angel? Otherwise, why does he have six huge wings behind his back?]

A trace of amusement flashed through Elaine's eyes. "Your body hasn't fully recovered yet. Do you need to take some time off?"

Shi Sheng hurriedly nodded.

"Alright." Elaine said, "Get some rest early."

After thinking for a moment, Shi Sheng asked Elaine through the voice device, "Can, I, go, into, the, library, at, home?"

Elaine held out his hand to him. "Come here."

Shi Sheng blinked in confusion.

Elaine explained gently, "I'll give you access."

Shi Sheng quickly handed over his hand and watched Elaine make several adjustments on his wristband.

"From now on, you can go anywhere in the house," Elaine said. "I've also shared access to my digital library with you. Hopefully it'll help."

Shi Sheng immediately thanked him with animated gestures.

In the Empire, the higher a person's position, the greater their digital library access. With Elaine's status, there was basically no book Shi Sheng would be unable to read.

He could not take leave from military academy forever. He had to make the most of his time to catch up on his brother's courses and try to delay being exposed.

Shi Sheng was overjoyed and gave Elaine a broad smile.

He had actually noticed on the way back that Elaine was not very happy, most likely because of Yumian.

He did not want Elaine to be unhappy, so Shi Sheng decided to do something in return for how well Elaine had treated him lately.

Besides, when older and younger brothers lived together, little conflicts were unavoidable. This was when an eldest sister-in-law like him had to step in!

Shi Sheng chuckled to himself and quietly gave himself a little encouragement.

Watching the Omega happily amuse himself over something unknown, Elaine's tightly wound mood gradually eased.

He realized that Shi Sheng was truly easy to satisfy and easy to make happy.

On their wedding day, when he had returned from the battlefield, Elaine had thought about many things.

Any Omega forced to marry into the Carlos family would probably suffer.

So he had tried to do what he could, hoping to ease Shi Sheng's fear of coming into this cursed family.

But unexpectedly, Shi Sheng seemed fairly satisfied with his current life.

That was good. Being easy to satisfy was a good thing. At least Elaine could worry a little less about Shi Sheng's future life.

Elaine lowered his eyes and, while Shi Sheng was not paying attention, hid his uncontrollably transformed right hand behind his back.