Elaine's Anomaly

All the nobles present quickly left the scene.

After all, no one dared remain in the same space as Thanatos after he had just killed someone.

Elaine had long grown accustomed to other people's fear.

But Shi Sheng shook his head and pointed to his wristband, where his father's contact information was displayed.

Father Shi hurried over. Seeing his wife in that state, his first instinct was to open his mouth and blame Shi Sheng.

But the moment he turned and met Elaine's gaze, he did not dare say another word.

His mother was taken away by Father Shi. Shi Sheng lightly tugged on Elaine's sleeve and smiled at him, his eyes curving with his lips.

Having witnessed everything, he still chose to return to the Carlos family.

Elaine suppressed the taste of blood in his mouth, seized Shi Sheng's wrist, and strode outside.

Shi Sheng was startled by his unprecedented forcefulness and followed closely behind. Elaine paused, then slowed his pace.

They returned to the car they had arrived in. Elaine raised a hand over Shi Sheng's head to shield him as he got into the car.

The moment Shi Sheng was seated, he turned to look at Elaine, only to see that the Alpha had not gotten in.

"There is an emergency at the Military Department." Elaine bent down outside the car and said to Shi Sheng, "I will be away for a few days. Don't be afraid. You are safe. If anything happens, find Merico."

Shi Sheng froze and instinctively signed, "So suddenly? Is it serious? Is it... because of that agent?"

Elaine did not answer his question. He seemed to be suppressing something with all his strength, yet he continued to comfort Shi Sheng gently.

"Wait here for a while. Lindsay will accompany you back. There is water in the car. Don't get out before he arrives, all right?"

Before Shi Sheng could answer, Elaine had already straightened up and closed the car door.

In that instant, Shi Sheng inexplicably sensed that the abnormality in Elaine still remained. He hurriedly reached for the door handle.

Click.

Shi Sheng could not get out. All he could do was look through the window at Elaine's gentle, complicated gaze.

As Elaine left with Shi Sheng, Izel hurried after them, reaching into his pocket for the pill Lindsay had given him.

But halfway there, he stopped and handed the pill to Lindsay instead.

Lindsay was surprised. "You didn't take it?"

"Give it to my brother." Izel left only those words behind. "He still isn't quite right."

Before Lindsay could speak, Izel had already turned and walked back into the Imperial Palace.

"Hey..." Lindsay had not even managed to stop Izel before he disappeared. Remembering what he had said, Lindsay did not dare delay and hurried after him.

When he reached the familiar car, he found only Shi Sheng inside.

The Omega was anxiously slapping the window. Only then did Lindsay realize that the door had been locked from the outside.

The moment he opened it, Shi Sheng tried to rush out, and Lindsay quickly held him back.

"What happened? Where is the family head?"

Shi Sheng signed anxiously, then went to grab his voice device.

"Elaine, left, me, and, went away."

Lindsay froze. Then he saw that there was not a trace of anger on Shi Sheng's face. He merely looked so worried that he was about to cry.

"Elaine, is, strange. What, happened, to him?"

But Lindsay fell silent.

He got into the car and tapped the autonomous driving controls a few times.

"It's nothing." He comforted Shi Sheng. "My brother told me to take you back first. He will be back soon."

Shi Sheng did not believe him and rose to get out, but the car had already sped away.

Izel found Yumian in the wrecked hall.

"Still not leaving?"

But Yumian's expression was strange.

He seemed to be spacing out. He gave Izel a somewhat sluggish glance, then suddenly said:

"I didn't get my dagger back."

Not far from them, Hovis was still leading people in handling the aftermath.

Izel frowned and pulled him outside. "Go back first. I'll get it back for you."

Yumian resisted slightly and struggled a little.

"It won't do you any good to stay any longer," Izel said. "Do you want him to find out your secret?"

Yumian's body stiffened, as though Izel's words had finally pulled him back to his senses.

He stopped struggling and followed behind his second brother as they walked out.

After putting Yumian in the car, Izel did not return with him. Instead, he turned to find Hovis and retrieve Yumian's dagger.

But when he returned to the hall again, Hovis was nowhere to be seen. He had apparently gone off somewhere else to deal with matters.

Izel searched around without success, while his body began showing some worrying changes.

He had always been experienced with his own condition. He immediately headed toward a garden deep within the Imperial Palace, looking for somewhere deserted before he lost control of his consciousness.

By then, he could barely tell where he had gone.

He only leaned sideways behind a tree and steadied his breathing.

Cold moonlight spilled down.

Smack! A crisp sound reached his ears.

It was easy to identify. Anyone could tell that someone had been slapped.

Izel frowned. He had not expected anyone to be here either. He waited cautiously for a while, preparing to leave when he found an opportunity.

Then he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"I'm sorry, Father."

Hearing Ning Zhao's voice, Izel cautiously poked his head out.

Not far away stood the Emperor and the Crown Prince.

Orito VI's voice was merciless. "Look at how you handle things. You turned both banquets into utter chaos."

Ning Zhao lowered his head slightly, his tone calm. "It was my fault. It will not happen again."

"Useless thing." The Emperor slapped Ning Zhao again.

Izel frowned.

But Ning Zhao seemed unable to feel the pain and did not move at all.

The Emperor said nothing more. With a cold snort, he left Ning Zhao behind and walked away.

The surroundings fell silent.

Ning Zhao stood there alone, maintaining his bowed posture.

After an unknown amount of time, he lightly wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and left without looking back.

Izel watched his retreating figure, a complicated emotion flashing through his eyes.

The car slowly came to a stop, and the butler, who had been waiting at the entrance, hurried over.

But Shi Sheng remained seated without moving.

Lindsay urged, "It's late. Go inside first."

Shi Sheng only stubbornly used his voice device to ask where Elaine had gone.

"He's already back," Lindsay said helplessly. "He's at home. You'll see him once you go inside."

Shi Sheng looked at him suspiciously, but he still compromised and entered through the main doors.

Merico repeatedly asked, "Is Madam all right? Should we prepare some food?"

Shi Sheng shook his head, leaving the butler and Lindsay behind as he nearly ran toward the bedroom.

Taking the opportunity, Lindsay asked Merico, "Did he come back?"

"He did." Merico sighed, his expression anxious. "But in that state, I'm afraid Madam cannot see him."

Lindsay understood. He handed the pill to Merico. "Take this over first, along with the medicine in my room. Send me the details later."

Merico hurriedly accepted it.

Lindsay went after Shi Sheng. The moment he entered the small building at the far end of the estate, he saw Shi Sheng emerging from the bedroom at the end of the corridor, having opened every door on the entire floor to look inside.

"Didn't you say Elaine was already back?" He pressed his voice device anxiously. "What, exactly, happened, to him?"

Lindsay closed his eyes, his heart heavy.

He faced a difficult choice.

On the way back, he had contacted Elaine many times and had received no response.

That meant Elaine had already transformed into a beast beyond his control.

Of course, he should keep it from Shi Sheng. But seeing Shi Sheng like this, he could not fob him off with another excuse.

The anxiety and concern on the Omega's face were entirely genuine.

Elaine usually took such good care of Shi Sheng that even if he had said he would return soon, Shi Sheng would still worry over his sudden departure.

But should he really tell him?

Lindsay was torn.

How many people could accept such an absurd truth?

Shi Sheng noticed Lindsay's reaction.

He keenly guessed that Lindsay definitely knew something, though he might not be willing to tell him.

As his reason gradually cleared, Shi Sheng stared at Lindsay for a moment and stopped asking.

"My brother will be back soon. He only went to handle matters at the Military Department." Lindsay lied. "Go take a shower and get some rest. It's fine."

Shi Sheng pursed his lips, as if persuaded by Lindsay, then slowly nodded.

Lindsay sighed in relief. "Then rest first. If you need anything, call me or Merico."

Shi Sheng smiled at him.

Lindsay turned and left. Shi Sheng stood where he was for a moment, then quietly followed him.

The entire Carlos family estate was shrouded in the quiet night.

At some point, the clouds had dispersed, revealing a full moon hanging in the sky.

Shi Sheng was not particularly good at following people. Fortunately, neither was Lindsay. Anxious as he was, he did not notice.

Shi Sheng watched Lindsay walk to a door, where Merico was also standing.

Shi Sheng hurriedly hid in a corner. After an unknown amount of time, he heard Lindsay open the door and come out, followed by the footsteps of two people gradually fading away.

The silence around him was eerie.

Shi Sheng pressed hard against his chest but did not approach immediately.

He did not know what was happening, but a strange suspicion had arisen in his heart.

On the way back, Lindsay had asked whether he had been frightened.

Elaine had asked him the same thing then—whether he had frightened him.

He really had been frightened for a brief moment.

That was when Elaine had driven his sword through the throat of the man who had tried to threaten Shi Sheng.

But it was not because he had seen Elaine kill someone. That shudder had only been a human's instinctive reaction to blood.

Yet Elaine had thought Shi Sheng was afraid of him.

How could he be afraid of Elaine? Their first meeting had been on a battlefield piled high with corpses.

Elaine had clearly pulled him back from the brink of death, yet Elaine still worried that he feared him.

It was not as though Shi Sheng had never seen Elaine kill before.

Shi Sheng felt briefly aggrieved, but it was soon overwhelmed by his concern for Elaine.

Elaine's hasty departure was strange, and Lindsay's reaction was strange too.

Shi Sheng stared at the perfectly ordinary door, his fingers brushing the amber on his neck ring.

At last, he made up his mind and slowly walked over.

Inside the Imperial Palace, Izel confirmed that his condition was still manageable, stepped out from behind the tree, and headed back the way he had come.

But halfway there, he slowly stopped.

Ning Zhao was waiting at the other end of the path and slowly turned his head.

The main road through the Imperial Palace garden was lined with streetlights.

Under the orange light, Ning Zhao silently met Izel's gaze.

Izel looked away and brushed past the Crown Prince along the only path forward.

"Izel." Ning Zhao stopped him, his tone calm. "Were you over there the whole time?"

Izel turned back with an easy smile. "What is Your Highness talking about?"

"You saw it," Ning Zhao said.

"I didn't."

Ning Zhao gave a quiet laugh.

Izel rubbed his forehead in frustration, feeling that his mind must not have been clear for him to give such a stupid answer.

Ning Zhao looked at him for a while, then suddenly asked, "Do you like Noah very much?"

Izel frowned slightly. "What answer does Your Highness want to hear?"

He did not understand why Ning Zhao was asking this. He had already said before that he and Noah had "been together."

But Ning Zhao merely asked, "Why? Because he is an Iris Fragrance Omega?"

"Your Highness, I don't think we need to discuss such a topic," Izel said.

Ning Zhao fell silent.

"All right." When he spoke again, he was still calm. "It's getting late. Go back soon."

For the first time, Izel hesitated, the image of Ning Zhao being slapped flashing before his eyes.

But in the end, he asked nothing and turned to leave.

Ning Zhao did not return to his own bedchamber. Instead, he went to the guest room where Noah was staying.

He was the most courteous Alpha in the capital, yet he entered an Omega's room in the dead of night.

Noah was surprised to see him. Remembering what had happened tonight, he grew even more uneasy. "Your Highness..."

The moment he looked up and saw Ning Zhao's face clearly, the color rapidly drained from his own.

Fear welled up inside him.

Ning Zhao was nothing like the gentle, warm man he appeared to be before others. He stood expressionlessly before Noah, his gaze roaming over Noah's features.

Then it settled on his slender neck.

That was not the way an Alpha looked at an Omega.

Ning Zhao reached out, and Noah flinched instinctively.

"What are you afraid of?" Ning Zhao tugged at the corner of his mouth. "It's not like I'm going to eat you."

Noah began trembling all over.

Ning Zhao stepped closer and closer, then lowered his head toward him.

His body was too rigid to react. Terror made Noah want to flee, but his legs felt as heavy as lead.

"I smelled it," Ning Zhao said softly. "Your pheromones are leaking out."

When an Omega was extremely frightened, they could not control the overflow of their pheromones.

The scent of Iris Fragrance lingered all around them.

Ning Zhao closed his eyes and inhaled, then smiled. "It smells so good."

Of course Noah knew the Crown Prince was not complimenting him.

Just as he had done several times before, Ning Zhao's fingers lightly brushed the gland at the back of Noah's neck.

There was not the slightest hint of intimacy in the air.

Ning Zhao's voice was cold. "What a fine gland."

"Don't you think?"