Family Meeting

"Honestly..." Yumian ruffled his hair. "Just let me off, okay? Big Brother told me not to say where he was, but I told you anyway. He'll scold me when he gets back."

Shi Sheng lowered his head, his eyes slowly reddening.

Yumian backed away in alarm. "You're not about to cry, are you?"

He had barely ever cried himself and had no idea how to deal with it.

But Shi Sheng shook his head and sniffed hard.

In the end, Yumian caved and reluctantly took Shi Sheng to the research institute.

Lindsay was shocked to see them and seemed somewhat flustered. He wanted to ask Yumian something, but Yumian merely shrugged.

So he could only take Shi Sheng to see Elaine.

Yumian did not go in. He waited outside the coded door.

Elaine was confined in a vast but empty laboratory, his wings still bound layer upon layer with thick iron chains.

His eyes were closed, as though he were asleep.

At the sight, Shi Sheng's heart nearly stopped. He hurried anxiously to Elaine's side and kept looking back at Lindsay.

Lindsay hurriedly explained, "It's fine. This was something the family head ordered long ago. Every time he loses his human consciousness, his wings are restrained so that..."

He hesitated before honestly saying, "So he doesn't attack people unconsciously."

He did not know how much Yumian had told Shi Sheng, so he chose to hide the fact that Carlos became intensely aggressive and destructive after beastification.

"Keeping the family head here is only to make it easier to suppress his beastification. There's nothing else going on, so don't worry."

Shi Sheng's face had gone pale with anxiety, but Lindsay was Elaine's younger brother, and Shi Sheng instinctively trusted him.

His heart ached terribly. He carefully leaned close to Elaine, pressing his cheek against the soft feathers.

He wanted Elaine to hear his voice, but he could not speak.

Shi Sheng raised his hand and gently stroked Elaine's snowy feathers bit by bit, the way he had petted kittens as a child.

Watching this, Lindsay did not know how to feel.

He quietly told Shi Sheng, "If you want to stay, you can remain a little longer. But the institute has rules—outsiders cannot stay for too long. I'll wait for you outside."

Shi Sheng nodded.

Lindsay looked back once more before turning and leaving.

Shi Sheng, who was always so polite, forgot to say goodbye. He merely leaned against the White Phoenix alone, lost in thought.

After a long while, Shi Sheng cautiously tried touching the heavy chains, but they did not budge.

Elaine was ruthless even toward his beastified self.

Shi Sheng rubbed his eyes, curled his lips, and forced out a small smile as he silently called,

[Elaine.]

He had actually arrived with many questions, but after seeing Elaine like this, he no longer wanted to ask any of them.

He only wanted to talk to Elaine.

But one of them was mute, while the other had lost consciousness and could not speak. What could they possibly say?

Shi Sheng did not even know whether Elaine would find his presence intrusive.

He was only the Omega who had married him through a political alliance, yet he knew his family's deepest secret.

Thinking of that, Shi Sheng felt a little inexplicably happy. It seemed that he and Elaine were now in the same boat.

[You can't chase me away, or I'll tell everyone your secrets.]

Shi Sheng rehearsed the scene of "threatening" Elaine in his mind.

The more he thought about it, the more he smiled, then shook his head.

[Just kidding. I won't tell anyone.]

[I'll keep every one of Elaine's secrets.]

Hugging the White Phoenix's neck once more, Shi Sheng made up his mind.

Before Elaine woke up, he would help him watch over this family.

As for anything else, they could wait until Elaine recovered.

Lindsay came in to remind him that time was up.

In truth, he had already bent the rules greatly for Shi Sheng, but this was the limit of what the rules allowed.

Shi Sheng looked at Lindsay and suddenly recalled what he knew about him from the plot. No matter how he looked at him, Lindsay did not seem like that kind of villain.

After Shi Sheng came to Carlos, Lindsay had rarely appeared. He seemed wholly devoted to his work.

Then why would he frame the protagonist? Shi Sheng could not remember for the moment.

Seeing Shi Sheng staring at him, Lindsay asked, "Is there... anything else you're wondering about?"

Shi Sheng came back to himself. He did indeed have a question, so he picked up his voice device.

"Elaine's beastification—does it have any patterns?"

"Why did it happen like this this time?"

"There's no pattern," Lindsay said. "Most of the time, the family head can control it himself. Both he and Izel can beastify voluntarily, though Izel uses it less often. After all, he doesn't need to go to the battlefield."

Shi Sheng froze, suddenly recalling the night of the wedding.

That White Phoenix who had delivered him flowers that day... had Elaine returned specially from the battlefield?

Lindsay continued, "But there are also many times when it is uncontrollable. After all, this... this curse is something no one has ever been able to fully understand. The pattern I noticed before was the full moon. On days like that, they lose control more frequently."

Shi Sheng thought back over the past few days. He had indeed seen a full moon.

"But the family head hasn't been this severely affected in a long time," Lindsay said. "There was something wrong with the incense at the banquet."

Shi Sheng pressed his lips together, something flickering in his eyes.

[It really was Noah.]

Hearing Shi Sheng's thoughts so suddenly, Lindsay's brow twitched slightly.

[He was in charge of the incense. Before, I was only focused on preventing him from framing Yumian, so I didn't consider other possibilities.]

[Looking at it this way, maybe his goal from the start was everyone in Carlos...]

[But how does he know Carlos's secret?]

That was what puzzled Lindsay as well.

Before he could speak, Shi Sheng looked at him with a solemn expression.

Lindsay:?

"Lindsay, little brother." Shi Sheng pressed the voice device with great seriousness. "I want to convene a..."

He paused, then pressed down firmly.

"Family meeting."

Lindsay:??

Though they were all somewhat baffled, every Carlos family member except Elaine suddenly gathered together.

Yumian sprawled over the back of his chair. The events of the past two days had put him in a poor mood, and he understood even less why he had listened to Shi Sheng and come to hold a family meeting.

This was something he had never experienced in the first eighteen years of his life!

As for Izel, the butler Merico had sent people to "invite" him back.

After hearing Shi Sheng's plan, Merico was deeply gratified and offered his full support.

Yumian whispered quietly, "Is he seriously trying to be the family head's wife?"

Izel gave an elegant yawn and leaned tiredly against his chair without saying anything.

Shi Sheng's face always looked somewhat listless because his eyelids habitually drooped, but now it was utterly solemn. Once everyone had arrived, he raised his hand and clapped twice.

"..."

Lindsay adjusted his glasses. "Sister-in-law means the meeting has begun."

Yumian stared at him in shock. "You became his spokesperson too?"

Ignoring Yumian's jab, Shi Sheng smiled at him before presenting his idea to the three brothers—

To avoid further trouble, he suggested getting rid of Noah.

Lindsay: ...He truly had not expected such a straightforward proposal.

Shi Sheng had wanted to explain his reasons and persuade everyone to believe him, but Yumian and Izel both looked unsurprised.

He assumed they had also noticed something wrong with the incense and suspected Noah.

What the two brothers were actually thinking was: There was no need to waste time explaining. We heard your thoughts long ago.

Still, they were somewhat surprised. Shi Sheng had always been a quiet, withdrawn Omega, yet he had proposed such a blunt and forceful solution.

This clearly had nothing to do with him.

Was it because Noah had accidentally caused Big Brother to lose control?

Izel and Yumian exchanged a glance before Izel lazily asked Shi Sheng, "Then what do you plan to do?"

Shi Sheng looked a little troubled. "I don't know, so I asked you all to discuss it."

"Simple." Yumian suddenly spoke. "Tomorrow, I'll go find A-Zhao."

Izel frowned. "What do you mean?"

Yumian said, "A-Zhao will agree to marry me. Once A-Zhao and I are engaged, Noah will definitely make his next move."

Like his second brother, the young master yawned. "Everything he's doing now is only possible because A-Zhao can provide him with convenience. But he's already exposed plenty of flaws."

"Once he loses his status as a 'candidate for crown princess,' he'll have neither power nor influence. He'll only think of other methods, but then it'll be easy for us to control him."

"Who else could help him? Lanreese? Their family only has Madam Lan, who's worth anything, but what use is that?"

As Yumian spoke, he noticed Shi Sheng resting his cheek on one hand and watching him. He immediately became wary. "What are you looking at me for?"

Shi Sheng shook his head. "I thought Yumian would just say we should kill him."

Yumian froze.

It was not as though he had never thought about killing Noah, especially last night.

But if he really killed Noah without any evidence...

Yumian lowered his head to look at his hands, remembering a face he had not thought of in a long time.

Then he really would become a monster.

Izel frowned at Yumian. "I don't agree."

Yumian's thoughts were interrupted, and he said irritably, "Who asked for your agreement?"

"Do you think being crown princess is easy?" Izel smiled without much emotion. "Yumian, you're not a child anymore. Stop playing house."

Yumian said coldly, "Then what's your solution?"

Izel rose to his feet. "Getting rid of an Omega with petty schemes doesn't require you to sacrifice yourself."

Yumian's expression was replaced by confusion.

"As for becoming the crown prince's wife, stop thinking about it." Izel casually knocked Yumian on the head. "That guy isn't as good as you think."

Shi Sheng rested his cheek on his hand as he watched the two brothers.

But Izel was already walking out. "Have Ning Zhao return the person to Carlos. Wouldn't that make everything else easy?"

The Alpha's lazy footsteps and voice faded into the distance together.

Yumian was still confused. "Why does he think I can't be A-Zhao's wife? Does he look down on me?"

Lindsay sighed, unable to understand the purpose of this family meeting.

But when he turned his head, he saw Shi Sheng smiling to himself, lost in thought.

Early the next morning, Shi Sheng got up and headed straight to the research institute to see Elaine.

Beneath the heavy chains, the White Phoenix was still asleep.

Shi Sheng felt somewhat downcast because of it, but he still did his best to keep Elaine company.

He stroked the White Phoenix's soft feathers and chattered away in his heart, not caring that Elaine could not hear him at all.

[It might not be useful, but I'll definitely protect Elaine and the younger brothers.]

[Oh, right, Elaine, I think...]

[Izel and Yumian actually have a very good relationship.]

[Even though Izel says unpleasant things, he's actually worried about Yumian, just like you worry about them.]

[Everyone is family.]

[Elaine, can you get better a little sooner?]

[They probably miss you and worry about you just like I do.]

Shi Sheng leaned against Elaine and silently prayed in his heart.

He did not notice the White Phoenix's long lashes trembling as golden eyes slowly opened.