Chapter 198

Chapter 198

"Chief Xue."

Xue Ji got stopped just as he was about to reach the palace gates.

Serrick stopped three meters away, gave him a once-over, then held out a mini light computer. "Here are the files on those five hundred people His Majesty wanted you to have. If it all checks out, I'll get them sent over right away."

Xue Ji took it and gave it a quick skim. Asuer had been thorough, covering everything he'd asked for. "All good." He handed it back and was about to head off when Serrick added, "The palace roses are pollinating right now, and the air is thick with pollen. I noticed some got on your clothes, Chief Xue. Maybe you should change before you head out."

Xue Ji held his gaze for a few seconds. "Then I'll leave it to you."

Serrick immediately called a knight over. "Take Chief Xue to change his clothes."

Xue Ji followed the knight away. Devalen happened to be leading a patrol by just then, and they gave each other a quick nod as they passed. Devalen walked up to Serrick. "Where are you sending him off to?"

Serrick dodged the question and said, "You've worked with Xue Ji for months, so you know what he likes to wear. Get a few sets of clothes in his size ready at the palace, and tell everyone to make sure he changes before he leaves every time he comes."

Devalen looked confused.

Serrick's eyes darkened. "Didn't you pick up the scent on him?"

The Emperor had marked every inch of Xue Ji, like an animal staking its claim.

Devalen rubbed his nose, looking awkward. "I'll get it sorted as soon as possible."

*

"You free tomorrow night?"

Xue Ji saw the message after he finished work. It was from Asuer, but since Xue Ji hadn't saved his contact, it still showed as a string of numbers.

"What time?"

"Seven."

"Sure. Just come over."

They always kept their messages short, so after that, the other side didn't reply. Xue Ji grabbed a towel and went to the bathroom. When he came out, Gene was still downstairs, looking a bit lost.

Xue Ji went downstairs and started making coffee at the counter. "You'll stay in Devalen's old room, the second door on your left. Just tell the housekeeping bot if you need anything, it'll order it."

"Oh, sure." Gene looked away from the yard and asked a random question, "You really like roses too?"

"Not really," Xue Ji replied casually.

"Really? With all these roses in your yard, I figured you might have the same taste as His Majesty."

"Didn't know what else to plant, so I just tossed some in." Xue Ji grabbed his coffee, said "Make yourself at home," and went upstairs.

On the dining table, the housekeeping bot had set out salad and juice. Xue Ji's portion was already upstairs—he wasn't going to eat with him. Gene sat down, happily ditching the awful nutrient solution. The table faced a floor-to-ceiling window that opened onto the yard, and as he ate, he admired the picturesque sunset view, quietly thinking how Xue Ji, even though he worked like crazy, really knew how to enjoy life when he wasn't working.

Halfway through his meal, he couldn't help pulling out his light computer to take some pictures of his dinner and the view, sending them to Devalen: "Sergeant, so this is the kind of life you had with Chief Xue?"

Devalen was giving a report to the Monarch.

Serrick had left the palace to deal with Xue Ji's company stuff, leaving Devalen to investigate the gene bank deletion records. He'd made some progress—his team had found a human trafficking network, traced it to a transfer point, and was now waiting for the Monarch's orders on what to do next. Just then, a message alert popped up.

Since he needed to be reachable for emergencies, Devalen had all his palace messages set to show up instantly without having to tap. Now, two images suddenly popped up, right in the Monarch's line of sight.

Without a word, the Monarch's attention was partly distracted.

"It's Gene," Devalen had to explain reluctantly.

"What does it say?"

Devalen had already seen the full message, but now he had to display it all to the Monarch, adding dryly, "To be honest, I mostly lived on nutrient solution."

But Asuer's focus was entirely on the blooming roses in the photos. "Where is this?"

Devalen glanced at it. "It's Chief Xue's yard. But those flowers... they weren't there when I left the capital star."

So Xue Ji had planted those roses in his yard during the time they were away negotiating with the Federation.

A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at Asuer's lips. "Continue."

Devalen quickly composed himself.

*

The next day, Xue Ji was busy as usual. Near seven, he arrived at the lab early to wait. After a while, a knock came at the door.

Xue Ji was a bit surprised. Asuer, accustomed to being in power, rarely bothered to ask permission before entering a place—even in disguise, he carried that subconscious authority. Every time before, he'd just walked straight in.

He got up and opened the door, but the person outside wasn't Asuer.

"Niallo?"

It was after hours, and Niallo wasn't in her usual lab coat. She was clearly dressed up—a pink dress, white heels, her usually tied-back hair loose, a delicate hairpin at her ear, and makeup that complemented her features. She looked stunning.

"Xue Ji..." She bit her lip, seeming embarrassed. "Are you free tonight?" Noticing his surprise, she quickly added, "I know this is sudden. I just got a notice from my parents to attend a banquet. You know how these things go—usually you're expected to bring a partner..."

Niallo came from a very traditional family. Both she and her sister were Omegas, so they were pressured to marry once they came of age, and these banquets were often matchmaking events. Xue Ji understood her predicament, but he wouldn't step in as a decoy and get tangled in unnecessary complications.

"Sorr—"

"Looks like I've come at a bad time."

He was cut off by another voice.

Niallo froze and turned to see a tall, heavily bundled Alpha standing nearby. His face was obscured, but his aura was unmistakably imposing and unwelcoming.

"Sorry," Xue Ji finished smoothly. "I already have a guest tonight."

Niallo's disappointment was plain. "Sorry, I was too forward." She turned to leave.

For an Omega, taking the initiative to invite someone like that took a lot of courage. Xue Ji called after her, "Niallo."

She stopped, a flicker of hope in her eyes.

Xue Ji gave her a smile. "Thanks for the invitation. I hope you have a wonderful evening."

She forced a faint smile. "I hope you have a good night too."

She headed for the elevator. As she approached, the Alpha at the door gave a slight nod and stepped aside. In that instant, Niallo caught a glimpse of the eyes beneath the brim—cold as millennia-old ice, the irises edged with a metallic gray-green, deep within a feral possessiveness and madness.

A chill ran down her spine. She stepped into the elevator, dazed, and in the last second before the doors closed, she saw the Alpha stride toward the lab, his figure eclipsing the young, accomplished Beta completely, like...

Like a beast slowly consuming its prey.

"I didn't realize Chief Xue was so popular with Omegas."

Xue Ji raised an eyebrow. "Also?"

Asuer realized he'd slipped up and entered the lab first, heading straight for the innermost desk.

Xue Ji took a mask from his white coat and put it on, hitting the air freshener switch on his way before turning to follow him inside. The lab door closed automatically. Xue Ji walked behind the desk, where Asuer had already settled into his usual spot.

Xue Ji pulled out a pulse pillow. "Hand."

Asuer put his hand out without a second thought. Despite having done this many times, Asuer still couldn't understand what Xue Ji was doing pressing his fingers to his wrist. He had asked Xue Ji about it before, but Xue Ji always gave vague answers, acting cold and not bothering to explain.

This time was no exception. After a moment, Xue Ji pulled his hand back without a word, pulled a tablet out of his chest pocket and lit it up. "Turn around."

Asuer turned around, unclasped his collar and flipped it down, swept his ponytail to the front, and silently lowered his head.

The cool tablet scanned his gland, back and forth, like it was seeing right through it. After a bit, he heard Xue Ji sit back. "You didn't follow the med instructions exactly, did you?"

Asuer raised his collar and turned back. "Had some special circumstances lately, so I used a few extra."

"How many?"

Asuer paused. "Not sure. I wasn't paying attention." He could already picture Xue Ji saying something like, "Can't fix a volunteer who won't cooperate." But surprisingly, Xue Ji didn't say much. He just typed away, frowning every now and then, like he was stuck on a tough problem.

Asuer hadn't originally thought much of using the medication carelessly. After all, hiding this illness was far more important to him than curing it. But seeing Xue Ji like this now, he felt guilty for wasting all that effort Xue Ji had put in.

He thought for a second, then spoke like he'd made up his mind. "When do we move to the next phase?"

"What?" Xue Ji paused his fingers and turned to look at him.

Asuer tugged at his cap, uncomfortable. "So far, you've just checked my body, tweaked my diet and meds. This step's been going on long enough. We can proceed to the next stage of research."

Xue Ji gave him a strange look. After a long moment, he said, "You won't even let me use anesthesia. How's the next step supposed to work?"

Asuer's lashes fluttered. He looked up. "Do we really need anesthesia?"

Xue Ji spun his chair to face him, tapped the desk a few times with his knuckles, and dropped his gaze, thinking.

The tapping echoed through the desk, hitting Asuer's heart and making it tighten.

After what felt like forever—maybe minutes, maybe seconds—Xue Ji's voice came, light and flat. "Unless you can promise you won't die from the pain on the table, I'm not cutting into your gland."

Asuer's voice went up. "Cut it open?"

"Not exactly cutting the gland open." Xue Ji's eyes crinkled above his mask. "More precisely, it's cutting through the muscle around it without touching the gland. But that area's packed with nerves, and the pain is insane. To make sure you don't move and mess up my work, you have to take anesthesia."

Asuer's mind was a mess, but in the end, his damn dignity won.

"No." His voice was tight. "If that's what the research is, I can't do it. If cutting my gland open is the only way to find a cure, then I'm fine just keeping things stable."

"Is it really enough?"

Asuer hesitated for a few seconds before answering. "It's enough."

"Then you must strictly follow my medication. No more situations like last time, no matter what. Can you do that?"

"I..." Asuer fell silent.

He couldn't fully comply. Xue Ji's medication was too gentle to completely prevent his pheromones from leaking, and there were too many situations where he needed to completely suppress them.

"See? You can't cooperate with either scenario." Xue Ji said. "How's my research supposed to proceed?"

Asuer said nothing. He felt a pang of shame. It was indeed his concealment that had led to this deadlock. If he weren't the Monarch, he could take the medication slowly, not care about pheromone leaks, explain to Xue Ji why he couldn't strictly follow the regimen, and perhaps even accept the plan to cut open his gland.

But he was the Monarch, and he couldn't let Xue Ji discover his identity. The gland was too special, intricately connected to an Alpha's central nervous system. Once anesthetized, he couldn't be sure he wouldn't lose consciousness and reveal his true self.

If Xue Ji knew that the Monarch he served was a disabled man, he might—no, he would definitely lose that loyalty, lose a capable ally, lose... Xue Ji.

The best option now was to find another Alpha patient with pheromone disorder to be the volunteer. But the thought of another Alpha bowing their head to Xue Ji, of Xue Ji carefully examining that Alpha's gland, of them spending time alone together in the same room—it made him restless.

Compared to that, perhaps it didn't matter if this research couldn't proceed.

Asuer remained silent for a long time. Xue Ji seemed to sense his struggle and left him in a quiet, undisturbed space.

After a long while, Asuer spoke. "I'll cooperate with your medication. Not a single extra dose. Do you have any other way to keep others from detecting my pheromones?"

"If I have a way, can you guarantee it?"

"Yes."

"Alright, I'll try to think of something." Xue Ji pulled out a box from under the desk that Asuer recognized. "This is your medication for the next month. Some more will be delivered to you in a few days."

Asuer was about to take it when a pale, slender hand with distinct knuckles pressed down on the top of the box.

"Remember, it's one month. If you run out early or secretly use other medication..." Xue Ji's eyes, behind his glasses, locked onto him. "Then this research—the one that needs your cooperation—is done."