Chapter 34: “What if I were an Omega?”
The Trial Court’s official website was updated every six months.
During this period, many people’s hobbies and preferences would change.
However, since Chief Judge Zhu’s transfer to the Trial Court, the “favorite fruit” section of her official profile had never changed. She had even mentioned in public interviews that she owned a pear orchard.
Many colleagues, wealthy businessmen, and even some citizens had sent specialty pears from various countries to the Trial Court.
However, those pears never reached Chief Judge Zhu’s office. Most of them were forwarded to charitable organizations such as welfare institutions for the disabled.
Therefore, the staff within the Trial Court quickly reached a consensus.
—Chief Judge Zhu didn’t accept pears from anyone.
And she wouldn’t even taste a pear that wasn’t from her own orchard.
But now, as Chief Judge Zhu stood in the pear-scented bedroom, gazing into those feverishly bright almond eyes, she was momentarily lost in thought.
…So sweet.
How could an alpha be so sweet? She wondered.
Ming Fei, suddenly awake, was completely unaware of Zhu Yiqiao’s thoughts. She only felt her throat was dry, her head dizzy, and her cheeks burning hot.
The high fever robbed her of her ability to think. She didn’t ask Zhu Yiqiao why she had suddenly returned, and, having never paid much attention in physiology class, she completely overlooked the pheromone scent in the room.
She just asked softly, “…Jiejie, could you get me a glass of hot water?”
Zhu Yiqiao left without a word.
When she returned to the room, she held Ming Fei’s travel thermos in her left hand and a silver box in her right.
She opened the thermos and handed it to Ming Fei, who sat up in bed.
Although still drowsy, Ming Fei still thanked her before taking the thermos. The hot water moistened her eyelashes and made her lips look a little redder.
After drinking half a glass of warm water, her dry throat felt better.
Ming Fei held the black thermos with both hands, her thick eyelashes lowered, looking very obedient and quiet, perfectly matching the sweet pear scent swirling in the room.
After half a minute, her lost rationality gradually returned. She looked at Zhu Yiqiao, who was quietly standing by the bed, and asked belatedly,
“Jiejie, are you off work?”
“Mm.”
“…Sorry, I have a bit of a cold.”
She subconsciously moved inwards, towards her designated sleeping area after drawing the line. But just as she was about to move, she heard Zhu Yiqiao’s voice beside her ear.
“No need to apologize.”
Zhu Yiqiao took the thermos from her: “Just sleep here.”
Ming Fei whispered, “Okay.”
She was feeling sleepy again, her eyelids heavy, her whole body listless. She felt cold, yet there seemed to be a fire burning endlessly within her.
The flickering flames ignited the fuse of her sleep. Just as her eyelids were about to close, a video call from Ming Zaozao came in.
Zhu Yiqiao projected the video call onto the service robot’s display screen.
Ming Zaozao looked at the person in bed with concern: “Mommy!”
Ming Fei blinked and responded softly: “Mm. Have you eaten, Zaozao?”
“Baby is full!” Ming Zaozao stared at her intently. “Mommy’s face is red, your cold hasn’t gotten better yet.”
Ming Fei knew she couldn’t hide it from her daughter: “Yes, but it’s much better now. I’ll be completely fine after taking medicine for another day.”
Ming Zaozao chattered, not only giving many instructions like a worried little adult, but also sincerely thanking Zhu Yiqiao for coming back to help take care of her sick mother. Finally, she asked 0619, the robot that had been prepared in advance, to tell Zhu Yiqiao some precautions for taking care of a sick person.
Warm light spilled down. Ming Fei, leaning against the headboard, listened to the conversation between the adult and the child, her sleepiness gradually returning.
Soon, Ming Zaozao, after finishing her chatter, reached her bedtime. She reluctantly waved goodbye to her mother and promised to video call her again tomorrow morning.
After the video call ended, the room fell silent, only the pear scent swirling quietly.
Perhaps because her sleepiness had completely disappeared, the slow-witted Ming Fei finally realized that her pheromones were leaking. She looked at Zhu Yiqiao in astonishment, her eyes filled with surprise and helplessness, her brain still running slowly.
…Eh?
Why were her pheromones leaking again?
Could a fever actually cause pheromones to be released?
With these questions in mind, Ming Fei tried to control her pheromones while seeking an answer from Zhu Yiqiao.
“Jiejie, I’m sorry, I didn’t control it.”
She felt that she was really a bit slow in this regard, always confidently telling Zhu Yiqiao that she had learned, but in reality, it seemed she hadn’t mastered it, not even realizing when her pheromones were leaking.
Ming Fei’s cheeks, already flushed from the high fever, turned tomato red.
She asked softly, “But… why is this happening?”
Zhu Yiqiao looked at her: “Can’t you feel it?”
Ming Fei was even more confused: “Feel what?”
Before this, Zhu Yiqiao had never met such an obedient alpha.
When she was still Princess Eloris, the alphas she had met would become suspicious, gloomy, arrogant, irritable, and easily lose control due to the premonition of a heat cycle. No matter how gentle and elegant they pretended to be usually, they would drop their masks during a heat cycle.
This understanding reached its peak after she disguised herself as an alpha and entered the military academy.
It was normal and common for alphas to lose control in the military academy. They would be taken to the isolation room by the instructors and military doctors and given suppressant injections to get through their heat cycle. And most of the time, even after the out-of-control alphas were taken to isolation, their pheromones would linger for a while before dissipating after being cleaned up by robots.
In addition, alphas were competitive and aggressive, usually either fighting on the simulated battlefield or using pheromones to compete.
Therefore, during her time at the military academy, Zhu Yiqiao had sensed many different alpha pheromones, and she found all of them, regardless of level, extremely disgusting.
They were foul.
They were nauseating.
They made her uncomfortable.
But—
The person in front of her was completely different.
The fluctuation of pheromone release was related to the individual’s emotional perception.
At this moment, her own pheromones almost surged out of control. The pheromone bracelet on her wrist, detecting the abnormality in her pheromone status, flashed a blue light, as if speaking for her pheromones.
—So fragrant.
—So sweet.
—It was the pleasant pear scent that made her feel happy.
—So sweet that she wanted to taste this pear.
The person leaning on the bed asked again. Zhu Yiqiao, rarely distracted, quickly snapped out of her thoughts and decisively adjusted the bracelet’s detection function to the highest level.
“…Jiejie, what should I be feeling?”
This question was truly naive.
If she hadn’t known beforehand that Ming Fei was really like this, Zhu Yiqiao might have pointed a gun at her head, making her carefully feel what her pheromones were indicating.
But because she knew Ming Fei’s personality, she didn’t take out her gun, but instead released a hint of her own pheromones, deliberately, with a mischievous intention, to help Ming Fei understand the signs of her heat cycle.
The gentle and light pear scent, upon sensing the extremely well-hidden woody scent, didn’t react aggressively or with a sense of oppression and danger, as Zhu Yiqiao had expected.
Instead, it gently and warmly surrounded her, like the gentle spring rain nourishing the flowers and grass.
Making the steep and sharp mountain peak feel drowsy amidst the spring tide of pear blossom rain.
And Ming Fei herself was the same, not becoming anxious, restless, or greedy because of the… sudden pheromone scent. She still sat quietly, patiently waiting for an answer.
Compared to the moment before Zhu Yiqiao released her pheromones, Ming Fei’s current condition hadn’t changed at all.
According to the Ole Empire’s differentiation laws, any alpha, regardless of level, would react to the pheromones released by others once they had their own pheromones.
But Ming Fei really didn’t show any signs of abnormality.
Zhu Yiqiao asked directly, “Didn’t you notice my pheromones?”
“Mm,” Ming Fei admitted honestly, “I noticed them.”
Perhaps because of the cold, or perhaps because she had just had a video call with Ming Zaozao, her tone was softer than usual, like a delicate willow branch swaying in the wind, easily broken.
Zhu Yiqiao said impassively, “We are both alphas, don’t you feel repulsed?”
Ming Fei shook her head: “I don’t feel repulsed, and I won’t do anything inappropriate.”
“I will control myself and won’t make Jiejie uncomfortable.”
“—What if I were an omega?”
Zhu Yiqiao had expected Ming Fei to be surprised or think she was joking, after all, she was completely different from the omegas defined by the Ole Empire. But in the following moments, she found… that Ming Fei’s answer only highlighted the contrast between her and the Ole Empire’s Kerry Declaration.
“Would it make a difference?”
After saying that, Ming Fei smiled, a small dimple appearing on her right cheek: “No matter what Jiejie is, I shouldn’t do anything that makes Jiejie uncomfortable.”
Zhu Yiqiao asked again, “Are you a member of the Mehertaer faction?”
The Mehertaer faction was the only group that openly opposed the Kerry Declaration. Due to their complex social network, the Ole Empire’s government wanted to crush them but couldn’t for various reasons.
Ming Fei smiled: “No.”
“There are certain requirements to join the Mehertaer faction. I was just an orphan, very young at the time, with no money and no freedom.”
“But in any case, I am a supporter of the Mehertaer faction.”
Outside the window, it was a world of ice and snow. Inside, the pear scent… was gradually fading without any suppressant injections.
After answering all of Zhu Yiqiao’s questions, Ming Fei wanted to get the answer to the question she had asked twice.
“Jiejie, if you have time now, could you please answer my question?”
Zhu Yiqiao’s gaze brushed over Ming Fei’s fair neck, then she looked away, stepped forward, and opened the silver box in her hand, revealing its contents to Ming Fei.
“These are suppressants.”
“Take an injection first.” She explained, “You are most likely not just having a cold or fever, but experiencing the premonition of a heat cycle.”
Hearing this, Ming Fei’s eyes widened completely.
She hadn’t considered this possibility at all and didn’t understand why, even with her damaged gland, the one percent chance of a heat cycle would still happen to her.
…A heat cycle?
If it really happened, her heat cycle should be milder than a normal alpha’s, right? She thought.
Ming Fei quickly accepted it because she believed that no matter what, she was still herself, a woman with independent thinking ability who wouldn’t be easily swayed.
And she had always been good at enduring, restraining, and controlling herself.
After figuring this out, she thanked Zhu Yiqiao.
“Thank you, Jiejie.”
“How much is this suppressant injection?”
Zhu Yiqiao: “No need to pay.”
Ming Fei wanted to insist, but Zhu Yiqiao didn’t want to take advantage of her: “The suppressant is part of the compensation provided in our agreement. You just need to tell me if you want it or not.”
After a brief moment of hesitation, Ming Fei nodded.
“I want it.”
“Mm.”
Zhu Yiqiao placed the box on the bedside table, took out a syringe, adjusted the dosage of the suppressant, and then looked at Ming Fei.
“You have no experience, so I’ll give you the first injection.”
“Okay,” Ming Fei said sincerely. “Thank you, Jiejie.”
“The first injection will hurt a little.”
“It’s okay.” Ming Fei rolled up her sleeve. “Jiejie, just inject it.”
Zhu Yiqiao didn’t speak. As Ming Fei turned her head, she slowly pushed the suppressant into Ming Fei’s wrist with the syringe in her gloved right hand.
They were very close, and Zhu Yiqiao could clearly see the lines on Ming Fei’s palm and a mole on the webbing between her thumb and index finger.
Ming Fei’s skin was very fair, and the small black mole on her hand made her slender and long fingers look even more like a jade sculpture that should be displayed in a museum.
The colorless and odorless suppressant was completely injected as time passed. Zhu Yiqiao removed the syringe and looked away, telling Ming Fei that the injection was finished.
Ming Fei turned her head back and lowered her rolled-up sleeve.
They both thought that everything would be fine, after all, the so-called premonition of a heat cycle was just a preliminary reaction.
Ming Fei smiled and thanked her again.
Zhu Yiqiao closed the box: “You’re welcome.”
Just as she finished speaking, the clouds outside the window parted, the wind died down, and the snow stopped. Zhu Yiqiao stood up, and instantly, an overwhelmingly sweet pear scent surged out again.
And with unstoppable force, it instantly filled the entire bedroom.
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