The banquet hall swirled with a cocktail of various perfumes. Luo Fei, his patience wearing thin, muttered, “Let’s go talk outside.”
There were still quite a few people outdoors. The two found an empty pavilion deep within the sprawling garden before settling down.
He’d just been about to continue asking about Mo Lin when a strange crashing sound echoed from nearby. It sounded like something large had been violently shattered.
Luo Fei’s hearing was exceptionally sharp. Frowning, he stood up. “Let’s go look.”
Emile immediately fell in behind him. They moved along the garden paths. The grounds were vast, with numerous forks that would easily disorient a newcomer. But Luo Fei’s sense of direction was impeccable. Not only did he not get lost in the garden labyrinth, but he also precisely found the exit, leading them straight to the source of the commotion.
It was a three-story standalone villa, its front door tightly shut.
The moment Luo Fei reached the door, a thick, potent wave of Omega pheromones hit him.
It was a cloyingly sweet scent, like a high-dose drug, clawing at an Alpha’s most sensitive nerves.
Luo Fei’s back stiffened. Beside him, Emile also stopped dead in his tracks, gulping audibly. “No way… How could an Omega be going… at a time like this…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but as an Alpha, smelling that scent was explanation enough.
Emile grabbed Luo Fei and swiftly backpedaled several meters. Sweat was already beading on his forehead; he was forcibly fighting his instincts. “We’d better not get involved in this mess. Who knows who’s in there? Getting tangled up in something here would be bad news.”
Most Alphas, when confronted with an Omega’s pheromone lure, lost all reason to primal instinct. But Luo Fei’s expression was perfectly calm.
Since childhood, he’d undergone professional pheromone resistance training. Even if thrown into a room saturated with Omega pheromones, he could maintain his rational clarity. This was a required skill for the Crown Prince—if any random Omega could send his mind spiraling into chaos, how could he ever rule the Empire?
But this situation… something was off.
While Emile was flushed and practically ready to bolt, Luo Fei was calmly, coldly analyzing the anomaly. “It’s a pheromone release agent.” His brow furrowed, his voice dropping low. “This Omega’s sudden loss of control… it’s not natural. It’s induced.”
Emile was nearing his breaking point. “I’m begging you. You might be immune, but I can’t take this! Let’s just get out of here!”
Luo Fei also had no desire to meddle. Some Omega suddenly going into a pheromone surge had nothing to do with him, and he certainly wasn’t going to casually mark a stranger. The Omega’s identity was unknown; he was the First Prince. Acting rashly could backfire horribly.
They were just about to flee.
But at that very moment, the thick pheromone scent in the air suddenly began to fade rapidly, as if forcibly suppressed by someone.
A young man’s voice cut through from inside the house. “Miss Alice. Trying to influence me with pheromones… aren’t you a little too confident?”
The tone was extremely cold. The voice clear and distinct, every word perfectly enunciated. Cold as water, drumming against their ears.
Luo Fei stopped dead.
That voice… it was familiar. Very much like the person he’d met on the spaceship?
He stilled, straining to catch the sounds from inside.
A girl’s choked sobs soon followed. “I’m sorry, Senior Mo Han… My father, he forced me… he gave me the pheromone release agent, tied me up here. He said that if we just… just did it… you would have to… take responsibility…”
Mo Han’s voice was ice. “If it hadn’t been me passing by, but some other Alpha… have you thought about the consequences?”
The girl stammered, “I… I didn’t know… I-I…”
Mo Han cut her off. “Enough. You’re still young. I will pretend this never happened. Go back and tell your father to stop these cheap tricks trying to test my limits. Because the consequences of angering me… are not something he can afford.”
The girl broke down into sobs. “S-sorry… I’m so sorry…”
“Get to the bathroom, wash up, change your clothes. An Omega… looking this pathetic, what will become of you?” Mo Han’s voice was cold, commanding.
The girl scrambled, her voice trembling. “The suppressant… I’ll go use it… Thank you, Senior.”
“Go,” Mo Han commanded.
…
Luo Fei’s frown deepened as he processed the overheard exchange.
So someone tried to shove their own daughter into Mo Han’s bed, angling for a marriage alliance with the Mo family. A stupid scheme, but far from unheard of in business circles. A wealthy heir like Mo Han would naturally be a target for countless social climbers.
But what was strange… was how utterly unaffected Mo Han was by such an intense burst of pheromones.
From start to finish, he had remained utterly composed, not a hitch in his breathing, not a single sign of struggle.
As Luo Fei puzzled over this, Emile’s relieved whisper came from beside him. “Mo Han really has grace. Me, in that situation? I could never stay as cool as him.” The pheromone scent had dispersed enough for Emile to recover his composure. He exhaled in relief. “Let’s get out of here. Now.”
Luo Fei nodded, leaving the villa area with Emile. Once they were a good distance away, Luo Fei murmured, “Cousin, I want to meet Mo Han. Can you introduce me?”
Emile was stunned. “Wait… you? Interested in these rich kids? Since when?”
Luo Fei’s mouth curved into a small, cryptic smile. “I find him… interesting. His voice sounds exactly like someone I met on the spaceship coming here.”
Emile thought it over, then shrugged. “Alright. I’ll make the introduction after the banquet officially starts. Mo Han and I are university mates, and our families are cooperating on the business deal. He’ll give me face.”
Emile was a fourth-year student at the Empire’s top comprehensive university, Herman University, soon to graduate.
Compared to military academies, a comprehensive university offered more freedom, and Herman’s business school was the strongest in the entire Empire. Many of its business school graduates were now renowned entrepreneurs across the Empire. Mo Han attending there wasn’t surprising.
Luo Fei asked offhandedly, “Is Mo Han studying business management then? Your junior?”
Emile shook his head. “No. He’s in the Computer Engineering Institute. Majoring in intelligent coding technology and software engineering.”
Luo Fei was genuinely caught off guard. “Really? He’s not studying management?”
“Maybe because Fengyang Group’s core business revolves around intelligent systems, so he chose that major instead,” Emile guessed.
Luo Fei rubbed his chin, his mind flashing back to the image on the spaceship. That young man, confidently stating, “I can help resolve this.” And then, true to his word, solving the system failure in under a minute.
Could the person he’d met on the ship… really be Mo Han?
“From what you say, Mo Han must be an elite-level systems coding expert,” Luo Fei pressed.
Emile nodded firmly. “Absolutely. Mo Han’s a legend in the Computer Institute. Remember when Herman University’s network was hit by the Locke Virus and almost collapsed? He helped the network center neutralize it. He was the first person in the Empire to crack the Locke Virus. At our school, he’s practically idolized by the underclassmen. Handsome, incredibly capable, always conducts himself with class. The Omegas lining up to chase him could circle the campus, probably. But he’s kept his nose clean the whole time. Never a single scandal with anyone.”
The more Luo Fei heard, the more a strange discordant note nagged at him. Mo Han was being painted as almost… unnaturally perfect.
An Alpha, born into incredible wealth, brilliant, handsome, universally admired—yet never a whiff of romantic scandal?
Was his standard impossibly high? Or was there some other reason?
That scene just now replayed in his mind. That girl, Alice, using a release agent to seduce him… rejected with utter, cold composure.
Luo Fei had special resistance training since childhood. That’s why Omegas’ pheromones didn’t shake him. But Mo Han… he had been even calmer than Luo Fei. Luo Fei had heard the full conversation; even surrounded by those Omega pheromones, Mo Han’s breathing hadn’t fluctuated in the slightest.
Was his willpower… truly even more unshakable than his own?
Could such a flawless, impeccable Alpha truly exist? And that same Alpha had a twin Omega brother… who was a complete mental wreck?
It felt like pieces of a puzzle that didn’t quite fit. Something was wrong. But what?
Luo Fei’s brow remained furrowed as he pondered.
—
Inside the villa, Alice emerged from the bathroom, changed and cleaned up.
Mo Han stood by the window, dressed in simple casual wear. His perfectly proportioned frame made his legs look exceptionally long and straight. He wasn’t as hulking and imposing as a typical Alpha who would cause an Omega to instinctively feel pressure. Instead, he was always so poised, cool, and detached, like a distant star—admirable, but unreachable.
Countless Omegas at school admired him; Alice was one.
But it was purely admiration. The way a fan idolizes a celebrity. She’d never actually harbored hopes of anything intimate. She just wanted him to find someone he truly loved, and she would quietly wish him well. Being forcibly injected with pheromones today by her father and tied up in his room… she didn’t feel a shred of joy, only profound, humiliating shame.
The afternoon light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows cast a soft, golden halo around Mo Han’s silhouette.
He had been so gracious. Even when she resorted to such a low, despicable method, he hadn’t blamed her. He’d given her suppressants, told her to go clean up. But amidst that gentleness… there was a distinct, cool detachment, a sense that he was utterly unreachable.
The girl bit her lip, the memory of her humiliation before him making her eyes sting red. In a small voice, she said, “Senior… I’m so sorry…”
Mo Han turned, cutting her off. “No need to explain. I know you didn’t want this. It was your father who forced you.”
He walked closer, standing before her. He reached out and gently patted her soft hair, his tone surprisingly gentle. “Alice. If you throw away your own dignity… how can you ever expect an Alpha to respect you? Even if you gave your body to that Alpha, in his eyes, you’d just be a plaything. Do you understand?”
Alice: “…”
Her eyes burned fiercely, but she swallowed the tears, lowering her head. “I’ll remember.”
Then, mustering her courage, she looked up. “Senior? Can I… ask you a question?”
“What is it?”
Her voice was tiny, hesitant. “Why… why are you completely immune to Omega pheromones? Do I… do I really have zero appeal to an Alpha?”
She looked at him with that fragile, wounded gaze, like a small, frightened animal.
Mo Han looked calmly into her wet eyes. He didn’t answer.
A long moment passed. Then, he smiled. Just slightly. “It’s not your fault. I’ve undergone specialized training. In this world… no Omega’s pheromones can affect me.”
Alice froze.
Then he turned away, his tone dismissive. “You can go.”
Her eyes red, Alice fled the villa, utterly defeated.
Absolute silence descended inside.
A moment later, a mechanical voice echoed softly. “Master, do you not need to deal with her?”
Mo Han shook his head. “Just a pawn her father used. Besides… her intellect isn’t nearly high enough to uncover my secret.”
A hint of amusement threaded into the mechanical voice. “No one will ever discover this secret. Because no one will ever guess the true reason Master is immune to Omega influence is… because you, Master, yourself… are an Omega.”
