Hearing that line straight out of a CEO romance novel, Shi Xin instinctively took a step back, striving to keep her voice calm and composed. “May I ask what brings Marshal-sama to find me?”
A flicker of playful teasing flashed through Cecil’s icy azure eyes. “I just wanted to come and see for myself… who could be so audacious as to publicly publish a novel about me on the internet.”
“No, you’ve misunderstood.” The corners of Shi Xin’s lips curved up in an elegant smile. Her demeanor was so effortlessly relaxed and composed that Cecil nearly questioned her own judgment.
Shi Xin had rehearsed this exact defense thousands of times in her head. The moment she spoke, it flowed naturally: “What I wrote is a novel set in a fictional universe. The characters and story are entirely works of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons or events is purely coincidental. I’ve clearly annotated all of this in the story.”
Cecil let out a soft chuckle, her bright blue eyes soaked with amusement. She possessed a face that easily outshone every female star in the entire galaxy, yet her laugh made Shi Xin feel as if her own spine had stiffened into a solid block of stone.
Cecil stood up and walked toward Shi Xin step by step. When the distance between them narrowed to less than a meter, Cecil creased her brows slightly. Dropping the topic of the novel entirely, she looked at Shi Xin and asked, “Your file says you’re a Beta?”
Shi Xin nodded.
Cecil’s confusion only deepened. She leaned in a little closer, and sure enough, her senses caught a faint, delicate floral scent. The fragrance was extremely subtle, but as the galaxy’s top female Alpha and currently in her susceptible period—Cecil caught it with heightened sensitivity. For a fleeting instant when she first caught the scent, her body nearly succumbed to a primal wave of restlessness.
Faint as the scent was, it stirred Cecil’s heart far more than any liquid charm touted as the most potent in the galaxy. Even though she had undergone various resistance training sessions against Omega pheromones since childhood, she almost lost control of her hands, tempted to reach out and rest them against the back of Shi Xin’s neck.
If Shi Xin were an Omega, then for her to emit this scent meant she should have a gland on the nape of her neck. A stranger Alpha touching that gland would be textbook sexual harassment!
This wasn’t a scent a Beta should possess.
Keeping a clear head, Cecil took a deep breath of the intoxicating aroma lingering in her senses, her mind reaching a firm conclusion. How could a Beta exert such an overwhelming pull on her? Even an ordinary Omega wouldn’t trigger a reaction this intense. Thus, this author who had managed to slander her across the entire galaxy with a single novel definitely had something going on with her gender!
A Beta’s pheromones wouldn’t affect an Alpha to this extent. However, the secondary gender differentiation for Betas and Omegas usually occurred between the ages of 13 and 16, and Shi Xin was already 19. Logically speaking, it shouldn’t be possible for her Omega traits to remain unmanifested until now.
Meanwhile, Shi Xin felt like a piece of meat on a cutting board, because the look in Cecil’s eyes made it seem as if she was about to devour her alive in the very next second.
She could barely maintain her calm composure anymore. Her captivating eyes were dark and deep, while her long eyelashes trembled slightly out of fear. She instinctively raised her arms to guard her chest, looking at Cecil nervously. “W-What are you doing? Please step away from me! I have a condition where I can’t be near Alphas. If you get any closer, it’s going to kill someone!”
Cecil straightened up, widening the distance between them, and then said to Shi Xin, “I suggest you go for another medical checkup. There seems to be something wrong with your body.”
Shi Xin instinctively replied, “There’s nothing wrong. I feel completely fine.”
While speaking, Cecil continued to observe Shi Xin. The more she looked, the more convinced she became that her hypothesis was correct. Shi Xin’s skin was fair and delicate, her features exquisitely defined, and her lips a soft, rosy red. Although she wasn’t short—standing close to 170 cm—her bone structure was exceedingly slender. The exposed collarbones looked delightfully tempting at a glance; Betas and Alphas could never possess such an appetizing aura. Cecil’s gaze drifted lower, past the collarbones, noting that certain areas were also quite well-developed.
In the Interstellar Empire, female Omegas who possessed a 100% fertility rate had the softest, most delicate skin and the most flawless curves.
Feeling Cecil’s gaze, Shi Xin held her chest even tighter. “Marshal, please conduct yourself with dignity!”
How could a grand Empire Marshal look at someone with such rude eyes? She’s an absolute pervert! Just wait, in the next chapter, I’m going to arrange a vicious female side character to thoroughly disgust you!
Cecil couldn’t help but frown slightly. This girl gave off the impression that she knew absolutely nothing about her own body. Although her pheromone scent was faint right now—imperceptible to anyone other than an Alpha in their susceptible period—as an Omega, the differentiation process should have come with very clear physical sensations.
In truth, Shi Xin did feel something. Her breathing was rapid, and her body was unconsciously growing soft. But she attributed all of those feelings to the overwhelming pressure the Marshal exerted. After all, the woman in front of her was an Alpha and the strongest female Alpha in this world at that. As a Beta, it was only natural for her to fear such absolute suppression stemming from an Alpha’s aura.
Without further hesitation, Cecil summoned the Principal directly.
When Vincent Hugh, the Principal of the Empire’s First Institute, pushed open the door to his office, he immediately sensed that something was off.
Hugh was an Alpha as well. Although he wasn’t in his susceptible period, as an elder, he perceptively noticed that Cecil hadn’t restrained her pheromones. The situation caught him off guard. He even found himself wondering why Cecil would release her pheromones to suppress a mere Beta.
However, in the next second, Hugh suddenly realized the truth. He didn’t feel pressure in Cecil’s pheromones; rather, he felt a faint sense of agitation and unrest.
Calming his mind, Hugh instantly picked up on the faint yet impossible-to-ignore Omega pheromones drifting through the air.
Exchanging a glance with Cecil, Hugh finally understood why she had called him back.
Fortunately, the school’s infirmary was fully equipped to handle gender identification. Hugh turned to Shi Xin and said, “Student, please come with me to the infirmary.”
If it had been just Cecil saying this, Shi Xin wouldn’t have taken it to heart. But seeing the Principal whom she had only ever seen from afar at the opening ceremony looking at her with such a serious expression, as if she had contracted a terminal illness, Shi Xin suddenly felt a wave of anxiety.
Feeling uneasy, she followed the Principal out of the ultra-futuristic teaching building toward a white facility. Along the way, quite a few students glanced in her direction, all curious as to why the Principal was personally escorting a girl to the infirmary. Naturally, many were drawn to Shi Xin’s appearance; after all, features of pure Ancient Earth Oriental descent like hers were exceptionally rare nowadays. With her black hair and dark eyes paired with her exquisite beauty, Shi Xin naturally drew a lot of attention.
An hour later, inside the Identification Department of the infirmary, Shi Xin sat frozen like a wooden statue—though a strikingly beautiful one at that.
She stared at the identification report in her hand, completely unable to believe her eyes. “Am I not a Beta?”
The infirmary doctor explained, “Your situation is indeed quite rare, but it’s not unheard of. Because every individual is unique, we cannot guarantee that everyone will have their final gender determined before the age of 16.”
Shi Xin asked, “So… I’m an Omega?”
The doctor nodded, then smiled with genuine congratulations. “That’s right. Also, the Principal asked us to check your pheromone compatibility with the Marshal while we were at it, and the results came out along with your identification form. Congratulations! Your pheromone compatibility with the Marshal is 99%. Previously, the highest compatibility recorded with the Marshal was only 35%. So, barring any unforeseen circumstances, you and the Marshal will likely become legal partners in accordance with the law.”