The gene compatibility test had been ordered by Principal Hugh right before the identification check. Since Cecil had actually experienced a spike in her pheromones while in the principal’s office, Hugh, relying on years of experience had suspected that this girl shared a unique connection with Cecil.
Shi Xin stared blankly for a long moment, completely unresponsive. She had originally thought she was already familiar with and knowledgeable about the information of this world, but only now did she realize how hopelessly naive she had been. How could she claim to understand this world when she didn’t even know that a high compatibility rate meant being legally forced into a marriage partnership?!
Besides, wasn’t this exact development way too similar to what she wrote in her novel? Was this what they called “what goes around comes around”?
“What’s wrong?” The doctor packed up her smile. “Are you unhappy? Do you have any idea how many Omegas in the Empire dream of marrying the Grand Marshal?”
How could Shi Xin not know? She had looked it up as soon as she arrived. The ratio of ABO genders in this world was 20: 5000: 1. Omegas were a gender even rarer than giant pandas in ancient times, with female Omegas having an even higher fertility rate than male Omegas—nearly reaching 100%. Yet out of such rare Omegas, 99% of unmarried ones wanted to marry the Imperial Grand Marshal, Cecil Sandora. What shocked Shi Xin even more was that 99% of married Omegas wanted to get a divorce just to marry Cecil.
And now, the person with that absurd level of popularity shared an exceptionally high compatibility with her, and they were going to be forced to marry by law. That meant she was about to become the mortal enemy of every single Omega in the entire galaxy.
Shi Xin possessed the extremely rare features of an Ancient Earth Easterner; her soft features and gentle facial contours made her appear delicate and elegant. At the moment, however, her pink lips were pressed tightly together, her pitch-black eyes turned deep as a dark pool, and a faint brush of melancholy settled over her gentle features.
Yet it wasn’t just the doctor telling her this; even the principal added, “Shi Xin, now that the test shows a 99% compatibility rate between you and the Grand Marshal, you should go home and have your parents prepare. The Grand Marshal’s parents will likely contact them in the near future to discuss the wedding.”
But I’m just a 19-year-old student!
Shi Xin’s expression remained neutral, but inside, she was suffering a total meltdown. She wanted to use her age as an excuse to refute and refuse, but she knew that argument wouldn’t hold water. Under Interstellar Law, anyone who reached the age of majority at 18 was legally eligible to marry and have children. Plenty of Omegas and even Betas in the Empire got pregnant while attending school, taking a leave of absence to go home and give birth.
Shi Xin’s slender brows knitted slightly, a faint touch of sadness lingering between her eyes while her mind raced like a raging storm. After a long silence, she looked up at Principal Hugh, her slightly upturned peach-blossom eyes filled with grief. “Principal, my parents passed away in an accident over the summer. I live completely on my own now.”
A flash of surprise crossed Hugh’s eyes, followed by a look of apology. “I’m sorry to hear that. Is there no other family member who can negotiate the marriage on your behalf? If you need the school’s assistance, you can come directly to my office to find me.”
Shi Xin nodded perfunctorily, then asked the question she cared about most: “Principal, does the Grand Marshal know I’m an Omega now?”
Hugh replied, “Of course. She was notified the second the results came out. After all, she will be your spouse from now on, as well as your legal guardian.”
The composure Shi Xin had tried so hard to maintain shattered into pieces, her heart swept up in a violent storm.
Right now, she truly didn’t want to be a rare Omega at all. She just wanted to remain an ordinary Beta, find another ordinary female Beta, and live out a completely unremarkable life.
Thus, when the doctor and the principal both stepped out of the room and Cecil walked in, Shi Xin looked at this woman with cold yet intensely striking features and voiced her humble desire.
However, Cecil didn’t believe a single word of it. In fact, she pulled out evidence to counter her: “If you really just wanted to live an ordinary life with a female Beta, why did you write The Untold Story of Me and the Interstellar World’s Top Female Alpha on the literature site? And in that story, didn’t you also discover that you were an Omega very late in the game?”
Shi Xin was instantly choked into silence. She truly had never expected certain plot points from her novel to manifest in reality. If she had known, she wouldn’t have written any of that “overbearing Grand Marshal falls in love with humble me” stuff. Instead, she would have written a face-slapping, level-up farming novel—like how a useless Beta gets a cheat power, rises to the peak of life, and marries the number-one female Omega in the galaxy!
“Do we really have to get married?” Shi Xin muttered softly.
Granted, Cecil was extraordinarily capable and undeniably gorgeous. Her striking features were stunning without losing their heroic edge, her body curves were tantalizing, and she was overflowing with wealth and power. But Shi Xin hadn’t fallen in love at first sight.
Meanwhile, Cecil thought to herself: This female Omega really is just like she wrote in her novel, using unconventional methods to grab my attention. Every single Omega in the galaxy wants to marry me, yet she shows such intense resistance toward marrying me.
Back in the principal’s office, the line she had said to Shi Xin had now come true—this woman really had caught her attention.
However, Cecil was also concerned about another issue: that web novel. As an Imperial Grand Marshal, she largely represented the image of the Imperial Military. Ever since the novel appeared, even though her fans and the author kept emphasizing it was fictional, plenty of people still projected Cecil into the story. They had already begun slapping labels on her like “scumbag,” “love-brained idiot,” and “show-off.”
What Cecil didn’t know, however, was that although those readers’ labels looked like slander on the surface, every reader following the daily updates secretly hid under their blankets while projecting Cecil into the story, squealing over how handsome the Grand Marshal was and begging to marry her.
The school infirmary was abnormally quiet, to the point where even the birds outside the window stopped chirping.
Cecil stood by the infirmary door, looking at Shi Xin’s delicate, soft features while catching the faint, subtle floral scent of her pheromones in the air. Feeling her mind wander slightly, she wondered with curiosity: This female Omega is so quiet right now, and she doesn’t look like she’s actually waiting for me to marry her. What other bizarre ideas does she have in that head of hers?
Cecil walked up to Shi Xin, pulled over a nearby chair, and sat down. Crossing her right leg over her left, she propped her chin on her hand, the corner of her mouth curving up slightly as she released a tiny trace of Alpha pheromones. “You don’t want to get married?” she asked with an overwhelming aura.
Shi Xin looked up at the intensely dominant woman in front of her. As a faint, refreshing woody scent wafted over, she subconsciously relaxed, her back leaning softly against the chair. A glimmer of hope ignited in her heart, and she began pulling out her signature skill—fabricating nonsense on the spot.
“I think we shouldn’t jump into a marriage without any emotional foundation. A marriage like that would only become our grave. It’d be best if we get to know each other first. Once we understand each other and develop feelings, we can date. Finally, when we marry out of love, our marriage will actually be happy.”
Cecil’s eyes grew deeper, countless emotions concealed beneath the depths of her ocean-blue gaze.
Marrying out of love? That kind of setup could probably only exist between Betas, because Alphas and Omegas were completely different from Betas.
Although Betas had pheromones, the pheromonal attraction between them and Alphas or Omegas was extremely limited. Only a small fraction of Betas could even experience pseudo-heat due to Alpha or Omega pheromones.
Alphas, on the other hand, had virtually zero resistance to Omega pheromones—unless they were soldiers like her who had undergone pheromone resistance training since childhood. Yet even with training, during the heat of an Omega with extremely high compatibility, an Alpha could easily lose control, driven by a wild urge to possess the heat-stricken Omega until forming a knot to completely mark them. If a heat-stricken Omega appeared before multiple Alphas, those Alphas would attack each other, and the victor would claim the right to mate with that Omega.
And when an Omega went into heat, unless they used suppressants, going without an Alpha meant a high chance of severe injury or even death during the heat.
After mating, an Alpha possessed an innate, intense desire to dominate and protect their Omega, while the Omega would subconsciously rely on and submit to their Alpha. Because of this, love rarely featured in the dynamic between these two genders. Almost everyone married first and fell in love later, cultivating affection over time.
For this reason, Cecil found Shi Xin’s words full of glaring holes.
Get to know each other before dating? When an Alpha and Omega with 99% compatibility stayed together, even with suppressants, once the heat hit, the Omega wouldn’t be able to control her pheromones at all. There was a 99% chance the Alpha would be drawn in by those pheromones, and the two would complete a mark—a mark that would be permanent.
However, Cecil didn’t expose her. She wanted to see what other tricks this person had up her sleeve, and whether she would act just like in her novel.
Thus, a smile that could almost be described as gentle curved on Cecil’s lips, her voice softening. “Fine, I agree.”
Though she agreed verbally, Cecil didn’t take it to heart. Since her genetic compatibility with Shi Xin was as high as 99%, marriage was an inevitable certainty. Once they were married, getting her Omega to delete that strange novel would be far easier.
Shi Xin finally let out a long sigh of relief. She was saved from the predicament of marrying a complete stranger right after transmigrating. Being such a weak Omega, maybe during the process of getting to know each other, the number-one female Alpha in the galaxy would completely lose interest in her. As for compatibility back before transmigrating, she had seen plenty of people praise couples for being “compatible,” but did being compatible truly guarantee a happy life together? Didn’t most couples who actually attained happiness build it on the foundation of love?
So, Shi Xin felt extremely confident that she and Cecil definitely wouldn’t end up together.
Having obtained the answer she wanted, Shi Xin felt increasingly relaxed and comfortable amidst that gentle woody scent, so much so that she wanted to narrow her eyes and take a nap.
Blinking lazily, she tilted her head and looked at Cecil with her brilliant, obsidian-like eyes. “I need to head back to class, Grand Marshal. How about we meet up another time?”
Cecil sneered inwardly. Hah, this woman really uses the tactics from her novel with total mastery, constantly using rejection to catch my attention.
How could I let you have your way? I am definitely not going to stay behind like you hope in your novel.
Cecil stood up, raising her hand to tuck a lock of chestnut hair behind her ear. A glint of clever pride flashed through her ocean-blue eyes. “Then I’ll be taking my leave first.”
She turned and counted her steps as she walked, wondering what method this person would use to keep her here. A headache? Tripping over? A sudden faint? Yet even as she opened the door and walked out into the corridor, Shi Xin didn’t say a word.
By the time Cecil sat inside her mecha shuttle, her face had already turned as dark as storm clouds.
That Omega must have an even higher-level tactic—she’s just not using it to keep me here right this second, that’s all!