Outside the gates of the military academy.
“Sorry I’m a little late,” Chi Zhan quickened his pace. “Are we allowed to leave today?”
“We’re still under lockdown. The Second Prince himself is here, and the leadership is busy receiving him,” Cen Chi replied, then paused slightly. “You don’t look well—something happen?”
“…It’s nothing. Where do I submit the report?”
Just then, a man in a dress shirt carrying a confidential document folder approached. He exchanged a few words with the security guards before stopping by the gate. He glanced at Cen Chi, then looked toward Chi Zhan. “And this is?”
“He’s the one the pheromone sample belongs to. This is Lin Feng from the Testing Center,” Cen Chi introduced. Then he turned to Lin Feng. “What’s the result?”
“Well…” Lin Feng hesitated, a troubled look on his face.
Chi Zhan immediately sensed something was off.
“Is there a problem? Did my pheromones fail the assessment?”
“No, no, that’s not it,” Lin Feng said hastily. “Everything’s within normal range—the report can go straight to the review panel.” As he spoke, he shot a glance at Cen Chi. Seeing no objection, he handed over the folder.
But Cen Chi didn’t take it. Instead, he turned to Chi Zhan and said, “Better check the report first.”
“Cen Chi, can I speak to you in private?” Lin Feng asked.
The two stepped aside. As soon as they were out of earshot, Lin Feng’s calm expression dropped. He looked visibly rattled. “Get your friend to a hospital and have him thoroughly examined—something’s seriously wrong!”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you even know what his test result came back as?”
“…He’s not an Omega. He’s a Beta! I ran the test multiple times, and every time, the result was Beta. But the purity of his pheromones—it’s clearly within Omega range! This kind of case doesn’t even exist in medical literature!”
Cen Chi raised an eyebrow.
Beta?
Impossible.
During the simulation exercise, Chi Zhan had clearly gone into heat. There was no way a Beta could exhibit those symptoms. His pheromones had been unmistakable. If they hadn’t prepared suppression patches in advance, the situation could’ve spiraled out of control.
Cen Chi rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment.
“Got it. This stays confidential. Don’t breathe a word to anyone—including him.”
“But your friend really needs to get checked out. It’s just too strange. I’ve never seen anything like this—”
“Do you not understand the meaning of ‘confidential’?” Cen Chi’s tone was gentle, the corners of his lips curved into a soft smile. “If anyone finds out his secret, you’ll be the first person I come for.”
“……”
“No more worries now,” Cen Chi said as he returned to Chi Zhan. “This won’t delay your review.”
Chi Zhan didn’t bother to scrutinize the report—just skimmed it. The document was filled with technical jargon he couldn’t quite understand, but seeing the “qualified” stamp was good enough.
Besides, it seemed he didn’t even need the report anymore.
“I grabbed the wrong thing, Your Highness,” Chi Zhan said. “I was only trying to retrieve my nameplate, but it was too dark—I couldn’t see clearly…”
“That’s not what I asked,” the Crown Prince replied calmly. “I only need a yes or no. Do you want it—or not?”
“…I do.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.” The Crown Prince smiled, his voice laced with warmth as his gaze swept over the anxious Chi Zhan. “Think about it—if I didn’t want to give it away, who could possibly take that nameplate from me?”
Officially, it was said that the nameplates were distributed based on merit. But anyone with eyes could see—even the instructors at the academy wouldn’t dare claim they could beat the Crown Prince, let alone a bunch of greenhorn cadets. Who could outmatch him?
So the smarter ones understood: His Highness had already chosen someone. This was simply a formal avenue to bestow that unparalleled honor.
Chi Zhan hesitated briefly, then lowered his eyes, staring at the floor.
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
“Go on, then. The next time we meet, it’ll be at your appointment ceremony,” the Crown Prince said as he let go of Chi Zhan’s wrist, smiling gently. “I’m looking forward to that day.”
“…So am I, Your Highness.” Chi Zhan still didn’t look him in the eye. The Crown Prince simply assumed he was too shy or overwhelmed—and graciously let him go.
A direct pass to becoming a Secretary…
It was his now.
Back in the dormitory, Chi Zhan tossed the report onto the table and headed straight for the shower. After two full days and nights of field training without bathing, the stickiness on his skin was unbearable.
As he emerged with a towel draped over his head, drying his hair, he overheard Tao Ran chatting with Cen Chi outside. Cen Chi, as always, sounded gentle and polite, with an even temperament that made a good impression on anyone.
“Oh! You’re the one who ran Chi-Chi’s test report? Thank you so much! Now he can still make the review deadline!”
“No need to thank me. It was a small thing.”
“You’re applying too, right? I accidentally saw the report on your desk—sorry about that!”
“It’s fine.”
“I heard being a royal physician has amazing benefits. If you get assigned to the Crown Prince or the Emperor himself, that’s like, the highest honor.”
Chi Zhan paused mid-towel stroke. He didn’t push open the door right away. Instead, he leaned quietly against the wall, lost in thought.
By the time he stepped out, Cen Chi was seated at his desk, engrossed in a thick medical text. Tao Ran, meanwhile, was happily reading a novel.
“This book’s so popular right now! The plot’s really interesting too.”
“Another melodramatic soap opera?” Chi Zhan asked. Tao Ran was known for binging novels until 2 or 3 a.m. like clockwork.
Tao Ran beamed. “It’s a little over-the-top, sure—but really addictive. It’s called ‘How Did a Beta Differentiate Into an Omega?’ The title’s blunt, but it totally hooks you in!”
“Sounds pretty far-fetched,” Chi Zhan commented.
Tao Ran was already fully immersed in the story.
Still towel-drying his hair, Chi Zhan draped a large bath towel over his head to soak up the moisture, and opened up the Central Matching System on his terminal to continue the unfinished pheromone registration. He scanned the sample file, and with a soft “beep,” the system showed successful input.
“That novel earlier,” Cen Chi said suddenly, flipping a page but keeping his eyes on the book, “I’ve read it too.”
