Zhou Yanxing, in contrast to his royal title, showed no airs of a crown prince. He offered a gentle smile and nodded slightly.
“Surprised to see me?”
Surprised? That didn’t even begin to cover it!
Chi Zhan had assumed the Crown Prince would arrive in regal fashion aboard a royal starship. Why on earth was he sharing a shuttle with the students? What if something happened mid-air—like getting hit by a missile… No, no, bad thoughts. Way too unlucky.
The Crown Prince’s face, once only seen on news broadcasts—sharp, handsome, commanding—now loomed before Chi Zhan, magnified at close range. His fingers went numb. His brain lagged, utterly clueless as to what His Highness was doing or why he was suddenly leaning in so close…
A faint scent of mint mixed with something earthy and botanical slipped into his lungs. It made his head spin. The whole moment felt unreal.
Click.
The Crown Prince casually withdrew, restoring a polite distance between them.
“Why didn’t you fasten your seatbelt?”
Chi Zhan’s face flushed a vivid red in an instant.
He had intended to fasten it—he really had—but the moment he saw His Highness, his mind had gone completely blank.
Now he was just annoyed with himself.
How could he forget something so basic?
So unprofessional.
But before he could dwell on it, the Crown Prince suddenly frowned, as if detecting something deeply unpleasant in the air.
Then, he asked a question that seemed completely out of left field—
“Did you come into contact with an Alpha last night?”
***
An Alpha’s territorial instinct could be described as nothing short of terrifying. Even the most even-tempered Alpha would grow agitated if someone encroached on their personal domain.
Especially when it came to pheromones.
Modern technology had long since developed blocking patches—convenient and reliable tools that suppressed over ninety percent of one’s scent. But in moments of emotional or physical arousal, pheromones still had a tendency to leak through. Bodily fluids carried an even stronger concentration.
Worse still, Alphas despised the scent of other Alphas—so much so that their instincts often outpaced their sense of smell, reacting to an unwelcome presence in mere seconds.
Just like now.
The Crown Prince’s question sounded casual, as if it were a random thought spoken aloud. But those dark, deep eyes locked onto Chi Zhan, silently demanding an answer.
Under that direct gaze, Chi Zhan froze. His mind creaked to life like rusted gears slowly turning, trying to process the question—but he came up blank. All he could manage was, “I don’t think so.”
“Really.” The Crown Prince didn’t seem convinced. His tone dropped, low and cool, tinged with suspicion. “Look into my eyes and say it again.”
It wasn’t a request—it was a command, clear and firm.
Chi Zhan lifted his gaze. Only then did he notice that His Highness’s eyes weren’t pure black as he’d assumed, but laced with a hint of indigo—like a midnight sky glittering with stars, opulent and mysterious.
“I passed a few Alphas on the training grounds. Other than that, nothing,” Chi Zhan replied earnestly, after giving it serious thought.
The Crown Prince raised a brow slightly.
A faint rumble vibrated beneath their feet as the starship began to move, gliding forward in a graceful dive away from the port. The inertia threw Chi Zhan back into his seat. He instinctively moved to sit up—only for a large, firm hand to brace against the armrest beside him, blocking his movement with quiet finality.
The gesture radiated pressure.
Even though Chi Zhan was just a Beta and couldn’t sense the inherent dominance of an Alpha, the atmosphere had unmistakably shifted. The Crown Prince’s mood had turned sour.
What just happened?
They were getting along fine just a moment ago…
Chi Zhan looked up—and froze. His Highness’s gaze had darkened to something dangerous, fierce enough to make Chi Zhan feel like prey under a predator’s stare.
He hadn’t actually interacted with any Alphas. Just passed by. So how could he possibly be carrying the scent of a stranger’s pheromones?
It was like placing a delicate cake on display, one he’d long coveted but had to leave untouched. And then coming back the next day—only to find someone had sprinkled it with pungent, offensive pepper flakes.
All he wanted was to wipe those disgusting traces clean.
And yet, the oblivious little cake didn’t even realize it had been tainted.
Just from that one whiff, a hundred scenarios flashed through Zhou Yanxing’s mind—each involving dragging that bastard Alpha into deep space and disintegrating them into cosmic trash.
He forced himself to stay calm, reins on his rising irritation.
Unless something very intimate had happened—or the other party was extraordinarily powerful—there was no way the pheromonal imprint would be this strong.
Chi Zhan watched in growing alarm as the Crown Prince’s expression turned darker by the second. He racked his brain but couldn’t figure out what he’d done wrong.
“Your Highness… did I do something?” he asked hesitantly.
Right then, everything went black.
Gasps of shock rang out around them. Chi Zhan flinched, instinctively straightening up to assess the situation—
And accidentally brushed against something soft.
“…???”
His mind went completely blank.
Only then did he realize just how close the Crown Prince was—and that soft sensation just now might very well have been…
“Preparing for interstellar jump. Please fasten your seatbelts and remain seated…” The onboard announcement echoed through the cabin.
The starship lurched violently and began to spin.
The only accurate comparison? Being thrown into a washing machine on full-power spin cycle—minus the fortunate fact that the safety belts kept them strapped into their seats.
Chi Zhan could only squeeze his eyes shut as panicked screams of “Aaahhh I’m gonna die!” filled the cabin.
He’d only experienced one interstellar jump before—in his first year at the Imperial Military Academy. Someone had guided him onto the starship, marking the day he left his desolate homeworld behind and officially entered the Aelros System, settling on the Twin Primary Stars.
He was still green back then—barely eighteen, untrained for hyperspace travel. The moment he disembarked, he threw up so violently he ended up with a high fever for three days, almost missing his enrollment.
