When Bai Heting returned to the estate, Luo Congye was sitting by the lakeside out of sheer boredom. He was pinching a wilted foxtail grass between his fingers, staring blankly at the water’s surface as it was gilded by the setting sun.
A sudden gust of wind blew past, wrinkling the water and bringing with it the crisp sweetness of silver fir.
Luo Congye recalled his thoughts from thousands of miles away, tossed aside the weed in his hand, and stood up from the grass to salute the approaching man. “General.”
Only then did Bai Heting walk closer to him, leading his horse, and asked, “Didn’t you say you were going to be a good Beta?”
The tequila-scented pheromones showed no sign of restraint, drifting all the way to the gatehouse.
Luo Congye kept his eyes downcast while replying in a low voice, “I am no longer in the guard regiment.”
It was a well-reasoned answer.
But incredibly naive.
Bai Heting gently stroked the horse’s neck, smoothing out Zhenzhu’s mane, and reminded him, “Keep a low profile. Your pheromone level is high; it easily attracts attention.”
Luo Congye, however, said absentmindedly, “As your guard, it would be abnormal for my pheromone level to be low.”
His slender fingers suddenly froze in mid-air. It took Bai Heting a few seconds to react before he turned his head to look at the somber-faced young man. Luo Congye’s unconditional obedience during this recent period had almost made Bai Heting forgot that this used to be a stubborn, pigheaded brat who knew absolutely nothing and always caused trouble.
“Try talking back to me again.” Bai Heting said, his face darkening.
Luo Congye pressed his lips into a tight line, offering no reply.
He actually hadn’t intended to talk back to the general, but Zhou Chengbei’s words kept echoing in his mind, making him feel restless and uneasy all afternoon. Just now, he had simply let slip a few words of truth without meaning to.
Bai Heting gently patted the horse’s flank, sending Zhenzhu off to drink water, then turned and walked a few steps away before sitting down at the base of a tree.
He truly was in no mood to lecture a kid right now. At the Privy Council meeting that day, he had easily secured the king’s agreement to his proposal with just a few pressing remarks. Yet Bai Yi was clearly not someone who would act so recklessly in matters of state. Moreover, ever since he manifested as an Omega, this was the first time Bai Yi had shown him such closeness.
This giant, who had once wielded a blade to slay the dragon, was evidently losing his grip.
Luo Congye followed him over.
He stood silently in front of the tree for a moment, then suddenly interrupted Bai Heting’s thoughts out of nowhere, “My pheromones…”
Bai Heting looked up at him.
Luo Congye hesitated slightly, but he threw the question out anyway, “Do they smell good?”
He had read in books that even with the pheromones of the exact same person, the experience of smelling them could vary entirely from person to person. Whether something smelled good or not was completely dependent on individual preference. Some people preferred floral scents, while others found them far too sweet and cloying. He had rarely exposed his pheromones in front of others before, so he had received almost no evaluations regarding the scent of his own pheromones.
He asked with complete sincerity, as though genuinely curious, but Bai Heting considered it a foolish question.
Compared to whether it smelled good or bad, the grade of the pheromones was clearly far more important.
Furthermore, he had indeed never seriously considered this question before.
Bai Heting took a deep breath.
If the standard for smelling good was making someone feel comfortable, then it actually was…
“They say,” Luo Congye said as if talking to himself, “that my pheromones smell very good.”
Bai Heting froze for a moment. “Who is ‘they’?”
Alphas instinctively rejected the pheromones of the same sex, while Betas couldn’t smell pheromones at all. The only people who could say such a thing had to be Omegas. And there were indeed a few Omega servants in his estate.
Luo Congye looked at him and blinked.
These words had been spoken by the servant who came to deliver the jujubes today, but instinct told him that naming that Omega didn’t seem like a very good idea. Before he could figure out where to begin, Bai Heting already spoke in a cold voice, “Just because others think it smells good, you release your pheromones for them to smell?”
“Huh?” Luo Congye was dumbfounded.
This was a monumental injustice.
He had merely accepted a basin of jujubes.
Bai Heting’s scrutinizing gaze pierced straight into his eyes. Luo Congye opened his mouth blankly, “I…”
Bai Heting said displeasurably, “I don’t like it.”
He averted his gaze, turning instead to the lake’s shimmering golden surface, and Luo Congye fell silent as well.
So, the general didn’t like his pheromones.
However, the general’s next words caught him entirely by surprise.
“I don’t like sharing your pheromones with others.”
Luo Congye was dumbfounded once again. By the time he snapped out of it, he hurriedly tried to explain, “I didn’t…”
“You are not allowed to let anyone else smell them anymore.” General Bai clearly didn’t like listening to explanations either.
Luo Congye slowly closed his mouth.
He hadn’t been able to finish a single complete sentence this entire time.
Seeing that he didn’t respond, Bai Heting looked even more displeased. “Did you write that down?”
Having learned his lesson this time, Luo Congye answered concisely, “I did.”
Bai Heting swept a flat glance over him and went back to looking at the lake.
The reflections of the trees and mountains swayed gently with the wind on the lake’s surface; this scenery did indeed bear a slight resemblance to Urdan. He rested the back of his head against the tree trunk, closing his eyes as he said softly, “I am a little tired today.”
While Luo Congye was still mulling over the meaning behind his words, Bai Heting suddenly asked, “When you were exhausted, what did she do?”
