12
The party footage went viral online.
The hot topic was a video of the Marshal and the Crown Prince.
A clip of them gazing at each other from across the party.
[The Marshal and the Crown Prince are looking at each other.]
[Oh my god, this is so intense.]
[Now this is the powerful Alpha-Omega pairing I want to see.]
[The Crown Prince’s gaze is so tender, the whole screen is covered in pink hearts.]
[I hope the Marshal can escape his misery and end up with the Crown Prince.]
…
I watched that video over and over.
One had a commanding presence; the other, calm confidence.
They were utterly elegant, sparks flying between them nonstop.
Honestly, they were a better match than I was.
On the way back to the Marshal’s residence, I was unusually quiet instead of chattering away.
That evening, the Marshal noticed something was wrong.
“What’s wrong?”
I hesitated for a few seconds.
Then I said it anyway.
“Maybe we should get divorced!”
The Marshal stopped.
He gave me a dangerous look. “What did you say?”
I clenched my hands and lowered my head.
Thinking of what the doctor had said today made my chest tighten.
The Marshal was an Omega.
What Omega wouldn’t want a child of their own?
But I was helpless.
No matter how hard we tried, nothing came of it.
Just as the netizens said, I was born infertile.
If that was the case, I didn’t need to keep holding him back.
He and the Crown Prince had feelings for each other already. What could be better?
He deserved better.
I said,
“We were well matched in status, forced together, and opposed by so many people. There’s no need for us to cling to this marriage.”
“Besides, once we’re divorced, you can find someone better, someone of higher status. Divorcing me is the best choice—you know, since I’m so thin and useless.”
The Marshal’s chest heaved.
He cursed me out:
“Get out! Get out and calm down before you come back.”
13
So I moved into the guest room.
The Marshal stopped driving me to work, too.
He told me to calm down.
That night, the Marshal lay alone in bed.
Knowing my place, I brought my bedding to the guest room.
But the Marshal kept releasing pheromones from time to time.
Especially over these past few days, they’d been getting stronger and stronger.
I couldn’t sleep well because of it.
On my third morning at home, two strangers appeared at the Marshal’s residence.
They said they wanted me to meet with their superior.
I boarded a plane, and in the blink of an eye, I’d been taken to the Family Planning Bureau.
Three or five people ushered me inside.
There were two people in the room.
The one at the head of the table was the director of the Family Planning Bureau.
The director handed me a stack of documents.
“Hello, Ms. Nguyễn. We have a document we need you to sign.”
I took the documents and flipped through them.
The first pages listed compensation; the last was a government divorce agreement.
My hand began to tremble for no reason.
“If you fill out this agreement, not only will you be compensated for all your losses, but if you intend to marry someone else, the Family Planning Bureau will also give your application priority.”
I’d planned to bring this up myself, but I hadn’t expected the government to be in such a hurry.
I stared blankly at the signature line.
They thought I was trying to stall.
The official beside him spoke without a trace of courtesy.
“If you don’t sign, you’ll be holding the whole country back and breaking the law. Think carefully.”
The director looked at me:
“Ms. Nguyễn, as you know, our country has been fighting those bugs for 200 years, and we made no progress until the Marshal took charge. Under the suppression of an S-rank, the bugs have been all but wiped out. If the country had another S-rank, we might be able to eradicate them completely.”
“You may not know this, but before you and the Marshal were found to have a 99% compatibility rate, the Crown Prince and the Marshal nearly got engaged. For the sake of the next generation of S-ranks, the country separated them and married the Marshal to you. But a year has passed, and there isn’t even a sign of a child. We’re out of options. What do you think?”
I was a little dazed.
Every word struck a nerve.
My head spun.
By the time I came to, the pen was in my hand and my name was already signed.
14
I didn’t know how I’d made it back to the Marshal’s residence.
It was very quiet outside the residence.
The people who had gathered outside the residence had all disappeared.
Only a few scattered guards remained.
I hesitated for a moment.
Then I pushed open the residence’s front door.
Immediately, the scent of eucalyptus slipped through the crack in the door and filled my nose.
At the same moment, the Marshal lunged at me, and I had no time to dodge.
His scent was so strong.
Was he… in heat?
I didn’t quite know what to do.
Especially since I’d just signed the divorce papers.
By rights, I should have kept my distance.
But he clung to me so tightly.
He even pleaded in a near-crying voice, “Hug me, quick! Hug me!”
He was nothing like his usual cold self.
I pinched my nose shut with one hand to avoid inhaling so many pheromones that the consequences couldn’t be undone.
With my other hand, I reached out, trying not to touch him.
Then I brought up my holographic screen, opened my contacts, and said,
“I… I’ll contact the Crown Prince for you.”
As soon as I said it, the Marshal’s expression changed.
He used his mental abilities to take control of my body, then forcibly dragged me inside.
He even yanked off my holographic screen and stomped it to pieces.
I looked at the shattered screen. It was probably useless now.
What was I supposed to do?
The Marshal clung to me again, crying, his eyes hazy.
He called, “Baby~ Baby~”
Then he kissed my face all over.
Finally, he tried to tempt me with his overpowering scent.
I suddenly remembered that he’d been releasing pheromones erratically these past few days.
Those had all been signs.
I was the one who’d been slow on the uptake.
At that moment, I tried with all my might to stop the Marshal. “Marshal, don’t!”
But I was no match for his strength.
He pressed closer and rubbed against me.
I really couldn’t breathe, so I lowered the hand covering my mouth.
The next second, twice as much pheromone rushed into my nose.
It slammed into my nerves.
An Omega’s pheromones could make an Alpha lose control.
I was no exception.
In the end, I couldn’t hold back any longer and released my pheromones.
In an instant, the scent of gunpowder filled the room, mingling with the eucalyptus.
One was cold, the other warm, their scents entwining and complementing each other.
Only then did he calm down.
I was drenched in sweat, and some of my reason returned.
But it wasn't long before he twisted against me and said, “It feels awful. I still feel awful.”
An Omega in heat had little reason left and wanted nothing more than to be soothed by an Alpha.
And simply releasing pheromones couldn't help an Omega get through heat safely.
There wasn't a better option right now.
So I held his writhing body still and slowly moved toward his gland.
“Don't move. I'll give you a temporary mark.”
A temporary mark could not only help him get through heat, it would also fade on its own after a while.
It wouldn't affect his body, either.
With that, I bit down on the Marshal's gland.
Then I slowly pushed my pheromones into it.
The Marshal shuddered and squeezed my hand.
In a soft, kittenish voice, he murmured:
“Give me a full mark. Please.”
Damn it. For an Alpha, those words were devastating.
Maybe fewer than one in a hundred people could resist.
I wanted to die.
If I marked him, the whole empire would hate me.
I had to use every bit of my mental strength to hold back, and only then could I slowly lift my mouth away from his gland.
Despite his repeated pleas, I only gave him a temporary mark.
He was really going to be the death of me.
…
After a whole week of struggling through it, his heat finally passed safely.
I was so exhausted that I fell asleep.
15
When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in bed.
I got out of bed and headed for the door.
Before I could touch the doorknob, my hand was yanked back.
I looked down.
That's when I saw a very thin iron chain locked around my arm.
Perhaps someone had heard the noise, because footsteps approached from outside the door.
“Click.”
The Marshal, dressed in uniform, opened the door coldly.
Once his heat was over, it was as if he had become a different person.
I put on an ingratiating smile and jingled the iron chain on my arm.
“Marshal, what is this supposed to mean?”
He ignored my question and narrowed his eyes. “What did you just call me?”
After we got married, I had always called him my dear wife.
I had never called him Marshal.
But now that I'd signed the divorce papers, calling him my dear wife didn't seem appropriate.
I opened my mouth, not knowing what to say.
A wave of sorrow washed over me at the thought that he no longer belonged to me.
He took out a stack of documents and tossed them down in front of me.
“Explain this.”
They were the divorce papers I had signed.
I stared at them, speechless.
“Why did you sign them?” he pressed.
The Marshal and I were nearly the same height, but his imposing presence made him seem like a giant Buddha bearing down on me.
He glared at me and scolded me.
I breathed heavily.
The pressure was overwhelming.
“There was no reason. I should have signed them.
I couldn't think of a reason not to. People online were right. I'm useless. My rank is too low, and I can't give you a child. I'm the most useless Alpha in the empire. I should just get lost.”
The more I said, the more aggrieved I felt.
“I'm just a commoner. I don't deserve you. Besides, I have no table manners, I'm loud, and I'm emotionally unstable. There's nothing special about me; I'm just a burden. If you don't leave me, people will criticize you right along with me.”
The more I said, the more inferior and miserable I felt.
I wanted to pour out all my thoughts and get them off my chest.
“Without me, you could find someone with an A rank. The Crown Prince is great, and you two have a history together. You're both nobles—you really are a perfect match!”
I thought of how, after the divorce, he could live happily with the Crown Prince.
I immediately burst into tears.
My heart ached in sharp pangs.
The Marshal said nothing, just silently watched me cry.
I didn't know how long I had been crying.
This was so embarrassing. I'd never been this embarrassed in my life.
The Marshal picked up the documents and tore them to pieces.
“This is my fault.”
I was a little stunned.
I wiped my tears, my nose red, and looked up at him in confusion.
How could it be my dear wife's fault?
My dear wife could never be wrong.
His expression darkened.
“I didn't make you feel secure enough.”
16
The whole internet erupted.
The Marshal had posted three announcements in a row.
The first announcement:
[I love my Alpha very much. I decided that the very first time we met, and I feel the same now as I did then.]
The second announcement:
[From this moment on, I will not forgive anyone who insults my Alpha. I will sue them to the fullest extent of the law.]
The third announcement:
[If the country dares to sabotage our marriage again, I will resign immediately. Someone else can take over the extermination of the insectoids.]
The internet went down as soon as the three announcements were posted.
Everyone was especially terrified by the third one.
If there were no S-rank officer in the position, the country couldn't find anyone else suitable for the job.
[That's so domineering.]
[I always thought the Marshal didn't like his Alpha.]
[You think 99% compatibility is a joke? It's mutual, you know.]
[I heard the Marshal's Alpha has gunpowder-scented pheromones, and a really powerful presence. They're perfect for the Marshal!]
[S-rank officers resigning? The country shouldn't start trouble.]
[The country needs to stop playing dirty. The people who first led the attack on the Marshal's Alpha were insiders in the government.]
[Does anyone here know what really happened?]
[The country's cut right through its own lifeline.]
…
I saw the Marshal's three announcements.
I felt both happy and sad.
I was happy because my wife loved me too and was defending me.
I was sad because I truly couldn't give him a family with children.
What the doctor had said was true, and the Marshal had known it for a long time.
The Marshal noticed how conflicted I was.