ALSACW – Chapter 112

Including the Song family, seven prominent alpha-led families had now pledged their allegiance to him.

Four of these families had made their position clear: they would help Clarence on the condition that he did not use omega rights as a pretext to interfere with their internal succession. Alphas had always been in power, and they would continue to be.

Clarence didn’t refuse. He had no room to.

Among the three factions vying for the throne, Lucia was undoubtedly the weakest. Even Clarence, an omega, had more supporters than she did.

But Clarence knew this didn’t mean he could defeat Lucia, let alone Emile, who represented the legitimate line of succession. Ironically, the very source of his power was the reason he could never truly claim the throne.

He only represented omegas.

But the monarch was the monarch of all.

Clarence had been hesitating, wondering if he should take a gamble: set aside his identity as a staunch advocate for omega rights to gain broader support.

He hadn’t revealed this to his subordinates. Spartacus continued to advance with efficiency and fervor, as if omegas were on the verge of reclaiming control of their own destinies.

This blind optimism was something Clarence had deliberately cultivated to maximize Spartacus’s support, and it had propelled him to his current prominent position.

But it was also the very thing holding him back.

It’s time to make a choice, Clarence thought. But hasn’t the choice already been made?

A wistful smile touched Clarence’s lips.

His handsome face glowed in the setting sun. He was rushing toward the casino his former lover had chosen for him, a place where he might win the greatest victory of his life or suffer the most unbearable defeat.

But could it be any more unbearable than his life before?

The wistfulness on Clarence’s face slowly faded, replaced by the familiar countenance of the Sixth Prince, the leader all omegas looked to. He gazed at the sunset clouds for a moment in thought, then opened his comm and dialed a familiar number.

“We’re sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in service.”

Tsk, so heartless.

Clarence pursed his lips and tried another number.

This time, after a short wait, the call connected. Tang Jianshen’s icy figure appeared instantly on the rooftop. He frowned at the man leaning against the door of a hovercar, head tilted, and asked in a formal tone, “Your Highness, how may I help you?”

“I believe that’s what you said the first time we met, too,” Clarence said on a whim.

That time, he had drunk too much at a ball. Because Tang Jianshen’s demeanor wasn’t very omega-like and his features weren’t alpha-like, Clarence, in his blurred vision, had mistaken him for his beta assistant. He’d had to wave several times before Tang Jianshen reluctantly approached, and Clarence, with his temper, had nearly lost it. It just so happened that he was going through a period of confusion back then, and his emotions were highly unstable.

Clarence had suddenly realized that no matter how hard he worked in private, even to the point where his abilities surpassed those of his older alpha siblings, it was all worthless simply because he was an omega.

He couldn’t compete with his alpha siblings, not because omegas were inherently weaker than alphas.

It was simply because he was an omega.

So, when he had confidently presented his analysis of the Empire’s key political figures to his mother, the Empress, she had merely glanced at the title before closing the file. Then, she had said thoughtfully, “It seems Little Six doesn’t have a marriage contract yet.”

In that instant, a chill ran down Clarence’s spine.

Thus, the ball where he first met Tang Jianshen was also a matchmaking event. Besides him, there were a dozen or so other noble alphas and omegas, all tacitly observing, conversing with, and appraising one another. Clarence was filled with both dread and disgust. He never imagined that all his efforts would turn out to be a joke, that he would ultimately be placed on the scales of a transaction.

So he drank, indulging himself until he didn’t realize he’d mistaken the person until Tang Jianshen was right in front of him. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that he found this person beautiful.

And while this beautiful person seemed impatient with him, what truly caught Clarence’s attention was a flicker of nervousness—the kind he had only ever seen in alphas when they saw something they desired.

Clarence knew that homosexuality existed. He had never been able to understand it before, believing such feelings only arose in those who had been deeply hurt by the opposite gender.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even love, but a form of escape.

No one could deny the powerful influence of pheromones on the attractions between alphas and omegas.

But now he knew he was wrong, because he recognized this man. He was the complete opposite of Clarence’s preconceived notions about omega-omega relationships: the eldest son of the Tang family, from a happy home, with a successful career. He was likely here to find a husband to marry into the family, but judging by his cold and indifferent demeanor, he seemed to have little enthusiasm for the task.

Clarence’s heart, so brutally crushed by reality, suddenly stirred.

He was not one to follow the rules; he never had been. Even within the false persona he projected to lull others, he was still the dazzling trendsetter for noble omega aesthetics.

And that was about as much prominence as a non-rebellious omega could hope to achieve.

But it wasn’t enough. Far from it.

Clarence watched the beautiful, flustered omega, a soft smile slowly forming on his lips. He reached out and draped an arm over the omega’s slender shoulders. As expected, the man immediately went rigid.

“Finch, take me home,” he slurred, calling out his assistant’s name.

“Your Highness, please let me go. I will have someone find Finch for you.” Tang Jianshen struggled to pry him off, but the drunken prince clung to him like putty. The stares from those around them grew increasingly odd, making Tang Jianshen deeply regret coming to this time-wasting event just to appease Tang Ji.

He didn’t like any alphas, anyway; it would have been better to let Tang Ji pick someone she approved of. But Tang Ji had insisted that even if it was a political marriage, he had to find someone he liked. Unable to tell her the real reason, Tang Jianshen had come, feeling stifled and sitting on pins and needles under the scrutiny of one alpha after another.

Who knew the most troublesome person here wouldn’t be an alpha, but the omega in his arms. “No, you are Finch. Finch, take me home.”

Given the man’s exalted status, Tang Jianshen didn’t dare use too much force. Instead, he opted for a more efficient solution.

He summoned two attendant AIs—one to find the alpha named Finch, and the other to help pull the omega off him.

Clarence was no match for the AIs. More importantly, if he had been, his disguise would have been far too obvious.

That night, the real Finch took Clarence home.

But after that night, Clarence repeatedly asked Tang Jianshen out under the pretext of thanking him. Upon discovering Tang Jianshen’s workaholic nature, he began to approach him frequently under the guise of work.

It took about half a year, but he finally lured Tang Jianshen into his bed.

It was then that Clarence truly understood. The existence of homosexuality wasn’t without reason. The feeling was hardly inferior to the pheromone-fueled pleasure between alphas and omegas described in books. In some ways, it was even superior, because they weren’t compelled to become animals by the influence of pheromones.

Their primal urges were sparked naturally by the other’s beauty.

After that began a long, private partnership. Tang Jianshen was with him through the most difficult years of his life, a silent, cool, but constant presence, like the moon that rose on schedule every night.

He hadn’t even left when Clarence got engaged.

But he was also perceptive enough to know the exact moment Clarence had given up on him, and when Clarence proposed his self-righteous plan to have it all, Tang Jianshen had turned and left without a moment’s hesitation.

What a terrifying man.

Clarence pulled his thoughts back from his memories as Tang Jianshen’s stiff reply came through. “Your Highness, we agreed not to talk about the past.”

“Oh, yes, Mr. Tang. My apologies, I’ve had a little to drink,” Clarence said insincerely. At his words, Tang Jianshen’s frown deepened. Clarence knew him well enough to understand that if he didn’t say something of value in the next minute, Tang Jianshen would hang up.

But Clarence hadn’t called to be hung up on or to reminisce. He knew what he truly wanted, and so did the man on the other end of the line. He sat up straight, his tone growing serious. “Mr. Tang, you’ve planted several bombs around me.”

“Your Highness, I consider them gifts.”

Clarence laughed. “A pity they’re cash-on-delivery.”

“But you’re quite satisfied, are you not?” Tang Jianshen replied calmly.

“Yes. Which is why I’m calling to ask your price.”

Tang Jianshen wouldn’t go to all this trouble for him for free. And this predicament, forcing him to make a choice, couldn’t possibly be unintentional on Tang Jianshen’s part.

A thought stirred in Clarence’s mind. Perhaps he wants to place a bet on me, too?

After all, Tang Jianshen was the best businessman he had ever met. It would be plausible for him to seize this opportunity and change his allegiance for the right price.

But that delusion was quickly shattered by Tang Jianshen’s cold words. “I want you to withdraw from Spartacus completely.”

Clarence’s eyebrows shot up. He instantly guessed who was behind this. “Did Tang Jianxi put you up to this?”

Tang Jianshen didn’t deny it.

“I thought you two didn’t get along.” Clarence rubbed his temples, feeling a strange sense of unwillingness. “You want me to separate myself from the omega rights movement. But besides me, who else is there to lead the omegas?”

“I am,” Tang Jianshen replied coolly.

Clarence’s expression froze. “But you don’t care about omega rights,” he said. “Did Tang Jianxi threaten you? If so, I can help you—”

Tang Jianshen cut him off. “That was before. In the past, it wouldn’t have mattered even if I did care. So-called omega rights organizations always ended up as either insolvent charities or tools for upper-class omegas to gain prestige. But things are different now. The entire Empire is in turmoil over omega rights, and the Tang family must make its choice.”

Clarence understood. Tang Jianshen, like Song Yue, had seen the treacherous political landscape for what it was. In fact, Song Yue’s realization might have even been prompted by Tang Jianshen.

At that moment, Clarence found himself envying the Tang family. They didn’t have to face the kind of competition he did, so they could afford to choose a less certain path. He, on the other hand, had been destined to give up too much from the moment he started down this road.

But in that moment, it was as if Tang Jianshen saw right through him—perhaps just as Clarence knew him, he knew Clarence just as well.

“You’ve always had a choice. It’s not that you didn’t have one; you just didn’t make it.”

Didn’t choose him. Didn’t choose the omegas.

Clarence was silent for a moment. He turned his comm’s camera toward the setting sun on the horizon. “Mr. Tang,” he said, “watch the sunset with me one last time.”

Tang Jianshen neither answered nor refused.

The moment the sun disappeared below the horizon, he ended the call.

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