ALSACW – Chapter 122

The royal family had many new additions, largely thanks to the positive example set by Yun Xuan. And the reason Yun Xuan was able to set such an example was that the Empress repeatedly summoned him on the pretext of seeing her grandchildren, making him the royal family’s new favorite.

The royals clearly connected Yun Xuan’s favor to his act of producing one child after another. This prompted even the most dissolute second prince to willingly enter the cage of marriage, hoping to please his mother with a child and, while he was at it, convince her to arrange a cushy post for him with little work, lots of money, and great prestige. Naturally, the Empress ignored him, and his father-consort dragged him away for a stern lecture, droning on about the old platitudes of settling down after marriage. It was a classic case of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used as bait.

After much probing, everyone confirmed a fact: Her Majesty the Empress’s affection for Yun Xuan might have something to do with his prolific fertility, but that was clearly not the main factor. The most important thing was that, besides possessing a desire for children that was exceedingly rare among omegas today, Yun Xuan also had qualities that other omegas, and even alphas, found difficult to match.

And Her Majesty the Empress greatly admired these qualities.

No one understood what these qualities were better than Lucia herself.

She had benefited from the value these qualities of Yun Xuan’s brought her. She wasn’t stupid; she knew that a person in power who relied too heavily on one individual was essentially handing over their authority for safekeeping. So, she had wisely chosen to cut ties with Yun Xuan after gaining enough of an advantage. At the same time, she had been merciful enough to compensate him with a marriage that had no prenuptial agreement. In her eyes, for an omega of Yun Xuan’s background, this was undoubtedly a monumental gift.

His child would become her heir, and Yun Xuan himself would share in the noble status she was highly likely to attain, becoming—at least in name—the leader of all omegas in the Empire.

What more could an omega possibly want?

Status, glory, reputation, wealth—she had given him everything, yet he was still not satisfied.

He was still plotting something. Lucia knew this. An alpha could always sense their omega’s psychological state through their pheromones, and in Lucia’s perception, Yun Xuan’s pheromones always contained a vast expanse of coldness that warned others away. It was a doomsday-like desolation. Even in their most heated moments of carnal pleasure, that coldness remained so heavy it induced a fear akin to falling from a great height.

Lucia had thought children would change him, at least a little, but they hadn’t. Even livestock on a farm showed more excitement and warmth when giving birth than he did. Though he wore a smile, what his pheromones expressed was still the blackness of destruction.

The hateful thing was, she couldn’t leave him now.

Although she could use AI to solve many problems, humans still possessed an advantage that AI could not match—this was, after all, a human society. Humans could build relationships and thereby control resources in this society. AI could not.

Through his status as the Third Princess’s husband, Yun Xuan had not only connected with the Empire’s powerful figures but also with many people whom even someone of Lucia’s standing could not easily ignore. In their eyes, she and Yun Xuan were having one child after another, and the one giving birth was the brother of Yun Chuji, the founder of A-Virtue. What other explanation could there be, besides that their marital bond was exceptionally strong?

Worse was yet to come. To escape her predicament on Golden Phoenix Star, Lucia had, at Yun Xuan’s urging, turned her political capital into the A-Virtue card. This card had indeed bought her a ticket to the Imperial Capital Star, but now she had to stick to her political line, at least as long as A-Virtue showed no obvious flaws. Besides, even if she changed course, she couldn’t compete with Emile by returning to her old ways.

Her past record of philandering made her public image completely inferior to that of Emile, who was devoted solely to his wife.

Of course, she could try to fight it, packaging herself as a reformed playgirl alpha who now found A-Virtue too extreme. But in politics, a person with no political convictions who acted only for power would be abandoned by the very same people she attracted if she took such a political gamble with no prospect of gain.

There was no need to get real about something that could be solved with an act.

And the act Lucia had to perform was that of a wayward A-Virtue alpha who had seen the light. Of course, making her actually live by Yun Chuji’s standards would be quicker than just killing her, but she had indeed reined herself in considerably compared to before. Most of her dalliances were now just for novelty’s sake. While this level of behavior certainly didn’t qualify as an A-Virtue alpha in the eyes of the imperial public, in high society circles, it could already be considered family-oriented, especially with her philandering older brother as a daily point of comparison.

So, the current complex situation was that, due to a variety of factors, she had to present the facade of a deeply affectionate relationship with Yun Xuan to everyone.

But the truth was, Yun Xuan had no desire whatsoever to be deeply affectionate with her. This facade, however, was what Yun Xuan wanted, and what he had single-handedly created.

Yes, she had escaped the prison of Golden Phoenix Star, only to fall into Yun Xuan’s web during the subsequent three years of freedom.

She was bound tightly to him. To some extent, his interests had become her interests. She had to do things of unclear purpose under Yun Xuan’s manipulation or instruction, all of which appeared highly beneficial to her on the surface.

For instance, giving a few speeches, investing in a few companies, or acting as a liaison for a few research institutes. These weren’t particularly difficult things to accept. Even without Yun Xuan, she might have done the same. But because of Yun Xuan’s presence, she began to act with trepidation, seeing shadows and snakes everywhere.

Lucia was well aware that she had done some terrible things to Yun Xuan in the past. In fact, she had only belatedly realized they were terrible things, and it was possible Yun Xuan had played a part in that realization.

She didn’t know.

Right now, she was like a poor soul waiting for the other shoe to drop, watching in terror for the moment Yun Xuan would unleash the darkness in his soul.

When Lucia returned home, her two young children were sleeping soundly under the care of their nanny. Both little ones would differentiate into alphas, and Lucia valued them greatly, because she knew her mother valued them greatly as well.

Yun Xuan was nowhere to be seen. He hadn’t spent time with the children again today. A fire ignited in Lucia’s heart. How could she have ever thought she could hold this omega of common birth firmly in her palm? He was now completely audacious, giving birth to children only to ignore them. What was the point of having them, then? Just to gain a reputation?

She thought, I can’t keep enduring this. The fear of fear was foolish. Whatever Yun Xuan was hiding, he was just a mere omega. How much trouble could he cause? She could no longer let him manipulate her like this.

Lucia activated the house’s central control system. As expected, he was hiding on the second-floor balcony again.

Staring at the moon again. What was so great about that stupid moon? Was it better looking than their children?

Lucia stormed up the stairs, the sound of her feet pounding on the floor, but it didn’t affect Yun Xuan in the slightest. He was still looking up at the moon, his face, by turns gentle and indifferent, steeped in a profound meaning under the lamplight.

Only when Lucia’s tall frame blocked his view of the moon did he seem to finally notice her presence. His features quickly assembled into a gentle smile. “Was work okay today?”

Lucia grew even more furious. How could he, how could he play so dumb?

And how could he disregard her so completely?

“I have never seen you take care of the children,” Lucia said gravely.

Yun Xuan was still smiling. “You’re often not home. Perhaps you just missed it.”

Lucia clenched her fists, her cold voice reminding the still-lying omega, “I had the AI analyze all the surveillance footage. You have never once held the children at home.”

Yun Xuan lowered his head, thought for a moment, then said in a dreamlike tone, “Where I’m from, children are left to the women.”

Lucia couldn’t bear it any longer and cut him off. “Are you going to start with that genderist nonsense of yours again? I told you to stay away from that useless bunch of betas. You are my husband, an omega! What does it look like for you to be mixing with betas every day!”

“Do you even know what an omega is supposed to do?”

“You don’t participate in omega social circles, you don’t take care of the children, and you spend all day meddling in things an omega shouldn’t be involved in. Do you even have me, your wife, in your mind at all?”

Yun Xuan listened silently until she finished, took a sip of warm tea, and then replied languidly, “So, are you afraid, Lucia?”

Lucia’s expression froze, then she released her pheromones in a fit of rage and shame. She grabbed Yun Xuan by the collar with one hand. “What nonsense are you talking about!”

Yun Xuan clicked his tongue, unconcerned by the hand with bulging veins at his chin. He remained at ease, not even letting his smile falter. “Your pheromones are afraid, too.”

This omega, how dare he? Fury nearly shattered Lucia’s reason. Just as she was about to teach Yun Xuan a lesson, to make him remember how he once groveled at her feet like a dog, Yun Xuan’s eyes curved into a gentle smile. He told her, “Your mother wants to see me tomorrow. If you’re going to do something, don’t take too long.”

“Oh, and don’t use that position you like so much. It’s not good for the child. You love the children most of all, don’t you?”

Lucia took a deep breath. She lowered her hand, clasping it behind her back. “Yun Xuan, what are you really thinking?”

“I’m thinking about the moon,” he said.

Lucia closed her eyes and said through gritted teeth, “Then go look at your moon.”