"General Merai, will you be married off to that good-for-nothing son of the finance minister? You should reconsider! We all know that he was only after you because you were friends with the emperor. But now that the emperor is dead-!"

The poor guard meant well. But his words refused to come out of his mouth when cold blue eyes looked at him.

The platoon of guards who decided to accompany their general tensed at these words, and the quickest one leapt forward to close the mouth of his loose-lipped friend.

"G-General, please forgive this kid. He is new in our platoon and does not know the rules yet. I will make sure he learns his manners.

Everyone watched as the general raised his hand, and they quickly retreated, leaving their available alone in that clearing.

General Meria, the only beta general of the empire, was left with his hand outstretched as his guards quickly fled from him.

...

'Why did the guards run away from me? Do I truly look that scary? I tried not to smile this time, but these people still got scared of me.'

Merai sighed as he watched his party flee away from him. This was common for him, so he did not even feel bad.

He was a dedicated general and had told his dead best friend that he would do what he could for the empire.

And now that the emperor was dead, this was the only way for Meria to keep his promise. He just hoped that it was enough.

"That Kerin is such a sly guy. He knew he was going to die, so he decided to rope me into his clutches and get me stuck as the general. But maybe I was the fool who fell for those ruby-like eyes of his."

Meria sighed while he continued to walk around his patrol route. He was the only one who looked around since everyone else had already run away from him.

It took him about three hours to finish his patrol. A lack of personnel around him meant that Meria had more to do than usual.

When he returned to his quarters, he hopped into the shower and wiped the filth away from his body. The water washed away the scent-blocking patches Meria had been wearing.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the thing clogged his scent was gone. It allowed Meria to breathe easier.

"General, are you in your quarters? Your finance is here to meet you-"

"Don't come in. I will fire you if you enter the room."

Meria could smell the messenger's omega scent. It was sweet and clogging, causing Meria to feel light-headed.

It was usually tough for Meria to pick up any scent due to his scent patches, so the only reason he could smell this messenger could only mean one thing - this omega was here to seduce him.

An omega-beta pair was usually frowned upon, but it was not as uncommon as it sounded. Most omegas had intense heat, but they did not want to be bound to an alpha. So, they used a beta partner who could not get them pregnant.

Merai had never spent his heat with anyone (who would spend a heat with the demonic caption of the guards), but he had his fair share of omegas trying to approach him.

And it all happened because he pretended to be a beta.

Only one person, except his parents and his nanny, had known the truth about his gender. And now that person was dead, leaving Meria alone.

*Cough*

"If young master wants me to stay out, I will stay out. But the lady asked me to ensure you arrive at the meeting on time. Your fiancé is busy, and we cannot keep him waiting."

Meria sighed before he exited the bathroom and reapplied his scent patches.

Only one person among these servants was called 'the Lady,' his father's second wife and the current head-wife. Meria's mother had died during childbirth.

"Tell the matriarch that I will be down in about five minutes. Anyone who approached me during that time will die."

Meria threatened, and his heart beat faster in his chest. He was too much of a coward to kill anyone, but he had an image to maintain.

The servant pales and quickly bows in front of Meria before realizing that the man cannot even see his face or gesture.

"Of course, master. I will convey your message to the Lady as well as the Master. I hope you make your arrival quick. The atmosphere seemed tense downstairs."

'Ah, stepmother must be planning something. That's why she sent an omega to me - to distract me and ensure I do not show up on time. Well, the jokes on her since no omega can seduce me.'

Meria had too much practice putting on his scent patch, so it only took him a few minutes to prepare himself. He was prepared to head out when he noticed that the hairpin, he always wore was crooked. 

"This pin! I did not remember putting it on my head. Maybe I should take it down now? The person who gave this to me is dead, so even this has no meaning now."

Meria touched the hairpin and tried taking it off. But his hands froze as soon as he felt the pin. Somehow, he could not make himself take that pin off.

It was a memory of his friend that he had buried inside his heart.

"Maybe I should let this pin remain. Memory or not, this is a royal gift. If I take it off, I might get into trouble for damaging it."

In the end, Meria was also unable to take the pin off this time. He arrived downstairs, only to see a familiar scene before him - his fiancé and step-sister cuddling.

His finance was an alpha and the elder son of the current finance minister. They had tried to secure the match, and Meria's parents (mainly her step-mother) accepted this match as soon as it came.

Meria had been against this match, but he did not have much ground to protest when it came to family interests. The only one who could refute this marriage was the emperor.

And taking this talk to Emperor Kerin was the last thing Meria wanted to do. It did not feel like the emperor should be concerned about it.

But maybe Meria should have taken the chance to issue a protest. It would have stopped him from seeing his fiancé cheating on him this openly.