Arrabella woke up with a start, her heart pounding in her chest. The ceiling above her was unfamiliar—dark, intricate patterns carved into stone, unlike anything she had ever seen. Her body felt heavy, strange, and utterly foreign. Forcing herself to sit up, she groaned in discomfort as her limbs, more slender and whiter than they should be, responded sluggishly.
Glancing down, her breath caught in her throat. Her body was not her own. Gone were the curves of her former female form—replaced by a flat chest, and slender muscles. Hands that were once firm were now slender and delicate. Panic began to rise in her chest as she threw back the covers, his heart racing as she saw the undeniable proof: the body she now inhabited is a male.
Her mind reeled, trying to make sense of it all. She touched her face—her jawline was sharp, her skin is smooth. The body felt wrong, completely alien. This can't be real. She tried to stand, but her legs felt unsteady beneath her, like walking on stilts.
"What is happening?" Arrabella whispered, the sound of her own voice startling her. It was sultry, low, and unfamiliar—nothing like the voice she had once had as a woman.
Suddenly, her head exploded in pain. A surge of images and memories flooded into her mind, overwhelming him. Names, faces, events—none of them her own—crashed into her consciousness.
Jiang Ying Yue.
Arcturus Dominion.
Omega prince.
General Kael Ardin.
The memories were overpowering, each one sharper and more vivid than the last. Arabella couldn't breathe. The pain grew unbearable, and as the final image—a name—flashed through her mind, the darkness swallowed her once again.
When Arrabella woke again, the pain had dulled, leaving behind a throbbing ache. She blinked, her surroundings slowly coming into focus. She was still in the same room—a spacious chamber decorated with dark wooden furniture and silk drapes. But this time, it felt oddly familiar. Slowly, the realization dawned on her.
She wasn't Arrabella Symmonds anymore. She was Jiang Ying Yue, the omega Prince of the Arcturus Dominion, the youngest son of the reigning Empress, Jiang Yufei - a MALE. His memories returned in fragmented pieces, but they were enough to make sense of his new reality. Jiang Ying Yue had been poisoned—murdered by his half-brother, Jiang Liang, another Omega prince born to one of the royal concubines, Zhao Bicheng.
Jiang Liang had always been jealous of Ying Yue. As the favored Omega son of the Empress, Ying Yue had been chosen to marry General Kael Ardin, the God of War, and solidify the Arcturus Dominion's political power. It was a prestigious position—one that Jiang Liang coveted for himself. And so, he had resorted to poison to eliminate his competition.
Ying Yue—no, Arrabella—closed his eyes, trying to process the enormity of it all. Not only had he been reborn in a completely different body, but he was now in a world where gender as he understood it no longer existed. In this galaxy, the distinction wasn't about being male or female, but whether one was an Alpha or an Omega. Alphas, regardless of their physical attributes, were dominant—capable of impregnating both Alphas and Omegas. Omegas, on the other hand, were the ones who could only bear children.
Arrabella's, now Ying Yue's, stomach churned as the full reality set in. He was now an Omega. A male Omega. And, based on his new memories, Omegas were expected to be submissive, valued primarily for their ability to bear children and form political alliances through marriage.
It was so far removed from the life he had known as Arrabella Symmonds—an independent, powerful woman in control of her destiny. And now, here he was, in a body that belonged to a man who had been nothing more than a pawn in a larger political game.
Days passed, and the struggle to adapt only grew harder. Ying Yue—still Arrabella deep down—couldn't ignore the visceral shock of waking up each day in a male body. He avoided mirrors, unable to reconcile the face and form that stared back at him with the person he had once been. Moving in this body felt unnatural—his larger limbs felt clumsy, and the foreign weight of his own anatomy was a constant reminder of his new reality.
The most jarring experience, however, came when his mother, the Empress, and his older sister, Crown Princess Jiang Ying-Ao, visited him after hearing of his recovery.
When the Empress entered the room, Arrabella—or rather, Ying Yue—braced himself. Empress Zhang Yufei, an imposing Alpha, was tall, broad-shouldered, and possessed the regal beauty of a woman who ruled with both grace and strength. At her side was Jiang Ying-Ao, a fierce, charismatic Alpha and the heir to the Arcturus Dominion.
Ying Yue had known intellectually that Alphas could be either male or female, but the shock came when he realized how deeply physical differences blurred in this world. Both his mother and sister, though possessing the outward appearance of women, had the attributes of Alphas—muscular builds and, as Ying Yue quickly deduced from the contours beneath their clothes, male genitalia.
His mind reeled. The concept of gender in this world was so different from anything he had known. Here, dominance and reproduction weren't tied to what someone looked like but to whether they were Alpha or Omega. Female Alphas like his mother and sister held the power in society, just as male Alphas did. And as an Omega—no matter what his gender had once been—he was seen as the submissive partner in this world's hierarchy.
"Ying Yue," the Empress said, her voice filled with concern, though she carried herself with the authority of a ruler. "How are you feeling, my son?"
Arrabella forced himself to answer, though the awkwardness of speaking in this body gnawed at him. "I... I'm recovering, Mother."
Empress Zhang Yufei studied him closely, her eyes sharp, searching for any sign of weakness. Beside her, Ying-Ao looked equally concerned but held a strong, protective air. "The poison nearly killed you," Ying-Ao said, her voice full of anger. "I will not rest until we find out who did this to you."
Ying Yue nodded, though his heart pounded in his chest. He couldn't help but notice how natural it felt for his mother and sister to carry themselves as they did—powerful, confident, and clearly dominant. He, on the other hand, felt small and vulnerable in their presence, even though he had once been a woman who commanded authority in her own right.
The meeting was brief, but the strangeness of it lingered long after they had left. His mother and sister were everything he had once strived to be—strong, independent, and powerful. Yet in this world, his role had been reduced to that of an Omega prince, destined to marry an Alpha and produce heirs. It was a bitter pill to swallow.
Despite his struggles to adapt, Arrabella—now Ying Yue—knew that he couldn't waste time. The knowledge of his poisoning was fresh, and the evidence would still be there if he acted quickly. Using the sharp instincts that had made him a successful lawyer in his past life, Ying Yue set out to gather the proof needed to bring his half-brother, Jiang Liang, to justice.
Jiang Liang, though an Omega like Ying Yue, had always been envious of the favor their mother, the Empress, showed him. Born to Zhao Bicheng, one of the Empress's concubines, Jiang Liang had grown up in the shadow of Ying Yue, always second to the legitimate Omega prince destined to marry the powerful General Kael Ardin.
It didn't take long for Ying Yue to quietly start investigating Jiang Liang's role in the poisoning. He summoned the royal physician, who had treated him during his illness, and under the guise of inquiring about his recovery, began probing for more information.
"Your Highness," the physician said, bowing respectfully. "How may I assist you today?"
Ying Yue, feigning weakness, leaned back against the pillows. "I still feel... uneasy. As if there's something you haven't told me. What was it that nearly killed me?"
The physician hesitated, clearly unsure of how much to reveal. But Ying Yue's authoritative gaze, sharpened by years of legal experience, left no room for deception.
"There were traces of a rare poison, Your Highness," the physician finally admitted. "Fei Hua, a slow-acting poison that is difficult to detect. It's forbidden in the empire, but those with the right connections could obtain it."
Ying Yue's suspicions were confirmed. Jiang Liang must have had access to this poison, and someone in the palace had helped him acquire it.
Over the next few days, Ying Yue quietly gathered more information. He questioned the servants, listened for palace gossip, and traced the movements of those closest to Jiang Liang. Eventually, one of the younger maids let slip that Jiang Liang had been meeting with one of the royal apothecaries in secret.
With this lead, Ying Yue confronted the apothecary, who quickly confessed under pressure that he had supplied the Fei Hua to one of Jiang Liang's personal servants.
Armed with the apothecary's confession, Ying Yue requested a private audience with the Empress. He knew this would be a delicate situation—Jiang Liang was still her son, and Zhao Bicheng, though a concubine, had influence within the palace. But Ying Yue also knew that the Empress valued justice and stability above all else.
When Ying Yue presented the evidence to the Empress, she listened in silence, her face a mask of cold fury. The betrayal of one of her own sons was a grave offense, and she would not let it go unpunished.
"Jiang Liang and Zhao Bicheng will be dealt with," she said, her voice like steel. "They will not threaten this family again."
In the days that followed, Jiang Liang and his mother, Zhao Bicheng, were stripped of their titles and banished from the royal estate. Their names were erased from the imperial records, and they were cast out to live as ordinary citizens.
As he watched them leave, Ying Yue felt a sense of justice, but it was tempered by the harsh reality of his new life. He had survived this threat, but the real challenges were just beginning. His marriage to General Kael Ardin loomed on the horizon, and the world he had been reborn into was far more dangerous and complex than the one he had left behind.