In the year 451 of the New Star Calendar, Liao Tingyan moved with her family from the central H-2 Star to the capital planet, A-Star.
Her father had been promoted from a non-commissioned officer to a lieutenant, and her eldest brother had also earned military merits, so the family finally qualified to relocate to the capital.
The Liao family had seven members—Father Liao and Mother Liao, a typical Alpha-Omega pairing—and all five of their children, including Liao Tingyan, were Alphas. Liao Tingyan had older brothers and sisters as well as younger siblings. Among the five siblings standing together, she, the third child, was neither as tall and robust as her elder siblings nor as proud and lively as the younger ones. So, Father and Mother Liao often sighed at her, "Third child, you don’t look like an Alpha at all—more like a Beta or an Omega."
The terms Alpha, Beta, and Omega referred to the three major categories in the current gender system. Alphas represented those with combat abilities and mental strength far surpassing ordinary people—regardless of gender, all Alphas were the toughest of the tough. Omegas, on the other hand, were the complete opposite—physically weaker, generally sensitive and gentle, with constitutions naturally suited for reproduction. Alphas and Omegas could develop emotional bonds due to pheromones, and the more compatible their pheromones, the stronger their feelings for each other.
As for Betas, they were ordinary people—neither extraordinary nor possessing pheromones—and they made up the majority of the population.
Fortunate enough to be an Alpha with abilities far exceeding the average, Liao Tingyan should have been like her sister—combative, unyielding, brave, and resilient, a true "superhuman." Unfortunately, perhaps because the soul in this body was a guest from distant Earth, her personality was anything but Alpha-like.
Over the years, her siblings had regarded her with shame, believing that a weakling like her tarnished the prestigious reputation of the Alpha community.
Liao Tingyan: Fine, whatever.
Not long after arriving on the capital planet A-Star, Father Liao visited his superior for basic socializing. That evening, he returned from a banquet with his eldest son, unusually excited, and gathered all his children. "I have something very important to tell you!"
Father Liao explained that the Empire’s Crown Prince had reached marriageable age, yet among the upper class, no potential spouse with a compatibility rate above sixty percent could be found. With the prince already twenty-four and still without a suitable match, the Emperor had no choice but to lower the requirements—even children from families of lieutenant rank now had a chance to be selected as the Crown Prince’s spouse.
Father Liao was so excited because all five of his children—the youngest twins having just turned eighteen, and the eldest son twenty-five—were eligible to become the Crown Prince’s consort.
Oh, right—the Empire’s Crown Prince, Sima Jiao, was an Omega, so he needed an Alpha.
Watching her family excitedly discuss the matter, with her mother already talking about making new dresses, Liao Tingyan found the scene oddly reminiscent of Cinderella .
Liao Tingyan was indifferent to the whole affair. As an Alpha who didn’t act like one at all, by current Omega aesthetic standards, she definitely wouldn’t be chosen.
With the mindset of broadening her horizons and enjoying a good meal, Liao Tingyan followed her family into the grand, sprawling royal banquet hall half a month later. This was one of the capital’s most famous royal venues, capable of hosting tens of thousands of guests. The moment she stepped inside, the dazzling brilliance nearly blinded her.Hundreds of extravagant crystal chandeliers stretching dozens of meters, intricate floral-patterned glass domes, and golden floors polished to a mirror-like sheen. The melodious music, elegantly dressed crowds, tall and straight soldiers in gold-and-red uniforms standing on both sides, and attendants gracefully weaving through the guests. Just as the clock struck the hour, the indoor musical fountain erupted amidst the crowd's admiring gasps, creating an artificial rainbow indoors.
Liao Tingyan: "...This is way too over the top."
She was wearing a newly tailored formal suit today. As a female Alpha, she hadn’t chosen a dress but rather a more masculine-style pantsuit, though it was far more elegant and delicate. Accustomed to loose T-shirts, Liao Tingyan couldn’t get used to it—the waist was cinched uncomfortably tight.
She had thought she might catch a glimpse of the legendary protagonist of tonight’s banquet, Crown Prince Sima Jiao. But as the event neared its end, the man of the hour still hadn’t appeared. From the hushed whispers around her, Liao Tingyan picked up a bit of gossip—apparently, the Crown Prince was deeply dissatisfied with this large-scale matchmaking event and had refused to attend.
Royal family news was hard to come by, and only now did she realize that the Crown Prince might not be the traditional Omega type.
Her siblings had already struck up lively conversations with their new acquaintances, leaving Liao Tingyan alone yet again. The incessant buzzing indoors gave her a headache, and she wanted to find a quiet corner to sit for a while.
"Where are you going?" Her eldest brother shot her a sharp glance.
Wearing her most earnest expression, Liao Tingyan replied, "Answering nature’s call."
Her brother: "Hurry back, and don’t wander off!"
Though the family often thought her Alpha status was questionable and an embarrassment, they still kept a close eye on her outside to ensure she wasn’t bullied—to a large extent, her overprotective Alpha relatives treated her more like a Beta or Omega.
Slipping out of her family’s sight, Liao Tingyan plopped down on a stone pillar base outside the banquet hall. It was secluded and quiet here, and she could finally slump down with a long sigh of relief, loosening the painfully tight waistband of her outfit.
Just then, she noticed a figure standing silently in the shadows on the other side of the pillar, about five steps away. His face was indistinct, but he was tall—probably another Alpha attending the matchmaking banquet. He seemed to have been there for a while, staring gloomily at the flowerbed nearby. The flowers were beautiful—pink Madame Flora roses, their fragrance particularly sweet.
Hmm. Aside from the roses, there was also an incredibly enticing aroma of grilled meat—the kind sizzling on a grill, generously seasoned with cumin.
Liao Tingyan glanced around, baffled. Was someone barbecuing here? She sniffed the air, suddenly ravenous. Who would’ve thought this grand event would only serve drinks and no food? She had come on an empty stomach, and now the smell was making her hungrier by the second.
"Do you smell that amazing grilled meat?" Liao Tingyan tried striking up a conversation with the fellow slacker beside her.
The figure in the shadows, his features unclear, murmured in a low voice, "...Grilled meat?"She didn't sound pleased, probably disliking being approached by strangers. Liao Tingyan had no choice but to shut her mouth. But then the person turned to look at her for a moment before suddenly clicking their tongue softly and tossing something to her. Liao Tingyan looked down and saw it was a red flower—one she had never seen before. Its shape resembled a flickering flame, and its faint fragrance was refreshingly pleasant.
When she looked up again, the figure in the shadows was already gone.
Finding the flower unique and beautiful, Liao Tingyan kept it in her hand instead of discarding it. She carried it all the way back to the banquet hall, only to be met with stunned stares from everyone she passed.
Even her own family members gaped at her as if their eyes might pop out of their sockets.
Liao Tingyan: "……?" Did I forget to retie my belt and accidentally expose my undergarments? Why is everyone staring? She subtly checked her pants' zipper.
"How... how did you get the Flame Flower?" her father asked.
While she had been hiding outside earlier, the palace steward had appeared on behalf of the Crown Prince to select one hundred candidates for the next round of evaluations—each of whom received a Flame Flower. The one in Liao Tingyan's hand was the hundred and first.
Liao Tingyan was dumbfounded. The old steward had already approached her, eyeing the flower in her hand with suspicion as he asked where she had gotten it.
Liao Tingyan: "A young man gave it to me near the flower bushes outside." Perhaps he was also one of the chosen elites, but since he had no interest in becoming the Crown Prince's consort, he had casually tossed the flower to her.
Wait, could qualifications even be "transferred" like this?
But after carefully examining the flower in her hand, the old steward suddenly smiled. He bent slightly at the waist, his expression instantly shifting to one of warmth and kindness. "Young lady, in three days' time, we shall arrange for your escort to the palace banquet."
And just like that, Liao Tingyan inexplicably made it into the next round. Under the complicated gazes of her siblings and parents, she returned to the palace.
She might have arrived late—when she got there, she saw a group of Alphas engaged in a chaotic brawl. For some reason, they had started fighting, and the battle was fierce.
At the center of the fray stood an exceptionally tall man with black hair and dark eyes. A mocking smile played on his lips as he radiated hostility, effortlessly knocking down anyone who charged at him.
Liao Tingyan kept her distance from the fight, listening to the thunderous impacts with trepidation as she observed from the sidelines. Holy shit, this guy is the real deal—an Alpha among Alphas! She had never seen a male Alpha this overwhelmingly dominant in her life. His aura was absolutely terrifying.
She watched as this supreme Alpha defeated every last opponent, then cracked his knuckles before turning his dark gaze toward her—the only one still standing. Liao Tingyan hastily took two steps back. "I surrender. Don't hit me."
This was probably the Crown Prince's martial competition to select a consort. With his absolute dominance, this contestant had clearly secured first place—the position of consort was undoubtedly his. As someone who was just here to make up the numbers, surrendering outright was the wiser choice.
Yet the man ignored her words and strode toward her.
As he approached, Liao Tingyan caught a whiff of lemon-honey-mint tea. The scent made her suddenly thirsty—she had come here well-fed, but after walking under the scorching sun, she craved something cool and refreshing.
The supreme Alpha leaned in close and asked, "Want to eat grilled meat?"
Liao Tingyan recognized that voice—it belonged to the person who had tossed her the flower that night!Liao Tingyan: "...I don't feel like eating barbecue. I want some lemon honey mint tea. Did you just have some? I can smell it." She showed her friendliness with strong survival instincts.
The Alpha male remained silent for a moment before grabbing her wrist and pulling her toward a door. "Fine, let's go get that whatever tea."
Liao Tingyan: "?" Wait, what?
Attendants smiled as they opened the door for them. Behind it, an elderly butler stood waiting and addressed her Alpha friend, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, have you made your selection?"
Her Alpha friend tugged at her with restrained impatience. "It's her."
Liao Tingyan: "..." Wait, Crown Prince ? He's the Crown Prince?
This earth-shattering Alpha... was an Omega.
Horrified, Liao Tingyan glanced back at the room full of Alphas who had just been beaten to a pulp. Were they fake Alphas? Then she turned to look at Crown Prince Sima Jiao, who was taller than her. No, this one might be the fake Omega.
In a daze, she drank lemon honey mint tea with His Highness the Crown Prince. The prince sipped the tea with clear disdain on his face. "What kind of flavor is this? What terrible taste." Despite his words, he still drank most of the large cup.
Liao Tingyan was escorted back home, where the kindly old butler informed her that as long as her compatibility with the Crown Prince reached over 60%, she would become the Crown Princess.
That same night, she received the news—her compatibility with the Crown Prince was 100%.
Liao Tingyan's sentimental and gentle mother fainted on the spot.
Liao Tingyan: "...Shocked my mom to death."
This miraculous compatibility didn't just stun the Liao family—it shocked the entire nation. The imperial family hadn't seen such high compatibility in three hundred years. A match this perfect meant the two were exceptionally suited for each other. Once they met, it would be love at first sight, devotion at second glance, and a bond destined for three lifetimes.
Liao Tingyan: "..." Huh? Really? Did anything remotely resembling sparks fly between me and that perpetually irritated Crown Prince?
Dazed, she recalled her two encounters with His Highness Sima Jiao and belatedly realized that the barbecue scent she smelled the first time and the lemon honey mint tea scent the second time were actually the prince's pheromones. Wait, whose pheromones change like that?
At their third meeting, Liao Tingyan detected the Crown Prince's pheromones again—this time, it was buttery shortbread cookies. Maybe because they met during afternoon tea, she wasn't hungry or thirsty, just craving some cookies, which was why she smelled that.
She didn't know if it was her problem or Sima Jiao's—or maybe both of them were just weird, like how she couldn't smell other Omegas' pheromones at all.
Sima Jiao sat across from her, reviewing a stack of government documents. The papers rustled under his pen as if about to tear from the force.
"What do you want to eat?" he asked without looking up, as if it were just a casual question.
Liao Tingyan answered honestly, "Buttery shortbread cookies."
That was today's scent? Sima Jiao paused his writing. "Why are you always thinking about food?"
Still, he ordered the cookies for her. They were delicious . She spent the whole afternoon eating them, and even after she was full, she dozed off right there.Liao Tingyan was very curious about what her pheromones smelled like to Sima Jiao. It wasn’t until after they got married and went to Planet Y-2 for their honeymoon that he finally answered her question.
"It smells like the wind."
Does wind even have a scent?
He held her by the window, gazing at the vast starry sky outside. "Tonight’s wind carries the fragrance of flowers."
It was a very romantic answer—so romantic that it didn’t seem like something the usually violent Crown Prince would say.
Then Liao Tingyan remarked, "Tonight, you smell like spicy crayfish."
Sima Jiao: "..."
He opened the internal comm and ordered expressionlessly, "Bring the Crown Princess some spicy crayfish."
When the crayfish arrived, Sima Jiao pointed at the aromatic dish and asked, "See this plate of crayfish?"
Liao Tingyan: "I see it!"
Sima Jiao: "I’d rather throw it away than let you eat it."
Liao Tingyan: "..." Is our compatibility really 100%? Did the machine malfunction during testing?
Later, when they were in bed, Liao Tingyan couldn’t focus at all, drooling over his face. Sima Jiao almost wondered if he had turned into a giant spicy crayfish. With a dark expression, he threw on his robe and sat up. "Go eat your damn crayfish!"
In the end, the Crown Prince, who was on the verge of exploding, still sat down with her and polished off two plates of crayfish before his anger subsided.
Liao Tingyan felt that being with the Crown Prince made her seem less like an Alpha and more like an Omega. Honestly, she doubted there was any Omega in the world more Alpha-like than him—heck, even among Alphas, few could match his dominance.
She wasn’t the only one who thought so. Even in the palace, everyone seemed to treat the Crown Prince as an Alpha. During banquets, Alphas would unconsciously gather around him, their leader, willingly submitting to his authority, while the gentle Omega ladies naturally chatted with Liao Tingyan about trivial household matters.
It wasn’t until the Crown Prince stormed over with a dark face and dragged her away from the group of Omegas that everyone suddenly remembered— Oh right, shouldn’t we Omegas be sticking with the Crown Prince?
The kind, nurturing Omegas took one look at the fuming Crown Prince and thought: No thanks, we’d rather not. Too scary.
When Liao Tingyan went home to visit her family, her mother held her hands worriedly. "My child, you’ve been married to the Crown Prince for so long, yet you still haven’t gotten pregnant. What should we do?"
Liao Tingyan: "..."
Liao Tingyan: "...Mom, I’m an Alpha. I can’t get pregnant."
Her mother suddenly snapped out of it. "Oh right! You’re the Alpha!"
Back at the palace, Liao Tingyan munched on a plate of beef jerky and asked Sima Jiao, "Do we really have to produce an heir?"
Sima Jiao, frowning impatiently while handling official documents, replied, "Are you in a hurry to get pregnant?"
Liao Tingyan: "..." Alright, even the Crown Prince himself hasn’t realized it yet.
After eating two more pieces of beef jerky, the Crown Prince finally caught on. He looked at her, his face darkening instantly. Liao Tingyan, sitting in a swivel chair, kicked off the ground and scooted three meters away from him, still clutching her beef jerky.
Liao Tingyan: Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Sima Jiao called the Research Institute. "Right now, immediately, develop an artificial womb!"
Research Institute: "Your Highness, this violates Article 321 of our legal code. Also, we’re the Research Institute—this isn’t our department. You should contact the Life Sciences Institute—"
Beep—
He called the Legislative Council instead. "I want to amend the law. Change Article 321 for me!"Legislative Council: "Huh? Your Highness the Crown Prince, this doesn't follow procedure..."
Later, no one ever knew that when this ruler who revised countless laws and ruled as a dictator throughout his life first displayed his authoritarian tendencies, it was simply because he didn't want to bear children.
Years later, when a journalist was fortunate enough to interview the royal family, the emperor's only empress—who had lived under his dictatorial rule—was invited to speak.
"May I ask, since all your children were born through artificial wombs, how do you feel about that?"
Liao Tingyan: "Thanks for asking. I feel quite good about it."
"Thank goodness my emperor had them develop artificial wombs rather than figuring out how A could bear children."
"Then might I ask—what exactly does the Great Emperor's pheromone smell like? This question has puzzled the public for many years."
Liao Tingyan: "No matter when or where, it's always my favorite scent."
(The ABO short story ends)
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