The Imperial Daily News and all the major social platforms on the terminal were now completely dominated by a single piece of news.
—Imperial General Lucas has surrounded the Morton Hotel with his guards and vows to find his one-night stand!
A formal military photograph of General Lucas was attached as well.
In the photograph, Lucas had strong, sharp, and coldly arrogant features. Even though it was merely a photograph, one could still feel the aggressiveness in his gaze and bearing. The charm of a top-tier male Alpha with an SSS-level pheromone rating was displayed to the extreme.
At the same time, this general was also the Empire’s strongest fortress and sharpest sword, a god-of-war who intimidated all sides and had erected a barrier protecting the Empire.
And because of this, more than half of the Empire’s Omegas were crying.
Although Lucas’s personality was difficult to praise, that did not stop everything else about him from making him the Alpha of Omega dreams.
Who, exactly, was that one-night stand?!
The overwhelming news reports and press releases had already quickly written countless touching and beautiful love stories, from One-Night Husband and Wife, a Day’s Grace to The Domineering General’s Beloved: Catching His Mischievous Runaway Wife, while countless guesses about the person’s identity were being made.
Was it the entertainment industry’s top celebrity, the Empire’s number-one beauty?
Or the noble prince of the surviving royal family from ancient Earth?
Was the general finally going to end his lifelong singlehood?
Was the Empire about to have a general’s wife?
Could they go and pretend to be that mysterious person?
—Thus spoke the Empire’s Omegas.
Then the interview exploded.
In the video, the media surrounded Lucas and asked him what he intended to do if he found that person.
In the video, Lucas frowned and gave a cold snort.
“Kill them.”
???
The reporter thought he had heard wrong.
“General, you mean…”
Lucas’s eyes were filled with disgust as he said, “A shameless thing. Find them and kill them.”
“…”
Wait.
Something wasn’t right.
…It was a little different from what they had imagined?
The Omegas who had just been talking big on the terminal news, saying that they really wanted to go and impersonate the mysterious person: “.”
And at this moment, perhaps the only Omega in the entire capital who did not know about this matter—Luo Ran—had only just gotten out of bed.
Luo Ran had been jolted awake by the terminal’s notification sounds.
Luo Ran rubbed his eyes and struggled to sit up from the comfortable little bed in his room, supporting his aching waist. In a daze, he glanced at his terminal.
“…”
?!
A full six hundred text messages and comments.
Looking at this ridiculous number, Luo Ran unlocked the screen in confusion.
—Welcome back, Host.
Host: Luo Ran
Occupation: Personal Chief Secretary to Imperial General Lucas
Gender: Beta
Although Luo Ran was an Omega, for the sake of his work and career, he had no choice but to conceal his identity and alter his gender designation, registering himself as a Beta instead. Apart from the information-management officer who had helped him alter his records, no one knew this secret.
There was simply too much information. The terminal took quite a while to load before it could start up, and Luo Ran began reading through the messages one by one.
First came the pleas for help from the Secretary’s Office.
{Secretary Luo!!! Please come back quickly! You’ve already taken a day off! If you don’t come back today, everyone in the Secretary’s Office might get shot dead by the general, one person per bullet!}
{Secretary Luo, please come back and save us!}
…?
Amid the sea of wailing, Luo Ran spotted several messages that actually contained useful information.
{You’re not here, so there’s no one to choose the general’s tie for him. The general has gone to the restroom several times throughout the day to look in the mirror at the outfit he picked himself. The more he looks, the angrier he gets, because nothing looks right.}
{The general hasn’t had the coffee you make for him every morning, so he’s been in a bad mood all day and nothing has gone smoothly. The key point is, whenever the general gets angry, our Secretary’s Office is always the first to suffer!}
Luo Ran: “…”
Luo Ran read through them several times, making sure they were talking about Imperial General Lucas and not Lucas’s little nephew.
Luo Ran helplessly continued scrolling down.
The messages and complaints from the Secretary’s Office made up a large portion of them, followed by messages from the various departments under the company.
{Secretary Luo, please come back quickly…! We can’t submit our documents without you here, and all the procedures and affairs are stuck.}
{The documents from all the departments are almost filling your desk. We have nowhere else to put them.}
Luo Ran: “…”
This was downright surreal.
Luo Ran prioritized replying to them.
{I’m very sorry for causing everyone trouble. It’s just… why are you putting them on my desk? Even if I’m not here, you can submit them directly to the general.}
The department heads’ group chat instantly replied.
{Secretary Luo, you’re finally back?! Are you coming back to the company today?}
{Well… we don’t dare.}
“.”
{It’s not that we’re cowards… The general only looks at documents you’ve organized. If we rashly hand the documents over, aren’t we practically asking to be scolded?}
{Besides, you know the general’s temper. This morning, the brave soul from the Finance Department submitted some documents, and the general picked out the mistakes and gave him a thorough scolding. Look, the Finance Department head still hasn’t come online. He’s sitting at his desk reading inspirational chicken-soup books to digest his emotions!}
Normally, whenever there were mistakes or discrepancies, Luo Ran would personally go and resolve them.
But on one hand, Lucas was in charge of both the military and the company, and was accustomed to ruling through military discipline. On the other hand, he could not tolerate even the slightest imperfection, so naturally, he would reprimand people.
There were also messages from the military.
{Secretary Luo, the maintenance oil for the general’s mecha was delivered today, but you’re not here to supervise, so we don’t dare to perform the maintenance without authorization.}
Luo Ran: “…”
After working for so many years, this was the first time Luo Ran had taken a leave of absence.
Only now did he realize that he was actually this important??
Luo Ran was somewhat helpless.
Supporting himself with his hands, Luo Ran got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up.
It wasn’t that he had taken the day off because he was slacking off. It was just that he hadn’t had the strength to get out of bed for the entire day yesterday.
Standing in front of the mirror, Luo Ran was about to change clothes. As soon as he took off his pajamas, the various bruises and ambiguous red marks covering his body were exposed, looking like a palette of colors.
“…”
Hiss.
Luo Ran quickly turned around and refused to look.
The night before last, he and General Lucas had gone to the Morton Hotel for a banquet. Lucas hated socializing, so halfway through the event, he went upstairs to his room to rest.
Luo Ran socialized for a while before planning to go upstairs to find Lucas. But the moment he pushed open the door, Lucas forcefully pinned him down.
No one could resist an SSS-level Alpha in heat, whether in terms of pheromones or physical strength. Especially Luo Ran, who was an Omega and was naturally susceptible to an Alpha’s pheromones suppressing him.
Lucas had apparently been drugged by someone, while Luo Ran was also somewhat drunk. With those overwhelming pheromones filling his senses, for a moment, he failed to consider the consequences.
The next morning, Luo Ran woke up and immediately fled. After returning home, he could no longer hold out and immediately developed a fever. His body hurt so badly that he could barely move.
He had spent the entire day at home lying there like a corpse. Only today was Luo Ran finally able to get out of bed.
Luo Ran stared blankly at the wall.
He had slept with the boss he’d worked alongside for six years.
Seriously, his mental state had nearly collapsed. His mind had been a complete muddle throughout the entire day yesterday.
But…
It had only been an accident. Lucas probably wouldn’t care about it either.
…Probably.
Right, it had just been an accident. Besides, his public identity was “Beta,” so there was no need to worry about this.
Luo Ran took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself. He changed into a neat suit, sprayed himself with pheromone-concealing spray, and once again stepped out of the door.
He was once again the same Imperial Chief Secretary he had always been—calm, elegant, and in complete control of everything.
……
The elegant and composed chief secretary returned to the company.
The people in the Secretary’s Office saw Luo Ran enter with a folder in his arms and a bag of breakfast in one hand, smiling warmly.
“Good morning. Sorry for causing everyone trouble by suddenly taking a leave of absence.”
Luo Ran had gentle features and an equally gentle temperament. His long silver hair was soft and straight, and at this moment, it was tied into a neat ponytail at the back of his head.
Normally, long hair on a man could appear rather delicate and feminine, but on Luo Ran, it did not look strange at all. Perhaps it was because neither his appearance nor his bearing had even the slightest trace of femininity.
At this moment, in the eyes of everyone in the Secretary’s Office, Luo Ran was simply an angel descended to earth.
“Secretary Luo…!”
“Brother Luo!!”
“Secretary Luo, you’re back…!!”
“Mm, I’m back.” Luo Ran put down the breakfast. “An apology gift.”
Luo Ran took back his work and returned to his desk, only to be stunned again.
“…”
His desk was a landscape of rolling mountains, one mountain rising after another. The tallest peak—the stack of folders against the wall—was practically piled all the way to the ceiling.
…Being a secretary really wasn’t a job for humans.
“Secretary Luo, you’re back.”
Just as Luo Ran was about to organize everything, the captain of Lucas’s personal guard arrived.
“I was just about to report to the general. The general instructed me to hand the investigation over to you once you returned.”
Since everything concerning Lucas passed through Luo Ran’s hands anyway, Luo Ran was already used to it. He was merely curious.
“Investigate what?”
The captain replied, “The general’s one-night stand.”
Luo Ran: “…???”
Luo Ran still wore a smiling expression and calmly asked, “What one-night stand?”
“Ah… Secretary Luo left early the night before last, so you didn’t know. Someone drugged the general’s drink in the hotel room, and he ended up having a one-night stand with some male Omega whose identity is unknown.”
Luo Ran: “…So, the general wants to investigate and find that person now?”
“Yes.”
As they talked, they arrived. When they pushed open the office door, they saw the Empire’s Asura General—Lucas—sitting behind his desk, leaning against the back of his chair with his arms crossed as he rested, his legs even propped directly on the desk, making him look rough and casual.
The moment one stepped into the room, one could immediately feel the sharp, oppressive pheromones. The air in the room seemed to have dropped to freezing point.
But when Luo Ran saw that face again, he couldn’t control himself and remembered the way the man had thrust forward.
…It was really too embarrassing.
Far too awful.
Luo Ran adjusted his breathing and tone and smiled. “General.”
Lucas opened his eyes and gave a cold snort. “Where did you go yesterday?”
His tone was extremely, extremely dissatisfied.
Luo Ran said, “I was sick yesterday. It happened suddenly. I’m sorry.”
“Sick?” Lucas frowned slightly.
“It wasn’t anything serious. I’m already better.” Luo Ran changed the subject. “I heard the general is investigating that mysterious man?”
“Ha!” Lucas looked absolutely furious. He slapped the desk and said, “And where were you the night before last? Someone tampered with my drink, someone broke into my room, and you didn’t know about any of it?”
Luo Ran: “…”
Listening to him, he actually sounded rather aggrieved?
“I’m sorry. I left early the night before last.” Luo Ran was airtight in his response, his tone calm. “What does the general intend to do after finding that person?”
A ruthless look appeared in Lucas’s eyes. “What do you think? What else could I do? Just kill him!”
“…”
As the person involved, Luo Ran stated that he had been extremely frightened at the time.
Luo Ran thought to himself, he really was stupid.
How had he forgotten what Lucas’s personality was like?
He had entered the battlefield at thirteen and emerged from it at twenty-one. He was accustomed to fighting and killing, hated trouble, and could not tolerate even the slightest imperfection.
A personality forged on the battlefield seemed exceptionally sharp and fierce in everyday life, completely out of place.
Not to mention that Lucas normally found even physical contact with other people disgusting. Yet now, he had been drugged and schemed against, and had gone straight to the final stage.
Of course, Luo Ran didn’t dare tell Lucas that he hadn’t been drugged. He had only been responsible for “climbing into his bed.”
He didn’t want to die, either.
Fortunately, Luo Ran was no ordinary person. At this moment, his face still maintained that professional expression as he said, “Regardless, this matter is not simple. The drugging that night needs to be thoroughly investigated.”
“Move faster.” Lucas frowned. “Someone actually dared to scheme against me. They don’t know their place!”
Luo Ran took a few steps forward and gently soothed him. “General, don’t be angry. I’ll certainly do my best.”
…Do his very best to make sure Lucas could never find that person and preserve his own little life.
His Omega identity and what had happened the night before last had to be covered up tightly.
Luo Ran said gently, “General, don’t let these trivial matters trouble or anger you. There’s still a military inspection this afternoon.”
“Trivial matters?! I gave some unknown thing a temporary mark. You call that a trivial matter?!”
“Yes…” Some unknown thing—Luo Ran said, “General, don’t be angry. It’s fine. A temporary mark won’t last, and it won’t have any effect on you. I’ll definitely help you find that person. General, you don’t need to worry.”
Luo Ran thought to himself that he really had it hard.
He had been rendered unable to get out of bed for an entire day by the violent Alpha standing before him, and now he even had to soothe him and calm him down.
…Being a secretary really wasn’t a job for humans.