Luo Ran stood beside the sofa, his mind turning nonstop.
He was thinking of a perfect reason to refuse to stay overnight.
…He couldn’t think of one.
It was already late at night. There was simply no good reason that would allow him to leave naturally.
Besides, the tobacco scent in the air was far too comforting…
Luo Ran sat down blankly, surrounded by the scent, and felt an inexplicable sense of security.
“There’s only a little left.”
On the other side, Lucas had taken off his shirt. He frowned and opened the lid of the incense burner in the office.
Luo Ran was startled. The moment work came into the picture, he immediately kicked all those distracting thoughts out of his head, got up, and went over to inspect it.
“I remember the fragrance was only purchased and replenished last week. It shouldn’t have run out so quickly.”
Luo Ran frowned slightly. Indeed, there was only a little left to burn.
“The incense burner was knocked over the night before last.”
Lucas sneered. “That’s why there was no way to use pheromones as a clue.”
Lucas had stayed overnight at the hotel that night, so Luo Ran had asked the Secretary’s Office to bring his personal incense burner over.
Perhaps things had gotten too intense. When Lucas and his one-night stand were doing that, they accidentally knocked it over. The next morning, when he woke up, the bed was covered with the remnants of the fragrance.
Along with his powerful pheromones, Lucas also had the danger of suffering mental breakdowns and going berserk. The higher his mental power, the more dangerous it was.
Therefore, Lucas’s private doctor not only prescribed him medication, but also prepared this white-tea fragrance, which had a calming effect.
Coincidentally, the fragrance smelled exactly like Luo Ran’s pheromones.
Luo Ran had no idea why it had happened to be such a coincidence. There were clearly countless kinds of fragrances, but because of this particular scent, it had actually brought him quite a lot of convenience.
As an Omega pretending to be a Beta, sometimes when the spray he used to conceal his pheromones during his heat period stopped working and a white-tea scent appeared on his body, he could simply claim that it was from the fragrance and shift the blame.
After all, Luo Ran was with Lucas almost every day, and for nearly the entire day, they were in the same space. His body had long since become permeated with quite a bit of white tea and tobacco scent.
It was useful not only for concealing his identity. The night before…
Lucas said viciously, “The night before last, all I could smell was white tea. That thing’s pheromones were completely covered up.”
Luo Ran: “…”
Luo Ran cleared his throat and said in an extremely professional tone, “General, don’t worry. I’ll replenish it tomorrow.”
Lucas, however, frowned and slightly lowered his head.
Luo Ran had been focused entirely on inspecting the incense burner and hadn’t noticed the distance between them. At this moment, he was standing quite close to Lucas.
When Lucas lowered his head, he came right beside the hollow of Luo Ran’s neck.
Warm breath brushed against Luo Ran’s neck, and Luo Ran’s voice trembled slightly. “G-General… what is it?”
This stiff, straight-laced man Lucas still didn’t think there was anything wrong. He simply said in his usual tone, “You smell strongly of tobacco.”
After all, Lucas had given Luo Ran a temporary mark. No matter how much Luo Ran tried to conceal it with fragrance and sprays, the scent was still stronger than usual.
Luo Ran unobtrusively stepped back several paces and smiled. “The general’s pheromones are powerful. I’m often in the same room as you, and I’m standing so close to you right now. This is only natural.”
“Mm.”
Hearing that, Lucas no longer paid it any mind and turned around to get into bed.
“Go to sleep.”
Lucas rested his head on his folded hands and lay flat on his back with his legs crossed.
Luo Ran paused, then also lay down on the sofa.
With his back facing Lucas, Luo Ran’s heartbeat was so fast it sounded like a war drum.
Lucas glanced at Luo Ran lying on the sofa and asked, “Just now, the Marshal and the others asked what kind of political marriage partner you thought would be suitable. What did you say?”
“I…” Luo Ran paused. “I don’t know. I was just making random guesses. What kind of person does the general think would be suitable?”
Lucas frowned slightly.
Lucas remained silent for quite a while. Perhaps he was thinking, or perhaps he was simply resting.
Only afterward did Lucas say, “Next time they ask you, just tell them I don’t like anything.”
Luo Ran couldn’t help but laugh helplessly. “There isn’t even one person you don’t like who is relatively less annoying?”
“No.”
A very straightforward answer.
Luo Ran silently memorized it and said, “Oh,” before closing his eyes and preparing to sleep.
The tobacco scent, which should have been sharp, was now slowly calming Luo Ran’s mind after a full day of constant activity. Lying on the soft sofa, he felt comfortable and relaxed, as though his feet had stepped onto soft clouds.
Luo Ran had never experienced anything like this before. He had never known that an Alpha-Omega mark, even just a temporary one, could have such an effect.
The room was completely quiet. The office was high up in a skyscraper, and through the floor-to-ceiling windows, countless lights from homes below could be seen.
The lights from ordinary homes could not shine into the office, but the starlight and moonlight high above gently spilled through the glass windows, falling onto the bed and sofa.
Unlike usual, Luo Ran fell asleep after lying there for only a short while.
Then, Lucas quietly added, “If I really had to say, someone like you.”
Lucas hadn’t thought too much about it. He simply felt that Luo Ran was the only person he didn’t dislike and could get along with properly. But as for what exactly “someone like Luo Ran” meant, even Lucas himself didn’t know.
The office fell silent. No one answered.
Luo Ran was already asleep.
Lucas didn’t particularly care. He turned around and closed his eyes as well.
……
The next day, Luo Ran got up early, much earlier than Lucas.
He quickly washed up and tidied himself, then prepared Lucas’s clothes and breakfast.
After that, Luo Ran opened his terminal to check his schedule. Aside from various miscellaneous official matters, he needed to make time to go to the clinic for a follow-up appointment. Then, in the afternoon, he would be able to receive the DNA test report from the research institute.
Ah…
The DNA test report…
Luo Ran paused and silently prayed that the sample had been successfully switched. Otherwise, his career and his life would be coming to a beautiful end today.
“Good morning, Secretary Luo!”
As soon as Rong Duo arrived, she saw Luo Ran sitting at his desk in a daze and took the initiative to greet him.
“Good morning.” Luo Ran smiled and nodded.
But as soon as Rong Duo approached Luo Ran, her expression changed slightly, and she instinctively took a step back.
The movements were actually very subtle, but Luo Ran was meticulous and had senses sharper than ordinary people, so he still noticed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Rong Duo sat down with a bright smile, appearing calm on the surface while several symphonies played in her heart.
She opened the CP-shipping group chat. This week, she was a woman with a special title in the group—the frontline intelligence officer.
—Ahhh, Secretary Luo still smells like the general! And today it’s even stronger! I feel like I’m under attack. I almost couldn’t stay on my feet. The general’s pheromones are so dominant. My blind guess is that he didn’t get enough this morning!
—Ahhh, what kind of beautiful love is this?!
A whole crowd immediately replied below, maintaining perfect formation.
—Ahhh, what kind of beautiful love is this?!
Rong Duo covered her mouth and cried again.
Luo Ran went to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee and came back, only to see Rong Duo typing furiously at her terminal screen.
To avoid disturbing Lucas, Luo Ran was accustomed to walking silently. Rong Duo also hadn’t noticed Luo Ran, so…
Luo Ran looked at the group chat name and froze.
He hadn’t intentionally meant to pry into someone else’s privacy. He had simply happened to catch sight of it from the corner of his eye.
—The General and Secretary Are SZD
Luo Ran: ??
Were they talking about him?
Only then did Rong Duo notice Luo Ran standing behind her.
“Secretary Luo…!”
Luo Ran stood there blankly.
The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
After a moment, Luo Ran cautiously asked, “What does ‘SZD’ mean?”
Rong Duo: “…”
Ah.
“This, this… ‘SZD’ means… boiled egg…”
Rong Duo’s voice grew quieter and quieter.
Luo Ran: “…?”
“Ah… no!”
In her desperation, Rong Duo had a sudden flash of inspiration and shouted, “SZD means the greatest! The general and secretary are the greatest!”
Rong Duo quickly composed herself and launched into a torrent of praise.
“As two outstanding leaders, the general and secretary lead the company and lead all of us toward the shore of success and victory! Your wisdom is so vast, your foresight so far-reaching! The general is wise, the secretary is brilliant, and a bright future awaits us!”
Rong Duo thought to herself, I really am worthy of having successfully entered the Imperial Secretary’s Office as an intern.
Luo Ran was caught between laughter and tears.
“What are you talking about?”
Lucas walked out and glanced at Luo Ran.
“We’re going to the meeting.”
“Mm.”
Luo Ran quickly picked up the documents he had prepared long ago and stood up.
Rong Duo explained, “We were saying that the general and secretary are the greatest!”
Lucas had grown up in a frontline military camp, where there were nothing but lonely and frustrated Alphas and male Betas. Thus, Lucas frowned slightly and instinctively asked,
“Which part is big?”
Were his subordinates openly discussing this sort of thing here?
“…”
The world fell silent.