Chapter three

Gu Yu hurried in with worry in her voice. “Young Master, Second Young Lady is here to see you.”

Jing Zhe frowned anxiously. “Of all times? Young Master’s body hasn’t recovered. If she makes him anxious again, his suppressed cycle might flare.”

Gu Yu nudged her, as if warning her not to speak too directly in front of Taehyung, but her face was troubled all the same.

Taehyung felt a strange warmth in his chest at their protectiveness. These four maids were hand-selected by Kim Xin and Kim Furen—loyal, sharp, and trained to read the hidden intentions of the Second and Third households even when he had been too naive to see them.

Before he could speak, a young girl stepped into the room. Fifteen or sixteen, wearing a pale pink robe embroidered with chrysanthemums and a moon-white pleated skirt. Her hair was styled neatly into a tassel bun, her features refined and elegant. She carried the soft scholarly fragrance of a Beta female—pleasant, calming, deceptively harmless.

Shen Yue.

She moved quickly to Taehyung’s bedside with an expression of sisterly concern.

“Fifth Brother, do you feel better? After hearing you fell into the water, I worried all night. But Yujiao Garden said you needed rest, so I didn’t dare disturb you. Only after hearing you woke did I dare come.”

Taehyung looked at her—the Di daughter of the Third household.

Among the three Di daughters:

* Kim Qing was lively and bold,

* Kim Yue was celebrated for her talent,

* and Taehyung… was the Omega boy everyone said was timid, wooden, and talentless.

Outsiders praised him as *pure* and *virtuous*, but behind closed doors he was seen as useless—an Omega whose only worth was the scent he accidentally released when flustered.

In his previous life, Shen Yue had been the one he trusted most before marriage. Her voice had always been sweet, her words gentle, her advice constant—a guiding older cousin. He had been grateful. Blindly so.

And now she was here for the same reason as before: to plead for Kim Qing.

Sure enough, Shen Yue lifted her eyes, soft and earnest:

“Fifth Brother, Eldest Sister regrets deeply what happened that day. She never wanted you to embarrass yourself before His Highness Prince Yoongi. After you recover, please forgive her just this once?”

Taehyung almost laughed.

Prince Yoongi.

She *had* to mention that name.

Everyone knew how desperately Taehyung had once admired Yoongi—the Alpha he clung to like a moth to flame.

Mentioning Yoongi was a guaranteed trigger. In the past, he would have flushed with Omega instinct, the faint sweetness of his scent betraying him, falling into outrage, humiliation, and blind devotion.

Exactly as Shen Yue intended.

But today, he remained still.

Just like the previous life:

He had woken weak and confused, and Shen Yue had rushed in with pretended concern, provoking him into confronting Kim Qing in front of Old Furen.

Kim Qing denied everything.

The maids of the Second household lied.

Old Furen scolded him for “slander” and grounded him.

His scent had spiked wildly back then—humiliation, rage, helpless Omega instinct—and classmates at the Imperial Academy mocked him for it.

A foolish, shameful Omega, they had said.

He quit attending classes soon after, shrinking from the world.

Now, with an Empress’s memories, he could only mourn the naive child he had been.

Shen Yue placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. A faint scent of lotus powder clung to her—not strong enough to trigger Alpha or Omega instincts, but familiar, practiced.

And at the edge of her lips… a smile too thin, too controlled.

She waited for him to flare, to scent, to lose composure.

But Taehyung only stared back, eyes calm and cold.

His big almond-shaped Omega eyes—soft and timid in the past—no longer carried childish emotion. They gleamed like polished obsidian, steady, unreadable… authoritative.

Shen Yue shivered.

For a heartbeat, it felt as though she wasn’t facing the foolish youngest Omega of the First household… but a high-ranked Alpha whose status towered over her.

She could not know that the soul looking at her had commanded the Six Palaces, ruled inner court politics, survived throne disputes, war, loss, betrayal, and the death of her own son.

Taehyung tilted his head, voice quiet.

“Second Sister speaks too seriously. This matter has nothing to do with Eldest Sister. I slipped and fell on my own.”

Shen Yue blinked, stunned.

“That… that can’t be. Fifth Brother, you shouldn’t wrong yourself—”

“How am I wronging myself?” Taehyung interrupted gently, smiling faintly. “It was a trivial matter. My head is still dizzy. If there is more to discuss, we may do so at Grandmother’s hall tomorrow.”

Dismissal.

Soft, polite—and absolute.

Shen Yue swallowed, uneasy. She tried to speak again, but Taehyung’s calmness was impenetrable.

She left after a few forced pleasantries, unable to shake the feeling that something was terribly, inexplicably different.

Once she was gone, Gu Yu burst out, “Young Master was pushed into the water and nearly lost his life! How can she still come plead for Eldest Young Lady? And the way she spoke—something feels wrong.”

Taehyung hummed softly.

“When the sandpiper and the clam fight, the fisherman profits. She intends to be the fisherman.”

Gu Yu froze, startled.

Young Master had never spoken so clearly before. His aura, though still the gentle warmth of an Omega, held an underlying pressure—a composure that almost resembled Alpha dominance.

Taehyung lowered his gaze to his fingertips.

Why did Kim Qing push him into the water?

Because he had foolishly said,

*“When Father returns at the end of the year, I will ask him to let me marry Prince Yoongi.”*

He had spoken carelessly, trusting “family,” not realizing how quickly jealousy and scheming bloomed behind smiles.

Why did Shen Yue want him to fight Kim Qing?

Because Shen Yue also admired Prince Yoongi.

Before Taehyung died in his previous life, both sisters admitted it to him with cruel satisfaction—how both had long loved Yoongi, how both had wanted the Alpha for themselves.

This time… he recognized the signs early.

If both sisters desired Prince Yoongi so much…

It would be such a pity not to let them have exactly what they longed for.

Their wishes would be granted.

And the blood debt the Second and Third households owed the First household…

would be repaid in full, starting now.

...

In early autumn, the Northern Wild Geese lined up and flew across the vast sky toward the warm Southern lands. The summer foliage in the courtyard had begun to wither, and the colorful fish in the pond looked colder than usual.

Taehyung’s black hair was combed into a neat deer bun, held by an exquisite coral hairpin. He wore a crimson silk double nest cloud goose robe, outlining his small, delicate frame.

Bai Lu gently draped an embroidered cloak over him. “Young Master’s illness has not yet fully passed. Be careful not to catch a cold,” she cautioned.

Taehyung shook his head.

His stature remained small, shorter than Kim Yue and Kim Qing. His round, soft face, combined with his Omega temperament, made him seem younger than his actual fifteen years. But today… something about him was different.

Shuang Jiang observed quietly from the side, a flicker of unease crossing her mind.

His complexion was pale, but his gaze was sharp, sweeping over the small courtyard with an unusual dignity. He did not smile, nor show the timid, Omega shyness he usually wore. There was a calm, commanding air about him—as if overnight he had acquired the grace and gravitas of someone much higher in the hierarchy. Even his subtle scent carried a restrained authority, the faint musky warmth that marked an Omega aware of his own latent power.

Shuang Jiang shook her head, forcing herself to dismiss the strange thought. “Young Master… what are you looking at?”

Taehyung’s dark eyes followed the V-shaped formation of geese in the sky. “Just thinking… these wild geese fly from the Northern lands to the Southern country. Do they pass through the Northwest desert?”

The Northwest desert—where Kim Xin was stationed, alongside Kim Furen and the eldest Kim Young Master. Letters from last month had reported the capital turning cold, while snow had already fallen in the Northwest.

“Young Master must be thinking of Master and Furen,” Shuang Jiang said gently. “Master will return at the end of the year. He will be pleased to see that Young Master has grown taller.”

Taehyung’s lips curved into a faint, bitter smile.

The Great General, who only returned to the capital once a year… would first have to face his youngest Omega’s shameless insistence, the reckless marriage he had forced through in the past, and the political chaos that ensued. How could he be pleased?

Not to mention… the person he had been blind enough to admire—the Alpha Prince Yoongi—was a villain who had sought only to exploit the Kim family’s military power to fight for the throne. The contest for the heir was a nest of snakes, and Taehyung had been dragged into it by naïve devotion. It had ended with the destruction of his family.

Taehyung closed his eyes.

Half a year had passed, and the events of his life had sharpened him. Since turning fifteen, his marriages and alliances had been wielded as weapons by the Eastern Courtyard, forcing him into a relentless dead end. There was no turning back.

“Master… Young Master?” Bai Lu noticed the tension in his expression, the subtle tightening of his hands around the cloak. Her voice was soft, tentative.

Taehyung shook off the daze and saw Gu Yu jogging toward him. “Young Master, the Rong Jing Tang attendants have arrived.”

Rong Jing Tang—the residence of Old Kim Furen. Early that morning, a maid had been sent to check on Taehyung’s recovery. Once assured he was healthy, she said that, when he had fully recovered, he could come to pay his respects—or perhaps to make formal complaints. Both outcomes were equally dangerous in the Kim household.

Taehyung adjusted the cloak around his shoulders, the fine silk brushing his skin, a subtle warmth stirring in his chest as the scent of his maids mingled with the autumn air. “Let’s go.”

The East and West courtyards of the Kim residence were clearly separated.

When the Old General had still been alive, he practiced swordplay and boxing in the West courtyard. After his passing, Kim Gui and Kim Wan had pursued civil positions, leaving Kim Xin to inherit the Old General’s martial authority. That courtyard, along with the West grounds, became Kim Xin’s domain. The East courtyard remained spacious, housing the three Kim family branches: First, Second, and Old Kim Furen’s households.

Even standing in the courtyard, Taehyung could feel the hierarchy around him: the subtle tension between courtyards, the restrained heat of his own suppressed Omega instincts, the faint musky signatures of the women around him marking their allegiance. All of it reminded him that, though he was small, he would no longer be powerless.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***