The Dense Beauty Fought Over By Top Alpha Twins - Chapter 3

Unable to spare any thought for the mysterious “surprise” mentioned in the message, a sudden, unprecedented crisis consumed all of Ning Qing’s focus.

The next morning at nine o’clock, three hours before the award ceremony was scheduled to begin. Darren, the head of the Mecha Combat Department, made six consecutive comm calls to Ning Qing. The persistent buzzing drew strange looks from every passenger on the sky rail.

“Ning Qing, we’ve received an anonymous complaint. The whistle blower claims you concealed your gender. Report to my office immediately.”

The department head hung up instantly, leaving only a busy tone echoing through the terminal. Ning Qing nearly dented the handrail with his grip.

Was it Bansen who reported me?

Although there had been one other person present that night, Ning Qing instinctively ruled out Ciel. To him, that somewhat naive and overly enthusiastic young master had no reason to send him over a hundred messages if his goal was simply to expose him.

By the time Ning Qing rushed to the office, Darren refused to disclose any specific details of the report. He simply informed Ning Qing that the Imperial Military Academy did not accept Omega students. If the claim turned out to be true, his qualification for the Interstellar Mecha League would be revoked, and he would have to complete his withdrawal paperwork within the week.

There was only one hour left before the award ceremony.

“This is pure retaliatory action,” Ning Qing said, bringing up Bansen’s drugging incident and the hidden camera in the dorm room as evidence.

However, the only responses he received were “I don’t know,” “It’s unclear,” and “No such notice was received.”

He knew all along that the academy rules were never meant to protect someone powerless like him.

Ning Qing felt his back teeth grinding together. Finally, he took a deep breath. “He didn’t provide any concrete evidence. Are you in such a rush to reach a verdict and kick me out just because I’m standing in the way of certain privileged students?”

Darren seemed to lose his patience as well. “Don’t stray from the point! Your admission as a Beta special recruit was already an exception made by the school. You should be grateful.”

Ning Qing was indeed strong. To put it bluntly, his mental strength and mecha piloting skills were superior to those of every Alpha in the military academy.

However, as a top-tier institution personally established by the founding emperor of the Galactic Empire, the Imperial Military Academy had served exclusively the elite Alpha nobility since its creation, never leaving room for any other gender. If it hadn’t been for the disastrous defeat of the Expeditionary Corps years ago, which sparked a massive wave of protests from Betas, combined with the unexpected spread of news about Ning Qing rescuing civilians on a passenger ship, they would never have agreed to admit him…

Yet, when swept by the sharp, cold green eyes beneath Ning Qing’s military cap, Darren momentarily felt the illusion of being completely seen through.

Ning Qing indeed realized it: secondary differentiation was extremely rare. In reality, Darren wasn’t entirely sure of his true gender and was merely bluffing to catch him off guard.

“Have you considered the consequences of doing this? If I’m expelled right after winning the championship, what will the public think?”

Darren slammed his fist heavily onto the desk and shouted with a stiffened neck, “Ning Qing! Have you forgotten that a soldier’s primary duty is obedience?! Are you an Omega or not? You only need to answer YES or NO!”

Ning Qing frowned. “No.”

Darren sneered. “I don’t trust your word. Bring me a medical report from the Royal Medical Center.”

The Royal Medical Center was a notoriously aristocratic private hospital that would never side with a commoner. Furthermore, Ning Qing had indeed shown signs of secondary gland development.

What should he do?

In the midst of this suffocating silence, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed outside the door. Someone had been eavesdropping, who knew for how long?

Who’s out there?!

Instinctively, Ning Qing bolted to the door and charged out. Having learned his lesson from Bansen’s ambush, he was now carrying a weapon at all times.

A tall figure wearing a cap had its back turned, sneaking away. Ning Qing lunged forward, grabbed the person, twisted their wrist behind their back, and pinned them into the nearest restroom.

Under the stark, glaring overhead lights, Ning Qing pulled off the oversized cap, revealing a brilliant shade of blonde hair.

It was actually Ciel.

Before Ning Qing could decide how to deal with him, Ciel immediately put on a aggrieved look. Facing Ciel, whose eyes were turning red and nose twitching, Ning Qing unconsciously softened his tone slightly.

“Speak. How much did you just hear?”

Ciel could feel the short blade hidden beneath Ning Qing’s uniform near his thigh. His breath hitched, an unnatural flush spreading across his entire face, and it took him a long while to calm down. “Everything.”

Seeing that Ning Qing didn’t fly into a rage, Ciel rubbed his burning cheek against the back of Ning Qing’s cool hand, spilling everything from the beginning. “Senior, I saw you walk into Darren’s office, and I heard him say someone reported that you’re actually an O…”

“I understand. That’s enough,” Ning Qing said, straightening Ciel’s body and covering his mouth.

Now was not the time to talk. Before long, the sound of someone using the stall next door echoed out. The restroom near the department head’s office was very close to the auditorium. Students gathering for the ceremony passed through, discussing who the mysterious low-grade winner was the one who had refused a live broadcast and why discussions about Ning Qing on the school forum were strangely being censored.

On the other side of the stall wall, Ning Qing and Ciel maintained an awkward position. Ning Qing pressed Ciel onto the toilet lid, bending his knee to pin down his junior’s restless long legs. In the process, the palm of his hand was licked by Ciel’s squirming tongue.

Wet and warm.

It wasn’t until the warning bell rang that the restroom was finally clear of anyone else.

Ning Qing, who was somewhat of a neat freak, released his grip, wiped away the moisture with a tissue, and pulled out his freshly fabricated excuse.

“Since things have come to this, there’s no harm in telling you. That day, after Bansen drugged me and triggered a pseudogestational heat, my Omega hormone levels spiked abnormally.”

“I suspect Bansen was the one who anonymously reported me. But I’m not sure if the medical checkup will misjudge me as an Omega. If that happens, my only option will be to drop out.”

As he spoke, Ning Qing lowered his eyelids, his eyelashes casting small fan shaped shadows that made him appear lonely and vulnerable. He was gambling on Ciel’s kindness, gambling that Ciel was different from those shallow, malicious nobles. The Royal Medical Center only took orders from the aristocracy, making this his only resort.

Fortunately, Ciel accepted his explanation almost without a second thought. Like a large dog trusting its master unconditionally, he suddenly pulled Ning Qing into an embrace. In that cramped space, the two were pressed tightly together.

Ciel spoke the exact words Ning Qing most wanted to hear. “Don’t be sad, Senior. I can help you resolve all these troubles.”

Due to various delays, Ning Qing was a full fifteen minutes late by the time he stepped onto the red carpet in the auditorium.

However, his tournament partner, the winner of the lower-grade division who was supposed to receive the award alongside him, had still not shown up. The host was forced to read through the current Emperor’s quotes three times over.

The crowd grew restless, whispering among themselves, deeply curious about the true identity of this mysterious winner.

Ning Qing crouched in the shadows of the prep area, nervously twirling the ends of his hair draped over his shoulder. Seeing no sign of Ciel in the audience, he felt a flicker of worry that Ciel might have backed out at the last minute. After all, they weren’t particularly close, it wasn’t impossible that Ciel had merely humored him on the spot to escape the situation.

A moment later, accompanied by the stirring symphonic music of the Ancient Earth era, Ciel finally appeared, wearing a crisp, tailored white suit.

To Ning Qing’s surprise, Ciel didn’t take a seat in the audience. Instead, he lifted a corner of the backstage curtain, extended a hand toward Ning Qing, and invited him to walk down the red carpet on the east side of the stage together.

Ning Qing was astonished. “So you were…”

Dressed in nothing more than a standard military academy uniform, Ning Qing was pulled into the light just like that.

Side by side, the two walked down the red carpet and jointly raised the golden trophy symbolizing victory. Starlight danced around them, the shimmering reflections from countless medals and epaulets, glowing as brightly as their promising futures.

The host introduced these two pride and joys representing the Imperial Military Academy right on cue.

Senior Division: Ning Qing.

Junior Division: Ciel Lancaster.

In a blind spot untracked by the cameras, Ciel linked arms with Ning Qing and mouthed silently, “Senior, did you guess that your tournament partner would be me?”

Touched? Happy? Feeling like dedicating yourself to me?

Unfortunately, Ning Qing didn’t catch Ciel’s subtext at all. His expression remained calm, though his mind had long since wandered elsewhere.

It wasn’t until they returned backstage that he remembered to reply to Ciel. “I was a bit surprised.”

Not just because Ciel was about to become his teammate, but because of his family name, Lancaster.

The Lancaster family was a household name to every citizen of the Empire. From the founding heroes to the current Grand Marshal, this ancient lineage produced top-ranking generals in every generation. Yet, they remained remarkably mysterious, so much so that the current heir had never made a public appearance.

In this regard, Ning Qing perhaps knew even more than the most authoritative media outlets on the Capital Planet.

He had zero interest in aristocratic gossip. However, if he was going to leverage Ciel’s power to navigate his current crisis, he had to turn this one sided assistance into an equal transaction.

Brute force can control a person’s body, but desire can control their mind.

Ciel, what exactly is your desire?

Ciel had pat his chest and guaranteed he could resolve Ning Qing’s trouble, yet the very first thing he did after the ceremony was drag Ning Qing by the hand deep into the winding back mountains.

On a moonless, starless night, it was pitch black, with only the built-in blue light of their terminals illuminating a meter of the path ahead.

The Empire had a dark history of alien lifeforms invading the Capital Planet, during which the vast Imperial Military Academy established several experimental bases. These bases were rumored to still be in use today, though they were never opened to the public.

Could Ciel’s plan be to temporarily alter his physiological traits inside the base?

While Ning Qing was seriously deducing the possibilities, Ciel turned around and interrupted his line of thought.

“Senior, can you ask me that question?” Having held it in the whole way, Ciel couldn’t help prompting Ning Qing.

“Hmm?”

“Quick, ask me what that super big surprise is! Right now!”

The shift in topic was remarkably fast.

Confused, Ning Qing complied. “What is that super big surprise?”

Snap!

A long snake of streetlights lit up sequentially from the foot of the mountain all the way to the peak, awakening the castle like structure built along the slope. The alloy gates opened automatically, revealing a wide avenue built for mecha passage.

The stone monument at the entrance indicated that this was a mecha base jointly established by the Lancaster family and the Imperial Military Academy.

The “surprise” Ciel had mentioned turned out to be a luxurious dormitory complete with a massive mecha training field and an attentive sparring partner. The living conditions aside, the key feature was the backyard hangar fully stocked with cutting edge mechas, along with an aircraft that could fly directly to a real combat field spanning thousands of square kilometers, featuring rainforests, deserts, swamps, and all types of terrain.

Even Ning Qing, who had minimal material desires, could survive on nutritional fluid for a month straight, live in a corrugated iron container, and use second hand modified mechas, found it difficult to resist the temptation.

And this was merely one of the Lancaster family’s ancestral properties.

Ning Qing looked up at the vast expanse that seemed to stretch endlessly, finally understanding why the school was reluctant to make the base public. It would likely ignite even fiercer public outrage, rich people truly were infuriating.

Since he was born with such immense wealth and exceptional talent, did Ciel really lack anything at all?

Because of this, when Ning Qing took the paper contract handed over by Ciel, he felt a rare sense of reassurance.

“I can modify your medical report, Senior. However, my family will notice that I used my authority, so I need you to do a small favor for me.”

Ciel smiled, leaning forward, and subtly hooked his pinky finger around Ning Qing’s.

“Pretend to be my boyfriend and enter into a temporary marriage with me.”