Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: The Emperor's Demand
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Gryphon had vanished into thin air. Caroline had the lab combed three times over, but there was no trace of it anywhere.
Gavin tried scanning for Gryphon with his mental energy, but no matter what he did, he found zero clues.
Only three things could cause a phenomenon like this. First, someone with even stronger mental power had taken control of Gryphon under their own will. Second, Gryphon had exhausted its energy completely and shut down, like a phoenix dying out. Third, in the heat of battle, Gryphon had been left behind on a shuttle and was now being carried off to the palace.
The first two were obviously impossible. In the end, both Caroline and Edna concluded that Gryphon was likely in the emperor's hands right now.
Yet the emperor stayed tight-lipped, as if nothing had happened at all.
Heinrich had always been a hardliner, and he had good reason for his silence—
The very next day after he'd piloted Bi'an out of the underground lab in a mad dash, the leader of the Ophiuchus System—along with several civilian parliament members—had shown up to visit the Royal Military Academy.
There was something fishy about this: First off, the Ophiuchus System, site of Marshal Celia's death in battle, still harbored plenty of Alliance holdouts. They'd even set up a so-called government-in-exile, with clear designs against the Empire. Second, destroying the mecha Phoenix would cause massive political fallout. If Edna decided to go down swinging and spill the beans about the imperial family's plans to use Celia's genes to breed heirs, it'd be like detonating an interstellar atomic bomb right on White Swan Star.
Though Heinrich figured plenty of Alliance old-timers would back his play, he didn't want to let the cat out of the bag without ironclad certainty.
Things always had wiggle room before they went public, but once they did, there was no taking them back.
Both sides had their guilty secrets, so the emperor and the academy alike maintained a bizarre silence on the matter.
Luckily, the stalemate didn't last. Soon enough, something else grabbed the entire Empire's attention—
Right after the exile forces established their regime in the Ophiuchus constellation, they issued a statement to the entire universe, declaring their goal was to restore the Alliance system.
To make their point, they seized Golden Bird Star in the Ophiuchus constellation that same day and declared war on the Empire.
After half a century of rapid growth under Heinrich's rule, the Gemini Empire finally faced the threat of war once more.
The morning mist shrouded New Versailles Palace in a soft haze. The sunlight was clear, the air crisp and cool. Colorful birds flitted through the branches, letting out pleasant calls.
Aaron hurried through the garden and spotted Heinrich ahead, slumped on a stone bench with nothing but an overcoat draped over his shoulders, hands clamped tightly over his face.
"What’s wrong?"
Heinrich hadn't even noticed him approach. He jolted at the question.
"Nothing—nothing at all."
His hands dropped, revealing a strange flush on his face and bloodshot eyes. Aaron couldn't tell if it was extreme excitement or utter exhaustion. Assuming he'd pulled an all-nighter on military affairs, Aaron felt a twinge of guilt.
"Sorry I bailed early yesterday... Oscar's due any day now. I need to stick around for it."
"Oscar" was none other than General Aaron's beloved Great Dane. This impending litter of pups had the entire military buzzing—four were already spoken for, with a line of would-be owners stretching from the palace to the capital square.
Heinrich's usual line was that keeping pets was a sign of weakness. True powerhouses didn't need them to fill emotional voids. He always sneered at the pack of Alphas in the military—childless and wifeless—who kept pets for company. Anyone clocking out before ten p.m. got an earful about losing themselves to frivolity.
Aaron braced for the usual lecture, but Heinrich just mumbled,
"Mm, no problem."
"Did you catch the exile forces' manifesto last night?"
"No... I mean, yes."
"You didn't?!"
"I did." Heinrich rubbed his face hard, covering a cough. "Sorry, brain fart."
Aaron eyed him suspiciously, but the emperor's gaze was steady, face impassive.
They'd known each other two hundred years, but some things Heinrich just couldn't bring himself to say aloud. Maybe it was spring in the air, but he'd been restless these past couple days.
Ever since running into that military academy student who looked just like Celia in the underground lab, the emperor had felt off. His long-dormant Alpha instincts were stirring. Every night, he'd dream hazy, heated fragments—blurry but potent, like a flame laced with desire flickering over his nerves.
He'd jolt awake drenched in sweat, a profound emptiness gnawing at him. His Alpha urges, suppressed for decades, screamed through every vein, demanding release on anyone, anything.
It was an impulse he couldn't voice.
He revered Gavin Celia—a feeling beyond mere hormones, rooted in genuine admiration and awe. Even after learning Celia was a Beta—which meant he could sire heirs and pair with an Alpha—Heinrich never dared entertain violations.
It wasn't that he didn't want to. The fantasies just amplified his guilt.
Now, the trigger was a student, barely an adult. Morally, that was even worse. Heinrich, emperor and two-century-old man, burning up nightly over an underage Beta cadet? He'd lose all face spilling that.
Not even to Aaron.
"...Anyway, since you've seen it, we're good. I just wanted to tell you some faction came out this morning backing the exile government." Aaron looked puzzled. "You ever hear of the 'Dark Star Hall'?"
Heinrich, who'd been holding his breath with a blank face, snapped his eyes open.
"Dark Star Hall?"
"So you know it?"
"What'd they say?"
"Uh, the usual Alliance spiel—imperialism's a relic, that sort of thing. They're vowing to help the exiles rebuild the Alliance." Aaron frowned. "Never heard of 'em. Who are they?"
The emperor's eyes flashed unmistakable shock. After a long pause, he shook his head.
"I don't know... Dark Star Hall was tied to a bunch of early Alliance terror attacks, but it should've gone extinct four hundred years ago."
"That long ago?!"
"Yeah, Celia told me ages back. Centuries ago, the Dark Star Warriors were infamous interstellar terrorists—assassinations, smuggling, political opportunism. They peaked mid-Alliance, then crashed hard. Got wiped out completely by the Alliance's Radiant Legion." Heinrich paused. "Strictly speaking, Celia ordered the purge. So why are they popping up now to back the Alliance?"
Both men, steeped in power games for years, instantly smelled a rat.
"Something's rotten here," Aaron said flatly. "I'll look into it."
Heinrich clapped his shoulder. "Stay sharp."
Poor Aaron—fresh off monitoring the exiles in Ophiuchus, and now off to chase Dark Star leads after just two days back.
No watching Oscar's pups be born for him. Before leaving, he tearfully handed the dog over to the palace vets, gripping their hands earnestly.
"Record it all! Mother and pups safe, got it? Those pups are promised to four major generals. Screw up, and they're coming for your heads!"
The imperial physician: "..."
Heinrich watched Aaron go, feeling more stifled than ever.
He loved piloting mecha across the stars too, but his position tied him down. Sometimes it chafed.
The irritated emperor returned to his study, glaring at the paperwork pile without touching it. Finally, he hauled out his mecha for maintenance.
Pilots maintaining mecha was like soldiers oiling guns—life-or-death work you never skimped on. Heinrich had Bi'an deploy its neural net, linking it to his gear as he meticulously cleaned its mental locks. Deep in focus, Bi'an suddenly spoke:
"Your Majesty, your hormone levels have been maxed out for three straight days. That Omega from the academy really got to you that bad?"
"..."
The emperor asked, "Which Omega?"
"The one we met in the lab."
"..."
The emperor pressed, "Wasn't he a Beta?!"
A chilling silence followed. Then Bi'an said tactfully, "You've ignored your physiology so long, Your Majesty. Best not trust your senses."
Heinrich: "..."
He froze, mind echoing "I see"—
No wonder he'd been itching to rut. No wonder the spring dreams hit every night. That cadet was an Omega on suppressants!
A pure, sweet, unmarked Omega—like melted aphrodisiac, enough to shatter an Alpha like Heinrich, instincts bottled up for decades!
"I had no doubts about his gender at first, but he bled in the cockpit, leaving DNA traces. While cleaning the inner cabin these past days, I ran a test. Confirmed: Omega."
Bi'an added, "Young. Healthy. Perfect for you, Your Majesty."
Heinrich shot to his feet, stowed Bi'an with a wave, and stormed out.
"Off to the Omega Protection Association to get in line, Your Majesty?" Bi'an asked, floating behind as a light brain.
"No," the emperor said. "I'm going to see Caroline."
Unlike his last incognito visit, this time he came in force. When he rolled up to the academy with over a dozen shuttles and hundreds of guards, the whole place erupted.
The skies above were cleared as a priority military zone. Caroline herself rushed out with the academy brass to greet him, finding Heinrich in crisp black uniform and boots, casually tossing his leather gloves into a shuttle.
For some reason, his nonchalant air made her stomach drop—like something disastrous had happened behind her back.
"Not long since your last visit, Your Majesty. Quite the surprise." Caroline quickened her pace, bowing deeply. "To what do we owe the honor?"
Her gut screamed trouble, so she prodded at his prior trespass—a veiled threat.
Heinrich didn't bite, smiling. "Oh, when was that? I'd forgotten."
Her eyes flickered. Before she could speak, he cut in loudly:
"But what happened then doesn't matter. This time, it's about something else—specifically, a student of Dean Konsetlin's. We met him in the lab."
Silence fell, broken only by the wind whistling across the grounds. Caroline locked eyes with the emperor.
After a beat, she asked, "Oh... and what brought Your Majesty to our lab?"
"Forgot." He shrugged. "But his DNA test showing Omega? That stuck with me."
Caroline's face drained of color!
Now she knew why he'd stormed in with an army. He'd discovered Gavin was an Omega!
He had proof Edna had been dosing students with suppressants on the sly!
A battle-hardened Alpha soldier, Caroline steadied herself in seconds.
"Fair enough, Your Majesty. And what do you intend to do with this student?"
Heinrich laughed, repeating with relish, "'Do with him.'"
He seemed delighted, grinning. "Caroline, you know he's an Omega. I'm an Alpha. So what do you think—why'd I bring all these men here today?"