The Emperor nodded, seemingly unbothered, and Hua Ren escorted him through the courtyard and towards the waiting carriage. The night air was cool, the soft trickle of the fountain and the scent of flowers wrapping around them. Hua Ren stepped forward, about to assist the Emperor into the carriage, when the Emperor turned toward him with a raised hand.
"You should head back," the Emperor said, his tone commanding yet gentle. "An Omega should not be out so late."
Hua Ren’s heart sank at those words. An Omega....
This was what he had feared most. To be treated as fragile, delicate, something to be protected. He wasn’t like that. He wasn’t a frail Omega. Why couldn’t anyone understand that? He didn’t want to be protected. He didn’t want to be cared for. He wanted to fight and protect others.
The Emperor, the very man who once sent him on perilous missions without hesitation, was now telling him to go back as though he were weak, simply because he was an Omega. It wasn’t even midnight. It really hurt Hua Ren. He wondered, if he married the Emperor, was this how he was going to be treated?
Despite his tumultuous thoughts, Hua Ren took a step back and nodded obediently, as he always did. “Have a good night, Your Majesty,” he murmured with a bow.
The Emperor smiled at him, his eyes gleaming under the moonlight. “You too, Hua Ren. I hope to hear a positive answer in two days.”
Hua Ren swallowed hard, unsure how to respond. The pressure of the Emperor’s words weighed on him heavily, but he remained silent. The carriage door closed, and Hua Ren stood still, watching as the Emperor’s carriage moved away, the rhythmic clop of horses’ hooves fading into the night.
He stayed there until the carriage disappeared completely, its sound lost to the gentle breeze and the quiet hum of the palace grounds. Only then did Hua Ren turn and walk back through the courtyard toward his room, the night feeling colder and lonelier than before.
"That bastard!" Hua Chen shouted, slamming his fist on the table so hard that the wooden surface shuddered beneath his hand. "How dare he propose a marriage!"
"Father, keep your voice down!" Hua Ren hissed, his eyes darting toward the door.
"Yes, please," Hua Li added, stepping closer and rubbing his husband’s shoulders in a soothing motion. "We do not want the servants to hear about this, do we? You know the Emperor has eyes and ears everywhere."
Hua Chen gritted his teeth, his face flushed with anger, but he reluctantly lowered his voice. "I’m furious. We only exposed our son’s true identity to save his life, not to make him marry the Emperor."
Hua Li sighed, slipping onto the chair beside her husband, her expression more resigned than angry. "To be honest, I had a feeling this might happen after the Emperor asked Ren’er to remove his veil. Even the common officials wanted him at first glance. I could see the greed and lust for our son in their eyes."
Hua Ren sat quietly, his head lowered. Ever since the Emperor had proposed marriage, he felt dispirited, lost. He didn’t know why, but something inside him had shifted, and the excitement he once felt at the thought of serving the Emperor no longer sparked the same joy.
"Honestly, I thought you would be happy about this," Hua Li said, turning her gaze toward Hua Ren. "You’ve always admired the Emperor. You said you wanted to serve him your entire life. Why do you not seem happy about the proposal?"
Hua Ren blinked, surprised by his mother’s words. "W-What do you mean, Mother?"
"Oh, stop pretending, Ren’er," Hua Li replied with a wave of his hand, laughing softly. "I know about your feelings for the Emperor."
Hua Chen’s eyes widened as he stared at his wife and son. "F-Feelings? What are you talking about?" His son liked the Emperor?
Hua Ren lowered his head. His feelings for the Emperor...
Ever since the proposal, a cloud of doubt had settled over his heart. He didn’t know how to explain it, but something about the Emperor’s actions made him uneasy. The charges against him were dropped just like that. He wasn’t even going to be punished according to the rules for Omegas. Everything was just swept under the rug, like the charges never existed in the first place. The Emperor he knew what not the type to pardon criminals. Why was he an exception? Although he never colluded with the Rebels, he did kill Hei Long and dozens of other soldiers. Even if he didn’t get imprisoned for life, he should for at least half his life. Hua Ren was the kind of person that firmly believed in justice. If one committed a crime, they had to be punished. He would never accept special treatment and he never expected one.
Hua Li mistook his silence for embarrassment and laughed again. Hua Ren was his child, the one he had carried for nine long months. He knew his son inside and out, better than anyone. The moment little Ren’er had run to him as a child, saying he wanted to enlist in the army after seeing the Emperor, he knew that something magnificent had happened. Hua Ren had never been one to show excitement about anything before.
Hua Chen on the other hand, wasn’t laughing. He looked at his grinning wife, then at his son, who sat there with his head bowed and he suddenly felt left out. Hua Li knew about Hua Ren’s feelings for the Emperor but he didn’t? Since when did things even start? Why didn’t he know? He thought his daddy and son relationship was stronger than the mummy and son’s.
Turning to Hua Li, he asked, "Honey, tell me what’s going on. What did you mean when you said Ren’er has feelings for the Emperor?" Not waiting for his wife’s answer, Hua Chen leaned toward Hua Ren, his voice softening even further "Ren’er, my lovely son, tell Daddy what’s going on. Come on, you can trust Daddy. Daddy will understand. Do you truly like the Emperor? Do you want to get married to him?"
There was a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes. Hua Chen had always worried about Hua Ren because he was a defective Omega with the strength of an Alpha. Hua Ren was always drawn to the battlefield, to danger, and Hua Chen, deep down, had always wanted his son to live a more peaceful life, to settle down and perhaps give him and Hua Li beautiful grandchildren.
"I do not know what to tell you right now, Father." Hua Ren admitted. "If this had happened before the Eternal Grain Valley mission, I would have given you an answer but right now, I am confused."
Hua Chen and Hua Li exchanged puzzled looks. They knew their son well. He was extremely headstrong and decisive but now, for the first time in his life, their son was torn.
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