After Crossing Over, I Marked the Empress

At the same moment Shen Han rushed into the alpaca café with Jiang Xinyue, Gu Junwan handed several pages of printed materials to Prince Joris.

“These are some of the recent breakthroughs the Free Federation has made in gland medicine. Regarding special drugs for pheromone reception disorder, three have entered phase II clinical trials, all with good results.”

Gu Junwan’s voice was clear and crisp. When she spoke fluently in Ksenrodian, it gave one’s eardrums a supreme enjoyment.

But compared to appreciating the Federation Empress’s charm, the information she conveyed was what Joris most urgently wanted to obtain.

Dressed in an impeccable suit, Joris quickly scanned the documents in his hand while not forgetting to look up and observe the young woman sitting across from him.

His green eyes sparkled with undisguised curiosity and excitement.

Gu Junwan continued, “Princess Quintina’s inability to sense pheromones through smell or touch after her differentiation deeply saddens me, but I believe this problem can be solved.”

“I had originally planned to inform you when the test results were more stable, but since we happen to meet today, I’ve brought the information to you.”

Joris didn’t know quite what to say, and could only look at her with gratitude.

Quintina’s pheromone reception disorder had always been a sore spot for the entire family.

If the little princess remained unable to sense Alpha pheromones, it would not only affect her physical health but also greatly hinder her future mate selection.

The royal family had tried many medical measures without effect.

Except for Quintina herself who didn’t mind, every other member was anxious, at least on the surface.

Now that the Federation Empress had delivered hope to Joris, how could he not be overjoyed?

If it weren’t for his grandfather the King’s prior restrictions, he would have been eager to show his sincerity in return.

Gu Junwan, of course, wasn’t doing charity without reason.

She extended an olive branch to him with the ultimate goal of mutual benefit between the two countries.

However, she was well aware of the principle of moderation and stopped at this point.

She believed she had gained the chips to sit at the poker table.

As both were lost in their thoughts, Joris’s personal bodyguard approached the restaurant with a grave expression.

Behind the tall bodyguard followed two of Gu Junwan’s guards.

“What’s happened?” Joris gestured for the bodyguard not to approach his table.

He was a prince with gentlemanly manners, knowing to consider the feelings of the Omega across from him in such details.

Gu Junwan also waved slightly at her guards, letting them step back an appropriate distance.

The two guards saluted and each took three steps back, discreetly watching the prince’s bodyguard.

He was an S-class Alpha, after all. His sudden entry into the restaurant couldn’t help but put them on alert.

“Your Highness, Andrei is an Awakened. He attempted to assassinate Princess Quintina, but fortunately was stopped by Free Federation special police. The princess was only frightened, not injured…”

After hearing the bodyguard’s quick report, both Joris and Gu Junwan broke out in a cold sweat internally.

“Your Majesty, I apologize that I can’t have lunch with you. And thank you for your guards. I will faithfully report everything that happened today to His Majesty the King. I believe we can discuss cooperation again soon!”

With anxiety and apology on his face, Joris shook hands with Gu Junwan, then quickly left the restaurant with his bodyguard, heading straight for the scene in the mall.

With such an urgent turn of events on her turf, Gu Junwan would naturally look into it personally.

She immediately instructed Xu Zhao: “Evacuate the crowd, dispatch guards to assist Joris, send personnel to inspect the surroundings, and ensure all security risks are eliminated.”

After a pause, she added, “Joris and Quintina’s identities are quite special. Since the problem arose from their bodyguard team, let Joris handle it himself.”

“Have the relevant departments hold off on investigating their side for now, especially information involving the little princess. Ensure confidentiality is maintained.”

After giving these instructions, Gu Junwan called Shen Han.

When Joris’s bodyguard described the incident earlier, he mentioned an Alpha in sportswear who fought with Andrei in the café.

Although the bodyguard’s description was rough, Gu Junwan had already deduced that the “special police” he referred to was Shen Han.

Besides her own guard team, who else could walk freely in the mall carrying a silenced handgun?

Perhaps a few of Joris’s close bodyguards also carried specially made weapons, but they wouldn’t dare use them unless absolutely necessary.

The phone rang for a while before being answered.

Before Gu Junwan could speak, Shen Han’s deliberately lowered voice came through.

“Miss Gu, I was just about to message you. There was a bit of an accident at the mall, it was really dangerous!”

“I almost got spat on by two alpacas just now!”

Gu Junwan: “……”

Steadying herself, she spoke with a mix of exasperation and amusement: “I’ve heard about the situation. You weren’t hurt, were you?”

“No, but Jiang Xinyue fainted. She’s recovering in the mall’s infirmary now. She’s really amazing! If she hadn’t sensed the killing intent from that foreign Awakened, this incident might not have been contained!”

“Killing intent? How did you discover the Awakened was the mole among the bodyguards just based on killing intent?”

“Speaking of which, you’d never guess, that problematic bodyguard hid bowstrings, crossbow limbs, and mechanisms in the café. I found special crossbow bolts on him. I reckon once assembled, it could pierce through a frying pan.”

Gu Junwan pondered, then asked, “The one hiding weapons must be someone else. The surveillance might have been interfered with or destroyed.”

“By the way, did you catch the mole red-handed while he was collecting weapon parts?”

Shen Han: “No, he might have felt guilty and tried to use me to create chaos. Instead, he ended up being subdued by me and the arrows were found. Some other parts were hidden in a feed bucket and got kicked over by an alpaca. It was absolutely wild!”

At this point, noises came from the mall side.

Shen Han covered the phone and said, “Jiang Xinyue’s awake. I’ll go check on her. Let’s chat more when I get back, okay?”

After hanging up, she pulled up two photos she had quickly taken earlier and sent them to Gu Junwan.

Top floor of the conference center, corridor.

Looking at the two alpacas on her phone screen with their mouths agape in shock, Gu Junwan couldn’t help but smile, her lips curving slightly.

Xu Zhao, carrying a briefcase beside her, craned her neck curiously to peek at her Empress’s phone!

For a moment, she felt her thoughts become somewhat disjointed.

‘That Shen dog, really! We’re worried if she’s been hurt, after all, guns were involved.’

‘And there she goes, finding time to snap photos of alpacas!’

‘But come to think of it, since Shen dog appeared, our Empress has been smiling a lot more.’

‘Although on the surface her aura is still as cool as ever, it’s not hard to feel that the Empress’s inner changes are quite significant.’

‘The Empress used to carry all the burdens on her shoulders, not daring to relax for a moment.’

‘Now she actively relies on that Alpha, which is really rare.’

‘It’s good that Shen dog is indeed capable, never failing at critical moments.’

Shen Han’s unexpected photos not only derailed Xu Zhao’s train of thought but also interrupted Gu Junwan’s.

She had felt earlier that there were some hidden aspects to the mall incident, with some key points disconnected between events.

But exactly which link was problematic, she couldn’t quite figure out at the moment.

Later, with the distraction of Shen Han’s photos, Gu Junwan simply stopped dwelling on the questionable points.

The final outcome was good, which was most important. Some unexplained aspects in the process could be set aside for now.

……

In the evening.

In a luxury suite at the Guthrie Hotel.

After hearing the report, Joris’s face was clouded with darkness.

“The Francis Church is getting more and more brazen! Since they dare to make the first move, they can’t blame us for a major purge of the entire Francis district!”

After giving some instructions to his subordinates, Joris finally sat down beside Quintina, patted his sister’s head, and asked in a gentle tone, “You weren’t too scared today, were you?”

The little princess clung to her brother’s arm: “A little at first, but Paul and the others protected me very well, so I wasn’t afraid later.”

At this point, she suddenly thought of something and looked up at her brother very seriously, asking, “When a fallen prince borrows a thousand from Cinderella, will he really pay her back a hundred million when he returns to the palace?”

Joris was completely baffled by the question.

But not wanting to show his sister that he didn’t understand, he tried to answer matter-of-factly: “A hundred million is no small sum. A prince wouldn’t make promises he can’t keep.”

Quintina nodded, then shook her brother’s arm and asked, “That Alpha today was so amazing. Even when Andrei turned into a werewolf, he couldn’t beat her.”

“Brother, can you help me find her? I want to give her a gift.”

When Joris rushed to the café, he hadn’t seen Shen Han. He only knew she was a member of Gu Junwan’s personal guard team.

It wouldn’t be appropriate for his sister to give a gift to an Alpha guard.

“You don’t need to prepare a gift specially. Maintaining order is her duty as a guard.”

“I’m not giving a gift for her duty, this doesn’t conflict. She saved your most beloved sister, after all!”

Joris couldn’t resist his sister’s coquettish plea and finally agreed.

Thinking of Gu Junwan reminded him of what she had said to him at noon.

So, Joris gently asked his sister, “Today, two Alphas released their pheromones in the café. Did it affect you?”

Quintina shook her head honestly: “No, I still couldn’t feel anything.”

Joris lovingly smoothed his sister’s bangs: “The Federation Empress brought good news today. Their medical technology has made considerable achievements in glandular studies. Perhaps before long, your problem can be solved.”

The little princess didn’t feel much, but to comfort her brother, she still put her hands together on her chest and sincerely said, “Praise the Empress.”