The boy’s defiance made his mother’s expression even fouler. She raised her hand to strike him again, her strength so great she even broke free from the staff members restraining her.

Just as the boy was about to be viciously beaten again, Lu Xia could no longer stand by and shouted, "Graces, control her!"

The words had barely left her lips when Graces moved, pulling the woman away.

As if she never imagined someone would actually dare to lay a hand on her, the woman shrieked, "How dare you! Do you have any idea who I am? How dare you treat me this way! You’re done for! A male hitting a female... I’ll report you! I’ll have you thrown in prison..."

Lu Xia strode forward and slapped the woman across the face. Her voice died abruptly. "Who the hell do you think you are, threatening to have my man thrown in prison? Faced with a situation like this, is this how you staff members respond?"

Having reprimanded the unruly woman, Lu Xia turned and swept her gaze over the staff members standing frozen nearby.

One of the bolder staff members spoke up. "Your Excellency, please calm down. Things like this happen here all the time. There’s nothing we can do. After all, it’s a domestic affair!"

"If you can’t handle domestic affairs, can you at least handle assault? Even if his gene fusion failed, he’s still a human being—and a child. As his mother, you have no right to humiliate him in public. Besides, all he did was fail his gene fusion. He didn’t do anything wrong. Does that mean people who fail don’t deserve to live in this world?" Lu Xia was truly baffled. ’She couldn’t understand what on earth went through these people’s minds.’

’Is gene fusion really that important?’

’It’s not as if every one of them has a fortune at home, or a throne to inherit.’

Lu Xia’s words plunged the area into silence, but she wasn’t finished. "Aside from certain specific jobs, what’s the difference between a Gene Fusion Expert and someone who failed? Can they not work? Can they not live independently? Is it enough to make you treat your own child like this? Oh, that’s right. You mentioned your status earlier. Let’s hear it. Does your family have a throne that needs inheriting?" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The woman, struggling fruitlessly in Graces’s grip, glared at Lu Xia. "I am Viscountess Meng Lisha!"

"A mere Viscount, and you dare to be so brazen? In that case, I, in my capacity as a Duke, shall send you for re-education. Do you have any objection?"

’Lu Xia never thought she’d be one to pull rank, but it turned out to be surprisingly effective!’

Hearing that she would be sent for re-education on the authority of a Duke, the color drained from Viscountess Meng Lisha’s face. Her fiery demeanor was extinguished, and she asked tentatively, "And which Duke might Your Excellency be?"

"I am Duke Lu Xia." Lu Xia made no attempt to hide her identity. After replying, she turned to the staff. "You will handle her. I’m taking the boy."

Now that Lu Xia had revealed her identity, the staff didn’t dare hesitate for a second. They hastily complied and quickly escorted the woman away.

As for Viscountess Meng Lisha, she stopped struggling, as if she had resigned herself to her fate.

’And just like that, the farce was over. But Lu Xia felt no satisfaction. She knew perfectly well that for all her words, she was powerless to change the Empire’s treatment of so-called ’defectives.’ She had neither the energy nor the ability to change the status quo. If she hadn’t stumbled upon this today, she wouldn’t have intervened at all.’

Once everyone else had left, Lu Xia looked at the boy standing by her side, a lost expression on his face. "What’s your name?"

The boy slowly raised his head. "Gallon."

Lu Xia nodded. "As I said, I’ll offer you a job. You can stay with me for now. If you find a better opportunity in the future, you’re free to leave at any time. I won’t stop you if you want to go home, either. But you need to think carefully about whether your mother will treat you this way again. I can help you once, but I can’t help you for the rest of your life. Ultimately, how you want to live is up to you."

’No one had ever spoken to him like that. No one had ever stood up for him when his mother was screaming at him, hitting him. To him, the world had always been a cold, heartless place.’

’But today, Lu Xia had appeared like a sudden ray of light, rescuing him from his torment. She was even willing to give him a job, to show him a path forward.’

Gallon suddenly dropped to his knees. "Thank you so much. I don’t know how to..."

"Get up!" Lu Xia cut him off before he could finish. ’She was so sick of how males in the Empire were always so quick to kneel.’ Not wanting to wait another second, she turned to Graces. "Pull him up."

Graces saw the undisguised awkwardness in his young Female Master’s eyes. He pulled Gallon up, a hint of a smile in his own eyes. "My Female Master doesn’t like people kneeling to her. You can say whatever you need to while standing. There’s no need to kneel."

Gallon nodded in a fluster, looking as if he’d done something wrong.

"There’s no need for thanks," Lu Xia said. "Just wait here with me for a moment. Graces, you can go get your examination." ’She didn’t need the boy’s gratitude; right now, his thanks felt feeble and empty.’

’What she really wanted to see was his attitude toward life from now on. She hoped he wouldn’t let one period of hardship cause him to give up on his entire future.’

Graces gazed at Lu Xia, his eyes full of warmth. ’His Female Master seemed to be radiating a comforting light!’

’He knew that this quality she possessed—the one that could illuminate everything—would bring a light to the boy before him that would last a lifetime!’

’He even felt a pang of jealousy. How wonderful it would have been to meet someone like her when he was young!’

’But it wasn’t too late for him, even now!’

"Alright, I’ll go now. You two wait here." Graces no longer hesitated. ’Never before had he felt such a desperate need to become stronger, to become Duke Lu Xia’s unshakable support. He, too, wanted to shelter his young Female Master and hold up the sky for her.’

After watching Graces leave, Lu Xia led the bewildered boy to a nearby rest area to wait. She had a staff member bring the boy a cup of warm water to help calm his nerves.

Gallon cradled the cup carefully in his hands, still trying to process everything that had just happened. He looked dazed, his expression still distant.

"Graces is my husband," Lu Xia said softly, suddenly breaking the silence. "Like you, he is a Beastman whose gene fusion failed. But not long ago, his Beastification Gene was activated. He’s a Gene Fusion Expert now." Her words made the boy’s confused eyes suddenly brighten.

Gallon stammered, "H-h-how is that possible?"

’How could someone who failed gene fusion have another chance to awaken?’

"As long as you don’t give up on yourself, anything is possible. Even before he was a Gene Fusion Expert, Graces was an outstanding military officer. Despite being labeled a ’defective,’ he became a Colonel in the Empire. So, what I want you to understand is that failing your gene fusion isn’t the end of the world. Through your own hard work, you can still become the person you want to be."