“Butler Lin, why is your face a little red?”
Zuo Shihuan asked in puzzlement, leaning in for a closer look—startling the already flustered butler, who stumbled backward in panic, shouting inwardly:
I’m a Beta! I only like Betas! I have no interest in those pheromone-leaking Alphas!
Those strange maids must have corrupted him! Now even in front of Young Master Zuo, his heart was racing in a ridiculous way. He had always respected and even feared him—how could this be happening?
Desperate to steady himself, Butler Lin forced his mind to recall Zuo Shihuan’s usual workaholic side—cold, composed, flawless, like a machine.
The image of Young Master Zuo sitting at his office desk surfaced before his eyes—strategic, commanding. Those pale brown eyes sharp and intimidating, one leg casually crossed over the other, his hands resting neatly on his knee. Always impeccably dressed, even the top button of his shirt fastened tight. The perfectly tailored suit trousers made his long legs look even straighter and leaner.
To the public, he had once seemed like nothing more than a rich young heir who parachuted into the company—but within days, he had unraveled the tangled web of corporate connections and exposed the parasites eating away inside.
To those high-ranking executives who shirked responsibility, he showed no mercy—his reprimands sharp and cold. And to his business rivals, his insight was so precise it drew blood without a blade, leaving them pale, trembling, and utterly defeated.
When it came to weaker employees and subordinates, however, Zuo Shihuan would quietly lend a hand without drawing attention—warming hearts with gratitude and allowing people to glimpse, beneath that cold and solemn exterior, a gentleness as soft as a spring breeze. He even cared deeply for his half-sister, Miss Zuo Shishu, whom the rest of the family ignored.
That was the kind of outstanding Alpha Butler Lin had always admired and aspired toward!
A light flickered in Butler Lin’s eyes.
Ever since Young Master Zuo Shihuan had come to the Zuo household, the corrupt atmosphere fostered by Master Zuo Zoujian had changed completely. Work became easier, and the spoiled young masters and mistresses no longer dared to openly bully the servants. He no longer had to deal with the chaotic aftermath of the masters’ tangled affairs.
As a Beta, even with the old butler’s recommendation, it had taken him immense effort to be accepted into the prestigious Zuo household as a trainee butler—and the salary had already been ten times higher than average. At first, he had carried a naïve admiration for the grandeur and mystery of the elite families.
The Blue Eagle Group, owned by the Zuo family, donated enormous sums to charity every year. The communicator he held in his hand was a Blue Eagle product—essential technology that nearly every citizen in the Federation relied on daily.
Back then, Butler Lin had thought that high society must be as glamorous as it looked in the dramas. But after he joined, he soon witnessed the other side of that glittering façade.
Late at night, unable to sleep in the staff dormitory, he would bury his head in his pillow—but could still hear the muffled sounds of trysts between servants and young masters through the thin walls.
Having inherited their father Zuo Zoujian’s debauched temperament, the Zuo heirs often had lovers who came to the estate to stir up scenes. Once, when Butler Lin dutifully tried to block one such intruder, he was slapped hard across the face. The next day, when he served another Zuo heir with a bruised cheek, he was met only with mocking laughter.
The Zuo family had many sons and daughters, but most of their mothers were mistresses who could never step into the public eye. The master had likely forgotten most of their faces by now.
The matriarch, Madam Zuo, only cared for her own three Beta children. She paid no attention to the other illegitimate offspring.
These countless illegitimate children of the Zuo family—politely addressed as young masters and mistresses—were, in harsher words, a brood of neglected b*stards. Some of the older ones secretly bullied their younger, more naïve siblings, and the butlers and servants who worked around them were treated as little more than toys to vent on.
There had been times when Butler Lin felt so disheartened that he wanted to quit. But he couldn’t bear to leave the elderly head butler—his distant uncle—who had looked after him for years. And in the current unstable Federation, a Beta like him, with no special skills, would find it hard to secure a good job.
The Federation’s situation had long been precarious.
On the surface, the central star system appeared prosperous and stable. But beneath that veneer, problems and conflicts festered—unemployment soared, border clashes were constant, uprisings by discontented citizens were crushed by the military, and corruption among officials ran rampant.
Due to historical reasons, the Federation’s central government was not unified like the Empire’s. Instead, each planetary region was ruled by a governor-general, who wielded supreme authority over that planet—appointing officials, revising laws, levying taxes, and maintaining private armies.
Within their domains, these governors held power equivalent to feudal lords of old Earth—so much so that even the central government often had no control over their affairs.
Every year, many border planets were attacked by the Zerg. But the Federation’s military power was limited, and unlike the Empire, it could not mount an effective counterattack. At most, the government would allocate a military budget to the affected planets, leaving the governors to handle defense on their own.
Some governors, desperate to protect their territories, would forcibly conscript citizens into their armies—but greedily pocketed much of the allocated funds, unwilling to spend on proper weapons. The result was devastating casualties among soldiers and widespread civilian suffering.
Thus, every year, rebellions would erupt on remote planets, where citizens could no longer endure their governors’ oppression.
Some uprisings were crushed by the military. Some succeeded in killing their governors, only for the rebels to become fugitives—pirates, raiders, star-bandits. And in the most absurd cases, when no officials dared to take the post afterward, the central government would simply recognize the rebel leader as the new planetary governor.
As someone born on the Federation’s main star, Butler Lin had always felt that such stories were distant—perhaps even exaggerated.
But one day, when he was in charge of hiring cleaners for a new residence, he met a man from another planet. The man’s skin was sallow, his frame gaunt, and his eyes desperate for employment. He spoke a broken dialect of the Federation language, and one of his fingers was missing.
After questioning him, Butler Lin learned that the man had spent all his savings fleeing a rebellious border planet with the last of his family. The stories he told were harrowing—far bloodier and crueler than the news’ perfunctory line that “order had been restored.”
From then on, Butler Lin carried a faint, lingering unease.
Even as he walked through the lavish halls of the magnificent Zuo estate—an epitome of luxury and privilege—he sometimes feared that the ceiling above might one day collapse.
Fortunately, Young Master Zuo Shihuan had arrived.
He showed that even a family as powerful as the Zuo clan—emblem of the Federation’s highest class—was not completely rotten to the core.
“…No need, thank you for your concern, Young Master Zuo,” Butler Lin said, his blush gradually fading. He lowered his gaze, recalling a flood of memories, then couldn’t help but add sincerely,
“I’m just glad that it was you who came back, Young Master. I had mentally prepared myself for the worst—I thought the Alpha heir being brought home would be another man just like Master Zuo Zoujian.”
Realizing what he had just said, Butler Lin froze in horror—he had just spoken ill of his employer, a serious breach of etiquette. He stammered, “N-no, I didn’t mean that, Young Master—I wasn’t badmouthing the Master, I—”
Zuo Shihuan paused, then smiled gently and patted his shoulder. “I don’t mind hearing honest words.”
Butler Lin blinked in astonishment.
Zuo Shihuan’s expression remained calm, his tone indifferent. “My father’s character is well known to everyone. You only said what’s in everyone’s hearts.”
Housekeeper Lin lowered his head in shame — being forgiven by Young Master Zuo Shihuan only made him feel more useless.
If those “honest words” of his were overheard by outsiders, as Zuo Shihuan’s personal butler, others would surely misunderstand him — perhaps even think such words came from the young master himself — and that could bring trouble upon Zuo Shihuan.
Lowering his head, Butler Lin felt dejected and doubting himself. “Maybe I’m not fit to be a butler,” he murmured. “Or maybe I should change professions altogether.”
Zuo Shihuan asked mildly, “Why do you say that?”
Butler Lin’s face twisted with bitterness as he spoke from the heart: “I’ve never really adjusted to life in the Zuo household. I’m not what you’d call a perfect butler. When you came, Young Master, I never imagined you would choose me to serve as your personal butler… and now I’ve gone and said something inappropriate again…”
“Raise your head.”
Zuo Shihuan’s fingers tilted Butler Lin’s chin upward. His light brown eyes were deep and sharp; his lips parted slightly as he spoke, “You are the butler I personally chose. Who else could possibly take that place but you?”
“!!!” Butler Lin’s pupils contracted. Astonishment and disbelief flooded his expression — followed by a tiny, furtive spark of joy.
Cautiously, Butler Lin asked, “Why me? Among all the butlers, I’m neither the most senior nor the most valued in the Zuo family.”
“That’s true,” Zuo Shihuan said calmly.
Butler Lin’s shoulders slumped again, head drooping in dismay.
But Zuo Shihuan’s eyes glimmered faintly with amusement as he continued, “You’re right — on the surface, you don’t appear to be the best butler. When I first arrived, I observed everyone here. Most of them were… disappointing. You, on the other hand, were the most dispirited of the apprentice butlers I saw.”
Butler Lin pressed his lips together. “Then why…”
Zuo Shihuan’s gaze deepened, his tone heavy with meaning. “As the newcomer to this household, I watched everyone’s behavior. Most of the servants here have long accepted the Zuo family’s corruption as the natural order. Some even joined in, losing their true selves entirely within this dye vat.
But you—only you—I saw struggling against it. Your eyes were weary but still clear, still unwilling to yield. Even when you kept silent before the injustices and humiliations of this house, your anger showed in your gaze. And truthfully, you aren’t so silent at all — you’re clever and resourceful…”
He looked at Butler Lin, whose eyes were slowly brightening, and smiled. “You always find quiet ways to stop bad things from happening.”
“For example — gritting your teeth and stepping in to handle the difficult young masters and misses, or discreetly warning the maids being harassed so they could avoid trouble ahead of time. When the older children bullied the younger ones, you’d slip in with a change of subject, distracting them with something else — or remind them that an elder with authority was on the way, so they’d scatter before causing harm.
Sometimes you even timed things on purpose — so that one of those arrogant sons or daughters would get caught red-handed before a crowd of guests, disgracing the family and earning a proper scolding. Am I wrong?”
Butler Lin froze, eyes wide in astonishment.
That particular incident had been so secret — how could Young Master Zuo have known?
Zuo Shihuan’s eyes glinted as he smiled. “Seems I guessed right.”
Butler Lin stared, utterly stunned. “!!!”
Zuo Shihuan went on, “The timing was always too coincidental. I kept feeling something was off. And in many small matters, I could see your touch behind them. At first I thought you were simply kind-hearted. But it seems you’ve got a bit of a temper after all.”
Butler Lin’s breathing quickened. “You don’t think I’m insolent? A traitor? Taking the Zuo family’s high salary while meddling in its affairs?”
Zuo Shihuan paused for half a second. Then, just as Butler Lin’s nerves reached the breaking point, he said with a faint smile, “Except for that one time — when you saw a young master leading a huge dog to bully someone, and you secretly slipped croton seeds into the dog’s bowl so it had diarrhea all day — that was a bit excessive.”
Butler Lin’s ears flushed crimson in embarrassment.
Zuo Shihuan continued, “But you stopped soon after. You realized it wasn’t the dog’s fault — the true culprit was its master. If anyone deserved to be dosed, it was him, wasn’t it?”
Butler Lin’s pupils shrank; his face went pale. His lips trembled, but he didn’t refute it.
He remembered watching a Beta maid, bitten and bleeding from that same dog, being rushed to the hospital. Because of the Zuo family’s confidentiality contracts, she lay there weeping silently, not daring to utter a single complaint.
In the end, the family quietly dismissed her with a large payout — to keep things quiet.
But Butler Lin couldn’t understand: how could people commit such cruelty without consequence or remorse? Were the lives of ordinary Betas truly so cheap?
In his despair, he’d gotten drunk one night, rage clouding his reason, and stumbled to the kennel to dump the croton into the dog’s food bowl.
The next morning, as he saw the poor animal writhing with diarrhea, his first feeling wasn’t satisfaction but remorse. He knew the dog wasn’t to blame. The truly vicious one was the person who commanded it.
If poison was to be used, it should have been used on the master.
But he was, after all, a butler of the Zuo family — paid handsomely — and he couldn’t betray the house that employed him. The old butler, his distant uncle who had recommended him, had served the family for decades and was nearing retirement. Butler Lin couldn’t drag his benefactor into trouble.
Still — how could people be so cruel?
Did they see them as human at all? Or only as well-paid dogs wagging their tails for the Zuo family’s amusement?
His anger and reason had battled in his head all night.
In the end, he’d sat in the kennel until dawn — his only companion the sick dog, stinking and miserable beside him.
“Are you not afraid I might be a biting dog?” Butler Lin asked now, lifting his head. His eyes were clear but full of turmoil, his lips trembling as he forced out the question.
Zuo Shihuan lowered his gaze and said evenly, “The Zuo family is merely a reflection of the world — most people drift with the tide; many are stained darker and darker by it. I can tolerate selfish indifference. I can accept the small stains that come with being human. After all, people are just people. Whatever choices they make — good or bad — are still born from human nature. The consequences they face will be their own.”
“As long as they don’t cross my bottom line,” Zuo Shihuan said coolly, “I’ll allow these selfish, chaotic, and foolish people to continue surviving in the Zuo household.”
Butler Lin’s pupils contracted. He lowered his head, lost in thought.
Zuo Shihuan’s gaze grew colder. “But being surrounded by too many selfish and foolish people is exhausting. You, Butler Lin, are one of the rare few who hasn’t been tainted by the Zuo family’s dye vat. You even reach out to save others from drowning in it. I appreciate that—and I’m very satisfied with you.”
“Besides,” he added, “how could you be a biting dog? You’re far more human than those people who aren’t even worthy of being called dogs. And if you ever bite back, it would only be because they provoked you first. How could I possibly fault you for not being kind enough?”
Those words of praise made Butler Lin abruptly lift his head. His uneasy heart seemed suddenly filled with honey—so sweet it almost overflowed. His face flushed red with excitement, tinged with shyness and restraint; for a moment, he couldn’t even speak.
Zuo Shihuan smiled then, his light brown eyes gleaming with a bright and captivating light.
“Lin Shumao,” he said softly, “I chose you from among the crowd myself. If it weren’t you, I wouldn’t have chosen anyone at all. So how could you belittle yourself like that?”
Butler Lin’s heart jolted violently. His hand clutched at his chest as his heart pounded wildly, his very soul trembling. Everything else faded away—he could only hear Zuo Shihuan’s voice echoing endlessly in his ears.
The young master knew everything.
He understood him. He trusted him. He was the only one who had ever chosen him—firmly, unequivocally.
In this family where Butler Lin had long been dyed an indeterminate shade—not quite human, not quite dog, disgusted even with himself—only Zuo Shihuan had truly seen him.
He was someone better than those who weren’t even as good as dogs.
Did you hear that? In the young master’s eyes, he was better than them—even if he was just an ordinary Beta butler, he was still better than those highborn sons and daughters of the Zuo family, rotten to their cores!
Bang!
Butler Lin dropped to one knee, looking up at Zuo Shihuan’s calm, smiling face as if beholding the entire world. His eyes glowed with fervent light, his heart swelling with uncontainable admiration and joy. Smiling with utter devotion, he declared, “You will always be my young master.”
If he was destined to be a dog, then he would be a dog fiercely loyal only to his master.
***
Moments later—
Butler Lin, exhilarated, bustled about Zuo Shihuan. One moment he was brewing the black coffee the young master liked in the morning, the next he was fetching the latest newspaper, and soon after, he was standing beside Zuo Shihuan, eyes shining, staring at him with intense admiration.
The burning gaze left Zuo Shihuan in an awkward spot—he couldn’t drink or even set down the coffee comfortably. The rich, bitter aroma now seemed almost hard to swallow.
Finally, Zuo Shihuan put the cup down and asked with a faint smile, “Butler Lin, is there something you want to say to me?”
Butler Lin froze for a second, then his gaze flicked toward the casual home clothes Zuo Shihuan was wearing. Unable to resist his impulse, he asked eagerly, “Young Master Zuo Shihuan, please allow me to help you change clothes!”
Zuo Shihuan had always disliked people getting too close to him. Having grown up in the slums, self-reliant from a young age, he was no pampered heir who waited on others to dress or feed him. Even after entering the Zuo household, he’d kept to his simple habits, never adopting the indulgent excesses of the upper class.
If it were anyone else, Zuo Shihuan would have refused immediately.
But…
He looked at Butler Lin, whose eyes were alight with excitement, almost wagging an invisible tail behind him, gazing at him with absolute trust and worship.
If he refused, it was as if he could already see a heartbroken, pitiful Butler Lin before him.
Zuo Shihuan sighed inwardly, helpless amusement flickering in his eyes.
Maybe it was time he learned to trust others a little, too.
“All right,” he said gently. “I’ll trouble you, Butler Lin.”
Butler Lin’s eyes lit up, and he broke into a wide smile. “It’s no trouble at all! It’s my honor as your butler, Young Master.”
A short while later—
The mirror reflected Zuo Shihuan’s tall, straight figure.
He lowered his cool gaze toward his butler, who was fastening a vintage sapphire brooch edged with gold to his chest.
Butler Lin clicked the clasp into place, then looked up with satisfaction at the noble, composed man before him. Smiling with reverent joy, he asked, “Young Master, are you pleased with it?”
Zuo Shihuan’s light brown eyes were calm and cold. His neatly slicked-back black hair framed refined, sharp features; his thin lips pressed together slightly.
Clad in a black tailored suit and coat that accentuated his lean waist and tall frame, a silver-gray tie at his collar, and the rare gold-trimmed sapphire brooch gleaming at his chest—
Zuo Shihuan looked every inch a dignified noble duke.
If his complexion were a touch paler and his lips a shade redder, he might have passed for a vampire duke straight out of legend.
He studied his reflection, eyes deep and serene, then turned to Lin with a faintly amused smile. “I’m very satisfied.”
Butler Lin beamed, pleased at the praise, and was about to say more—
When a sudden knock interrupted.
Knock, knock, knock—
A flash of irritation crossed Butler Lin’s eyes.
Outside, an old, hoarse voice called obsequiously, “Young Master Zuo, the master requests your presence in the study.”
Butler Lin’s expression instantly darkened into a snarl, his eyes glinting with hostility.
He recognized that grating voice at once—it was Butler Zhao, who had served under Master Zuo Zoujian for many years. Arrogant and domineering, Butler Zhao looked down on new staff, bullied the weak, and even treated the unacknowledged illegitimate children of the family with disdain.
Now that Zuo Shihuan’s status had risen, Butler Zhao had become sycophantic, trying to curry favor.
Zuo Shihuan usually ignored men like him. Yet after Butler Lin became his personal butler, Butler Zhao had secretly tried to trip him up—almost making him lose face before his young master.
Butler Lin didn’t know what business the old master had with Zuo Shihuan, but given his own deep-rooted disgust for both Zuo Zoujian and his Butler Zhao, his first instinct was that it couldn’t be anything good.
Maybe Butler Lin’s expression had been too revealing.
Zuo Shihuan reached out and brushed his hand against Butler Lin’s face, drawing his attention. A glint flashed through his eyes as he curved his lips and spoke in a low, quiet warning: “What are you looking at? Butler Lin — from now on, this real face of yours should only ever be shown before me.”
Butler Lin immediately regained his composure, bowing his head in remorse. “Yes, Young Master.”
He understood perfectly what Young Master Zuo meant. He couldn’t let even the slightest expression or reaction become a liability to him. His Young Master — more than anyone, even more than Master Zuo Zoujian himself — was the one truly qualified to become the head of the Zuo family.
The rest were nothing but yesterday’s withered flowers — obstacles waiting to be swept aside.
When he lifted his head again, Butler Lin’s face was expressionless, his gaze cool and unfathomable. He now looked remarkably like the man standing before him — no one would ever be able to read his true thoughts.
Zuo Shihuan curved his lips into a smile. “Good performance.”
Butler Lin remained unsmiling.
Only the faintest spark of joy flickered in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth — which he tried hard to suppress — lifted ever so slightly, betraying a trace of his inner delight.
— The Young Master had touched his face. And even smiled at him!
