I raised my head slightly to observe Aren. The wariness from when I first saw him had diminished somewhat.
Whether it was because he had favorable feelings toward William, or due to the frank nature characteristic of military nobles, he was clumsy at hiding his emotions. If that was high-level acting, it would truly be frightening.
“Are you feeling alright?”
Aren asked, looking at me rather than William. It seemed like he was asking with an Alpha’s rampage in mind. William burst into laughter.
“Hahaha, I’m only ten years old now. Do you really think I had a genuine rampage?”
What William was saying now was half truth and half lie. While there were rampage symptoms due to hormonal disruption, he had deliberately acted more severe than it was.
The reason for mixing lies was probably to test Aren?
I could figure out what my students were thinking just by looking at their eyes, but today’s William was hard to read.
Aren also seemed flustered and couldn’t continue speaking.
“Then… are you saying you acted to prevent being kept in check?”
“Well. I’d like to hear uncle’s thoughts. Do you think I was acting, or did I truly rampage? What do you think, uncle?”
“…!”
Un, uncle?
According to the information I had gathered about Aren before going to sleep, he had no connection with William. Moreover, Aren was someone who had no relation to the royal family. Even in the original work, Aren was only depicted as the number one contributor to making William into a tyrant. To call such a person uncle…
Even if William’s words were true, there’s no way the lives of those families who were driven from the palace due to the concubine being framed would still be intact, right?
My thoughts weren’t even organized when an even more shocking scene unfolded before my eyes. Upon hearing the word uncle, Aren was sitting in his place, silently shedding tears without saying a word.
A large-built man, moreover someone who had achieved overwhelming victories in war several times, was shedding tears in front of a young Prince without being able to say anything…
I was trembling, not knowing what to do in the face of such an absurd situation. Aren got down from his chair and knelt on the floor.
“Finally, I get to hear Your Highness call me uncle. I thought you wouldn’t know me since I’ve never seen you up close before. How did you know?”
“My mother once told me such things. She said that although people didn’t know, she was from a low-ranking noble family in the Herel region. Thanks to her beautiful appearance and dominant traits, she was adopted into a high-ranking noble family and was able to become a male Omega concubine. I was briefly confused because the territory name and uncle’s surname were different, but I became certain when I learned in geography class that the Dierephel region is also called Herel.”
Aren spoke with a moved expression.
“You knew all of that.”
“Yes. And I could tell from the beginning. Looking at uncle’s expression and gaze when you looked at me… I was uncertain, but when I slowly examined your facial features, you definitely resembled my mother. So please stand up, uncle.”
William got up from his seat and extended his hand toward Aren. Thick teardrops were falling onto the floor. Even while they held hands and sat back down, chatting about various things and relieving their long-held feelings, I just stood there blankly maintaining my position.
Was this it? The reason William had me stay here. To let me, who was wary of Aren, know that he was someone trustworthy?
Since the original content was being twisted from beginning to end, it wouldn’t be strange even if they said they were uncle and nephew, but I felt like I had been severely hit in the back of the head by that damn book.
“Daniel?”
I quickly came to my senses at the sound of William calling me.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“You seem quite surprised.”
“What would I have to be surprised about? Congratulations. You’ve been lonely, but now you have real family. It’s a joyful thing that this family is Duke Aren, who is more reliable than anyone.”
William suddenly gripped my hand tightly. Then he spoke firmly to Aren.
“Uncle, this child is called Daniel. Could you give this child a different status instead of lower-class Omega?”
Aren’s expression crumpled. Even if it was a request from a nephew he was meeting after 10 years, it wasn’t something that could be easily done in an empire with a rigid status system.
Aren, who had kept his mouth shut for a while, belatedly asked.
“Is there a reason it must be done?”
“Yes, there is.”
I was startled by his unexpectedly confident answer and stared at William with wide eyes. William continued speaking while gripping my hand tightly, as if trying to reassure me.
“Because only this child can stabilize me.”
“You just said the rampage was done on purpose…”
“You didn’t actually believe that, did you?”
“Ah…”
This little brat!
I looked back and forth between William and Aren with a shocked heart.
Using the reason of blood relation, he was manipulating the powerful figure of the Stamili Empire and military noble as he pleased.
Who asked for a new status for me… Why is he acting like this?
I was stomping my feet with a troubled expression when—
Thwack!
William suddenly slammed the table with his fist. At the sudden action, both mine and Aren’s gazes simultaneously focused on William.
“As uncle knows, I take after my mother and have a severe possessive streak. You know why my mother was driven out, don’t you? It was because of her jealousy toward the Empress. I don’t want to live like my mother.”
Aren’s face turned deathly pale.
“But Your Highness isn’t a concubine, so why are you worried about such things?”
My spine went cold.
Surely… William, what you’re saying now isn’t about me, is it? Please don’t let it be that! I looked at William’s lips with a praying heart, but the words that came from him betrayed my expectations.
“You keep eyeing my Omega!”
What is this supposed to mean…? The moment I heard the words “my Omega,” my mind went blank. Duke Aren was in no different situation. Duke Aren continued speaking haltingly with a pale face.
“Y-Your Highness… the words ‘my Omega’ should not be said to a lower-class Omega. Those are words that should only be said to the companion Omega you will welcome someday. Since you’re still young…”
William looked at both of us with an expression unbefitting a child and chuckled. I couldn’t understand why William was sneering at us. Aren hadn’t said anything wrong, and there was nothing to sneer about, so why was he acting like that?
“Young? Uncle, although I’m only ten years old, I’ve always lived with death before my eyes. How do you think a young child escaped from that death?”
Aren’s complexion grew even paler. Deep sadness emanated from his sigh.
“I’m not as young as you think. Also, I have no intention of taking in a companion Omega who would use my position to gain honor for their family. If the problem with my statement is that Daniel is a lower-class Omega, couldn’t uncle promote Daniel’s status from lower-class Omega to regular Omega? Or how about adopting him as a son of the ducal house?”
A status promotion was already surprising, but adopting him as a son was something to faint from shock over. Aren also seemed not to have thought that far, shaking his head with a bewildered expression while casting anxious glances at me.
Even if I went from lower-class Omega to regular Omega, the trait of being a recessive Omega couldn’t be avoided, so it didn’t seem like much would change.
No matter how great the little one’s possessiveness was, William’s current request was going too far. His possessiveness toward me suddenly exploding like this? What did I do…
I only tried to gain trust to avoid dying. That’s why I worked hard to protect William at the risk of my life. Of course, in the process, I found the beautiful and intelligent William adorable and pitied him in his unfortunate circumstances.
That’s all, but suddenly possessiveness…
Even though he’s young, could it be that he can’t hide his Alpha traits and is chemically reacting unavoidably because I, an Omega, am nearby? Or could it be a childish obsession with the first friend the lonely Prince ever had? Or maybe it’s because of competitiveness toward Kalroy?
Well, in this situation, reasons don’t really matter. Of course, if my status were to rise higher than now, I could handle various matters more easily, but I had no desire to proceed forcefully while shocking everyone in the world.
Instead of the flustered Aren who was at a loss for words, I stepped forward first.
“Your Highness, I learned that a lower-class Omega’s status cannot be changed unless they saved Your Highness’s life or have parents who made great sacrifices for the empire.”
At my words, William smiled meaningfully.
“You saved it.”
“Pardon?”
“You saved my life.”
Wait a moment… when did I save… Ah, are you talking about when I detected the poison in the meal? That really was a close call. If I had been even a little later, the Prince could have died from eating the poison.
“Is that true?”
At Aren’s question, William calmly recounted what had happened. He focused on explaining how Kalroy’s side had been gradually adding medicine to the Prince’s meals, and how they had increased the amount of poison to assassinate William when they felt threatened after the Emperor granted an audience and William’s influence grew.
Watching William speak calmly and methodically about the circumstances, I admired him inwardly. It was composure and logic unbelievable for a young child.
As expected, my eye for kids is perfect!
“So that’s how it was. Then I think I understand why Your Highness thinks of this child specially.”
William smiled brightly and took Aren’s hand. From the side, I could see longing for the young nephew he’d been separated from for so long in Aren’s eyes. What would it feel like to meet family after 10 years?
Seeing that, I began to miss my own family too. How is the original world doing now? Aren’t my parents missing their suddenly disappeared son? Thinking of my innocent and kind parents who used to proudly boast to everyone that their son was a teacher made my heart ache.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
