My head was spinning, and my body burned, like I was running a fever. But it was different from the heat cycles that came and went without warning. It felt like I had caught a real fever for the first time in a long while.
As I let out a shallow, heated breath, a cool hand stroked my hair. I didn’t open my eyes, but I could immediately tell whose hand it was.
The familiar scent calmed me. Even if I didn’t want to admit it, his pheromones reassured me. Unlike the nauseating stench that had once shaken me or the pheromones of other Shining, his was undeniably different.
The hand that had been brushing back my sweat-drenched hair withdrew. With heavy eyelids, I forced myself to look up and saw him turning away, about to leave. My arm felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton, but I still managed to reach out and grab the hem of his clothes.
“Don’t go…”
He stopped abruptly and turned to face me. His crimson eyes wavered as if holding back tears, but before long, they curved into the familiar, gentle smile he always wore.
“Are you feeling a little better?”
Drawn by my weak grip, he sat beside me, his expression filled with concern. Honestly, I wasn’t okay at all, but I didn’t want to add to his already heavy worries. So, I slowly nodded.
“How long was I out?”
“Not too long.”
He perched on the edge of the bed and took my hand in his. I hadn’t been fully aware of it earlier, but now, seeing him up close for the first time in nearly a month, I realized how much weight he had lost. He was still beautiful, but…
“I heard you haven’t been eating properly.”
“I had no appetite.”
“Neither did I.”
He smiled faintly and pressed a soft kiss to the back of my hand. The ticklish sensation made me scrunch my brows slightly, but his lips soon withdrew.
“When you’re fully recovered, I have something I want to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Not now. Later.”
His voice was firm, leaving no room for argument. How long did he think it would take for me to get better? I stifled my curiosity and decided to let it go. Eventually, he would tell me.
“I was too late, wasn’t I?”
“……”
“I wanted to come sooner… I’m sorry.”
“I already told you before.”
I cut off the conversation firmly before it could continue. Right now, I just wanted to rest a little longer. My fever was still high, and my breathing was still labored. But he didn’t care and kept talking.
“The District’s Day is approaching soon.”
“…That has nothing to do with me.”
The District’s Day in District 1 had nothing to do with me in the slightest. As an Omega, there was no way I could step outside, swarming with Shining, nor did I have any desire to.
After everything that had happened, the thought of meeting people terrified me. Unlike in District 5, the way people in District 1 looked at me was nothing but pure rejection.
To them, I was nothing more than a filthy Omega who needed to be thrown out beyond the district’s borders. Ironically, if not for the very person who had forcibly brought me here, they wouldn’t even acknowledge me as human.
So how could I possibly stand before them?
“They’re going to announce our engagement then.”
“I never agreed to—ugh.”
He tightened his grip on my hand, cutting me off. A brief pain shot through me, but before I could protest, his thumb gently stroked my palm, soothing me.
“I’m the only one who can protect you in this mansion, Seo-yul. This is the only way.”
“You…”
Tears streamed down his pale cheeks. His expression was so emotionless that I hadn’t even realized he was crying. When I did, the shock left me speechless.
With a long sigh, he pressed his forehead against our joined hands. The tears that had been falling finally stopped, but his face was still twisted in anguish. His lips, which he had been biting down on, parted as he spoke in a trembling voice.
“I never want to see you hurt again.”
“…”
“So please… let me protect you completely.”
Creak. The mattress swayed gently beneath our combined weight. He leaned in.
I knew I should push him away, but my body wouldn’t move.
When the warmth of his lips covered mine, my eyes closed on their own.
Drip.
Tears I thought had stopped fell again. This time, warm from his body heat, only to cool far too quickly.
“Marry me, Seo-yul.”
***
His return had come sooner than expected, completely throwing the plan into disarray.
Not only had they lost the Omega meant to be presented to the District Leader, but amidst the sudden gunfire, one of the elders from the outskirts had been killed.
The remaining elders, their faces pale, quickly fled the scene. They didn’t know exactly who that Omega was, but one thing was clear—they had meddled with something untouchable.
“What the hell happened? Why is Vincent in the mansion?”
“Are you sure you got the right information? Because of the Western Elder, we’re all about to die!”
The moment he stepped outside the mansion, beyond their reach, the elders turned on the Western Elder, pouring their resentment onto him for revealing Vincent Shining’s movements.
“Western Elder! Say something—”
“I don’t know either, so be quiet!”
The Western Elder snapped, clenching his trembling fingers into a fist. His mind drifted to Jeremy, the one who had given him this information.
—Vincent won’t arrive for at least three more days. So why not summon the elders now and make your move?
What Jeremy wanted and what the elders wanted were one and the same—to prevent Vincent Shining from becoming the District Leader.
Jeremy wished to install his twin brother, Joshua, in Vincent’s place, and the elders, in exchange for keeping their positions, had agreed to support his proposal.
So there was no reason for Jeremy to have deliberately fed them false information. There must have been a mistake somewhere. The Western Elder quickly forced his tangled thoughts aside.
“What do we do now? If this keeps up, we’re all as good as dead.”
“Should we beg Vincent for forgiveness? Say it was a mistake, swear we’ll never do it again—maybe he’ll show some mercy?”
“You think Vincent would forgive us just because we grovel? If you don’t want to be shot on the spot, I suggest you keep such foolish ideas to yourself.”
At the Eastern Elder’s grim remark, the others, who had been murmuring in panic, fell silent. No amount of arguing amongst themselves would conjure up a solution. The sheer hopelessness of their predicament was suffocating.
“Why does everyone look so grim?”
Startled by the sudden voice, all the elders turned at once.
Jeremy had emerged from the mansion, greeting them with a casual wave, completely unfazed by their terror-stricken faces.
“Anyone would think you were at a funeral.”
“Lord Jeremy…!”
Like a ray of light piercing the pitch-black sky, Jeremy’s presence ignited a spark of hope in the elders. They had no idea how to escape this disaster, but surely Jeremy would.
Jeremy, seeing their expectant gazes, had to fight hard to suppress a laugh.
They had screwed everything up, yet they expected someone else to clean up their mess? Shameless bastards.
“You told us Vincent wouldn’t be here for another three days! So why—”
“That’s what my informant reported,” Jeremy interrupted swiftly, cutting off the Western Elder’s accusation. “But it looks like Vincent came ahead of the rest. The investigation team is still on their way back to the mansion.”
He had given the Western Elder the correct information—he had just conveniently left out the part where Vincent was traveling alone.
“It was just bad timing.”
Jeremy patted the Western Elder’s shoulder with a look of sympathy. Bad timing? They were about to lose their lives, and that was all he had to say?
“I heard Vincent captured one of Night’s apostles.”
“…So the rumors were true?”
“Yes. Which means his position as the next District Leader is all but guaranteed now.”
Joshua had failed to even catch a glimpse of Night’s stronghold, but Vincent had not only found it—he had captured one of their apostles.
With that, everything had fallen perfectly into place for him.
“That’s why your role is crucial now.”
“Our role?”
There was only one way to overturn this situation before the District’s Day.
They had to spread the word that Vincent was hiding an Omega in the mansion and turn public opinion against him.
Jeremy wanted to handle it himself, but unfortunately, before a Shining officially declared independence, they were bound by the District Leader’s command and couldn’t leave the mansion without permission.
So if this plan was going to work, he needed the elders—those who controlled each district—to make it happen.
“Listen carefully and follow my instructions exactly.”
This was only the beginning.
His color was too faint for him to become the most exalted Shining, but he didn’t care.
He would overturn the district and install a District Leader with his own hands.
