He didn’t know how long he’d been sitting there, holding the creature in his arms inside the bath. Until the water that had once steamed grew lukewarm, then finally cooled to cold, Mihail neither let go of him nor spoke a single word. The aftershock of that intense tremor felt as though it might last a lifetime.
He probably could have stayed that way for days. If only the water hadn’t gone cold, lowering the creature’s body temperature until he began to shiver violently. Perhaps he’d been enduring it silently, because when Mihail finally came to his senses, the creature’s face was deathly pale, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.
“If you’re cold, you should say you’re cold. Idiot.”
Mihail stood up abruptly, still holding him, and stepped out of the bath. When he set him down on the floor beside the tub, the creature wobbled, nearly collapsing, and Mihail caught him upright before stripping off his wet clothes. But the fabric, soaked through and clinging stubbornly to his body, wouldn’t come off easily. Mihail grabbed the clothing and tore it straight down both sides, tossing the shredded fabric back into the tub.
“Hk!”
Reduced to nakedness in an instant, the creature shrieked awkwardly and crouched down in a panic.
“What is there on that scrawny body of yours to even bother covering up?”
Mihail sneered verbally, but his eyes had already swept over the briefly revealed naked body, licking it greedily.
Because the creature was so small and compact, the cloth Mihail usually used to dry himself was large enough to wrap around him several times, cocooning him like a chrysalis. Mihail did exactly that, rolling him up willingly and setting him down in front of the fireplace. The creature struggled at first, but as soon as the warmth from the fire reached him, he quickly went still.
Mihail called the servants to clear away the bath, dried himself, dressed, and then approached the fireplace. By then, the creature was dozing off, lulled by the warmth, his head nodding repeatedly. Despite what had just happened moments ago, he seemed to fall asleep easily enough, and Mihail let out a dry, incredulous laugh.
“…Your Grace?”
The small laugh must have woken him, because the creature called out softly. Wrapped up completely, he couldn’t even move his arms, and he squirmed slightly as if trying to free them. Instead of pulling his arms out, Mihail lifted the small body and set him on his lap. The brown hair that had been wet earlier was now almost dry from the fire’s heat, returning to its usual rough, fluffy, mangy-dog state.
Mihail reached out again and brushed back the hair that covered nearly half the creature’s face. Perhaps because he’d already shown his face once, there was little resistance this time. He only turned his head slightly away, avoiding Mihail’s gaze, his expression hovering between tears and restraint.
Unlike earlier, when he’d seen the creature’s face without any mental preparation, Mihail could now look at him more calmly. Above the tiny, white chin that was usually all he ever saw, the full face revealed itself—pale, small, clear, and lovely.
How should he describe it? He simply couldn’t take his eyes off him. He didn’t want to. It wasn’t just a matter of being pretty or beautiful. Perhaps—no, certainly—there were many people more beautiful than this creature. Even Nile, who stayed in the castle, possessed striking looks. But this wasn’t about outward beauty. It couldn’t be explained in words. It just… was. Simply that.
“I understand why Nile did what he did to you.”
The moment Mihail spoke, the creature’s downcast eyes lit up instantly.
“Yes. Lord Nile did it to protect me. He always did. Always.”
The creature’s trust in Nile seemed nearly boundless.
Now that he’d seen the creature’s face, Mihail couldn’t help but acknowledge part of what Nile had claimed—about trying to protect him. A child born of a forbidden union between a beta and an omega. The beta father was likely dead in a miserable way, and the omega would not have fared well either.
The fate of the child born in between hinged on a single word from the alpha who possessed the omega. Even if the child were a beta, with looks like this, he’d have been perfect for selling—whether to a brothel or to a noble. Especially if his face had been discovered while staying under Marquis Lucius’s roof, a family reviled as imperial slave traders—he would have been sold off somewhere without fail.
“If it was just about protecting you, hiding your appearance would’ve been enough. There was no need to dress you in rags, starve you, and beat you while keeping you around like a slave.”
“Lord Nile never starved me. And the beatings… that only happened when I did something wrong. He was afraid I’d make a mistake and be discovered. Afraid we’d be separated. That’s why he did it.”
Watching the creature, wrapped up like a chrysalis, still defending Nile made Mihail feel decidedly displeased.
“Are you stupid, or do you just want to believe that?”
“……”
At Mihail’s question, the creature fell silent.
He acted timid, fearful, and foolish at every turn, but Mihail already knew how the creature had evaded his pursuit. He knew how to move cautiously and discreetly, how to be sly and cunning when needed. The creature wasn’t stupid.
Mihail ruffled the creature’s rough, unhealthy hair roughly. It clearly had the texture of a malnourished mutt or a broom, yet the gritty feel in his hand wasn’t unpleasant. Stirring it up released the creature’s distinctive bitter herbal scent even more strongly.
“Is this what you look like because you dye your hair?”
Mihail buried his nose into the creature’s hair and inhaled. The scent was so strong it left a bitter taste in his mouth, numbing part of his sense of smell. And yet, it wasn’t bad. It was a smell he always associated with the creature—almost like his natural scent.
“…Yeees—.”
The creature dragged out the end of his reply. When Mihail tilted his chin up, his eyes fluttered half-shut; he was clearly sleepy. After all, he’d been tense for a long time, suddenly revealed his face, shivered in cold water, then warmed himself by the fire—sleep was inevitable.
Holding his chin up, Mihail drank in the sight of those violet eyes reflecting the firelight, the golden lashes resting lightly above them. That dull brown hair should have been the same beautiful blond as those lashes. If he hadn’t dyed it with harsh herbs, his hair would surely have been just as soft and glossy.
“Nile must’ve worked hard to hide you.”
Thinking this a compliment of sorts toward Nile, Mihail watched as the creature nodded earnestly, even in his drowsy state.
“Yes. Because of me, he was always careful, always worried, always paying attention.”
Once again, his words overflowed with trust in Nile. Believing that Mihail had begun to see Nile in a favorable light, the creature cautiously added another thought.
“So please, Your Grace, don’t misunderstand Lord Nile… and… and p-please be kind t—”
He cut himself off mid-sentence, sensing the change in Mihail’s gaze with uncanny precision. As expected, he wasn’t foolish at all. On the contrary, he was sharp and perceptive.
“…Um… would it be alright if I went to see Lord Nile briefly, only when I’ve finished my work and have some free time?”
He asked carefully, then hurried to add,
“I’ll definitely finish all my work first, and only go quickly if there’s time.”
It was right after confirming that, in his own way, Nile had indeed protected the creature. Saying no in front of someone who held such deep trust and gratitude toward Nile felt ill-timed. No—was Mihail Castiya even the kind of man who cared about such timing? He was someone who would curse even before the emperor if he felt like it. And yet, in front of this creature, he couldn’t. More than that—he was increasingly unable to.
“I just want to reassure him sometimes, so he won’t worry.”
That was the final blow. Looking up with those pleading, luminous violet eyes, the creature appealed to him so earnestly that Mihail felt less like he was being pleaded with and more like he was being pressured. It was absurd.
“…Fine.”
Having finally dragged a positive answer out of him, the creature smiled brightly for the first time. The way he lifted the corners of his mouth, eyes curving as he smiled openly, made Mihail’s breath catch. He pulled the creature tightly into his arms. The bitter herbal scent spreading from him wrapped around Mihail like a female’s pheromones calling males in.
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
The creature whispered softly while being held tightly. Even receiving a declaration of surrender from the emperor wouldn’t have brought Mihail more joy than that gratitude.
The first time he’d found the creature in his study. Tracking the traces, chasing him down, and finally capturing him. The question of what he was supposed to do with this worthless little thing once he caught him had now vanished completely. The exhilaration and triumph of hunting down and felling a strong, beautiful prey. The satisfaction of slitting its throat, tearing out its liver, and sating hunger and thirst.
What he’d gained from hunting this creature was something entirely different. This hunt—this reason for hunting him—was to have him like this. To wrap him up tightly, hold him close, breathe in his scent, look into his eyes, look at his face….
Crackle.
The sound of burning wood came from the fireplace. Lowering his gaze, Mihail saw that the creature wrapped tightly in his arms like a chrysalis had fallen asleep at some point, lips slightly parted as he breathed softly.
“I can’t tell if you’re brave or reckless.”
Mihail muttered quietly and climbed onto the bed, lying down with the creature still in his arms. Sensitive as the creature was, he must have been utterly exhausted—he didn’t wake even once as Mihail lay down holding him tightly. Mihail closed his eyes, arms wrapped firmly around the small body. Something felt different. Very different.
A sense that some part of himself he’d never realized was lacking had been completely filled. A sense that something he hadn’t even known was gone had returned. A sense of being utterly, perfectly complete. It was a feeling impossible to express in words.
Burying his nose in the creature’s rough hair, inhaling that subtly addictive bitter herbal scent, feeling the body in his arms, Mihail spent a long time contemplating that strange, perfect sense of fulfillment. It felt like there should be a word for it—something that fit exactly. It hovered on the edge of his mind.
Perfect. Complete. Whole…. None of those words were enough.
After a long time searching for the right term, Mihail let out a faint snort of laughter and murmured,
“Mine.”
That was it. No matter what words you tried to attach to it in the end, it all came down to that.
Mine.
