The next day, William called Aren to his office. As soon as Aren opened the door and entered, he looked at both of us with strange eyes. I had an intuition at that moment. Behern had told Aren everything he had seen and heard.
Feeling embarrassed, I was looking somewhere other than at Aren.
“Your Highness, did you sleep comfortably?”
“Well, thanks to Daniel, I slept well. I’m in good condition.”
When William smiled brightly and spoke, Aren asked with a troubled face.
“L-last night, you mean you slept in the same bed?”
“Wouldn’t that be natural?”
William poured out words that could be misunderstood, not caring about Aren’s bewilderment.
Ah, William… there was no need to say such things even to Aren.
The more William spoke word by word, the more Aren’s face, listening to those words, gradually turned pale. It was an expression of not being able to accept his young nephew’s words.
I could fully understand Aren’s feelings too. No matter how much he was a prince, it was natural to be dumbfounded when a child who was only ten years old was talking about sleeping together and bedchamber services.
At this rate, I won’t even be able to bring up Kalroy’s matter?
Listening to the two men’s precarious conversation beside William, I sighed inwardly.
“Danny, Aren seems not to believe it, so you tell him. That I didn’t make you a Regular Omega for nothing.”
Snapping to attention at William’s words, I looked at Aren with a troubled face. I wanted to tell him that the bedchamber service William was talking about was telling Eastern bedtime stories, but I instinctively felt that if I did that, I would become tired from being tormented by William. So I had no choice but to smile awkwardly and nod.
“Haha, well that’s… Your Highness, isn’t it too early? It wouldn’t be too late to do it after you become Crown Prince.”
William answered with an evil smile.
“I know that Lord Aren is also a Dominant Alpha.”
“Pardon? What are you suddenly talking about…”
“If you really don’t know, I’m suspicious whether Uncle is really an Alpha. I’m becoming ashamed that I inherited Uncle’s blood.”
Now even I couldn’t distinguish whether William’s words were serious or joking. Why is he suddenly saying such things? I had been inwardly hoping we would move on to talk about Kalroy, so William’s behavior was just frustrating.
The moment I thought that, William suddenly pointed at me. Aren’s gaze turned toward me. Having suddenly received the gazes of two Alphas, I felt my body shrink even though I hadn’t sensed any pheromones.
“Look carefully. William’s status is Lower-class Omega. But can’t you feel something different? Everyone ignores him because he’s a Lower-class Omega, but if you look closely, his traits are…”
Aren said with a troubled expression.
“Then Your Highness, may I be a bit rude?”
“I don’t like it, but since you’re my uncle, I’ll let you this once.”
Aren, with an expression of not wanting to, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After a moment, Aren’s pupils, who opened his eyes wide, shook greatly.
“Now you understand.”
Aren nodded seriously.
“Certainly Daniel is unusual. A Lower-class Omega but with Superior traits…”
…What?
Hearing those words, I had no choice but to doubt my ears. The color had completely drained from my face reflected in the glass window on the opposite side.
I had never even imagined that I might be a Superior Omega. That was because in the original work, Daniel Lambert was a Lower-class Omega and a Recessive Omega. Just a supporting character who would eventually die from being scented by William.
No, even aside from the original work’s content, the probability of a Superior Omega emerging from among the Empire’s Lower-class Omegas was extremely rare.
I couldn’t understand why William and Kalroy kept obsessing over me, a Lower-class Omega… Could it all be because I’m a Superior Omega? But even so, there are many Superior Omegas among the nobility too? I couldn’t understand any of it.
“Superior, you say. Superior! Even if he’s a Lower-class Omega, if he’s Superior, a Crown Prince could be born from his body!”
“A-a Crown Prince, Your Highness!”
Aren and I were so shocked that we couldn’t continue speaking with our eyes wide open.
“Am I wrong, Uncle?”
“It’s not wrong, but…”
The more William spoke, the more my head hurt. That was because I couldn’t fathom William’s intentions at all. Pregnancy was a profound topic for a ten-year-old child to discuss. If other people saw him easily talking about such things, they would think, ‘He’s still young so he thinks lightly about having children,’ and let it pass.
But from what I had observed closely, William was young but not someone who would act lightly enough to casually mention bedchambers and pregnancy.
Then there must be another reason for him to speak as if showing off his sleeping arrangements with me.
“Your Highness is going to become Crown Prince now. You must be even more careful about your conduct and must not leave any stains…”
Before Aren could finish speaking, William responded fiercely.
“Didn’t my grandfather, the previous Emperor Lukeum McCurren, also make his son from a Regular Omega who stayed by his side during his Crown Prince days into the Crown Prince? That person is the current Emperor His Majesty. Am I wrong?”
I got goosebumps. Only then could I grasp William’s intention. Just as Kalroy’s Companion Omega was already decided, if William became Crown Prince, a Companion Omega would be decided not long after. Then he wouldn’t be able to freely stay in the same room with a Regular Omega like now. When I was a Lower-class Omega with Recessive traits, the possibility of pregnancy was also low, so there was no problem with staying by his side, but if I’m a Regular Omega with Superior traits, that changes things.
Whoever became the Companion Omega would definitely try to separate me from William. That was the exclusive right of a Companion Omega.
This was a protocol meant to prevent unnecessary power struggles and conflicts in the palace by having the Crown Prince’s children only from the Companion Omega. But just as human affairs don’t go according to protocol, countless Emperors of the Stamili Empire hadn’t had children only from their Companion Omegas. The result was the current Emperor, and since William also wasn’t a child of a Companion Omega, it was natural that Aren had nothing to say.
The puzzle was gradually coming together.
William was doing this out of greed to hear bedtime stories every night even after becoming Crown Prince. It was a cute, childlike reason, but thinking that a ten-year-old kid had calculated all this process in his head beforehand made my spine tingle, making me think that the seed to become Emperor was something special.
“Haha, I can’t possibly match Your Highness’s eloquence.”
William proudly puffed out his chest. He seemed pleased that his words had worked. When he acts like that, he’s just like a little child…
“That aside, Your Highness, now that all opposition factions have been purged, we can no longer delay Your Highness’s Crown Prince investiture ceremony. His Majesty called me yesterday and ordered me to discuss it.”
Seeing talk of the Crown Prince investiture ceremony come up, it seemed Kalroy would finally be dealt with.
“So what did you decide? The fact that Uncle is bringing this up to me must mean the discussion is finished.”
“Your perception is sharp as always. We judged it would be best to cut off buds that might become threats later. If Your Highness gives permission, we’ve agreed to deal with Kalroy immediately.”
The smile completely disappeared from William’s face. His posture of leaning back in his chair with arms crossed exuded the dignity of someone who had already become Crown Prince. My heart began beating frantically. Whether Kalroy lived or died would be determined by William’s answer now. I believed in kind William’s heart, but I was still anxious.
After a while, William’s lips finally opened.
“Would Uncle prefer that I remain in the Empire’s people’s memory as a heartless Crown Prince who cruelly killed his own brother and stole that position?”
Aren seemed flustered and couldn’t say anything.
“When I think of Kalroy, I get so angry I could chew him up and it still wouldn’t be satisfying. But what can I do? The Empire’s people will believe I lived well and ate well in the Imperial Palace, and will only think poor Kalroy who was pushed out of the Crown Prince position is pitiful. Do you think I’ll stand for that sight? Ha! Not a chance!”
I looked at William and just blinked.
William, who until last night when I told him the tiger story had shown no interest in the Empire’s people or history, was saying exactly what I had told him to Aren. If I hadn’t seen William’s appearance yesterday, even I might have been fooled into thinking he truly believed that.
Aren also seemed displeased but partially agreed, nodding his head.
“But Your Highness, don’t rely on immediate reputation and look to the future. It’s better to cut off the buds of future troubles early.”
William rubbed his chin and answered maturely.
“Certainly you’re right. I should look to the future. So I thought even further into the future. History! I will be recorded in the Stamili Empire’s history as a magnanimous Crown Prince who took pity on his young brother and didn’t shed blood from his own flesh and blood.”
Aren let out a deep sigh. A strange tension flowed between the two. Standing next to William and watching both of them, I was dying. I felt like I had to save Kalroy somehow, but I thought the process wouldn’t be smooth.
One second flowed like eternity. During that time, neither William nor Aren opened their mouths first. When I was getting tired from the helplessly flowing time, Aren knocked on the table with a ‘thud!’ and said.
“Very well! Following Your Highness’s will, let’s send Kalroy as an envoy to the Ohariko Empire.”
Ohariko Empire? Was there such a country in the original work?
As I tilted my head at hearing an unfamiliar country name, an information window appeared before my eyes for the first time in a while.
[Ohariko Empire – Made a peace treaty after fighting a great war with the Stamili Empire 100 years ago. As proof of the peace treaty, they send a member of the royal family as an envoy once a year, but it’s called an envoy in name only—it’s no different from a hostage.]
So they were going to send him as a hostage.
Rather than executing Kalroy or sending him into exile, sending him as an envoy would allow him to maintain his royal status and live more comfortably than staying here, so it would be better for him.
However, the bad feeling I had was probably because Aren had agreed to William’s words too readily.
There must be some other scheme…
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
