Only then could I understand why Behern had gotten angry at the attendants’ words despite it being the coronation ceremony. Rather than for my sake, he was probably worried that now that I was becoming an official concubine, if they spoke carelessly about me, they might face serious consequences from William, so he was trying to make them watch their tongues.
When Behern, who was older and held a high position, glared at them, the attendants who had been insulting me trembled.
I was worried it might lead to a big commotion, but Behern only said one short sentence.
“This person will become an official concubine tomorrow. Watch your words.”
At Behern’s single statement, the attendants’ faces turned pale. I thought I’d feel satisfied seeing that, but I was more concerned about the mention of becoming an official concubine tomorrow.
While male concubines wouldn’t be strange in an Alpha-Omega world, having lived as an elementary school teacher and having to thoroughly hide the fact that I liked men, now that the situation had changed, my mind became complicated.
An official concubine… If I mess up, won’t I be unable to escape even after William becomes Emperor, being held back by this? Surely, that won’t happen, right?
So I decided to shift my thinking away from the fact that I was becoming a concubine, and toward the fact that I could stay by William’s side even though he had become Crown Prince, and that I had to in order to survive.
In the original story, William ascends to the throne as Emperor at twenty, so unless the timing gets twisted, I just need to survive for 10 years.
Anyway, William will eventually have a companion Omega, so his obsession with me will gradually decrease. Thinking this way made me feel much more at ease.
Behern, who had scolded the attendants and returned to his position, smiled at me. I smiled back and turned my attention back to the platform.
As the Emperor placed the crown symbolizing the Crown Prince on William’s head, William pressed his forehead to the floor and kissed the Emperor’s arm.
It was a pledge of loyalty that he would never rebel until he inherited the Emperor’s position, even unto death. When William raised his head, the Emperor spoke words of blessing toward him.
“May the blessing of the Stamili Empire be with William McCurren, who has become Crown Prince today, forever…”
The nobles attending the coronation ceremony and the imperial citizens who had been looking up from the square below the castle all burst into cheers at once.
William slowly rose from his position and waved his hand toward the imperial citizens. The energy emanating from his small body spread not only throughout this place where the coronation was being held, but all the way to the distant area below the castle.
My heart swelled with grandeur as I watched William’s dignified appearance.
***
Dignified, my ass.
As soon as the coronation ceremony ended, William began throwing a tantrum unbecoming of a Crown Prince. The ceremonial robes he had worn at the coronation were so complicated that it would take two or three people working together to remove each piece. But William, having some scheme in mind, stubbornly refused to let even a single ornament be removed.
“Just try touching my body. I won’t let any of you get away with it.”
Behern, unable to watch anymore, stepped forward.
“Your Highness, aren’t the ceremonial robes heavy?”
“Of course they’re heavy.”
“Then why…”
I stood behind Behern with a bewildered feeling, watching William. I couldn’t understand at all why he was acting like this after finishing the coronation ceremony so well.
William glanced at me and said,
“I’d prefer if no one but Danny touches my body.”
I had hoped it wasn’t the case, but that was the reason… I couldn’t understand it. When putting on the ceremonial robes, he had used other people’s hands, not mine, so why did he insist that only my hands should remove them?
Seeing me completely unable to grasp the situation, William looked around and said,
“I’d like everyone except Danny to leave…?”
Just as Behern was about to open his mouth to dissuade him again out of pity for me, William’s eyes widened. Seeing this, Behern retreated while looking at me with sympathy, and all the attendants nearby also withdrew.
Only after confirming with his eyes that the people had disappeared did William approach close to my side.
“Danny… there’s a spy among the attendants.”
I looked at William in shock. A spy? That couldn’t be.
The attendants currently by William’s side were people Duke Aren had carefully selected after thorough consideration. He had been so thorough that he even carefully vetted the attendants who had served during William’s time as Prince. He was so meticulous that he would immediately dismiss anyone with even the slightest connection to Kalroy or Kelton. I couldn’t believe there was a spy.
As if reading my mind, William made a complicated expression.
“I can understand why you’d find it hard to believe. The attendants were selected under Duke Aren’s management… That’s why I’m confused too. Who could it be?”
From William’s expression, it didn’t seem like he was joking. I tried to calm my mind and then asked him,
“Your Highness, if we’re to find out who’s behind this, you need to tell me why you think there’s a spy.”
As I spoke, a problem suddenly occurred to me.
“Then why on earth did you send Behern away? It might take ten hours to remove this outfit by myself!”
William looked at me and grinned. Just moments before, he had looked frightened, but when I asked why he sent Behern away, he grinned suspiciously.
“Don’t tell me… you even suspect Behern?”
“Puhaha!”
Suddenly William began laughing so hard he was holding his stomach. He had laughed like this occasionally when I told him funny old stories, but this was the first time he acted like this in the middle of a serious conversation, so I was bewildered.
If he didn’t suspect Behern, then why did he send him away? And why was he laughing so hard when I asked about it!
William linked his arm with mine and lowered his head. When his hot breath touched my ear, it tickled.
“I wanted to be alone with you. We haven’t had time to talk together lately.”
“…But you said it was because of a spy.”
William moved his lips away from my ear and looked at me with a sly smile. Then he immediately hardened his expression and pretended to look pitiful.
“Danny… think about it. I’ve been living in danger, never knowing when I might die. So it’s right that I should be careful anywhere, anytime.”
“So you just have a feeling there might be a spy?”
William nodded with a shameless expression. It was clear that all his talk about spies was because he wanted to spend a long time alone together.
That thought was cute… no, it wasn’t cute, I wanted to give him a real flick on the forehead if I could.
Making my heart race like this when my life depends on his safety…
After taking a moment to catch my breath, I began removing the ornaments one by one. Perhaps because he was tired, William’s eyes slowly closed each time my hand passed by. Watching his long eyelashes create shadows, I found him beautiful once again. It wasn’t like it was news that William was beautiful, but why did he look beautiful every time I saw him? I was gradually becoming enchanted.
Just as I was removing the last ornament attached to his chest, William’s eyes snapped open.
“Eek! W-weren’t you sleeping?”
“Why are you so surprised? Is there something you feel guilty about?”
“N-no! What would I feel guilty about? I just thought you were sleeping, but then you suddenly opened your eyes.”
At my words, William smiled slyly again.
“Please spread your arms. I’ll start removing your outer robe.”
“Okay!”
I quickly moved behind William to cool my flushed face. Not only had I been caught staring at the kid’s face, but my face had gotten this hot… I felt ashamed as an educator. So I decided to change the subject.
“Your Highness, please be honest. You thinking there might be a spy was a misunderstanding, wasn’t it?”
It was worth confirming twice. William answered immediately without hesitation.
“Yes! When I thought about it calmly, it seems like it was a misunderstanding.”
“Yes… so you misunderstood. Well, what can we do? I have no choice but to struggle to remove the ceremonial robes by myself…”
William’s shoulders trembled as he asked,
“Is it difficult?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Think about it. To remove Your Highness’s ceremonial robes when you’re taller and bigger than me, I have to raise my hands higher and go back and forth here and there. Plus, the ceremonial robes are quite complicated.”
“Ah… I didn’t think of that. Then stop undressing me and come here.”
In an instant, my waist was grabbed and I ended up sitting on William’s lap. I tried to get up again, but the hand holding my waist was gripping with such force that I couldn’t escape at all.
“Let’s stay like this for a moment. We’ve really been busy. We didn’t even have time to talk properly!”
“But we slept in the same bed…”
Before I could finish speaking, William caught onto my words and continued,
“We did sleep! Whether I was there or not, you’d snore away as soon as your head hit the pillow. I’ve never seen a concubine who sleeps so well in front of someone who’s about to become Crown Prince!”
His sulky, pouty voice as he grumbled was so cute that I felt like teasing him more.
Sigh… a teacher shouldn’t play such childish pranks…
Had my mind become younger because my body had become younger? I couldn’t resist the urge to tease him.
“There’s no competition from other concubines, and there’s no Crown Princess either, so what do I need to be mindful of? Don’t you think so?”
When I asked with a sly smile, William huffed.
“Danny, if you want attention, are you telling me to bring in other Omegas? I can’t do that.”
“Why not? You should get a companion Omega and have many concubines to secure your succession!”
“Nonsense!”
His voice was so loud I thought my eardrums would burst. William was reacting exactly as I had expected, and he was so cute I could barely hold back my laughter.
“Please let me go. Even if I start undressing you now, I might not finish before dinner…”
“I told you. Let’s just stay like this for a moment…”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
