#51
Enrique’s first child would become the king to lead Shamier in the future. Growing up as a childhood friend of the precious royal heir would be a considerable advantage for the child’s future. In fact, Kisha had benefited from this and was able to marry Duke Dubain despite some difference in status.
“What are you pondering so seriously? I’m not saying I’ll force you to bring the child. Being separated from your child could be painful for you. There’s plenty of time, so think it over slowly. It’s okay if you refuse.”
“I’ll discuss it with my husband.”
Kisha nodded, leaving the possibility open. Enrique smiled faintly and sipped his tea.
As the two were chatting about various things, the child suddenly threw the cookie it had been sucking on to the floor. Then it abruptly started whining.
“Looks like it’s getting sleepy,” Kisha said, soothing the child. She instructed a servant to call for the wet nurse. Soon, the wet nurse came in, took the child, and withdrew. Watching this, Enrique felt the passage of time anew. To think that the friend he had grown up with since childhood, rolling around and playing together, was now a proper parent… And soon, he would become a parent too.
“I hear the prince has already arrived at the royal palace and is staying there?”
Kisha asked, settling into a more comfortable position after sending the child away. Enrique could sense the probing energy in Kisha’s eyes.
“Now that you’ve become a parent, you’re even choosing your words carefully. Just say what you want to say. Don’t keep reading my face like that.”
Enrique said gruffly, disliking how his friend had changed. At those words, Kisha laughed playfully like in the old days.
“Well, if you insist. So, tell me. You were getting along so well with the prince for a while, why have things suddenly become so cold?”
Despite being away from the capital, she seemed to know everything that had happened in the royal palace in detail. Well, given that all the people of Shamier were paying attention to Enrique’s every move, it wasn’t strange for Kisha to know what was happening in the palace. It wasn’t exactly a secret anyway.
“Just, this distance feels just right,” Enrique said with a nonchalant face. Yet at the same time, he felt a certain dryness. He couldn’t tell where this dryness was coming from. It just felt dry, as if something had withered completely.
Kisha silently took a few sips of tea and then let out a soft sigh. She seemed frustrated.
“Four years is a long time, Enrique. Just because an end is set doesn’t mean you shouldn’t even start. Whether it’s death or separation, all relationships are bound to end someday. If you’re afraid of that and don’t even start, you’ll surely regret it later.”
“… You’ve changed a lot, Kisha. To think you can say such things now.”
Enrique made a bitter remark and changed the subject. But Kisha stared at Enrique and continued speaking.
“If you got along well with the prince even before marriage, given your personality, it clearly means you liked him. I don’t know what happened between you two, but considering your character, the answer is obvious.”
“You’re meddling too much.”
“If you have even the slightest feelings for the prince, don’t push him away unnecessarily. Even if you really divorce after four years, if you want, you can at least be happy until that moment when it ends, can’t you?”
Enrique’s face hardened. An unbearable tightness welled up in his chest. Kisha rose from the sofa and approached. She knelt in front of Enrique and carefully extended her arms.
“What are you doing? Why are you hugging me all of a sudden? Are you suggesting we have an affair?”
Enrique joked while patting Kisha’s back as she embraced him. But it seemed Kisha had no intention of playing along with the joke.
“Thanks to you, my childhood was joyful and brilliant. I’m sufficiently happy now. So Enrique, you must be happy too.”
Enrique swallowed the words he was about to say. He chuckled and patted Kisha’s back.
They giggled for a long time, talking about amusing incidents from their childhood. It was around dusk when Kisha left the reception room.
Left alone in the reception room, Enrique quietly swallowed the cold tea. After a moment of silence, he looked at where Kisha had been sitting and blurted out the words he couldn’t say earlier.
“For one who will become king, achievements are happiness, Kisha.”
Enrique felt his voice was excessively dry. It was fortunate. This level of dryness was just right for now. No, it had to be.
After finishing the remaining work adequately, Enrique went to bed and felt that his bedroom was unusually quiet tonight. Although late winter was retreating and spring was approaching, the air brushing against his skin was too cold.
He needed something very hot. Something hot and scalding that would cling to his skin and hands.
‘Four years is a long time, Enrique. Just because an end is set doesn’t mean you shouldn’t even start. Whether it’s death or separation, all relationships are bound to end someday. If you’re afraid of that and don’t even start, you’ll surely regret it later.’
Kisha’s words kept brushing through his mind endlessly.
Am I really pushing Anture away because I’m afraid of that end?
Enrique repeated this question over and over in his mind. No matter how many times he repeated it, the answer was the same.
Yes. He was concerned about the end. He was afraid of the end.
If these feelings for Anture grew deeper… If they crossed the line that reason could control…
Perhaps he would be happy for four years. He could fully enjoy that happiness. But what about after that? When he had to end things with him… It would be painful exactly as much as it had been happy. No, maybe it would be even more painful.
So he cut off the bud. Before his feelings for Anture could properly grow, before they could form flower buds, he cut them off. And he felt relieved. Rationally thinking, this was right. But…
Enrique stroked the white bed sheet with his hand. Loneliness and emptiness clung to every place his hand touched.
He was just avoiding it, but in fact, he knew. He knew he was waiting for the sound of tapping on the window every night. He knew that when he saw a tall figure approaching while walking in the corridor, he unconsciously expected something. He couldn’t accept himself feeling this way. So he tried to focus even more on work, but his mood and his mouth became unbearably dry.
‘Heat aftereffects.’
Enrique recalled the term Julian had used before.
Yes. Maybe he had developed these heat aftereffects due to the intense sex with an alpha for the first time. If so, there was only one solution. Having sex with another alpha.
Having reached the end of his thoughts, Enrique slowly got up. Alphas were as common as grains of sand in the Shamier royal palace. There was no need to choose a partner specifically. He just needed to go out and grab the first alpha he encountered.
Instead of pulling the cord to call a servant, Enrique got out of bed and put on a thick winter robe over his nightwear. Then he put on shoes barefoot and headed out of the bedroom.
“Your Highness?”
The servant on standby outside the door called out with round eyes.
“No one follow me. That’s an order.”
Enrique spoke firmly to the servants and guard knights and stepped out of his quarters.
A young, unmarried alpha.
Enrique knew exactly where his suitable prey was abundant. Most titled alphas marry early. But most knights without titles tend to marry late. He would infiltrate a secluded spot along the knights’ patrol route and have sex with the first alpha he encountered. They probably wouldn’t refuse, but it didn’t matter if they did. No alpha could resist the pheromones of a superior omega.
Although he had put on a thick robe over his thin nightwear, the late winter night wind penetrating from above and below was very cold. He saw servants flinching when they encountered him in his bedroom robe, but he completely ignored them. Fortunately, being late at night, he didn’t encounter anyone except for the servants on night duty.
Enrique quickened his steps towards the secluded place where knights patrolled. As he left the walking path slightly and entered a secluded area, dark shadows engulfed him. Thinking this would do, Enrique stopped in place and exhaled white breath.
It was pathetic and ridiculous to be wandering around looking for an alpha to have sex with late at night, but he had no choice. Enrique tightly wrapped his robe around himself, unable to bear the cold, and waited for any sign of someone approaching.
How long had he waited like that?
A light began to appear at the far end. Enrique listened to the approaching footsteps along with the light and loosened his grip on the robe. Then he began to release his pheromones, which he always kept tightly controlled.
The approaching light seemed to hesitate. Alphas were always sensitive to omega pheromones. The hesitating light suddenly began to approach quickly. Enrique confirmed that there was only one set of footsteps and raised the corner of his mouth.
“Who’s there in a place like this at this hour of the night?”
The knight who finally approached closely asked in a cautious voice while gripping his sword handle. He raised the lamp in his hand. The light that had been pointing at the ground swept over Enrique’s body and up to his face.
“Your High-ness?”
The knight called out in a surprised voice. It was clear from his voice alone that he was desperately trying to suppress himself to avoid losing his mind to the pheromones.
Enrique examined the knight’s appearance. As befitting a decent alpha, he certainly had a good physique and looks. Enrique smiled faintly and released his pheromones a bit more intensely. He could see the knight’s hand tightening on the sword handle.
