Chapter 33
Less than a week later, Mikhail was able to arrive at the Ice Lake of exile.
The caretaker was startled by the unexpected guest, but Mikhail quickly explained that he had been dispatched as part of a secret investigation by a high-ranking member of the Imperial Family, and that he would be visiting once a month from now on. He told them there was no need to report this to His Majesty.
As a bonus, Mikhail discreetly handed over a small portion of the vast wealth he’d inherited in advance from the Emperor as a bribe.
At first, the caretaker and his wife seemed a bit suspicious, but since the Imperial Family consisted of more than just the Emperor, they took it as the command of someone like the Crown Prince or Empress—someone far beyond their reach—and quietly kept their mouths shut.
“My master will be dispatched here regularly from now on, so I think I’ll be able to visit about once a month as well. Ah, Duke, it might be a little inconvenient for you, but…”
When Mikhail, looking quite pleased, delivered this news to the Duke, who was just as surprised, Marcel felt somewhat relieved.
The emotion in the Duke’s eyes was not just welcome but mixed with a clear sense of burden as well.
If this extremely dangerous relationship was nothing more than the one-sided infatuation of a young prince, then so be it.
There was a reason Marcel was so certain. He’d misread the situation enough times to know.
The prince was still a fledgling who hadn’t even gone through rut once. He was bound to grow, but he was already as tall as most adult men, so it would start soon enough. For now, it might not seem like a big deal, but once he experienced arousal as an alpha, he’d realize firsthand just how unpleasant another alpha’s pheromones could be.
Even if the prince became infatuated with the Duke, Marcel predicted the Duke would feel uncomfortable and push him away.
‘He’ll want to throw up, honestly.’
Having worked in environments crawling with alphas, Marcel knew just how revolting it could be.
He wasn’t about to spout nonsense about the laws of nature or the will of the gods, about how alphas were only supposed to pair with omegas. No, it was simply that, physiologically, alphas were designed to find the scent of other alphas disgusting.
In any case, the Duke didn’t have long to live. At best, just a few more years.
The best course was to act as their ‘hidden supporter’ for the time being, pretending to cheer them on, and just wait for the Duke to die.
To the Emperor, Marcel reported that the prince seemed to be suffering from homesickness.
He explained that since Mikhail had spent his life roaming freely with a mercenary band, forcing him to stay cooped up in the Imperial Palace would only worsen his symptoms.
Eventually, the Emperor agreed to let the prince keep his official residence at the palace but allowed him to leave and travel around the country freely a few times a month.
‘How did I end up in this situation…’
It was a sigh-worthy predicament, but it wasn’t as if there was nothing in it for Marcel.
The prince had never cared at all for material things.
From the mountain of wealth Mikhail owned as a member of the imperial family—which would have just gathered dust anyway—Marcel quietly received a portion as a reward, and with it, managed to buy a house where all his family could live together.
‘Is this really right, honestly.’
Thanks to that, even though it was a bit out of the way, Marcel’s family, who had been scattered and living off others, was finally able to settle down and live together.
Still, Marcel’s hair loss only accelerated, and before long, the back of his head felt a little barer.
‘I just don’t know anymore.’
Marcel looked at the prince, wagging his tail like a dog (in both senses) in front of the Duke, and let out a sigh, as if gazing at a distant mountain.
***
‘The snow’s really piled up.’
The winter in Frigid was long.
Not only was it geographically inevitable, being a territory in the northern part of the continent, but because there was little to do but warm up indoors, the season felt even longer.
As always, Hyun awoke early in the morning and looked out at the snow piled up beyond the window before rising from bed.
In the white scenery beyond the bars, a familiar head was already bustling about, starting the day early.
‘Up so early again…’
Misha, the strange guest who visited the place of exile once a month with his master, the investigator.
Seeing Misha, dressed lightly and tidying up the garden paths as if the cold didn’t bother him, Hyun knocked on the window to stop him.
Knock, knock—
If he tapped on the window with the back of his hand, it was their silent signal for Misha to drop what he was doing and come to Hyun.
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