Chapter 37
She was a beautiful woman. Naturally, every gaze in the room snapped to them at once.
So that’s the courtesan everyone’s been whispering about!
At that moment, someone gave in to curiosity and stepped forward — a young count known to be on friendly terms with the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness! A pleasure to behold the kingdom’s little sun.”
“It’s been a while, Count Vehilly.”
“Indeed, Your Highness. Each time I see your gallant figure, I find myself awed even as a fellow man. But I must say, it has been far too long since you last graced us with your presence at a gathering such as this.”
The count, ever graceful in speech, turned his gaze to the silent woman at the prince’s side. She was beautiful, no doubt. Her figure, too, was exquisite.
But try as he might, she was unmistakably a recessive Omega. The faintness of her pheromones was… disappointing. Still, hiding his reaction behind an overly bright smile, the count went on with practiced charm.
“You’ve no idea how much we missed Your Highness. But… if I may ask, without overstepping, might we be introduced to your companion?”
It was a question dressed in courtesy but heavy with implication. The nobility knew each other’s faces all too well, and hers was not among them.
The Crown Prince did not offer further context. Instead, with casual ease, he rested a hand on the woman’s waist and pulled her close. His manner was unmistakably intimate.
And the woman, remarkably, betrayed not the slightest reaction. Though every eye in the hall had turned to her, she remained composed, her expression a perfect blank. That cool arrogance sent a ripple through the crowd: intrigue in some, indignation in others.
“She is my courtesan.”
Courtesan.
Not my Omega. Not my partner. A word that made her station plain: an Omega kept for pleasure and nothing more. A collective breath of relief swept the hall.
Of course, they thought. It’s just a matter of compatibility. He must’ve taken her in to douse the worst of his heat. Nothing more.
Others were more sharply cynical and wondered if the prince had paraded this girl before them deliberately, a decoy to draw attention while his true bride was chosen in silence.
Whatever the reason, the conclusion was clear: That woman was an obstacle.
Mocking smiles curled on the lips of the noblewomen.
She may have been dressed tastefully enough, but rumor had it she came from some backwoods barony no one had ever heard of. A match for the Crown Prince? Not in this lifetime.
“His Highness doesn’t seem inclined to protect her.”
“She looks like a lamb thrown to the wolves, doesn’t she?”
“Shall we place bets on who’ll be the first to sink their teeth into her pretty little throat?”
“Ah, and I hear Lady Dietrich is attending tonight. Things are about to get interesting.”
The vicious whispers of the nobles floated freely through the hall, sharp and deliberate. Yet the courtesan stood firm, untouched by it all — almost stubbornly so. She was made of sterner stuff, clearly. And perhaps that was precisely what had allowed her to become the Crown Prince’s courtesan in the first place.
Meanwhile, Marie was simply stunned.
‘Really.’
Once upon a time, she’d dreamed of this — drifting beneath the sparkle of chandeliers, adorned in a beautiful gown, arm-in-arm with an Alpha who adored her. A dream from a childhood lost long ago.
‘But now that I’m here, it doesn’t feel so great.’
The only thing seared into her vision was the retreating back of the Crown Prince, who had introduced her as a courtesan and then walked away without a second glance.
A bitter laugh stirred in her chest.
She hadn’t expected anything to begin with, as it was all written clearly in the terms of the contract. But still, affection was a dangerous thing. Somewhere inside, she must’ve hoped for a scrap of warmth.
‘The world was never going to hold your hand. You had to survive it alone.’
Marie straightened her spine. She needed to stay sharp. At any moment, someone might emerge to cut her down with words, and weakness was a luxury she could not afford.
The scent of pheromones thickened in the ballroom — the Alphas and Omegas were testing her, their presence a haze of provocation and challenge. The atmosphere turned predatory and confrontational. For any ordinary recessive Omega, it would have been overwhelming.
Marie hesitated briefly.
‘Should I pretend to cower?’
Play into their expectations? Some of the eyes directed her way were less curious than they were vile. Now that she’d been declared the prince’s courtesan, some evidently thought that meant she was fair game. Foul desires simmered beneath polite expressions, and Alpha pheromones brushed against her skin — her shoulder, her hand, certain areas — with a vulgar lack of subtlety.
‘I could erase it all if I wanted to.’
Marie, being a dominant Omega, could have erased the Alpha pheromones clinging to her skin with ease, so long as they didn’t belong to Russell. But in the eyes of society, she was merely a recessive Omega. She couldn’t afford to reveal the truth.
So she let them linger. Let them touch her.
The Alphas, sensing no resistance, seemed to grow bolder, as if goaded by her stillness to outdo one another.
Then, she felt it — a heavy and unmistakable gaze upon her.
She turned sharply.
It wasn’t her imagination. The Crown Prince was watching her.
From a distance too far for his pheromones to reach, yet his stare landed with weight enough to bruise.
‘It’s as if he’s… grabbing me, like the moment he had me in his arms.’
That same scrutiny. As if chastising her for looking so vulgar, drenched in another Alpha’s scent.
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