Chapter 54
7. The Incident
“My lady, just one dance please…”
“Lady Dietrich, we’d like to invite you to the new club we’re opening. Might you find the time to attend?”
“Aligning with the Dietrich Ducal family would truly be an honor beyond measure for our house…”
Arwena brushed aside the usual cascade of questions with her characteristic boldness.
It was frustrating. She had wanted to cross paths with that damned woman at the ball and put her in her place, but since her debut in society, she had vanished without a trace.
At first, she had intended to dismiss her as just another courtesan Russell had brought in, but when she learned her true identity, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Oh my, what a ridiculous coincidence!
‘Then so be it.’
Russell was no man to be toyed with.
‘He brought her along from the start to torment me!’
The truth, uncovered through threatening the manager of the club that handled Omega courtesans, was utterly delicious.
Russell had neither fallen romantically for that poor baroness nor been captivated by her Omega pheromones, which, unlike those of other recessive Omegas, were nothing extraordinary.
‘Alphrose!’
Was this divine intervention? Alphrose. The name was familiar, but she never imagined it was that. Arwena’s lips curled with a cruel smile.
‘The daughter of that servant?’
Alphrose. The false identity forced onto a trembling servant ten years ago — that was what she truly was.
‘If you don’t want to see your wife and daughter die, you’d better cooperate. And all the crimes will fall on you. Isn’t that nice?’
‘Th-then our family won’t survive anyway!’
‘Why not? Just run away. I’ll give you a fake identity and money — just don’t show your face in the capital. Live hidden like a rat. Got it?’
‘I-I might tell His Highness…’
’Oh my, so you’re not afraid of Duke Dietrich? What evidence could you possibly have to accuse me?’
‘……’
’Do as you’re told. It isn’t much. Disguise me as a maid and bring me to the queen and Russell’s fiancée. The one who enters… Yes, it should be your daughter. You’ve snuck her into the palace a few times, haven’t you?’
’H-how am I supposed to do that?’
’Haha! How foolish. Now, tell me — what does your daughter look like? Hair color?’
’P-please, please spare me! Please!’
At that moment, nothing else mattered. Why had Arwena been born a recessive Omega? Why couldn’t she stand beside Russell? She would do anything to have that Alpha boy!
Fortunately, her father treasured his daughter dearly. A single tear, one weak plea, and he would move mountains.
With the family’s full support, Arwena was able to mask her pheromones as those of an ordinary Omega, and her knowledge on the subject had developed remarkably.
That’s when greed took root.
What was so special about Russell’s Omega? He only doted on that fiancée like a little sister. So before anything deeper formed, before affection could take hold, she decided to remove her.
‘If it hurts Russell deeply, all the better.’
A wounded Alpha would never love so easily again. And Arwena was confident she could seduce him with her beauty alone.
‘Now then, who shall we use?’
And just like that, she settled on the former attendant.
Arwena felt no guilt. She had never hesitated to use people, and she certainly wasn’t going to start now. For her goals, no method was off the table.
The incident ten years ago when Count Keighley poisoned the Queen and Russell’s fiancée had, in truth, unfolded like this.
When she heard the twisted tale from the Count himself, driven mad by his unrequited love for the Queen, Arwena’s plan took shape.
I’ll use that man.
Fortunately, Count Keighley had always been the sort to scheme in the shadows, so even if the plot was exposed, the blame would fall exactly where she needed it to.
She approached him, and he moved exactly as she intended — faster, even, and more brazenly.
So when the Count’s treason came to light, everything went according to her design. Every person involved, including the Count himself, was executed.
No witnesses remained.
‘And here I stand now.’
Arwena was no longer a worthless recessive Omega. Stupid Alphas, the moment they inhaled her pheromones, lost control and threw themselves at her like beasts. She’d never accepted a single one, but how laughable it was, watching them worship her like she was a rare dominant Omega, not the anomaly she truly was.
The Crown Prince would be no different. He’d already shown interest when she brought up the topic of enhancers. Once the opportunity came, she’d feed him the Alpha-specific pheromone compound she’d had specially made…
And then he’d become a prisoner — hers alone.
‘Not that I was planning to be quite that honest about it, of course.’
He hadn’t flinched, even after hearing her true intentions. And if she and Russell were to share a future, then there were parts of her thoughts that could be shared within reason.
Arwena hummed a little tune as she turned past a marble column. Following the waiting maid’s lead, she stepped into the carriage bound for her family estate.
“Aha—ha! Hahahaha!”
She burst out laughing, unable to hold it in. That stupid, pitiful girl. She should have stayed gone and run off to some dusty corner of the countryside and rotted in peace.
At ten years old, she hadn’t been that young. And yet she’d still had the gall to reach out for Russell’s hand. Was she truly that brainless?
‘Now then, how best to use this…’
No, removing her would be safer. But if she had to do it, she’d do it in a way that amused her. Something entertaining, something slow. Something that hurt.
Because—
“She had the nerve to displease me.”
Just thinking of the moment Russell nearly walked away to follow that girl made her stomach churn.
Sure, in the end, he’d chosen Arwena. Even in that ballroom, even in that moment. But the hesitation alone was unforgivable.
If she lost his attention again to another pathetic Omega like the one from their childhood…
“I might do something truly awful, Russell. And it would all be because I love you.”
Back then, she’d been too young. She’d sent that girl away gently. But now, Arwena was a seasoned killer.
Alpha and Omega, herself included — weren’t they all just slaves to pheromones? Which only made them easier to use. An Omega in heat could trigger rut in an Alpha. An Alpha in rut could be turned into a beast.
And as for low-grade Omegas, the recessives, if you pushed them hard enough, you could make their hearts rupture and die.
That was how her hands had become so bloodstained.
Experiments always needed subjects, after all. And there had never been a shortage of miserable Omegas without noble status.
“Yes, perfect. I’ll make Russell throw her away with his own hands.”
Arwena smiled brightly. Claiming the courtesan had been brought in for revenge — it was a perfect lie. A wedge she could drive as deep as she wanted.
To Russell, she would be the shameless Omega who dared to use her heat to dream of bearing the Crown Prince’s child. To the girl, he would be the son of her mortal enemy.
Set the stage just right on both ends, and wouldn’t the chaos unfold all too easily?
For a recessive Omega, just a single pill could send their pheromones into overdrive.
“Ahaha… I can’t wait to see it.”
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