Chapter 70
“What did you say?”
For the first time, visible agitation cracked through the Crown Prince’s composure. And at last, a satisfied smirk spread across the woman’s lips. She laughed, cruel and gloating.
“Oh my, you didn’t even know? Our dear Crown Prince, so incompetent that—gah!”
In that instant, the air grew heavy.
“So it really was a heat cycle that day.”
It wasn’t just Arwena who found it hard to breathe.
Everyone’s throat constricted under the crushing weight of Alpha pheromones. Alphas, Omegas, even ordinary people with no secondary traits.
“She’s carrying my child.”
“You think—hahh—you’ll get me to say what you want—just because you’re—ack—!”
“I already got my answer.”
Russell lowered his head and let out a cold, merciless scoff.
“I’ve always known you were a recessive Omega, Arwena von Dietrich. But I never once looked your way. So don’t you dare pin your vile, jealous deeds on me. Don’t twist your sick need to feel superior into some excuse.”
“Cough—hngh, cough!”
“Congratulations. All that’s left for you now is a life of suffering. May you use it to atone — to my mother and to that child.”
It was the moment vengeance, long lost in the dark and chased after, finally reached its end.
And yet that was all. Without a single moment to savor the sweetness of revenge, the Alpha who had lost his destiny moved as if possessed.
To find Marie Alphrose, the pitiful woman who had likely fled the palace in tears, without even hearing the full truth.
* * *
She was carrying his child.
According to the court physician, exposure to the pheromones of an ultra-dominant Alpha likely triggered changes in Marie’s Omega scent glands. The final blow, he said, had been the pheromone-stimulating d**g she’d been made to ingest.
To Russell, the news was not joyful but devastating.
He was the one who had changed her. And Marie…
‘She had been in pain.’
She hadn’t imprinted on him as he did on her. This burning ache was his alone to bear.
That night, the one erased from memory… Russell was certain he had knotted her. Driven by selfish desire, he must have unleashed his pheromones on her like a madman.
In the end, she had to bear even the unwanted half of the imprint.
From now on, Russell, the Alpha, would wither away without being near Marie Alphrose, the Omega. But Marie was not the same.
His life was now held solely in her hands.
If she knew this, would she be relieved? Would she stop running away in fear? Marie, if he told her that he could never harm her, that he could never kill her, would she believe him? No, even before that — if he confessed this feeling, would she believe that?
That he loves her. That she is not the daughter of his enemy in his eyes… but someone he brought to his side from the beginning, making excuses just to keep her close. Would she believe that?
Through the effects of the half imprint, he could feel Marie’s emotions. These wounds, this anguish — they were all hers. She was deeply hurt.
“Go after her. She couldn’t have gone far. Her destination will likely be where her family is. There will be an accomplice, a guide. Follow the Alpha pheromones from the House of Alice.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“Prioritize Marie’s safety above all else. Understood? Do not let a single hair on her head be harmed.”
“Understood!”
But even so, he could not bear to let her go.
As the kingdom’s Crown Prince, Russell knew himself better than anyone.
And he knew that the child, conceived only because she was a dominant Omega, was likely already tormenting its mother’s body, even though it was no larger than a speck.
And the people Arwena had hired were chasing after Marie. Somehow, some way, he had to get her out of that danger…
‘Is that really why? Is that the reason I want to bring Marie back?’
On horseback, Russell clenched his teeth. How was this any different from the cowardly excuses he’d always added before?
‘No.’
Even if he caught up to Marie and stood before her, would anything change if he said something like that? She would be hurt again. They would misunderstand each other again.
‘I…want to bring you back because I want you. I want to hold onto you.’
Marie Alphrose.
‘I liked you from the start. I couldn’t take my eyes off you. You saved me. I love you. I don’t want to let you go. I can’t let you go. So Marie, you can’t leave. You can’t just leave like this without a word.’
His eyes glistened with obsession. He was, after all, a selfish and arrogant prince. He had nothing he couldn’t have, and nothing he had to let go.
So, first, he had to hold onto her. Hold her in front of his eyes. Pour out these feelings, beg for forgiveness, again and again.
‘And if you still want to leave, Marie…’
He would grab her, hold her tight, and kiss her.
‘Decide right here in front of me. You can’t run away.’
Without her, it was certain he would lose his mind. And if she wanted to leave, Marie would have to be the one to kill this Alpha herself.
Otherwise, he would never allow her to run away with some other Alpha bastard.
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.