CH 22

“You are underestimating my abilities!”

As Leia, who had never raised her voice before, raised her voice, Carl followed suit with an indignant tone.

“That’s not the case. You know how to use magic, and your horseback riding and swordsmanship are much better than mine!”

Carl bit his lip in frustration.

Going to look for the Royal Seal was not a difficult task in itself. It was not something he had to do alone, but with Heineken’s soldiers in tow.

Carl Lindbergh personally sorted through the noble directory to determine who should be executed and who should be spared.

But examining the directory would not be enough.

He had searched through the accounting books and records that were written over a period of 12 years, one book per year.

He had even attended banquets he didn’t want to attend and mingled with nobles just for this day.

There were various reasons why Carl Lindbergh could not tell Leia to go there…

First, because it was a situation where she would inevitably have to face bloodshed, whether he liked it or not, and he didn’t want to push young Leia into that abyss. Second, was that the present Carl Lindbergh had no qualms about imprisoning the king and queen, as he had the body of Carl Lindbergh but a very different person on the inside.

Lastly,

“I know how much you care about Lindbergh, sister. If I ever make a mistake, please help me plan the next steps. It’s for Lindbergh’s sake.”

It was impossible for Jeon Woo-young, who was not originally from Lindbergh, to have patriotism for Lindbergh in just a few months.

He was the one who started the job with half sympathy and half chivalry, therefore he wanted to take responsibility until the end.

When he thought Leia was Adrian’s partner, he planned to entrust Lindbergh’s vacant throne to a noble of suitable character.

However, he now fully understood what the many political books hidden in Leia’s room meant — that she was an Alpha born with the temperament of an emperor.

And what she was hoping for with her burning thirst.

Carl Lindbergh had to give the position to the person that befitted that position, to the one who wished for Lindbergh’s safety and peace more than anyone else.

Leia Lindbergh, who was frustrated with Carl’s stubbornness, stopped as if she had forgotten how to breathe.

It was because Carl Lindbergh looked at her with compassion and affection, like he was looking at his younger sibling.

It was a gaze that penetrated the loneliness she had deeply hidden inside, who had lived her whole life believing that she didn’t need anyone to rely on, nor was it necessary.

“So, sister, I’ll come back and then return. You know that I don’t know politics or the disciplines of kingship, right? The weight of responsibility that you and I bear is different. So please let me be a real prince for once. Okay?”

Leia, who had kept silent for a while, groaned softly as she touched her forehead.

Since when have you grown up so much?

Since when have you thought of me like that?

Since when?

“If you come back with even a scratch, I won’t forgive you.”

Leia eventually broke into tears.

Carl smiled brightly.

With his innocent smile like that of a young boy that seemed like it wouldn’t change even for a thousand years, Leia was even more at a loss for words.

The years of persecution she had received for being born as a female Alpha in Lindbergh, which held a closed culture, passed like a blur.

〈If only she were an omega. An ordinary woman would have been more useful.〉

〈Unfortunately, she’s a dominant Alpha, so she can’t be sent away to marriage even as a mistress.〉

Those were words she heard every day, like a curse.

The usefulness they spoke of was nothing more than to be valued in marriage, like livestock to be sold on the market.

Her father, a recessive Alpha, feared his daughter.

Her mother, a dominant Omega who had been sold off for marriage, turned her back on her daughter for fear that her glory would fade.

Born a dominant Omega, Carl was a good pawn to keep Heineken in check, but he was also a spoiled brat who felt the need to take anything that belonged to her to feel satisfied.

To the nobles of Lindbergh, dominant Alphas were always a subject of caution.

The mute maid, who stuck to her, carried a myriad of books while being beaten by the other powerful men in the castle.

She learnt to read before she learnt to speak, and quietly worked to build her power behind the scenes.

Leia, afraid that persecution would worsen if she showed her face as a dominant Alpha, suppressed her pheromones and remained silent for nearly five years.

Eventually, she was treated beyond persecution — she was treated like air.

Knowing that the people were sacrificial lambs to greed, she crouched and waited for the unknown future, digging her nails into her palms until they bled to keep herself from crying.

Carl seemed to understand everything, even what Leia didn’t say.

“Don’t worry. Let them get betrayed by their favorite son.”

As Carl promised to imprison them for as long as his sister had suffered and been deprived of her freedom, Leia smiled faintly with tears in her eyes.

Belfry followed Adrian, whose anger had reached the top of his head, thinking that this time Prince Carl Lindbergh was in big trouble.

Why would the prince want to live somewhere else?

When he himself needed Adrian as his mate?

Belfry expected the Crown Prince to find the prince and interrogate him at once, but instead, he retreated to his chambers.

Belfry found himself feeling strangely relieved.

Adrian sat in silence for a long time.

Was he shocked to find out that the person he wanted didn’t want him back and now he was the object of everyone’s admiration?

“Isn’t the prince’s behavior suspicious? Shall we investigate further?”

Belfry asked cautiously, but Adrian only lowered his head.

“Am I not attractive enough?”

Due to the Crown Prince’s absurd question, Belfry lost his grip on the monocle he was polishing.

Picking up the monocle that had landed at the Crown Prince’s feet, Belfry retorted, “Objectively speaking, you are a very attractive person.”

It was not an empty compliment.

Adrian sighed and ran a hand through his sweaty hair.

As if his rising anger had gone down and his uneasiness had evaporated.

Adrian believed in the prince’s change.

Even if it’s acting, it’s not just deception if his acting is that good.

“But why does the prince keep trying to go outside?”

There was no reason why Adrian, far superior in strength and ability, shouldn’t be able to handle him.

However, despite enduring it even though he didn’t want to, Adrian felt like the prince was slipping through his fingers like a grain of sand.

Belfry wondered about that too.

What the prince wanted was too ordinary.

Lindbergh’s honor and his own well-being.

When the Crown Prince came to Lindbergh, it would have been more natural for him to detain him by force or to seduce the Crown Prince as soon as he came to Heineken and get what he wanted by using it as an excuse.

Belfry chuckled, however, because this scenario didn’t fit with his imagination of the present Carl Lindbergh.

“Perhaps he’s seeking different pleasures now that he’s lived such a free-spirited life?”

Adrian’s eyes turned to Belfry.

“Would Carl Lindbergh risk his life just for some mere pleasure?”

The prince who was good at nothing except being a dominant Omega?

“Or perhaps he genuinely seeks Lindbergh’s peace but doesn’t want to mate with you, Your Highness.”

Belfry sighed heavily, putting on his monocle.

It was because the Crown Prince, who was his friend and Lord, was so dejected that his shoulders were hunched over.

“Anyway, the prince is already engaged to you, Your Highness. That is why Heineken is helping Lindbergh.”

Well, we didn’t have to lift a finger and got to swallow the Mochu Mountains, so that’s good enough for me.

Belfry picked up the Crown Prince’s cloak, which had been tossed haphazardly.

“Once you two become a mate, there’s no turning back, and the prince will have to stay by your side forever. So don’t overthink it.”

Adrian slumped onto the bed, drained of energy by Belfry’s words.

Carl Lindbergh staying by his side forever.

It wasn’t a bad future, but something was missing from the way it was happening as if he was just being dragged along.

Of course, it was Adrian himself who had suggested it, but he’d asked for it because he half expected the prince to want it too.

It was a miserable situation for Adrian as well that he would be staying by his side against his will.

It would be nice if there was something more binding between him and Carl Lindbergh.

“To be honest, this situation is also part of the prince’s plan, but it’s an unparalleled opportunity for Heineken, isn’t it? We can get rid of the thorn in our side, the Lindbergh dynasty, and even obtain Magic Stones. It’s also a golden opportunity for Your Highness to acquire a mate you have always wanted.”

Although everything could have been achieved by the efforts of Heineken alone, the fact that the prince intervened means they can now obtain a much more ‘favorable’ outcome, so it’s a good deal.

Belfry gave him high marks for that.

But the Crown Prince did not seem pleased.

“Don’t talk about him like that.”

Adrian said in a stern tone.

Belfry walked toward the Crown Prince with a cold demeanor.

“Your Highness, it’s true that the prince’s condition has improved significantly since last time, but you must still have your doubts.”

Until the end of this matter, that is. Belfry took out his handkerchief and wiped Adrian’s face.

“And you said you didn’t like him.”

Belfry’s words shut Adrian up.

Belfry clicked his tongue, grumbling that he was obsessed with someone he didn’t even like, and muttering that he couldn’t understand how the affairs of an Alpha and Omega work, then turned around and left the room.

When the Crown Prince acted weak like that, Belfry had to be strict.

Even after Belfry left, Adrian continued to lie down and muttered to himself.

“Is it an obsession or is it just an instinct that I can’t help but have because I’m an Alpha and he’s an Omega?”

Adrian’s empty soliloquy echoed in the room.