DSB 43

“You dared to enter a place even I was too frightened to enter.”

Ah, so it was because of that matter. He really is a very beloved husband.

“I heard your condition had been extremely serious afterward.”

“It was not.”

“Haha, but I have ears. Everyone now knows that even in a life-threatening situation, the young madam placed Young Master Yutis first.”

Bron spoke to Lebel with a broad smile. He had not acted to change others’ opinions, yet since they chose to see it that way, he did not bother to correct them.

I only believed what Yutis told me. I did not mean to get hurt, but that was not his intention either.

What displeased him more was what came afterward. Back then and even now, he said he was fine, yet he grew frightened and drew away, and that bothered him.

Lebel stared at Bron as an idea came to mind.

“You asked for a chance to be forgiven. I have a favor to ask.”

“You mean me? Please tell me.”

“Bring Yutis to me.”

He had asked Mahan several times to let him meet Yutis, but Mahan always avoided giving a clear answer. Then he should ask someone else.

Bron looked as if he were ready to do anything, yet the moment he heard Lebel’s words, the color drained from his face.

“…Are you asking me to die?”

Lebel did not know, but every servant in this detached residence did.

They knew that their young master, Yutis, was avoiding Lebel. They also knew that he often lingered near the door like a dog searching for its master.

And whenever Lebel somehow appeared knowing exactly where Yutis was, they saw Yutis escape in bizarre ways more than once.

At this point, he could have let himself get caught, but Yutis persisted in running away.

Bron did not fail to understand Yutis’s feelings.

Among the members of the family, Yutis possessed unusually strong pheromones and had manifested them from childhood. Everyone knew how he changed during rut.

People had fled from him in fear of his monstrous state or had been overwhelmed by his energy and could not face him.

He was better now, but as a child, he had been unable to keep reason and had wounded those he loved without restraint.

Because of that, hardly anyone acted toward him as Lebel did.

Lebel was a dominant omega who had felt Yutis’s pheromones with his whole body, had seen his transformed state, and had been wounded by the hands of that monster.

And moreover, Yutis loved Lebel.

Anyone could tell from his usual behavior. Having hurt someone he loved made his self-loathing even deeper.

That was why Yutis did not know what face to show when Lebel came near. Even if Lebel forgave him, he could not forgive himself.

Bron quietly studied Lebel.

The frown between Lebel’s brows showed that he did not like the situation.

Young Master Yutis, at this rate, you will only make him hate you more.

No, perhaps that had already happened. The young madam seemed completely unconcerned about the matter of the rut, which was strange.

“Do you truly wish to catch Lord Yutis?”

“Yes. I do.”

“I have a good idea. Would you try it?”

When Bron grinned mischievously, Lebel’s eyebrows twitched.

“Bron, do not give the Young Madam strange advice.”

Mahan, who had been watching from behind, stepped in. That smile had looked ominous. Bron sometimes came up with the most ridiculous ideas.

“What strange advice? I am only going to tell him a phrase that works well on Lord Yutis.”

“I will hear it.”

Bron moved close to Lebel and whispered softly in his ear. A burning gaze from somewhere made him lower his voice.

The owner of that gaze was Yutis.

Yutis stood with his arms folded and secretly watched Lebel. His eyes traced Lebel’s body with a worried expression on his face.

His body does not seem fully healed, yet they allowed him to go outside.

Thinking he should go and confront Mark, Yutis frowned when he saw how close Bron stood to Lebel.

“What are they talking about?”

Yutis had avoided Lebel, but he heard about his every move through others. That was why he wondered what Bron was saying.

It could not be something useless?

He already knew that Lebel was searching for him.

He had heard from Mahan several times that Lebel wanted to see him and that he still refused to come out. He also knew that Lebel had gone around looking for him.

But he simply could not lift his head before him.

“I never meant to run away this far.”

At first, he had intended to apologize. He had planned to kneel before Lebel once he recovered his senses and beg for forgiveness.

Yutis closed his eyes. The bloodstains on his hands, the scent of iron, and the bitter taste of blood in his mouth were still vivid in his mind.

When the heat of the rut had faded completely and he regained his senses, he found that he had been craving every part of Lebel, his pheromones, his body, and even his blood.

He also found Lebel lying there in a mess, breathing faintly as if he were neither alive nor dead.

“Ha, I am a beast…”

He covered his face with a trembling hand. He could not forgive himself. Lebel had approached him because he had trusted the vow that he would not hurt him, and he had broken it.

He had known that he could hurt him and he had given in to temptation. He had been lured by the pheromones Lebel released and had gone to him.

It was my fault.

He was the one who pinned him down and took what he wanted. He grabbed his arms and hands when he tried to escape, dug his nails into him, and forced his way through a narrow place.

He had been desperate to cool his body that burned like boiling lava. As time passed, the image of himself during the rut grew clearer.

He is afraid that the monster he is will hurt him again. He’s afraid that Lebel, now knowing his true nature, will speak of that day and call him frightening.

“I did not know I was such a coward.”

Yutis leaned his forehead against the window. The cold air seemed to clear his mind. At the same time, Lebel’s sweet voice that had once called him beautiful still lingered in his ears.

If that voice ever spoke an ending, he would not be able to endure it.

He had done his best to appear gentle and kind so as not to look threatening, but he would not be able to do that anymore. He could no longer imagine a life without Lebel.

If desire consumed him, he would seize Lebel again as he pleased.

Even now, as he caught the scent of his pheromones from afar, the beast within him felt as if it would break loose.

The pheromones of an omega who had just awakened were sweet. If others could also smell them, he would never have allowed Lebel to leave his room.

Even the alphas wandering near him irritated him. He had not known that simply being surrounded by alphas in this place could be so aggravating.

The emotions he felt startled even Yutis himself.

From the very beginning, Lebel had been special. He had sworn never to marry, yet when he met Lebel there, he had fallen in love at first sight.

“They say the words are for my sake, but it would be better to choose them carefully.”

Yutis came out of his thoughts when he heard Lebel’s cold voice.

“But it will work well. The young madam must be very upset because of Lord Yutis’s behavior. How could he leave you alone after spending the rut together?”

Yutis flinched. He knew well that it was not something one should do to a mate who had shared his rut.

“Yes, that was a mistake.”

Yutis lowered his head.

“That is why, if you say these words, Lord Yutis will immediately appear. It is impossible that he dislikes the Young Madam. He actually loves you.”

Yutis glared at him from afar when he heard those words. Since he’s not beside them, he is saying everything he would never dare to say.

“I will not deny that it might be effective.”

At that moment, Yutis’s eyes widened slightly as he met Lebel’s gaze when he looked up.

“But I have no wish to be the one who speaks of divorce first and runs away from the one who ran away from me out of fear.”

“……!”

Yutis’s body moved on its own before he could think.

He opened the window and jumped down, then ran toward Lebel.

He did not even see Bron turning around in surprise at his sudden appearance. Bron quickly hid his astonishment and raised his thumb toward Lebel.

“See? It works.”

Neither Yutis nor Lebel heard him. Yutis asked in a trembling voice.

“A, Are you truly going to divorce me?”

Lebel saw Yutis looking at him with shaking eyes. He looked so pitiful, trembling like someone struck with fear.

“Did you not hear the rest?”

So he had not heard. Or perhaps it was closer to being unable to hear. If he was going to be that restless, why had he run away at all?

Lebel looked from Yutis’s head to his feet.

His lost control over his demonic energy because he was shocked after hearing the word divorce. But his body seemed healthy enough. Ah, no. He had not been sleeping well. His eyes were red.

“I, I was wrong. So please, let’s not divorce. If you divorce me, you will have nowhere to go either. You are not thinking of returning to the imperial city?”

Yutis held Lebel’s hand with trembling fingers that matched his shaking voice.

“Is that all you have to say?”

Yutis looked into Lebel’s eyes for a long moment, then he weakly lowered his gaze.

“I will make sure it never happens again. I am sorry. I hurt you.”

As Yutis tried to release Lebel’s hand helplessly, acknowledging his own guilt, this time Lebel grasped his hand.