DSB 47

Yutis, who had been consumed by the rut and had changed in appearance, was beyond even Edmund’s control. Into the bedchamber of that beast had stepped an omega who released a fragrant scent.

It would be fortunate if he did not devour his prey whole. Edmund had no wish to clean up a corpse.

So Damian opened the door with Edmund. The room was already thick with the pheromones of a dominant alpha and an omega, and they saw the two bodies tangled together.

Lebel lay unconscious in the arms of the monstrous Yutis, and Damian knew that it was already too late.

When the startled Edmund tried to check Lebel’s condition, Yutis grew agitated. He pulled Lebel tighter into his embrace, and in the process new wounds appeared on Lebel’s body.

Whether alpha or omega, anyone who approached was met with a snarl as Yutis clutched Lebel more closely, as if he would not allow anyone else to see him.

They could not provoke him further and had no choice but to withdraw quietly from the room.

In the end, everyone could only wait for the rut to end.

Then, the door that seemed it would be closed forever finally opened.

As soon as they heard the news, the two of them went to Yutis’s room.

What they saw was a worse state than before. Lebel, in Yutis’s arms, bled without moving.

His pale face looked almost lifeless. But Yutis’s face was just as pale.

He trembled as if gripped by severe cold, and he held Lebel tightly in his arms.

During the rut, he had held him out of desire. Afterward, he held him out of fear that a god might take him away if he let go.

Everyone present had thought Lebel was dead.

“I cannot tell if you are calm or just foolish.”

“I have heard often that I am calm, but this is the first time anyone has called me foolish.”

“That kind of calmness is actually more like… no, never mind.”

If he could not even understand how serious his own condition had been, then foolish was right.

Damian had expected Lebel to come much sooner. More precisely, he had thought Lebel might say he could no longer stay here and would return to the Empire.

But Lebel had remained.

“…Thank you. Thanks to you, Yutis has found much stability.”

“Hmm.”

Lebel thought of Yutis.

Had Yutis really found stability because of him? It seemed more like he had caused Yutis more distress instead.

Lebel laughed as he recalled the confession that had taken place only a few days earlier.

“By the way, why are you here? Where did you leave Yutis? I heard lately that he never leaves your side.”

“We are not always together.”

Damian squinted at him.

Not always, he says.

Yutis had been seen carrying Lebel around carefully, as if he might break if touched or vanish if dropped. Everyone in the residence knew that much.

“He said he had a small errand to see to. More than that, is Father-in-law not here? I planned to greet him while I was here.”

Damian felt his head ache because he did not know where to begin correcting him.

“If Yutis finds out you are gone, he will worry.”

Yutis’s fussing had spread through the entire residence. If he learned that Lebel was here, he would immediately come running.

“It is fine.”

Demian sighed.

“So you came here not only to greet Edmund, I suppose?”

“There is another reason. I realized that as Yutis’s spouse, I have done nothing.”

Damian’s brow twitched.

So now he cares?

He had scolded Lebel after the marriage, telling him to behave properly as a spouse, but nothing had changed.

After that, Lebel had lived idly while Yutis fussed over him. Though Yutis’s constant attention had enabled it, Lebel had gone along willingly.

“What made you change so suddenly?”

The only event in recent memory had been the rut. And getting through it safely had already been a remarkable act for a spouse.

Was he now looking for another role, since he could no longer help with the rut?

When he first came, Lebel had spoken lightly of spending the rut with Yutis, saying it was no big matter. Perhaps after nearly dying from the experience, he had realized otherwise.

…Though he did not look like someone who had.

Damian scrutinized him.

“My husband is endearingly affectionate toward me, I should return that much at least.”

“…What?”

The unexpected words surprised Damian.

“When I think about it, Yutis gave me much assurance, yet I have not given him even one. He does not believe words, so I will have to show it through actions.”

Lebel’s thinking was simple.

Since Yutis did not believe when he said he was special, he would prove it by his actions.

Yutis seemed to worry about their bond being merely contractual, but he did not seem to understand how meaningful that bond already was.

Contracts are greatly important to demons. They never spoke carelessly or gave assurance lightly. He didn’t even say ‘maybe,’ he went and said he was special.

“I intend to maintain this relationship for a long time.”

Not only concerning the rut, but if he took initiative in other matters involving Yutis, perhaps his sincerity would reach him a little more.

“As Father said, I should learn what I must in order to protect this residence when he is away.”

“Are you serious?”

Damian had always believed Lebel had accepted the marriage only to escape the Imperial Palace.

Because he knew exactly how the so-called Foolish Prince had been treated in the Empire.

“I do not understand why everyone keeps twisting my sincerity. Did you not just hear what I said?”

“Are you saying you want to learn to work as Yutis’s spouse? Even after what happened, do you still like Yutis?”

I am trying to like him. If I end up liking him more than I do now, I might eventually feel the same way he does.

“I do like him. Did I not already say that I liked him from the beginning? To become the bride of a strong man is a blessing and an honor.”

Damian had been present when Lebel said that, so Lebel tilted his head in confusion.

“At that time, those words were… no, never mind.”

“In any case, now that we are married, I think I should at least try to make some effort in fulfilling my role as a spouse.”

The present Lebel was not the same as before. He was not stronger, and he no longer had the strength to protect Yutis, so he thought he should provide support instead.

“Hah…”

Damian laughed in disbelief.

He could not believe this was the same person who had nearly died at the hands of a beast.

You so like him? Had he lost the memory of the rut? That was not something a person should say to the one who had torn his body apart.

“Ah, that was a mistake. I should rephrase.”

Lebel recalled Yutis’s words about how he had married for a purpose, even speaking of duty.

“Setting aside the duty of a spouse, I think this is something necessary if I plan to live long with Yutis.”

That would sound more appropriate and would please him more.

Damian looked at Lebel with an awkward expression. It seemed that Yutis’s feelings were not one-sided after all.

Should he be happy about this…?

“Just keep resting. If I make you work, Yutis will scold me.”

The reason the physician went back and forth between the castle and annex every day was that Yutis was overly sensitive about Lebel’s health.

He had even made the priest stay at the castle.

Lebel tilted his head.

He had expected Damian to drag him around to put him to work the moment he showed such initiative.

“Why is that? You were not like this before.”

“I still have some decency. You risked your life to help Yutis, so I acknowledged you for that.”

“Acknowledged me? Is that why everyone has become a little kinder?”

“Kinder…?”

“Everyone I met on the way here seemed desperate to give me something.”

When Lebel moved, snacks tumbled out from under his cloak.

“Ah, they fell.”

Damian stared in disbelief at the scattered treats.

He could not understand how Lebel had stored so many, or why anyone had given him all that, until he saw Lebel’s thin frame and realized.

When Lebel tried to bend to pick them up, Mahan quickly moved to gather them instead.

“…You received all that?”

“They said I should gain some weight.”

“Young Madam, I will hold them for you. You will drop them again.”

“I cannot hand over offerings given to me.”

“You lack hands.”

“Would you like to put them in this?”

Iol appeared from somewhere carrying a basket. Mahan thanked him and began placing the snacks inside.

Damian slowly turned his gaze back to Lebel.

“So, you really do not know why the servants’ attitudes changed?”

“I did nothing for them.”

Damian felt he might grow used to Lebel’s way of thinking.

This one had no interest in others. He attached no meaning to whether they looked at him with suspicion or with kindness.

That was why he was calm from beginning to end.

“As I said, you saved Yutis. Everyone here knew how Yutis suffered in this house, and you brought him peace.”

“Hm.”

“And besides that, Yutis likes you.”

He didn’t know if Lebel was aware that he was covered in Yutis’s pheromones.

He didn’t overly scent him, perhaps he was trying to hold back, but the subtle scent it gave off clearly showed that he cherished Lebel.