DSB 6

Lebel lay on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

The maid had confessed that Lebel had jumped out the window. Because of that, everyone believed Lebel was refusing to be sold as a bride.

In the meantime, Yutis and Lebel had met, and since Yutis, enchanted by Lebel’s face, had declared he would take Lebel as his bride, everyone thought he might lose his mind and act impulsively at any moment.

Thanks to that, there were now many eyes watching him.

“They said the North accepted that one in the end?”

“Well, they need a dominant omega. Besides, with a face like that, they probably thought he’s good to keep around as decoration.”

“What’s the point of a pretty face? He’s incomplete. They call him a dominant omega, but no one’s ever even caught his pheromone scent. Who’d want to hold an omega with no pheromones?”

“That one’s a demon’s brat. He turns into a monster during his rut. Who’d want a husband like that?”

“So it’s monsters meeting their kind.”

Through the knights’ whispers, Lebel understood his situation.

He was someone being sold to the North as a bride.

That man he had seen last time, was he the one meant to be his husband? If the title of monster belonged to him, then it was likely.

Lebel remembered the man who had shone white.

Demon? Hardly. He harbored demonic energy but he was human. And in appearance, he looked more like an angel than a demon.

Well, it must have looked different to them.

The cloak Yutis had placed over Lebel’s shoulders had been taken away by Hans, and no one knew where it went.

“Well, it’s good for us. We sold him for a high price. No alpha ever wanted to take that one as a wife before.”

“I wonder if he’ll be able to calm that beast’s rut.”

Even when the knights snickered, Lebel didn’t respond.

The knights seemed cautious after hearing the news that the foolish prince could now speak, but since neither the emperor nor Lebel had changed their attitude, they continued talking as if he were invisible.

It seemed the North hadn’t wanted him at first. That explained why their subordinates showed hostility toward him.

But why had they suddenly changed their minds? Was it connected to that day, when he met that man? There was no way to know without thinking about it further.

And what did they mean by turning into a monster during a rut, and that it had to be subdued? He knew humans were fertile all year, so why did he have to handle it?

With a human, no less?

If this marriage was a mating ceremony, that would mean the man would become his mate. Spending the rut with one’s mate was natural then.

No, before that, he was a demon. Even if he was now in a human’s body.

Now he was the prince called Lebel, so he had no choice but to follow that role.

Then Hans entered the room.

“Your Highness, His Majesty calls for you.”

“Alright.”

Hans frowned as he saw Lebel not moving.

“Get up.”

“Me?”

“Who else?”

Hans ground his teeth, even this basic thing needed explaining. But the one whose mood worsened more than Hans’s was Lebel.

So many incomprehensible things were happening, and now even a human dared to treat him lightly. The atmosphere suggested he would be dragged there by force.

“Tch. If I weren’t weak… Fine. Let’s go.”

Lebel dressed to meet the emperor and walked with the knights.

No, saying he walked with them wasn’t accurate. To be exact, he walked while being watched by the knights to make sure he didn’t act out.

“He really has changed.”

“In another way, he’s just gotten bold. It was one thing when he was a fool, but now he’s crazy.”

Lebel ignored the noise pollution, and a moment later, they arrived at the emperor’s palace.

A massive door loomed before Lebel’s eyes. It swung open, revealing an aged human seated upon a throne atop a dais of stairs.

“Your Majesty, I have brought His Highness…”

“Disappointing.”

Hans faltered, unable to finish his sentence upon hearing the words from beside him. The other knights who had escorted Lebel reacted similarly.

He had seen this man in his memories as well, but he exuded no strength whatsoever. Moreover, his eyes, brimming with greed, showed not a trace of intelligence.

Had they elevated such a fool to leadership? Were they all idiots?

The emperor paid no heed to Lebel’s words. He simply marveled at the fact that he could vocalize them at all.

“So you can really speak now. Better than being mute, I suppose. At last, you’re earning your keep.”

Lebel stood silently and listened to the emperor’s words.

“The time has come to repay what we’ve spent feeding and housing you all these years. We have decided to send you north as a bride to subjugate those demons under the empire’s banner.”

So it was confirmed, he was to become a bride. He could already imagine mountains of demons rolling on the ground in laughter upon hearing the news.

“We are granting you the opportunity to serve the empire. Head north and uncover the demons’ weaknesses. If you can manage it, feel free to kill them. Hahaha!”

Lebel sneered. They seemed wary of those “demons”, the man he had seen earlier and his followers, but these humans lacked even the caliber to pose a real threat.

No amount of lording over them with status would erase that man’s strength. One day, they would suffer a crushing defeat.

“Kill the demons… Forgive me, but I have no intention of devoting myself to the empire, nor could you weaklings ever slay a demon anyway.”

“…….What did you say?”

Moreover, that man was no ordinary human. What Yutis possessed was demonic energy.

How could a mere human harbor demonic energy within him? The reason he transcended human limits might stem precisely from that.

There could be others like him in the north, humans infused with demonic energy. If many such individuals existed, victory for these people would border on impossible.

And a subjugation won not through force, but mere promises and with compensation, would never endure eternally.

“Your… Your Majesty, please compose yourself. It is true that His Highness can now speak, but his mind remains unstable.”

“Who are you calling mentally deficient? I did catch a glimpse of that man called Yutis, but he is far beyond what any of you could handle. If you do not die, count yourself fortunate. Especially you, who are even weaker than this one, you would not last a second.”

Lebel pointed at Hans, who stood beside him, and addressed the emperor.

The emperor’s mouth gaped open in shock, and the numerous nobles nearby gasped in horror.

“What… what did you say! How dare you, a mere prince, mock me, me, the emperor? After all these years of freeloading in the palace, eating and sleeping like a parasite, and I spared your life and cared for you!”

“Cared for me? If that’s what you call care… Mmph!”

Hans clamped a hand over Lebel’s mouth. Lebel tried to shove away the filthy hand, but his demonic energy still refused to respond. He clicked his tongue.

“Are you siding with those demons now? Kill this insolent wretch at once!”

“Your… Your Majesty, please stay your hand. We have already sealed the agreement to send a dominant omega. Finding a replacement at this juncture would be no small task. Did we not keep this prince alive precisely for a day like this!”

The emperor raged, but the prime minister at his side held him back.

Preparing a different dominant omega, or reigniting war anew, would prove exceedingly difficult.

Lebel found himself dragged out by Hans’s grip. Hans threw him aside as if he was discarding trash.

“Your Highness, have you truly lost your mind? Are you begging to die?”

“Can you even kill me? From what I understand, I seemed like a useful tool to you all.”

Judging by how they had all tried so desperately to dissuade him.

“…You should be grateful you were born a dominant omega.”

Hans ground his teeth.

But what exactly was a dominant omega?

At that moment, he sensed someone approaching from behind. Lebel turned, and Hans bowed.

“Your Highness Crown Prince Biakin.”

Crown prince? The brother of this body?

“Lebel? So you really can speak now!”

Lebel scanned the man called his brother from head to toe. He beamed at Lebel with a radiant smile.

Without hesitation, Biakin approached and caressed Lebel’s cheek. At that intimate proximity, Lebel’s eyebrow twitched.

“Sending you off as a bride to the north, what could Father have been thinking? You are a child in need of protection.”

So the emperor and the crown prince held differing views. Even as a brother, this body was a bastard child, had he truly cherished him?

“…I shall miss you terribly. It will be so lonely without you.”

Yet the touch of his hand felt repulsive, and his eyes flickered with a strange desire. In that instant, a particular memory surfaced in Lebel’s mind.

Lebel scoffed. What a profoundly twisted individual.

He had feigned the role of a kind brother whenever eyes were upon them, but to him, Lebel had been little more than a plaything.

Lebel chose not to dwell on the nature of the emotions he harbored toward that toy. He swatted away Biakin’s hand from his cheek.

“Do not touch me so casually. It disgusts me.”

“Lebel, you…”

A glint of intrigue sparked in Biakin’s eyes. It was a gaze more unsettling than the knights’ contempt or the emperor’s eagerness to be rid of him.

“Let us never meet again.”

Becoming that man’s bride seemed far preferable to remaining in this wretched palace.

At least that man had not regarded him with such perverse eyes.