<Episode 25>
The Crown Prince of the Cropper Empire had a decent personality. Although I only encountered him face to face once after possessing, recalling what Abellard occasionally reminisced about in the books, it seemed so.
Abellard desired someone higher in status than Elkais, who was equal to me. Therefore, he considered selecting the prince among the rare, unimprinted royal alphas in the empire.
The prince had a mild temperament, laughed easily, and was like sunshine.
However, the fraternal twins of the prince were different.
Genetically, the traits of fraternal twins are almost similar, but as they grew up, something went wrong. The prince who manifested as a royal alpha grew up just fine, but the younger brother did not.
The younger brother manifested as an omega, not an alpha.
One might think it fortunate not to be a beta, but becoming an emperor is always about royal rank. Therefore, the younger brother, who was born as a mere omega in the upper ranks, could only grow up twisted.
So, I didn’t think badly of Rubellite, thinking our situations were somewhat similar, albeit unknowingly.
“Please… help me…”
Rubellite Cropper, who is now retired as a Grand Duke, said.
I looked around. It was a perfect jungle, the weather was extremely hot, and there were plenty of wild animals around.
I was about to circle around the corpse of the cub puma I had caught earlier, but suddenly, he appeared and grabbed my ankle.
If I had met him in the empire, I would have saved him.
Even though he had retired as a Grand Duke, considering how the “Cropper” name was passed down by just changing the spelling of the title, one could understand how much he was loved by the emperor.
But not here.
Besides, weren’t all the omegas dead?
Thinking it might be an illusion, I sighed as I watched him stop moving as if he had fainted.
“I think it’s impossible for me to move you.”
He was still lying there.
But he was several times larger than me, so it seemed impossible to lift him or support him down.
The body of Lady Eveline Wilden was quite sturdy. But she wasn’t a weightlifter.
“Please wait for a moment.”
Perhaps I don’t even know if the omega scent that Elkais mentioned was Rubellite’s.
Could it be the reason they call me omega instead of beta?
Unfortunately, my father, the Marquis Wilden, found it regrettable that I was born a beta and subjected me to examinations several times.
Every year, every birthday. Even on the day of my coming-of-age ceremony.
But the miracle he hoped for never happened.
“Don’t go…”
“I need to bring reinforcements to save the lord.”
When he seemed to regain consciousness, I gently released the hand holding my ankle.
I could handle the cub puma alone and bring it down. But what if the Grand Duke was in danger while I was away?
But in the cabin, there’s Elkais, who’s wary of Abellard, who’s dying, and a stranger.
Moreover, the condition of the Grand Duke didn’t seem good. If I took the Grand Duke with me like this, Abellard, who was in pain because of me, might have to exert his sanctity recklessly.
Above all, Abellard and Duke Croppers didn’t get along.
“It’s difficult, really.”
In the end, I hugged him.
“Ugh…”
Compared to Elkais, he was incomparably heavy. The Grand Duke was wearing black armor.
I thought of lifting him onto a tree.
“What’s on the ground is… uh… dangerous.”
“Uh…”
As he barely regained his senses, he seemed a little liftable. But it was impossible to lift him all the way up to my target. Even lifting him up to waist height was difficult.
“Phew…”
I climbed up the tree first and then pulled him up.
He was so heavy that I felt my arms might give out. And pulling him up didn’t make him rise.
So I lowered the target and only lifted him up to a certain height from the ground.
“Wait here.”
“…”
As he gently opened his eyes, I felt guilty when our eyes met.
“I’ll come back for you.”
Saying so, I surrounded the puma.
The puma was also not light at all. Fortunately, the way back was downhill, so I sighed.
There.
“Were you waiting for me?”
“Yeah.”
I could meet Elkais even though I didn’t go all the way down.
Should I talk about Duke Croppers? If it rains at night, he won’t be safe either.
“Do you remember Duke Croppers?”
“…Yeah.”
He replied while holding the puma that I was dragging to the ground because I was tired. I also handed him the knife that I had been carrying on my back. Then he took the knife with a slight smile.
“Why are you suddenly asking about that?”
“The Grand Duke is unconscious up there.”
“…”
“You mentioned sensing omega pheromones. Perhaps it’s because of Duke Croppers.”
“…”
Without answering, he headed towards the cabin. Even though I thought Elkais might go to rescue him…
“I see.”
“Yes. So please go to the cabin first. I’ll move him to another place. I brought him up to the tree, but it seems dangerous.”
“All the omegas are dead except Abellard.”
“There was one alive.”
“…”
Since Abellard survived in the first place, there might be other omegas alive as well. Moreover, Abellard has now become an alpha.
So, nothing was impossible.
“Do we need to bring him?”
“Abellard probably wouldn’t like it.”
“What’s your opinion, Lady Eveline?”
“I… I think we should bring him for now, even if we have to chase him away later. His condition looks really bad.”
“Then let’s do that.”
“Really?”
He paused in his descent.
“Let’s do it your way.”
“…That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
It was strange that Elkais readily followed my opinion.
“Then I’ll take the puma. As for the Grand Duke up there…”
“I’ll take him.”
“Thank you.”
“Lady Eveline.”
After handing him the puma, I looked up at him.
“Yes?”
“Here.”
“Hmm?”
As Elkais tapped my cheek, I couldn’t understand the meaning, so I just watched. Then he chuckled and wiped my cheek.
“It seems there are wild strawberries nearby.”
“Oh.”
Perhaps he got something on his hand while lifting the Grand Duke up the tree.
“Your Grace.”
“Elkais.”
“Your Grace Elkais.”
“Okay.”
“Be careful. That person, he’s wearing armor.”
“Okay.”
The dappled shadow of leaves swayed above his face due to the bright sunlight, creating a picturesque scene. Perhaps it was because he was remarkably handsome.
“I’ll be back, Eveline.”
“Yes. He’s about halfway to the cliff. Over there.”
He walked towards the direction I pointed to.
After watching him climb for a moment, I pulled the puma down and descended.
Already tired, I felt as heavy as carrying ten bags of flour.
When I finally reached the cabin, Abellard was sleeping.
He was asleep, holding a wedding dress and a groom’s attire, with a peaceful face that looked innocent like a baby.
Apparently, he didn’t like the sunlight filtering through the window onto his face, as he frowned and then relaxed his expression when I closed the window completely.
“Impressive.”
Elkais had covered the ceiling tightly with palm leaves. Moreover, there were heaps of coconuts near the desk.
Elkais seemed to have accomplished a lot, almost as if time passed differently for him.
He had washed and hung up fishing gear that seemed to belong to liquor smugglers, and had prepared drinking water in large buckets.
Seeing the long cuts on Abellard’s fingers, it seemed that he couldn’t drink the lake water directly, so he had drawn out the blood and purified it.
I knew why he hadn’t treated it yet.
When the blood of someone with sanctity is mixed with water, it becomes holy water.
There would be no shortage of drinking water for a while.
“Hmm.”
I don’t know how to clean animals. It’s Elkais’s forte, so all I have to do is bring firewood.
Although it’s humble, there’s a fireplace, so if Elkais asks, I can help with cooking as he did before.
I went out and picked up dry branches. I thought about not giving Elkais a knife, but it might be necessary to fight the man in armor.
I picked up a bunch of branches and on the way back to the cabin, I met Elkais dragging the unconscious Grand Duke.
“Don’t people usually carry him?”
“Why should I?”
His casual words spoken in a gentle tone made me feel uncomfortable.
“There’s no need for that. Thank you, Your Grace, for your hard work.”
Then he chuckled again and met my gaze.
* * *
Abellard woke up just as he was dozing off, feeling a strange sensation.
An irritating blue note was in his hand.
He opened the note nervously and read it.
[Dispose of the Rubellite Croppers within the following time frame.
D-Day 6]
