<Episode 79>

“That will be difficult.”

Eveline drew her gun again.

“Do not force me to attack, Your Highness. I know that if you lose consciousness, that barrier will vanish.”

Ferite responded to her words with a wry smile.

The surroundings gradually grew quiet, as if the avalanche had come to a halt.

“I can sense pheromones.”

At the Crown Prince’s words, Eveline instinctively began to detect pheromones herself.

Just as he had said, she could indeed sense pheromones.

The direction they came from was where Abellard would be. The path she had just traveled.

“There are two sources.”

Eveline sensed the strong pheromone of an Alpha, both here and from the direction where Abellard was.

“It seems Duke de Robein has found us. Shall we head in that direction as well?”

“…Yes.”

She watched as he sighed and then smiled.

“I’ll lead the way and melt the snow as we go. Follow closely behind me, my lady.”

“…Yes.”

With those words, Eveline followed the Crown Prince, pushing through the snow to step outside.

* * *

Just before the avalanche struck.

Abellard watched Eveline walking in the distance, worried.

She kept walking without rest, yet she hadn’t eaten properly. Soon, she would be out of strength—why did she keep pushing forward?

Maybe she was searching for shelter.

Would she let him in if she found a safe place?

He thought this as he observed Eveline, wearing her white fur hat, trudging forward.

With her rabbit fur hat on, she looked quite adorable.

Her frustrated movements, irritated by her sinking feet, looked adorable as well.

It was as she found a cave and went inside.

Rumble!

An avalanche started.

Abellard looked at the snow tumbling down from above and reacted indifferently.

Eveline, having made it into the cave, would be safe.

Feeling reassured, he created a shield of divine power over his head. Snow would pile up on top, but if he made the barrier thick enough, it would hold.

He created a large space with his divine power and waited.

“…bel…d!”

“Abel…d…!”

It sounded like Eveline’s voice.

His heart pounded. She must have been shouting out of worry for him.

It might be wise to feign an injury.

He planned to pretend he was seriously injured when the avalanche subsided. If he even pretended he couldn’t use his divine power, Eveline wouldn’t be able to abandon him.

“Eve…”

The thought of her taking care of him made him feel happy.

He couldn’t bear to simply follow from a distance for a whole week. He wanted to be by her side.

Soon, this would all come to an end.

With the time he had left dwindling, he wanted to stay closer to Eveline.

If, when everything was over, Eveline were the only one to survive…

“Then she’ll forget me.”

He murmured this, smiling.

At that moment, a blue note appeared in his palm as he sat crouched on the ground.

[A one-week pact has been formed with the god Dekarv.]

“Huh?”

Abellard tilted his head, not understanding what it meant.

“Abellard.”

Suddenly, Elkais appeared before him.

“Elkais?”

“Give me your hand.”

Elkais extended his hand. Abellard marveled at how he reached through the divine barrier. Above them, the snow continued to cascade with immense force.

But near Elkais, there was no sign of the falling snow, as if he too had created a divine barrier around himself.

“Your hand.”

“Ah… damn it. This is so annoying.”

Abellard didn’t want him there. He needed to be injured here, so Eveline would take him with her.

Having Elkais rescue him complicated things.

At that moment—

“Elkais…”

Abellard’s eyes turned a vivid red.

Elkais faltered momentarily, startled by the sudden shift in Abellard’s blue eyes, but then he resolutely reached for Abellard’s hand, pulling him closer.

With Abellard over his shoulder, Elkais easily moved them both out of the path of the avalanche.

* * *

Elkais carried Abellard to a safe location.

He didn’t expect the avalanche to subside anytime soon.

As soon as he looked over, he noticed that Abellard’s clothing had suddenly thinned, matching his own attire but without a cloak or outer layer. Elkais removed his own cloak and draped it over Abellard, then led them both into a nearby cabin.

The cabin was old and worn. It seemed intact only because of the snow; had it rained, it might have leaked.

Inside, remnants of habitation could be seen: some furniture and a fireplace.

Elkais laid Abellard down near the fireplace and brushed snow from his hair. Then he struck his sword against an iron piece near the fireplace to spark a flame.

When sparks landed on the dry wood in the fireplace, it quickly burst into flames.

Elkais found it strange that the scent from Abellard had changed from Alpha to Omega.

When he first saved him, he had detected an unfamiliar Alpha pheromone. Now, however, he recognized the familiar scent of an Omega.

It was a sweet, peach-like fragrance that lightly stirred his chest.

“Ugh…”

Before long, Abellard opened his eyes.

“Abellard.”

“Elkais?”

Abellard’s eyes were red—a stark, blood-red.

“What’s wrong with my eyes?”

“My eyes? What’s going on with them?”

Abellard absentmindedly touched his eyes, and Elkais realized that Abellard couldn’t see their color.

This place seemed like a space crafted by mages. If magic was involved, Abellard’s eye color changing could be plausible.

Elkais accepted this reasoning and spoke to Abellard.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Ah… no. But where are we?”

Abellard seemed to have no recollection.

At that moment, Elkais noticed a red marking on Abellard’s palm.

“What’s this?”

“Huh? What is it?”

Abellard looked down at his palm with a confused expression.

On his palm was a round, red symbol. Inside the circle, there was a familiar emblem.

“This is the mark of Dekarv.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Abellard spoke as though he had just remembered.

“Why would it be engraved here?”

Elkais found Abellard’s obliviousness suspicious, but seeing him appear weak and exhausted made him set his suspicions aside.

“I’m not even a priest of Dekarv…”

As he watched Abellard speak docilely, Elkais remembered that Abellard wasn’t well.

In his memories, Abellard was someone who feigned docility but often acted deviously behind the scenes. It was only natural.

Many Alphas coveted a Royal Omega. Given that, it made sense that he had developed such defenses.

And for that, Elkais was actually grateful.

No matter how drawn he felt to Abellard’s pheromones, knowing his dual nature meant he could never fall in love with him.

He might be physically attracted, but love was out of the question.

As the only Royal Omega in the empire without a bond, he hadn’t found Abellard particularly compelling.

“Hehe… Anyway, thanks for saving me, Elkais.”

“…”

“But where on earth are we? Why am I even here?”

Abellard’s innocent tone sounded almost naive, yet Elkais, wary of his red eyes, held back his words.

“Come to think of it, I think I saw Eveline.”

The thought occurred to Elkais that Abellard had been following Eveline Wilden.

Eveline, who had once stood before him in the snow, clad in nothing but her bare skin.

He remembered the shameful way his body had responded to her Omega pheromones.

And again, his body reacted.

Yet for some reason, he hadn’t reacted to Abellard in the same way.

It struck him as odd. It was only when he consciously recalled Abellard being an Omega that he began sensing his pheromones.

When Eveline Wilden emitted her pheromones, he was overwhelmed by an urge to bond with her. But Abellard’s scent triggered only a sense of wariness.

What on earth had Eveline Wilden done to him?

He was unsettled.

“Elkais?”

“I’d rather you not get too close.”

Elkais moved away, putting distance between them.

Abellard lowered his head, looking dejected, and hugged the cloak around him.

Just then, the mark on Abellard’s hand glowed brightly, though Elkais didn’t see it. He was too distracted by the overwhelming scent of Omega pheromones coming from Abellard, which made his head spin.

“I was actually following Eveline. I thought it might’ve been her who led me here.”

“…”

“But as I reached a certain point, the snow suddenly began to fall.”

Elkais reasoned that if it were the Eveline Wilden he knew, it made sense.

She had placed Abellard in danger more than once.

Yet, the brief encounter he’d had with Eveline Wilden had shown her reacting with a sharp, startled expression toward him.

Was Eveline Wilden okay in this cold?

Why? Why was he worrying about her in this situation?

He found it strange that Eveline Wilden came to mind so naturally.

“Maybe Eveline is trying to kill me.”

Elkais turned to look at him.

Then, Elkais noticed that Abellard’s expression wasn’t one he recognized.

It wasn’t the usual face he wore. Instead, it was as if someone—or something else—was inhabiting his body, projecting a sorrowful, artificial expression.

It was a carefully crafted look, as if he knew how to mimic subtle human emotions.

“Help me, Elkais. I’m so scared.”

Seeing Abellard’s tearful plea, Elkais felt he was no longer looking at the real Abellard, and he fell silent.