<Episode 80>

“It seems Duke de Robein has taken the young lord.”

At the Crown Prince Ferite’s words, Eveline heightened her senses to detect any pheromones.

Here, she could sense two Royal Alpha pheromones. However, she couldn’t pick up on the familiar scent of her own.

For some reason, Crown Prince Ferite seemed to feel her pheromone unusually strongly in this spot but decided against mentioning it. Perhaps it was only because she was standing nearby.

“Is my brother safe?”

“Yes, there’s no smell of blood at all. If he were injured, there would have been traces. Even if buried in snow, we’d be able to detect his pheromone if he’s nearby.”

Though Ferite used fire to melt the snow, only water pooled in its place; Abellard was nowhere to be seen.

“If he’s with Duke de Robein, then Lord Wilden should be safe.”

“I want to be sure.”

“We’ll do that once the sun rises.”

Eveline was exhausted. Worse, blood still trickled from her head, seeping steadily into her white fur cloak.

The clumps of snow that fell were tinged with red as blood mingled with the flakes.

The impact from earlier was making her feel dizzy again.

“Did something happen with Duke de Robein? If Lord Wilden is with him, it seems like we can rest assured.”

Crown Prince Ferite had no idea.

As Eveline reached this thought, she felt her strength drain.

“Elkais has lost his memory. And…”

Ferite waited patiently, watching her lips move, sensing there was more to be said.

“Your Highness is correct. The current Elkais will protect my brother.”

As she spoke, Eveline felt a bitter taste linger.

“Haa…”

“My lady?”

Eveline let out a long sigh, her breath misting in the cold as it rose toward the sky.

Once more, she gazed blankly at the snowy landscape. She blinked a few times as the stars above began to blur.

At that moment.

“My lady!”

Perhaps from losing too much blood, Eveline fainted.

* * *

“My magic isn’t working.”

When Eveline regained consciousness, she found herself in another cave. But those were the first words she heard upon waking.

“Ugh…”

“My lady, I can’t seem to use magic. It seems there’s an issue with my mana.”

Though Crown Prince Ferite spoke nonchalantly, Eveline realized the gravity of his words, and she struggled to clear her mind.

Then she noticed his hands, cracked and chapped, and was surprised.

“What happened to your hands?”

“I tried to light a fire, but it didn’t work well.”

Ferite gave a strained smile as he spoke to Eveline.

She noticed dry grass and twigs he had gathered nearby, and he was rubbing sticks together with his hands.

“Doing this will damage your hands.”

“Still, we need a fire. If our body temperature drops too low, it could be dangerous.”

Instinctively, Eveline touched her head. Using her hat as a pillow, her fingers traced through her red hair, stopping at the pain on the crown of her head, causing her to wince.

“Is your head alright? It looked like you had a small tear in your scalp. If the pain worsens, please let me know immediately.”

She realized that despite his calm tone, Ferite was far from relaxed, and was actually quite anxious about their situation.

“We need to make a cord with this.”

“Yes? Ah, yes, let’s try.”

Crown Prince Ferite took the long stick Eveline picked up. The stick was soft and flexible, easy to bend.

He twisted the wood into a cord, much like making a rope.

Eveline selected a piece of wood with a slight curve, similar to a bowstring, and picked a square, straight piece from among the wood blocks.

Using the cord Ferite had crafted, she created a small bow, roughly the size of her palm. Then she inserted a twig between the cords.

“Like this…”

Eveline prepared to use the bow drill to start a fire.

“My lady.”

“Ah…”

Just as she was focusing on using the bow drill, a trickle of blood from her nose fell, staining the wood.

“We’ll need to flip it over.”

“My lady, are you alright?”

“…Yes.”

“You don’t look it. Your face is pale. Let me take over; you should rest for a bit.”

“I’ve already been resting.”

“You need more.”

Eveline wiped her nosebleed with the back of her hand, but the exhaustion was too overwhelming, and she leaned against the cave wall.

Crown Prince Ferite took the bow drill from her and began rubbing the sticks up and down to create friction.

Eveline, slumped weakly, marveled as he quickly managed to produce a flame.

“Why did your mana suddenly stop working?”

“I seem to have exhausted today’s limit.”

“Ah, now that you mention it, you did use a lot of fire magic to clear the snow.”

Eveline recalled how much magic he’d used to melt the snow back in the previous cave.

Mages had a fixed daily amount of mana, and likely, he just needed time to replenish it.

She watched as he busily added kindling to the fire.

“It’s easy with magic, but starting a fire manually is quite challenging.”

He gave her a bright smile, and Eveline found herself smiling back, albeit faintly.

“My lady.”

“Yes?”

“For warmth, it’s best if we stay close. Is that alright?”

“Yes.”

Hearing her answer, Ferite moved beside her. Noticing he looked cold, Eveline took off her fur cloak and shared it with him.

“This cloak is quite large.”

“Yes, it is.”

Eveline found it strange that her clothing hadn’t vanished, but her head ached too much, and her lack of food left her too weak to dwell on it.

“Let’s look for the young lord in the morning. I’m sure both he and Duke de Robein are safe.”

“Alright.”

Eveline sighed deeply, and Ferite, noticing her pale face, gave her a worried smile.

“To manage that, you should get some sleep. It’d be best if you rest first.”

“…Alright. Sorry, but I think I’ll do that. My head hurts terribly.”

“It’s alright.”

Eveline leaned her head against the cave wall and closed her eyes.

* * *

“Is your relationship with Lady Wilden really that strained?”

“Yes. That’s probably why she wants me dead.”

Elkais briefly wondered if his own red eyes looked as unsettling as Abellard’s did.

Abellard’s once-blue eyes were now a deep red, which gave him an eerie appearance.

The usual unsettling expressions and mannerisms Abellard had shown when observed before were now gone, as if someone else entirely had taken over.

Something different—something inhuman, feigning humanity with an unsettling accuracy.

Ignoring his instincts to be wary, Elkais forced himself to address Abellard normally.

“How exactly did we end up here?”

“I don’t know. I regained consciousness and found myself with Lady Wilden.”

“Really? When I came to, I saw Eveline walking off in the distance.”

Seeing the faint wetness around Abellard’s eyes, Elkais found himself unable to sit closer. His body felt off.

Previously, he had never forgotten Abellard was an Omega. But now, it felt as if he had to force himself to acknowledge it.

The discomfort was intense, as though he were too close to another Alpha.

“Abellard.”

“Hm?”

“Did you imprint with someone? Is that why you feel so much like an Alpha?”

“What? Where is that coming from? Ah… could it be that Eveline did something strange to me…?”

It was a reasonable thought. Elkais recalled when Eveline had once pushed Abellard off a balcony during a gathering.

Though it was a stunt staged by Abellard himself, rumors spread otherwise.

People whispered that a jealous Beta lady had pushed the Royal Omega, Abellard, off the balcony in a fit of envy.

Though it had been attempted murder, the incident was dismissed as an accident to protect reputations.

Elkais had been the one to catch Abellard as he fell, so he couldn’t forget.

The ball had been held the day after his victorious return from war, a celebration in honor of his success.

“Help me, Elkais. I don’t want to die.”

Abellard, tears streaming down his face, reached for Elkais’s hand. Elkais, without thinking, smacked it away forcefully.

“Ah…”

“Apologies. But please, refrain from touching me so casually.”

“S-sorry… I was… just scared…”

Seeing the tears fall from Abellard’s eyes, Elkais felt a pang of guilt.

“I’ll protect you.”

“Elkais…”

“But only until we leave this island.”

“…Alright. Thank you.”

Abellard gave him a bashful smile, and Elkais felt a chill run down his spine at the sight.

“Abellard, do you have any information about this island?”

“No. But I think Eveline might. It’s Eveline who brought us here, after all.”

“True.”

At the thought of Eveline, a pang throbbed in Elkais’s chest, and he scowled.

“What if she refuses to tell us anything?”

“Then we’ll make her talk.”

At Elkais’s words, Abellard smiled in relief.

As though everything was going according to his plan.