* * *
“It’s already been two months since the graduation party.”
He opened calmly.
“So let me ask just once more—Joel, are you really certain that nothing happened between us that day?”
Ha… Joel let out a hollow laugh inside.
So this was the reason the Crown Prince had summoned him to the palace.
He just wanted to hear confirmation that nothing happened between them—that he, a lowly Omega, had never tangled with someone like the Crown Prince.
Did he really hate Joel that much?
So much that he couldn’t even tolerate a one-time mistake caused by a heat cycle?
Joel delayed answering and dumped a whole lot of sugar cubes into his cold tea.
He’d need the sugar just to survive the stress.
“Yes. So you can relax.”
“…Really?”
“Oh, how many times do I have to say it before you’ll believe me? And has it really been bothering you that much?”
Fighting back tears, Joel raised the teacup to his lips.
Just as the sweetness was starting to hit his tongue—
“But the thing is… I remember knotting you.”
The Crown Prince dropped the words like a bolt from the blue.
It was so sudden, Joel froze, still holding his teacup in midair.
A heavy silence followed, and then, a beat—no, three beats late, Joel stammered out, “W-what kind of nonsense is that?”
But Joel was never good at lying, and his voice trembled just slightly.
Noticing the shake in Joel’s hands as he gripped the teacup, the Crown Prince narrowed his eyes.
“Hmm.”
“I-I swear, nothing happened between us!”
“Well, I’ve heard your side clearly.”
He then stared at Joel quietly.
Joel didn’t back down and met his gaze head-on.
There was no way he could let this blow up and ruin his life, so he decided to bluff it out for as long as he could.
The Crown Prince’s lips twitched in a strange smile.
And then, suddenly, he shouted loudly:
“Someone! Summon the royal physician!”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The doors to the parlor opened, and the palace physician, already in formal uniform, entered like he’d been waiting.
In his hand was a vial for a pregnancy test.
Joel’s face turned pale when he saw it.
“I didn’t want to resort to this kind of cheap trick,” the Crown Prince said with a gentle smile, “but since you refuse to tell the truth no matter how many times I ask, I’m left with no choice. I hope you understand.”
When a dominant Alpha knots someone, ninety-nine out of a hundred times it leads to pregnancy.
The Crown Prince was planning to verify the truth with his own eyes.
Joel had desperately wanted to keep the pregnancy a secret—but now, there was no way to deny it.
What do I do, what do I do… he was practically on the verge of fainting, his mind racing.
“I hear that after two months, the chances of false results are practically nonexistent.”
The Crown Prince added cheerfully, like a smug cat toying with a mouse cornered in an alley.
Terrified, Joel couldn’t even protest.
He just kept glancing back and forth between the Crown Prince and the approaching physician, stammering helplessly.
The physician came to stand right beside Joel.
“Well then, young master. I just need a few drops of blood. Please give me your hand.”
Joel’s mind had gone completely blank.
‘What the hell do I do now?’
If they found out he was pregnant, he’d be dragged back to that hellish palace again.
His heart felt like it might stop from the stress.
Then, suddenly—he was struck by the memory of his past life, dying miserably in the snow.
And just like that, his fear melted away.
It was like a miracle.
He knew no experience could ever terrify him more than that.
He couldn’t let the Crown Prince find out.
For his own sake—and for the child growing inside him.
Joel slapped away the physician’s hand, who was reaching for his.
“What’s your name?”
“D-Dale, sir.”
“Alright, Dale. Leave. And bring Robert instead.”
“B-but, young master…”
“I have something urgent to discuss with His Highness. Get out. Now.”
The flustered physician turned to the Crown Prince for guidance. Joel had no other way out, so the Crown Prince gave a gracious nod.
“Wait outside for a bit.”
Reluctantly, Dale backed off.
Just before the physician left the room, Joel called after him.
“Hey, Darren. If a single word of today leaks out of your mouth, your life’s going to get very difficult.”
Dale thought about correcting him— ‘My name’s Dale, not Darren’—but wisely decided against provoking Joel’s feral-cat temper and quietly left.
Soon, only the Crown Prince and Joel were left in the wide parlor.
The Crown Prince looked like he was very curious to hear what nonsense Joel would spout next.
Joel took a deep breath to calm himself.
“Looks like you’re finally ready to be honest?”
“You dragged a palace physician—who sees every royal under the sun—into the imperial palace to test for pregnancy? Why don’t you just go ahead and announce to the world that I’m pregnant out of wedlock?”
“Ah.”
The Crown Prince’s face softened. He must’ve thought Joel had just admitted it.
Unfortunately for him, Joel wasn’t about to fall for such a cheap trick.
“I’ll take full responsibility for your honor. First, we’ll announce the engagement as soon as possible. We need to make sure no one dares to spread rumors about you.”
“…Engagement?”
“Why? Do you really think I’d go so far as to kill my own child?”
Joel was so shocked he forgot to breathe.
He had never expected the Crown Prince to be the one to bring up an engagement first.
In his previous life, hadn’t the Crown Prince said he’d rather go to prison than be engaged to Joel?
Joel stared at the prince in disbelief as the latter confidently declared, “I’ll make up for all the humiliation you suffered in the snow, and all the loneliness you’ve endured until now. Our engagement ceremony will be the grandest in history.”
“Why that expression? Aren’t you happy?”
Happy?
If he’d heard those words in his past life, he might have been overjoyed. But not anymore.
Joel didn’t know what sudden change of heart had possessed the Crown Prince to propose marriage, but he was certain of one thing: the prince’s concern was solely for the child inside Joel.
His feelings for Joel himself weren’t deep—and Joel had already experienced the pain of learning that firsthand.
What Joel wanted now was freedom.
He no longer wanted the Crown Prince.
Or so he kept trying to convince himself.
A bitter smile crossed Joel’s lips.
“Hearing Your Highness say that makes me wish you really had knotted me that night.”
“You’re still going to insist nothing happened? I may not remember every detail of that night clearly, but I do remember the moment I knotted you. You definitely cursed me—‘Carlisle, you bastard,’ wasn’t it?”
“Ahem, well… I don’t recall that.”
Why the hell did he have to remember that part?
Joel flinched, and the prince chuckled at his reaction.
‘Shouldn’t have called him a bastard,’ Joel regretted too late.
And things were clearly taking an unexpected turn.
Whether Alpha or Omega, it was said that the moment of knotting produced the most intense pleasure—and that part often remained vividly in memory, even if everything else was a blur.
The Omega suffered more pain, of course, but the pleasure at that instant was undeniable.
Apparently, that was the case for the Crown Prince this time—he remembered only that moment.
But since he didn’t remember the full events of the night, he couldn’t be completely sure he had actually knotted Joel.
If he was certain, he wouldn’t have gone so far as to summon a royal physician to confirm the pregnancy.
That uncertainty was all Joel needed.
He decided to take a gamble.
“I can’t keep lying anymore. Fine. Yes, Your Highness did force yourself on me that night. But there was no knotting. You must be mistaken.”
“…What?”
For the first time, the Crown Prince looked visibly flustered.
As Joel expected, he only recalled the pleasure of knotting, but not the actual events of that night.
Joel felt a quiet surge of relief—there was still a way out.
“Yes, we slept together, but there was no knotting. So thankfully, no pregnancy. I actually went to the royal physician earlier today, just to be sure. And he confirmed I’m not pregnant.”
The lie rolled off Joel’s tongue smoothly, without hesitation.
The Crown Prince, still confused, murmured, “But I clearly remember knotting you…”
Joel, already back in character, responded shamelessly, “Your Highness must have remembered it wrong.”
* * *
