* * *
While Ferden mourned the shattered glass shards, Etienne was in despair, tearing at his hair, screaming, laughing bitterly, and then tearing at his hair again.
“What am I supposed to do now?”
Imprinting was a disaster.
Etienne was no longer just a typical omega sample.
Common sense, that ordinary people don’t consider their bodies as samples, meant nothing to the current Etienne.
Without any emotional exchange or symbolic meaning of the bond, Etienne was just lamenting the disruption of his experiment plans.
“How am I supposed to fix this!”
Imprinting signified dependency on the partner and was very rare because alphas usually didn’t want to be tied down to an omega.
Yet, Lucian imprinted with him, and Etienne couldn’t understand or didn’t want to understand what it meant.
“Imprint, what imprint…”
After causing such a commotion, Etienne grabbed Ferden’s hand, looking tearful, and lamented.
“Ferden, what should I do now?”
Why ask me… Ferden thought but kept it to himself and responded formally.
“Didn’t Mr. Harrington want the imprint?”
“We were both drunk and out of our minds!”
Ferden’s eyebrows slightly raised at Etienne’s claim that Lucian was drunk.
Though he quickly masked his expression.
The idea that Duke Leondine would get drunk was ridiculous; he had never seen it in all his years serving him.
Likely, the somewhat lacking yet overflowing omega youth was the one who was drunk.
Ferden thought this but didn’t say a word, bowing his head quietly.
His loyalty was to Duke Leondine, and he knew keeping silent was best for the young omega in front of him.
“And because of those damn pheromones… Aah! I must be crazy!”
Watching Etienne lose it again, Ferden felt his fatigue pile up.
Both his master and this human he had brought as a partner were driving him to the brink every single day.
“Isn’t imprinting not permanent? If you don’t want it, you can stay away from the master for a few years…”
“But I can’t go a day without seeing the Duke!”
Good grief, what was this affectionate display now?
Ferden wanted to knock himself out just to escape this madness.
No one heard Ferden’s silent scream: I could live without seeing either of you for a year, no, ten years.
“It’s all ruined, everything!”
Etienne flailed wildly on the bed, looking quite absurd, though he didn’t seem to realize it.
With no one to blame at his side, he felt twice as frustrated and angry.
His headache, already bad from a hangover, seemed to worsen.
How was he to overcome this?
Being apart from Lucian for years was impossible.
Lucian was a brilliant technician, a kind sponsor, a genius colleague who could create machines at the drop of a hat.
Being away from him for years was unthinkable.
“This is driving me crazy…”
“…”
“But Ferden, how did you know about the imprint?”
‘How did I know?’
Ferden almost laughed at the naive question.
Who do you think cleans up after those passionate nights?
Who do you think sees the master’s messy state?
But he kept these thoughts to himself.
Torn clothes and a shattered table, chaotic traces left everywhere… an imposing back exposing claw marks as if not caring about the butler’s eyesight… yet the omega youth meticulously wrapped up…
The suspiciously red mark on the nape of his neck, the strangely satisfied and proud expression, and even the warning words left behind as if a threat…
He wanted to erase it all from his mind, but unfortunately, the more he tried, the clearer the memories became.
Ferden, trembling with anger inside, succinctly summarized the situation.
“Because the master told me to.”
“Oh, indeed…”
It was said that even a strict order to take good care of him was left before departing for the Imperial Palace.
Frankly, that order still didn’t make much sense, but Etienne nodded in understanding for now.
However, the pitiful omega left alone and sad after the Imprinting ceremony was nonsense; the current Etienne was just angry, akin to a small dog growling pathetically.
He glared at Lucian’s neat handwriting with dissatisfaction and asked a question.
“When exactly did the Duke leave for the Imperial Palace?”
“He left at dawn.”
The reason for leaving early in the morning was to return as quickly as possible.
However, Etienne had no idea about that, and Ferden didn’t feel like explaining, so he kept his mouth shut.
Not only did Etienne not know the reason for Lucian being summoned to the Imperial Palace, but he also didn’t care.
He merely thought his patron had ruined the experiment and ran off.
“Sigh…”
Now that he couldn’t even detect other alphas’ pheromones, there was no point in being an omega.
Indeed, the saying about being careful with alcohol was absolutely true.
At this point, should he start researching the state of Imprinted alphas and omegas?
Etienne mumbled as he thought vaguely about it.
“Maybe I should ask to be taken to a ball soon…”
Hearing his mumbling, Ferden’s expression darkened subtly.
Etienne, who stayed only inside the mansion, didn’t know, but the incident Lucian and Etienne caused at the Marquis’s ball had already spread throughout the social circles.
Previously, Ferden had hoped that the sly yet innocent-looking omega youth brought by the master wasn’t completely clueless… but seeing Etienne now, it seemed he really knew nothing.
Thus, Ferden hesitated briefly before cautiously speaking.
“Mr. Harrington, when you say a ball…”
“Oh, I’m curious about pheromones.”
Ferden felt his mind going blank at Etienne’s casual response while touching his reddened nape.
How should he deal with this seemingly intelligent yet clear-minded young man?
Ferden, after a brief contemplation, decided to speak up.
As a hired servant, he couldn’t make requests to his master, but at least he could talk to the young man in front of him.
“Mr. Harrington, if I may, could I make a humble request?”
“Yes? Oh, yes, go ahead.”
“Thank you. I know it’s presumptuous, but… Mr. Harrington, please enjoy the ball as you wish, but could you avoid causing any unpleasant incidents related to pheromones like the last time?”
Etienne tilted his head in confusion at Ferden’s hesitant plea.
He thought the ball incident had been resolved, but apparently, it was significant enough for Ferden to plead desperately.
“Why? Is it because I released my pheromones in front of other alphas? I thought everyone there was a follower of the Duke…”
Ferden’s face darkened even more at Etienne’s innocent reply, causing Etienne to become slightly serious as well.
Was the incident at the Marquis’s ball bigger than he thought?
Could it be that the Duke was in trouble?
Was he summoned to the Imperial Palace for a scolding session with the Emperor?
“Was he summoned to the Imperial Palace because of that?”
“No, it’s not like that.”
“Oh, that’s a relief.”
Etienne sighed in relief at Ferden’s response.
If Lucian had gotten into trouble because of that day, he would have felt quite guilty.
“I was worried he was summoned to the Emperor because of that. So, the incident at the ball wasn’t that big of a deal?”
Watching Etienne laugh nonchalantly, Ferden felt another headache coming on.
Etienne didn’t know, but Ferden had never been as troubled as he was in the past few days.
Even though he expected some commotion when the Duke declared he’d bring an omega to the party, hearing about the chaos they caused still gave him a headache.
Especially since the omega youth in front of him seemed utterly ignorant in this matter, Ferden could only sigh more deeply.
His master appeared intent on preserving that ignorance.
Knowing it wasn’t his place to intervene, Ferden nonetheless decided he had to warn Etienne, even if it went against his master’s wihes.
“It is a big deal.”
“What?”
“To be more precise, it’s no small matter for the master to release his pheromones in front of other noble alphas.”
“Oh, why is that?”
Internally apologizing to his master, Ferden steeled himself to speak.
He didn’t care about his master’s romantic affairs, but the master’s safety was another matter.
“Thanks to the Emperor’s favor, there won’t be any serious trouble…”
But the next words from Ferden made even Etienne freeze in shock.
“There was a time when a branch royal revealing alpha traits publicly was considered treason.”
Etienne’s jaw dropped to the floor, almost literally.
* * *
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