* * *

“I don’t recall ever giving you permission to come and go as you please. You’ll have to explain yourselves well, Elder David, Elder Austin.”

It was a calm yet frightening warning.

The elders’ eyes widened in surprise at Leonard’s unexpectedly aggressive stance.

However, they stubbornly stood their ground.

“Enough! Leonard! How could someone who is to inherit Delion’s position be consorting with such lowly company?”

Elder David pointed a finger at Chaeyi, his face flushed with anger.

“From what I hear, he’s a worthless Beta who can’t even bear children. Leonard, are you even thinking clearly? Bringing such a person into our family—it’s a disgrace.”

Elder Austin openly voiced his disgust, exposing his own prejudice without shame.

Chaeyi realized then.

These were the very same elders who had opposed Ailan’s return to the family.

Elders so entrenched in outdated ideas that they rejected any new way of thinking, fossilized in their ignorance.

‘How embarrassing.’

Watching these outdated men make such remarks in front of the younger generation, Chaeyi felt secondhand shame and covered his face with his hands.

He silently vowed to never let himself grow old in such a way.

But Leonard misinterpreted Chaeyi’s gesture as hurt, his gaze sharpening as he rose from his seat.

“If you can’t keep your mouths shut, I’d be happy to help.”

“Wha—?! You, insolent brat!”

If things continued like this, one of them was going to end up in serious trouble.

Recognizing this, Delion hurriedly intervened.

“Elders, nothing will change by causing a scene here. I’ve already told you as much. Please, let’s leave for now and cool our heads.”

“But that insolent child dares to threaten us…! The very pillars who have upheld the Lancaster family—”

“Enough! Elder David.”

As Delion, usually calm and collected, finally raised his voice, even the elders hesitated and quelled their anger.

They cleared their throats awkwardly and turned away, seemingly ready to let it go for now, though they threw him a dissatisfied glare on their way out.

Once the elders left the dining hall, a heavy silence fell. Delion, who’d been standing by the door, glanced at Chaeyi and said softly, “I’ll apologize on their behalf.”

“Ah…”

“I tried to keep things under wraps as much as possible until the issue was resolved, but it seems that wasn’t enough. The servants must have heard bits and pieces in the hallway.”

Delion sighed deeply.

Until the issue was resolved, he’d intended to keep Chaeyi’s potential Omega transformation a secret from the elders.

But things hadn’t gone as planned.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

Chaeyi truly meant it.

Although he’d felt a touch of secondhand embarrassment from the insults — being called lowborn, unworthy, and so on — he wasn’t easily hurt by such petty words.

“They weren’t exactly wrong.”

As a Beta male, Chaeyi couldn’t have children, let alone an Alpha or Omega heir.

Without an Omega transformation, this issue would never resolve, only stagnate.

Yet, he didn’t want to sever the Lancaster family’s lineage either.

He understood how important bloodlines were to the nobility.

Since it involved Leonard’s reputation as well, he couldn’t help but worry.

However, Delion, who mistook Chaeyi’s frankness for forgiveness, gave a grateful smile.

“Well, I’ll take my leave now.”

“Take care.”

With a short nod, Delion exited the dining hall.

As his figure disappeared, Leonard approached Chaeyi and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek.

“Chae… are you really okay?”

“Mm-hmm, I’m fine. Really.”

Even as Chaeyi assured him, Leonard couldn’t shake his low spirits.

Seeing this, Chaeyi had to console him instead, gently patting his head as Leonard rested it against his shoulder.

“Shall we go back to the room if you’re done eating? Or maybe head up to the library and read for a while?”

“…Let’s go to the library.”

Leonard looked up and met Chaeyi’s gaze.

Chaeyi chuckled, took Leonard’s hand, and led him out of the dining hall.

As they walked in silence for a while, Leonard intertwined their fingers and spoke up.

“Hey, Chaeyi.”

“Yeah?”

“How about we freshen up first before going to the library?”

“Oh. Yeah, we can do that.”

Considering the morning sun had been strong, and they’d just returned from a walk, a refreshing wash before heading to the library sounded nice.

Leonard flashed a sly smile and added, “Let’s go wash up together, then.”

“Wait… huh?”

Chaeyi almost blurted out “sure” but caught himself, wide-eyed.

Leonard had a habit of sneaking in these kinds of remarks when his guard was down, all while keeping an innocent face.

“We used to wash together all the time, remember?”

“That was… back then!”

Even washing with one’s child when they’re older is a bit awkward, let alone with someone with whom things had… changed.

Leonard was brazen, and Chaeyi couldn’t believe his nerve.

They soon arrived at his room, and Chaeyi grabbed a set of comfortable indoor clothes.

“Leo, why don’t you go first?”

“I’ll wait for you so we can go together.”

“…Then, I’ll go first. And just so you know, don’t even think about coming in! There are clothes over there, so feel free to relax.”

With that, Chaeyi hurried into the bathroom.

Thankfully, Leonard didn’t seem to have any real intention of joining him.

“Phew.”

Leaning against the door with a sigh of relief, Chaeyi moved to fill the bathtub with water.

As he watched the water ripple and rise, he fell into thought, memories and worries surfacing.

His biggest concern was…

‘Will my secondary gender ever change?’

He knew it was related to secondary gender shifts.

Some could manage the change with effort; for others, it never happened no matter what they did.

Where did he fit into that?

He had no sense of it.

What troubled him most was that, despite more frequent physical affection and pheromone exposure, he still hadn’t felt any signs of a shift.

‘They say it’s not about the intensity of contact… so blaming it on not going further doesn’t hold water.’

If the shift never happened, what choices would he have left?

In truth, he wasn’t eager to part from Leonard either.

Like a fruit ripening sweeter over time, he’d come to cherish this new closeness more each day.

Maybe they could live together even if it meant abandoning rank and comfort, if Leonard could truly accept it.

But would that really be the right thing?

Chaeyi had no attachments to noble privilege, but Leonard had only just regained what he was due.

To ask him to give it all up again… it felt selfish.

For Chaeyi, Leonard was precious, like family, and he didn’t want to burden him with disgrace and hardship over a romance.

Splash.

The cool water reached his wrists, snapping him from his reverie. He shook his head and let out a small sigh.

‘I don’t know.’

But it wasn’t set in stone yet that his secondary gender wouldn’t change.

There was still time.

Maybe if he took things slow, an answer would come.

Ideally, the change would happen, solving everything.

With that thought, Chaeyi submerged himself in the warm, rising steam of the bath.

Though the sunlight was a bit strong today, the estate rarely got hot, and the house was kept cool enough that he didn’t need cold water.

Once refreshed, Chaeyi dried off, dressed in a light outfit, and returned to the room.

The cool air on his skin made him feel wonderfully clear-headed.

“Leo, your turn.”

As he called, he noticed the quiet.

Lifting his gaze, he saw Leonard had fallen asleep on the bed.

He must have been more exhausted than he’d let on.

With a gentle smile, Chaeyi approached and smoothed a stray lock of hair from Leonard’s forehead.

Just as he was about to leave quietly, a firm pull on his arm threw him off balance.

As he tumbled onto the bed, Leonard loomed over him, mischief in his eyes.

* * *