* * *

Chaeyi narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Were you faking sleep again?”

“I just dozed off and woke up now.”

It was hard to tell if it was true or not, but even if it wasn’t, it was a harmless trick, so Chaeyi let it slide.

“You smell nice, Chae…” Leonard murmured, burying his face against Chaeyi’s shoulder.

It reminded him of an affectionate dog, and Chaeyi wrapped his arms around him, stroking his hair.

After a moment of contented silence, Leonard pulled back to go wash.

When he returned, he greeted Chaeyi with a light kiss, and together, they made their way to the library.

Though there had been some tension earlier with the elders, they soon forgot about it, savoring the peace of the evening.

A few days later, the elders of the Lancaster family learned of the scandal and, by majority vote, officially summoned a roundtable.

A roundtable summon was a command that gathered the elders and key members of the family to discuss any pressing issues affecting the family.

This time, Leonard, at the center of the scandal, and Delion, the current head of the family, were called.

The elders’ intent was to settle this “unfortunate” matter quietly between the two.

On the way to the roundtable room, the only sounds echoing down the long, empty corridor were the mismatched footsteps of Leonard and Delion.

Neither spoke, and it was clear that unless Delion broke the silence first, there would be no conversation between them.

Aware of the gloomy atmosphere, Delion decided to open his mouth, hoping to ease the tension.

“Try not to make too much of a scene, even if they say things you don’t like at the table. I’ll handle it as much as I can.”

The problem, however, was that Delion’s communication skills were painfully clumsy, especially when dealing with a son with whom he shared such a deep emotional rift.

“Don’t pretend to care,” Leonard shot back coldly, glancing at him with an expression devoid of emotion.

To Leonard, Delion’s concern felt like little more than a façade or a tedious responsibility.

Their conversation ended before it even began, leaving the atmosphere even heavier than before.

The only relief was that they’d almost reached the roundtable room.

With a sigh he held back, Delion opened the door.

Inside, the roundtable room, located underground, was dimly lit, with a soft glow from the floor illuminating the space.

It wasn’t nearly as bright as a chandelier.

Elders were seated in a semi-circle, high enough that Leonard and Delion had to look up to meet their gazes.

“You’re here.”

The elders, eyes sharp, turned their attention to the pair.

Among them were Austin and David, former heads of Lancaster’s branch families.

Delion bowed respectfully.

Leonard, however, held his head high with defiance.

Noticing this rebellious stance, Delion had a feeling things wouldn’t go smoothly, and he was right.

“That disrespectful brat!”

David, ill-tempered and impatient despite being well over eighty, raised his voice, even releasing a potent pheromone in an attempt to intimidate Leonard.

Of course, it was the pheromone of an old man.

Even as a dominant Alpha, his strength was no match for Leonard, who was in his prime.

There was no chance Leonard would be intimidated.

“That’s enough,” intervened a deep-voiced elder—Illeca, Delion’s father.

With Illeca’s intervention, David fell silent.

Then, Illeca slowly looked down at the two, his gaze heavy with complex emotions.

Illeca regretted not being able to support the family’s new bloodlines more actively.

But there was a reason for this…except for Illeca, Lancaster’s current elders were mostly former heads of branch or vassal families.

Most of the direct bloodline heirs who’d competed for succession were either dead or exiled, leading to this ironic situation where the branch family could openly raise their voices.

The elders from the branch families were generally those who aggressively demanded a return to past customs.

Unlike the hardliners, Illeca, a direct descendant elder, was relatively moderate or neutral, and the vassal family elders typically refrained from voicing strong opinions or were also moderate.

“Leonard… You understand why this roundtable was called, don’t you?” Illeca asked.

Leonard’s silence was his only response, a rude act, but Illeca chose not to scold his grandson.

“The key issue of this meeting is this: if you intend to keep that Beta by your side, how do you plan to produce an heir? Do you have a solution?”

“There is a way to alter the Beta’s trait to Omega. But whether it’s possible or not… I can’t be sure.”

As Leonard answered, Kallome, a former head from a branch family, interrupted with a harsh tone.

“Pfft, do you think it’s so easy for a Beta to change traits? If it were, there’d already be plenty of successful cases. Foolish obstinacy, Leonard.”

When other branch elders nodded in agreement, Leonard’s gaze grew colder.

He’d already been restraining himself as much as possible.

Delion tried to interject before Leonard could cross a line, but Leonard’s words came out first, like a dropped bomb.

“Yes, it depends on luck. But… even if they don’t become an Omega, it doesn’t matter to me.”

“Oh? So you’re willing to give up if it doesn’t work?”

“Yes, I’d gladly give up on a family that stinks like a cesspool. It’s worth nothing compared to someone precious to me.”

“What… What did you just say?!”

“You insolent wretch!”

The elders’ smug expressions instantly turned sour.

Delion pressed his forehead, groaning.

Now, it was a battle of who would break first.

“Do you really think you can simply walk away from Lancaster? Laughable, Leonard. You’re the one who came crawling back after being kicked out, yet now you dare to threaten us?”

“That’s right. I came back for revenge.”

“You… you…!”

“Yes, isn’t it ironic? The child you cast away was revealed to be the Alpha you’d all coveted so badly. Yet, you didn’t think for a second that the only reason your heads are still intact… is because I chose to let you live.”

Leonard’s long-contained fury erupted, and his suffocating pheromones weighed heavily in the air.

“……!”

The vassal family elders trembled like frightened children, avoiding Leonard’s gaze, while the branch family elders—who bore the full force of his wrath—either cracked under pressure or fainted.

Even David, who had always flaunted his strength as a dominant Alpha despite being from a branch family, turned pale at the glimpse of death.

A horrified silence fell.

David, his face contorted, ground his teeth in frustration.

Although a dominant Alpha, he could never become the Lancaster heir solely because he was from a branch family, and he’d harbored a deep-seated inferiority complex toward the direct line.

This resurfacing resentment was too much to bear.

“You… You’re looking down on me, too! You will never be happy. You’ll achieve nothing! That lowly Beta will never become an Omega, and even if you leave this family, Lancaster’s name will always endure!”

David’s desperate shout echoed through the roundtable room.

While David gasped for breath, Leonard raised an eyebrow.

“Frankly, I couldn’t care less what happens to Lancaster. And as I said, it doesn’t matter if my partner never manifests as an Omega. You keep parroting the same nonsense, so I have nothing more to say. I’ll be leaving.”

As Leonard withdrew his pheromones, everyone felt a collective sigh of relief.

With the dry gulping of everyone present, Leonard strode out of the room.

Illeca gave Delion a silent signal, and Delion quietly left as well, exiting the room.

“As it seems there’s no further discussion to be had, let’s adjourn here. Please take care of the elders who have collapsed.”

With Illeka’s welcomed statement, the elders of the main family quickly gathered up those who had fainted and left.

Meanwhile, the remaining branch elders lingered in silence, their expressions dark, until David stood up abruptly and shouted.

“This cannot go on! That whelp is completely looking down on us!”

“We can’t afford to lose our only dominant alpha heir. But accepting that beta as a successor brings its own complications. Truly, the future of the Lancasters looks bleak. If only Delion and Bennet had produced more dominant alphas, we wouldn’t be facing this dilemma.”

“Exactly. That’s precisely my point.”

While the elders wrestled with their thoughts, Yuzakas, an elder of the branch family who had been observing the situation, gently smiled and spoke up.

“Perhaps there’s another way.”

* * *