“What is the matter?”
The Crown Prince asked, softly stroking Joel’s cheek.
He wanted to meet Joel’s eyes, but Joel kept shifting his gaze away.
After hesitating for a long while, Joel finally spoke with difficulty.
“…Are you truly going to marry me?”
“Of course. Why ask such a thing now? You promised to give me a chance.”
Joel was slightly taken down by the Crown Prince’s shameless response.
He had agreed to give him a chance, but he hadn’t quite realized that “chance” translated directly to marriage.
Then again, considering he was pregnant, it would be stranger not to get married.
“But will His Majesty the Emperor ever agree to this marriage?”
“What?”
The Crown Prince asked back, looking incredulous.
With a confident air, he continued, “Why would you think Father would oppose the marriage? You are now completely unaffiliated with that wicked Count Lucas. And if you think about it, finding the evidence of the Count’s involvement in the rebellion was practically your achievement. You have no need for such concerns.”
Despite these words, the gloom on Joel’s face showed no signs of lifting.
“But still…”
Joel stroked his lower abdomen with a worried expression.
He was belatedly concerned about whether the Emperor would actually accept the baby in his womb as the Crown Prince’s bloodline.
Having fled while pregnant, it was a situation ripe for misunderstandings regarding his fidelity.
Although the Crown Prince had temporarily suppressed the scandal by framing Count Lucas, Joel’s reputation had been a disaster; it was obvious that voices doubting the child’s lineage would not be easily silenced.
Furthermore, the Emperor usually referred to him as “that audacious Omega” and clearly disapproved of him.
Joel had never forgotten the icy stare he received from the Emperor on the day he first had an audience with him to debut in society after being adopted by Count Lucas.
In his past life, when he had informed the Emperor that he was pregnant with the Crown Prince’s child, the Emperor had openly mocked him, asking how he could be sure it wasn’t a child of unknown fatherhood conceived by “rolling around anywhere.”
Joel felt a wave of late regret.
He either shouldn’t have run away from the start, or if he was going to flee, he should have never come back.
If the Emperor doubted his virtue—and if a baby was born that didn’t look like the Crown Prince at all—Joel felt the future was already bleak.
“Joel, there really is no need to worry. I promised I wouldn’t let you be hurt again. I will protect you from now on, so you don’t need to worry about a thing. Just eat well, rest well, and be happy by my side as you are now.”
The Crown Prince comforted the sighing Joel.
He was optimistic, acting as if all problems were already solved, but Joel could not agree.
The opponent was the Emperor; Joel was in a position where he couldn’t guarantee his own safety, let alone the baby’s.
He also didn’t think the deep-rooted contempt the noble society held for him would be resolved just because he had defeated a demon.
His worries deepened until he finally wondered if the Crown Prince himself secretly doubted the child’s bloodline… but then he stopped.
Looking at the handsome face smiling foolishly while stroking his belly, he found it impossible to harbor such a doubt.
Three weeks later, when the Crown Prince’s party reached the capital, Joel’s belly had rounded so much that thick clothing could no longer hide it.
Because Joel was excessively trembling with nerves, the Crown Prince stopped the carriage just before entering the capital to give him time to compose himself.
Supporting his back with one hand to manage the weight of his belly, Joel groaned as he stepped down from the carriage.
As he stretched his stiff body under the bright sky, his tension began to ease slightly.
Joel looked at the scenery of the capital in the distance.
The capital was now in the full bloom of spring.
Having stayed in the warm south, it still felt a bit chilly to him, but he realized how much time had passed—when he had left to save his biological father, the snow had been knee-deep.
“Joel, everyone will be waiting, so we must depart.”
The Crown Prince helped Joel back into the carriage, as Joel remained soaked in sentiment, feeling the vast change of time in just three short months.
Finally, the Crown Prince’s procession entered the city gates to the sound of trumpets.
The crowd of thousands gathered there cheered loudly, welcoming the Prince and Joel.
Thanks to the Crown Prince’s advance work, the gathered people were not surprised by Joel’s pregnancy.
In the capital, public opinion had already spread that Count Lucas—who had supposedly hidden the Crown Prince’s pregnant lover to blackmail the Imperial Family—should be executed immediately.
Of course, the Count raised his voice in protest, claiming he had done no such thing, but no one listened to the pleas of a man locked in a dungeon.
As the Crown Prince had promised, Jack the mule stood at the head of the procession, decorated with flowers and banners, receiving a round of applause.
People seemed curious as to why a mere mule was leading the parade, but once they realized he was the “Brave Mule Jack” of rumor who had saved his master in a crisis, they cheered for him as well.
Jack held his nose high, receiving the applause with a majestic attitude.
Behind him were the Imperial Family’s magnificent horses carrying knights in armor, but Jack was not intimidated in the least.
Joel, waving to respond to the cheers, stifled a giggle at the sight.
“Long live the Crown Prince! Long live the future Crown Princess!”
Applause poured in from all sides.
Passing through the cheering crowd throwing flowers, Joel was briefly swept up in the optimism the Crown Prince had promised.
However, the sweet dream was short-lived.
The moment he took his first step into the solemn atmosphere of the Imperial Palace, Joel began to feel tense again.
The next step was an audience with the Emperor. Joel headed to the prepared room with the Crown Prince.
Trying to steady his trembling breath, he stepped into the room opened by a servant, but it was not the Emperor waiting for him.
“His Majesty collapsed this morning while reviewing documents due to a sudden decline in health. He is currently resting in his bedchamber.”
The Emperor’s attendant spoke politely to the Crown Prince.
Joel, already intimidated by the rigid atmosphere of the palace, sensed a strange tension between the Crown Prince and the attendant and looked at the Prince with frightened eyes.
But the Crown Prince was not looking at Joel. Looking down as if thinking for a moment, the Prince asked the attendant:
“I understood that Father’s condition had improved significantly after the demon was defeated. Is his health still poor?”
“Yes.”
“What did the physician who examined Father say?”
“He said it was caused by a lack of proper sleep over the past few days. He prescribed sleeping medication so that His Majesty could take some rest.”
The Crown Prince did not bother to ask the attendant why sleeping medication was prescribed before lunch had even been served.
He didn’t need to.
The Emperor was intentionally avoiding the meeting.
And the reason for such cold treatment was likely because of Joel, who stood by his side.
The Crown Prince’s lips tightened in discomfort.
The attendant spoke as if to soothe him, “Since that cunning Count Lucas is still breathing, it seems His Majesty has been troubled. It would be best if Your Highness hurried his execution now.”
“No, I cannot attend to such trivial matters without first greeting my Father. I shall go to the bedchamber then.”
As the Crown Prince rose to leave, the attendant quickly stopped him.
“There is no need for that. He has already taken the medication, and there were instructions not to disturb his rest. Tomorrow, at the morning greeting, with Young Master Joel…”
“Young Master?”
The Crown Prince cut the attendant off, clearly displeased.
He showed his anger without hesitation at the rude way the attendant referred to the Omega carrying his child, but the experienced attendant responded calmly without a hint of flusteredness.
“I apologize if I have offended you. However, are the two of you not still in the courtship stage?”
In short, it meant that since the Emperor had not agreed, Joel could not be treated with the etiquette of a Crown Princess.
Joel secretly grabbed the Crown Prince’s hand under the table to stop him from arguing with the attendant.
Even if he was the Emperor’s attendant, the man was a high-ranking noble with a vast estate and a Marquis title—the most trusted friend of the Emperor for twenty years.
The Crown Prince had to show him proper respect. And his will was essentially the Emperor’s will.
Joel had guessed from the start that the Emperor would not easily approve of this marriage.
He didn’t want to cause a scene on his first day at the palace.
At Joel’s restraint, the Crown Prince finally managed to calm his excitement.
“Fine. As per your advice, I shall offer my greetings with my fiancé tomorrow morning. I hope Father will accept our greetings then.”
The Crown Prince spoke coldly and stood up.
As he supported Joel while leaving the room, the Emperor’s attendant saw them off with a mysterious smile maintained on his face.
