After finishing his preparations with the help of the Crown Prince, Joel moved to the adjacent room prepared for audiences.
He spent the entire afternoon busy, greeting a never-ending stream of visitors.
Who on earth could the last visitor be?
The servants, acting on the Crown Prince’s orders, refused to open their mouths despite Joel’s persistent questioning.
Throughout the afternoon, even while dealing with the nobility, Joel kept the mystery of the final guest tucked in the corner of his mind.
By late afternoon, the constant scent of various perfumes made Joel’s head spin, and his mouth began to twitch from the strain of maintaining a constant smile.
Moreover, since the visitors were almost exclusively people he wasn’t happy to see, his fatigue reached its peak.
The majority of the guests were alumni of the Imperial Academy.
Since the children of high-ranking noble families were required to enroll there, this was only natural.
Of course, no one could treat Joel, who now carried the imperial heir, as carelessly as they had during their Academy days.
The visitors cast aside their previous rude attitudes and, sensing the shift in power, treated Joel—who had not yet been given an official title—with the etiquette due to a Crown Princess, striving not to offend him.
However, Joel still felt uncomfortable facing those who had ostracized and mocked him for the last three years with a forced laugh.
The period of their bullying had lasted three years; one couldn’t simply act as if that past had vanished overnight.
Still, Joel had learned patience while wandering with Becky and Rob, and thanks to that, he was able to maintain a somewhat aristocratic demeanor in front of the visitors.
Yet even Joel could not hide his grim expression when he saw Aaron, the eldest son of Viscount Scott.
Aaron had practically been the ringleader of Joel’s ostracization in the social circles for the past three years.
“You were so eager to tear me apart back then; what brings you here?”
Joel withdrew even his formal smile and asked icily.
As a recessive Omega, Aaron had a complex about his secondary gender and utterly loathed Joel, who had manifested as a dominant Omega despite his humble origins.
Joel had been particularly targeted by Aaron shortly after entering the Imperial Academy when he was still naive to the ways of the world.
For instance, Aaron would invite Joel to a formal dinner but intentionally give him the wrong dress code to make him a laughingstock, or humiliate him by making him stand in a crowded hallway holding Aaron’s coat like a servant.
After being bitten a few times by Joel, who eventually turned into a fierce wildcat, Aaron seemed to refrain from rash behavior to Joel’s face.
However, after that, he had made Joel’s life miserable by spreading all sorts of malicious rumors behind his back.
“W-what do you mean? I was very worried after hearing the news about you. To think your former adoptive father kidnapped you while you carried the imperial heir and threatened the Imperial Family… I’m so glad you returned safely.”
The guilty Aaron rubbed his hands together subserviently, acting flattering.
Joel snorted and shot back, “Worried? You? About me?”
While the air froze into a chill that couldn’t get any colder, Becky, following Joel’s lead, brought in fresh tea.
“Master, Young Master. I will pour you some new tea.”
“Ah, right.”
While Becky, who had grown accustomed to palace work, poured the tea with quite skillful hands, Joel continued to glare at Aaron.
Finally, once the warm tea was ready and Joel picked up his cup, Aaron, who had been watching his every move, hurriedly brought his own cup to his lips.
“Ugh.”
Taking a sip, Aaron immediately furrowed his brows.
A foul bitterness combined with a musty scent hit his tongue, and he nearly spat the tea directly into Joel’s face.
To Aaron, who could neither spit it out nor swallow, Joel smiled like an angel and asked:
“Why? Does the tea taste strange?”
“No… the scent is just a bit unique.”
So, was he saying it was bad? When Joel raised an eyebrow, Aaron hurriedly waved his hands.
As a member of the Crown Prince’s staff, he had witnessed the Prince’s utter infatuation with Joel several times, and he had come to apologize for the past for the sake of his own future.
Furthermore, he had another personal motive.
His father’s investment in a mine had gone wrong, causing their mansion and villa to be put up for auction, leaving them with nowhere to stay.
Aaron intended to ask the Imperial Family for a place to stay temporarily.
His father, Viscount Scott, had once held the office of Lord Chamberlain and maintained a close relationship with the Imperial Family, so the Emperor likely would have granted the request.
But the problem was that the Emperor was currently bedridden with a deep illness, and the Crown Prince held the actual power; Aaron knew he couldn’t expect imperial mercy until he was forgiven by Joel.
Hurriedly swallowing the tea, Aaron added, “O-of course, I’m not saying it tastes bad.”
“Ugh…”
Facing the nauseated Aaron, Joel leisurely took in the scent of his tea.
He only smelled it; he never actually drank it.
He couldn’t possibly feed his baby tea brewed from leaves that were on the verge of rotting.
This was his revenge for the time Aaron had served him cold, stale tea during a visit to the Crown Prince’s palace in the past.
“Why aren’t you drinking more? I prepared it specially for you. Is it not to your liking?”
As Joel gave him a pointed look, Aaron forced the corners of his mouth up.
“Not at all! The scent is truly elegant and unique. Thank you.”
“Is that so? I’m so glad it suits your refined taste. Then please, drink your fill. Don’t leave a single drop; drink it all.”
At Joel’s words, Aaron turned pale.
However, given his past sins, he had no choice but to submissively murmur, “Yes…”, and Joel secretly wore a wicked smile as he watched Aaron struggle to swallow the tea out of the corner of his eye.
Aaron spent the rest of the time trying to flatter Joel and get on his good side.
However, Joel remained cold until the end, and Aaron had to stand up with a churning stomach, having failed to even bring up his request, let alone receive forgiveness for his past wrongs.
After Aaron was practically chased out of the drawing room with a tearful face, the audiences continued.
Each session ran slightly over time, so by the time the final audience arrived, it was nearly time for tea.
Upon finally seeing the face of the last visitor, Joel jumped up from his seat in delight.
“Ben!”
Just as the Crown Prince had said, the last guest was a very welcome face.
It was his only noble friend, Benjamin.
In his excitement to move toward him, Joel nearly lost his balance and stumbled.
“Joel, be careful.”
Benjamin rushed over to support him.
Now five months into his pregnancy, Joel’s belly was prominently visible to anyone.
Though he had once been so thin his bones showed at his wrists, thanks to the Crown Prince’s devoted care, he was now much larger than a typical pregnant person at the same stage, and his cheeks had filled out plumply.
With Benjamin’s support, Joel carefully sat back down.
“The last time we had tea together was at Count Gray’s castle, wasn’t it? How have you been? Did you go straight back to your territory from the castle?”
Joel cast aside his formal smile and spoke to Benjamin with more enthusiasm than ever.
It had been two months since they last saw each other, and he couldn’t suppress his joy.
After learning that the person Benjamin loved wasn’t the Crown Prince, Joel had been able to discard his feelings of inferiority and truly cherish his only friend.
“Yes, I stayed quietly in the territory so I wouldn’t interfere with the search. As for me, I’ve just been living normally as before. Even there, I kept my ears open for news about you. I heard you suffered because of your adoptive father; are you alright?”
The calm Benjamin answered Joel’s questions one by one as Joel pestered him for answers like a child.
Joel enjoyed a pleasant conversation with his close friend for the first time in a long while.
Then, he suddenly realized that the bodyguard who usually followed Benjamin like a shadow was nowhere to be seen.
“…Now that I think about it, I don’t see that jerk Felix?”
Felix had been an eyesore who opposed him at every turn and acted unpleasantly, but Joel was a little concerned since the man had suffered burns because of him.
When Joel asked about Felix, Benjamin, who had been answering everything readily until then, suddenly gave an awkward smile.
“Ah…”
Why?
Did something happen?
Just as the frustrated Joel was about to press further, Becky suggested they move to the room where tea was prepared.
He hadn’t been able to swallow even a simple snack all day because he had been facing uncomfortable faces.
The hunger he had forgotten came rushing back, and Joel immediately brightened up and stood.
Because of that, he failed to notice the shadow that fell over Benjamin’s face.
