* * *
David, panting heavily beneath Chaeyi, glared up at him with fiery eyes.
Yet no matter how prepared one might be to risk their life for a plan, hesitation often creeps in when staring directly at a blade.
Though David still had one free hand, he couldn’t bring himself to move.
He could feel it—the sharp awareness of the man before him.
Chaeyi’s gaze was directed at Liman, but it was as though he could also sense even the faintest twitch from David.
Truly, this man left no openings.
It was almost impossible to believe he was an ordinary Beta.
Just then, the sound of several hurried footsteps drew closer.
The noise shattered the tense silence, and even without looking, David could tell who they belonged to.
He didn’t want to believe that the high-and-mighty Lancaster family would go to such lengths for a single Beta.
Liman, meanwhile, had resigned himself to confessing and begging for forgiveness.
“They’re over here!”
A clear shout—most likely Enoch’s—pierced the air, and Chaeyi realized that Lancaster’s men had arrived nearby.
As Chaeyi stepped away from David, he kicked the dagger out of reach.
Within moments, the knights sprinted in, carefully restraining both David and Liman.
“Sir Chaeyi! Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine,” Chaeyi replied calmly.
“I’m so sorry. I was right there, and yet this happened…”
“It’s okay, really.”
Enoch looked devastated, so much so that Chaeyi waved his hands to reassure him.
When Enoch finally broke into tears, overcome with emotion, Chaeyi found himself comforting him instead.
Still, Chaeyi couldn’t help but wonder—how had they found him so quickly after his abduction?
Watching the two men being restrained, he thought it strange. It was remarkable, really.
But Chaeyi hadn’t yet realized that Enoch’s unique abilities had been used to track his whereabouts.
“Oh, right. Did Leo come with you?”
“Ah… yes, he did.”
At Chaeyi’s question, Enoch turned his head, as if only just realizing something was amiss.
Chaeyi followed his gaze to the back of the group, where Leonard stood silently.
Something was wrong. Leonard’s breathing was uneven, and his pheromones fluctuated wildly, creating an unsettling atmosphere.
Enoch, belatedly noticing Leonard’s condition, gasped.
“Oh no… his emotions must be unstable. He’s struggling to control his pheromones. If he loses control here, it’ll be a disaster…”
Losing control.
Now that Chaeyi looked, the tension in the air was palpable.
Even Delion and the others were watching Leonard warily.
While Chaeyi didn’t fully understand why, the manifestors present knew better than anyone just how dangerous Leonard’s abilities could be in this state.
An Alpha or Omega without manifesting abilities losing control wasn’t typically a major issue.
Even if they did have abilities, the danger level could be negligible if their latent power wasn’t significant.
But Leonard was not in that category.
Leonard’s abilities were highly dangerous.
He could control monsters—a power that, if unleashed, could cause nearby creatures to lose all reason and rampage.
And now, Leonard’s emotions were being overwhelmed by anger.
The monsters resonating with his fury would undoubtedly become more feral and violent. It was terrifying to imagine.
Chaeyi suddenly recalled a time when Leonard had overused his abilities and ended up bleeding.
Losing control wasn’t just dangerous to those around him—it could harm Leonard himself.
Realizing he couldn’t leave things as they were, Chaeyi didn’t hesitate.
He headed straight for Leonard.
“Sir Chaeyi…!”
Enoch called out softly, but Chaeyi didn’t stop.
Leonard’s gaze flicked toward him before retreating.
Struggling to suppress his wildly erratic pheromones, Leonard was terrified he might accidentally harm Chaeyi.
But Chaeyi didn’t care.
He approached Leonard and pulled him into an embrace.
Gently stroking his back as if soothing a child, he whispered, “It’s okay. You’re okay.”
Chaeyi didn’t know exactly why Leonard was so distressed—whether it was the shock of the situation or overwhelming concern for him—but he figured it was one of those reasons.
“…Chaeyi.”
“Yes?”
“Are you hurt?”
“No. Don’t worry about me.”
Leonard slowly raised his arms and wrapped them around Chaeyi, holding him tighter.
Even as the grip strengthened, Chaeyi didn’t complain or pull away.
He simply continued to comfort Leonard, much like he used to when reading him bedtime stories.
As the warmth of Chaeyi’s embrace enveloped him, Leonard gradually regained his composure.
Each breath carried Chaeyi’s comforting scent, spreading through him like lifeblood.
If only time could stop here, Leonard thought, so that Chaeyi could stay in his arms forever, always within reach.
Every time something happened to Chaeyi, Leonard felt like he couldn’t breathe.
The mere thought of losing him or seeing him seriously hurt was unbearable.
David, who had caused all this, would face severe consequences soon.
If the judgment wasn’t harsh enough, Leonard had no intention of letting him off easily.
Anyone who dared try to take something precious from him would pay the price.
From within Chaeyi’s embrace, Leonard’s eyes gleamed with ruthless determination.
But the fierce light quickly dimmed as his eyelids lowered.
For now, Leonard wanted nothing more than to stay here a little longer, basking in the solace of Chaeyi’s warmth.
“You truly make my heart race,” Leonard thought.
Meanwhile, Delion, who had been watching with bated breath, finally exhaled in relief.
His gaze shifted to David, the instigator of this ordeal.
When David’s eyes met his, they quickly darted away.
Delion addressed the knights restraining David in a cold, commanding voice.
“For a branch family to harm the main family is a serious crime. Take him away—we’ll see that he’s judged appropriately.”
“Yes, sir!”
The knights hastily secured David, preparing to transport him and Liman in an empty carriage.
As they moved, David glanced back at Delion and muttered under his breath, loud enough to be heard.
“I’ll curse the Lancasters for the rest of my life.”
Delion didn’t respond, and David disappeared with the knights.
Delion knew of David’s inferiority complex, but he hadn’t expected it to escalate into something like this.
He was deeply relieved that Chaeyi hadn’t been seriously harmed.
Had anything worse happened, and Leonard’s “bomb” gone off… it was a possibility Delion didn’t even want to imagine.
“Let’s head back now.”
As soon as they arrived at the estate, new matters arose that needed attending.
With a wave of Delion’s hand, the knights who had remained behind moved to act, and Chaeyi and Enoch followed Leonard toward the carriage.
The Lancaster carriage, carrying David and Riman, paused for a day in a village along the way to the estate, only arriving the next morning.
Upon reaching the estate, Delion immediately issued an official summons to convene the Round Table, calling the elders together to deliberate on David’s fate.
Should they let him off lightly with a small punishment and release him, or should they acknowledge the gravity of his crimes and imprison him?
The former was essentially a call to show leniency, but not a single elder supported it.
Even the elders from the branch families turned their backs on David.
They feared that standing by him might bring harm to themselves.
These elders had rallied around David, whose influence was significant, but now that he had fallen, their collective power was effectively halved.
Some even changed their stance, criticizing David for overstepping boundaries.
The result was unanimous: David was sentenced to imprisonment.
Ileka, the former family head and Delion’s father, was pleased with the outcome, as though a lingering toothache had finally been relieved.
Delion, who had endured the branch elders’ stubborn interference, felt equally unburdened.
And… some time later, Chaeyi heard the news of David’s imprisonment from Enoch.
However, Chaeyi felt neither satisfaction nor sympathy. “I see,” was all he said, indifferent.
David had committed crimes and received a fitting punishment.
Chaeyi’s detachment toward things he didn’t care about was almost cold.
“Oh, that reminds me.”
Enoch, who had been chatting away, paused to sip his drink, then spoke as though recalling something.
Chaeyi, who had been enjoying the afternoon sunlight with a cup of tea, turned to look at him.
“Lord Leonard’s rut… It’s really not far off now.”
Enoch brought up the issue Chaeyi had been avoiding.
* * *
