* * *
Joel suddenly wondered if the Crown Prince had taken on his father’s affairs just as an excuse to go on a trip with Benjamin.
In truth, it was the exact opposite.
Perhaps the Crown Prince had dragged him along only to avoid going on a trip with Benjamin alone—so as not to damage Benjamin’s reputation.
“And I told you, I’m going to propose to you.”
“I don’t believe you. And I told you, I’m not going to accept.”
Joel suddenly found himself hating the Crown Prince.
If the Crown Prince had known about such a ridiculous suspicion, he would have been completely dumbfounded.
But Joel was someone who was deeply jealous, and even while lying nearly naked in bed with the Crown Prince—his legs wrapped around him—he could still harbor such thoughts.
Fueled by jealousy, Joel’s growing resentment pushed him to shove the Crown Prince off him and mutter, “Get out. Just go.”
The Prince’s heavily muscled body was so weighty that Joel began to worry the baby in his belly might feel uncomfortable.
Realizing nothing he said could change Joel’s mind, the Crown Prince gave up.
“Fine. A promise is a promise,” he murmured, and calmly got up off Joel’s stomach.
He carefully buttoned Joel’s shirt, tucked him in under the thick blanket, and then stepped down from the bed.
As the Crown Prince turned around and started dressing, Joel peeked out from under the blanket, stealing a regretful glance at his now-covered back muscles.
“Sleep well. I’ll come wake you tomorrow.”
With that, the Crown Prince walked off with heavy footsteps.
Joel had kicked him out himself, yet he regretted it the instant the door closed.
Since the Crown Prince had promised to keep his word, he must have gone to Benjamin.
Joel had never imagined he’d be the one to push the Crown Prince toward another Omega—especially Benjamin.
I shouldn’t have told him to go to Benjamin…
That stupid regret came far too late.
The Crown Prince’s heavy footsteps soon faded completely from Joel’s hearing.
He buried himself under the covers, resisting the urge to run after the Crown Prince and stop him.
His pheromones still lingered under the blanket.
The captivating scent of bergamot made Joel tear up again.
If only he could just fall asleep without thinking.
That would be easier.
But instead, like a fool, he kept longing for the man he had driven away.
Had the Crown Prince gone to Benjamin’s bedroom by now?
Joel thought of the Crown Prince’s large hands that had roamed his body just moments ago.
Of the desire burning in his eyes.
Tonight, would he touch Benjamin the same way?
Would he look at him with those same eyes?
If Benjamin got scared, would he kiss his hand tenderly to soothe him, just like he had done to Joel?
That thought alone made Joel feel like he was losing his mind.
But worse things might await him in the future.
After all, he was the one who had decided to push the Crown Prince toward Benjamin.
He had to escape soon. In order to do that, he needed the Crown Prince to lose interest in him.
And using Benjamin was the most effective way to achieve that.
“It’s okay… it’s okay…”
He whispered to no one in particular, running a hand over his belly.
It was okay—because he had the baby.
As much as he loved the Crown Prince, if he had to choose between the baby and the man, he would choose the baby.
Only the baby could fill the space the Crown Prince would leave behind.
Joel truly regretted joining this inspection trip.
He should’ve left everything to the Crown Prince and fled the country.
Then he wouldn’t be feeling this torn up inside.
He felt sorry for his father, but really, he hadn’t come on this trip out of concern for him.
He buried his nose into the blanket.
The Crown Prince’s pheromones still clung to it.
It smelled so good.
So unbelievably good that Joel almost wanted to storm into Benjamin’s room, apologize to the Crown Prince, and beg him to come back.
Later That Night
Tossing and turning all night, Joel only managed to fall asleep just before dawn.
Even when a gentle hand brushed across his forehead, it took him a long time to fully wake up.
When Joel finally managed to open his heavy eyelids, the first thing he saw was the Crown Prince’s face.
The Prince was lying beside him, propped up on one elbow, watching Joel sleep.
No one liked having their vulnerable, sleeping self watched by someone else—Joel was no exception.
He quickly covered his face with his hand.
“Why are you just staring at me? You could’ve woken me up.”
He had done this before in the sitting room.
Why did he have this habit?
Did he have a thing for watching people sleep?
If so, it was a creepy habit.
As Joel grumbled, he felt the Crown Prince quietly chuckle.
The Prince gently removed Joel’s hand from his face.
“It’s just… you looked like an angel while you were sleeping.”
He murmured the cringe-worthy words completely out of character.
Then, he added, “You look so gentle and pretty when you sleep.”
Joel’s face flushed red.
He quickly pulled his hand back from the Crown Prince’s grasp.
“What time is it?”
“Seven. We should get going soon. I’d let you sleep a bit longer if I could, but we don’t know what kind of situation your father is in. Better to hurry.”
Joel agreed—they had to go see his biological father as soon as possible.
He stretched and tried to get up, but having slept only a couple of hours, he was still groggy.
As he stumbled, the Crown Prince rose and caught him, helping him to his feet.
Joel ended up practically falling into his arms.
Reflexively, he sniffed to see if any trace of Benjamin’s pheromones lingered on him—and felt ashamed of himself all over again.
He held onto the Prince’s arm for a moment and looked up at him.
He wanted to ask: Where did you sleep last night?
He didn’t say it aloud—his pride got in the way—but it was as if the Crown Prince could read his thoughts.
“I slept in the carriage,” he whispered, as if answering the question Joel hadn’t asked.
The Crown Prince wasn’t the type to lie about such things.
And Joel couldn’t smell Benjamin’s pheromones on him, either.
(Though deeply embarrassed) Joel had to quickly turn his head to hide the smile tugging at his lips.
[Side Story 1: A Certain Dream]
The night Joel kicked him out, the Crown Prince headed for the carriage.
He could have stayed in a bedroom—there were plenty.
Not Benjamin’s, of course, but one of the empty guest rooms or the knights’ quarters.
Even the lord of the castle, Viscount Spencer, had offered up his own chambers.
That was because all three of them—Joel, Benjamin, and the Crown Prince—outranked Spencer both socially and politically.
Still, the Crown Prince chose the discomfort of sleeping in the carriage. It was his way of trying, in his own clumsy manner, to ease Joel’s hurt feelings.
In truth, the Crown Prince had been feeling guilty about what had happened in the forest after seeing Joel’s reaction.
When an Alpha goes into rut, they become violent — and the Crown Prince had been no exception.
On the night it happened, when the Crown Prince regained his senses, he was shocked to find his cock covered in blood.
In most cases, that amount of blood during intercourse with an Omega signaled that a knotting had taken place.
He had hazy memories of knotting, and most of all, the clear evidence — his bloodied member — made him believe without a doubt that he had knotted Joel.
But in the end, it turned out to be a misunderstanding.
Which meant the only thing he’d really done… was treat Joel with shocking violence, enough to leave his backside covered in blood.
Up until now, he had assumed Joel was just playing coy, trying to stir up his desire.
But now he realized: Joel must have been traumatized by what had happened that night.
In fact, even though Joel clearly wanted him, he still couldn’t bring himself to accept him.
The Crown Prince made a firm decision — from now on, he would treat Joel with nothing but gentleness and care.
(It was a terribly selfish resolution, but the idea of letting Joel go had never been one of his options.)
Feeling a bit remorseful that Joel had chosen to sleep so uncomfortably, the Crown Prince curled up inside the carriage and tried to fall asleep, hoping that at least this would help ease Joel’s mood just a little.
Perhaps because his mind was filled with thoughts of Joel, the Crown Prince had a strange dream that night.
In the dream, he was having a meal with Joel — at the Crown Prince’s palace.
“I wonder if this suits your taste.”
He asked politely as he sliced his meat, directing the question to Joel who was seated across from him.
The silence while eating had felt awkward, so he struck up conversation.
To his surprise, Joel beamed as brightly as sunshine.
“Yes, it’s perfect. I like everything!”
The Crown Prince thought he understood why Joel looked so overwhelmingly happy — it was because he had shown interest in him.
* * *
