* * *

Lowell could’ve easily smoothed things over with a fabricated sweet remark, but he didn’t want to do that with Felix.

He wanted to be honest instead.

“Felix.”

As soon as Lowell called out, a man who had played the protagonist descended to greet the audience, sparking a commotion.

The crowd surged forward, separating Felix and Lowell.

Worse, Lowell, with his frail frame, was quickly pushed to the very edge of the throng.

“Lowell!”

He reached out toward Felix’s voice, but his hand grasped at nothing.

Swept to the outskirts of the bustling crowd, Lowell felt helpless.

His frail body couldn’t possibly push through the human wall, and he doubted his ability to find Felix amidst the chaos.

‘What should I do now?’

The most plausible plan was to wait by the carriage, but he wasn’t sure if Felix would think of that.

‘For now, I’ll wait here. Surely he wouldn’t call off the entire festival to look for me, would he? It’s the last night of the celebration—no one would be able to control this crowd anyway.’

The play had run long, and night had already fallen.

Magic-lit lanterns illuminated the streets, and the festival-goers seemed half-mad in their desire to burn through the final hours of celebration.

Some were drunk, while others acted intoxicated without any alcohol.

‘Will he really be able to find me here?’

Resigned, Lowell sat on the ground, hoping that once the crowd thinned, Felix—taller by half a head than most people—would stand out.

But his thoughts were cut short when black magic, darker than the night, spread across the ground, streaking directly toward him.

In what should’ve been a terrifying moment, Lowell felt relieved instead.

“Lowell!”

Felix, having used his magic to locate Lowell, sprinted toward him and gripped Lowell’s arms tightly with his large hands—so tightly, in fact, that Felix quickly loosened his hold, worried his strength might harm Lowell.

Momentarily forgetting the stares drawn by his display of magic, the two simply stood there, gazing at each other.

Lowell, startled by how quickly Felix had found him, was even more surprised by the sense of relief he felt, knowing Felix had come for him.

‘Am I more emotionally dependent on Felix than I thought?’

Lowell wasn’t sure if this was a good sign.

Felix’s thoughts were just as tangled.

While he still felt hurt by what Lowell had said earlier, the relief of having found him took precedence.

Conflicting emotions churned within them, leaving both at a loss for words.

They stared at each other in silence, lost in their thoughts.

‘Boom. Bang.’

Fireworks filled the night sky with deafening roars.

Instinctively, Lowell looked up, his mouth falling open.

The magical fireworks were as brilliant and majestic as anything in modern times.

“It’s beautiful.”

The awkward silence dissolved, and the words came out naturally.

A streak of blue light tore across the black sky, climbing higher and higher before exploding in a circular burst.

The falling lights painted the sky like a meteor shower.

Lowell, mesmerized by the sight, continued to gaze upward, his mouth slightly agape.

Among all the people in the square, Felix was the only one watching something else.

He was captivated by the reflection of the fireworks in Lowell’s eyes.

“Yeah. It is beautiful.”

Felix whispered softly, his words swallowed by the noise of the fireworks and heard by no one.

When the fireworks display finally ended, it was later than either of them had planned to leave.

The gates of the imperial city and the Count’s estate were surely closed by now.

While their noble status would grant them entry, it would require a bothersome verification process, something most avoided at night.

Naturally, Lowell and Felix decided to stay at an inn instead.

“Do you think they’ll have a room?”

Despite it being the festival’s last night, the Empire’s grandest celebration meant the inns were usually packed with revelers unwilling to end their night.

“There’s an inn exclusive to nobles. It’s rare for it to be fully booked.”

Felix led Lowell to a luxurious inn, tucked away in a quiet alley but boasting a grand and opulent facade that screamed exclusivity.

“Good evening.”

The innkeeper didn’t even ask who Felix was.

High-ranking nobles were well-known, making identification unnecessary.

“Good evening, Your Grace. How shall I prepare the rooms?”

“Two, please.”

The innkeeper hesitated briefly before bowing apologetically.

“I’m sorry, but we only have one single room available. However, there is a suite with two bedrooms. Would that be acceptable?”

Felix nodded without much fuss.

“Here is your key. Breakfast can be served in your room or the dining hall.”

“We’ll eat downstairs.”

Normally, Felix would’ve skipped the meal or eaten something simple in his room, but with Lowell, he planned to dine properly in the hall.

“If there’s anything you need, please let us know.”

The innkeeper bowed politely as Lowell followed Felix to their room.

The suite, tailored for wealthy nobles, was spacious, rivaling the Count’s estate in grandeur.

“Wash up and get some rest.”

The bathroom had magical water orbs that made showering convenient.

Felix waited until Lowell had finished and gone into his bedroom before heading to the bathroom himself.

Sigh…

Once inside his room, Lowell buried himself in the luxurious, soft bedding.

He hadn’t done much by his standards, yet his body ached.

As soon as he closed his eyes, exhaustion overtook him, pulling him swiftly into sleep.

Resisting would’ve been futile, and so he yielded.

“Ugh…”

Lowell groaned as sunlight streamed in through the window, rousing him from his sleep.

‘Wait, the window in the room I fell asleep in was on the other side, wasn’t it?’

Feeling that something was off, Lowell sat up—only to find an unexpected figure lying next to him.

It was Felix, his face flushed a deep red.

“Did you come into my room?”

The still-groggy voice echoed in the room.

Felix let out a dry laugh and sat up as well.

“What nonsense are you spouting, Lowell Clarke? ‘You’ barged into my room last night and climbed into my bed. No matter how much I tried to push you off, you wouldn’t listen. And now you’re pretending not to remember?”

Lowell glanced around the room and realized it was structured entirely differently from the one he’d seen yesterday.

Trying to deny it would only make the situation more suspicious.

‘There’s no way Felix carried me here, so… do I have somnambulism or something?’

Lowell awkwardly scratched the back of his head, a sheepish smile forming on his lips.

“Yeah, I guess so. Why would I go into someone else’s room to sleep?”

“You came in, hugged me, rubbed your face on my chest, and even spread your pheromones around. Do you have any idea how much of a hassle that was?”

Despite his words, Felix didn’t exactly look annoyed, but Lowell decided not to point it out.

“I’m sorry. I must’ve made a mistake because I fell asleep in an unfamiliar place.”

“So, you mean to say that whenever you sleep somewhere unfamiliar, you just throw yourself at alphas?” Felix asked, his tone incredulous.

Lowell started to worry about how promiscuous Felix must think he was.

“This is the first time. If it happened often, I’d have woken up and known exactly what was going on.”

Only after Lowell’s earnest, slightly defensive explanation did Felix’s expression soften. If Lowell had simply denied it, Felix clearly wouldn’t have believed him.

“Fine, as long as it hasn’t happened before. Let’s go eat.”

The two quickly washed up and headed to the dining hall.

The closer they got, the darker Lowell’s expression became.

Just before reaching the door, he gagged, his body doubling over as nausea overtook him.

It was the same dizziness and queasiness he’d felt at the banquet with all the alphas’ pheromones in the air.

‘No way…’

Just yesterday, Lowell had been certain he wasn’t going to experience morning sickness.

“Are you still in pain from your injury?” Felix asked.

That couldn’t be it.

The wound had been healed long ago by a priest, and he’d had plenty of rest since.

“No, that’s not it. Ugh…”

Lowell tried to explain but had to clamp a hand over his mouth, fearing he’d vomit if he kept talking.

“Could it be morning sickness?”

Lowell was impressed by Felix’s observation skills.

‘Most alphas would know that, of course, but Felix isn’t like other alphas.’

Felix, with his lack of social skills and almost no access to information about pregnant omegas, had somehow identified morning sickness?

‘Come to think of it, he even stopped me from drinking alcohol once.’

Lowell wanted to say something, but every time he opened his mouth, the smell of food made him gag.

Felix, without hesitation, lifted Lowell into his arms.

* * *