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The Regressed Villain Omega Dreams of Escape – Chapter 32
Restlessly fidgeting in the carriage seat, Joel concluded that it would be better to go to Benjamin’s tent and insist one more time that he would be sleeping in the carriage tonight.
It was best to be thorough.
Having decided, Joel slightly opened the carriage door and poked his head out.
A deep darkness had settled over the campsite by then.
The three tents were also quiet.
One of the Fourth Knight Order members was standing guard, but since the Crown Prince had taken responsibility for keeping the knights quiet, there was no need to worry about their presence.
He only needed Benjamin and his escort knight not to know that he would be sleeping with the Crown Prince.
Joel stepped out of the carriage and quietly approached the tent where Benjamin was staying.
“Ben? Ja…?”
Opening the tent flap and stepping inside, Joel unexpectedly witnessed a shocking sight.
“Jo-Joel. How did you suddenly get here…”
Benjamin quickly pushed Felix off him and sat up.
Although both Benjamin and Felix were clothed, their posture made it clear that the escort knight, Felix, had certainly been on top of Benjamin.
Overlaying Benjamin’s flustered appearance was the memory of him being harassed by a persistent Alpha in the past, unable to even properly refuse.
‘How dare this black-hearted bastard touch my good Ben?’
Joel felt a surge of fury.
He immediately strode over to Felix in anger and delivered a sharp slap across the cheek of Felix, who dared to insult his master, forgetting his place.
“You must be insane.”
“Joel!”
Benjamin was afraid of drawing a crowd and could not raise his voice, only shouting in a lowered tone.
Meanwhile, Felix, who usually spoke back sharply to Joel, simply kept his eyes lowered and remained silent even after being slapped.
‘So he knows he did wrong.’
Joel, still furious, was about to slap him again, but Benjamin sprang up and stood in front of Joel, blocking him.
“Joel, please stop.”
“Ben, are you okay? What did this dirty bastard do to you? I’ll report this to Duke Melfis right away…”
“That’s not it!”
Benjamin immediately and firmly denied Joel’s words.
Benjamin added to the startled Joel in a trembling voice.
“…I, I wanted this. So don’t insult him.”
Joel stared at Benjamin with a dumbfounded expression.
Benjamin’s pupils were shaking with anxiety, but he did not avoid Joel’s gaze.
At his confident attitude, Joel, who finally understood the meaning of Benjamin’s words, was utterly shocked.
Benjamin had never for a moment forgotten that he was the eldest son of the Duke Melfis family.
He carried a profound sense of responsibility as the eldest son and wanted to live up to his father’s expectations.
That’s why he never considered defying his fate—that tiresome fate that had been decided the moment he showed physical signs of manifesting as an Omega.
Even though he couldn’t bring himself to like the Crown Prince, who wore a polite and affectionate mask but whose true feelings were unknown; even though he secretly lacked the confidence to overcome the immense pressure that came with the position of Crown Princess; and even though at some point, he had helplessly fallen for someone other than the Crown Prince.
Benjamin constantly told himself that he couldn’t just live doing only what he wanted, and he forced himself back inside the fence of his predetermined destiny.
No, to be honest, that wasn’t the only reason he couldn’t stray from the right path.
Benjamin was frankly afraid of being talked about by people.
He loved Felix, but he didn’t have the confidence to endure the ridicule of having engaged in an illicit affair with his escort knight.
Therefore, because he was such a weak and pathetic person, he might have been all the more compelled to admire Joel, who unhesitatingly threw away his pride for the sake of love.
Joel was completely different from Benjamin, the coward.
He didn’t care at all even when people pointed fingers and criticized him for daring to aim for the noble position of Crown Princess despite his lowly background.
Whether he was pointed at or ridiculed, the only thing that mattered to him was the Crown Prince.
Benjamin, who genuinely envied Joel’s honest and confident side, had started projecting himself onto Joel at some point.
That’s why he genuinely supported Joel.
Although he himself couldn’t be honest about his love out of fear of others’ scrutiny, he wished for Joel, who had thrown away his pride for love, to receive a proper reward.
After all, he never cared for the Crown Prince, and besides…
“And if I become the Crown Princess, you two can be stuck together in some countryside castle for the rest of your lives, right? While politely refusing any marriage offers that trickle in, under the excuse that you’re too heartbroken from being rejected.”
Benjamin flinched in surprise when Joel abruptly cut him off as he was confessing.
His words were too blatant, making it embarrassing to nod, but honestly, he felt like he had been hit right on the head.
In fact, he had planned to watch for a suitable opportunity to leave for a countryside villa with Felix after Joel and the Crown Prince’s wedding.
Toward Benjamin, who was flustered and didn’t know what to do, Joel added with a slight grin.
“What? You thought I was stupid, so are you surprised that I’m too sharp?”
“N-No, that’s not… Joel, I, I never thought you were stupid…”
Ignoring Benjamin who was stumbling over his words, Joel scratched his chin and fell into thought.
It was a good feeling that his most formidable rival, Benjamin, turned out not to care for the Crown Prince, but this situation was troublesome.
If things went this way, to whom would the position of Crown Princess go after he ran away?
He truly had to leave after a month.
But he was so worried about who would become the Crown Princess.
Should he at least wait to see which family’s Omega was being pushed as the likely Crown Princess candidate before leaving…?
Seriously pondering, a thought suddenly flashed through Joel’s mind.
“But Ben, does your father know you’re involved with that guy?”
Joel pointed with his chin at Felix, who was huddled in the corner.
“Uh, huh? Well… Of course, he doesn’t.”
“Really? Hmm. Well, friend, I’m afraid your plan has a major flaw.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Think about it. If Duke Melfis finds out, he’ll naturally think that guy tricked you, the good one. Do you think the Duke will let him live? He’d kill him on the spot.”
Joel’s point was sharp, and Benjamin’s face instantly hardened.
He hadn’t considered that possibility, but now that he thought about it, Joel’s guess made sense.
“Why don’t you two just run away together?”
“I can’t do that. If I did something like that, my parents might fall gravely ill.”
“That is unacceptable. I cannot allow the Young Master to abandon everything for the sake of a mere man like me.”
To Joel’s carefree question—Benjamin immediately shook his head, and Felix, who had been quietly huddled in the corner ever since being slapped, instantly interjected.
Joel looked at the two, who were naïve to the point of being foolish, with a look of pity.
His chilly gaze grew colder still when Felix stepped forward to reply, “If the Duke learns the truth and raises a sword against me, I will gladly accept the blow. How could I beg for my life when your father, who gave you life, is judging me himself?”
“First of all, Ben, you can’t win your love without disappointing your parents. And you stupid bastard, why does running away mean Ben is giving up everything? At least he gets to keep you.”
He had known Benjamin was foolish for a long time, but he hadn’t expected Felix, who was quite a bit older, to be an idiot too.
He spoke back well enough that Joel thought he had some sense, but Joel hurled a barrage of sharp comments at Felix.
“And don’t talk about dying so easily. You may be done if you die, but how is Ben supposed to live?”
Only then did Felix look back at Benjamin and realize how irresponsible his words had been.
While he repeatedly apologized to Benjamin, Joel added spitefully from the side, “How can you so easily talk about dying when you have a lover? How pathetic. Are you even a man?”
To be honest, he couldn’t deny that he had a slight intention of paying Felix back for constantly getting on his nerves.
After getting Felix riled up enough, Joel started putting his head together with Benjamin to discuss what they should do next.
Benjamin was the only person Joel could call a friend—aside from Robert—so Joel genuinely wanted to help him.
But no matter how hard he racked his brain, no good solution came to mind.
Joel, whose head began to ache, was about to suggest again that it would be simple if they just ran away, when suddenly.
The area outside the tent seemed to grow noisy, and someone threw the tent flap wide open.
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