The messenger Baron Aster had sent to investigate the missing person flyers across the empire was far slower than the Crown Prince’s army storming his castle.
The Baron, drenched in a cold sweat, greeted the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince didn’t seem to remember the Baron at all, but Baron Aster recognized him instantly.
He had spent social seasons in the capital like any other noble and had personally had audiences with the Crown Prince several times.
Seeing the disheveled Crown Prince arriving in a remote territory far from the capital, even the tiny lingering doubts the Baron held after Joel’s explanation vanished completely.
The Omega who had come to his territory was indeed the precious body meant to be the Crown Princess.
Turning pale, Baron Aster bowed his head and racked his brain for a way to fix the situation.
Of course, no matter how much he thought, there seemed to be no way out.
“Joel… where is my companion?”
“H-he is in the second-floor bedroom. What are you doing? Escort His Highness at once!”
The Crown Prince drew the sword at his waist and threatened the Baron terrifyingly.
The Baron, prostrate on the floor, turned to his butler, who was also face-down behind him, and urged him frantically.
However, hearing the word “bedroom” made the Crown Prince’s face turn even more livid.
“The bedroom? You actually dared!”
The moment the Crown Prince, eyes rolling in fury, raised his sword over his head, the Baron realized what kind of misunderstanding he had caused.
He reached out both hands, trying to explain, “Y-Your Highness, it’s not like that…” but it was too late.
The sharp, blue-gleaming blade cut through the air, and the Baron tumbled to the floor with a sharp cry of “Oof!”
Fortunately, the tip of the blade narrowly missed the Baron’s bloated body.
The Crown Prince was about to swing again, but then a thought crossed his mind: if this man had truly committed an atrocious act against Joel, he couldn’t let him die so easily.
The Crown Prince ordered his soldiers to seize the Baron and then charged up to the second floor like an enraged bull.
“Your Highness, over there!”
A castle servant, running behind him and panting, pointed to the room at the end of the left hallway.
The Crown Prince, who had been scanning the surroundings at the top of the stairs, immediately dashed toward the room.
His heart felt as though it were tearing apart, thinking of the insults that poor child might have endured because he arrived too late.
Cursing his own negligence for letting his guard down when Joel left, he threw open the heavy bedroom door.
“Joel!”
At the Crown Prince’s sudden appearance, Joel, who had been lying horizontally on the sofa idly eating grapes, was startled.
He froze mid-motion, just as he was about to bring a grape to his mouth.
Contrary to the Crown Prince’s fears, Joel had actually been eating and living well at the Baron’s castle.
Once he informed the Baron that he was the adopted son of Count Lucas, the Baron—who was acquainted with the Count—remembered that the Count had adopted a Dominant Omega in the past.
The Baron had summoned his cousin, the only manifested person in the castle, to verify Joel’s trait, and the cousin confirmed that Joel was a Dominant Omega.
There was only one twenty-year-old Dominant Omega in the entire empire: Joel.
Realizing exactly who he had failed to recognize, the Baron had prostrated himself before Joel to beg for his life.
Since then, their positions had completely flipped; Joel had been reigning over the castle as its master, while the Baron had been sweating profusely, trying to cater to Joel’s every whim.
The grape in Joel’s hand went plop and rolled onto the floor.
While Joel’s complexion wasn’t bad at all after three days of luxury in the castle, in the Crown Prince’s eyes, Joel looked as thin as a withered branch.
And because his frame was naturally slender and lithe, his stomach stood out even more.
Feeling his eyes grow hot, the Crown Prince immediately rushed to Joel.
“Joel, oh god…”
Kneeling before Joel, the Crown Prince pulled him into a fierce embrace.
The companion he had searched so desperately for was finally in his arms.
When he had wrapped him in a cloak and sent him to Count Grey’s castle, his cheeks had been plump, but the small frame he held now was noticeably diminished.
With this small body, and while pregnant at that—how much hardship must he have endured to become this thin?
It was so heartbreaking that the Crown Prince apologized to Joel over and over in a choked voice, “Joel, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”
Only when Joel’s scent filled his lungs did the Prince finally feel at ease.
Regaining his composure, he pulled back slightly and looked closely at Joel’s face, which was still blinking in bewilderment.
“Joel, are you hurt anywhere? Did the Baron… do something terrible to you…?”
The Crown Prince touched Joel’s cheek, asking questions incoherently.
Joel just stared blankly into those green eyes, unable to process the situation.
He had expected to meet the Crown Prince eventually, but he hadn’t known the reunion would happen this fast.
Joel recognized the Crown Prince’s pheromones faster than he grasped the situation.
The bergamot scent he had always craved was enveloping him.
His pregnant body welcomed the companion’s pheromones, and the nerves that had been sharply on edge began to loosen.
Joel finally parted his trembling lips.
“C-Crown Prince?”
“Yes, it’s me. I’m sorry I came so late.”
The owner of those beautiful green eyes, which held only his reflection, was definitely the Crown Prince. Joel suddenly realized the Prince’s face was shockingly gaunt.
His cheeks were hollow like someone who had starved for a month, and dark shadows were cast under his eyes.
His hair was a mess, and his usually smooth chin was covered in dark stubble.
Even so, he was still handsome—handsome enough to steal one’s soul.
After staring at the Prince’s face for a long time, the face he had missed even in his dreams, Joel suddenly felt his eyes sting.
“Hic…”
Before he could stop it, tears came bursting out.
He hadn’t wanted to reunite with him in such a pathetic state.
Since he had to confess the pregnancy, he had wanted to face him looking a bit more calm and dependable, but unfortunately, once the sobbing started, it wouldn’t subside.
Feeling even more miserable at his own foolishness, Joel began to wail at the top of his lungs, “Waaaaah…!”
The Crown Prince hurried to embrace the sobbing Joel, gently stroking his back.
“It’s okay, it’s all okay now. Joel, I’m here, so you don’t have to worry about anything anymore.”
His collapsing body was caught by a solid embrace. It brought an indescribable sense of relief.
He was safe now.
Joel felt all the sorrow he had felt during his long journey hit him at once.
He had pretended to be resolute and brave, but the truth was, he had been terrified.
When he was abandoned by the mercenary his father hired, when he was almost sold as a prostitute by Becky’s father, when the Baron treated him like a harlot—in truth, Joel had just wanted to wail like this.
And he had missed the Crown Prince so, so much.
How lonely was the life of an adult where one couldn’t even shed tears freely?
Joel rubbed his soft cheek against the Crown Prince’s firm shoulder and sobbed for a long time until that shoulder was soaked with tears.
It was about thirty minutes later when Joel finally stopped crying.
Joel awkwardly wiped his cheeks and looked around.
Only he and the Crown Prince were in the large bedroom.
Fortunately, the Crown Prince had been quick-witted enough to dismiss everyone the moment Joel burst into tears, so Joel didn’t have to show his pathetic, snot-covered face to others.
The Crown Prince held a handkerchief to the area under Joel’s nose.
“Blow.”
Joel instinctively did as told, letting out a “Honk,” only to turn bright red a moment later.
He spoke primly, as if trying to reclaim his pride.
“I wanted to ask if you had been well when I saw you again, but seeing your face, I can’t even ask that out of politeness.”
Joel, who had been treated well at Baron Aster’s castle, had lost some weight but still had decent color.
However, the Crown Prince, who looked like a walking corpse from nervous exhaustion, was gaunt.
At Joel’s words, the Prince rubbed his rough cheek in embarrassment.
“Of course. You disappeared—how could I possibly be well?”
The Crown Prince overlapped his hands on top of Joel’s, which were resting on the sofa, and gently caressed them.
His green eyes were shining more tenderly than ever.
Facing that gaze, Joel felt a tickle in his chest.
Worried by the gaunt face, Joel muttered, “…You’ve lost a lot of weight.”
“Not as much as you. More importantly, Joel, are you truly unhurt?”
The Crown Prince asked, stroking Joel’s cheek carefully.
It was a touch as soft and cautious as if he were handling precious porcelain.
“Yes. After I revealed my identity, even Baron Aster treated me with respect. The things you’re worried about didn’t happen.”
Hearing Joel’s answer, the Crown Prince finally let out a long sigh of relief.
If Joel had been violated by the Baron even by a hair’s breadth, the Prince would never have forgiven his own negligence.
He might have even searched for a demon again to turn back time once more.
“Then, our child…”
The Crown Prince suddenly reached out and touched Joel’s stomach as he asked.
Joel flinched and tried to pull back, but he was blocked by the back of the sofa and couldn’t escape.
He hadn’t expected the Crown Prince to already know about the pregnancy, and in his panic, Joel could only look at the Prince with wide, startled eyes.
