/
TPHO: Chapter 4
In front of the dominant omega’s overwhelming pheromones, the recessive Alpha’s reason was nothing but a lamp before the wind. Especially, since she had eaten the s*x catalyst.
“When the child is born, it will be over for you.”
Leona stroked her bloated belly and made plans for the future. She intended to eliminate Edwin, raise her child for the throne, and become the regent.
“It doesn’t matter if the baby is dominant or recessive, has to be born an Alpha”, Leona whispered her wishes. Only an Alpha child was needed for her plan to succeed.
The seasons changed, and the child was born. The child was a dominant Omega who resembled Leona in appearance and character.
“No way!”
Leona, who held the child in her arms after a very difficult birth, was in despair. Omega was the worst result.
“How could this be?” Leona screamed with a confused face. She couldn’t figure out where the hell everything went wrong.
However, even if she turned away from reality and denied it, the fact that the child was the dominant Omega did not change.
“Calm down, sweetheart.”
“How can I calm down! My child is Omega! An Omega can’t be the emperor!” Leona screamed. Long ago, Omegas were not permitted to become emperor because of a tragedy that had occurred in the Imperial Household.
“Why don’t you have another child? Huh?”
Duke Hereace soothed her in a soft voice.
Leona said in a voice full of anger, “the Imperial doctor said he might not be able to serve again!”
“What?”
It was then that Duke Hereace’s face hardened, recognizing the seriousness of the situation.
“Even if a pregnancy is possible, what if there is no other opportunity? Is it because you don’t know how thoroughly the emperor is avoiding and ignoring me now?”
“That’s
” said Duke Herace, with a puzzled look on his face. Edwin, who had spent an unwanted night in Leona’s room, was more thoroughly avoiding her than before.
“I’d rather have Beta
”
Leona, who was crying in a sad voice, burst into exclamations as if she realised something. She asked in an urgent voice, “Father, where is the Imperial doctor and the midwife? What about the maidservant? Other than them, the others don’t know that I gave birth to Omega now, do they?”
“They are next door. So far, we are the only ones who know.”
Leona’s eyes lit up at the Duke’s answer. Leona’s maternity sanctuary was set up in the annex of the Duke of Hereace. She had determined that the Duke’s palace was safer than the Imperial Palace.
“
 
 Please call the Imperial doctor and midwife right now. I don’t have much time. We have to shut their mouths before a messenger comes from the Imperial Palace.”
Leona quickly organised her thoughts and opened her mouth. If she had given birth to a child in the Imperial Palace, it would have been known immediately that he was an Omega, but thanks to the birth in the duke’s family, there was a loophole. She could kiss herself for her own idea.
“What do you mean, silence them?”
“The kid is not going to be Omega, he’s going to be a Beta.”
“What?” Duke Herace opened his eyes wide at the unexpected remark.
“The Emperor was Beta. Empress Sun was also a dominant Omega, but gave birth to two Beta children. So it doesn’t matter that I gave birth to a Beta too.”
“Are you saying you want to trick the kid into being a Beta? You’re fooling him into being a Beta?”
“Yeah. Beta can become Emperor.”
“In any case, the child is directly related to the imperial family. It is a gamble with sufficient odds of success unless an excellent dominant Alpha is born later in the imperial family”, Leona continued speaking calmly.
“We don’t know if I can have another baby now. We must prepare for the future.”
“Can we hide it? He’s not just an omega, he is a dominant omega!”
The Duke of Hereace was sceptical of Leona’s opinion. His eyes turned to the sleeping child.
“Besides that child, he was born with a jewel.” Duke Hereace recalled the watery eyes he had seen before the child went to sleep. As if transparent lake water, clear sky, he had strange eyes that seemed to contain nature. It must have been the jewel that the dominant Alpha and the dominant Omega had, following the blood of the FrĂ©dĂ©ric Imperial family.
“I don’t know about anything else, but those eyes and pheromones are hard to hide. When he would grow older, when the first heat cycle would come
”
“Even if it’s impossible, we have to make it possible.” Leona cut the duke’s words in a stern voice. She seemed to have made up her mind. “Father, please inquire about skilled wizards and alchemists. It’s good to find someone who is having financial problems. Oh, and we also need a pharmacist with good dispensing skills. The reason I’m looking for it is because I’m very sick due to difficult childbirth.”
“

.”
“The Emperor won’t say much if I say I’m going to do postpartum care at the Duke’s. Anyway, he

 he’s not interested in me.” Leona, smiled bitterly and looked at Duke Hereace with desperate eyes.
“Help me, Father.”
“Leona.”
“This is the only way for me to maintain my position as the Queen and for my family to continue to succeed.”
“
I see.” The Duke, after hesitating for a moment, nodded. The moment he decided to help Leona, the child’s fate changed.
On that day, the birth that should have been blessed all over the world became the beginning of all tragedies.
“

Cough.”
The Empress, who had been buried in her old memories, was relieved of her thoughts by the sound of a shallow cough. More than twenty years have passed since the day she decided to raise her child as a Beta rather than an Omega. A game that could end when he would be discovered as the Omega. Every moment for the past 20 years had been like a tightrope walk, but so far, it had passed well.
In the meantime, Leona was brought into power with the help of the Duke of Hereace, and took control of more than half of the Imperial Palace. Her power grew stronger day by day. Leona gained confidence, put pressure on the emperor by creating a public opinion that he and the Duke could not keep the crown prince vacant from the previous year. However, the resistance was stronger than expected. To make matters worse, the situation had changed abruptly. Even the opposition of the imperial faction would be annoyed to death, but almost half of the military and neutralists opposed Etienne. They supported Prince Richard as the next emperor, saying Etienne was in many ways unsuitable to become the emperor.
“

”
Leona frowned as she recalled a problem that showed no sign of being resolved.
“He’s coming back.”
Etienne shuddered and stiffened his shoulders without realising what the Empress had said. It was clear that it was Duke of Eckhardt who the Empress referred to as ‘he’.
“Why? Are you happy to hear that he is returning?” The Empress quickly noticed Etienne’s agitation and squinted her eyes.
“No, I’m not.” Etienne replied in a calm tone, careful not to lose his calm expression. Fortunately, his voice didn’t tremble. He added words quickly so that the Empress would not be suspicious. “Is there any reason I should be happy to see him?”
“Yes. There shouldn’t be.” Only then did the Empress smile with satisfaction. The lips, which reminded him of red rose petals, drew a beautiful line.
“When he comes back, there will be a full-fledged fight for the position of the Crown Prince.”
The Empress’s voice fell. She gnashed her teeth. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.
“The Emperor intends to make him the Crown Prince.”
“Is that so?”
Etienne nodded without a sign of surprise. It was an open fact that the Emperor thought of his distant cousin, Richard as special.
In the past, the Emperor claimed to be the guardian of Richard, who lost his parents at an early age. He protected him in the Imperial Palace until he entered the Imperial Academy. He prepared everything for Richard himself.
For Etienne, his own biological child, the Emperor was a strong cold wind and for Richard he was as warm as the spring wind. So, various rumours naturally spread here and there. Those who liked to talk about the emperor’s attitude told jokes that his son was switched. Some nobles even said that it was because Etienne was Beta and Duke Eckhardt was a dominant Alpha. Since the emperor was born Alpha and trampled on his brothers and ascended the throne, the claim was accepted as somewhat credible.
The emperor did not deny rumours surrounding Etienne and Richard. Imperial nobles also supported Richard as the next emperor. As the Duke of Eckhardt had the right to succeed to the throne and was one of the few dominant Alphas, there was enough justification. As the situation turned out, the aristocracy who supported Etienne strongly protested. The imperialists and aristocrats were sharply divided over the next imperial power. Etienne was more tired than ever.
“Hyung-nim.”
[T/N: Duke of Eckhardt is Prince Richard. XDXD If you guys had problem connecting the dots.]
Raw Provider : Misa Translator : Stea Editor : Amira