/
“Goddamn it. What the hell is going on?!”
After throwing a rampage for a long time, Maximo felt tired and plopped down in his chair. He was still fuming because his anger had not disappeared.
This is all because of that punk.
Maximo gritted his teeth when thinking about Renato. From a few days ago, every time he thought of Renato, the words Renato had said loudly echoed in his ears.
“You hate me? Me?”
Why? Maximo spat out to himself, unable to understand anything at all. If he could, he wanted to shout at Renato to tell him the reason right away. Even thinking about it again made his stomach boil inwardly.
Renato’s rejection was a bigger shock to him than he had expected. Maximo admitted with difficulty that he was hurt by that. He had no choice but to admit it because he couldn’t live his daily life properly for the past few days.
“Damn it.”
Why was he so shaken up just because a Beta said that he hated him, even though that guy was just a sidekick compared to the next Emperor like him? Feeling pathetic about himself, Maximo tightly clenched his fists.
A tingling sensation came up from the fingernails digging into his skin, but he didn’t care. The scratches on his palms were nothing compared to the scar on his chest.
‘You know what? Let me say this…… I really hate you.’
‘Should I say it again? I hate you.’
Maximo closed his eyes, trying to turn away from the voice resounding in his head. He knew that Renato was afraid of him. But he never thought the guy would hate him.
So Maximo felt a great sense of betrayal from Renato. His lofty self-esteem was also cracked.
“Arrogant…… Ungrateful bastard.”
Clang! Spatting out a swear word, Maximo threw the fountain pen case in his hand onto the wall. The more he thought about it, the more betrayed he felt, and the more his uncontrollable frustration surged up.
‘Maximo, His Imperial Highness the 1st Prince we are meeting today is the same age as you. Be friendly with him in the future.’
Born as a late son of the Duke, Maximo spent his entire life in the territory and first came to the capital at the age of six. When he followed his mother, a distant relative of the Empress, into the palace, he met Renato.
‘H, hello.’
Renato was a child that had no dignity as a Prince of the Empire. He looked vulnerable in appearance, his voice was small, and his actions were timid. Still, he was the cutest and prettiest child Maximo had ever met.
‘My mother said that we should be friendly to each other. So let’s be friends.’
‘Friend? With me?’
Renato’s eyes widened when Maximo suggested they become friends. Then, he repeatedly opened and closed his mouth like a small fish.
‘What’s that reaction, you don’t want to be friends with me?’
‘It’s not like that! I, I want to.’
Renato was startled and shook his head. His white cheeks turned red like ripe peaches.
‘Okay, then we are friends from today.’
‘Uh, uhm.’
Renato glanced at Maximo’s hand that had reached out to him, and carefully held it. His small and luscious lips like cherries curled up.
‘……Thanks.’
The child expressed his gratitude in a small voice and bashfully smiled. Then, he let out beautiful and pleasant laughter. Maximo’s chest suddenly felt ticklish when he saw Renato laughing shyly. The two quickly became friends.
‘Hey, Renato. Will you be my Omega later?’
After becoming friends with Renato and a season had passed, Maximo made up his mind and said a confession that didn’t sound like a confession. If it was Renato, it was worth giving him the seat next to Maximo. But contrary to his expectation that Renato would be delighted, Renato was greatly perplexed when he heard Maximo’s words.
‘Huh? But I’m not an Omega……’
‘What? So are you an Alpha?’
‘……No. I, I’m a Beta.’
Only then did Maximo find out that Renato was a Beta. He couldn’t remember how he got home that day. As soon as the child went home, he quarreled with his mother.
‘Oh? You didn’t know? Oh my, I must have forgotten to tell you. It is a famous fact, so I thought of course you knew it. I’m sorry.’
Duchess Florence restlessly apologized when Maximo shouted, asking why she didn’t tell him that Renato was a Beta.
‘Then…… I can’t marry Renato?’
‘Marry? Uhm, I think it’s difficult.’
‘Why?’
‘That’s because, Maximo, you are an Alpha, right? Alphas need to have Omegas as their companions so that they can have children. It’s not possible with Betas.’
The Duchess told Maximo the cruel truth that Alphas and Betas couldn’t be together. Maximo went on a rampage that day, making a mess out of his room.
He didn’t like the fact that Renato was a Beta, that his mother didn’t tell him about it from the beginning, and that Alphas and Betas couldn’t be each other’s companions.
‘Why didn’t you tell me you are a Beta?!’
Engulfed in uncontrollable anger, Maximo went to Renato the next day and shouted at him.
‘I’m, I’m sorry. I thought of course you knew……’
Not knowing what to do, Renato tearfully explained when he saw Maximo getting angry with him. But Maximo’s anger did not disappear. For some unknown reason, he trembled with a feeling of betrayal. Everything felt annoying to him.
‘Traitor, liar!’
Maximo shouted when Renato apologized to him. In his mind, he knew it was not Renato’s fault, but words of reproach kept coming out of his mouth.
Born with everything and living with anything he wanted, Renato was the first frustration for Maximo. Because of that, he vented his anger for no reason. He needed an object of resentment for the situation that did not go his way.
‘Hey, Maximo……’
‘Don’t talk to me. Useless Beta.’
After that, Maximo completely turned away from Renato. Whenever Maximo rejected him, Renato had a hurt expression. Every time he saw Renato like that, he felt a tingle in one corner of his chest but struggled to get over it, thinking it was not a big deal. The selfish child thought of his own wounds as more important than those of others.
But he couldn’t completely ignore Renato. He got angry whenever someone approached Renato out of interest or sneered at him. Because Renato was his.
Yes, that punk is mine.
Maximo’s face was stained with dark obsession. The magenta eyes, filled with arrogant monopoly and twisted desire, turbidly gleamed. He had no intention of losing Renato to anyone.
“I have to settle this first.”
Maximo crumpled up the report that Hans had left behind. The timing was too coincidental to dismiss as a rumor that would only burn up for a while and then disappear after that. And above all, Renato’s gaze when looking at Khalid in the banquet hall was on his mind.
Renato’s pale purple eyes were filled with clear goodwill. It was just like a long time ago, when Renato looked at Maximo as a friend.
‘I am not your person.’
No, you are mine. You have been mine for a long time. Maximo shook his head nervously, trying to ignore Renato’s words of rejection. However, the more he did, the clearer the face saying he hated him became, and the voice saying he wasn’t his person also echoed.
If, really……
Maximo’s expression stiffened because of a possibility that suddenly crossed his mind. What if those two really had feelings for each other? As he thought about it, his heart felt like it was on fire.
“No, no. It’s not possible.”
Feeling anxious, Maximo bit his nails. It was a habit coming out whenever he was under too much stress or feeling anxious.
“They are Alpha and Beta, so it can’t happen……”
Maximo kept muttering to himself, suppressing his growing anxiety. Then he thought about how to bring Renato down from his special protocol officer job.
However, things did not go the way Maximo wanted. Rumors had already spread faster before he could take action. Wherever people gathered, stories about Khalid and Renato also appeared.
“Guys, did you hear that rumor? I heard that the Khan Kingdom’s grand prince who came as the diplomatic ambassador this time and the 1st Prince are having that kind of relationship.”
“Really?”
“Yes, a relative of mine who works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that the grand prince is very actively courting him.”
“Then what will happen? Will they get married?”
“I’m not sure. But it doesn’t seem that the Prince has no feelings for him at all. Quite a few people have seen them go together.”
Rumors about the two of them grew with each passing day and rapidly spread like fire. As if responding to that, Khalid and Renato appeared together in front of people. In everyone’s eyes, the two seemed to get along well, so the rumors became established facts. It was a scandal between the Beta Prince who was treated as a sidekick and the dominant Alpha grand prince.