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VI. The Prince’s Engagement
“Wow! Hyung-nim! Please take a look outside! It’s just like a winter kingdom in fairy tale books!”
“Hmm……?”
Renato, who was closing his eyes with an exhausted face, slowly reacted to Trudy’s excited voice. When he blinked his heavy eyelids, Trudy, half-hanging from the carriage’s window, put away his excited expression and looked at him with a worried face.
“Are you very tired? Did I wake you up from your sleep?”
“Huh? No.”
Seeing Trudy whimpering like a puppy soaked in the rain, Renato opened his arms to the child. Then, Trudy dug into Renato’s embrace with a sullen face.
“Are you sure you are okay? You look tired these days.”
“I’m okay. I’m just tired because this is my first time traveling in such a long time.”
“……It’s not because of his highness bothering you?”
After hesitating a bit, Trudy cautiously asked. Renato tilted his head, unable to understand why the child suddenly mentioned Khalid.
“His highness bothering me?”
“Uh…… no, it’s nothing.”
Trudy, who moved his lips like a baby bird and seemed to have a lot of things to say, roughly glossed over it and buried his face in Renato’s chest. Then, Khalid’s pheromone faintly felt on Renato immediately made him frown.
Thief! Beast! Villain! Stupid mutt!
Trudy tightened his embrace around Renato and inwardly cursed Khalid. After spending the night in the same barracks as Khalid during camping in the forest a week ago, Renato had been sharing the room with him ever since. And he looked tired every day.
Not knowing that Renato received trauma treatment once every two or three days, Trudy had no choice but to suspect that Khalid was doing something strange. The words said by Max, his chief attendant, also contributed to that.
‘I was worried about His Imperial Highness the 1st Prince’s sudden marriage, but now that I directly see it, there is no need for that. I’m glad that he seems to have a very good relationship with his highness the grand prince.’
‘What do you mean that they have a good relationship? The one closest to hyung-nim is me, though?’
‘Ayy, after all, siblings and companions are different. Please don’t make that sullen face. Isn’t this a good thing for Trudy-nim, too?’
‘It’s not a good thing at all! And isn’t it a little weird? Hyung-nim looks very tired these days. His complexion is also bad…… I guess the trip makes him really tired. He can’t be sick, right? He just fainted not too long ago.’
‘Haha, that’s because his highness the grand prince is a dominant Alpha. An Omega might be different, but a Beta like His Imperial Highness wouldn’t be able to handle all that strength, right?’
‘What? What does that mean?’
‘Oops, I made a slip of the tongue again…… It is just an adult matter that you don’t need to know about, Your Imperial Highness. Ahem, anyway, please don’t worry too much. If they get along well, it will be beneficial to you as well, Your Imperial Highness.’
Trudy, who had received basic sex education as an Alpha and a Prince from a young age, understood without difficulty what Max meant by ‘adult matter’. His beautiful hyung-nim must have been eaten by the wolf-like Khalid every night.
The reason Trudy was convinced of his thoughts was both because of Max’s words and Khalid’s pheromone on Renato’s body. Exactly from the day after camping, Trudy could feel a strange scent from Renato.
A refreshing and cool scent reminiscent of a snowy winter forest.
He had already smelled it once before, so he knew right away who it belonged to. Khalid was the owner of the scent that faintly permeated Renato’s body.
There were many cases where Alphas and Omegas’ pheromones smeared on others’ bodies, but they could be categorized into three main kinds. Intentional marking, pheromones’ release while sleeping, or deep affection between lovers.
At first, he thought the pheromone was on Renato’s body because the two of them slept together in the same bed. It was often the case when Trudy was with his mother, Ludmilla, as well.
But after hearing Max’s words, another possibility kept coming to his mind. It also bothered him that Khalid’s scent felt from Renato’s body was getting stronger as the days went by. Trudy’s misunderstanding deepened because Renato was very tired over the past week and just dozed off like a sick chick during the day.
“Why did you stop talking? Why did you suddenly mention his highness?”
Unaware of what kind of misunderstanding his brother was having, Renato questioned the child with a stern face. He was worried because Trudy often showed hostility to Khalid.
“Trudy, I told you last time, right? I said that his highness was on the same side as us and that I hoped you two to get along well.”
“Yes……”
“Then why do you keep looking at him in a bad way and saying bad things about him?”
“I’m just worried about hyung-nim.”
“I know it’s because you care about me. But his highness has never done any harm to me until now. Above all else, it will be difficult if you keep doing this to someone who will help you in the future.”
“I was wrong…… Hiing.”
Trudy tearfully answered when Renato scolded him in a stern voice. He was worried about his hyung-nim, so he felt unfair to be scolded because of that.
“I keep remembering what Max said because you have been tired since you shared a room with his highness, hyung-nim……”
“Max? What did he say to you?”
“Max said, hing, all dominant Alphas are beasts! That’s why hyung-nim has been tired these days……!”
“What?”
Beasts? Renato’s eyes widened at the words Trudy cried out. Louis, who was quietly listening to their conversation in the carriage corner, also coughed in surprise.
“Beasts, what do you mean……”
Ah. Renato, who was muttering with a bewildered face, soon understood what Trudy meant and burst into an exclamation. So Trudy said that I and Khalid…… In an instant, his face heated up as if on fire. Feeling his cheeks burn, Renato quickly opened his mouth. He had to clear up the child’s misunderstanding first.
“Uhm, Trudy. I know what you were thinking, but it never happened between his highness and me.”
“Pardon?”
“I mean, uhm, we’re not even engaged yet, right? The reason I look tired these days is because of another matter. Rather, I’m getting his highness’ help with that.”
“R, really?”
“Yes.”
Renato answered with a firm attitude. The reason he had been tired lately was because of hypnotherapy. With Khalid’s help, his treatment was performed three more times to face his previous life event that triggered his post-traumatic stress disorder.
Every time, Renato had seizures and could barely calm down after taking medicine. Perhaps because of that, after every treatment, he was exhausted and tired until the next day.
“It’s difficult to explain in detail now,  but I hope you don’t misunderstand anything.”
“Uh, uhm……”
Hearing Renato’s explanation, Trudy blinked several times with a confused look. Then, he scrunched his nose and sniffed as if to confirm something, and made an expression saying he did not understand at all. Then, he apologized in a gloomy voice.
“I’m sorry, I keep smelling his highness’ pheromone from hyung-nim, so…… I accidentally misunderstood.”
“His highness’ pheromone?”
Renato blinked in response to the unexpected words. It was an immutable fact that Betas could not smell Alphas and Omegas’ pheromones. Naturally, Renato didn’t even know that Khalid’s pheromone had smeared on him.
“Yes, his highness’ pheromone has been lingering on you since you two shared a room, and the scent is getting stronger as the days go by, hyung-nim.”
“About that…… It’s because we share the same room.”
Renato’s voice slightly trembled. He could understand why Khalid’s pheromone was smeared on him. After re-experiencing his painful memories through hypnotherapy, whenever he came to his senses, he would see Khalid checking his condition with a heavy expression. Anger and sadness were clear in the man’s darkened eyes.
Once in a while, Renato could feel the air around him and Khalid change. It was because Khalid’s pheromone had leaked out in response to the man’s emotions. He immersed himself in Renato’s past and felt sorry for him as if it were his own matter.
Perhaps because of that, Khalid, who was originally gentle, became even kinder and warmer on the days he received treatment. He treated Renato like fragile handcrafted work and took care of him so wholeheartedly that Renato didn’t even need to lift a hand.
Renato felt sorry for Khalid, but could not refuse the comfort and stability the man gave him. On the days when he recalled his terrible and miserable past, he desperately needed Khalid’s warmth. The man’s warm and firm embrace was a miracle cure to calm his anxious mind.
“Anyway, is your misunderstanding cleared up now?”
Hearing Renato’s question, Trudy nodded his head with a sullen expression. Renato gently stroked the depressed child’s hair. Then, he turned his gaze to Louis.
“Max……”
“I will pay close attention to that later.”
“Do that.”
The quick-witted Louis spoke first. At that moment, the carriage seemed to slow down a bit, then the window opened with a knock. Khalid appeared beyond the carriage window.
“We are entering the royal palace now. We will soon reach the main palace, so please be prepared.”
“All right.”
“But why is your face so red?”
“Ah, it must be because the carriage is a little hot.”
Renato unconsciously avoided the man’s gaze, awkwardly answered and fanned his face. Perhaps because he had talked about that topic with Trudy a while ago, it was strangely difficult to meet Khalid’s eyes. Fortunately, Khalid closed the window without further asking. Hearing the noises outside, it seemed that they were in the process of entering the palace.
With Louis’ help, Renato straightened his hair and fixed his clothes. Just like what Khalid had said, the carriage soon came to a complete stop.
“Please come down carefully.”
Khalid opened the carriage door and reached out to Renato. As soon as he got off the carriage with the man’s escort, he saw a woman with black hair and red eyes. Renato recognized who she was at a glance. The woman who looked exactly like Khalid was Maryam, the Queen of the Khan Kingdom and his half-sister.