That was the end of Wiss's day. His body, already suffering from anemia, couldn't withstand the mental shock and fainted.
Wiss opened his eyes late the next afternoon.
'Damn.'
When he drew back the curtains, the afternoon sunlight poured into the room. The jewel-encrusted decorative box and the canopy, woven so thin it seemed transparent, sparkled.
The only difference from the previous day was that the carpet on the floor was gone. It seemed they had taken it away because it was stained with blood.
It was the room of a descendant 300 years later. What Wiss experienced wasn't a dream or illusion before his death.
When he called out, the talkative guard came running.
"Isn't there another knight besides you?"
"What do you need done? Even if you try to get rid of me, I won't leave. Your Highness's lover isn't in the castle. Even if you kick me out, you can't call him."
Where did he learn the habit of assuming his master's thoughts?
Wiss stopped being disappointed in the level of the kingdom's knights.
"Are you an Alpha?"
Instead, he asked something he was curious about. He still couldn't believe this body was an Omega.
To Wiss, trait-bearers were a foreign race. Most of his wives were Omegas, though.
Wiss endlessly won wars and expanded his territory.
The forces incorporated into his kingdom sent daughters to seek peace.
Wiss married all of them. They were political marriages, and he usually saw their faces for the first time at the wedding.
Without even spending the first night, he sent them to the harem and went about his business.
Which meant he went to the battlefield.
The wives were royalty or nobility, which meant they were trait-bearers.
The bloodlines sent for political marriages wouldn't be Alphas, so naturally, they were Omegas.
The monarchs who submitted to Wiss knew he was a Beta.
Wiss's origins were well-known. A lowly king born a slave.
It's not easy for a child to be born from a Beta and Omega union.
Pregnancy was possible at an extremely rare probability. For example, Jeremy was a Beta but had two Alpha children.
Jeremy was treated as "King Wiss's stud" in social circles because of that.
How many attempts must have been made for a non-trait-bearer to have a trait-bearer?
In the same vein, one could guess the intentions of the nobles who sent Omegas to Wiss.
'Try your best to get a precious child from your lowly bloodline,' wasn't it?
Wiss's close aides were outraged at the insult, but Wiss let it go.
He had no intention of having children in the first place.
The wives' role wasn't to bear Wiss's children. It was to be there. As a symbol of peace.
As living proof that they wouldn't attack or antagonize Wiss's kingdom.
Wiss allowed the wives to indulge in luxury as much as they wanted.
It was the generosity he extended to members of his kingdom.
Yet there were traitors, and rebellions occurred.
Wiss did not forgive traitors. He never gave a second chance…
"Do you think I'm from some great family to be an Alpha? Of course, I'm a Beta. Why do you ask? Are you trying to seduce me, Your Highness?"
The knight brought water. Wiss thought about splashing it on that cheeky face to bring him to his senses but refrained because it would be a waste of water.
Listening to the knight, it seemed trait-bearers were still rare even 300 years later.
'Omegas are said to emit a scent when you get close and bewitch you when you make eye contact.'
Wiss recalled information based on prejudice.
It was a very outdated prejudice from 300 years ago.
In the year 310 of the Summer calendar, even commoners didn't believe such nonsense, but Wiss had no way of knowing that.
He sniffed his wrist. There was no particular smell.
"Do I have any scent?"
"Yes, Your Highness's face shines, and your body emits a floral scent."
"I was foolish to ask you."
"Oh, what kind of answer do you want? His Majesty was very worried when you suddenly fainted. The cleric was called again, but they said you were just sleeping, so it was quite embarrassing. How do you sleep so dramatically?"
Wiss ignored the knight's words.
'Is it my fault this body is trash?'
"They say trait-bearers recognize each other. Are there no Alphas around you?"
"I don't have such precious people around me, but isn't Your Highness's lover an Alpha?"
'Come to think of it, this body had a lover.'
A trait-bearer's lover is usually a trait-bearer.
"Where is that guy?"
"Your nickname for him is harsh… When Your Highness fainted, he was taken to the city guard."
"The capital's city guard?"
"Yes. He's a knight too, so he has to work. Choosing the prince over the kingdom during wartime, I don't know if that's chivalry or not. Choosing love over loyalty is romantic, though."
'A guy who was a city guard knight ran away during wartime.'
Wiss found the state of the kingdom fascinating at this point.
"Now shut up and go get that guy."
"Your Highness, he's obviously at his estate now. Even if he were in the capital, he couldn't enter the castle. His Majesty directly forbade it. Oh, you wouldn't know because you were unconscious then."
This knight talked a lot but didn't understand what was being said.
"Who said to bring him openly? Sneak him in. Contact him with a crystal ball and bring him quietly."
"I'm not a wizard. How can I use a crystal ball?"
A crystal ball is a tool that transmits images and sounds by infusing magic into a crystal. Even a knight can use it if they can operate magic.
"Use magic!"
Wiss snapped.
The knight flinched.
"How can a knight use magic…?"
"What kind of knight can't use magic? Call the royal wizard."
"Your Highness… Don't all wizards live in the magic tower? What do you mean by royal wizard?"
'What is that now?'
Magic tower?
Three hundred years was a long time. More had changed than stayed the same.
"Even if your lover were in the castle, I shouldn't call him. If you're looking for an accomplice for a romantic escape, you've got the wrong person."
"Keep talking nonsense."
"What are you going to do by calling him?"
The knight asked.
Having lived his whole life as a Beta, Wiss had never been mistaken for an Omega. With this face, could there be some misunderstanding about being an Omega?
Among Wiss's wives, there was also a male Omega.
'What did he look like?'
He couldn't remember the face.
He had an impression like he would break if you touched him. Aren't Omegas generally like that?
Wiss stood in front of the mirror. In the decorative oval mirror, a frail man was reflected.
"…"
'Have I gone mad?'
Wiss hit the mirror.
"Why are you doing this? Have you gone mad? Cleric! Cleric!"
The knight ran out of the room.
Wiss gave up on the attempt to verify his trait by meeting an Alpha directly.
Would his heart suddenly race upon seeing that lover, claiming, 'I'm an Omega, and I get excited when I see an Alpha'?
It was just an escape from reality.
Why did Wiss hate this face in his youth? He had never been mistaken for an Omega, but he had often been told he looked like a girl.
Once, when a master patted him saying, 'You're as pretty as a girl,' Wiss retorted, 'Isn't it perverted to touch a girl like this? Are you a perverted master?' and got beaten up badly.
'Omega, huh.'
The Omegas Wiss knew were royalty or nobility.
They were considered noble bloodlines, and even if they weren't, the moment they manifested their trait, they became the adopted child of a noble.
Because an Alpha had to pair with an Omega to have children.
In terms of rarity, Omegas were a more precious race than Alphas.
Wiss was essentially the only remaining asset of this kingdom.
Wiss thought the king was hopelessly stupid, but perhaps not to that extent.
The kingdom's finances were in shambles, and its defense was crumbling. The people were seething with discontent due to excessive taxes, and Palatine was demanding enormous reparations as the victor's right.
Surprisingly, there was only one way to prevent this damned kingdom from collapsing.
'Marriage.'
Wiss dragged the knight who had run out back in.
"Tell me about Duke Akazel."
── .✦
Duke Akazel Theodore was Palatine's undefeated knight.
He manifested as an Alpha at the age of eight, and by thirteen, he was already as tall as an adult.
At seventeen, he won the royal tournament, gaining martial fame, and it was the first time in the kingdom's history that such a young man claimed the victor's crown.
Afterward, he won tournaments across the kingdom, silencing the petty voices that said he was just lucky.
The knights' support for him was absolute.
His dazzling appearance and noble character were admired by the nobility.
What about his loyalty to the king?
The new king declared a conquest war as his first major undertaking. He ordered Duke Akazel to lead the expeditionary force, and at that time, the general opinion was that it was an unreasonable war.
The place the duke was going was a death trap. But the duke said, 'A knight only follows the king's command,' and went to war without complaint.
'Write a biography.'
Wiss thought with his eyes lowered.
He was standing in front of the inner chamber of the central palace, which the duke used as his office.
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