The Dignity of the Omega

#15

They resumed their walk after a brief pause.

“I heard that your father personally interviewed and selected him. Your father must have been quite picky, it must have been challenging in many ways.”

“I can’t deny that, but I could clearly see how much the King cherishes and loves you.”

“Well, my father is quite the doting parent.”

Demiel laughed lightly at Enrique’s playful words.

The atmosphere became more comfortable and gentle. They strolled through the garden, chatting about trivial personal matters and daily life. Although Enrique had originally planned to just exchange greetings and leave, the time spent with Demiel, who had a way of making people feel at ease, wasn’t bad.

“I’ve heard that your swordsmanship is quite excellent. I’d like to cross swords with you sometime.”

“It probably can’t compare to your skill, but I do enjoy sparring, so let’s find a time to do that sometime.”

As they walked while chatting, they had reached the edge of the garden. They turned to face each other as if by agreement. Though no explicit words were exchanged, it was clear that they both found each other quite agreeable.

“Then I’ll see you again next time.”

Demiel extended his hand. Enrique looked at the large hand offered to him for a moment before placing his own hand on it. Demiel gave a slight eye-smile and politely kissed the back of Enrique’s hand. It was a simple kiss without any hint of seduction or clinginess.

After removing his lips from the back of Enrique’s hand and straightening up, Demiel’s gaze shifted to something behind Enrique. Enrique instinctively turned to look. What he saw was the black-haired young prince standing at a distance.

Upon seeing the prince, Enrique immediately furrowed his brow. It seemed the prince had been following them the whole time, completely concealing his presence so that neither the knight Demiel nor Enrique could notice. Needless to say, this was no easy feat.

‘Even though he’s young, an alpha is still an alpha, I suppose.’

As Enrique was muttering to himself, the prince suddenly started approaching at a very fast pace, almost running.

“That person is…”

Demiel murmured, seeing the prince’s distinctive attire. Then, before the prince could get closer, he stepped in front of Enrique, taking a protective stance. Enrique blinked in surprise at the large wall that had suddenly appeared in front of him, then stepped to the side to clear his view. The prince had already approached right in front of Demiel.

The prince’s black eyes darted between Demiel and Enrique. Enrique looked a bit surprised to see the prince’s face, which had been gentle and pretty, now filled with dark anger.

“You! Identify yourself!”

The prince demanded of Demiel in an angry voice. His voice, with a slight growl, carried the dignity of a prince that he rarely showed normally.

“I am Demiel von Persi, a knight of Shamier. And who might you be?”

Demiel introduced himself calmly and asked in return. The prince lifted his chin arrogantly.

“I am the prince of the Ruben Empire and Enrique’s fiancé. How dare you rudely hold my fiancé’s hand and kiss it?”

Enrique wore a strange expression as he watched the prince interrogate Demiel. Seeing a cute puppy pretending to be a grown dog and barking loudly… Should he find it cute, admirable, or a bit funny?

“Ah, the prince of the Ruben Empire. I apologize for not recognizing you earlier.”

Demiel bowed politely.

“I clearly questioned your rudeness! If you don’t explain yourself properly right here, I won’t stand idly by as Enrique’s fiancé.”

The prince seemed unwilling to let this go. Enrique glanced at the back of his hand where Demiel’s lips had barely touched. He wondered why the prince was making such a fuss over something so trivial. At this rate, if the prince found out that Demiel would soon be having sex with Enrique, he might try to overturn the entire palace.

“It’s nonsense to say that I was rude to the prince. I was merely greeting him with proper etiquette. Please understand.”

As Demiel responded in a gentle voice, the prince glared directly at him. Enrique saw the hot anger rising in the prince’s black eyes. Those eyes were intensely fierce, belying his young age, and sharp with anger.

‘So he can make such eyes too.’

Enrique thought calmly.

It was then that the prince shoved Demiel’s shoulder and approached Enrique. He snatched the hand that Demiel had just kissed and started rubbing it vigorously with a handkerchief that had appeared from nowhere. This time, even Enrique was a bit taken aback.

Demiel looked at Enrique with eyes that asked, “What should I do?” The prince was from a major military power. He wasn’t someone a knight of Shamier could handle carelessly.

Meanwhile, the prince finished wiping Enrique’s hand clean, dropped the handkerchief on the ground, and stomped on it furiously. Each of these actions dripped with anger and disgust towards Demiel.

‘This is… isn’t he a bit crazy?’

Enrique suddenly thought. The prince, unaware of Enrique’s thoughts, held Enrique’s hand preciously and growled at Demiel again.

“Since Enrique is staying quiet, I won’t make an issue of it this time. But if you dare to touch Enrique carelessly again, I absolutely won’t stand by! Remember that clearly!”

After speaking harshly to Demiel, the prince held Enrique’s hand and strode towards the inner garden. Enrique naturally began walking, pulled along by the prince. Demiel smiled awkwardly and bowed slightly to Enrique in farewell.

The prince walked for quite a while, gripping Enrique’s hand so tightly that Enrique worried his hand bones might be crushed. Although Enrique didn’t particularly try to shake him off, it was such a strong grip that it probably would have been impossible even if he had tried. It was then that Enrique realized the prince’s hand size wasn’t much different from his own. Well, it made sense that his hands would be large, as he would grow rapidly in a few years.

“Prince.”

Enrique called out, getting tired of being dragged around aimlessly. The prince stopped abruptly as if on cue.

“Anture.”

The prince turned sharply and looked directly into Enrique’s eyes as he spoke.

“…?”

As Enrique blinked, the prince slightly hardened his eyes and spoke again, enunciating clearly.

“Anture. Please call me by my name from now on.”

The prince’s eyes burned fiercely as he stared at Enrique after spitting out these words. It was a gaze full of possessiveness that one would expect from a man, not a boy.

What to say… It felt like being unexpectedly bitten by a young puppy. Like discovering sharp teeth that you didn’t know had grown in.

“…Anture.”

As Enrique called out softly with a sigh, the prince’s fiercely burning gaze subsided a little.

“Please call me that from now on.”

The prince said, as if extracting a promise. Enrique thought for a moment and then nodded. Whether he called him ‘prince’ or by his name didn’t really matter to Enrique anyway.

“My hand hurts, so could you let go now? Anture.”

When Enrique said his name, the prince smiled brightly. Then he hurriedly released the hand he had been gripping. The hand that Anture had been squeezing so tightly had already turned bright red.

“Ah…!”

Anture was startled when he saw Enrique’s hand and didn’t know what to do.

“I’m sorry, Enrique. It seems I gripped too tightly unconsciously.”

Enrique imagined a young puppy whining and not knowing what to do after accidentally biting its owner’s hand. It matched Anture’s current appearance perfectly.

“…I’m sorry…”

Anture finally apologized dejectedly, unable to touch or hold Enrique’s reddened hand. His face showed genuine regret. Seeing this, Enrique felt… well…

Without realizing it, Enrique raised his hand and patted Anture’s head. It happened before he was even aware of it.

“……”

“……”

An awkward silence fell between them. Enrique, surprised by his own action, froze with his hand still on Anture’s head.

Meanwhile, Anture’s face gradually reddened. At first, it was a light pink blush, but it soon deepened into a bright red.

“I’m not a child!”

Anture shouted with his face burning red. His eyes showed that he found having his head patted extremely embarrassing.

“…Ah. That wasn’t my intention.”

Enrique mumbled apologetically as he slowly removed his hand from Anture’s head. But the look in Anture’s eyes didn’t easily subside.