I wanted nothing more than to die. This fucking brat. He made such a scene out by the tree that I gave up and allowed him to join me for dinner. I knew the moment we entered the dining hall, people would go batshit crazy. Even worse, he kept trying to hold my hand while we walked. He'd reach back, and I'd have to swat his hand away before it made contact with mine.
"I finally get to sit with you."
"Sit over there!" I snapped as he slid into the booth next to me.
"Nope." As if to torture me even more, he slid in closer to me. "Where are your friends anyway?"
"Shopping," I grunted as I tried to ignore him. "Had I known that this was going to turn out this way, I would have gone with them."
"No, it's best that it happened here, where guards were able to prevent students from approaching, and no one got hurt. There's no guarantee what would have happened with civilians and your friends involved." Oh, so Knox did know how to act like a normal human. I pressed my palm against his forehead and pushed him away.
"Will you calm down?!" He was acting completely ridiculous.
"I'm just happy that you're safe, well, safer now." Knox eyed the wall we were sitting next to and grumbled under his breath. "No other bastards better try anything with you, otherwise they'll rue the day they dared think such thoughts." I blinked a few times while feeling startled. I didn't realize that Knox could say such scary things…
I cleared my throat to change the subject, but was distracted as Knox's attendants set two strange plates down in front of us. I guess it wasn't the plate that was the problem, but what was on it. It looked like someone went around the dinner options and took small scoops of each thing being offered. What the hell was this? I looked up at Rinley, but he just motioned to Knox's attendants. Oh, so this was Knox's doing. "Huh?" I finally muttered.
"I've noticed that your palette has changed. I thought it would be fun to try exploring new food options." Oh yeah, Mr. Totally-Not-Stalking-Me, would it be fun?
"It looks like a hodgepodge."
"That's because it is!" How the hell is that a good thing? Knox was either completely oblivious to my irritation or was choosing to ignore it because he picked up his fork and pointed to the first thing on the plate. "This is a cheese sauce from the Silt region. It pairs exceptionally well with the vegetables underneath." Knox gathered a scoop of food for himself and watched me expectantly.
I eventually let out a sigh and scooped up the same cheesy vegetables he had. I wasn't a big fan of being forced to try new foods, but I guess I could tolerate it after everything Knox has done for me. "Oh… it's not bad at all." I said as I scooped up another bite.
"Right? This over here is a root vegetable blend. I think it hails from the Velten region. It's one of my favorite things they serve here." Knox shot me a little grin, and he slid his root veggies through the cheese sauce. "Sometimes I like to put the cheese sauce on the root vegetables." I couldn't help but snicker at his stupid admittance. Yeah, that absolutely seems like something he would do.
Even though I was still feeling incredibly embarrassed, I was actually enjoying our little tour of food. Some things I enjoyed, while others I absolutely hated. One of the dishes was so uncomfortably sour my face puckered, and Knox's laughter filled the air. I ended up gawking at him and blushing when he pointed out my staring. Ugh, why does he have to address everything like that? Can't things go unspoken?
"I'm too full," I grumbled as I pushed my mostly empty plate away. "I'm going to burst if I eat anything else." My appetite just wasn't what it used to be, now that I'm an omega.
"Then we can share this." Knox handed off our plates and accepted a new one that had a spread of desserts on it.
"But I really am full." Shouldn't he know that I don't like sweets very much? Why would he ask for a plate of them?
"Just try your best. If we give up halfway through, that's okay." Knox had quite the smile on his face, and I didn't want him to whine, so I went to grab my spoon…
"Where's my-"
As I spoke, Knox shoved a big scoop of pudding into my mouth with a mischievous grin. "There's only one spoon."
I managed to swallow down the pudding and glared at Knox. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Feeding you." He snickered as he finished licking the residual pudding off the spoon and scooped up a different flavor. He started trying to offer it to me, but I leaned away.
"Like hell you are!" I shivered slightly as the scent of incoming rain tickled my nose. "No cheating-!"
As quick as lightning, Knox shoved the chocolate pudding into my mouth. My eyes went wide as Knox didn't even hesitate to pop the spoon into his mouth. It dawned on me that he licked it before reinserting it into my mouth, and my face started to turn flushed. "Hmmm, I think I like this one more than plain vanilla. What do you think?"
Instead of talking, I simply shook my head. Nuh-uh! Absolutely not! You're just going to shove the other pudding into my mouth while I respond to you! I'm not dumb!
"Aww, who's being a shy omega?" This absolute jerk!
I whipped towards the window so he couldn't reach my mouth and hid my face. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Just sharing desserts with you."
"Stop playing coy! Why's there only one spoon?!"
"Because feeding you makes me happy and swapping between spoons is a hassle." I could feel Knox's breath on my neck as he leaned forward. "Besides, we've done a lot worse than share a spoon." I jolted as my entire body began to shiver. I nervously peeked over my shoulder to see Knox holding a spoonful of light brown pudding. "Don't make me waste all these desserts."
His pheromones had to be messing with my head. That, or my brain had officially been cooked through from blushing. I turned slightly towards him and, like a nervous baby bird, I accepted the spoonful of pudding. I couldn't handle his intense gaze, though, and ended up hiding again. Knox looked so incredibly happy. It was too much. Why'd he have to pick the academy dining hall to do this at?!
"Mmm, that one's too sweet. What do you think?"
I think my heart is about to stop beating. "It's good," I muttered.
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Knox
I was elated. I didn't have to worry about the disgusting dirtbag Kai going after Arden anymore, and I was getting to spend dinner with him. He was even letting me feed him. Yeah, my pheromones were making him a bit more mellow, but he didn't need to get so worked up about stuff. Arden's heart was beating so loud, I could hear it from where I was sitting. Though… I guess my heart was going crazy, too.
My mother was right. I want way more than a friendship with Arden. Ugh, I seem like a complete idiot for thinking that I'd be satisfied with just that. Yeah, I want to support Arden and make him happy, but I also want to hold him in my arms all the time and taste his orange-laced kisses. He's so damn cute. I mean, he's always been cute, but there's something about his omega side manifesting that's really caught my attention.
Getting to feed Arden was satisfying something primal inside me. I was fascinated by each bite he took, and I wanted him to eat everything I offered him. Mmm, it made me so happy. "Here, try this one. It looks interesting."
I scooped up a jelly, and Arden opened his mouth for me to feed him. Shit, I want to abduct him so badly, but I have to behave. Arden gets extremely frustrated when he isn't listened to. I… I can be patient… I think…
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Arden
"Mmm, I don't really love the jelly." Knox wagged the spoon in his fingers while clearly lost in thought. What? Was I supposed to like it or something?
"What's going on here-"
Before I could really react, Knox defensively threw an arm over me and started to growl. Though when he saw who was talking to us, he cleared his throat and settled down. "We're eating. Do you need something?" His reaction, while unnecessary, made me blush. He really was protective. Claren looked a bit flustered as Knox gave him the cold shoulder. I was even surprised when Knox turned towards me and resumed picking out another dessert for me to try.
"I… was just looking to talk to my brother."
Knox's head slowly turned, and a frown formed on his face as he looked over at Claren. "No formal greeting? We're not that close." Did… something happen between Claren and Knox? I know he's not particularly close to Claren, but Knox has never been this rude.
"I apologize… Greetings to our empire's small star." Claren bowed and remained that way for an uncomfortable amount of time as Knox stared at him. Eventually, though, Knox waved his hand, and Claren was allowed to rise. "May I sit?" He asked before sitting down.
"Guess so," Knox said before returning his attention to me. "Do you want some cake?" He asked as he scooped some up. Mmm, I was getting rather full, but I didn't want to talk to Claren… Cake please! I opened my mouth to accept the cake and ended up recoiling in disgust. "Hey! Don't come over here and start wafting your pheromones around." Knox snapped as he shot my brother another dirty look. Thankfully, Knox's pheromones came to the rescue, and Claren's disappeared from the air.
"The air is awfully thick with yours. Just what exactly are you doing to my brother?" Claren kept staring at me as if I was going to give him answers.
"I already told you, we're eating," Knox snapped.
"You're obviously taking things far past friendly," Claren grumbled as he watched Knox lick the residual frosting off the spoon.
"Well, yeah, he's really cute." As if to annoy Claren even further, Knox dragged his tongue across the spoon's clean surface before scooping up more food and offering it to me.
"Cute?! You find Arden… cute?!" Claren's disgusting pheromones began to assault me again while I was munching on my cake, so I quickly leaned forward and plunged my nose into Knox's shoulder. "Arden?!"
Knox gave Claren's dumb expression an annoyed look and rolled his eyes. "I believe I asked you to stop wafting your stink around," Knox said as he cracked his knuckles. Claren quickly leaned back in his seat and hesitantly looked away. I was going to sit up, but… leaning against Knox was actually rather comfortable. Knox gave me a warm smile before returning his attention to my brother. "Anyone with a functioning set of eyes can see how cute he is." Me, cute? Noooo… Knox has to be teasing my brother.
Claren's mouth opened and closed a few times while he processed what Knox had said. He seemed rather flabbergasted, but eventually his brows furrowed, and he turned his attention to me. "Arden, you can't seriously be okay with this!" Was I okay with this, or was it the pheromones making me sleepy? I mean… part of me was obviously okay with it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have caved to Knox's desires. However, the reality of the situation was that it wasn't going to work… Knox needed to find a real omega to go after.
I was about to respond to Claren, but Knox beat me to it. "Don't you give him a hard time. He's had enough of a hard time." Knox's expression really turned sour, and the next words he spoke were with pure venom. "Why care about your brother now?"
Claren's hands came up from under the table and smacked against the tabletop as he glared at Knox. "I care!"
"Oh, really? It's been over two months since the academy started, and you haven't tried to approach your brother once. He probably could have used someone like a sibling to be supportive, but you've been hiding in shame. You haven't even tried to rebuke the rumors that are nothing but lies. I also know you've heard Kai boasting about what he was going to do to your brother, but did you step in? Nope. You just acted like nothing was happening."
Claren couldn't bring himself to look at me. He might as well have nodded his head and admitted that he didn't care. During Claren's silence, Knox reached a hand over and laced his fingers through mine under the table. I appreciated the distraction because Claren's silence was like a knife digging into my gut. "What exactly am I supposed to do? Nothing I say or do is going to change how people react-"
"But the fact that you sat back and did nothing is the problem," Knox said, cutting off his shitty excuse. "I'm not the type to see someone I care about suffering in silence and not do anything about it. I fully intend to walk beside Arden through thick and thin."
Claren finally looked up, but his gaze was pointed at Knox, not me. His expression was hard to place, though… "You're serious about pursuing him?!"
Never in my life had I seen Knox's eyebrow twitch. Claren must have really struck a nerve. Knox pulled away and stared down at me with an intense gaze. He leaned towards me, and his mouth started to open wide. I flinched slightly, but he never made contact with my collar or skin. Instead, his breath tickled my neck. "I've never been more serious in my life."
"Don't you dare!" Claren snapped as he rose to his feet. His pheromones had to be filling the space again because Rinley nervously fidgeted against the wall, but the scent never reached me. Knox must have been protecting me from the smell.
My heart, which had settled down, started beating like crazy again. Knox stifled a chuckle and pulled me back against him. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Behaving so childishly at a taunt. Like I'd do something so personal in the academy dining hall."
"That's not something to joke about!" Claren was glaring daggers at Knox, but Knox casually rolled his eyes. "You have no idea how people are going to react!"
"Clearly, we have an inkling of an idea. People will obviously have opinions and some radical parties might complain or attempt to step in, but I'm not going to stand by and watch."
"You're gambling my brother's happiness on a hypothesis." Claren snapped back. "How do you know that this is what Arden wants? You won't even let him talk! Is drugging him with your pheromones the entire time, your version of a normal relationship?"
Knox flinched and gave me a nervous look. "I'm not drugging him!" I admit that I felt abnormally calm despite them arguing, but drugging me seemed a little harsh. I was just a little sleepy. "Arden can talk if he wants to… Right?"
Knox stared at me and blinked a few times. Oh… was he expecting me to talk? "I don't really want to," I grumbled as I looked away from Claren's face. He was beyond pissed with me, but the feeling was rather mutual.
"Arden!" Claren snapped. "Get off of him!" Claren glared daggers at the two of us until I peeled myself off Knox's arm. But I was comfy. The least this big dummy could do is let me lean on him. He leaned on me while I read. This is payback.
"But I'm tired," I whined as I rubbed my eye with a balled-up fist.
"Then you should rest," Knox said as he pulled me back over to him.
"No! He should go back to his dorm!" Claren whipped over to the attendants. "Rinley, take Arden back to his dorm!" Rinley seemed rather startled, but didn't move to come get me. It's not like he could pull me out of the bench where I was sitting.
"You're being really annoying," I grumbled under my breath as I resumed lying on Knox. Knox did an absolutely terrible job stifling a laugh and ended up bursting into giggles.
"There's nothing funny about this!" Claren was getting rather flustered with me, but I was getting tired of listening to him. Knox was right, though. Claren hadn't even attempted to reach out to me since the first day of classes. He didn't see how I was doing, nor did he attempt to dispel any false rumors. He left me all alone to fight my own battles. Claren must have given up on me because he turned his attention back to Knox. "Arden struggled enough when he found out he was an omega. It almost sent him into the deep end, and now you think you're going to drag him along on your path to the throne? Stop being so selfish!"
Knox tilted his head to the side as he feigned ignorance. He leaned so far over that his head bopped into mine. "I think I have the right to be a little selfish." He rubbed his head against mine, but I didn't enjoy it. He was messing up my hair. "I can obviously protect him better than you can, and what good does hiding do? Is your family so embarrassed by Arden's existence that they plan to hide him away?"
I gulped nervously and turned so I could look out the window. They didn't outright tell me to stay in my room before coming here, but it was rather clear that they didn't want me wandering about. I was prevented from going to the training grounds, banned from going into town, and couldn't even leave my room without attendants whispering about me. It wasn't a pleasant existence at all, and the thought of living that way for the rest of my life sounded miserable. I probably would end things if that's all I had to look forward to. Knox, though… scared me. I wasn't sure if I felt the same way as him. Was I okay with someone touching me so intimately? I don't know… I know we've kissed, but I couldn't even wrap my mind around anything else.
Don't even get me started on the fact that he's the crown prince. He'll be the emperor one day. He needed someone who could produce him a strong heir. I definitely wasn't a good option for that. He can't have me by his side. That didn't even make sense. Our empire needed an empress, not whatever the hell I would be… It was time for Knox to stop living in the past and step into the future. He needed to step into reality.
Claren didn't seem to be capable of responding to Knox, which seemed right. He was just as embarrassed by me as my family was. "I don't have any intentions to control or hurt someone I care about. My path to the throne is clear because none of my siblings is eligible for the throne. Public opinion can be easily swayed. If that's all you're worried about, then I have nothing standing in my way." Nothing? He had to be an even bigger idiot than I realized. Plenty was standing in his way. What about me and my opinion?
I peeked over to Claren, who had a red face. To no surprise, he couldn't find any words to rebuttal with. Like the true coward he was, he bowed his head and stormed off. His retreat made it feel like that knife in my gut dug a bit deeper. Obviously, Claren didn't represent my whole family, but I knew that the rest of their opinions wouldn't stray too far from his. Reality hurts. It really does…
I was startled as Knox rose from his seat. I wasn't expecting him to leave, either. I stared up at him in surprise, but he turned and offered me his hand. I stared at it for a moment before reaching out and taking it. Knox pulled me out of the bench and over to him. "Arden will meet you by the omega gates in thirty minutes." He said as he eyed Rinley. "I'll be returning to the palace afterwards. You are dismissed."
I wasn't expecting Knox to whisk me away, but I wasn't in the mood to care much. I was having to do everything in my power to keep tears from spilling out. Gods, I hate being an omega…
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I wasn't sure what Knox had planned, but the night air was refreshing after the warmth of the dining hall. Resisting didn't even cross my mind as Knox lifted me into his arms and started running. How he reached such crazy speeds baffled me, but at least I know I wasn't imagining it. I almost complained about getting dizzy, but Knox started to slow down, and we came to a stop in the academy glades.
"Don't let your brother upset you." Knox kept me tightly bound in his arms, but let me lower my legs to the ground. I was hoping that the pounding of his heart would distract me, but it wasn't. No… I didn't want to cry. Not here. Not in front of Knox.
"He… he didn't respond…" My voice was hoarse, and tears started to make their way down my face. Damn, I'm so pathetic.
Knox partially released me as he brought a hand up and wiped away the new tear in the corner of my eye. "He'll be able to one day. He's just got to stop being a coward long enough to realize that you're still you. You're still my adorable Arden."
"B… but my family thinks I'm nothing but an embarrassment. They'll just resume hiding me away the moment I graduate. I… I can't live like that…"
"Oh, Arden." Knox released me but reached his hands up so he could grip the sides of my head. His thumbs carefully rubbed the corners of my eyes as he gently gazed down at me. "I don't think it's that dire a situation."
I pulled his hands down and stared up at Knox with wide eyes. "It's the truth! My father barely acknowledges my existence, my brothers avoid me at all costs, and my mother tries, but I can tell she's uncomfortable! The rumors are right! I'm nothing but a mistake! A mongrel that shouldn't have been born-!"
Knox pulled me into a tight hug before I could finish my rant. Tears soaked his shirt as I broke down into sobs. "No, Arden. They're wrong. They're all wrong. You're absolutely perfect the way you are. Your family just needs time to adjust." My sobs echoed out as Knox silently patted my back. He could try all he wanted to comfort me, but the truth was evident in my family's behavior. Hell, not even my mother had written to me. "There will come a day when your family accepts you, all of you. Until that day, can I make a selfish request?"
I looked up at Knox with wide, tear-stained eyes and sadly blubbered, "What?"
"Can I be your pillar?"
"P… pillar?"
"Yeah. It's not good to keep feelings like this bottled up, and you've been too stressed lately. I want you to rely on me when things get tough. I'll listen to everything you say or just sit there silently when you feel lonely and don't want to talk. Hell, I'll even become your anti-stress pheromone candle if you'll let me. I'd let you sniff me whenever you want." Knox teasingly wiggled his eyebrows up and down as he offered to let me sniff him. Yeah, like I'm going to do that… I let out a soft little hiccup and rested my head against Knox's chest. I guess his pheromones aren't too bad. Though they weren't as strong as usual. Did Claren's comment about drugging me upset him?
"Oh yeah?" My eyes stung, but at least I wasn't shamefully crying anymore. I've become so damn pathetic.
"Absolutely, I'd do anything for you." Knox leaned down and gently stole a kiss from my lips. The gaze in his eyes was so intense as he watched me.
"You're crazy," I grumbled. Nothing about this made sense and yet…
"That's not exactly how I thought you'd respond-"
I leaned up on my tippy toes and stole a kiss back from Knox. Damn it, he's so tall compared to me-!
I let out a yelp as Knox unexpectedly pulled me up into his arms. His kiss was so unexpectedly aggressive, and I felt a little embarrassed about my tears getting on his face. His tongue pressed against mine, and my worries diminished. He breathlessly pulled away from me, and a big grin formed on his face. "Oh, and kisses. I'll give you as many kisses as you want if you let me be your pillar."
"I changed my mind." Knox's eyes went wide in shock as he stared at me. Heh. "You're not crazy. You're an idiot." I grumbled as I leaned back in for another kiss. I guess I was an idiot, too. Common sense told me not to. Common sense told me that I should push Knox away at every chance so he could find a real omega, and yet… Whenever he kisses me, my heart leaps out of my chest. It pounds loudly in my ears and makes my blood run hot. It demands more, more, and even more Knox. I want to comply, I really do…
"Aaardeeeen!" Knox whined as he pulled away from me. "You're going to get me riled up again." Knox's complaint made me come back to reality. My eyes went wide, and I quickly scrambled out of Knox's arms. What the fuck was wrong with me?! Omegas aren't seriously that attracted to alphas, are they?!
I stepped away and took a long inhale. Embarrassment flooded my cheeks as I realized the air was thick with the scent of my pheromones. Yeah, I've fucking lost it. I gave Knox a hard time about being interested in me, but apparently, I was just as bad!
"Arden, you don't need to feel embarrassed." Knox reached a hand over and rubbed the back of a finger on my cheek. "If anything, I should be the one embarrassed. I can't control myself when I'm around you. You make my heart go crazy." Knox pulled me close, and his heart was indeed beating rather strongly. Though I think it was mine that was beating harder.
"I… probably should head back to my dorm." We were on a time limit after all.
Knox let out a funny grumbling sound as he wound his arms around me. "Can't you just come over to my academy house?" He whined.
"No. Rinley will just track me down."
Knox's grumbling turned into a soft growl at the mention of Rinley. "Yeah, I've noticed that he acts strangely around pheromones. Like he can sense them or something." Knox picked me back up into his arms and started walking off. He seemed a little… disappointed…
"He can see them. Apparently, mine looks like dense fog." I said as I settled against him.
"Oh, that's interesting. Do mine look like that?"
"I don't know… I've never asked." I paused and reached a hand up to Knox's hair. "I wonder if yours are silver like your hair or blue like your eyes."
"They have colors?"
"Mhmm, at least that's what Rinley says."
"Are yours orange colored?"
I softly snickered and shut my eyes as Knox's rhythmic walking made me feel rather relaxed. "No, they're a soft green like my hair."
"Oh. I like that even more than them being orange. The color of your hair is so pretty." I peeked one eye open and saw Knox gawking at me with a rather serious look.
"Really? I was thinking about dying it."
"What?! Why?" His serious expression turned rather surprised, and I had to stifle my snickering into his shoulder.
"Because it's too feminine."
Knox came to a stop. He didn't say anything, so I sat up to look at him. Oh, he had quite the frown. "I, as your future emperor and current crown prince, formally ban you from dying your hair." He spoke in a rather serious and official tone, but as he continued to speak, his voice dropped to a rather gentle mutter. "Your hair is beautiful as you are, and you shouldn't change it." I was going to catch fire in his arms. Knox has used far too many words to describe me tonight, and not one of them was true. I tucked my red face back into Knox's shoulder, and he resumed walking.
"Just how far did you run?" I asked while trying to change the topic.
"Not far enough." He grumbled. "I should have run away with you."
"Are we sure my pheromones didn't drug you? You keep saying insane things."
"Sorry, I'm incredibly sane right now. Despite your brother showing up and upsetting you, I've had a rather lovely evening with someone I care a lot for." Ugh, he was making this hard. I really did enjoy spending time with Knox. He was by far my closest friend, and I felt incredibly safe with him… "I was wondering…" I peeked up at Knox with one eye to see him blush. "If you'd be interested in spending tomorrow with me? Since it will be the weekend and everything… Um, we could go check out a bookstore, and there's a shop in the square that sells eclairs. I mean… you don't have to, but I'd really like it if you did."
I nervously bit my lip as my stomach churned. I shouldn't… I really shouldn't… but… I want to be selfish too. "That sounds nice." I liked how Knox made me feel… so incredibly normal. It didn't matter who or what I was around him, and I admit that I enjoy being around him. He still makes me nervous, but… I just want one day of normality.
"So you'll go?!"
In Knox's excitement, he started squeezing me far too hard. "You're squishing me!"
"Ah! Sorry!"
"I won't go anywhere if you break me in half," I grumbled.
"I said sorry!" Knox let out an odd, low grumble, like he was trying to mimic an omega whine. "Please go on a date with me!"
"A… date?" I nervously squeaked. I just thought we were going to hang out. I didn't think he would take it that far.
"Well, duh! I might be a prince, and you might be my childhood friend, but it wouldn't look very good if I didn't properly court you!" Knox stuck his nose up into the air like the proud idiot he was. I, however, was frozen in horror.
"I think… you're getting ahead of yourself…" I managed to mutter. No, no, no! That's not what I fucking agreed to! I just wanted to hang out, not go on a date!!
Knox's head dipped, and I was able to see his amused gaze. "I believe I already announced that I was going to make you mine, and I mean it." I didn't even have a chance to complain as we exited the glades. We had arrived all too soon at the omega gates, and Knox set my flabbergasted butt down. I stared at him in horror until he grinned and leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Ya know, I think that you manifesting as an omega was a blessing." Knox bit his lip and grabbed my shoulders so he could turn me around. He popped me on the butt as he forced me to walk through the gate to Rinley. Although before I made it through, Knox quickly leaned in and kissed my cheek. "Sleep tight." He snickered as he turned and left.
I stood there, absolutely mortified, until Rinley grabbed my wrist and hauled me down the path with him. "Come on, you can make out with the prince later."
"M… Make out?! We… We weren't making out!!" I squeaked.
"You really need to stop lying. It's a bad habit." Rinley grumbled. Lying?! I wasn't… lying… Okay, maybe I was lying a little… I mostly cried all over Knox and then… we sorta kissed, but I wouldn't describe it as… m… making out… Ya know, I don't know what's going on anymore!!
We walked in silence for a long time as my brain slowly cooled down from overheating. Rinley walked slightly in front of me, which he rarely did, and didn't even speak to me. "Are… you mad at me?"
"No. Why would I be mad?"
Was I reading into it too much? "You seem irritated… Are you irritated that Knox took me from the dining hall?"
Rinley slowed down and glanced back at me. "No, I'm not irritated with the crown prince. While I don't always agree with him, he has good intentions. I also think that he'll be good for you, but…" Rinley fell silent as he worked on unlocking my dorm for me. "You need to make a decision."
"A decision?" About what?
"I worry that you don't have the resolve to stand next to the prince, and it will only result in you getting hurt." Oh…
My head was quite the mess when it came to Knox. One second, he has me in a panic, the next, we're making out. Now he's asking me on dates and declaring he was going to court me… He had me so confused, I wasn't even sure what I wanted. I was a whirlwind mess that didn't even know what was going on. Did I actually like Knox, or… just his pheromones….
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Knox
"What has you all smiles?" My mother asked as I sat down in our family parlor. She seemed to be enjoying some tea before bed. I thought the twins would be here, but they were probably off causing problems.
I tilted my nose to the sky and smugly smiled. "I've got a date for tomorrow!"
"Oh? Perchance is this date with Arden?" Mother asked as she took a sip of her tea.
"Yep!" I proudly announced. "I thought about what you said, and I want Arden to be far more than my friend. Thus, I'm going to start properly courting him!"
My mother chuckled before taking a long sip of tea. "Does that mean that he's feeling the same way?"
Oof, what a bad question to ask. My gaze dropped to the floor, and I looked away. "I'm not sure… He's been having a really hard time adjusting to the fact that he's an omega now… His dumb brother made him cry tonight…" Gods, I wanted to track Claren down and beat the shit out of him. One punch for each tear he made Arden spill.
"Mmm, I'm sure he is having a difficult time. I have to imagine he's stressed from the major life adjustment."
"Yeah, I think that's why he tends to fall asleep when I calm him down with pheromones." All that stress wasn't good for Arden. I wish I could have prevented him from being stressed, but it wasn't that simple.
Mother raised an eyebrow but didn't question further. "So, despite all that, he agreed to go on a date with you?"
I paused and blinked a few times. He didn't technically say no… and he didn't technically say yes… We're… going on a date tomorrow… right? "He seemed nervous, but I'll make sure he has a great time!"
"You'd better, if I hear you upset that little cutie, I'll get to admire my new hall runner." I gulped nervously and nodded my head.
"I'd never intentionally upset Arden!"
"Oh, I'm aware." My mother snickered. "You two were practically inseparable when you were younger. That time he showed up in tears, I thought I would never stop laughing. It was adorable watching you attempt to get him to stop." Mother placed a hand on her cheek and smiled.
"Mooother! You don't need to embarrass me!"
"Aw, can't I be a little happy about it?"
"You can be a little happy," I grumbled. "Just don't go overboard. Especially if Arden comes around! Don't make him nervous!"
"I won't. Calm down. You're such a worrywart." Mother rolled her eyes as she took another sip of tea. "Have you told your father?"
"No…"
"Why not? The poor man has been searching high and low for a proper omega for you."
"What if he doesn't approve of Arden?"
"Oh, sweety. Do you honestly have that little trust in your father? I'm sure he'd be delighted to hear the news."
"Well… give me some time, and I'll tell him. I just worry he's going to want Arden to visit and Arden's not mentally prepared for something like that."
Mother snickered and gave me a strange look. "We already know Arden, honey. It's not like you're introducing someone new to us."
I fidgeted nervously in my seat and looked away from my mother's amused gaze. "It's not the same! Our relationship has changed!"
Mother's snicker turned into soft giggling as my face turned pink. "Okay, okay. I won't press the issue. You're lucky Suzanne isn't here, though." My mouth instantly got a bitter taste in it, and a frown formed on my face.
"Ugh, why are you bringing her up? Can't she stay gone?" I wanted my grandfather to return, but he could leave Suzanne behind.
"Knox, that's no way to treat your sister. I thought you had gotten past this silly behavior." Silly, my butt. Suzanne was evil incarnate.
"Ahuh," I grumbled. "Anyways, I'm going to go think about some fun things Arden and I could do tomorrow."
Mother smiled as she brought her tea to her lips. "Have fun on your date." She giggled. Yeah! Arden and I were going to have so much fun!
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Arden
I was barely able to get any sleep. No, I wasn't excited, quite the opposite, actually. Rinley was forcing me to get ready, but I didn't even know if I wanted to go. "Do you have something specific you wanted to wear?" Rinley asked as he sorted through my closet. Why was he so gung-ho about me going on this supposed date with Knox?! We never even set up any plans besides hanging out today. Rinley seemed to know something I didn't.
"N… no… Hey, why are you rushing me to get ready?" Rinley raised an eyebrow as he pulled some clothes from my closet.
"Because you need to meet the crown prince under the bell tower at ten." My eyes went wide as they wandered over to the clock. Oh… Wait a second!
"How do you know?!"
"Because his highness's attendant came knocking on my door at the crack of dawn," Rinley grumbled.
"How?!" Knox's attendants shouldn't be allowed over here like that, much less should they know where I'm staying!
"What do you mean, how? They're beta attendants who work for the imperial family. The guards aren't going to stop them from entering the Omega campus. Now stop squirming around." I wasn't thrilled about it, but I stopped squirming around and let Rinley get me dressed. He didn't need to pick out such nice clothes, though. Knox was going to think I was taking this date seriously, or something. "Come on. Stop dragging your feet; otherwise, you're going to be late."
"I… I don't know if I want to go." I whined as Rinley hauled me into the bathroom and forced me to sit on the stool. He started brushing my hair, but I couldn't help but notice the dull look he was giving me in the bathroom mirror.
"Maybe you should use this opportunity to make up your mind."
"Huh?" I nervously squeaked.
"Don't act dumb. I saw how you were behaving yesterday during dinner, and I'm all too aware of how coated in each other's pheromones you were when you returned from your jaunt in the glades."
My face turned pink, and I had to look away from Rinley. "Our pheromones were mixed?!"
"Mhmm, they tend to cling to the other person. You were all sorts of blue-green when he dropped you off." The temperature of my face slowly rose. So… Rinley was all too aware of all the times I've kissed Knox… That's so embarrassing!!! "Enough. It's time to go." Rinley forced me up and was guiding me towards the door when I let out a big gasp.
"I don't wanna go!" I tried to escape, but Rinley quickly caught me.
"Too bad. You're ready, and you're going." No, no, no, no, no!
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Rinley threatened to carry me if I didn't walk, so I begrudgingly walked to the bell tower on my own two feet. The bell tower was located out front of the academy near the administration building, and as we approached, I could see Knox anxiously waiting for me. I kept getting the urge to run, but I feared that Rinley would capture me before I could.
As I got closer, Knox noticed us and excitedly wandered over. "Arden! You came!" It was rather strange seeing Knox wear such a simple outfit. He was usually decked out in princely attire or wearing the academy uniform, but today he was wearing a dark blue tunic and simple black trousers. He also had a black cloak on which I found a bit strange, but who was I to question it? His outfit was still of very high quality, but nothing stood out and signify that he was a prince. He just looked like your average high-standing noble.
I guess I was dressed nicely, too. Rinley had forced me to wear a long cream colored tunic that went down mid-thigh. He paired it with a dark green cardigan that I absolutely loved. It too came down to my mid thigh and was paired with a simple pair of brown pants and knee-high boots. I didn't think it needed the belt to highlight my waist, but Rinley said it was a must.
"You look exceptionally pretty today." I awkwardly nodded my head and looked away. Gosh, he didn't need to say such things. I wasn't some girl… "But, I need you to put this on. We'll need it to get into the trade district." He said as he presented me with an identical black cloak.
"Is it smart to be going somewhere so dangerous?" Rinley asked as he cautiously took the cloak from Knox.
"It's going to be fine. I go there all the time, and besides, we'll have guards." Rinley paused as he attached the cloak to my outfit and looked around.
"Guards?" I was even confused. There wasn't a soul around besides us three.
"I don't like to be closely followed. They're around." Knox nonchalantly said as he waved his hand. "Speaking of which, you'll be staying here," Knox said as he eyed Rinley.
Rinley didn't seem happy about it, but he nodded his head. "Yes, sir." He grumbled as he finished attaching the cloak to my outfit.
"I'll have Arden fed and back before nightfall." Knox smiled. What? Nightfall? He wanted to spend all day together?!
Rinley nodded and took a step back. I felt rather concerned until Knox's pheromones drifted my way. "Don't look stressed, we're going to have so much fun today! You've never been to the trade district before, have you?"
"No…" Knox laced his fingers through mine and tugged me along. I nervously glanced over my shoulder, but Rinley had turned and was heading back to our quarters. Wait… I'm not so sure about this!
"Arden, you're making me feel bad. Like I'm abducting you or something." I glanced over to Knox, who was looking a little bummed.
"I'm… just nervous."
"Well, don't be. We used to hang out all the time."
"But… you said this was a date…"
"Yeah… I did say that." Knox looked away from me with a slightly pink face. "I just wanted you to know how serious I am. I'm not trying to mess with you or hurt you. I genuinely care and… I thought that today would be a good opportunity to prove that to you."
"You're confusing," I grumbled as my gaze dropped to the ground. Knox snickered, and I couldn't bring myself to look at him. I… couldn't let him keep harboring those feelings… and yet… the idea of pushing him away bothered me.
"Confusing or not, you're my responsibility for the day, and I plan to make sure you have a great time!" I nervously peeked up at him and had to look away. He was grinning like an idiot. "My mother even threatened that if I upset you, she'll personally see to it that I become a hall runner."
I furrowed my brow and glared at my shoes. Why did Knox use that strange phrase all the time… Wait… "You told your mother about this?!" I glanced up at Knox with wide eyes, and he chuckled.
"Yeah, she's the one who told me to think about what I really wanted from our relationship." Knox seemed rather happy, but I was having a complete meltdown.
The imperial family knows… that their son is trying to court another guy?! Have they all gone insane?! Why are they just permitting that? "Why… How… how are they okay with that?!" I managed to stammer.
Knox glanced down at me and squeezed the hand he was holding. "My mother's been fine with it. If anything, she's pretty supportive."
"And your father?" I squeaked.
"I… haven't exactly told him yet. Not that I'm worried or anything!" Knox gave me a panicked look. "I just haven't seen much of him. He's been busy, and I haven't been helping with official duties much because of the academy." Knox fell silent for a moment and squeezed my hand. "I'm positive he'll be fine with it, though." My stomach churned. How could he be so sure?
"It's not just your parents' approval you need…"
Knox's brow furrowed, and he gave me a curious side eye. "I don't really care what my siblings have to say." He grumbled.
"I'm not talking about them!" Ugh, he can be so smart at times and dumb at other times. "People aren't going to magically approve." I snapped. Knox was insane to be going after me. The moment people heard that Knox liked a guy, they were going to lose it.
"Arden, Arden, Arden. Sometimes, I swear you don't listen." Knox came to a stop and pulled me into an alley. I tried avoiding his gaze, but he pulled my chin up so I'd look at him. "I'm not going to go against my instincts just because someone else has a dumb opinion. My mother asked me a rather important question when I was upset. Would you like to hear what it was?"
I tried to avoid Knox's gaze, but his was so intense that I couldn't help myself. His sky blue eyes were so big and full of warmth. "What?" I quietly mumbled.
"She asked me if I'd rather be a miserable puppet or a happy emperor. I plan to be the happiest emperor ever with the cutest little worrywart omega I've ever seen. Everyone else can shut up and deal with it." Knox had started leaning in as he told me his plans, and as he finished speaking, his lips pressed against mine.
As he pulled away, my gaze dropped to the ground. "You're crazy."
"And I'm going to keep telling you otherwise until you believe me." Knox chuckled. Maybe if I drown you in my love, you'll get a different opinion." My cheeks became warm. Love? Knox couldn't possibly be feeling such silly emotions. His senses had clearly gone haywire. Knox let out a long, drawn-out sigh and patted the top of my head. "Come on, don't look so down. We've gotta find you some breakfast." Knox snagged my hand, and instead of pulling me back towards the main wall, he took me deeper into the alley.
"Where are we going?"
"I already told you." Knox looked over his shoulder and gave me a wink. "To the trade district. Remember?"
"Should the crown prince really be going there?" I didn't know what he had planned, but the twinkle in his eye made me nervous.
"I'm not some caged bird. I can go wherever I want… Most of the time…"
"You've been sneaking out, haven't you?"
"Maybe." He grinned. He stopped at the building's corner and peeked around it. He pulled his hood up and reached over to pull mine up, too. "It's not like I'm some helpless prince who needs to rely on others for protection." Knox puffed out his chest and let out a little huff. Gosh, he was so proud. His ego must be massive. Knox turned and peeked around the corner again. "Alright, it's my time to shine."
He didn't even ask my opinion as he lifted me into his arms and darted off. A carriage was exiting through the gates, and Knox quickly ran up to its empty trunk rack and jumped on. I would have thought the carriage driver or its passengers would have noticed, but apparently, they didn't. The guards didn't even question that there were two hooded figures hitching a ride on the back of the carriage. Huh? Were they just choosing to ignore Knox, or did they really not notice?!
As we rattled down the road, Knox eventually leapt off the carriage and set me down. I couldn't help but give him a baffled look as he led me into an alley and pulled my hood down. "Huh?!" I squeaked.
"What?" Knox chuckled.
"Do the guards just know to ignore you?" I couldn't wrap my brain around how that supposedly worked. Like guards are going to ignore two hooded figures who appear out of nowhere and jump onto a carriage. The guards had to be in cahoots.
Knox's face looked rather amused as a little smile formed on his lips. "Hmm, should I tell you my secret?" I narrowed my eyes and glared at him until he cracked. "Fine, fine. I'll tell you, but it's an imperial family secret. Are you sure you can keep such a thing?" I wasn't sure if Knox was joking with me or telling the truth. He had such an annoying grin on his face.
"I guess so."
"That's not very confident of you." Knox teased. He leaned in and pulled my chin up. I thought he was going to kiss me, but he didn't. Instead, he gazed into my eyes. "Mmm, I trust you not to tell." Knox chuckled and let go of my pink face. He took a step back from me and whipped his cloak's hood on.
Knox's figure shimmered for a second before completely disappearing before my eyes. I stared at where he was in shock and blinked repeatedly. He… he's gone… Like gone, gone. If it wasn't for the crunching of gravel underfoot, I wouldn't have known that he was walking around. Knox appeared beside me with a massive grin, and I flinched. I should have known he was going to do something like that.
"Are you speechless?"
"Kinda…"
Knox chuckled and reached over to fiddle with my cloak. "I was given one for my birthday a few years ago, but I borrowed another for you. These are enchanted relics from the imperial repository, so please be careful with yours. Apparently, one of my grandfathers enchanted them. I think there are five in total, but one went missing many, many years ago." All I could do was stare at Knox. Was he insane?! He shouldn't be borrowing such things from the imperial repository. It was probably illegal for me to be wearing such a thing!
"I… I can't wear this!"
Knox snickered and tugged lightly on the cloak. "But you are."
"I shouldn't be!"
"But I've given you permission." I turned to glare at Knox with wide eyes, and his snickering turned into laughter. "Will you calm down? It's not a cardinal sin to wear them; my family passes them down from generation to generation. We just have to swear an oath before accepting one."
"An oath?"
"Well, yeah. We have to promise not to use them for anything nefarious. Imagine how much trouble someone could get into with one of these. It could be devastating."
"And… you're just letting me wear one? What if I ran off and sold it?"
"Mmm, I don't think you have a nefarious bone in your body." Knox shouldn't hold me to such high standards… Just to poke holes in his ideology, I reached my hands on and pulled my cloak's hood up. I started to turn, but Knox grabbed me. "Sorry to pop your bubble, but part of the enchantment is that anyone with imperial blood running in their veins can see through the enchantment. Trust me, I found this out the hard way with my father."
"That's not fair!" Nor did it make sense! Why would someone who wielded magic go out of their way to include a massive flaw in the cloak's design?! How was I supposed to run away from Knox if the cloak didn't work on him?! Knox wrapped his arms around me, and I squirmed in his arms for a moment before turning my head up to glare at him. "Then why did we get on a carriage? Couldn't we have walked through the gate?"
"Heh… I thought it would be fun and exciting."
I let out a short, exasperated sigh and became limp in Knox's arm. "You haven't changed one bit," I grumbled under my breath. A loud yelp escaped me as Knox lifted my limp body into his arms. He wasn't carrying me like he usually did, though, and instead held me bridal style. "Put me down!"
"Nope. Not until you admit that I've changed." He said as he started walking further into the alley. At least he wasn't hauling me into the busy streets like this…
My face was turning pinker by the second, and I was pretty sure I'd pass out if he made it to a main road. "You've changed."
Knox gave me a sly look and didn't bother to put me down. "Oh yeah? How?" He wanted details?!
"You've gotten too fucking tall!" I snapped.
Knox snorted, and his body jostled mine as he laughed. "Too tall? If I were shorter, I wouldn't be able to cradle you so well." Knox's hands that gripped my side and thigh gave me a little squeeze. Was he trying to get my brain to melt out of my ears?! "What else?"
"Else?!"
"Yeah, I want to hear more."
I angrily gnashed my teeth together and glared at Knox, but he didn't seem to care. "You've become even more dumb."
Knox's eyes drifted over to me, and his smug smile got even bigger. "Such a grumpy omega I have hostage in my arms. It would be a real shame if I hauled him through a crowded street like this."
"You wouldn't dare!" I said as I tightened my arm's grip around his neck.
"I don't know… I might make the wrong turn." Knox started to turn down an alley that led to a crowded street, and I flinched in his arms. I thought he was teasing until he started walking.
"Stop! No! You've changed so much! You've gotten taller, and the roots of your hair have gotten a bit darker! Even your face is more masculine than it used to be!"
Knox came to a stop and slowly pivoted. What I wasn't expecting was for him to burst into laughter again. "Fine, fine. I admit defeat, my little stress button." He might be admitting it, but he still wasn't putting me down. "I guess I can't force you to call me handsome." I glanced up at Knox, and his face was far too serious for my liking. He really thought that pressuring me would get me to admit that he was handsome?!
My poor face wasn't getting a break today because it felt warm enough to cook food on. "Dumb!" I screeched. "So dumb!"
"Don't worry. I'll get you to tell me one day."
"No!" I snarled as I did my best to hide my face against his shoulder. What a dummy! I'm never going to admit such an embarrassing damn thing! He can dream on!
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"Are you not going to eat?" Knox asked with a sad look on his face. After getting Knox to set me down, he brought me to a rather quaint cafe and ordered way too much. There were about seven plates of food on the table. He said I could eat anything I wanted off the table, but… I felt a little hesitant. The last time I ate at a cafe with someone, I got drugged. Granted, I don't think Knox is going to drug me, but the fear remained.
"Surely, you don't expect me to eat all this…" I said as I picked a muffin that seemed to be normal-looking. I noticed it yesterday, too, but he was way overestimating the size of my stomach.
"No, a lot of it's for me, but if you don't hurry," Knox brought his fork down and stabbed a mini egg tart. "I'll eat all the good stuff first." They did admittedly look good, with plenty of bacon crumbles on top and a rather flaky-looking crust.
"I'm just… nervous…"
Knox instantly froze and peered over at me with wide eyes. "Arden… I hope you know that I'd never do such a thing!"
"I know, I know." I waved my hand dismissively in front of me and even took a small bite of my muffin. "I'm just a little freaked out that someone would feel comfortable enough to do something like that…"
"His entire family was trash," Knox grumbled under his breath. "They'll be facing harsh consequences for what they've done." I wasn't sure what Knox was talking about, but it didn't sound good… His gaze drifted away from me, and a rather guilty look formed on his face. "I've been meaning to ask… You don't consider… that night… assault, do you?" I was in the middle of taking a bite of a muffin and had to pause. Huh? Oh…
"N… no… I… don't…" I didn't want to admit it, but besides the drugs making me feel warm, I was rather conscious of my actions.
Knox let out a loud, relieved sigh and peeked back over to me. "Good, because that's been weighing on my mind! I was so worried that you'd categorize me in the same group as that trash!" He seemed rather relieved as he stuck the entire egg tart in his mouth.
"Have my brother's words been weighing on your mind too?" I casually asked as I stole one of the egg tarts for myself.
A frown formed on his face as he swallowed the food in his mouth. "No, your annoying brother doesn't bother me. Why? Do you think he bothered me?" Knox asked as he moved onto a different plate of food.
"Oh… I just thought that he was the reason why you've stopped putting out so many pheromones."
"Ah… so you've noticed…" Knox brought a hand up and scratched the top of his head as he resumed gawking anywhere but me. "I didn't want you to think I was drugging you."
I poked around at the quiche on my plate with my fork while I thought. "I don't appreciate you forcing me to go to sleep, but that seems like a harsh way of referring to it. You just make the stress go away, and I get tired." Knox kept teasingly calling me a stress button, but he wasn't all that far off from the truth. I had felt nothing but stress since coming to the academy. Maybe even before that, while it wasn't that bad, I've been feeling stressed since the doctor told me that I'm an omega.
"So, you don't care if I keep producing pheromones for you?" Knox kept glancing over at me and looking away. It's like he was begging for my approval. I wanted to roll my eyes, but didn't.
I know I shouldn't be accepting his offer… but… "I thought as my pillar you'd produce pheromones for me…" My cheeks started to heat up, so I hid my face with a hand. Why? Why couldn't I bring myself to reject Knox?
He lit up excitedly, and the scent of freshly fallen rain swirled around me. "I'll do whatever you want me to!" Like watering a dramatic plant, Knox instantly perked back up and resumed eating food.
"You don't need to put them out this thick," I mumbled with a finger under my nose in an attempt to block the scent. He had gone from practically no pheromones in the air to almost too many in the blink of an eye.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Knox's pheromones instantly backed off, and I was able to breathe easier.
I was rather embarrassed about my pink face, but I reached my hand back over to my fork. "How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Control them so easily? I'm nothing but a walking perfume bottle."
"The best smelling perfume bottle, ahem." Knox got a sly look on his face as I frowned at him. "I mean, dominants always have a smell, but they also should have better control over their pheromones. It took me a while to figure out, but I could teach you."
I glanced up at Knox, and our eyes met. "Really?!"
"Of course. I'll ask my mother just to double-check that it's the same for omegas, but I absolutely could teach you." Knox smiled warmly and resumed munching through the dumb amount of food that he ordered. He was no way going to eat all this…
"Okay… thanks." Whoa, it felt like a small weight had been lifted off my shoulders. If I can get my pheromones under control, I could at least feel a bit more… normal. I mean… my version of normal didn't feel normal, but at least it was better than the current state of things. Anything had to be better than this.
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I couldn't believe how much more alive the trade district felt after leaving the cafe. I guess it had been rather early, but now the streets were absolutely packed. "Stay close," Knox said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. "We're going to go two streets over. There are some cool stalls there, and some of them even sell interesting food."
I peered up at Knox with a furrowed brow. "How could you possibly be thinking about food after eating every single crumb off those plates?" Just watching him do it was horrifying. Where was he putting all that food?! It's not like he was fat in the slightest. He was pure muscle under those clothes- n… not that I'd know or anything!
"I didn't eat every crumb," Knox mumbled as he scratched his ear. "I'm a growing alpha, ya know? I need the nutrients."
"Oh yeah?" I snickered as I poked his firm stomach.
Knox leaned in close with a smile on his face. "Just you wait, I'm going to get even taller than you-"
I was starting to worry that Knox was going to kiss me in broad daylight, but a rather large, portly man rudely rammed his shoulder into Knox's. "Go find an alleyway to make out in, not the middle of the road! Grah! Youth these days! Absolutely no manners!" He snarled as he stormed past the two of us.
I let out a soft squeal of horror as my face turned red, and Knox snickered as he pulled me out of the road. "Someone sounds terribly jealous." He didn't say it loud enough for the man to hear, but I did. "Pft! Arden, you get so embarrassed about every little thing." We were sorta just standing in the middle of the flow of people… but that guy didn't need to say that! "Let's go find you a bookstore to calm down in." Knox chuckled as he forcibly guided me through the streets.
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"Whoa." I wasn't sure where Knox was leading me, but by the time we made it through the crowded streets, I had calmed down plenty. The street we arrived on was exceptionally wide and was stuffed to the brim with storefronts and vendors. Oh, and people. There were tons of people. I don't think I've ever seen so many people in one place before. The sound was almost overwhelming.
"Welcome to what is officially known as the trade district. While the whole sector is called that, because lots of trades can be found here, this street is what gives it its name. It spans almost the entire width of the capital." We made sure to stand out of the way as we gawked, so no one else shouted at us this time.
I felt flabbergasted. This was overwhelming. "They're all betas?" I mumbled more to myself, but Knox ended up hearing me.
"No," he snickered. "There are some alphas and omegas who live amongst the betas; they're mostly recessive, though. Their traits are so hard to notice that you wouldn't be able to distinguish them from a beta." Oh… I didn't know that… "We can wander the stalls, or if you see an interesting store, we can pop in. I didn't really have many more plans than wandering around here for the day. Unless you end up hating it, then we can find something else to do."
"Okay." I gulped nervously as Knox took my hand and pulled me into the chaos. I changed my mind; overwhelming was an understatement. I can't believe some people do this on a daily basis. Knox seemed to find something interesting, and he pulled us from the throngs of people and over to a stall. "What are these?"
The booth had beast pelts covering its makeshift tables and colorful cloth draped overhead to protect the vendor from the sun. There were hand drawings of monsters sitting alongside what seemed to be these odd spherical rocks… Well, maybe they weren't rocks. Some of them had odd textures, though. "This is a monster salesman," Knox said as he pointed to the rock, or I guess the egg, closest to us. "Some monsters imprint when born. It makes them rather obedient, so people keep them as pets." Oooh, right. Right. I begged my mother for a monster when I was young, but she refused to let me have one.
"I've never seen the eggs in person before." Monsters were interesting. They often looked like beasts, but they often had additional features that separated them from their counter-species. Oh, and they were more violent and hatched from eggs. Some were deemed useful by society, or safe, while others were classified as dangerous and were to be avoided at all costs. I had read many books on them when I was younger, but I hadn't recently. Hmm, maybe I should see if the academy has any interesting books on monsters.
"They kinda have a boring selection," Knox grumbled as he looked over my head.
"What did you just say about my wares?!" I shrank back against Knox as the pompous man running the stall whipped towards us. Ew. He looked… greasy. When was the last time he took a bath? I nervously peeked up at Knox and saw the idiot smirking.
"What? I was just hoping to see something rarer. These are all just house pets." He shrugged. Knox wasn't wrong. The craggly, brown egg directly in front of us supposedly was that of a horned-hair. Marina's family had a couple; they looked like rabbit beasts but had a singular horn atop their heads.
"What would a young man like you be in the market for, besides getting a girl a gift?" The merchant eyed me suspiciously, and my skin crawled. Ew! Don't look at me! I'm not even a girl!
Knox snickered and patted the top of my head. "I've been in the market for an owl bear for some time, but I can't seem to track one down. You don't happen to know where I can get one, do you?" Even I turned to give Knox a baffled stare. An owl bear?! Was he insane?! Those were incredibly dangerous! I'm pretty sure the book I read that mentioned them labeled them as something you should stay far, far away from.
The vendor let out a frustrated scoff and rolled his eyes. "You might find a few vendors that trade in illegal and dangerous goods, but I sure don't." He snarled. "If you're not purchasing anything I'm offering, be off!" Illegal? Why the hell did Knox want something illegal?! Wasn't that going against everything his family stood for?
"Fine," Knox said with a disappointed huff as he pulled me back over to the throngs of people.
"Why do you want an owl bear?!" I asked as the crowd practically forced us forward.
"Because a few months ago, I visited the Gristette Kingdom and was fascinated to discover that they have an owlbear cavalry! It was so interesting to see. Their family refused to trade with me, though." Knox's warm breath tickled the top of my head as I walked in front of him. "It's such a shame, I really wanted one…"
"What are you, a child?" I asked as I tilted my head up to stare at him. "Asking them to give you one seems rather bold, even for you."
Knox's expression turned rather sour, and he grabbed my shoulders to guide me since I was distracted by him. "You sound like their crown prince. He said something awfully similar to me." Knox looked rather annoyed, but I doubt it was directed towards me. "Neither of you is fun. Ah, do you want to go to the bookstore? Mmm, actually," Knox leaned in and sniffed my head while keeping his eyes on the path. "You don't need to answer, I can tell how excited you are."
My eyes went wide, and I glanced at Knox in shock. "Huh?"
We were finally able to pause as we came to a stop in front of the bookstore. "Your pheromones are strong enough that I can tell how you're feeling."
"I took two stupid suppressants this morning." I didn't even think my pheromones were that strong. I was trying hard not to spread them around…
"Suppressants don't work for dominants, and most inhibitors don't do much either."
"Well, they're shit, I'll tell you that." I knew those damn things weren't doing anything, but my family wouldn't listen and insisted that I keep taking them. I'd brag that I was right, but I doubt they'd believe me.
Knox laughed as he guided me up the stairs. "Silly Arden, apparently I have much to teach you about being dominant." His grin was almost annoying as he held the door open for me. I wanted to kick him in the shin, but resisted the urge. We didn't need to cause a scene here. "Ah! I have just the thing!" Before I could even get a proper feel for the bookstore, Knox grabbed my hand and hauled me to… the children's section?
"What are we doing over here?" It would have made more sense had he brought me to a medical journal section…
"Here it is!" Knox pulled a book for little kids off the shelf and presented it to me, like it was the coolest thing.
"The Story of the Goddess Perhena?" I muttered as I hesitantly accepted it from his hands.
"Have you ever read it?"
"No…"
"Then I'll buy it for you!" I furrowed my brows, but Knox snickered like I was the one acting crazy. "While it is a children's story, it's a true story about alphas and omegas. It even mentions how we used to be capable of using magic!"
"I still don't understand what you're getting at…" I was about to flip through the book, but Knox stopped me.
"Ah, ah, ah! This is a store, not a library. You can read the wares!" The big brat stole the book right out of my hands and smugly stuck it under his arm.
"Why are you being so weird? We don't need to buy a book for children." I tried to snatch the book back from him, but Knox quickly moved it above his head. I glared at him, but his annoying smile wasn't going anywhere.
"Too bad! That would ruin the fun." He waved the book around over my head, but I wasn't going to jump for it again. He could dream on. "Don't be so sour, I'll buy you whatever books you want."
"That's a dangerous thing to offer," I grumbled. "I might just go buy one of everything in the store."
Knox didn't even blink at my threat. "Okay, but I might have to send an attendant to pick them up-"
"I was joking!" I snapped. He can't possibly be serious.
"Oh, but I wasn't… I'll buy you whatever you want." He's totally lost his mind… That and his smile were far too much. I had to look away from him.
"That's extremely unnecessary. I can buy my own things, you know." It's not like my family was poor or anything. Quite the opposite, actually, my family had to be the wealthiest ducal family in the empire. I could buy whatever I wanted. I even had my coin purse secretly tucked into the inside pocket of my cardigan, ready to go.
Knox seemed highly dejected about my response. Even his pheromones shifted to feel like heavy clouds that could start raining at any second. Whoa… is this what my pheromones do? The clouds became even heavier, and I gulped nervously. He isn't going to be upset the rest of the day, is he? "Can I at least buy you a couple of books? Like a gift from me to you?" Never had I seen Knox look like he was about to cry, but if I had to imagine what it would be like, this would be it.
That's… not fair! "Fine." I shut my eyes so I didn't have to look at him. "You can buy me a few books if you really want to-" His pheromones instantly reverted to being pleasant, and the drastic shift made me a little lightheaded. He… he tricked me! "You did that on purpose?!" I snapped open my eyes to glare at him.
Knox's smile was massive and smug as he tilted his head to the side. "What are you talking about?" That fucking brat! I fell for his act, hook, line, and sinker! Knox grabbed my hand and hauled my baffled ass along with him as he pranced to a different section of the store. "Hmmm, what's something that Arden hasn't read yet…"
Since he wanted to know what I liked to read, I took him to the research journals. He seemed a bit thrown off, but wasn't rude about it. He asked me questions about some that I read and showed me some he thought looked interesting. I ended up torn between two, but Knox stole them out of my hands and added them to the basket with the children's book in it.
He then took me to show me books he liked. A small smile appeared on my face as Knox happily wandered around the fantasy section. So his taste in books hasn't changed much, has it? Not that it was a big deal. Even Claren liked these sorts of books. It's not that I didn't read fantasy novels, I just tended to drift towards non-fiction.
"Isn't it a little ironic that the prince reads books with princes in them?" I teased as he showed me his absolute favorite book.
Knox's face went a little pink, and he tried to put the book back on the shelf, but fumbled around awkwardly. " I just grabbed the wrong one!"
Before he could get it put away, I reached over and took it from him. I couldn't help but giggle. It wasn't often that I got to tease Knox. I shouldn't be enjoying myself, but I was. It had been so long since I spent time with Knox. "So it's good, huh? I don't think I've read this one yet. I think I heard Claren talking about it over the summer." It was even a newer release, so it was in excellent condition. Some of my poor research journals were looking worse for wear-
I looked up at Knox and froze. In my curiosity, I had gotten far closer to Knox than I had intended. I flinched and went to pull away, but Knox reached his hands out and grabbed the shelves on either side of me. "It's really good and yes… I do like books about princes, even though I'm a prince. Sorry if that's cliché." He dropped his voice to a whisper and leaned in close so I could hear him. "Is there a problem with that?" His breath tickled my ear and made all the hair on my arms and legs stand up.
"Nope!" Nothing wrong with that! Nothing at all!
"It should be against the rules to smell this good." Knox gulped, but it sounded so incredibly loud next to my ear. "Thank goodness the clerk is a beta, otherwise you'd be in trouble right now."
I would have tried to control myself, but Knox was far too close, and he was making it impossible to focus. His nose kept brushing against my ear, and his warm breath tickled me. Why is he sniffing me so much?! "Knox! We're in public!" I nervously whispered back. I tried to push him away, but I would have had better chances of moving the bookshelf behind me.
"They can't see us through the shelves." Knox leaned in, and his lips snuck a quick kiss. I thought that was going to be it, but he leaned in again for more. Knox's hand came up to caress the back of my head while his other grabbed my waist and pulled me close. His kissing was getting far too out of hand for a public setting. I… I'm going to absolutely lose it if he doesn't-
The book in my hands slipped free and fell to the floor. The sound scared the two of us to the point that, like startled cats, we jolted away from one another. The moment Knox realized what had happened, he burst into laughter, and I doubled over to gasp for air. "Shut up!" I angrily snapped at him. I snagged the book off the floor and rushed off to find somewhere to hide in the bookstore. I can't believe he'd be so naughty in a public space! Ugh!!
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The cashier didn't say anything to us, but he did give the two of us a dull look as we purchased our books. Knox wouldn't let me pay for anything, which annoyed me, but I appreciated the gesture. Knox purchased himself two books and I four. It did make me rather happy, but… I was enjoying myself too much… I shouldn't keep letting Knox get the wrong idea.
As we stepped out of the bookstore, I glanced over to Knox and faltered. He looked so incredibly happy, and the look in his eyes made my chest throb. "Hey… can we talk…" I asked as we moved back into the throngs of people. My eyes had to look away from Knox. I couldn't watch the smile disappear from his face when I told him what was on his mind.
"It's kinda hard to hear you when you talk that softly." Oh… I guess now wasn't the best time to try and have a serious conversation.
"It's okay. We can talk later." I said in a louder voice. We had to. I couldn't keep doing this…