Chapter 19
He made a bombshell statement powerful enough to overturn the worldview of the original story, panting as he stood right in front of Edith.
“If I ever want someone, then it’s because that person is good. Their disposition or gender doesn’t matter.”
“…!”
A sudden realization struck the back of her head like a blow.
That could be it.
In the original story, Clyde never let anyone close before meeting Adrian.
Man or woman—Omega, Alpha, or Beta—he had shown no particular preference at all.
He had simply found and accepted his destined partner. There had never been a reason that partner had to be a male Omega. In the original, Clyde fell deeply—down to the depths of his soul—for Adrian, but that was solely because the other person was Adrian. It wasn’t about sexual preference.
This wasn’t a collapse of logic, nor was it a destruction of the original story. Up through the released twenty-five chapters, these details simply hadn’t been fully revealed yet—so Edith hadn’t known.
How could anyone have interpreted “he had no interest in the opposite sex” as “he had no particular preferences at all” without long explanations and unfolding events?
Edith felt utterly stunned.
Especially the part where he said he was even considering a Beta—it lodged itself firmly in her heart.
He’d said he didn’t like her. Said he wasn’t interested.
The more she thought about it, the more Clyde’s past remarks resurfaced in distorted ways, leaving her alone, unable to find her emotional footing.
Just then, Clyde bent forward at the waist. He had been frowning or visibly displeased for a while now, but at this moment, even that expression disappeared from Edith’s view.
An abnormal heat radiated from him. The air beside her felt sweltering.
“Your Highness, what’s wrong?”
Something was clearly off.
When she lightly brushed his wrist by chance, she was startled by the intense heat—like touching someone burning with fever.
“Your Highness…”
He grabbed Edith’s hand tightly.
What should I do?
This man—he’s boiling.
When he lifted his lowered gaze, the bloodshot whites of his eyes looked terrifying. The grip on her wrist was so strong it hurt, as though he couldn’t regulate his strength.
“Haa… my rut cycle is…”
His hoarse, abrasive voice instantly saturated the space with a decadent tension.
Huff… haa…
The breath leaking from between his dry lips was scorching and arid, like desert wind.
“My rut is coming.”
As he yanked her toward him, a sudden wave of heat crashed into her.
Her body, tilted toward Clyde, grew hot as well. Pulled forcefully, her side bent like a bow.
An Alpha undergoing a rut cycle is closer to a mating male animal than a human being.
A beast, aroused and roaming in search of a partner.
The signs of losing control were already evident in Clyde. His overheated golden eyes flickered like a furnace, and the grip holding her grew increasingly greedy.
“H—hnng!”
The speed at which his condition worsened was faster and more violent than any Alpha she’d ever seen.
Just moments ago, his lips had been smooth. Now they turned rough and dry. His glossy tongue slipped out to lick his lower lip, even the tiny ridges on its surface magnified in her vision.
“I’m thirsty.”
As he swallowed, the elegant line of his throat bobbed deeply. His slackened lips descended toward Edith, as if seeking the answer to that thirst.
She couldn’t let this continue.
“Your Highness, please return.”
He needed help—immediately.
Edith shook off his wrist and jumped to her feet, grabbing the flag that had been lowered after the attendants’ earlier visit.
She waved it frantically, stretching onto her tiptoes, desperately hoping someone nearby would notice the signal.
Clyde stood up behind her.
He seemed bigger than before. That made no sense, yet the shadow looming over the back of her head felt terrifying.
“Edith…”
He called her name with the whimper of a beast.
“I… just… huff…”
Despite the desperate moan, his movements were savage as he suddenly lunged.
Like a predator hunting its prey, he swelled his body and came down on her from above.
His broad shoulders completely enveloped her, leaving no room to escape. His thick arms formed a perfect, inescapable circle.
He turned her around urgently and pulled her tight against him, narrowing her shoulders in his crushing embrace.
She couldn’t breathe. Her ribs ached inside his arm like she was standing at attention. His rough grip crushed her back mercilessly.
“Your Highness, if you do this—ah!”
He shoved a thick arm under her armpits and lifted her trembling body clean into the air.
The growling sound wasn’t human by any measure. His yellow-tinged eyes were unmistakably those of a wolf.
She knew him as an athletic man who trained regularly—but his strength was shocking. Edith’s body soared effortlessly upward, like a feather.
It was enough to make her believe she might weigh nothing at all. The last time she’d felt like this—floating—was on a roller coaster in her previous life.
She was lifted so high that the crown of his deep blue hair was below her gaze.
Her chest rose to the level of his face. The hand gripping her spine felt like a massive claw, while the arm supporting her beneath was unyieldingly solid.
His muttering grew increasingly incoherent.
The sound he repeated obsessively resembled her name.
Edith. Edith. Edith.
The uncertainty only muddled her thoughts further.
The atmosphere darkened as his behavior grew more dangerous. Witnessing a rut cycle firsthand mirrored the original story frighteningly well.
Every encounter with Clyde or Adrian seemed to raise the intensity—and once again, an R-rated scenario was unfolding with her at the center.
“Your Highness—please, come to your senses.”
His hand roamed across her back.
“Soft… you… haa…”
Rather than regaining control, Clyde grew more delirious by the second, baring his teeth like he might devour the prey in his arms.
White teeth. Vivid veins.
Lewd murmurs she couldn’t understand.
Plump lips, flushed with heat, moved as though feverish.
Even before his lips touched her, Edith shuddered uncontrollably. With barely any space between them, she felt the weight of his breath and mouth movements, panicking on her own.
The hair at the back of her neck stood on end.
“Put me… down.”
Her thin voice trembled weakly.
Bearing the full force of a man’s strength.
Being swept up in the dangerous mood herself.
Her spine, bent to its limit, sagged limply as she leaned into him. Her slender wrists somehow ended up wrapped around his thick, powerful neck.
“That won’t do.”
His tone was chillingly firm and persistent. Even through the haze, he seemed to realize attendants would arrive soon and scanned around for somewhere to hide.
Hide where? And do what?
“Wait.”
Startled, Edith twisted her waist—an instinctive attempt to escape.
“Don’t go.”
His grip tightened further, his palm pressing into the center of her back.
When she glanced up, his eyes held nothing but raw instinct.
Edith shoved his shoulders hard with both hands.
“Stop.”
Clyde lifted his head, his eyes drooping pitifully like a rejected male.
The intensity of his fixation on her alone felt dangerous. An Alpha’s rut—and Clyde’s, a top-tier dominant Alpha—was only just beginning, yet he was already in this state.
Still, when physical contact lessened, the tension between them finally subsided a little.
Perhaps realizing they were in the maze garden, Clyde forced himself to breathe deeply. He briefly lifted his gaze to the sky before looking back at her.
“Sorry… did I upset you?”
His complexion was still poor, but his tone had softened, closer to his usual manner.
“I called for help. The attendants will be here soon.”
As soon as she spoke, several attendants appeared down the maze path. Seeing the Crown Prince’s condition, they hurried forward.
There were murmurs of shock—his rut cycle wasn’t due for several days yet.
Once distance grew between him and Edith, Clyde’s agitation lessened, but his fever worsened. His mind clouded, anxiety evident as he scanned his surroundings.
“Edith. Follow me.”
Leaving those hoarse words behind, he moved ahead and disappeared.
More attendants and knights joined as they navigated the twisting maze.
With so many people surrounding and escorting him, even the tips of Clyde’s hair soon vanished from sight.
* * *
For a while, Edith was left without a place to go.
During Clyde’s rut, the Crown Prince’s bedroom was sealed off, and naturally, she couldn’t access the separate room designated as her workspace. Since Clyde was her direct superior, there was no one else to report to.
Having no desk to sit at felt awkward beyond words. Thankfully, the head attendant arranged for her to stay in the attendants’ office next to the Crown Prince’s study.
During that time, she also learned more about Clyde’s unusual rut cycle.
His rut occurred monthly and lasted three days. He ran a high fever and lost so much rationality that daily life became impossible.
This was nothing like other Alphas, who typically experienced only a day or two of mild arousal.
Clyde was also famous for never allowing Omegas into his bedroom.
Though having an Omega nearby would make enduring rut far easier, he refused to allow anyone near him solely to satisfy instinct.
Normally, pheromone regulation during rut is easily resolved by sleeping with an Omega. Once an Alpha releases their instincts fully, they’re stable for a while.
Even lesser contact—skin-to-skin or mere proximity—can help, as scent and presence affect each other.
Yet Clyde rejected even that, stubbornly enduring it alone, giving the imperial physician constant headaches.
As a dominant Alpha with an especially vicious temperament, Clyde was an exceptionally difficult patient.
