Chapter 67 …
She’s Still My Wife—What Does That Matter?
Because of the manifestation, someone she had forgotten came to mind. No matter what, Chloe had been in life-threatening danger—so why had she forgotten about her? Aileen looked up at Lloyd and asked urgently,
“Is Miss Chloe alright?”
“She’s fine. She hasn’t regained consciousness yet, though.”
Lloyd answered so calmly that it was hard to tell he was talking about his own sister. But the killing intent flickering in his eyes was clearly aimed at whoever had harmed Chloe.
Watching his expression, Aileen fell silent. She knew what it felt like when something like that happened to family. And yet Lloyd hadn’t even been able to go see Chloe because of her.
Feeling guilty, Aileen fiddled with the handkerchief around her neck. He had taken such careful care of her, yet she had been so out of it during her manifestation that she hadn’t even thought of Chloe.
But Lloyd unexpectedly reached out and smoothed her hair, offering praise.
“I heard from Sir Rutz. You grasped the situation quickly.”
Aileen paused, then remembered telling them they had to take Chloe by horse.
“She suddenly collapsed and her breathing was so faint. I thought it would be too late if we went by carriage.”
“Right. If it weren’t for that, Sir Rutz probably wouldn’t have even considered riding hard in case it put too much strain on her.”
“But I still don’t understand why that suddenly happened. All we did was come to the lake and drink some tea…”
“A catalyst.”
Lloyd answered as if to clear up her confusion. Seeing Aileen’s startled expression, he fell silent, as though no further explanation was needed.
“You don’t mean… that discarded catalyst?”
“Yeah.”
“How could anyone do something like that…?”
That was practically the same as trying to kill a beta outright. As anger slowly rose in Aileen, Lloyd idly played with her hair again—this time not to praise her, but simply because he found the changed color fascinating.
“They say it was in the tea. And you shared that tea, right?”
At his question, Aileen lowered her gaze to her hair. The reason she had manifested was also because of the catalyst. If she had been a beta like Chloe, she would have collapsed as if poisoned—but instead, the timing of her becoming an omega had simply been accelerated.
“There must have already been pheromones in my body. That’s why I manifested like this.”
“At least one of you being okay is a relief.”
Unlike Chloe, who was still unconscious, Aileen was completely fine aside from becoming an omega. In fact, thanks to Lloyd helping her earlier, she even felt refreshed.
“The culprit…”
Unable to bring up the name herself, Aileen trailed off. Lloyd instead took her hand and began walking back toward the Grand Duke’s residence. She walked beside him.
“Everyone in the Grand Duke’s household knows Chloe comes to the lake around this time every year.”
Aileen nodded. Chloe had mentioned something similar.
“So it would’ve been easy to plan something.”
As if Lloyd had already given orders, everyone was waiting for him without needing instructions. And the Grand Duchess—who had disappeared from Lloyd’s arms three days ago—returned looking like a completely different person.
Her brown hair, now dusted with gold, had turned fully blonde. Combined with eyes that seemed golden and the faintly rising pheromones around her, she gave off a mysterious aura. Even Sir Jeremy couldn’t take his eyes off Aileen, prompting Lloyd to shoot him an irritated look. Jeremy flinched and quickly disappeared, and Lloyd continued,
“I knew Chloe would come to the lake too, so I came secretly without contacting anyone. I meant to surprise you—but I ended up being the one surprised.”
Aileen gave an awkward smile. After all, he had shown up unannounced to surprise his beta wife… only to find she had become an omega. She could only imagine what he must have felt.
After climbing into the prepared carriage, Aileen glanced nervously at Lloyd across from her.
“Are you okay with me becoming an omega?”
He had chosen her because she was a beta—so now his thoughts must be in turmoil. She herself had planned to leave him when she was still a beta, so she needed to rethink everything.
Lloyd stared intently at her face, taking her question seriously. His pheromones reacted to the rich scent coming from her.
The longer the silence stretched, the more anxious Aileen became. Lloyd wouldn’t suddenly push her away just because she had manifested—she knew that. Still, this was the first time her trait had changed. Of course she was nervous.
“Your pheromone scent is nice.”
“…That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
“My face changed too, didn’t it? And the beta wife you wanted is gone.”
Unable to hold back, Aileen pressed him. Even she knew she had become prettier as an omega—so why wouldn’t this man say it?
“Nothing changed. The color’s just a bit different, that’s all. And besides—”
Lloyd answered as if she were the strange one.
“My wife isn’t a beta. She’s Aileen.”
“I’m Aileen, but I was a beta.”
“She’s still my wife. What does that matter?”
Lloyd cut the matter off as if there were nothing more to discuss. The person who should have been most shocked by her manifestation was him—yet he was the calmest of all.
As the carriage slowly started moving, Aileen turned her gaze to the window. She tried to hide her feelings by watching the passing scenery, but her oblivious pheromones kept quietly rising.
They carried the same fluttering excitement as her racing heart.
“…Or so I thought.”
Aileen turned back to him. The man who had been completely calm earlier now had a deep frown between his brows.
“It’s become important again… that my wife used to be a beta.”
Lloyd muttered words she couldn’t understand.
The Grand Duke’s household was thrown into chaos.
The Grand Duke had returned from the battlefield without sending word—along with the Grand Duchess, who had gone missing after leaving with Chloe.
Elder Allan tilted his teacup and stared into the liquid. It was that Camellia tea Chloe had been delighted to receive as a gift. Jeshia, which had been soaked in catalyst and dried, had not been added.
Peering into the cup, Allan asked his aide,
“What did they say about the Grand Duchess’s condition?”
“The physician didn’t speak directly, but according to the assistant beside him, there’s no hope. Miss Chloe was diagnosed and treated immediately, so she’s fine—but the Grand Duchess was found too late, and they say nothing can be done.”
“I see. As expected.”
Because that was exactly why she had been made to drink it.
Allan’s smile disappeared behind the rim of his teacup.
“This is why you shouldn’t mix tea leaves carelessly. You should enjoy the original fragrance… mixing in unnecessary things—tsk.”
After listening to the clicking of Allan’s tongue, the aide carefully spoke.
“Elder.”
“What is it?”
Allan looked displeased; he hated being addressed like this unless he was the one asking questions.
“Hasn’t this matter grown too large? Not just one, but two lives were put in danger—and His Grace the Grand Duke, who should be at the battlefield, has returned. It won’t simply be overlooked.”
“So what if it has?”
“If His Grace were to learn that the Grand Duchess and Miss Chloe were poisoned—”
“Quiet.”
“M-my apologies.”
The aide lowered his head.
Under Allan’s murderous glare, the aide’s face turned pale. Not long ago, he himself had disposed of a man’s corpse. There was no guarantee he wouldn’t end up the same.
“Stop your useless chatter and keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, you’ll lose your life.”
Allan withdrew his killing intent. There was no immediate replacement for the man, so killing him could wait.
“What happened to the Grand Duchess was an unfortunate accident.”
“Yes. Yes, of course.”
Allan looked at the aide’s frantic nodding with contempt. The man had always handled tasks without complaint, but lately he had been irritating Allan more and more. His incompetence at the imperial palace—and now this frightened behavior—made Allan think it was about time to dispose of him.
As if sensing Allan’s thoughts, the aide lifted his head briefly, then quickly lowered it again. A chill ran down his spine, and he repeatedly rubbed his neck, barely holding back the urge to flee.
Just then, hurried noises sounded outside, followed by a knock.
“Who is it?”
At Allan’s sharp call, the aide hurried to open the door. Standing outside was Sir Jeremy, who bowed respectfully to Elder Allan.
“His Grace the Grand Duke orders you to come to the interrogation chamber immediately.”
Elder Allan looked at Sir Jeremy with interest.
