By Zephyria 
Adrian Pearson found life quite enjoyable these days. An interesting subject of observation had unexpectedly entered his otherwise monotonous daily life.
The fact that this interesting subject was one of his potential spouses was something that filled him with satisfaction whenever he thought about it.
Since the townhouses of influential families in the capital were already infiltrated by imperial spies as densely as spider webs and as secretively as fog, the every move of his observation subject, who rarely left the mansion, easily came to his hands.
There was even a time when he generously offered one of his privately owned properties under a false name when the subject’s elder brother seemed to be looking for a building to give as a gift to the subject.
Adrian decided to no longer observe Noah Hamilton from behind a disguised identity. He wanted to meet Noah Hamilton in person, breathing and speaking right before his eyes. Today’s arranged meeting was also a result that fully reflected Adrian’s intentions.
The delicate eyes with their elegantly upturned corners widened in great surprise. As he had thought from the beginning, despite the prickly exterior, the inside seemed so soft and transparent. It would be best to bring him completely into the palace later and keep him away from interactions with others, playing only within his embrace.
Lost in such premature fantasies, Adrian’s lips had already formed a gentle curve. It was a tender expression and gaze he had never worn in his life. It was somewhat regrettable that he himself didn’t seem to realize the face he was making.
‘It’s been a while, Young Master.’
As he mouthed the greeting without making a sound, Noah Hamilton shuddered and repeatedly looked back and forth between Adrian and the man standing in front of him. While it wasn’t as enticing as the tearful expression, the startled look was still enough to satisfy the crown prince’s refined aesthetic taste.
Well. It would be quite surprising to see a mere servant, whom one thought would be working at the Hamilton Count’s residence rather than the crown prince’s palace, looking remarkably like the crown prince, the one above all others, as if they were twins, except for their hair and eye color.
Thinking that Noah Hamilton’s small head must be filled with questions about him gave Adrian a satisfyingly wicked pleasure.
The person standing in front of Adrian now, acting as the crown prince, was the very knight who had attended Noah Hamilton’s birthday banquet in the crown prince’s stead. It was worth the effort of carefully selecting the most physically similar subordinate among his trusted men and meticulously drilling him for days to master Adrian’s speech patterns and habits.
Even Lady Beatrice, who had occasionally come to see Adrian before due to pressure from the empress or Duke Grachio, showed no signs of noticing anything unusual.
Last time, they had to hurriedly put a mask on the knight as they prepared on the same day without proper magical items, but not this time.
Though it was an idea that came about from an insignificant trigger, having someone act as his double in front of others seemed to be a useful approach in many ways.
No matter how decent a person Lady Beatrice herself was, unlike her father or aunt, as long as she bore the Grachio surname, she was as uncomfortable to Adrian as a dagger pressed against the back of his neck. From now on, he planned to consistently use a double when facing not only the lady but also people from the empress or duke’s faction.
That’s why Adrian had been combing through the imperial palace’s warehouses, said to house all sorts of extraordinary treasures, since the day he visited the Hamilton Count’s residence.
Finding an artifact that could control the perception of those conversing with the subject according to the caster’s intentions was the result of this search. According to the magician’s explanation, such magic that worked on the human mind was far more complex and sophisticated than simple physical transformations that temporarily changed eye or hair color completely.
Noah Hamilton probably didn’t know that the position where Adrian was standing now had also been precisely calculated. It was positioned so that he would be barely visible only to Noah Hamilton’s eyes, not to Lady Beatrice.
Watching Noah Hamilton from behind was quite a pleasure. Especially when the disheveled appearance he had seen last time overlapped with the neat attire and tense expression.
The rough, intense scent of wild roses still seemed to linger at the tip of his nose. No matter how appetizing, this was his future consort. Thinking it wouldn’t be right to take his first time in a hasty snatch without memory, Adrian had to restrain himself from devouring the small acorn in one bite that day.
Despite only tasting the edges of the narrow crevice with its soft, fluffy flesh under his crude grip, feeling the hot fervor and sticky moisture, the more he tasted, the more appetizing it became. How regretful it was when he had to wipe away all traces after greedily rubbing his pheromone concentrated bodily fluids.
Regardless of how great that regret was, Adrian never intended to go all the way with someone who wasn’t in their right mind. Although it was quite a torment that the fruit hanging there looked more delicious than expected. Adrian considered it an act of immense kindness, like the boundless sea, bestowed to help reduce the pain of the heat cycle.
Demanding someone to endure their first cycle without suppressants or pheromones of other types was an old evil custom of the nobles. Under the empress’s supervision, Adrian’s first rut cycle a few years ago, when he hadn’t built up as much power as now, was truly a nightmare among nightmares.
As if displaying a rare tribute, the empress diligently admitted members of the aristocratic faction to the palace while the crown prince endured his first rut cycle. Then, with false admiration that didn’t even bother to conceal its insincerity, she led the nobles under her influence to the crown prince’s chambers, praising that the future emperor’s demeanor was indeed different. Most of the entourage, excluding the empress, were naturally Alphas.
Even when he was almost losing his mind to the point of being like a beast, Adrian gritted his teeth and endured. If by any chance, though he hated to imagine it, he, with his Alpha instincts in a frenzy, were to challenge and attack the empress, who was a dominant Omega, or if he were to fully expose such an unseemly state to the minnows of the opposition, he fought fiercely, even shamefully, going so far as to cut his own flesh with a sharpened paper knife when his consciousness began to blur.
Uncontrolled impulses and desires were endless pain. Though Noah Hamilton wouldn’t have to go through such humiliation, the thought of him having to endure his first cycle without suppressants surprisingly seemed to concern Adrian.
For this reason, Adrian immediately decided to secretly join him at the Hamilton estate. This made him quite a caring husband candidate.
Adrian Pearson had reached a rather self centered conclusion.
Part of him wanted to stay with Noah Hamilton until he woke up from his tortured slumber, but he had already lost enough time. Being away from the capital for days at a time, especially with the founding of Kishil on the horizon, was a great risk.
So, with great regret, Adrian had to return to the capital without explanation to a sleeping Noah Hamilton. It was not his concern that a waking Noah Hamilton would be horrified by the unfamiliar Alpha pheromones lingering on his body.
He was the crown prince of a very high position, and as long as he had his mind set on it, it was a done deal, and what was the point of caring about the petty worries and broken hearts of others in the meantime?
This is all based on Adrian Pearson’s perspective, but as he said, he was already playing the role of an undeservedly affectionate father figure.
For example, one of those efforts was not revealing any superficial favor in order to prevent Noah Hamilton from being assassinated by Duke Grachio without anyone knowing.
At most five years. In about five years, he would be able to grow his power enough to overwhelm the aristocratic faction.
For all his future glory and prosperity, Noah Hamilton would have to pay the price, since he would be the crown princess or empress of an emperor who was already in power. As something that would entertain Adrian.
After a reasonable amount of time had elapsed, the two Crown Princess candidates were ordered to leave and began to leave the Imperial Palace. Adrian took a step forward towards Noah Hamilton, using the excuse of guiding him.
He wanted to lick every single one of those long lashes that quivered with surprise, to press his lips to the wetness of his eyes, to smell the dreamy, nightmarish scent of roses that would take over his every nerve. So wonderful that he might as well choke on it.
‘It’s good to see you again, Noah.’
An intense hunger, not of appetite, suddenly raged fiercely inside him.