“…And, Bartolo’s vineyard…”
I was standing still and listening to my father’s words when I unknowingly flinched.
In the year that their biological son, the real Noah Hamilton, was born, the Count selected and purchased the vineyard and winery with the best harvest that year, saying that he would uncork it when he came of age.
The vineyard purchased at that time was Bartolo’s vineyard. The wine made by aging the grapes harvested there seventeen years ago would be used as the commemorative wine for the banquet celebrating Noah Hamilton’s coming of age, which would begin in thirty minutes.
The Hamilton Count and Countess’s third son, Noah Hamilton, went missing at the age of four. When the Countess, who couldn’t accept that fact, almost went crazy, the Count hastily adopted a child with the most similar appearance to soothe her heart.
It was a child from a distant branch of the family, two years older than Noah Hamilton, and even a bastard. But it didn’t matter. The most important thing to him was to soothe his heartbroken spouse.
If they had sincerely accepted this body as their new child, my name and age would have remained the same… But ‘I’ was merely brought into this mansion as a substitute for ‘Noah Hamilton.’ In reality, my birthday wasn’t even on this date, and I had already passed the age of seventeen, the age of adulthood, two years ago.
It wasn’t as if they had brought in a commoner child from an orphanage. They brought in a noble’s child, so they couldn’t possibly not know the exact date of birth. Yet, as a matter of course, my birthday and my coming of age were fixed on this day, at this time.
“What’s wrong, Noah? I heard you weren’t feeling well. Are you still not recovered?”
Countess Hamilton asked, patting my shoulder with a kind tone and a benevolent expression. It was only a brief moment of agitation, but she had noticed my strange demeanor. Even the Count, who had interrupted his words, had a look of faint worry on his face.
Even though they had brought me in as a mere substitute, it was because of this very aspect of her and the Count… I couldn’t bring myself to hate them in the end. Even if it was a fabricated lie. Even if they easily abandoned the substitute who became useless as soon as their real son appeared.
Even if the affection they poured out on me was just salty seawater, I couldn’t help but gulp it down to quench the thirst in front of me. Just as Frederick was the first brother I ever had, they were the first parents I ever had in both my past and present lives.
“No, Mother. I’m just a little nervous. Coming of age… it doesn’t really feel real.”
Burying my face in the Countess’s palm as she gently stroked my cheek, I slowly resolved. Since receiving it would only cause trouble later on, and considering the Count’s efforts in carefully selecting the farm for the child to be born, I would always refuse Bartolo’s vineyard…
“Yes. Thank you, always.”
“Hahaha, so you have grown up after all? You can even say such sensible things.”
This time, I wouldn’t let it go and would hold it tightly in my hand.
“I formally declare that the guardian of the most abundant land, the young blood of Hamilton, has from this day forth become a member of the glorious blue blood!”
My father shouted powerfully in a loud voice in front of the guests. The invited nobles all raised the silver goblets in their hands high above their heads. The elaborately crafted ceremonial silver goblets contained just a sip of Bartolo ’17 wine.
Waiting behind the half-open door to enter, I took a slow step after pausing for a beat after my father’s words. The servants, who had been watching for the right moment, pushed open the heavy doors of the banquet hall at the perfect time.
“Oh my, it’s just as I’ve heard. I heard that Hamilton’s youngest son is so beautiful, and indeed…”
“I know, right? They predicted that he would manifest as an Omega early on, and it’s no wonder.”
“And they say he’s Dominant. It’s just a shame for Princess Beatrice. She must have thought she was as good as chosen as the Crown Princess. Who would have expected that two such precious Dominant Omega traits would appear in one generation?”
As I lowered my posture, kneeling respectfully on one knee in front of my father with my gaze lowered, I heard the murmuring voices around me evaluating me. Most of them were about my dazzling appearance or the emergence of a strong Crown Princess candidate.
The cascading dark blonde hair and deep blue eyes would shine twice as much as usual, receiving the light from the chandeliers. I knew too well how I would look in other people’s eyes. My face was like Allen’s puppy-like, lovely appearance, but with the gentleness and loveliness removed and replaced with sharpness and venom. It might not attract people’s favor, but one thing that couldn’t be denied was that I was definitely beautiful. In a very dogmatic way.
“Noah, son of William and Marion. From this moment on, you become a member of the blue blood and will have the duty to protect and carry on Hamilton’s honor and pride, whenever and wherever. I, William, heir to Hamilton, solemnly declare. The moment you abandon this duty, the blue blood flowing through your body will turn red again.”
The expression was difficult, but in the end, it simply meant that if you didn’t maintain the dignity of a noble, you wouldn’t be treated as one. The stale smell was so strong in the antiquated ceremony that I was about to yawn, but instead, I bowed my head even deeper.
My father applied a fragrant oil with a strong floral scent to my exposed nape. It was a roundabout way of informing the other nobles that I had manifested as an Omega.
“For the guardian of the most abundant land!”
Andrew, the younger Count, confirmed that the ceremony was over and powerfully led the chant in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft. The members attending the banquet followed the chant and pretended to clink their glasses in the air, then drank the red wine without leaving a single drop.
“Congratulations, my son.”
My father grabbed my shoulder and whispered in a low voice. It was somehow a different temperature from the Countess’s calls of ‘our baby’ or ‘our youngest.’ I skillfully hid my awkwardness and returned a polite greeting of thanks.
No sooner had my father stepped back than Frederick, who was my partner at this banquet, suddenly thrust his face in front of me. The question of whether I was feeling better was written all over his face. Was it because we weren’t alone, or because I had already gone through a bout of Manifestation Pains earlier? It wasn’t that difficult to face Frederick.
When I shrugged, saying I was fine, Frederick reached out his hand first. Then, he opened his mouth with a playful expression.
“Then, shall we dance?”
As Frederick and I took our places in the center of the floor, a relaxed waltz began to play, led by the soft sound of a violin. Frederick couldn’t control his overflowing energy, and rather than dancing, he was almost lifting me up and spinning me around.
“Oh, I heard from my brother. He said he could feel your Pheromone earlier. He said he did that to calm you down because you couldn’t control your Pheromone and something terrible was about to happen. I didn’t even know…”
“Ah, that?”
“Aren’t you being too nonchalant? I thought my heart was going to drop to the very end.”
“But it was effective, wasn’t it? Once my first brother suppressed it, my Manifestation Pains completely subsided.”
“If that’s the case, I too… no, never mind.”
It seemed like he had something more to say, but as the waltz came to an end, Frederick mumbled and cut off his words, messing up my hair for no reason. The hair that Nicole had painstakingly styled was almost disheveled.
“Frederick!”
“Anyway, happy birthday, Noah! I’ll give you your present separately later, so look forward to it!”
“Ha… seriously.”
I felt like I should go out for a bit and fix my hair first. The Crown Prince would be appearing soon, and I couldn’t make a first impression in this state.
I barely shook off the nobles who grabbed me and were eager to say even one more word, and hurried towards the terrace. I told a nearby servant to call Nicole and was about to rest when…
“…Hmm?”
“…”
There was already a guest at the window seat. And that guest, despite wearing a servant’s uniform, was suspiciously handsome. It was the Crown Prince, with only the color of his eyes and hair changed.
Why are you here?