70: 3.10 Crown Prince

3.10 Crown Prince

0Oliver followed behind his father's huge steps, struggling to catch up. Not that the Alpha Emperor would care anyway. He bit on his nails nervously. What did his father want to talk to him about? It couldn't be… Did he want Oliver to yield to Rosemane so she could have Altair to herself?

It wasn't once that this kind of occasion happened. When he was small, Oliver used to be naive and stupid, thinking that his Alpha father was just too busy to care about him. When the guests or envoys sent gifts to the Emperor's children, there was once when Oliver and Rosemane had their eyes on the same toy. As a child, Oliver didn't possess any toys and it's not like Rosemane didn't have a similar one before. Oliver knew she was just too greedy and wanted to hoard everything to herself. Stupid Little Oliver thought he had the same standing with Rosemane and fought with her over the toy.

In the end, he was called into his father's study, just like this. As far as Oliver could remember, it was the first time he had heard the Alpha say his name and look him in the eyes. All these times, Oliver had just seen him from afar. However, it wasn't the kind of words he wanted to hear. "Oliver, have you no shame? Just yield the toy to your younger sister. You're already six, what do you want that toy for?"

"But—" Rosemane was also six. She was only a few months younger than him…

"No buts." Bernard cut him off with a grave tone. "Go back to your room and repent. You're not allowed to come out until you get Rosemane's forgiveness, okay?"

Six years old Oliver's heart sank. He was filled with shock, disbelief and grievance. Haga had always told him to reign his temper otherwise he would get into problems one day and it wasn't until that day did Oliver really understand why the nanny said so. He instinctively knew if he were to lose his temper right then, he would have it worse than just a mere scolding. That's why he endured. He merely nodded and returned to his room. Only then did he realize that his palms were wounded with nails marks from how hard he clenched his fists.

That was the last time he ever asked for a toy. That was also the first time he learned not to desire anything which Rosemane set her eyes on otherwise he would be told to give up. He learned it in a very hard way. Until the end, he didn't ask for Rosemane's forgiveness nor did the horse omega care about it either way. Rosemane won and losers didn't deserve her attention.

Oliver closed the door behind him and gulped nervously.

"Sit down," Bernard told him.

It was too similar… Oliver got a very strong feeling of dejavu. As he thought, his Emperor father would surely tell him to give up again, right? The corner of Oliver's lips curled into a self-deprecating smile. He clenched his fists and without waiting for the Alpha to speak, blurted out the sentence in one breath. "I won't give up!"

Bernard was taken aback.

"I won't yield to Rosemane. I know she likes Altair but...but I also like him! There's something I didn't tell you. Actually, I chanced upon Altair when I experienced my first heat a few days ago. He's the one who helped me and he had also promised to make me his mate!"

"Really?!" Bernard leaned forward abruptly, this time it was Oliver who was taken off guard, his eyes shining with joy. "He has really given you the word?!"

W—What did he get so eager for? This wasn't the reaction Oliver expected. No wait—how could he lie just like that? Yes Altair indeed said they would talk again later but he never said anything about making Oliver his mate! "Well, that...uh that can be considered so…?" He stammered, the end of his sentence ended up sounding like an inquiry.

Bernard didn't question his unconvinced tone. Instead, he slapped the table jovially. "That's very good! As expected of my son!" Then he broke into loud, happy guffaws.

Oliver blinked, surprised. "...What?" He was caught off guard even more when Bernard patted his shoulder in approval.

"Father supports you, son. You should go for it and become Altair's mate!"

"You won't...ask me to give up?"

"What kind of question is that?" The Alpha roared in laughter as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke ever. "Anyone with eyes could see that Altair is interested in you."

Oliver's heart soared and the nervousness instantly melted away, replacing with it a burst of happiness and excitement. "He is?"

So his father wouldn't tell him to give up, he gave encouragement instead! Oliver knew that Bernard had something in mind when he proposed this but Oliver couldn't care less! For the first time, his father approved of something he had done and chose him instead of Rosemane!

Bernard nodded. He beckoned to Oliver to come closer and whispered into the Omega's ear. "Let father tell you a secret. Altair isn't an ordinary envoy. I suspect that he's the Crown Prince of Versatine."

"The Crown Prince?!" Oliver blurted out in shock.

"Uh-huh." Bernard leaned back on his chair and let out a satisfied smile. "In this world, father only knows someone with the exact same wings as Altair; the Emperor of Versatine Kingdom, Vincent. And those horns of his… I heard the hearsays that the Empress of Versatine is an antelope Omega. The son of the Emperor and Empress and moreover, with that kind of physique, I can't be wrong! Altair is surely the Crown Prince who hasn't made an appearance in public yet!" He shot an encouraging gaze toward the gobsmacked Oliver. "That's why you have to possess him as soon as possible, son! And this will be a secret between us two, okay?"

It took a few moments for Oliver to recover himself. He inhaled deeply and showed a determined look. "I will definitely do that! Just watch me!"

When he walked out of the study, his mind still reveled in the possibility of Altair being the crown prince. Altair? Being the Crown Prince? Hmm...that title suited him very much. A prince should be just like him. Strong and sexy, graceful and charming, a walking pheromone dispenser, mesmerizing and charismatic. Oliver wouldn't have accepted anything less than that.

Thinking about the Alpha who was waiting for him, his heart cooked up a storm. He quickened his pace toward the back garden, his gait impatient. Having gotten his father's acknowledgements and approval to mate with Altair, he was overwhelmed with bliss that every step of his felt like walking on clouds. Hurry, he wanted to see Altair as soon as possible…!

The smile hadn't even left his face ever since he walked out of the study. It turned wider and wider instead until he couldn't help but giggle to himself. Just imagining him and Altair being a pair; he could hog the Alpha to himself, monopolize him and take him to bed wherever he wanted… Oliver buried his face into his palms and squealed, earning him a few shocked looks from the servants around. Realizing how silly he acted, he cleared his throat and resumed a poker face, proceeding to make his way to the appointed place.

Oliver was already half jogging by then. He had only seen Altair a few moments ago but he already missed him so much. He turned into the corner and caught sight of Altair's eye-catching wings. The Alpha's name had barely escaped his lips when he took in the scene in front of him. The words stuck in his throat and his smile froze abruptly.

Altair was there sitting on the gazebo with an assortment of desserts in front of him but he wasn't alone.

Rosemane was there with him, sitting so close to the point where she almost stuck herself to him. Even from such a far distance, Oliver could faintly sniff out the scent of Rosemane's pheromones. What...was she doing? Did she want to seduce Altair with her smelly pheromones?!

Fury burst forth Altair's eyes and the fur on his tail puffed up in anger. Before his brain could process what he was doing, he had already dashed forward. "Altair!" The winged beastman turned to him and Oliver failed to notice his sigh of relief because he was too consumed with the meager distance between the Alpha and Rosemane. Taking the two off guard, Oliver lunged forward and sat himself across Altair's lap like he owned the place and wrapped his arms around the Alpha's broad shoulders, his eyelashes fluttering as he purred softly. "Did you wait for long? Sorry, I was just talking with Father Emperor about our future bond."

--------

A/N: so here's our weekly goal! Delana will give an extra chapter with every 200 PS which will be released every Monday. So please give spare your extra PS for VSS ^^

pqdm.com