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Chapter Text

Cale had hidden his secondary gender for a very long time. He had hidden it all through his first life till he had died at that servant’s hands. He had hidden it with major struggle, but successfully in his second life. He had spent years learning everything on how to hide it, and succeeded with only a few incidents. Until he’d fallen asleep last night in his apartment.

The bed he woke up in was quite familiar, but it wasn’t the bed of Kim Rok Soo. Cale’s breath hitched, and he began desperately looking around. He felt dizzy as all his instincts suddenly hit him at once. The instincts that suddenly felt so new, yet ingrained. The instincts he had gotten so good at controlling and suppressing. The ones that hadn't bothered him in so long, they overwhelmed him.

His head began throbbing and he let out a soft whimper, he tightly gripped the blanket he had at some point wrapped himself in. He clenched his eyes as tightly shut as possible, to the point they started watering. After a few strangled breaths he pulled his senses and instincts back under his control. 

He stumbled into the bathroom before any servant could arrive in his room. Scent blocking oils were not illegal, but were highly frowned upon to use and also very restricted due to the damage they could cause to someone’s scent glands. So, of course, Cale kept multiple bottles hidden in his rooms. His heart stuttered for a moment before relief filled him as he entered his bedroom again, now with his scent hidden.

His teeth started pulling at his bottom lip as he sat curled up in his bed to see if a servant would enter. He barely looked up at his door opening softly. If anything he felt his muscles tense and coil more.

“Young master-nim, time to get up,” he knew that voice, relief flooded his body. It was Ron, he let out a slow breath. His throat felt dry, but he didn’t want Ron to leave. What day was it? What if he came in? Cale worked his jaw for a moment. 

He paused, this all felt like a nightmare. He looked up at Ron who was now giving him a benign smile. Cale shivered, he knew what Ron was, he had since he was a child. Of course, he never told Ron he knew, but he suspected that Ron knew that he knew. Usually, by this point in their interaction Cale would pitch a fit to get Ron out of his room, but this time he didn’t want Ron to leave.

“Ron…” He couldn’t hide here forever, nor could he force Ron to stay here forever, “Could I please have some water?” a simple order, that would let Ron leave for a bit, but would have Ron return soon. Cale needed to get dressed and compose himself, he had no clue when he was. Was this world even the same as that of his first life? Ron simply gave a nod, a benign smile, and left.

In his first life, the morning he died, Cale had thrown a huge fit to get Ron to go away, so that Ron didn’t see his body at all. The fit had been loud and destructive. But, it did the job of Ron leaving his room to tend to the rest of his family.

 However, another servant came in without knocking whilst Cale had begun to change. Marcus had been with the family for almost four years at that point, and Cale knew how the Alpha viewed Omegas. Marcus had also always shown large hatred and disdain towards Cale when others weren’t around, but Cale had never done retaliated. That had been a mistake, Marcus had, in a singular moment discovered Cale was an Omega, and been left alone with said omega.

Cale had died in the ensuing assault, no one even came running at his screaming. The nearby servants must have all assumed he was still throwing a fit. 

Cale pulled his legs closer to his body as Ron left. He needed to get dressed, and he needed to get away from here quickly. What were the chances it was even that day? 

*****Trigger warning for assault, skip to next chap if needed*****

It was that day, just as Cale had moved to put on his clean clothes Marcus entered. Cale was in barely anything, and it was obvious to see the subtle tells on his body that he was an omega, even if his scent was hidden. Marcus pushed him back against his wall. He was smirking, and Cale froze in terror and disgust as he smelt the arousal on Marcus. Marcus gave quick and direct strikes that were incredibly painful. He then grabbed Cale by the throat.

“Who knew the spoiled little trash was also a whore?” Marcus had a cruel smile as he tightened his grip on Cale’s neck. Cale began thrashing hard against the hold trying to get away or let out a scream. This was exactly what happened last time. Was he brought back only to die again?

Cale’s vision started to become fuzzy, he let out one last kick aiming towards Marcus’s groin. This was the first kick to successfully land. Marcus doubled over in pain and yelled out calling Cale a ‘little bitch’. Cale scrambled towards the door, he needed to get out of here. He caught his breath just enough to begin screaming for help. 

Unluckily, that caught Marcus’s attention again. The alpha had recovered enough to lunge for the smaller man, and tackle him to the ground. He held Cale down and began punching him repeatedly. Cale let out more screams, now of pain, and tried to struggle. When the struggling Marcus almost knocked Marcus loose the man went back to strangling Cale. It was all too much and Cale was losing the fight against consciousness fast. Not again, he didn’t want to die this way again.

Suddenly the door banged open, but Cale was too out of it to see or hear what was happening beyond the fact that Ron was back.

What Cale didn’t see was Ron arriving back with the young master’s water only to hear the yells and scuffling down the hall. Ron abandoned the glass of water to shatter on the ground and burst through the door to find a servant attacking Young Master Cale viciously. He grabbed a knife and made quick work of disposing of the perpetrator.

When Ron then went to  check on the young puppy master’s prone form, he found himself  truly shocked by something. The young master was clearly an omega. He had no clue how the young master had hidden this or for how long. When did the young master present? All he could tell is based on the way his body had adapted to the changes; it had been at least a few years since Cale’s presentation. He swiftly gathered the young puppy master in his arms and navigated to a different part of the manner.

Chapter Text

Cale was laid up bandaged in bed. After multiple long discussions, after Ron had come racing to the main area of the house with a barely breathing Cale. Deruth swore his servants to secrecy, not only about Cale’s gender, but also about the attack.

 Deruth ordered a deep clean of Cale’s rooms, and that was when the oils were discovered that Cale had been using to hide his scent. The oils were disposed of and Deruth felt a sinking feeling in his gut. It would be best to move Cale into a room closer to the rest of family, and whilst he was unconscious that was what they did.

However, Deruth stomach still churned. Cale was obviously not newly presented if he had all these bottles hidden away. His body shows all the signs of reaching maturity and full adaptation to his omega characteristics according to the doctor. How long ago did he present? How long had Marcus known and been attacking him?

With Marcus dead, and Cale unconscious only assumptions could be made. Deruth thought back to Cale’s behavior, hadn’t Cale’s biggest leaps into worsening behavior and drinking started only in the months after Marcus had come on staff? Deruth’s heart sank, and he stared at his son’s prone form. Had he missed something that long?

In reality, Cale had only started drinking after he discovered he had a high natural tolerance, and that it helped him control his instincts. He also worsened his behavior at the same time to try to find limits, and to fully cement himself as an unsuitable heir. But Deruth didn’t know this, and his own conclusions were formed, even if his son later tried to deny them.

The doctor had said that the oils, and Marcus attacked had severely aggravated Cale’s scent glands, and had most likely caused damage. It would be dangerous in the future if Cale used any sort of oils or products on his glands, and possibly lead to permanent harm. Cale also had a great deal of damage done to his right wrist whilst fighting off the attack. Beyond that they were luckily it was mostly various stages of bruising along Cale’s upper body. The doctor couldn’t tell if there had been similar incidents before, but did discover trace amounts of healing bruises and small scars along his body. The doctor also expected Cale to wake at some point today, but couldn’t give an exact time. 

So, Deruth currently sat vigilantly at his son’s bedside. Violan had come and gone, joining him as she could. But, also taking over as many duties as possible to make sure Deruth could stay there. Basen also took on duties as the current heir to lessen Deruth’s load and Lily had climbed into the bed and curled up into Cale’s side.

It was almost dinner time when Cale finally opened his eyes, seemingly aware of his surroundings. He felt a warm, small presence shift at his side, and looked down to find Lily curled into his side. She had begun shifting slightly in her sleep, as Cale had begun moving around upon waking up.

 All his instincts began to overwhelm him at a pup from his family so close by. He purred and started gently stroking her hair and face with his left hand till she seemed at peace again. He was giving into his instincts for the first time in years. At the sound of movement he looked up sharply and growled, until he recognized his father sitting there in a chair staring at him. 

Cale stopped growling, but was now tense for a whole new reason. “Father,” He quietly gasped. His throat hurt, why- all the memories came rushing back. He lived, this time he lived, and he began to cry. Tears streamed down his face and he let out small hiccups.

Ron, who had just entered with Basen and Violan, froze at the sight of Cale crying, close to actually sobbing. Everyone instantly began making assumptions that they’d never tell Cale. Cale would in turn never tell them that he was crying, because he was supposed to die in that attack. Lily began waking up, more prone to the scent of Omega distress as a pup.

Cale in his distressed state began reverting back to instincts and tried to soothe Lily, who was getting upset because Cale was upset, by scenting her. This only caused Cale to spiral and get more upset because the scent gland on his right wrist and those on his neck were all covered by bandages. It took the work of Ron, and the other three Henituses to calm Lily and Cale down. The problem was Cale was obviously heavily in instinct mode now and had pulled Basen onto the bed and was making a makeshift nest around those he considered pups of his family.

Ron could only let out an amused chuckle staring at the scene. He had just brought the family dinner, and Cale, who was still deep in instinct, was trying to feed both Lily and Basen. Deruth and Violan were also fondly watching over the scene from their chairs near the bed. Lily was completely and happily accepting the attention of her older brother, but Basen seemed quite disgruntled. Basen was still seemingly quite happy about it, but he did not appear to enjoy the pup treatment quite as much as Lily did.

“Ron, when you get the chance, let the doctor know that Cale is awake. I am sure he will want to know,” Violan requested, looking up from the three Henituse children currently on the bed. Cale seemed to bristle at the word doctor, but otherwise gave no other outward show of hearing Violan’s words. Ron gave a short nod to her, but didn’t move from his spot by the door.

 After a while everyone had eaten, or been forced to eat after trying to instead feed the pups extra (Cale). Servants came in quickly to collect the trays and dishware, but left without a word.

 Deruth and Violan softly said goodnight to their three children currently curled up in the makeshift nest Cale had made. Ron waited a while longer listening to the deep breathing of the three youngest Henituses, and keeping guard at the doorway before retiring himself.

Cale was still hurt, and they’d yet to have any conversation with the young omega, but things were better. Cale was awake, and showed multiple signs of improvement. He was healing, and it seemed, atleast to Ron and his parents, that he wasn’t only healing physically.

Chapter Text

It took Cale nearly a week to be able to leave the manor and walk about town. Not because of his healing, but just that his family was overprotective. Deruth had been looking through files and paperwork to find a way to get Cale some time away to heal, but was so far struggling.

Cale thought back on the five books he had read, about his home, this world, in his second life. He woke back up here before he could finish the fifth, but he remembered all the information. The plot had taken place after he had died. It never really talked about how people reacted to his death, honestly, the Henituse family was barely mentioned. But, the story followed a knight of the crown prince during a war against the Northern Kingdoms. It did share quite a bit of information he hadn’t previously known.

Cale hummed a soft tune, glancing about. He wanted nothing to do with the war and battles, but he had to keep his family safe. The best way to have a quiet life and to keep his family safe was by gaining some power. So, Cale entered the nearest bakery, and then two more. He lugged the bags full of bread uphill, still humming a tune.

“Don’t go near there mister! That tree eats people!” a small voice called out, Cale turned to see a small undernourished red-haired boy being squashed by a silver-haired girl next to him. Cale’s face relaxed and he felt a soft smile tug at the corners of his lips. He set aside two loaves of bread and quickly dumped in the rest.

‘Mmmm so good’ ‘bread!’ ‘more! I want more’, the voice suddenly filled his ears.

“I’ll bring more soon,” he softly called before grabbing his bags, two extra loaves, and making his way down the hill. He paused as he reached the two children. The girl now stood protectively in front of the boy, between Cale and the boy. Cale smiled and quietly let out a soothing scent. He held out the two loaves, and crouched down to the kids’ level. Cale closed his eyes and waited, no sooner were his eyes closed, then the bread was snatched.

Now, as he looked at the two children he noticed how many features they shared, probably siblings. He smiled and slowly fully sat himself on the ground. The girl was still tense, but the boy now seemed more curious than wary as he held his loaf.

“Why’re you covered in bandages?” the little boy asked, and his sister (?) gave him a sharp look.

“You don’t ask someone that,” she scolded him, the boy began pouting.

“It's okay,” Cale reassured the girl before smiling at the small redhead pup, “I got hurt by someone, and now I'm healing,” he explained with a smile.

“People are yucky and mean,” the boy nodded along very seriously with his words. There was so much conviction in them, that Cale couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

“You aren’t wrong,” Cale stated, giving the boy a nod and a smile. The little girl was watching them closely, but she didn’t seem as tense anymore. Now up close, Cale could see that both of them were covered in dirt and scratches, and who knew what else. But, they were both still obviously scared and jumpy, he couldn’t do anything to brash just yet. Even if his instincts were screaming at him to take them home and keep the pups safe in his nest. Cale let out a long breath.

“I’ve gotta go, but I’ll be back tomorrow to give the tree more bread. If you’re here too, I will give you some,” He smiled and got up. It was a struggle walking away from the pups. That night he made space for two more pups in his new nest.

The tradition of giving the small pups food continued for nearly a week. On the last day he received three gifts. First was the fact he could finally remove his bandages. Next, was the ancient power that finally settled within himself. Then, the pups got close enough and were comfortable enough he could pick them up and take them home. He had learned their names on the fourth day; Ohn was the girl, and Hong the boy.

He let out a content sigh as he ushered the two small pups into his nest. He’s not sure how he’d avoided the servants and his family members, but he did, so no questions yet about the new pups.

“Orabeoni? Can I sleep in here tonight?” Lily practically hid behind the door as she asked this. Cale let out a reassuring hum, this had somehow become a nightly ritual. Lily quickly ran across the room at the hum, and climbed into the nest with an excited squeak.

Lily paused momentarily at the two new pups, staring at them in curiosity. “Lily, this is Ohn and Hong,” luckily pups are quite adaptable with little question, or at least Lily is. Lily easily let out a smile at the introduction and climbed forward to curl up with the two. Ohn seemed a little surprised and hesitant at first, but seemed to adapt well to Lily quite quickly. Cale could only let out a content pur and pull the three pups towards his chest.

The cuddling with the pups lasted almost an hour before they were interrupted. The door opened, and Cale could only grumble at the intrusion. He knew by scent it was Ron, and Cale was currently trying to get less lemonade and lemon tea. So, that meant no growling at the man when he intruded.

“Young master-nim, it's time for dinner. I’m sure Lily and the two new pups you brought are quite hungry,” of course Ron knew about the pups. Ron knew everything. Also, curse Ron for using the pups to get Cale to attend dinner. He let out a final grumble, and got up from the nest.

Ohn and Lily were awake, but Hong was asleep. The pups needed food. Cale let out a sigh, he slowly began gathering Hong in his arms, letting the boy curl closer to his chest. He took a final moment to check on the two pups he hadn’t picked up and quickly freed one arm to scent the two. Time for dinner.

Chapter Text

When they arrived at the dining room, two extra places had been set near Cale for Ohn and Hong, he let out an almost silent short pur at that. The other three members of the Henituse family were already at the table. Lily and Hong were able to settle themselves in their respective seat, and Cale took a moment to wake Hong and help settle the boy in his seat.

The room enjoyed a moment of silence for almost a minute before his father let out a soft sigh.

“Cale, could you please introduce the new faces at the table?” Deruth prompted his son. Cale let out a short soft hum.

“This is Ohn,” he pointed to the elder silver haired girl two seats away on his right, “and this is Hong,” he then pointed to the redheaded boy just next to him on the right. He paused for a moment to let Ron and his parents process that information. “They’re mine now”

Deruth started choking, and Violan gave the two children a small encouraging smile. “Wonderful. Ohn, Hong, you can call me grandma.”

“Violan!” Deruth called out between his coughing fits.

“Well dear you did want your son to be able to be more open about his gender,” Violan calmly stated giving her husband a cool smile.

Deruth could only let out a sigh as he finally composed himself, “Cale, could you let me know if anyone will come looking for our new wards?” Deruth might as well start on damage control, he felt a headache growing.

“No one,” this time it was Ohn who joined the conversation, “we ran away, they wanted to kill us,” Deruth started choking again.

“Oh? May I ask how old you were and why?” Violan had now raised one of her curated eyebrows at Ohn.

“They thought we didn’t have abilities. I was six, I’m seven now. Hong was 4, now he’s 5,” Cale let out a hum as Violan nodded. So those were his pups' ages.

“Abilities?” now Lily had joined the conversation. Well, it was good for her to bond with other pups.
“Uh huh, we’re from the shadow cat tribe,” and Hong joined in with that answer. Ohn was eyeing the people at the table nervously, but she saw no change in reaction. Except, Deruth was now letting out a prolonged exhausted groan, she calmed down a bit.

Deruth was already exhausted, dinner hadn’t even started yet, and he still had news to share with Cale. He let out another sigh, this one less pained, and more just exhausted.

“Cale, I have other news to discuss, would you prefer now or after dinner?” Deruth would usually suggest they visit the office after dinner to discuss the news. However, this was something that was about Cale, but would affect the whole family.

“Now,” Cale stated softly, barely looking up from his two new pups. Deruth was silent for a moment. How should he word this or explain this?

“Do you remember how I told you Jour was close to his majesty, King Zed Crossman?” Deruth began in pausing, using partially halted words. Zed Crossman had reached out through a call the evening before.

News of Cale’s gender hadn’t spread beyond the county, being a closely guarded secret of the people, loyal and protective of the eldest Henituse child. The Henituse they once thought of as trash, but now all looked at in a respectful new light.

“Yes, you’ve mentioned before they were close most of their youth. It is through him that you met mom. Why?” Cale still hadn’t truly looked over at his father yet, but at least was listening. Deruth steepled his fingers in thought.

“Many years ago, back when his majesty was only engaged, and I had only begun to court your mother, the two got very…” Deruth paused trying to find a respectful or appropriate term for what had occurred. “They had got a bit to drink…” Deruth was struggling to explain this at all.

Cale let out a sigh, “Please tell me this isn’t going to end with I have a secret sibling.” Cale was now looking at his father.

“NO, no, that or anything related did not occur.” Deruth rushed out, he had to explain it all now. Flexing his fingers against each other, Deruth let out a heavy sigh, “The two made a contract of sorts…”

“How does one make a contract of sorts?” Cale now raised his eyebrow, staring at his father across the table.

“His majesty and Jour made a courtship contract. It was never officially registered, and they luckily added lots of ways out even in their… less than ideal states.” Deruth paused, this next part was the most important. He held up a finger when Cale and Violan both opened their mouths at this point. “The contract was for their pups, in this case you and one of the princes.”

Chaos exploded at the table, Violan’s mask broke for a moment from pure shock. Basen instantly began choking. Cale stood up from his seat; “excuse me?!”

“Let me finish,” Deruth sighed, calming the table down. He was sure this was going to be news all over the manor before dinner was even down, as he saw the servants listening as they began to serve the food. This was an ever growing headache. “The contract was written, but they never officially got it signed or registered. However, the queen recently discovered the document as his highness forgot to burn it. Due to your past reputation, the queen presumed she could raise her sons’ chances at the crown if she formalized the contract naming Crown Prince Alberu as your betrothed.”

Deruth paused to let everyone digest that information. The servants were taking longer than usual to serve the dinner. “Since it is not known you are an omega, but it is known that Prince Alberu is an alpha. His majesty and I believe she was also trying to sabotage the ability of Prince Alberu to produce an heir.”

“You said there were ways out of the contract?” Cale asked, a little breathless. He was overwhelmed. This was never part of his plan.

Deruth nodded solemnly, “yes and no, you both can get out of this contract. However, it is complicated. Since you two are neither the same secondary gender, nor either of you is majorly injured or sick. For you to get out of this contract certain criteria must be met.”

“What are they?” Cale’s voice was smaller now as he asked this question. He began to fidget with his fingers.

“First, you must court each other for a total of two years. Secondly, you must spend most of that courtship residing in the same or neighboring residences. Thirdly, at the end, if you choose not to mate after two years, one must have proof of a future courtship partner.” Deruth let the words wash over Cale. His son let out a resigned breath and nodded.

“What about the pups?” he softly asked, staring at Ohn and Hong who were both focused on watching the conversation.

“That will be a topic for conversation with his majesty, but most likely they will travel and live with you. However, I can’t promise Alberu will accept them as readily as I did Basen.” Deruth softly told his son. He needed to reach back out to King Zed tonight and get this new information sorted. Cale seemed to quietly accept this, and nodded at his father.

Dinner after that was a quiet affair. Lily would chatter some with Hong and Ohn, but mostly it seemed they were all just processing this new information. The general mood in the air wasn’t somber, but was most definitely hesitant. As plates were cleared, Deruth got up.

“Cale, I am going to call his majesty in my office if you would like to join me,” Deruth quietly offered with a gentle smile and a pat on Cale’s shoulder.

“Pups, bedtime, I’ll be at the nest later. I’m going to join grandpa for a meeting.” Cale ushered the three youngest from the room, and watched as Basen led them back to the nest.
The crystal ball glowed dimly as the call began to connect. Soon, King Zed Crossman was seen on the other side. The man also seemed to be sitting in his office, his hands steepled in thought much like Deruth’s.

“Deruth, nice to see you again, circumstances excluded” the king nodded at the man, then his eyes shifted slightly to Cale, “it is nice to see you as well young master Cale.” Zed Crossman smiled a soft reassuring smile at the younger man sitting beside Deruth.

“It is nice to see you as well, your majesty. I shared the news with Cale, and the rest of the family, this evening. However, something new has come up.”

“Please Deruth, how many times must I insist you call me Zed, you may call me that as well Cale.” The man now sat in his office chair, seemingly slightly more relaxed as pleasantries finished.

“Well, Zed-nim then,” Deruth nodded at the king, “It seems in the past few hours my son has taken on two pups.” This startled a laugh out of Zed.

“That is certainly an unexpected incident. The Pups will be welcomed with Cale whenever they arrive in the capital. I have news too.” Zed paused as he shifted in his seat. Cale took a moment to let out his breath, he was holding, his pups would be safe.

“Oh? Has his highness, Prince Alberu, made a request?” Deruth asked casually, but Cale could see his father’s eyes get slightly guarded. Zed let out a long almost pained sigh.

“No, I haven’t gotten the chance to sit down with him today. I have scheduled tea tomorrow afternoon to tell him, and I will let you know how that goes.” Zed took a deep breath and blew out some air in frustration. “The queen on the other hand…”

Now Deruth let out a small, wounded noise. “What does she want now?”

“She is forcefully pushing the contract ahead faster. Proclaiming Cale should be moved into Alberu’s palace as soon as possible to begin the courting. She has gotten a lot of backing in the decision from my advisors too.”

“Have you let any of them know my son is an omega, or is there worry about loyalty among the advisors?” Deruth questioned, his brows furrowed.

“No one knows about Cale’s secondary gender. I plan to let no one but Alberu know. Then it will be at Cale’s and Alberu’s discretion on who knows. But most of the advisors seem to be pushing in hopes an openly acknowledged courtship will help to settle tension in the kingdom, some. Tensions are rising.”

“They will rise more soon,” Cale interrupted, he knew politics and strategy, he could help with this part. Especially as Zed-nim seemed just as trapped in the issue as they were.

“Why do you say that?” Zed asked, turning his attention to the younger Henituse.

“I listen, there is talk of a rebellion brewing in the Whipper Kingdom. There is also unrest among the Northern Kingdoms, but that only has a few rumors.” Zed’s brow furrowed at Cale’s words. He seemed to truly worry and consider the words.

“It might be best then to be open about not only the courtship, but also your gender. Is that okay with you? Hopefully, it will at least show decent stability in our kingdom to both the nobles and outsiders.” Zed was now rubbing his chin in thought.

“I can agree to that. It will be important that you warn Crown Prince Alberu. But, I will accept and be open about the information.” Cale now let a smirk grow along his face. He could work this into his plan. If he helped secure the kingdom, his family would be even safer. Zed nodded at him.

“This all sounds good. I will discuss it with Alberu at tea tomorrow, and we can finish everything. But, we must discuss when you will come to the capital.” Cale bit his lip in thought. The books had told of a specific event that would occur in a few weeks. With his new possible relations to the royal famil,y he couldn't attend for his own family, but…

“I shall travel with Basen for your fiftieth birthday, your majesty,” Cale offered. This would let him be there to protect Basen, and fit into the Queen’s sudden demanding timeline.

“That could work well, as you couldn’t be attending as your family’s representative, but could attend the event as Alebru’s betrothed.” Zed nodded at this, seemingly more at ease now that a plan was made.

“It is getting late, I shall inform Alberu of all this tomorrow. For now it is best if we all get some sleep.” With that, the call ended, and Cale turned to his father.

“You did well, Cale. It will do you some good to get away from this place for a while. I’m sure you could do with fewer reminders of troublesome memories.” His father smiled softly, then embraced him. Cale was unsure why his father thought he was so haunted by memories in the estate, but he wasn’t going to ask. It was nice, and relieving to go curl up in his nest afterwards. Basen had joined the other three pups sleeping in his nest. Cale only smiled and embraced them.

Chapter Text

Male Omegas were rare. This caused them to be seen as good luck to court or be betrothed to, especially as it was proven that they were incredibly fertile. Alphas who were mated to a male omega were thought to be quite fortunate, and were even thought to be people of great value to society.

This was the information that Zed Crossman started off the conversation with his son about his future betrothed. It took quite a bit to fully tell Alberu everything. Zed Crossman told his son of his friendship to Jour Thames, later Henituse. He told him of the drunken night where the contract was made. Zed explained how he had shoved the contract into a random drawer the next morning and forgot about it, how it had never been officialized. He then had to explain to his son that the queen had found that contract, and in a bid to gain more favor for her sons, officialized the contract. He told Alberu about all the loopholes and requirements. Zed went into detail on how Cale Henituse would arrive in a few weeks for his fiftieth birthday, and the courtship would be announced. He now only had a little more to share.

“Cale Henituse is an omega,” this first statement seemed to shock Alberu, who startled for the first time the entire discussion and stared at his father. “The queen does not know that. Beyond the Henituse County, no one knows. It is a closely guarded secret.” Zed did not know that until two weeks ago, it was so guarded that only Cale knew.

“With that in mind, Cale also found and claimed two children, pups. He had adopted them before coming to know of the contract.” Alberu’s mind was a mess; not only was he now forced to court someone viewed by most nobles as trash, but the supposed trash was an omega. The omega had two pups in tow.

Alberu had never planned to have any pups. Yet, somehow he would end up caring for pups anyways. Alberu had only ever wanted to survive.

Male omegas were seen as good luck, but Cale Henituse had a truly rotten reputation. How spoiled must his betrothed be? All his work on his reputation would be ruined. Everything he gave to make a better life for himself. Everything he had done to protect the other dark elves. To make it all worse, from his father’s description it didn’t seem like Cale was fighting this at all. Alberu excused himself. He had a lot to think about, and he needed to talk to his aunt.

Cale had little say in the entourage that would escort himself and his brother. Lily was incredibly upset to be left behind, but Cale had promised to send Basen back with presents. He let out a soft sigh, looking at the large group. Ohn and Hong were currently avoiding it all by curling up in Cale’s arms in their cat forms.

However, what Cale did succeed in is choosing their stops. They would stop first near the Tolz estate. Their next planned stop was in Puzzle City. They would need to make a few extra stops along the way as night fell, but Cale was happy to make those two specific stops.

The trip to the Tolz area was mostly quiet, at least by Cale’s opinion. Yet again, he and his children slept most of the journey. When one of their knights saved an older man from being run over by a speeding carriage, Basen stepped out to deal with it. Cale tried not to draw attention to himself as he could no longer wear any type of scent blocker, but watched Venion Stan with a careful and critical eye. All Cale felt looking at him was pure disgust.

They settled at the old man’s inn, and Cale was quite content with the room. He also felt incredibly exhausted, but he had something to do. Cale sighed, and he made his way downstairs to where Beacrox sat at the edge of the room. His cute little pups were out doing a job for him.

“I’m going out tonight, join if you want,” he waited for Beacrox to give a nod, then he smiled, and walked away to the bar. It was time to wait, and waste time till nightfall, then it would all begin.

Cale made his way back up to his room not long after the sunset. He let out a slow breath, and smiled at the two kittens curled up napping on his bed. He began to change, he solely had a pure black outfit. Sadly, the Stan Marquis had no uniform he could copy for this break in. He pulled up the mask, and woke his two children. It was time to free a baby dragon.

Beacrox found him soon after he leapt out of his window. Cale didn’t even say a word, he just began running, he couldn’t waste any time. He trusted Beacrox to figure it out. When they arrived near the cave, Cale continued further. He barely heard the bodies drop around him, but just continued as the alarms began blaring.

With his pups’ help it wasn’t hard to get the keys, or free the dragon from the first cage. Now the dragon only needed healing and his chains removed. Cale let out a soft breath, so far it was going well, but they were only halfway done. Cale quietly picked up the dragon. Even malnourished, the dragon was still the size and weight of a young human child.

He quickly left the cave and met back up with Beacrox. Cale even left a small gift to destroy all evidence once the mana disturbance tool turned off. They quickly began to run again once Cal had caught sight of Beacrox. Time to go. It took them a bit, but they were a safe distance from the cave. The baby dragon seemed to be staring at the sky in wonder. Just in time too, as the alarms stopped, a loud explosion was heard.

The baby dragon had yet to say anything, but now stared at Cale instead of the night sky. It didn’t take long for Cale to cut off the collar and feed the dragon the potion. He thought back on how this played out in the book. After many reports, Alberu had sent his loyal knight, Choi Han, to investigate a monster attack by the Tolz estate. Choi Han discovers the raging dragon, and kills it. Afterwards, he learned why the dragon raged and started to develop a deep hatred for nobles and their corruption.

“Live free now, you are truly great and mighty,” Cale murmured to the baby dragon. This was a pup and his instincts screamed at him to take the pup to his nest and bundle it in his warmth, scent, and care. But, this baby dragon would never trust him, too burned and hurt by humans. He only whispered one more phrase, “you are free now, you are safe.”

“You are lying humans, always lie” the dragon growled out, but Cale only hummed.

“You’re right humans lie,” Cale said, and began walking off, staying any longer here would have him truly taking home this baby dragon as his instincts went haywire. He left the dragon with a few extra potions to help, and he could do nothing more for now.

“Papa, what if he decides to follow us?” Hong asked, leaping into Cale’s arms. Cale had frozen the first time his pups called him that but quickly adjusted. Now, he didn’t even blink as they used the term. Cale let out a soft noise.

“I don’t think he will. He’s been hurt too much by humans. But, if he did follow us then I guess you’d have a little brother.” This caused both Cat tribe children to instantly per up and Ohn joined her brother in their papa’s arms.

“I want more siblings!” Ohn exclaimed in excitement, eyes sparkling at the idea. Cale let out an amused snort.

“Why is it now multiple, and since where exactly are you getting them?” Calee softly teased his children. They were slowly making their way back to the inn. Beacrox had come to walk beside Cale and the pups, he seemed to be listening to the conversation.

“Mmm” Hong let out a small thinking noise, and seemed to pout. Unluckily for Cale, his eldest stepped in, “We can find them! And ask the prince for help!” Instantly, Cale’s face turned bright red and he began sputtering. Beacrox didn’t help anything by letting out a small chuckle at Cale’s reaction.

“Hong,” Cale started, after taking a moment to compose himself, “why exactly are we asking the prince for help?”

“The tribe elders always told us as tribe successors when we grew up we had to meet an omega or alpha and make pups. They didn’t tell us how though.” Ohn said, now seemingly distracted, trying to remember what the elders had told her. Hong nodded along in agreement to his sister’s words. Cale suddenly was regretting ever coming back to this life.

“And you’re going to the capitol to meet the prince like the elders said we’d meet someone some day!” Hong added onto his sister’s explanation, and Cale only felt dread and exhaustion grow.

“Okay! New plan!” Cale exclaimed and began massaging his brow line. Beacrox seemed highly amused as Cale seemingly went through all the stages of grief at once over his children’s words. Cale sent him a glare.

“New plan is we are not listening to what the elders told us. Also, since Uncle Beacrox volunteered, he is going to go through their teachings with you and explain the truth.” Cale found a sudden chill go down his spine, it was probably a bad idea to drag in the son of an assassin and an expert torturer. However, Beacrox was laughing at his pain, and Cale refused to deal with this alone.

Meanwhile, whilst Cale was mourning his possible peace of mind at how Beacrox would get revenge. Beacrox went silent for a very different reason than Cale thought he had. Cale had just referred to him as an uncle for his pups. Beacrox was truly unsure how to react to this information. Beacrox had no qualms in helping to teach the pups. But, Cale’s term of endearment for Bearcox was much more intimate than he thought Cale would use for him with Cale’s pups.

The rest of the journey to the inn was in silence for the two older members of the group. However, Hong and Ohn happily chattered back and forth about the idea of more siblings. They talked about a younger dragon brother, but also began exclaiming their thoughts on other siblings, both older and younger than they were.

Chapter Text

Cale knew his experience of living two lives before this one greatly shaped his desires and perspective. He had spent so much of his first life focused on family, and protecting his family above all else. Even in his second life, when he lost everyone, the importance of family never truly left him. If anything, it warped, he became more protective of anyone he claimed as family. He also began craving more family as he began truly understanding that family couldn’t all stay around forever.

But, his second life also caused Cale to see all the violence and chaos the world could give. He remembered the times he lost people, and also remembered all the times he failed to save others. It had left him with a deep sense of survivor’s guilt. He began to highly dislike being seen as any sort of savior or hero.

He also grew to dislike the chaos and adventure he had been so forced into in his second life. He didn’t want to seek out battles or to live a life so chaotic, lonely, and sacrificial again. Cale developed a longing for a quiet and peaceful existence, one where he didn’t have to worry about everything that haunted him in his second life.

It was these thoughts and ideals that rushed through his mind as he sat in the carriage the next morning. He was going to become the betrothed of the crown prince soon, and it would be a truly public affair. Things no longer seemed as close to a quiet existence, nor did he see any sort of ability to grow his family or keep his family close to himself. The only positive he had found so far was that he could protect his family much more with this.

They wouldn’t have to worry about Cale tarnishing their reputation anymore. They would gain more political standing and protection as the family of the crown prince’s betrothed. Plus, he could use this to help protect them from the chaos the novels had described brewing in other countries. Especially, as a family who protected the border of their kingdom.

Cale looked over at Basen, he was intently studying notes on various things that had occurred to other noble houses recently. His little brother was preparing for the events that caused him to go to the capital. Cale could only let out a soft smile and a barely heard sigh. Basen would make a great heir to the Henituse family.

Cale bit his lip for a moment, studying his brother more. “Recommend a naval base instead of a resort,” he broached the silence between them. His brother’s head shot up to stare at Cale. Basen’s face twisted into a truly bewildered expression of Cale’s comments.

“What?” That seemed to be the only word Basen could form in his confusion.

“You are part of the group talking to the crown prince about the idea of developing the Ubarr coast. Yes?” Cale spoke up again. Basen could only nod at his older brother, “Offer the idea of a naval base, for defense with the unrest in both the North and South.”

Basen silently stared at his brother, then nodded his head. With Cale being more open to the family recently, he has noted how intelligent and analytical his older brother could be. Cale seemed to analyze and know many things, even things he seemingly shouldn’t know. In a way, Basen was grateful Cale hid this for so long. It terrified him what someone would do if they knew about his brother’s high intellect. What would they do in response to his brother’s keen and clever mind?

The stop at Puzzle City went entirely as Cale had expected it would. Well, all of it except for his newest pup.

He wasn’t upset in the slightest when his new pup joined him, but he was surprised. It had taken a lot of debate and discussion with both his pups and the help of Basen to decide on the fact that his newest pup would need a human form. So now, sat beside him a small human-looking pup, his newest little spark of joy. The form was obviously of a child barely out of toddlerhood, his gorgeous little pup stared at his every movement.

Cale had to withhold minute flinches when he looked at his smallest pup. It was obvious the pup was malnourished, even more so than when Cale first found Ohn and Hong. It settled as a deep ache in his chest that his pups were hurting, especially in a way that he had experience with. He never got close to the point of his pups, but Cale had learned the pains of hunger intimately in his second life.

He felt slightly better now as he had a new ancient power to rely on. This wouldn’t help him heal his pups now, but he could at least use it to prevent more damage down the line.

Two alphas, Taylor Stan and Cage, were now traveling towards the capital to hopefully meet with Cale’s soon-to-be betrothed. Cale already was highly entertained by the two. He found it odd, almost, how easily he could bond with Cage. But, as he studied her closely, it was easy to tell why they were bonding so quickly. Cage also was deeply entrenched by the energies of a certain god.

They were less than a day out of the capital. Basen and Taylor were holed up in one of the two carriages that were sent with the Henituse contingent. Cale had wandered into Basen’s carriage for the journey to the capital. But, it was important to send a carriage for each son. This was both for imagery purposes, but also because it was helpful logistically. The manor that belonged to the Henituse family in the capital did not have any passenger carriages. However, when Basen would be on his way to the young nobles' dinner, Cale would be on his way to the crown prince’s castle.

It had been decided that to not overwhelm Cale and the pups as they moved in, so, they would move in whilst most of the servants and the prince were busy with the banquet. It was the crown prince who suggested this idea. Cale didn’t know whether to believe that the prince recommended it for Cale’s comfort or because the prince was avoiding Cale. He also wasn’t sure if he should be insulted if the prince was avoiding him.

In the carriage holding Taylor Stan and Basen Henituse, the two were discussing and plotting, in a way that greatly suited young heirs. Cale was grateful. It seemed Basen was gaining a powerful ally and friend, even if Taylor was helping Basen plot to bubblewrap Cale. But, Cale was contently sat with his three pups and Cage in the other carriage.

Cage was doing a great job keeping the pups entertained throughout the trip. She had recently even begun dramatic retellings of her adventures with Taylor. Cale was grateful, it gave him a moment to cope. In only a week’s time, Cale would be moving into his betrothed’s palace.

It still felt so odd to call the man he had never met his betrothed. He didn’t even feel truly upset about having a betrothed either, or how they came to be betrothed. Cale was struggling mostly internally due to the fact that he was only mad at the queen for their situation. The anger he felt towards the queen wasn’t even on his own behalf, he only felt upset that the queen had forced this on the crown prince. It felt wrong in some way that Cale was only upset on behalf of a virtual stranger. A stranger whose name he couldn’t even comfortably say the name of. Cale didn’t believe in inherent respect, but it still felt inherently ill-mannered to call his betrothed by his name.

Chapter Text

If scent were not considered, it is quite hard most of the tie to discover a person’s secondary gender. But, many notable factors can be physically seen to determine one’s second gender. For this, it is easiest to use Betas as a baseline for our observations. Every body will have variations, and many bodies may not fully match our observations. But, it will be entirely possible to set a strong baseline with your observations. Please note, commonly whilst Betas make up 60% of the population. Alphas will often be 25% of the population. This means Omegas commonly only make up 5% of the population.

Most people will commonly present between the ages of 11 to 15. However, there are multiple cases of people presenting earlier or later due to stress, trauma, or various ailments. It is more common for an Omega to withhold presentation or present early compared to an Alpha. Biologically there has been no proven reason why, but physiologically it has been commonly linked to an Omega’s innate self-preservation instincts to protect both themselves and their pack.

If an Omega believes they could garner extra and needed support or safety for themselves or the pups of their pack, Omegas often present earlier to gain what is needed for their pack and themselves. In similar circumstances, if an Omega feels as if there is an outright chance of threat to themselves if they present their body will stop all attempts at presentation till they are safe. This can even occur when an Omega is on the cusp of presentation.

Before presentation, it is entirely impossible to decipher a person’s secondary gender. It is also uncommon to be able to physically determine a person’s secondary gender until up to 2-3 years after their presentation. This is because all physical attributes of a secondary gender only develop during or after a presentation.

For Omegas, after presentation an Omegas hips will often widen first. This is due to the fact that during presentation Omegas begin to develop and grow new organs in their bodies to accommodate birth, pregnancy, and heat. Omegas will also naturally begin to metabolize differently during this time in conjunction with both their hormones and new organs.

This often leads to Omegas being unable to fully develop muscles in the same ways that their Beta and Alpha counterparts develop them. An Omega can develop these muscles, but it will take different types of exercise and more effort than other secondary genders.

The change in metabolism often also causes the body of an Omega to naturally soften, grow to a shorter height, and appear slimmer. This is directly related to the fact that Omegas naturally evolved to appear weaker and more defenseless to other secondary genders. This gave them a natural form of protection as many others would see Omegas as less of a threat. This does not mean they are at all less of a threat.

Omegas are naturally and commonly much more agile and flexible than others. This is one of the few signs that can sometimes be noted before presentation. Omegas are often noted as ‘double-jointed’ or ‘hypermobile’ before presentation due to their natural skills in flexibility.

During presentation, an Omega’s chest will also gain a slight natural extra swell to it. This is due to Omegas developing their milk glands in the chest. In females, this is often less easily seen as their chest size greatly varies due to both of their genders. However, in males, it is often noted in a small, but notable swell of the male’s chest. During presentation, as these new milk glands develop an Omega’s chest will become extremely sensitive…

Alberu closed to book and let out a harsh breath. After Aunt Tasha had learned of his upcoming betrothment to a male omega she had gathered multiple books and texts for him to read. Alberu couldn’t fully blame her, for dark elves, Omegas were considered sacred. Actually, outside of humans, most species considered an Omega was considered sacred. Humans had odd beliefs surrounding Omegas, but Alberu had no current interest in studying those beliefs.

However, no matter how many books, studies, stories, myths, or texts he read from any species he still couldn’t be happy about his betrothal. It made him feel guilty to some extent that he couldn’t show any excitement or care for his soon-to-arrive fiancé.

How could he be happy or proud of this? He had no choice in this arrangement. He never wanted pups attached to his cursed existence, or a mate for that matter. Now he would soon be stuck with both. Alberu had spent so long trying to just survive in this minefield of a family. He never believed that he could find anyone trustworthy aside from the dark elves employed in his castle, and his Aunt Tasha. Alberu didn’t know if he could even trust his betrothed. He knew nothing of Cale Henituse, even if he was an Omega he was still widely considered trash. Alberu had no clue if his betrothed would be spoilt or would act up in any way that could haunt him.

The prince ran a hand through his currently golden hair, taking a deep breath. He got up and placed the book back on one of his bookshelves. One hand rubbed at his eyes trying to stave off the headache, as he made his way back to his desk. Alberu only let out a soft grunt as he fell into his chair. He turned to stare out the window at the capital city. Only a week until the banquet where his betrothed would move in.

Cale was not in a happy mood. All the staff in the Henituse manor avoid him, only the people from their envoy interacted with him at all. It was starting to upset him and get on his nerves.

Cale desperately wanted the comfort of a nest. For a few months, he had consistently given in to his instincts, so he couldn’t fully control them anymore as he once had. But, the manor currently had no nesting materials. Cale did not want to wander the capital alone or with only the pups, it didn’t feel safe to do so. But, Basen, Taylor, Cage, and their envoy from home were currently extremely busy preparing for the next steps for Basen, Taylor, and Cale. Plus, with the servants from the Capital avoiding him Cale had no one to accompany himself and the pups out into town.

He felt his frustration swell as he sat with his pups in his room. The pups were currently playing about on the bed, but as Cale watched his feelings only seemed to grow and overwhelm him. Cale hated this feeling, he hated feeling defenseless He hated the thought of needing help. He stayed as silent as possible as he curled his knees up towards his chest. It was so overwhelming, he let his face burrow into his knees and he let his tears fall.

What Cale didn’t see was his pups stopping their play as he began to cry. All three shifted back into their human forms as they looked at their parent. The pups couldn’t hear any noises as he cried. Which only upset the pups more, their papa was so quiet. They could smell and almost see the stress and upset rolling off him in waves.

“You two stay with Papa, I’ll be back soon,” Ohn murmured to the two younger two. They nodded before turning towards their Papa and they reached out towards him, trying to comfort him. Ohn ran out of the room, she quickly scanned the halls looking for help. It took her three hallways to find someone, but it was a servant from the manor. Ohn had seen how they were acting towards her Papa, so she ran past them. She ran to the first floor before she found someone to trust. There stood Uncle Basen and Grandpa Ron. Her pace picked up and without a word, she grabbed a hand from both of them and pulled.

“Woah, Ohn, what’s going on? Can you talk to us for a moment?” Basen asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he crouched down to look her in the eyes. Basen tried to search her eyes desperately looking for answers. Especially, as Ohn’s eyes began to tear up in frustration.

“Something’s wrong with Papa. Help.” Ohn’s voice cracked as she spoke, instantly the older two began to move. Basen picked up Ohn, and they all ran towards the room Cale and the pups were staying in. Ron got there first, but Basen wasn’t far behind as they rushed into the room.

Basen quickly ushered the pups out of the way as Ron began to softly talk to Cale. “Hey pups, kids, can you tell me what's going on?” Basen softly asked, Cale was now pushing at Ron, and starting to get more verbally upset in his crying. It was starting to turn into a mess of full-on sobbing, as Cale continued to shake his head and push Ron away from himself.

“We don’t know,” Cale’s newest pup’s voice was quiet as he spoke, “he just started crying”. Basen sucked in a breath as he heard this. The entire family and most of the staff who lived in the Henituse County Manor had expected Cale to have some sort of meltdown after everything.

No one still knew anything about anything that happened to Cale truly between his mother’s death and the attack that took place a few months prior. However, since Cale had woken up after the attack he had been oddly calm, for many he was too calm, especially after the discovery of his betrothment. The family and Henituse County Manor staff had grown quite protective of Cale, especially the longer he went without any sort of big reaction to his stress and trauma. But, everyone had hoped if or when he had a true reaction he would be at home surrounded by many safe and familiar things with his nest nearby.

But, now Cale sat in a room in the manor their family owned in the Capital. Most of his family was miles away back home. Basen looked around the room, and to make matters worse Cale didn’t even have a nest in his room.

Nests were practically a necessity for an Omega, they offered comfort and safety to an Omega. They were often seen as a more intimate space for an Omega than even a bedroom. Historically, it had even been a common practice to withhold nest building from Omega prisoners as a form of severe torture. That was how painfully important a nest was to an Omega.

Basen glanced at Ron, who had finally fought off Cale’s pushing extremities to cradle the Omega. The Beta was softly murmuring to Cale trying to calm him down. Basen let out a sigh, he wasn’t sure what to do next as Cale’s pups huddled closer to Basen’s kneeling form.

“Why doesn’t the young master have a nest?” Ron’s voice cut through the silence as Cale finally cried himself to sleep. Cale had yet to utter a legible word since Ohn had brought Basen and Ron to the room. Ron could only feel a slow-roiling fury building in his gut as he began looking at the room more closely.

Ron would have preferred to take care of the young master himself, but his responsibilities had forced him to temporarly assign the eldest Henituse to some of the servant in the Capital. It seemed it was a mistake in the end not to do it himself. Ron studied the multiple surfaces that thin layers of dust had started to show on. It had only been a few days since Cale was given this room, but it seemed like it hadn’t been cleaned at all since Cale and the pups started staying in there.

“Papa didn’t want to go outside alone or with just us. Everyone either seemed busy or ignored Papa,” Ohn’s voice was slightly muffled by Basen's shirt, but it was still easy to hear the utter lack of inflection or emotion in her words. Ron’s fury was no longer quiet or slow-roiling, it was a blazing fire. He had some heads to take it seemed, or for now, at least some jobs. He softly soothed the young master’s hair and gestured for the other four to come join them on the floor. But, for now, before serving painful justice on those who had wronged the young master, he would soothe the young master and his pups. He would also most possibly take them nest shopping when the young master awoke.

Chapter Text

Cale took about an hour to wake up after his meltdown. During that time, Ron and Basen had fully soothed the pups. However, Ron and Basen had yet to fully explain everything that had been happening to the pups. This worried them greatly, as they still didn’t know what was going on and what was happening to Cale.

Ron felt guilt slowly quell his fury during this time. With the capital manor currently not having a head butler, Ron had been helping to fulfill those tasks where he could. He was also preparing for both himself and his son to move into the crown prince’s palace to directly serve the young master. They had been the only two servants from the Henituse estate sent to accompany Cale at this time. Well, the only servant sent who Cale would actually accept to join him in his move to the castle. In doing all of thai it seemed he hadn’t kept a proper eye on the young master till it was too late.

Basen was filled with similar feelings of guilt. He had been so busy meeting with the other northeastern nobles, organizing things with Taylor Stan, and preparing for the upcoming banquet and King’s birthday party. He had been so busy doing all that he missed all any of the signs that something was wrong, and that his big brother wasn’t okay. He had wanted to prove that his big brother was right in fully entrusting Basen with the title of Henituse heir. But, he got so caught up that he almost missed part of the most important thing to the Henituse family, te family.

Cale had started crying again soon after waking up. The eighteen-year-old Omega felt so guilty that his pups had seen him have a breakdown. He continually kept apologizing to the three young ones, and neither Ron nor Basen could seemingly get him to stop.

“Papa, name!” the four-year-old pup declared with the confidence only little children seemed to have. But, the exclamation work, Cale now stared at his youngest in both wonder and puzzlement. It was the first time Cale heard the pup call him ‘Papa’.

“I’m sorry darling, I don’t understand,” Cale softly asked, teeth pulling and tearing at his bottom lip with every pause.

“I want a name, Papa has to name me,” the small pup now had an upset and stubborn pout on his face. The small dragon’s cheeks had puffed out, and his arms messily tangles into his shirt. Ohn and Hong now seemingly understood and joined in.

“Yeah, Papa, donsaeng needs a name,” Hong had joined his younger brother in the upset pouting at their father.

“Papa, what’s Hong and my last name?” Ohn added her piece, and that seemed to only encourage the other two in their name crusade against Cale. It was all working too, Cale was startled and no longer focused on his own upset, stress or guilt. Their Papa was now solely focused on trying to answer the three pups. Ron was quite amused with the pup’s tactics, Basen seemed as lost as Cale. But, atleast everyone was calmer.

“Well,” Cale paused, he had to think about this for a moment. He absentmindedly started to softly tug at a strand of hair in thought. It was a habit he had picked up as a child that his mother used to do when in deep thought. “Roan Miru Henituse. Along with Ohn and Hong Henituse.” his voice was soft, and held very little confidence. However, his voice did still carry notes of authority and conviction in his decision.
The pups lit up in an instant, they quickly lept forward to create a puppy pile ontop of their Papa. He had given them his last name, and in Roan’s case an entire name. Cale let out a soft grunt as he hit the floor, instantly Basen and Ron’s faces etched with worry. However, they needn’t worry long. Cale carefully gathered all three of the pups up into his arms with a fond smile caressing his face. He curled his upper body up and around his children. A few more tears slowly leaked out of his eyes, these ones finally not of stress and upset but relief and happiness.

“Children, I must talk to young master Cale for a moment. Basen will sit with you in another room as I do this.” Ron gave a benign smile, and Cale flet shivers run along his spine. It didn’t matter how fond of Ron he was, the assassin would always absolutely terrify him when the Beta smiled like that. Before he could hold his Pups tighter to himself like a shield, they had already scurried over to Basen. Basen, the absolute traitor, was quietly leading the three pups out of the room.

Another word wasn’t spoken till the door closed, “Cale,” Ron meant business if he was only using his first name. Cale gulped and ducked his head slightly, a bit of anxiety grew in his gut. “Cale raise your head, you aren’t in trouble this time,” Ron’s voice softened and lost any sign of fury it previously held. “I just need to know what happened to cause your episode earlier,” there was no question, only a statement to answer. Cale gulped then took a calming breath in and closed his eyes.

“I was upset,” Cale’s voice was barely above a whisper, and cracked slightly from uncertainity and his earlier sobs. “I, um, I’m not sure about it all,” If anything his voice grew quieter as he tucked in on himself. Ron moved closer and began soothingly rubbing his back. “Everything was just moving so fast, and I um my instinc they’re uh,” here Cale paused and vaguely gestured with his right hand at his head as if trying to remember words. “My instincts have been kinda weird and stuff since the um, the attack,” Cale began to unconsciously rub softly against the scent gland on the right side of his neck. The skin was still sensitive and swollen even over a month later, the doctor didn’t explained the irritation and redness could last another two months. The sensitivity may never lessen.

“Take your time child,” Ron seemed to almost coo as he softly spoke to the boy. The butler winced slightly as he had to stop the Omega’s nervous tick. Cale rubbing at the scent gland would only aggravate it more, even if the action was usually something used to soothe Omegas. Rubbing a hand along a scent gland on the neck was commonly used to emulate scent marking and sharing without forcing the distressed Omega into a intimate act. It tricked the body into releasing the hormones that soothed the Omega and made the person feel quite content.

“Well, my instincts had been off, and I wanted to nest.” Cale seemed to struggle not to go back to rubbing at his neck, so Ron caught the boy in a loose sideways hug. Cale melted into it and continued, “We don’t have any nesting materials in the manor, so we needed to buy some. It doesn’t feel safe to go out with just me and the pups right now. I can’t fully explain it, it’s just a bad idea.” Cale’s voice was almost to the point of an uncertain whisper at the end. But, he continued, “everyone was so busy, I didn’t want to be a bother. But the staff of this manor also kept avoiding me. I didn’t want a scene,” the part that went unsaid, but was understood was ‘or a bad reaction’.

Ron closed his eyes as he listened to all of it, even the untold ending. He had seen Cale after the attack, and he had also seen how much Cale changed afterwards. He didn’t know what to say, but he knew that he would need to report this to the Count and Countess. He would also be taking action himself. But, he told Cale none of this, it wouldn’t comfort him, and might even upset the boy more. So, instead, Ron began let out a low hum and slowly ran one of his hands through the Omega’s hair.

Ron’s hand paused in brushing the boy’s hair, “It might be time to cut your hair young master, it almost reaches your shoulders now,” Ron voice was soft no demand or expectation, only a off-handed suggestion. Cale’s eyes shout up to stare daggers at Ron, “No.”

Ron only chuckled at that answer, and went back to brushing out the Omega’s hair with his fingers. He let Cale lean against his chest and just sat there on the floor with the young man. “We can go get some nesting materials in the morning, or sooner if you want.” Ron offered his to Cale, still no orders or demands in the suggestion given.

“Now, please” if the husk in Cale’s voice was anything to go by, he was holding back more unshed tears at what Ron said.

“Of course young master,” Ron released Cale from the hug and began to guide them both off the floor. “I shall go receive the pups, why don’t you clean up a bit?”

At this Cale’s eyes shot up to the nearby mirror, and warmth instantly filled his cheeks. Cale’s eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. He had slight tear track down his cheeks, and his bottom lip was pull at and irritated from biting. He let the back of his hand gently rub against his lips, his entire face felt tender now. Cale looked back at Ron, and nodded before making his way to the attached bathroom to clean himself up as best he could.

Chapter Text

Basen joined the small group on their visit to the market, along with two guards of Ron’s choosing. It seemed like a good thing for the three extra people, anyway. Cale was doing a good job distracting the kids, but even he had begun to notice the stares at their group. Cale assumed it was in reaction to his Omegan status being openly flaunted in the moment, or his past reputation. No matter, he was out to get nesting materials and possibly some trinkets for the pups.

However, the other four adults instantly recognized it was for a different reason. The two guards with them each kept a hand on the hilts of their swords, and paid close attention to anyone who began approaching the group. Ron was fingering the dagger hidden in his pocket making sure to to keep eyes especially on any nearby alphas. Basen drifted closer to his brother, niece, and nephews, he made sure to keep all of them in his sights at all times.

Even after Cale had cleaned up, he still looked a bit like a mess. The people who were staring were shocked by his Omegan status, but they were also focused on other things about Cale, too. Cale’s bottom lip was still slightly bruised, red, and tender from his biting. His irritated and oversensitive scent glands were almost fully visible from how rumpled his shirt was. His eyes were no longer puffy, but they were still notably red-rimmed and showed obvious signs of exhaustion after exertion. His hair was pushed messily away from his face, but still obviously messy and ruffled. All of this to say that while yes, one could guess he had recently had a crying episode. They could also just as easily guess that something else may have occurred.

For the people who looked at the eldest son of the Heintuse family with untoward thoughts, they were mostly discouraged by his entourage. But that didn’t stop the whispers at all. Even with how he looked, and whatever the Rowoon people assumed by his looks, he still seemed to cheerfully engage and interact with the three pups in his group. It shocked many to watch him engage with the three small pups. It further shocked them as the rumors and scents let everyone know the so-called trash of the Henituse county was an Omega.

Ron kept his guard up slightly, but once they entered the shop, the guards and Basen felt they could relax slightly. No one else was in the shop at this time. The shop was slightly on the high-end, but not one nobles would usually use.

As they had left the estate, Cale had insisted, he did not want the most high-end. Those shops commonly had people who helped you shop, and advertised/doted on the clients. Cale didn’t want the personal shoppers to be near him at all. Luckily, those around him knew that. So, a less high-end place was chosen, and both the adults and pups would stare down anyone who got close.

Cale started looking around, he studied the textures and colors. Basen and his pups helped hold the things he chose. For the blankets and sheet, almost everything he chose was in soft neutral browns and grays, and a very rare white coloring was collected too. Then, as Basen collected all of this and dropped it off at the counter. There they moved over the the pillow section. Every pillow Cale chose was in a pastel color. Ron just watched with a fond and serene look as Cale studied each bit of fabric. Cale would flinch away after a quick drag against the fabric, or crinkle his nose at other fabrics. The nesting pieces they kept were the ones Cale would grip towards his chest, the ones would would seemingly pet, and the ones he would fist at from the comfortable textures.

Cale’s nest was fully set up before dinner that night. He still hadn’t seen any of the manor servants, but for a different reason now than before. Ron had gathered all the servants of the manor down in the main hall. He had then told Basen to make sure the pups and Cale stayed in their room whilst it was dealt with. Mind you, neither Cale nor the pups noticed at first as Cale arranged the nest, and the pups tried to help Cale in his nest arrangements.

Cale wasn’t sure what exactly occurred, but suddenly the servants were much more attentive to him and the kids. However, he got an idea of the reason when Ron began to loom nearby or sent Beacrox to do so. That idea was confirmed when the servants would flinch at any movement made by the Molan duo. After a bit of thought, he turned a blind eye. He didn’t want to ask, and he didn’t want to know.

Dinner that night was an affair of mixed emotions; Basen seemed almost completely unbothered by the atmosphere. If anything, he was more openly affectionate to his brother and his brother’s pups than usual. Cale’s pups seemed to be lapping up the attention from their uncle at the table. The servants seemed to eye Cale nervously and refused to take their eyes off the floor, even when they almost crashed into other servants. Cale only felt an unending sense of bewilderment through all of it.

Dinner had just wrapped up when Basen’s face turned slightly serious and stared at Cale. “I want you to come with me tomorrow to the northeastern nobles meeting,” everyone seemed to pause as Basen said that.

Cale only hummed for a moment in utter thought, “Roan, Ohn, Hong, would you be up for staying with Grandpa Ron and Uncle Beacrox?” The pups head perked up and turned to look at the Molan duo. Ron only gave a undistinguishable smile, and Beacrox seemed to tilt his head in acknowledgement. After a moment of study, the pups all nodded with a glint in their eyes, Cale already regretted this choice greatly.

But, he sighed, he wanted to spend some more time with his brother before everything went down. He had prepped the pups on what would happen at the King’s 50th birthday, but he had no one else to help him. He was unsure how to explain his knowledge to the king. From what the king said, he would most likely be entering with the royal family, so he couldn’t sneak away to deal with it. Most likely, he would have to involve Ron and Beacrox. He hoped they didn’t ask questions.

In the original novel that took place after his death, only one of the five bombs had been disabled by Rosalyn. Rosalyn had been passing through on her journey to the mage tower, with the last survivors of the Blue Wolf Tribe. It was during the Plaza incident that she befriended one of the royal knights, Choi Han. However, there were still many deaths and injuries. The novel even outright mentioned that Basen had lost most function in his right arm that day to the blasts.

Chapter Text

Cale would like it known that he already hates this. He absolutely hates this. Basen forced him to put on actual formal clothes, which he had mostly avoided wearing since his return (resurrection? Time travel? Whatever term he should use). He knew eventually someone would force him into clothes that were less casual than what he continually wore everywhere, but this was much to soon. It didn’t help that his pups, Beacrox and Ron also joined in the forcing of him to wear formal clothes.

He especially didn’t appreciate this due to how the nobles he was being forced to dress up for normally treated him. Amiru Ubarr was tolerable, but all the others constantly treated him as if he were a small pup. He hadn’t felt that close to any of the other nobles’ children since about a year after his mother’s death, and he truly wasn’t that interested in reigniting those old bonds.

Cale was trying his very not to pout as the carriage hit another small bump in the road. Basen was giving a look that very much stated he wanted Cale to behave, or atleast not be an outright problem.

The nobles they were meeting didn’t know of his betrothal, or secondary gender. Cale was still under strict orders and watch to not apply anything to to his scent glands. That meant he couldn’t even dampen his scent any, he did not want to deal with however these nobles would treat him now. However they would treat him would be fake, he saw the nobles true colors in the past few years of masking secondary gender and acting.

Cale had to keep reminding himself why he did this, he was doing this solely to spend time with Basen. He wouldn’t be able to see his brother as regularly after this trip seeing as he would be moving to the capital. He could tolerate this, for now.

He could not tolerate this, and wanted to go back to the manor. Cale was practically using his brother as a human shield against the other nobles. If Basen wasn’t shorter than him, he would probably be fully attempting to hide behind his brother. Everyone kept looking at him and whispering. Luckily, so far, only Eric Wheelsman, Gilbert Chetter, and Amiru Ubarr had actually approached the brothers. Out of the group that had approached them, Cale was only willing to interact with Amiru.

Amiru had never treated him poorly, or acted us if he were a small child. They hadn’t kept in consistent contact over the years, but she never distanced herself from Cale either. They had just gotten naturally distracted in their lives, and lost contact from their childhoods. Cale was still fond of Amiru, and he appreciated her even more as one of the few other Omegas in the room. Currently, like Basen, she didn’t try to push him to interact with all the various other people here. She just let their conversation naturally flow as it existed.

Eric seemed upset that Cale wouldn’t acknowledge him, but Cale couldn’t bring himself to care much about it. Gilbert seemed saddened by Cale’s actions, but also seemed to understand and respect the eldest Henituse’s choice.

“Cale, may I ask why you have joined your brother in the capital?” Amiru seemed unsure how to ask her question based on the hesitance in her voice. Before her words could be seen negatively, she quickly tacked onto her statement, “it's just usually Basen has done all the societal obligations for the Henituse family in the past few years, and I am curious if you are helping Basen, or if something is going on.”

Cale tilted his head in amusement, Amiru seemed quite curious, but greatly unsure how to ask Cale his intentions in the Capital. This was made more entertaining as Cale acknowledged that she asked about this, but politely did not push Cale into questions about his secondary gender.

“I have other plans here in the capital over the next few weeks. So, when Basen asked me to attend this event with him, I saw no reason to decline.”

Amiru seemed relieved at his lack of offense to her question and nodded in understanding. “May I ask about what brought you all this way to the capital?”

He question was probing, but not pushy or forceful. Cale paused in thought for a moment and listened as the whispers about him picked up. Basen seemed to be even loosing his infinite patience with the whispers of other northeastern nobles around them. Well, if the nobles wanted to gossip so much, he would give them something to gossip about.

“Oh, I came to spend some time with my betrothed!” Cale smiled innocently and brightly at Amiru. Those around him, aside from Basen and Amiru, started whispering louder and choking in shock at his words. Amiru gave a polite nod in understanding and smiled back at him politely. They both turned to the other three nobles in their conversation group, prompting them speak. As a side thought, Cale quickly decided to keep in better contact with Amiru. She was fully joining him in his chaos creation.

Cale had a feeling that the rumor about his betrothal would be widely spread by tomorrow amongst the upper class of the capital. After all, the trash of the Henituse family was not only an Omega, but also betrothed? It would definitely shock many. He wondered if he’d get a call about this from either the king or the crown prince. Oh well, it brought him and Amiru great humor for a moment if the look on her face of suppressed laughter was understood.

Basen gave a short shake of his head and sigh in response to the two, then began to naturally steer the conversation towards other matters within the northeastern territory. He understood why his brother did this, but he would still prefer if Cale hadn’t caused more gossip and drama. But, Basen almost immensely respected his older brother for confidently being able to make that choice.

Basen had seen how everyone had acted since they had arrived at the Wheelsman manor. All the nobles and even the servants openly stared at Cale. Their looks varied from disgust, to judgement, to curiosity. Basen even saw a few looks that seemed a little too appreciative of his brother. Everyone also kept openly whispering, and it was absolutely no secret about whom they were whispering and gossiping about.

By the time the Henituse brothers ended up leaving the northeastern nobles’ gathering, it was almost sunset outside. They left behind many new rumors to spread, not all of them true, but not all false either. Both brothers had different reactions at the end of this, too. Cale sat in the carriage, back to their manor with an expression similar to a cat who got cream. Basen, however, looked like the exhausted human of said cat who just spilled cream all over their counters and floor.

Tomorrow would be interesting, Cale would be moving into the castle, and Basen would have to deal with all the problems Cale just caused. Well, at least after this, Cale would be mainly Prince Alberu’s problem.

Chapter Text

Zinnia Crossman had been crowned the queen of the Roan kingdom not long after Alberu turned six years old. She gave birth to his eldest younger brother, Robbit Crossman, withi a year. Zinnia was the first cousin to the current duke of the central faction, Duke Granike Orsena. Since her marriage into the Crossman family she had been outright hostile towards Alberu. However, she never did anything hostile in veiw of King Zed. This meant that the king only learnt of his wife’s actions with the recent stunt of the marriage contract. King Zed was now having to do a complete purge and in-depth overhaul of everyone within the place, because it seemed the queen had finally overplayed her hand.

Whilst King Zed did this, he gave the guards and servants he trusted explicit instructions. The only ones who could interrupt his work and time outside of scheduled meetings were his children, and anyone under the Henituse banner. His orders were taken seriously, and only three out of his five children had visited him for any reason so far.

Zed had cautiously pulled his second eldest, Robbit, aside near the beginning of this mess to get more of a lay of the land. He was thankful his son was loyal and honest to the Crossman family. Zed’s son had been quite candid with him, everything considered. He also wasn’t sure how to feel of the fact Robbit seemed to openly despise his mother (yet when he asked both his daughters about it, they had a similar opinion to Robbit). It would seem that at the current level of plots and politics, Queen Zinnia’s only support within the rest of the royal family was the third prince, Gildo Crossman.

Zed was trapped in how to act against both his wife and youngest son as he stared at his paperwork. From what he had discovered, neither were trustworthy anymore. But, to reveal all of this would fracture the public’s trust in the royal family. But, to not reveal this would mean he couldn’t easily act against them. All of this still, he still cared for his third eldest son quite a bit, and still couldn’t shake the fondness he felt towards his wife.

Zed settled his face in his cupped hands, he wanted his other four children’s opinion on this. The king also thought of Cale, from Zed’s interactions with his best friend’s only child, he could tell the young master held his mother’s incredible wit and grace. Maybe, he could also ask Cale’s opinion, especially since he mostlikely has both Henituse and Thames resources. Zed nodded and let out a breath. The nobles meeting his sons were attending was going to be tonight, and tomorrow was his birthday celebration. The traitors to his family and his kingdom could wait until after those events. For now, he would invite his youngest two children, his little girls, to dine with him this evening.

Ron had given Cale lemon tea the next morning after hearing about Cale’s shenanigans the previous day. So, whilst they organized for the move to the palace that evening Cale pouted. He hadn’t gotten lemon tea since before his family’s discovery of his secondary gender. So, it wasn’t hard to tell he was in trouble with Ron. But, he couldn’t bring himself to regret yesterday’s events that much.

Basen had spent the previous night in Cale’s temporary nest, so whilst it missed Lily his instincts were quite calmer compared to recent days. He had approached Beacrox about the Plaza incident, and planned to approach Ron before they left for the palace. He just hoped telling Ron wouldn’t evoke the wrath of more lemon things. He hated sour things.

Alberu was admittedly slightly panicking. His so-called fiance would arrive at the palace this evening, in less than eight hours. He softly chewed at his thumb nail, not enough to damage the nail, but still reminiscent of the bad habit. He knew very little about his betrothed, and his spies could not find out anything about the eldest Henituse child from the estate. It seemed everyone was rather tight-lipped or protective of the young master. He didn’t even have a clue about what Cale Henituse would even want of him (Cale only currently wanted the power to ban lemon flavoured beverages in the palace. After his talk with Ron, Cale had been given a large glass of lemonade).

He had bought some time to prepare for the arrival of his betrothed by scheduling his arrival during th nobles banquet. It would allow Cale time to accommodate slightly to his palace, yes. But, it would also allow Alberu the day to have the palace prepared, and time this evening to organize himself properly before meeting this mysterious Omega.

Alberu already had heard many varying reports and gossip about Cale Henituse since he had arrived in the capital. None of which helped Alberu’s nerves or stress at all. According to some gossip, his fiance had wandered around the capital streets with multiple men whilst looking absolutely ruined. Alberu had been able to discern that at the very least none of those men were Alphas. But, would Cale expect something of Alberu like that? What if Cale decided to bring others into the palace to satisfy himself? Could Alberu even stop that? Would he want to stop it?

Similarly, rumors circulated that when Cale attended a northeastern Nobles gathering with his brother recently he openly bragged of his lover or fiance. Rumors varied on which word he used to describe him, but Alberu atleast was able to discern that rumor was somewhat false. He just wasn’t sure how it was false fully, but one of the dark elves that worked for him had been able to discover that Cale did not give any information out about who the lover was, and had originally called that person his betrothed. So, Alberu also knew that this rumor also was now connected to him, because it was most likely about him.

Cale was an enigma to Alberu. He knew barely anything att this point about his fiance and everything he knew was in constant contradiction with each other. Apparently his betrothed had also collected a third new pup during the trip to the capital. No one seemed to even be able to explain when or where Cale even got the third pup. All this to say Alberu’s betrothed was a bundle of mysteries and causing Alberu untold amounts of stress.

Alberu let out a sigh, he was expected to be ready to be in the banquet hall in three hours. It would be best to go see Aunt Tasha as his advisor then change for the event. Tomorrow was a big day after all, it would be two busy upcoming days. Tomorrow he would meet his fiance, and their engagement would be publicly announced. At that time, Cale’s secondary gender would also be officially confirmed in tandem with their engagement announcement. There would also be a contained dinner of the royal family (including Cale) to privately celebrate his father’s birthday. Then, in two days time would be the public celebration of his father’s fiftieth birthday. Between that time he also had multiple noble meetings scheduled. Mainly the nobles were from the neutral northeastern alliance, but Basen Henituse had also scheduled a private and sudden meeting the other day. The second son of the Henituse family had given no explanation for the meeting beyond the fact that another anonymous noble would also attend.

So far, Alberu had a new understanding for his father. Much to most nobles’ upset the Crossman family was incredibly hands off with the Henituse family. In fact, often times, the royal family would outright ignore what the Henituse family did, even when for other noble families they step in for those types of actions. It was now very obvious for Alberu why the Crossman family deliberately ignored what the Henituse family did. It is because they were all a complete headache.

Chapter Text

Cale left the Henituse manor only about thirty minutes after Basen. It wasn’t hard to pack up the pups, Ron, Beacrox, and himself. The pups barely had anything yet beyond about 2 outfits each currently, much to his chagrin he hadn’t gotten to spoil them yet due to the ongoing chaos. Beacrox and Ron, well, Cale just didn’t ask questions.

However, much to Cales chagrin he has to bandage his neck glands, again, for a week. His last appointment with a doctor to check over his various injuries had occurred that afternoon. Apparently he aggravated them a few days ago during his meltdown. Plus, apparently he had been unconsciously scenting the pups with those glands. This all meant they were aggravated again, and the doctor couldn’t trust Cale to leave them be. So the doctor had, in Cale’s opinion, cruelly prescribed Cale to wear the protective bandages along his neck whilst the sensitive skin healed again.

It hadn’t taken the small group long to get everyone settled into the palace. Officially the three pups each had their own rooms, but they would most likely end up in Cale’s room. Ron and Beacrox also had rooms nearby. The group seemed to have been assigned to a separate area than the prince. Cale didn’t blame them, but he had found it a little odd, considering he was the prince’s betrothed.

Ron and Beacrox had both bristled when they realized the separation from the prince. By noble and royal politics it said many things, mainly about Cale for the betrothed not to be roomed nearby their fiance. The two assassins both recognized this as a dig at their employer, and the fact that Cale didn’t say anything made it worse.

The butler and chef began to wonder if Cale’s lack of speaking up had to do with what happened with the waste of air in the Henituse territory or the way nobles outside the main Henituse family treated the young master. Had their young master come to expect such backhanded and rude treatment? It did not sit right with the two, but it wasn’t their place to speak out about this, atleast not yet.

Whilst Ron and Beacrox felt as if the young master was being insulted by the room choice, Cale thought it was a message that he could understand. Cale thought it was a message that the prince couldn’t trust him, and was putting up a barrier. Cale could respect that innatately, he understood walls, and he also understood trust or lack of trust. In a totally different direction, Alberu hadn’t wanted to force Cale to do anything, and had been trying to give him space.

It was late when Alberu got back to his castle. He had met with the Norhteastern nobles, and ended up with a good investment into a naval base in the Ubarr territory. He also would soon have support of the Stan household. Apparently, Basen surprise guest had been Taylor Stan, who had joined the nobles during the banquet. Alberu had been able to trade his one-use ancient power from his mother for a powerful ally who could greatly support and protect the prince in the future. All the meetings he had spent the day dreading came out successful for him. Now it was time for the last meeting.

Alberu was quiet as he entered the part of the castle he had designated towards Cale and his pups. He had hoped the space was close enough to his chambers compared to most to show acceptance of the situation from his end. But he also didn’t want to pressure Cale into close proximity until the young master was ready. He paused in front of the door that now belonged to his betrothed. He let out a soft self-soothing breath, then gave a quiet knock. The knock was loud enough to hear, but not loud enough to forcefully wake Cale if he had fallen asleep. Alberu wouldn’t blame him if he had, it was quite late.

Cale did not answer the door, but someone did answer. A small little boy with wavy black hair answered the door. Two curious bright blue eyes shimmered up at Alberu. He seemed to almost hang from door knob as he opened it. The little boy was wearing an incredibly oversized shirt, acting almost as a nightgown, but it was too big to be a nightgown. Alberu could only pause in shock, this must be one of his betrothed’s pups.

Before Alberu could even say anything the boy lit up with a smile, and another slightly taller boy appeared behind him. This boy was also wearing an incredibly oversized shirt as if it were a nightgown. His bright yellow eyes seemed to almost glow in the warm candlelight. The boy’s crimson hair seemed to be growing out into a slightly shaggy style haloing his head. The taller boy ushered the smaller one back into the room then studied the prince for a moment.

“Are you papa’s new fiance?” the boy’s voice was curious, but quiet and soft, it was obvious he was trying not to wake someone in the room. Alberu cautiously nodded, and the kid ushered him into the room.

Alberu took a moment to orient himself and observe the room. Things wern’t much changed from how he had organized them this morning in the room. Almost everything was the same, except for the bed. Alberu could see the obvious signs of how it had been turned into a nest for an Omega and pups. The prince could see another pup curled up sleeping in the nest, this one seemed to be the eldest. The pup was a little girl with long silken silver hair, her face shape was very similar to the red-haired pup. He could also see who could only be Cale curled up in the blankets too.

Cale’s pale skin was being highlighted by moonlight coming in through a nearby window. Alberu could see how the young Omega seemed to be growing out his hair, as it sat loosely splayed across pillows, but looked about shoulder-length. If Alberu looked closely he could see many innate similarities between Cale and the pups, and if he didn’t know better, Alberu could assume they were biologically Cale’s own pups.

The prince still hadn’t gotten the pup’s names, but he watched as the small black-haired pup went to shake Cale awake. It was easy to see as Cale startled to wakefulness. Alberu could now see bandages on the Omega that were previously hidden. Along Cale’s right arm sat one bandage easily hidden by his sleeves most of the time, and along his neck another bandage was gently but firmly in place.

The small pup, who barely looked older than a toddler loudly whispered to Cale about Alberu being there. The other pup had grabbed Alberu’s hand and was leading him towards one of the couch’s in the room. Alberu could only helplessly watch as Cale seemed to panic for a moment before looking around and finding where Alberu was.

Chapter Text

Once Cale had caught sight of Alberu, he had to stop himself from laughing. Alberu seemed helpless against Cale’s pups and was getting pushed around by Hong into sitting on one of the couch’s in the room. Cale quickly got up, and grabbed a soft robe he had set on the chair nearest to the bed, before joining the prince at the couch, and ushering Hong towards the nest.

Cale probably shouldn’t be so nonchalant about the Alpha now in his room with only himself and his pups (all of whom were in pajamas), but Alberu did not seem to know how to handle the pups.

Furthermore, Cale had never had a true understanding of public decency standards. Mainly, because Cale had gotten very used to many situations that started similarly to this, but ended with much worse outcomes in his second life. So, there Cale sat in a very light shirt, loose pants, and the only thing protecting his modesty was the robe he wore loosely tied over it. Ron would kill him if he knew about it.

“Is there anything I could help you with your highness?” Cale refused to bow, but he would be respectful for now. Cale kept his voice soft to hopefully let the pups soothe to speak, but to also soothe Alberu. The poor crown prince seemed to be unable to even mask his nervous energy.

Cale could only observe the Alpha infront of him. It felt odd to meet the Crown Prince. In his first life the Omega had never seen or interacted with this man. He had only heard rumors of him. Then, in his second life he learnt much about this Alpha from the perspective of his loyal knight, Choi Han, a seemingly cruel and disillusioned Alpha who had somehow traveled to this world from Korea.

Cale paused as he had to remind himself consciously that this Alpha before him was no longer a distant figure or a book character, but his fiance.

Alberu stared at the young Omega infront of him. He hadn’t previously noticed due to the pups that crowded him, but he could smell Cale quite clearly. The Omega smelt of dark chocolate and a sweet red wine. It was overwhelming, and so naturally strong Alberu could practically taste the scents on his tongue. Did he get small hints of raspberries in there too?

Alberu wasn’t quite sure what to make of this Omega. Cale Henituse showed none of the typical signs of an Omega meeting an unknown Alpha for the first time. The Henituse with hair seemingly stained the color of blood seemed to be studying the crown prince. Cale had not hesitated to talk to the Alpha now within the Omega’s new inner den, and seemed more curious than cautious of Alberu.

“I, um, I came to um, check on you?” now Alberu sounded like a bumbling fool. His response even sounded more like a question than an answer. This had never been a situation Alberu had ever prepared for, or thought he would ever encounter. He felt like a bumbling idiot. He had always been composed and well-spoken. He had to be in this castle he was forced to treat as a home.

This simple Omega who still seemed like a complete unknown variable had somehow cracked Alberu’s mask in less than a minute. The mask Alberu had carefully crafted and reinforced for years since his mother had died. Cale had completely disassembled it as if it were nothing. The eldest Henituse son didn’t even seem to know what he had done.

Alberu had never encountered anything like this. The queen had sent all kinds of spies and tricks at him over the years. He had seen many people try to seduce him or make him falter over the years, people who ranged greatly from age to gender to status. Nothing had ever worked on him, Alberu had never gotten distracted from his goal to survive.

Cale practically beamed at the prince for his answer (damn his damn stupid hormones). Alberu may only see Cale as a forced politcal match, but the Alpha still came to check on him! His instincts were going crazy inside of his brain, and he tried to ignore them, keep his hands to himself, and focus on the conversation.

Cale, Alberu realized, definitely had hints of raspberries within his scent. But the small aborted spike in scent caused Alberu to pause. Was Cale unhappy that he came to check on him? Was he angry? Did Alberu overstep? Thoughts and anxieties began flooding his mind. He did his best to temper his scent, but as Cale’s face shifted to a frown, the Alpha had failed.

Cale had accidentally leaned forward as he studied the Alpha a bit more before answering. The Alpha’s scent immediately began to sour afterwards. Did he find Cale that disgusting? Was he truly so upset with this ordeal. Cale’s smile slipped from his face. He should give the Alpha an out.

“Thank you for checking on me Al- your highness. I have settled in well.” Was that good enough? Cale had stopped attending his lessons when his tutors began to purposefully fail and misinform him. He never thought to learn how to interact with politely with a fiance who most likely wanted nothing to do with him. Cale bowed his head slightly and began worrying his lip. He felt like a bad Omega.

Chapter Text

Cale woke up early the next morning. He had slept restlessly after his meeting with Alberu the night before. Cale twisted and rolled his spine, then moved on to a few other basic stretches. The habit had been picked up as he was recovering from his injuries, and he just never quite stopped the stretching as it always felt nice after a long rest. He let out a small involuntary yawn as hee finished stretching out his body.

Cale got up and did a quick visual patrol of the room. Nothing seemed amiss, except for a folded piece of paper by the door. It must have been slipped under the door sometime after Crown Prince Alberu had left.

‘Cale,

I wish to invite you to join myself andpossibly others for a welcome breakfast this morning. I wish to further discuss plans both short and long term, and the current state of your health. I shall be in the main garden’s pavilion at 9 O’clock sharp.

Sincerely and Welcome,

Zed Crossman’

It was was an invitation to join the King for breakfast. Cale let out a thoughtful hum. If he did so, Cale would prefer to leave the kids in Ron’s care. He was unsure of the true motivation of theis meeting. Nor did he fully know who the others were that could attend.

Nodorem was a plant grown in northern areas. It thrives in rocky terrain with lots of water. The stem and leaves of the plant are a commonly used herb for many traditional Northern dishes. And, most importantly, the roots are the main ingredient in scent blockers and suppressants. 

The toxins of the plant exist within Nodorem in incredibly small doses. Doses that are lessened even more with cooking down Nodorem. The toxins also mainly gather in the roots of the plant which is uncommon in cooking. But, a low dose of toxin is quite common in scent blockers and suppressants. Whilst with most dangerous plants/toxins sustained interaction with low doses will build an immunity, it is the opposite for Nodorem. Instead, the posion would build up slowly in the body and never truly leave one’s system no matter what.

This meant that Cale was absolutely banned from touching the plants. If Cale ate even the slightest bit more of Nodorem and its toxin, he would most likely start experiencing the early signs of Nodorem poisoning. There is no way to to reverse Nodorem poisoning when it starts, but there are medicines to stop its progress. 

Technically speaking, Cale was already suffering the earliest effects of Nodorem poisoning. He often felt exhausted, his skin was incredibly sensitive, and he had become easier to bruise. But, this next symptoms of the posion were much more painful and upsetting.

This is only currently being brought up, because Zed Crossman, King of the Roan Kingdom was staring Cale down. He was staring Cale down as he explained everything about Cale’s Nodorem poisoning to Alberu, Robbit, and his two daughters, Aster and Lillian.

Originally Zed had only called for Cale and Alberu to attend breakfast with him this morning, but since three of his other children had requested to join he wouldn’t turn them away. It was a good opportunity for Cale to meet some more of the royal family he was currently betrothed into.

Cale squirmed in his seat as Zed Crossman stared him down. It didn’t help that all four princes and princesses were currently giving him incredulous, but curious looks. 

“For sanity’s sake, we will simply tell people Cale has a severe allergy to Nodorem.” the king continues, “this is less likely offend other nobles when Cale does not eat foods containing Nodorem, and it allows an easy explanation without explaining the crown prince’s betrothed is technically posioned.”

This caused Cale to let out a quiet snort. Zed Crossman was obviously used to making excuses for Thames antics based on that tone of voice. There was a specific voice Cale had come to recognize nobles and officials close to the Thames family would get after prolonged exposure dealing with them. It was an exhausted, exasperated sort of deadpan tone, but still had small hints of fondness.

Cale hid his grin by going to takes sip of tea, watching as Alberu’s father began digging into the food. He seemed to be quite content with his current company. It made Cale tilt his head slightly. Interesting.

No big news was shared during the rest of breakfast, but a calm and quiet atmosphere descended on the table. Cale met all but one of Alberu’s half siblings, and indulged in light conversations with the entire currently available Crossman family.

He quickly learned that Robbit was the eldest of Alberu’s younger half siblings, then there was Lillian, then Aster. Whilst Zed seemed to treat Aster as the baby of the family, according to comments the queen adored the true youngest, Gildo.

Robbit was quite talented like his older brother and father when it came to politics, but didn’t seem to be vying for the throne like his older brother was. Lillian couldn’t care less about politics, but adored books, and was quick to invite Cale to join her in the library at a later date. Aster passionately talked about the animals she had cared for over the years (which had quickly devolved when everyone found out that last night Aster had snuck a fox into her castle wing, Cale could only laugh as the rest of the family had a small meltdown over this). 

Cale also began to learn a bit more about his betrothed. He learnt that Alberu’s favorite color was a dark muted yellow, similar to a non-shiny gold. He also learned that his betrothed had a passionate distaste for cherries, after Aster tried to sneak some cherry jam onto Alberu’s toast.

The breakfast was nice, in Cale’s opinion, Zed Crossman and the three siblings of Alberu’s he met were quite accommodating and friendly to him. The omega wouldn’t trust his pups alone with any of the Crossman family just yet, but he could see himself possibly trusting those sat around the breakfast table at some point with the pups. 

Cale also began to notice how Alberu interacted with his siblings. He was cordial, but distant. His betrothed hesitated with any interaction that was more personal. If he could do nothing else to help his fiance for however long they stayed betrothed, he would help him be closer to his father  and these siblings.