Chapter 1: Flower Kingdom

Born and raised as a proper royal Omega, from a young age I understood my father's teachings, that, be grateful and remember all the help, no matter how much, of anyone at any class. Therefore, I have always respected Lord Regus - the third king of the human race's alliance of the Seven Territories. Because thanks to the kindness and compassion of that wise king, I was conceived and raised from the age of ten, after my parents were unfortunately murdered in a mutiny.

He was a talented Alpha, his exemplary and respectable character did not only lie in his authority or strength. The Flower Kingdom, a remote island nation ruled by him year-round, was peaceful and prosperous, where even an Omega could live alone without having to make sure the door was locked with seven locks each night.

In the Flower Kingdom, one could come across a commoner with clothes sewn with rough yarns, but never an Omega beaten up or dragged to some shack or pub in the area. Because not only in the Alliance of the Seven Realms but also in the three clans of humans, wolves, and demons, there was no other place that valued ​​the rights and protection of Omega more than the Flower Kingdom, when in history there were more than one Lord who were Omega.

And Lord Regus' sole successor in the near future was also an Omega.

Aylmer was known in the League of Seven Kingdoms as the perfect Omega in both looks and talent. At the tender age of fifteen, Aylmer's songs of beauty began to be composed and circulated widely by poets and preachers. They would sing the song Moonlight* at every festival of the year in praise of how Omega's beauty made the moonlight shy and embarrassed to hide from the clouds.

After that, the first matchmakers set foot in the palace of the Flower Kingdom. But all efforts to win Aylmer's heart had been in vain. Because since the age of seven, Omega had always been lulled by stories of the destined couple and how Luna had bonded them. Absolute fidelity even to Alpha, that they would live and die together one day.

Even if it was just romantic lines woven from year to year, there wasn't a day when Aylmer didn't check the reflection in the mirror, touch the collarbone and wish that the other half's name would appear. But Omega's white skin remained the same throughout eighteen years of existence.

In this duchy, I understood Aylmer's obstinacy better than most. Because during those long and wide years, how many times Aylmer expressed the heart with hope in there and longing in the eyes, I was always there beside and listening. While burning my heart again and again, I dug an invisible grave and dropped into the decaying heart fragments of the hopeless love of so many years.

It was too easy to fall in love with such a beautiful and matchless creation. And I fell in love as a matter of course. Because how could I stop the throbbing beat when Aylmer took my hand, to protect me from all the outrageous jokes and contemptible insults of the noble children of Flower Kingdom.

"I'll protect you from now on."

That's what Aylmer said as stroked the ugly scar on my face, and for the first time in more than five months of being alone, to get used to being a homeless child, losing those dear to me one by one, I cried loudly, for a long time, and with great pleasure.

Aylmer taught me that beauty was not always about physical appearance. That honesty and virtue create the necessary qualities of a person. That would be a superficial and ironic explanation for someone like me who was mocked for my short appearance and flawed face, but Aylmer made me believe it with a sea of ​​sincerity in the blue eyes.

To be with Aylmer, I was destined to be a shadow.

At the age of fifteen, I knelt at my feet and vowed to use my life to serve Aylmer for the rest of my life.

And then, as I turned eighteen in the early spring months, I unknowingly discovered a secret that would change my life forever.

Inside the chamber of the ruler of Flower Kingdom was Lord Regus and his loyal retainer. General Thomas, an Alpha over fifty years old. At an age when most people let their children and grandchildren take care of them, he still rode on horseback and swung his sword in the battlefield.

They were saying something about a possible war with the Land of Demons, which was ruled by the great Lord Darion. And an alliance by a political marriage was the only way to prevent a possible sea of ​​bloodshed.

I didn't even think twice when I heard Aylmer's name ring out next to Lord Darion's name, that vampire was domineering, cruel, and uncompassionate. A vampire who lived for a single thousand years, ruling his land with violence and inhumanity.

"Lord Regus, please reconsider. The prince will die if he has to go to the Land of the Devil and marry that tyrant Darion."

I found myself rushing into the room with two powerful Alphas, tangling to my knees, pressing my face against the marble floor. I let the reflection be a face twisted with pain.

"As an unruly person, how dare you eavesdrop on the country's top secret?"

My shoulders trembled at the sound of the sword being drawn quickly from its scabbard, I wouldn't question my end when General Thomas was skilled enough to make my demise quick and light. But he did not when the stern voice of Lord Regus rang out.

"Wait. The tip of the sword should only be pointed at the Alpha and the opponent, not against an unarmed Omega, Thomas."

"As you will, my lord."

General Thomas had sheathed his sword, while at the same time drawing back his hostile pheromone, but this still didn't stop the Omega in me from fearing. Even so, I still tried to keep my voice steady.

"Jerome."

"Yes sir."

"How long have you been standing there, and what have you heard?" He asked me in the calm but firm voice of an emperor.

Instead of answering the Lord's question, I answered him with another question.

"Do you intend to bring prince Aylmer to the Land of Demons, to the land of vampires known for their brutality and cruelty?"

"This is insolent!" General Thomas seemed to have lost patience with me a long time ago, but I would not allow myself to be afraid or timid.

Lord Regus stopped General Thomas, then raised his hand to raise me to face him, saying:

"Tell me, what have you learned from the epic pages of the millennia-long Great War between humans, vampires and werewolves?"

"More than three hundred and sixty-five days and nights with the sound of metal against each other, the screams, and the smell of blood could be heard and smelled thousands of miles away. Corpses turned into mountains, blood mixed into rivers. Disabled soldiers, mothers who have lost children, children without fathers, widows who have lost husbands, epidemics, famines, and deaths that last for decades."

I repeated the words in the book that any aristocrat had to carve into their heart even when they were children, because it reminded their descendants of the terrible consequences that would last for centuries once the Great War broke out again.

"And history may repeat itself, or worse a million times, if we do not maintain this relationship." The Lord's voice was filled with sorrow.

"By humiliating yourself so that offer your only heir to Lord Darion?"

I tried not to sound too rude to my superiors, but clearly I couldn't. For Aylmer's right came first in my head.

"Those are vampires, monsters. They drink human blood and gnaw the hollow to the bone. And how can prince Aylmer live among such barbarians?"

"Dear Jerome, you know that outside of Flower Kingdom, Omega in the League of Seven Lands has always been killed since birth. Because no royal family accepts the Prince or the Princess as an Omega. So my Aylmer is the only option."

How could I not see the fatigue in the blue eyes of that noble man, because that place was always filled with boundless love towards Aylmer.

I clenched my hand. Stopping myself from thinking about the possible scenario for my attachment to life, what Prince Aylmer, such a beautiful and gorgeous angel, would be like when he fell into that dark hell. Either way, I couldn't let that happen.

I lowered my knees, resting my forehead on the floor with absolute devotion.

"Lord Regus. The Flower Kingdom needs a wise man to lead after you and only Prince Aylmer can do that. I know it would be an insult to him to put myself in the balance with Prince Aylmer, but please let me go to the Devil's Land instead of him to fulfill that sacred duty."

There was astonishment in the eyes of Lord Regus and also General Thomas, who had been annoyed with my insolence and disobedience all along.

"Oh Jerome. After all the dangers and perils once you set foot on the evil land that you have talked and you yourself decide to venture into it?"

"Over ten years in the Flower Kingdom, you and prince Aylmer have been protection and benevolence to me. I have vowed to use all my body and my mind to be loyal to Prince Aylmer. This is the right time for me to hold my head high to fulfill the promise I made in the past. Dear Sir."

Lord Regus looked me straight in the eye for fear or hesitation and reluctance, but clearly nothing existed but absolute determination. He exchanged glances with General Thomas, then straightened and placed the tip of his sword on my shoulder.

"In the name of Lord Regus, I declare to grant Jerome the title of a Prince. You will have equal rights and respect as any Prince in the Alliance of the Seven Realms. And tomorrow night Prince Jerome will go to the Underworld to become the spouse of Lord Darion."

"I obey, my lord."

When I return to my own room, I lie on my bed and curl up in a warm blanket. In all my years at the palace, not once did I show myself and I never became an insolent who dared to quarrel with the ruler. To this day, I still don't know where I got the courage to face and ask the head of a territory to change his mind. But if you asked me weather I regretted giving myself to the land of the dead, the answer was too obvious.

For me, nothing more than Aylmer's happiness. I didn't know if I could live until Aylmer sit on the throne as Lord, and how sad it was not to be able to see what a glorious and prosperous Flower Kingdom under his rule. I knew that he had enough talent to become a wise king.

From a lost child, living under the protection of Lord Regus, in one night I became a noble Prince. There's nothing more for a lowly person like me.