36. territory(?)

The duke gave him a smile, which wasn't even shown to the emperor and replied, "It's fine. I heard you were busy with some foreign affairs. Are you done with them, Lyon?"

Indeed this person was the current prime minister of the Empire, Lyon K. Apollo.

He was more than a head shorter than the Emperor and just came to the chest of the Duke, he had waist long lilac hair tied in a ponytail and very delicate features with a small face, pointy nose, pouty cherry lips and almond eyes, he would pass as a teenage girl, but his sword eyebrows still gave him a profound look and his uniform proved that he was indeed a man, just that--

Compared to other official posts where the Alphas were a majority, the second-highest position in the administration after the Emperor was actually taken by him who was an Omega. Still, it wasn't because of nepotism or the like, Duke Lyon's shone in his position, he was a proficient diplomat and as an imperial, he had a strong charisma, plus he was an amazing wielder of his magic, like just now; if the Emperor had used the magic to push him forward, Lyon had simply used his own to control his weight, Omega was proficient in healing, but that was not their limit, Lyon had crossed that limit by applying his magic on himself to do this.

The Duke respected him a lot because even with the gender constraint, he came ahead and beyond that.

When Lyon saw the Duke smile at him like this, he immediately blushed and put his head down, the Duke was ignorant of worldly emotions as always and the Emperor who knew about his brother's feelings and had been ignored till now felt like sighing.

This cute brother of his was already 24 years old, he was 4 years younger than them and by the Empire's laws was at an age where he should think of marrying, but the Sun knows what happened, he didn't get his heat since a little over 8 years ago, as a result, even with his position, he did not marry, he said he didn't want to burden future husband with his infertility.... he was always a sensible kid, after that he also delved in the Empire's business and never took a break.

Though he had said that, the Emperor who knew what it felt to be in love, knew what was going on... but the duke was married and had children, as for Lyon, he didn't want his feelings to be known so, all the Emperor could do was look after this cute brother.

As usual, Lyon was the one to break the ice, he had been too used to it, "Phil-nii-san, what were you talking about the children?"

The emperor finally remembered and exaggerated, "That's right! I was going to see them. It's already so late! Sig, Lyon, hurry up", saying this he directly rushed out.

Lyon and Sigmund gave a look to each other, as if, used to his reckless behaviour and followed him with quick but elegant steps.

…...

Just when they reached the study of the prince, the relaxed look on their faces hardened.

The air around them had turned stiffer and suffocating, the normal guards who were not used to this aura were already out of it.

Lyon instinctively surrounded the Emperor and the Duke in his own magic so, that they were not influenced by another Alphas' aura before speaking, "This is Rio's magic..."

He was there when Makarios had lost control and was also the person to control him back then, but this time it was like another beast compared to back then, in a few years, his core had become stronger and now that he probably lost control, the unstable core was much more dangerous than before, mainly for Makarios himself.

An alpha's magic didn't affect Omega like their rut did, in contrast, the stronger the magic, the stronger it affected the Alphas nearby, because the magic was the core of their strength and similar to their territory, in case their magic core was invaded by the magic of others, they had a strong sense of invasion and could fight for their own, while Omega's whose magic let them pacify the unstable magic and even sometimes the ruts, though it took a heavy toll on their body, were still better off!

Compared to that, the betas suffered the highest in that, though they had a core, it was more like a vestigial organ, it was useless inside them, but when affected by external factors, showed a great disturbance in their physique, because of this noble betas were sometimes below the commoner Alphas in the ranks, at least the commoner Alphas had their strong built and talent working for them, while the Betas who were normal, to begin with, were affected by the magic of other Alphas!

The Duke and Emperor were also quick to notice and gave a nod to Lyon of his quick action, they were strong, stronger than anyone else, as a result, them being affected by this was also the highest, just in a second they already had cold sweat from controlling their instinct, if it went longer, they would definitely attack the other as well as Makarios!

Now it was fine, Lyon was strong, his core was the strongest among the omegas in the whole empire and his control over it had reached the peak so, they were safe...

Just then the Duke remembered something, he had come here to visit his children... his heart almost stopped as his face went pale, Lyon had just helped the guards outside when he saw his face like this and was about to call him when the Duke rushed inside the room, which was unheard of him...

But in the last second, he felt the air around him become normal, he reflexively looked inside and at that moment, both the Emperor who had followed the Duke in and the Duke who had rushed in froze on spot as the faces of all three of them went blank...