IRTHP 04

Chapter 4…

The Mate of a Dominant Alpha

“Alright.”

Ethan looked at the Duke of Lihast.

‘The Duke of Lihast is a dominant alpha,’ he thought.

After a brief pause, Ethan turned his words toward Aelin.

“I’m fine. But Aelin, I want you to marry someone you truly love. No one will look down on our family anymore, so choose freely and love whoever you want. Understand?”

“Is it still far?”

A trace of irritation appeared on the Duke of Lihast’s face, who had been waiting. “I’ll be there soon,” Ethan shouted, finally embracing Aelin one last time before letting go.

As he turned to leave with a farewell of “See you again,” Aelin reached out toward her brother’s back.

“…No.”

Aelin shook her head vehemently.

“No. It’s not you. It’s not you.”

He’s going to die. He will die.

The duke won’t even look back.

He’ll never be happy with that person.

“Sniff… don’t go… please.”

Aelin sobbed. She had waited for news of her brother at the Duke’s house and had met him only a couple of times. One day, suddenly, without knowing the reason for the shadow cast over her brother’s face, she lost him.

“No… no!”

Aelin screamed, her voice cracking.

“Hah, what’s this now?”

A voice, faintly mocking, drew Aelin’s attention back to reality.

“You’re quite loud even in your sleep.”

Aelin raised her blurry gaze toward the voice above her head.

Whose voice was that? Why does my chest hurt like this? Where is Ethan? Who caused my brother to die?

A flurry of thoughts assaulted her, twisting her mind into knots.

“Maybe a slap will wake you up.”

The calm, almost teasing threat brought Aelin’s focus back to the present.

Within a square frame, there stood a picture-perfect man. Too beautiful to feel real, yet simultaneously cruel.

“You bastard. Damn dominant alpha…”

Her words dissipated into the air.

Lloyd’s eyebrows twitched.

Now fully awake, Aelin buried her face in her hands, embarrassed under the Duke of Lihast’s icy gaze. She hoped he hadn’t heard her call him a bastard—but judging by the look in his eyes, she probably had.

‘Why does it have to be him, the only dominant alpha?’

Across the entire continent, dominant alphas were rare, and within the empire, the Duke of Lihast was the only one. If only she could mutter “alpha” without specifying who—but of course, it had to be him.

Aelin decided to pretend she hadn’t even realized she’d been sleep-talking. She wiped her mouth as if brushing away drool.

“I must have dozed off in the carriage; it was just so comfortable.”

She pressed her hand to her lips, avoiding his gaze, murmuring to herself.

‘If only I’d had just one more day, I wouldn’t have dozed off. Why did I have to wake up on the day the Duke came?’

Even a few days would have been enough to prepare for Lihast’s visit properly. She couldn’t even hide Ethan in a safe place, and the tension she felt then was indescribable. Unable to explain the circumstances, she hinted at them subtly, but the Duke said nothing.

“Your Highness?”

“Shall I prepare a room right here?”

Aelin reluctantly got down from the carriage at his sarcastic remark. When she looked up, she caught sight of the building behind the Duke and couldn’t close her mouth in awe.

The Duke’s mansion was incomparable even to the Claudia estate. With spires as tall as the imperial palace, pointed roofs, and a scale impossible to take in all at once, she was overwhelmed.

“It’s really huge.”

Even though she’d seen it before, its sheer size never ceased to amaze her. Could a thousand people each have a room here? She started mentally calculating the area.

Then, she noticed the strange expressions on the faces of people passing by. Some tilted their heads in confusion; others whispered to each other.

‘They recognized my lineage.’

The attendants were puzzled as it was Aelin, not Ethan, who got out of the carriage. Aelin, who had come where she shouldn’t have, sealed her lips tight. If she claimed she had come to fetch Ethan now, it would be disastrous.

‘I need to keep up the pretense.’

“You should rest; you’ll be sent straight to your room.”

The Duke, just as indifferent to others as Aelin was, summoned the butler who had been waiting. The butler came forward to guide her to her room, and Aelin nodded faintly.

At least once she separated from the Duke, the events from earlier would feel like they belonged to the past—a small relief.

“Oh, since we’re talking about sleep, there’s something I want to ask.”

But the Duke clearly had no intention of letting it slide.

‘Of course.’

She had openly insulted him—would he just let that pass?

At his low voice, Aelin clutched her skirt. If he asked why she called him a bastard, how should she respond? Better to just pretend ignorance, she decided.

“What’s your name?”

“I… I’m Aelin. I don’t know why you called me a bastard.”

It was basically an admission that he knew she had shouted it.

Suppressing the urge to cry, Aelin gave her name. She felt so frustrated she spoke first.

“Why did my name come to mind while I was sleeping?”

“I wanted to call you earlier, but I didn’t know your name.”

“Oh…”

Aelin asked with her eyes: Did he propose to a woman he didn’t even know?

The Duke seemed not to notice her gaze and ended the conversation abruptly.

“I’ll remember.”

His words lingered in Aelin’s ears even after he turned away.

He meant he’d remember her name, right? Surely he wouldn’t remember something else.

Following the butler, Aelin forced herself to think the way she wanted.

In the Duke’s house, temporary vassal meetings could be held aside from the regularly scheduled meetings. Only the Duke or the elders could propose such meetings, demonstrating the considerable influence of the council. Anyone qualified under the Duke’s household had to attend when a meeting was called.

The youngest elder and Lloyd’s uncle, Calix, was the first to ask a question when the meeting began.

“Your Grace, may I ask something?”

“Please.”

Calix paused for a moment before slowly bringing up the previous matter.

“The Claudia family’s guest you just brought—is that…?”

“She’s a beta.”

“I thought I misheard, but it seems correct.”

Despite Calix sighing, Lloyd remained expressionless, showing no interest in their thoughts and seemingly indifferent even to the beta he had brought.

“A beta? That family has a dominant omega, right? Weren’t you supposed to bring him?”

“My strategic marriage arrangements required only that the partner be of Claudia lineage.”

“…”

Everyone in the meeting fell silent.

It was Calix’s father, the previous Duke of Lihast, who had arranged the betrothal to an unborn child of the Claudia family. They had questioned the rationale, but the Duke had shrugged, saying the bloodline seemed suitable.

Now, it seemed his grandson inherited the same brazen attitude.

‘No, shouldn’t I resemble her more? Why does my nephew resemble her more?’

Calix glared at Lloyd in disbelief. The condition was just to fulfill the Claudia bloodline, but as a partner for a dominant alpha, they should naturally have brought the omega.

Yet Lloyd acted as if nothing were wrong.

As Calix tried to persuade him, someone who had been observing quietly spoke with a stern gaze. It was Alan, the head elder of the council.

“The beta raises concerns for succession.”

“They can bear children.”

When Lloyd casually dismissed Alan’s serious voice, Calix interjected.

“That’s not what I mean.”

Suppressing his urge to scold his exasperating nephew, Calix held back. Alan spoke again to Lloyd.

“Even if a beta can bear an alpha’s child, the chances of carrying the traits are extremely low.”

“Not all omegas are guaranteed.”

At Lloyd’s nonchalant rebuttal, the expressions of those present darkened. While his abilities as a duke were extraordinary, once he stubbornly made up his mind, no one could change it.

“Ah, Your Grace.”

As Calix called to Lloyd, all eyes turned to him, hoping he would rein in the Duke.

“Unfortunately, in the previous generation, the bloodline did not match, but this time, a dominant omega was born perfectly. Naturally, I expected the Duke’s partner to be that dominant omega, so why bring a random young lady?”

At Calix’s question, Lloyd’s mouth twitched slightly.