Ch 17: Ah, now I remember you [pt1]

"Misha, we should head back home now. Your nanny is waiting for you to come and play with her. You don't want to disappoint your grandmother, right?"

Grand Minister Ferin asked as he picked up Misha. The omega yelped in distress as she maintained her hold on Meria's clothes.

Her determined expression was one Meria had seen too many times on his best friend's face. So, he was sure that a tantrum was headed their way.

"No! I do not want to go back home. I will spend time with Misha and become closer to him. Grandfather, let me go now."

Misha struggled in the older man's grasp, and the powerful alpha rubbed his brows in agitation. He also looked at Meria with eyes that said, 'fix this situation, or else you will suffer.'

It was all but an order at that point.

"Misha, I know you want to spend time with me, but I must also head home. You also need to head home and prepare if you want to grow up quickly, right?"

The child stopped struggling, but she looked a little betrayed. Then her eyes moved to her grandfather's face for a second, and understanding filled them.

"Alright, I understand. I will go home now, but you must promise me I will see you during the next noble banquet. You will attend the next one, right?"

Misha asked for confirmation, and Meria had to force himself to speak.

"Yeah, Misha, I will attend the next noble banquet I get an invite for and if my schedule allows me time. I am the general of the royal army, and I need to put my job first, alright?"

The omega finally calmed down enough to be escorted out, and Meria breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, he was free from the headache of having to meet a kid's expectations.

He was about to head home when he smelled a familiar scent of angry pheromones heading his way. 

Seconds later, a small hand was tugging him away from the scene.

"You traitor. You let that omega scent mark you, but you will not allow me to do the same? Did you forget whose fiancé you are?"

Emperor Kai sounded angry as he walked through the hallways with Meria's hand in his own. The smell of irritated pheromones filled the air. But along with that, there was a little bit of a familiar sweet smell lingering around the young alpha.

Meria was not sensitive to smells, but he was sure that the sweet smell belonged to Fiona.

'Fuck Fiona! What the hell did you do to make an alpha too angry? More importantly, am I even going to be alright? What is this alpha going to do to me?'

The strength of the emperor's pheromones was so strong that it made Meria's head spin. His inner omega was finding this situation hard to deal with.

Meria knew that the one pulling him forward was a juvenile alpha who had yet to mature in body, but his instincts were seeing the emperor as a strong and viable mate.

...

'This sucks. Why did Meria decide to take an unknown omega's side when I was there? He even dared to hold her and comfort her. No, wait! It is not Meria's fault. The one at fault is the omega who dared to seduce him with her pheromones.'

'Yea, it is all Grand Minister Ferin's fault. His and his granddaughter's. I shall not forgive them.'

As those thoughts entered Kerin's mind, he stopped walking and groaned in irritation. He hated how he was conflicted in his mind. 

His cruse was affecting him in the worst way possible. Not only was it making Meria feel jealous, but it was also distracting him and making Kerin lose his fuse.

Just thinking about the scene where Meria had his arms around that daring omega child. And what was worse? That omega dared to wrap her arms around Kerin's future wife.

Just thinking of that scene made the emperor grit his teeth and feel the urge to rip something apart.

"Y-Young Highness. It is nice to meet you. I-I am so ashamed of our last encounter with each other."

A nervous voice dared to interrupt the emperor's internal monologue, and he looked up to see a vaguely familiar face.

His inner alpha immediately stood on alert, but Kerin could not even remember why he felt so irritated when he saw that smug face.

"Ah, who are you again? I've seen you before, but I cannot remember."

Kerin asked, and the other alpha's smirk became even more prominent. Just seeing that face made Kerin feel the urge to kill someone. Now, only if he remembered who this man was.

Meria's ex-fiancé had somehow become the luckiest man alive. Not only did the emperor not remember his face, but he also seemed alone.

'I knew it was a fluke that the emperor was there that day. Ha, what was I even worried about?'

The ex-fiancé knew that this was his chance to aim for a promotion. So, he quickly started to engage the emperor in a chat.

The young child seemed uninterested in anything he had to say, but the ex-fiancé did not give up. He was slowly but surely warming the kid up to his presence.

And then it all crashed down when that sugary sweet smell walked toward him and the emperor.

Fiona's presence caused the emperor to tense up, and he suddenly looked at the ex-fiancé with sharp eyes filled with recognition.

'Fuck Fiona! Why did you decide to come here now? I was doing such a good job without you around to ruin it for me.'

The ex-fiancé, also called Shen, tried not to look affected. But it was impossible not to react when that sudden heavy pressure started to press on top of his head.

"E-Emperor Kai, do you remember me? My name is Fiona Fluorite, General Meria's sister. Did my brother ever mention my name to you? I know Meria is a selfish person, so it is unlikely."

"He also never introduced me to your brother when I asked him to. I wonder why? Ah, I am babbling now, right? Please excuse me for that."

Fiona's presence destroyed the atmosphere Shen had worked hard to establish, and the foolish girl did not even seem to realise it.