1— PROLOGUE

Silas counted on his fingers.

Under the large tree near the forest, he sat quietly, unmoving. All five fingers on one hand were already folded down—a sign of just how long he'd been waiting for his mother's return.

'Silas, you have to wait here for me. It's for your own good.'

Those were her words, and so he obeyed, staying in place. Even though the bag she'd left with him was unusually full, stuffed with bread—a rare sight even in their life together.

Today, he took out half a loaf and ate it. When thirsty, he walked to a nearby spring to drink. His clothes were thick enough to keep him warm, even in this chilly season.

But something felt off. Why had his mother been so insistent that he stay here?

The sky was dull, gray, and the sun had begun to sink below the horizon.

This area was remote, and no one ever passed by. So when Silas saw two men dressed in familiar robes, he lifted his face from where he had been resting it on his knees. The two men, startled to find a boy sitting alone under the tree, immediately approached him.

"Where are your parents?"

"Where did you come from?"

"Have you eaten?"

"Why are you here waiting for your mother alone?"

"Come with Father. I know a place where you'll be safe."

Then Silas noticed the younger man lean closer and whisper something. Though the words were hushed, Silas heard them clearly.

"Father, his eyes…"

Silas instinctively lowered his head. The older man sharply reprimanded the younger one, silencing him. Then the older man reached out a hand toward Silas.

Their robes were familiar, the kind his mother had often pointed out when they went to church. She had told him these men were God's favorites, men who could be trusted.

Silas wasn't naive; he understood perfectly what had happened in the village where he and his mother once lived. Deep down, he knew his mother wasn't coming back—her promise had been a lie.

Even so, Silas couldn't shake the thought that life, no matter how hard, would have been better if he could have stayed by her side. She had packed nearly all his clothes into the bag, left him with an unusual amount of bread, and, with tears in her eyes, ran off, leaving him behind.

She wasn't coming back.

Silas reached out and took the old man's hand, stepping into a new chapter of his life. As it turned out, the younger man was an apprentice training to become a priest. He was astonished to find out that Silas, at such a young age, could already read. Silas spent the next two months at the church with Father Johannes and Brother Tobias. Life there was quiet, even uneventful, but it brought a sense of peace Silas hadn't experienced before.

Every so often, Silas would return to the spot where his mother had left him. He would wait there patiently, but as the sun dipped lower in the sky, Brother Tobias would come and bring him back to the church.

No one can predict the twists of fate.

An event Something Silas had never imagined happened, and it plunged his heart into darkness. Father Johannes's sudden death shocked the entire village, leaving everyone mourning his passing. A few days after the funeral, Brother Tobias informed Silas, with a heavy heart, that he would have to take him to an orphanage.

Although hesitant at first, Brother Tobias seemed to have no other choice.

He explained that the orphanage would allow Silas to study under proper teachers and attend school. He would also have many peers his age to befriend. The main reason, however, was that Brother Tobias, with his mounting responsibilities, couldn't care for a child like Silas anymore. He was about to take on the role of Father Johannes, which required rigorous exams and training.

Silas didn't protest, even though he had grown fond of life at the church. He didn't have friends his age there, but that never bothered him. Silas wasn't like most children. While others played, he preferred to sit quietly, lost in the pages of a book.

Still, he felt as though he had no other choice. When the carriage arrived, Silas climbed aboard, regret already settling in his chest.

At the orphanage, he found himself surrounded by children his age. Yet, his days there felt hollow, devoid of the contentment he had known at the church.

Purple eyes.

'The eyes of a lowly whore'

He was an omega. Father had never mentioned it, but many of the adults who came to visit the church would whisper and gossip about the new child at the orphanage, especially about his violet eyes.

The Father in this village's church was very different from Father Johannes. He never touched Silas. Silas often saw him embrace the other children, yet he acted as if he couldn't touch him, as if he were dirty. Silas was still young, so he didn't understand what was going on in the adults' minds. He didn't even know what an omega was, or why people were talking about the color of his eyes.

It wasn't until one of the other children mocked him, shouting, "Ah, he's an omega! Auntie who sells bread said I shouldn't get too close to omegas." The others, who saw Silas sitting alone watching them play, seemed to deliberately raise their voices.

"I heard omegas make husbands leave their wives."

"Is that why Father Ludwig doesn't want to hug Silas?"

"Omegas are evil!"

"They're witches! Evil witches!"

"I heard the way to check if someone is a witch is to drown them."

As if it were a brilliant idea, the children grabbed Silas's body. Even though Silas resisted, he couldn't overpower the group, and they shoved him into the fish pond. Luckily, the pond wasn't deep, but they all laughed at the sight of Silas's drenched body.

It was fine. He could get through this, Silas told himself.

Omega.

He remembered how his mother often said she hated omegas for taking her husband. Was that the reason his mother left him? Was that also why his father left them both?

Clenching the fabric of his clothes, Silas held back his tears. He remembered how much his mother had loved him, so it couldn't be true that she hated him.

It couldn't be.

The loud laughter and pointing hands made Silas lower his head, but a moment later, the laughter ceased when a man in neat clothes walked by, making all the children who had been laughing stand up and bow their heads.

"..."

Silas often saw this man from a distance. He would often visit the church and chat with Father Ludwig, but since Silas was forbidden from showing himself at the church, he could only sneak peeks from the window.

"Ah, why have I never seen your face before? Are you a new child in the orphanage?"

The man extended his hand, intending to help Silas out of the pond. Silas took his hand and raised his head, allowing the man to clearly see his face. As expected, the man's expression changed—Silas guessed it was probably because of his strange-colored eyes, so he quickly lowered his face again.

"Are you an omega? Why didn't Father Ludwig tell me?"

With a slightly trembling voice, Silas mumbled, "Sorry."

The man told him not to apologize, and that it should be his friends who should apologize for pushing him into the pond. The man scolded the other children, and for a moment, Silas felt happy because at least someone was standing up for him.

The next day, Father Ludwig called him in and told him that he would be adopted by the man who had saved him yesterday. The man's name was Conrad von Steinmar, and he would come to pick him up that very day.

Silas felt happy, though he tried not to show it on his face, not wanting to hear the comments that always cornered him, with the word 'omega' thrown in every sentence.

He thought his life might be much better now. It was indeed better, but there was a price to pay.

Conrad von Steinmar.

He was a baron in the Lichtberg Empire, a wealthy man who owned many hotels. He had once been obsessed with having a son, but unfortunately, he had been divorced by his wife and only had a beta daughter. Life with his stepfather was not as bad as when Silas was in the orphanage, but there was a contract he had signed, with his life as the guarantee.

Conrad raised Silas with the intention of ensuring his absolute obedience.

The moment Silas graduated from his school, his father immediately sent invitations to various regions, offering Silas to marry the noble sons from those areas. Many of them agreed to the proposal, but his father deliberately waited to choose the wealthiest and most powerful nobleman to marry Silas. Silas's opinion was never considered, or more accurately, Silas didn't say anything at all.

After all, this was a promise he had made to his father, who had given him a life that many people envied.

Until.

His father received a reply letter, and his face immediately brightened. He looked at the letter several times, fearful that he had misread it. After confirming that it was indeed correct, he called Silas into the room.

"Silas, my precious omega son, look at this. The Grand Duke has agreed to marry you to his son."

Upon hearing this, Silas smiled, a reaction he had grown accustomed to whenever interacting with his father. But deep inside, he felt uneasy. It was common for nobles to have 'consorts,' and the majority of nobles who had agreed to the proposal to marry Silas intended for him to be a consort. With the Grand Duke's son, it would be no different. He would surely become a consort—Silas already knew what his fate as an omega would be.

"Father," Silas tried to make his voice sound calm. "Did I hear that right?"

With a face full of happiness, his father stood up from his chair, approached Silas, and squeezed his shoulder with a proud smile. "Alric von Wittenheim himself wrote this letter on his behalf. He agreed to make you his consort, Silas."

Hearing that, Silas felt his stomach drop.

Alric von Wittenheim.

A man who deeply despised omega. Why was fate so cruel to him? He didn't say anything to his father, still maintaining his sweet smile, unaware of the storm of emotions now raging in his mind.

"I know you're nervous, you're about to get married, but don't worry, Alric is still on military duty, and who knows when he'll return... maybe in two years, given the ongoing territorial war in the southeast. Just pray that he returns safely, and after that, he'll immediately sign your official recognition as his consort. Ha, Silas, I'm so happy I adopted you! You're truly such an obedient child. God has blessed me by sending an omega son to me."

Silas didn't even hear what his father was saying in detail. He lowered his head and asked to excuse himself, heading back to his room.

Alric. That guy.

Silas had once liked him during his school days, and the embarrassing incident he never wanted to remember resurfaced in his mind when that man's name was mentioned.

The thought of living with that man, bound in a lifetime marriage as the consort of a man who hated omegas, was ridiculous. Silas thought that if he were a character in a novel, he'd be in one that ended with a tragic fate.

But why didn't Alric reject the offer? Was there something that made the Grand Duke agree to his father's offer to bring an omega into Wittenheim?

The more he thought about it, the more his stomach churned. Once in his room, he threw himself onto the bed. He still couldn't believe what he had just heard.