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Chapter 31
A little while later, just as I had finally gotten back on my feet, Calisto came to see me. More precisely, he came running in with a loud commotion and threw himself into my arms.
“Hyung… Hyung! Are you not sick anymore? Are you all better?”
“Cali, that’s dangerous. You should walk slowly. Let me see your face. Have you been well?”
He must have gotten used to being with me every day, because seeing him after a while made me genuinely happy. I hugged him tightly. I couldn’t help myself—I kissed his soft, mochi-like cheeks again and again, as if I wanted to swallow them whole. In my arms, Calisto squirmed and wriggled.
“Ah… don’t. It tickles.”
“You don’t want kisses?”
“Well… if you really want to, you can…”
“Then I’ll give you five more?”
“…You can give me ten…”
After we compromised on ten kisses for our dramatic reunion, Calisto asked excitedly,
“Hyung, you’re an alpha now, right? Right?”
“Hmm…”
After thinking it over, I decided not to tell Calisto that I had manifested as a dominant omega. Alpha-inducing stimulants were harmful to the body, and they weren’t even a finished product yet. If Calisto heard about it, he would definitely oppose it. On top of that, there was also the issue with Roen. I didn’t want to burden the child with unnecessary worry.
Right now, only my father and Dr. Woodson knew my true condition. My father had even kept it hidden from the household staff to maintain secrecy.
But lying to Calisto made my chest ache with guilt. I avoided his gaze and muttered,
“Yeah… I’ve manifested as an alpha.”
“Really? Really an alpha? Seriously?”
While I had been unconscious, he must have worried a lot, because he looked overjoyed at my answer. Even after I confirmed it, he kept asking again and again.
“Then you’ll keep living here with me, right? You’re not going to get married now, right?”
I placed him on my lap and brushed back his soft bangs.
“Of course. Prince Roen is an alpha too. Alphas can’t marry other alphas, so it’s safe now.”
Roen was Calisto’s half-brother and rival. His mother, Empress Jeanne, was also the woman responsible for the death of Calisto’s mother. Because of that, I could never marry Roen anyway. I tried to reassure the child.
“And even aside from that, I would never marry Prince Roen. Becoming a prince consort? Just thinking about it is awful.”
“Yeah… you shouldn’t marry that Roen guy… that’s true… but being a prince consort isn’t necessarily that bad…”
“Haha. Cali, do you think being a prince consort sounds nice? You’re going to become someone much greater. There’s nothing to be jealous of.”
“That’s not what I meant… sigh…”
He buried his face in my chest and muttered something else I couldn’t quite hear. He seemed to have finally relaxed.
After a while, Calisto lifted his head again. His cheeks were even puffier than before as he fumbled in his clothes and pulled something out, handing it to me.
It was a small bouquet made of violets.
Some of the flowers had already wilted, probably because he had kept them in his pocket for a long time, and a few petals were hanging on by a thread. Still, I smiled softly and accepted it.
“Is this for me?”
“Yeah… there weren’t many left in the village, so I couldn’t bring many. I wanted to make it prettier… sorry.”
“What are you talking about? It’s beautiful.”
The violet ring Calisto had once placed on my finger had long since withered. He must have remembered that I liked them, because he had wandered around the village for days collecting them from the roadside.
How can he always do such sweet things?
Smiling, I pressed a kiss to his forehead. Calisto’s face turned red as he mumbled.
“Elcy said that once you manifest, it means you’ve become an adult.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“So since Hyung is an adult… you’ll marry an omega, right?”
“Well… maybe someday?”
I had never dated in my previous life, and I had basically given up on marriage altogether, so I couldn’t imagine myself getting married. My priority was still raising Calisto properly, preventing the downfall of the Wynheits family, and erasing my death flags. I wanted to change the tragic original story so that Calisto and Lawrence could end up happy together.
Would I even have time to think about marriage?
‘Ah, but it’s not just about being busy.’
Now that I thought about it, there was a bigger problem.
To avoid Roen’s suspicion, I had to remain an alpha. In this world where most marriages were political, finding someone trustworthy enough to share the secret that I was a dominant omega seemed nearly impossible.
Well, I hadn’t planned on getting married anyway.
While I was thinking that, I felt Calisto staring at me. When our eyes met, he lowered his head and fidgeted with his fingers.
“Then, Hyung… um…”
He hesitated again, clearly building up to something.
“Yeah? What is it?”
“Later… if I manifest as an omega… will you marry me?”
“…What?”
I almost laughed out loud.
Just a moment ago he had been crying and clinging to me, and now—marriage?
And with me?
I thought of a child I once knew, who always said he would marry his close older brother’s father. The brother had always found it adorable.
I struggled not to laugh.
But then Calisto, realizing he needed to convince me, began earnestly listing his “advantages”—all of which were about his looks.
“I’ll become really, really beautiful. Everyone already says I’m pretty when they see me. If I manifest as an omega, I’ll be even prettier, right? You said I’m the prettiest in the world too, Hyung.”
“……”
Of course he would grow into one of the most striking beauties in the empire. Even though he was an alpha now…
I opened and closed my mouth without saying anything.
Seeing my reaction, Calisto leaned closer.
“I’ll behave well too. I won’t cry or throw tantrums.”
Not very convincing. Even as an adult, if you still act like this, I’d be in trouble…
“So Hyung, marry me.”
“Cali…”
“I’ll treat you well. I’ll make you the happiest person in the empire. Okay?”
“….”
Listening to him, it felt like a child’s wild dream.
He still had a long way before manifesting, so maybe he couldn’t even imagine what kind of alpha I would become. And I couldn’t exactly tell him I already knew the future.
Explaining marriage to a child proposing with a bouquet of violets he had gathered from the village felt impossible.
I gently stroked his flushed cheek.
“Cali. Marriage is something you do when you grow up and meet someone you truly love. When you grow up, you’ll meet someone like that. Then you should marry them.”
For example… Lawrence. Or rather, Lawrence. Definitely Lawrence.
Calisto and Lawrence were the original story’s destined main couple, after all.
But Calisto wasn’t listening properly.
“I like Hyung. I love you sincerely.”
“…Thank you. I appreciate it, but…”
It was too cute. I ended up laughing helplessly.
But I should have bitten my tongue.
Before I knew it, Calisto’s eyes were filling with tears.
“Why don’t you believe me?”
His voice trembled.
“I know. I know you do,” I said quickly, hugging him.
“Liar. You don’t know anything.”
Tears spilled from his golden eyes.
“I know how to love too!”
“….”
I was speechless.
“Do you think I can’t love just because I’m a child?”
“….”
Well… honestly… anyone would think that…
But I couldn’t say it.
Instead, I just pulled him tightly into my arms.
