Back inside the ballroom, Charles noticed that Benjamin was missing. He quietly summoned his guards, demanding to know where he went, but they confessed they had lost sight of him in the dense crowd.
Unable to sit still, Charles slipped out of the hall and searched, but Benjamin was nowhere to be found. He wasn't the only one looking. The princesses were also scanning the crowd for the handsome doctor.
Defeated, Charles returned to his seat next to the other princes. Almost immediately, Liv and Ara approached him.
"Charles," Liv began. "Congratulations on your betrothal!"
Charles politely thanked her.
Then, a bright blush began spreading across Liv's cheeks. "Oh, and your friend, Benjamin. Could you tell me more about him? Do you by chance have the number for his clinic? And—"
"And what business do you have with him?" Charles didn't hide his annoyance.
Liv blinked, undeterred. "I'm interested in him. I've never met someone quite like him."
Ara sighed. "I have his phone number. But, are you really interested in him?"
"To be honest, I think I should marry him," Liv declared confidently. "Once we get to know each other better, of course."
Ara just shook her head. Liv was being incredibly naive. The King and Queen of Zephyr would never let her marry someone who didn't have some form of royal lineage.
Charles didn't say a word. He just sat there, glaring at Liv in absolute silence.
"Fine. I'll get his number from Ara." Unfazed, Liv simply mimicked his glare to mock him, turned on her heel, and walked away.
Ara lingered behind. "Charles, are you alright?"
Charles forced a polite smile. "I am fine."
Ara knew he was lying. His body language was too rigid and stern. Today was supposed to be the most joyous day of his life, yet he didn't seem that way.
From a distance, Shirin watched Ara standing close to Charles. Her mood immediately soured. She needed to figure out how to get rid of those trying to steal Charles from under her nose.
According to Bjorn, Charles already had a secret lover, though no one knew their identity. Shirin had narrowed her suspects down to two people: Ara or Benjamin.
She thought Benjamin was unlikely since he was a man, which made her wonder about Benjamin's secondary gender, a topic he always avoided whenever she tried to bring it up. Ara, on the other hand, was a beta, but she was a woman, making it more likely that it was her.
Shirin frowned, her mind racing. What if Bjorn had completely fabricated the rumor about a lover just to sabotage the engagement? Maybe she was overthinking everything and was simply in over her head.
Still, as she glanced toward the empty seat where the doctor had been sitting earlier, Shirin couldn't shake her gut feeling. Benjamin was incredibly suspicious in how he was so reserved, especially towards her.
** ** ** ** ** **
Benjamin arrived back at Wren's place, completely exhausted. Wren escorted him to his room and provided him with spare clothes and everything else he might need for the night.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to knock on my door, alright?" Wren said.
Benjamin nodded with a tired smile.
"Do you mind if I check in on you before I turn in for the night?"
"That's fine with me," Benjamin said. "Thank you again, for everything. I—"
"Shh," Wren interrupted gently. "It's nothing. It's the least I could do. I only wish I could do more."
Benjamin shook his head. "You've done so much for me already. I don't know how I'll ever pay you back. But I will."
"You better keep that promise," Wren said with a smile, before turning away to leave.
An hour later, Wren decided to bring Benjamin an herbal tonic. He knocked on the bedroom door, but there was no response. Wondering if Benjamin had already fallen asleep, he opened the door and found the bed empty. He walked over to the bathroom and knocked.
"Benjamin?"
There was no response. Worried that something might have happened to Benjamin, Wren flung the door open and found Benjamin sitting in the bathtub, staring aimlessly up at the ceiling.
Startled, Benjamin snapped out of his daze to find Wren standing in the doorway.
"I'm sorry!" Wren said. "You've been in there for quite some time. I was worried. Are you alright?"
"I'm sorry, I lost track of time," Benjamin said quickly. "I'll be out shortly."
Wren stepped out of the room to give him space. A few moments later, Benjamin emerged, apologizing. He was wrapped in a bathrobe, tied loosely, leaving his skin exposed.
Wren couldn't tear his eyes away from Benjamin's smooth pale skin. His eyes lingered on the firm lines of his muscular chest, slowly tracing the deep, shadowed dip where the robe had fallen open.
"We'll be leaving tomorrow at noon," Wren said, looking away from Benjamin to the floor.
"Thank you for letting me know," Benjamin replied. "Is there anything you need help with? I don't want to be a burden, I can help prepare for the journey."
"Nonsense," Wren replied. "Just rest." He paused. "And I should go now... before anything unintentional happens."
Wren stepped intimately close. He leaned his head right next to Benjamin's face, hovering just above his shoulder.
"You smell very sweet," Wren whispered into Benjamin's ear.
"Ah! I'm sorry!" Benjamin gasped, startled. He took a quick step back, his face blushing. "I'll apply more scent-blockers."
Wren just flashed a wide smile, observing Benjamin's pale skin flush pink, before returning to his room.
******
Author Note: This section is smut.
When Wren finally returned to his own room, he stripped off his clothes and collapsed back onto his bed. Every time he closed his eyes, the image of Benjamin standing there in the damp, clinging appeared.
His mind obsessively traced the lines of Benjamin's pale skin, down the muscular slope of his chest to his firm well-defined abdomen. The memory of Benjamin's sweet scent still lingered, intoxicating him.
He felt his penis throbbing and firmly gripped it. He began slowly moving his hand up and down its length as he pressed his head back into the pillow.
Wren imagined how Benjamin's penis would be pretty and pale. He lost himself, imagining the exact, flushed shade of pink that would paint Benjamin's face if he were fingered.
Oh God, I would give anything to hear the quiet break of Benjamin's voice. To see him lose his composure, to hear the breathless, desperate sounds from his mouth, begging me for more.
He pictured pulling Benjamin close, stripped of every defense, and imagined how tight he would be as he thrust into him. The thought of having that kind of absolute, undeniable possession over Benjamin intensified Wren's pleasure. His grip tightened and his movements grew faster and more desperate, until he finally came with a heavy, deep moan.
******
Meanwhile, across the hall, Benjamin was simply exhausted by everything. All he wanted to do was sleep, but the thought of Wren whispering into his ear kept him awake and made him blush. He had never smelled Wren's pheromones. He wondered what it smelled like. Then, he was reminded of Charles's scent, the soothing smell of rain-washed earth. He shook his head trying to dispel the thought.
Benjamin had felt ashamed all morning. He had given in to his desires last night, and the guilt was heavy. He believed that loving someone meant doing what was best for them, no matter how much it hurt. Charles was trying to break his engagement, but Benjamin knew it was a mistake. The stakes were too high—the entire Empire was at risk.
People thought Charles was wise beyond his years, which he was, but he was only twenty-four. There were many things in life that he had not experienced before. This was Charles's first real romance, and like most people, he was losing his mind over it. It was Benjamin's first relationship, too, but he knew that a first love isn't always the last.
If I truly love him, I have to set him on the right path, Benjamin thought.
He felt disappointed in himself for sleeping with a betrothed man.
I'm only making things harder for Charles. I shouldn't have told him about my pregnancy. Was I just being selfish? Did I want Charles to comfort me?
Benjamin did learn something. Every time he was with Charles, the rest of the world vanished, and it felt as if it were just the two of them. It was too easy to forget everything and everyone else, and that wasn't right.
Benjamin sighed. My pregnancy just makes everything worse.
An omega's pheromones become volatile and unpredictable during pregnancy. There is increased or decreased libido, varying from person to person. And they also produced stronger scents, which evolutionarily served as a marker that a person already had a mate.
While modern medicine or herbal medicine could control these symptoms, Benjamin couldn't risk exposure by seeking them out. He didn't even have time to prepare his own herbal medicine since he had only found out about his pregnancy the day before the journey to Amara.
He wondered if he was just making excuses for his own weak character. He spent the entire day before the ball hiding in his room. But then, he remembered his talk with Wren at the beach. What was done was done. All he could do now was be better. For Charles, for the Empire, and for himself, he had to break it off with Charles.
Benjamin quickly shut his eyes and tried to think of anything else. He started to recite different herbal plants and their traits before he quickly dozed off to sleep.