A knight absentmindedly cleared his throat, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Though faint, it was still the Omega’s pheromone. The knight, having caught the scent, swallowed audibly, and upon hearing the sound, the Duke turned his head sharply, eyeing the knight fiercely. He placed the disheveled Omega back into his possession, crossing his arms to ensure that no one could see. It seemed that the Duke might growl when he opened his mouth.
The tightly embraced Omega moaned audibly. At that moment, the Duke turned his gaze towards his Omega. The temperature of his gaze rose, and the Duke buried his head in the Omega’s chest once again, this time covering the man within long sleeves to ensure no one could see. The Omega, perched on the Duke’s knees, leaned back dangerously, unable to regain composure. He merely released faint pheromones, occasionally weakly writhing under the touch.
Roughly, the tongue lapped at the nipples. The Duke delighted in kissing the smooth Omega’s nipples, occasionally dabbing them with his cheeks. After a long time, the Duke’s grip finally loosened, and he descended to the floor, still holding Niall.
Majordomo and Elmiran supported the Duke from behind. Unnoticed, the Duke had fallen into a silent slumber.
When Majordomo gestured, the knights hurriedly approached. Majordomo lifted the Duke onto the knight’s back and silently instructed them to leave the room.
Niall lay on the floor. His neck and chest bore the marks of the Duke, and the excessively sucked nipples looked red and sore.
“Will he come to his senses?” Elmiran asked. Majordomo remained silent, offering no response.
“We can only hope for that,” Elmiran said.
“The Duke must attend the meeting with Lagarton,” she continued, throwing the red cloth that had been on the Duke’s chair onto Niall’s bare torso.
Elmiran threw the red cloth that had been on the Duke’s chair onto Niall’s bare torso. For a long time, hallucinations, illusions, delusions, and insomnia had tormented the Duke. All these symptoms erupted during this expedition. The Alpha pheromones, forcibly suppressed by the Duke until now, refused to be contained any longer, transforming into poison coursing through his veins. Demanding to meet an Omega, craving Omega pheromones. The Duke had reached a point where instincts could no longer be overcome, even with violence.
Given the depth of the Duke’s illness, Majordomo did not entertain the thought that he could recover. Several Omegas had come to the castle over the years, and all had failed.
The arrival of Niall Giles was no different. Majordomo had expected failure this time as well. However…
Looking at the unconscious Niall, Majordomo pondered the possibility of a miracle.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Chapter 4
Ktgff tecvgfv sfjgr jub, atf Rbgatfgc ijcvr ofii ecvfg atf geif bo atf Ugjrabr Swqlgf. Fcali atfc, atf Rbgat tjv yffc jc lcvfqfcvfca xlcuvbw xcbkc jr Vtlgjiecv.
Ljio bo atf sfjg kjr klcafg lc atfrf ijcvr, ecfzqibgfv ys tewjcr rlcmf atf yfulcclcu bo alwf. Ktf geifg bo atlr ijcv tjv j ilcfjuf klat vlralcmais rlinfg-yief tjlg, jcv atf cbgatfgcfgr rkbgf jyrbieaf jiifuljcmf ab atlr xlcu.
The two empires, Prastos and Lagarton, found no allure in this vast, frozen land. Shiralund froze for half of the year, and its inhabitants were fiercely stubborn. Moreover, they were excessively loyal to their king.
In essence, it meant having too many bones to scrape when there was nothing to eat.
For these reasons, while the two empires expanded, the North could maintain its peace in isolation. Then, a drought arrived—an extended drought lasting fourteen years.
Though there was some land suitable for farming in the North, it couldn’t produce bread as delicious as that made in the empire. However, the climate-appropriate grains did grow in the North. The issue was the limited quantity, making it impossible to stockpile enough for the years following each harvest.
The aging king ruling the North, with hair so silver-blue it had turned nearly white, acted wisely. For three years since the drought began, he gathered all the lords of the North, even the tribes dwelling in the uncivilized wilderness under the king’s name.
The old king acted wisely, selling everything of value to buy food. He preserved all the acquired food by pickling or drying, ensuring it could be eaten for a long time.
Harsh times passed. Even the lords of the great families had to eat simple meals like gatekeepers or janitors.
The situation worsened. Shiralund was a poor country. After selling even the gold-framed portraits adorning the royal palace, there was nothing more to sell.
In the sixth year without rain, the king of Shiralund visited Lagarton. With a destitute appearance, unable even to dress properly, the old king requested that Lagarton’s emperor accept Shiralund into the empire.
The emperor of Lagarton threw curious questions at the elderly king. He inquired whether the northerners were truly starving to the point of chewing grass, and after chewing all the grass, whether they boiled tree bark to make porridge. He even asked if they had really torn down and sold the gold-framed portraits of the royal family.
The old king answered humbly. They were indeed eating bark and even dried roots of withered grass because there was nothing left to chew. In fact, the people of Shiralund were eating the dust of the deceased and the moss clinging to the well bottom, as there was not even any more dry roots to chew.
Such desperation left the old king with no dignity.
The emperor of Lagarton and his nobles placed the old king and his entourage in the middle of the Great Hall and mocked them. While expressing a pitying sigh at the story of a newborn starving to death because its emaciated mother couldn’t provide milk, their faces displayed a sinister curiosity when asked if they had eaten the dead baby. The emperor and his nobles treated Shiralund’s misfortune as entertainment, thoroughly enjoying themselves for a night before rejecting the old king’s proposal.
The ice mass that was originally unappealing had now turned into a beggar, emitting the smell of dust, providing no reason to spend the treasury to help.
Shiralund’s envoys trembled, but the old king did not get angry. The old king had merely exchanged any paltry silks or silver decorations given to him by the Lagarton emperor for money to buy food. Food. He didn’t know how precious that word was.
Leaving Lagarton behind, the old king headed to Prastos. There, when meeting the emperor, the old king requested that Prastos, like the other five kingdoms absorbed by the empire, take in Shiralund.
The emperor of Prastos was not a great king. He was stubborn and capricious. Hearing the story, the emperor felt sympathy and impulsively accepted the old king’s proposal.
There was one condition from the old king. As long as the North belongs to the empire, the empire must take responsibility for the North’s food supply.
The emperor’s condition was one as well. As long as the North belongs to the empire, it must pay a tax equivalent to a quarter of its production.
Though the elders of Prastos criticized the emperor for providing support, the emperor did not yield. He was indeed a stubborn man.
Now a vassal of the empire, Shiralund continued to endure a drought for eight more years. It was a severe drought, to the extent that if there had been no imperial aid, half of the population would have starved to death.
Finally, when the drought ended, the North sent a quarter of its production to the empire. It was reported that the first year’s harvest could barely fill two small carts. Shiralund was poorer than the rural inferior lords.
As time passed, the old king died. The stubborn emperor who accepted the North also died. Thus, on a day in the thirty-first year since Shiralund became part of the empire, a tremor, sharp as a divine wrath, ripped Shiralund apart like a sharp knife.
It was an earthquake.
And after thirty-some days of continuous earthquakes, the Northmen discovered a treasure buried beneath the ground.
A gold mine flowed like water. Tunnels filled with gemstones meandered. Minerals surged from the crevices where the earth collided. Among them was coal. Now the North burned not wood but black stones that glowed with fire. It was an enormous bounty that had sprouted from the land.
Prastos adorned their heads with gold. The emperor, once known as the stubborn ruler, more stubborn than a mule, and the foolish emperor who spent money to buy ice, was now recorded in history as a wise emperor and a great leader with foresight.
They obtained a share of the entire production of gold and iron ore, not ice, for free. It happened only thirty-one years after subjugating the North.
With this turn of events, Lagarton was displeased. The old king had undoubtedly come to them first, and the foolish emperor had mocked the old king and sent him away. What a shortsighted emperor he was.
Afterward, Lagarton made various efforts to persuade the North. They officially sent envoys and, after sparking a full-scale war with Prastos, they had been in contact with the Duke from underwater.
From Lagarton’s perspective, there was no reason for the North to remain loyal to Prastos. They were not even originally from the same country, and they had already paid more than enough for the aid they received. It was time to switch sides.
Two hundred and fifty years had passed, but Lagarton had not given up on the North. To avoid Prastos’ spies, they held secret talks with the Duke underwater. The talks occurred once every two or three years, and war was used as a smokescreen to fulfill them.
Lagarton provoked an unnecessary war with the North to have talks with the Duke. The true purpose behind their actions was to invade the sacred place of the North.
Hi, I usually don‘t comment but this chapter and the few before made me physically uncomfortable reading them. Not your fault, translation is good, but PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD ADD NONCON-WARNINGS ON THE TITLE PAGE or at least above these chapters. I am usually not squeamish with that stuff but I think I‘ll need to quit this novel because of this. Nevertheless, thanks a lot for the translation, and I wish you good luck and loyal readers for the rest of the novel ❤️
A bit confused, in early chapter it said the earthquake happened 150 years ago which cause gold and mineral to sprout from the ground, but in this chapter it’s just several decades after the north pledge allegiance to the Empire which means it’s 269 years ago, which one is right? And who’s Duke underwater?
Thank you