Seraphina’s pale lavender eyes widened.

As she watched Damian and Egon cross blades, she lifted a hand to her chest.

His golden hair flickered as he moved, and his blue eyes flashed. He wielded his sword with such speed that his movements were almost impossible to follow. Watching him fight made Seraphina’s jaw tremble faintly.

‘That child.’

The child Seraphina had been searching for—

was Damian.

She was certain of it.

More than eye color or hair color, her instincts answered first.

‘That’s where your first love is.
The one who stood beside you when you faced the first great turning point of your life.
The one who became the pillar of your heart.
The one whose safety you longed to know.’

That child—was fighting for her right now.

“…Ugh!”

As she continued to watch Damian, Seraphina flinched and winced. A sudden sharp sting flared at the back of her neck—where her pheromone gland lay.

‘What—?’

Confused, she raised a hand toward her nape.

Just as her fingers were about to touch the pheromone gland—

“I won’t forgive you!”

A sharp cry of hatred stabbed into her from behind.

In the brief moment she had looked away, Mireille— now disheveled — had lunged towards Seraphina.

She seized her by the shoulders and ground her teeth audibly.

“I was so close to succeeding! If only you hadn’t existed!”

The moment Mireille expressed her resentment, her pheromones flared up violently, surging like flames.

Startled, Seraphina pushed her hands away. She immediately moved to shield her own gland, clutching at her neck defensively.

And then—

“……!”

Seraphina’s pheromone gland burned as though it had been set alight. She sucked in a sharp breath and flew open her eyes at the intense pain, stronger than anything she had ever experienced.

It was like a massive torrent crashing down on her; an overwhelming force surging through her entire body.

‘What is this…?’

Seraphina gasped, opening her mouth wide. It felt as though every cell in her body had come alive. Her organs asserted their presence one by one, and her senses became extremely acute.

‘This is… just like…’

Just like the moment she had first manifested as an omega.

Similar—yet far clearer, far more vivid than back then. The sensation wrapped tightly around her.

“Kyaaaah!”

Just as her heightened senses were beginning to calm down, Mireille, who was standing facing her, screamed in terror. She clutched the back of her neck and started to cry.

“It hurts! It hurts!”

Seraphina looked at Mireille, feeling confused. Unlike Mireille, she felt lighter and refreshed.

Not only physically.

Her mind felt as though it had been reinforced by a thick, solid barrier, too. She could hardly comprehend how she had struggled so desperately just moments ago from being trapped inside a sack.

‘How strange.’

Seraphina gently touched her pheromone gland.

The moment she realized that Damian was the child in question, her gland reacted.

It was nothing like when she had suspected the same of Reinhold. This was entirely different.

It was as though her nerves and senses themselves were trying to tell her, ‘Damian is the one.’

Because of that, Seraphina understood completely.

Damian was her first love.

“Aaagh!”

Even then, Mireille continued to scream without pause. Eventually, she rolled around on the ground, her body shaking as though she were having a seizure.

“Ugh—ghk—ugh!”

Seraphina watched Mireille clutch her neck and writhe in agony with indifferent eyes.

She didn’t care how much she screamed or thrashed around.

The only thing that mattered was finding Lucas.

“Where is Lucas?”

“Hhk—uugh! Ah!”

Lady Mireille seemed unable to hear Seraphina’s question. Instead, she twisted her body and shrieked in pain. Seraphina gave up on getting an answer from her and turned her head away.

At that moment, she saw Damian, who had finished securing the situation. Egon lay collapsed at his feet, right where he had been speaking with Reinhold.

“Good work.”

Damian patted Reinhold on the shoulder. His gaze toward the friend who had come without hesitation at his request was gentle.

“Thank you for following after Sephi. If you hadn’t been there, it would’ve been dangerously close.”

“I was only obeying Your Highness’s command. Still—how did you arrive the moment I contacted you? I was honestly surprised. Thanks to that, we managed to rescue His Highness the Imperial Grandson safely.”

“…I couldn’t stay away.”

Damian murmured softly and rubbed the back of his neck. He offered Reinhold a faint smile, prompting the man to tilt his head in puzzlement. Then he lowered his gaze to Egon.

The moment his eyes settled on the grievously injured man, they turned cold.

“He was skilled. A pity he chose the wrong master.”

With a casual flick, he shook the blood from the blade of his sword. As he slid it back into its scabbard, his gaze drifted — almost absentmindedly — towards Seraphina.

The instant their eyes met, both their pupils dilated.

Damian and Seraphina stared at each other as if bound by an invisible thread, unable to look away.

In that moment, they seemed to share the same thoughts, sensing each other’s heart with startling clarity.

‘I missed you.
I didn’t want to let you go.
I didn’t want to leave.
I wanted to stay.

My first love.’

“Damian…”

“I wanted to see you.”

As she spoke his name with all her heart, pheromones bloomed from her entire body like flowers bursting into bloom. It was as though the barren forest road were suddenly carpeted in blossom.

These pheromones were of an entirely different magnitude to those before — overwhelming and intoxicating, capable of bewitching anyone who encountered them.

“Dominant… omega…?”

Damian murmured, furrowing his brow. He swallowed hard and took a step towards her.

Reaching out to his omega, the one who had made parched flowers bloom again, he pulled her tightly into his arms.

With all his heart.

With all his soul.

***

Seraphina and Damian returned to the Imperial Palace and immediately sought out the palace physician. They needed him to examine Seraphina’s pheromones.

This was made possible thanks to Arno and Reinhold. While the two of them dealt with the aftermath, Seraphina summoned Goetz to examine her.

“You have become a dominant omega.”

Upon hearing these words, the two of them looked at each other.

They had suspected as much, but hearing it confirmed still left them dazed.

Seeing their stunned expressions, Goetz continued his explanation.

“It seems that when you first manifested as an omega, the manifestation was incomplete. It is only now that you have fully awakened the traits you were born with.”

“Is… that really possible?”

Seraphina asked uncertainly. As a palace physician, his diagnosis should have been accurate, but it was hard to accept.

It was rare enough for an omega to manifest after being a beta. But for one’s traits to reawaken from recessive to dominant?

“In most cases, special traits manifest around the age of seven. However, in very rare instances, when a child grows up in an adverse environment, the manifestation can be delayed. It’s similar to how poor nutrition can stunt physical growth.”

Goetz spoke gently.

“Your Highness may well be such a case. Did you experience any major incidents during your childhood? Or perhaps there was a significant change in your upbringing?”

In response to his question, Seraphina parted her lips slightly.

Both conditions applied.

She had been sold to slave traders when she was five. After escaping and returning home, she lived like a servant, often going without food and sleep.

“…Yes.”

Only now did she understand why her true traits had awakened so late.

Seraphina clutched the hem of her skirt and stared blankly at Lucas in his cot. Watching the baby sleeping so peacefully, like an angel, she asked anxiously.

“Could Lucas end up like me? What if what happened today affects him?”

Goetz shook his head at her question, his tone firm.

“The probability is extremely low. His Highness the Imperial Grandson is still far too young — he can’t even distinguish objects yet.”

“…That’s a relief.”

“If you remain concerned, you can have a detailed pheromone examination done when he turns seven.”

Having reassured Seraphina, Goetz turned his gaze to Damian. His expression grew grave as he spoke.

“More than that, there is someone else who suffered a fatal impact from today’s events.”