As soon as he returned to the Imperial Palace, Damian set out to find Seraphina.

But he couldn’t find her.

Since his transformation into a dominant alpha, the Empress had increased the number of wet nurses attending to him from three to five. As if that were not enough, she even had iron bars installed on the windows. There was only one reason for all this: the crown prince — now a dominant alpha — must never be lost again.

It was only when he reached adulthood that Damian finally gained his freedom.

The moment he was able to act of his own volition, he set out to find the girl.

He sought the help of the silver-haired knight who had rescued him all those years ago: Wolfgang Holtzbaum.

Despite the passage of time, Wolfgang was able to locate her without much difficulty. After all, she was the only girl the slave traders had purchased for five silvers.

Seraphina Lindenrosen.

She was said to be the daughter of a viscountial house — not an alpha or an omega, but a beta.

When Damian heard that, it felt as though his heart had plummeted to the ground.

An alpha of imperial blood could not be bound to a beta. The duty to produce an heir made that impossible.

Though not written into law, this convention was more binding than any statute.

‘I can’t… keep my promise.’

Damian clenched his fists.

For a long time afterwards, he could not escape his despair. The smile he had found when he met Seraphina vanished the moment he lost her again.

Every night, he dreamed of her.

However, as he only had childhood memories of her, the girl in his dreams never grew older. He longed to see her as she was now, all grown up.

Did she still have big eyes?

Was she still someone who cried easily?

These questions tormented him.

Time and again, he struggled to suppress the urge to leave the palace alone and go straight to her estate.

After enduring a long period of pain and restraint, the day finally arrived when Seraphina came of age.

Only then would he be able to see her up close.

“…Good work.”

Clink.

Damian handed a gold coin to Rosalynde. Although she accepted the payment from the crown prince, confusion spread across her face.

“Um… Your Highness.”

Damian turned to look at her. When she met the Crown Prince’s gaze, which clearly asked why she had spoken, Rosalynde hesitated before blurting out.

“I did as you instructed and told Sephi to apply as a palace maid. B-But… that won’t put her in danger, will it?”

“I told you I wouldn’t answer questions.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I won’t ask how you know Sephi, why you think we’re friends, or why you ordered me to make her a maid at the Crown Prince’s Palace. I won’t be curious. I won’t ask.”

Rosalynde bowed deeply. Having spoken so quickly, her body trembled visibly.

“But I just hope that Sephi won’t end up in danger because of me. I really hope nothing like that happens.”

Damian looked at Rosalynde in silence.

She was the connection he had painstakingly established purely because he wanted to see Seraphina.

“That won’t happen.”

Seraphina would be happy here in the Crown Prince’s Palace, by his side.

After answering curtly, Damian turned his back. With his hands clasped behind his back, he quietly clenched his fists, unaware that his resolve would one day prove to be hollow.

***

It was a mistake.

He should never have taken Seraphina to the palace of the Crown Prince.

Damian covered his face with both hands; he was consumed by regret. His skin burned with heat.

Just moments ago, he had spoken with Seraphina directly.

To call it a conversation would be generous.

“Send this letter to the Holtzbaum house.”
“Yes.”

That was all.

Although it had lasted no more than a few seconds, to Damian it had felt like an eternity.

The girl — Seraphina — had grown far more beautiful than he could ever have imagined.

Her large eyes were still the same, though their colou had deepened slightly. The face that had once made such a strong impression with its cuteness now radiated a gentler, lovelier charm.

In short, she was his type to a painful degree.

Which was only natural.

Damian had always been attracted to girls like Seraphina.

“Sephi…”

In a trembling voice, Damian murmured her nickname.

It was only a name—yet even saying it aloud felt unbearably careful.

‘Sephi.’

Would the day ever come when he could call her Seraphina to her face?

Would she come?

Damian let out a thin sigh. Staring blankly at the door she had just passed through, he ran a hand roughly through his hair.

‘Get a grip, Damian. She’s a beta. Don’t even dream foolish dreams.’

At least, that’s what he thought until he caught Seraphina as she fell down the stairs.

***

“Ah—!”

While searching for Seraphina, Damian saw her fall down the stairs. He rushed forward and caught her in his arms.

This unexpected moment made his heart pound as he held her.

Then, the pheromones he had suppressed for so long burst forth all at once.

There was such a dense concentration of them that they drenched Seraphina and forced her body to manifest as an omega.

“Ugh—!”

When Seraphina gagged and staggered out of his arms, Damian stood there, frozen and dazed. He even found himself foolishly drawing in his own scent.

It was only later that night that he realized what had happened: Seraphina’s pheromone gland had reacted to his.

From the body he had thought was a beta came an irresistibly seductive fragrance. As if bewitched, Damian surrendered to the desire he had been holding back.

The hands that held her were urgent and clumsy.

He was no naïve twenty-year-old, so why was he trembling like this?

If he was going to hold Seraphina, he wanted to be skilled, careful and gentle.

Instead, everything was a mess.

Damian despised himself for being so helplessly consumed by desire.

And yet—

—he was happy.

The woman he had thought he would never hold in his arms was moaning. She had opened up to him and accepted him.

It felt like a dream.

But even if it was a dream, that didn’t matter.

But perhaps it would have been better if it had been.

Because, ultimately, he made Seraphina unhappy.

After holding her, Damian acted hastily, determined to secure her completely. He sought out Wolfgang Holtzbaum and asked for his help.

Wolfgang, who had long known that Damian had never forgotten Seraphina, agreed without hesitation. And so, Seraphina and Damian were married.

The dream he had thought was impossible had become a reality. For this reason, Damian became even more cautious.

He had to ensure that his dream did not come crashing down.

Above all, he devoted himself to controlling his temper, which had a habit of flaring up without warning. Simply seeing Seraphina — or even thinking about her — set his body on fire.

Their moments together were blissful.

At the same time, they were humiliating.

The Damian who had clung to her so desperately, driven by raw desire, seemed childish and foolish. He could not bear to show her that side of himself again.

Therefore, to avoid being ruled by instinct, Damian kept his distance from her.

As a result, tending to his needs in secret became almost routine.

He did everything he could to make Seraphina happy.

He protected her — not only from himself, when he feared he might pounce on her like a beast, but also from her birth family, who clung to her like parasites.

Damian settled all the debts of the Lindenrosen viscountcy. He even provided them with ample funds. Yet Seraphina showed little reaction to his efforts. Despite her family troubles being resolved, she remained strangely indifferent.

Damian grew anxious.

Although she was now living a far better life, Seraphina seemed to wither with each passing day. Watching her slowly lose her spark filled him with terror.

What if she left him?

Ultimately, Damian resorted to using his own body.

When he held her, he restrained his desire as much as possible, focusing solely on giving her pleasure. At the same time, he was careful not to trigger Seraphina’s heat cycle. If she were to become pregnant, the Empress, who was obsessed with producing an heir, would surely torment her.

This was why it had never occurred to him that Seraphina might be pregnant.

Instead of wasting time dressing her in gowns that reflected his possessiveness, he should have paid closer attention to her.

Dressed in a pure white gown that matched her skin tone and adorned with ribbons the same color as his eyes, Seraphina was breathtakingly beautiful. It was because of her beauty that he let his guard down.

He should have helped her regulate her pheromones more carefully. After the eve of the Founding Festival, everything descended into chaos.

When Damian saw Seraphina throw herself into the lake, he thought he was going mad.

Perhaps he had. He wanted nothing more than to treat her well, but the harder he tried, the more mistakes he made.

Ultimately, he made the worst possible choices.

Anyone who acted that way must be crazy.

And yet, Damian did not give up.

The harder he tried, the more Seraphina distanced herself from him, as if her distance were mocking his efforts.

Ultimately, he became the worst husband to her.

This was why, when Seraphina said he was her first love, he could not be purely happy.

If she were to discover that the boy she had loved first was Damian himself, she would undoubtedly be disappointed. The illusion of first love would shatter.

So Damian desperately hid who he was and how he felt.

He swallowed his “I love you” and said “I’m sorry” instead.

All the while, he mocked himself.

The Empire’s finest husband material?

What a joke.

He was the worst husband —

—one who deserved to be abandoned.

***

“…No.”

Tears streamed down Seraphina’s face. The love and anguish embedded in Damian’s pheromones spilled out with her tears, carrying his memories and regrets with them.

“You’re not the worst husband, Damian.”

Damian’s hand, which had been reaching out to wipe away her tears, froze mid-air. Seraphina gently pressed her cheek against it.

“You’re the best husband.”

“…Sephi.”

Damian called her name in a low, husky voice. His brows knitted and his eyes narrowed as he fixed a damp, emotional gaze on Seraphina.

“Thank you… for forgiving me.”

The moist, resonant timbre of Damian’s voice brushed against Seraphina’s ears. After hesitating and fidgeting with her cheek, he spoke as if he was forcing the words past a tight throat.

“I love you.”

When he confessed his feelings, Seraphina’s eyes widened. Those few short words conveyed the years he had spent longing for her, the time he had endured for her sake, and the countless moments he had struggled to protect her.

To him, it had all been happiness.

That was what Damian was saying.

Seraphina looked at him and smiled warmly. Then she whispered softly.

“I love you too.”

When she replied, Damian’s pupils dilated. His emotions spilled out in the form of pheromones, surrounding Seraphina with warmth.

She was surrounded by the scent of a cool forest at dawn, with fresh greenery sparkling with dew.

Seraphina felt his joy in its entirety. She sensed how long he had waited for this moment, and how earnest and desperate his heart had been.

He rejoiced like a young boy—

like the awkward, blunt boy he had been when they first met.

Cradled in Damian’s pheromones, Seraphina’s heart swelled with emotion. She softly called his name, steeped in his happiness.

“…Damian.”

The moment she said his name, Damian frowned, as if he had lost control. The next instant, he stepped forward and pressed his lips against hers.

Cupping her cheek, he pushed a warm, insistent kiss between her lips. Their breaths mingled as heat spilled forth and they clung to one another.

Damian poured out his love for her with his whole body — she alone was his, and she was the reason he lived.

“Sephi…”

As their lips parted for a moment, a fervent sound escaped from Damian’s throat. Calling her name, he furrowed his brow, kissing her again as if he could not bear to be apart from her for even a second.

Breathing heavily, Seraphina closed her eyes, returned the kiss, and pulled him into her embrace.

At her touch, Damian became even more passionate, holding her as though he would not allow the slightest space between them.

As their bodies melded into one, Seraphina’s pheromones began to flow.

A spring garden bloomed around her as she finally came to truly understand Damian. The flowers released fresh, vivid scents into the air.

Their pheromones, entwined as tightly as their embrace, blended into one. Their contrasting temperatures merged naturally to create a wonderful fragrance.

Cool yet comforting, fresh yet sweet; a dreamlike, romantic scent of love that seemed impossible in this world.

Bathed in that rich fragrance, Seraphina’s heart sank into a gentle, warming emotion. Deep within her, truths that would never change were etched forever.

Seraphina loves Damian.

Damian loves Seraphina.

And Damian was—

— her one true love.

『The Worst Husband』 — End