As Valleus went to speak with his superior, another knight, Sir Luther, approached the table. “Have you two heard about the crown prince?” he asked quietly, leaning forward.

Coriund, who recognized the sound of good gossip when he heard it, leaned toward him. “No, what is it?” 

Carmine’s expression took on a hint of interest, but he pretended not to care. “They say he’s just turned into an omega.” 

Both Carmine and Coriund’s eyes widened when they heard. “What? How is that possible? Isn’t he nineteen?” Coriund asked in a hushed tone. 

“Yes, but one of the maids swears she heard the castle physician discussing things with the duke. Of course, it can’t be confirmed until he’s presented at the altar, but apparently, the physician has started him on some meds especially for omegas.” Luther laughed incredulously. “Supposedly, he’s even in heat! Our crown prince, quivering in desire. Can you imagine?” He licked his lips boorishly for emphasis. “You think he’d beg for it?” 

Coriund furrowed his brows. Though both he and Luther were alphas, it was undoubtedly incredibly inappropriate to speak this way about anyone, let alone the crown prince they served. 

“Ahem.” Valleus appeared suddenly, loudly pulling back his chair to interrupt the conversation. 

Luther’s eyes widened. “A-ah. Sir Valleus. Forgive me, I was just bidding Sir Coriund and Sir Carmine goodnight.” With that, the man escaped the mess hall. 

In all the time the two had known Valleus, he’d never used his alpha pheromones on purpose. In fact, he’d always been fairly ashamed of them, and had gone to great pains to remain unnoticed amongst alpha rivalries. But now, glowering at where Luther had been standing, it was undeniable that Valleus was indeed angrily exuding pheromones. As he sat, Coriund found himself growing rather tense. Carmine, a beta, wasn’t truly affected by the pheromones, but the fact he even knew they were there was quite telling.

“What was that about?” he asked, level tone not matching the pheromones still being released. He blinked as he asked, trying to control himself since Luther was now gone. 

“H-he was telling us about Prince Aushen,” Coriund replied, stuttering. “There’s a rumor going around about him, is all.” 

Valleus looked serious. “What is it?” he asked gently. He really wasn’t trying to make Coriund more afraid of him than he already was, and he’d been surprised by his own emotional response to the way Luther had been speaking.

Carmine saw Coriund was still shaken by Valleus’ pheromones and answered instead. “He was just saying a maid has been going around telling people Prince Aushen had become an omega. I’m sure it’s just idle chatter.” He tried to cut off the conversation there. However, seeing Valleus’ complicated expression, Carmine lowered his eyes. 

“Right… you were always really close with him,” Coriund noted absentmindedly. “I’m sorry you had to hear that. I should’ve said something sooner to get Luther to shut up.” 

‘You really should have!’ Valleus felt his temper flare once more, and shook his head. “No, it’s fine. It’s not like you expected him to say that anyways…” 

“His Highness was sick though, right? Is he okay now?” Coriund asked delicately. 

Concern flashed across Valleus’ features, and before he could respond, Carmine stood suddenly. “I think I’ll make some tea.” He gathered the bowls roughly and quickly left the table. Though Valleus didn’t see the expression on Carmine’s face as he left, Coriund did. ‘Tch. Still jealous, I see.’

“Coriund,” Valleus murmured quietly, looking deeply into his friend’s eyes. “I’ll tell you what happened, but you have to swear to keep quiet.” Coriund nodded quickly, waiting eagerly to hear the truth. “So, as I’d said before, after we escaped from the cultists, we ended up in a small cave… I’m a bit fuzzy on the details because of the whole ritual and everything.” Valleus conveniently left out the part where his unconscious body seemed to have saved them both. “Suffice to say, we were settled in, trying to stay warm… I–” Valleus coughed, blushing slightly. “I noticed that his pheromones were those of an omega.”

Confusion colored Coriund’s face. “Were you, y’know… okay?” 

Valleus nodded in response. “I mean, as much as an alpha alone with an omega can be, I suppose. It wasn’t… offputting, at all,” he trailed off shyly. 

Coriund, unlike his dear friend, was quite quick on the draw towards things pertaining to romance, or even just emotions. His eyebrows rose as he saw an expression on Valleus’ face that he hadn’t seen before. 

“Well, that’s good at least,” Coriund replied. He wasn’t sure whether he could call the event that  led to his friend’s distaste for omegas “trauma”, but it had quite long-reaching effects regardless. Three years into their knighthood, the squads they were a part of were sent to the east realm to quell some bandit activity that had grown quite wild. After they’d done their duty, some of the older knights in the group decided to “make men” of the younger ones. Though Coriund had understood what was about to take place, he didn’t realize that Valleus definitely hadn’t. He’d been given a strong drink and sent off to a room with some of the women, all of whom were omegas. Within minutes, he stormed out in a fury. Coriund had never seen his friend so red in his life. He didn’t stop to speak to his fellow knights, and Coriund had chosen to chase after him instead of going off to a room himself.