I Became the Tyrant's Beloved Omega

Aiden had lived all this time believing the monastery’s church was the most refined and splendid place there was. But the imperial palace was lavish in every corner, extravagantly so, to an excessive degree.

Aiden had been standing blankly before the door for a long while, before he slowly looked around the room. Silk curtains descending from the ceiling wrapped around a bed so large that several people could lie on it and still have room to spare. Afraid he might scratch the furniture with its intricate carvings, Aiden grew extremely cautious in his movements. Standing by the window, he gazed for a moment at the large terrace connected to the room, then let out a long sigh.

“Huu….”

But soon fatigue washed over him, and without even unpacking the trunk Mark had carried in, he flopped down onto the bed. Yet sleep would not come at all. Aiden sprang up, opened the window, and stepped out onto the terrace. Gazing at the garden, as wide as a plaza, Aiden let out a small exclamation.

“Managing the imperial palace must be awfully busy and hard.”

Aiden assumed that, as at the monastery, everyone divided up the work. Coming back inside, Aiden went into the bathroom. Warm water had been drawn in a bathtub that gleamed gold. He took out a change of clothes from the trunk, and was about to wash.

“Young master Aiden.”

Since he had not yet ascended to the position of Crown Prince, Aiden was still the young lord of the Vertex family. So Mark called him young master, and announced his presence.

“Huh? Yes.”

“Her Majesty the Empress has arrived.”

“Ah? Yes! Please come in.”

Aiden roughly closed the trunk and tossed the clothes he was going to wear on top of it. Then he opened the door.

At the sight of Aiden opening the door himself, the Empress frowned. Whether Aiden knew it or not, he stared blankly at her.

“You truly seem to know nothing of manners.”

“Ah, ah! Hello. I am Aiden….”

“I shall have to teach you the imperial house’s etiquette from the very beginning.”

Even as Aiden greeted her, the Empress stepped into the room pretending not to hear, her gaze fixing on the worn trunk sitting in the middle of the room.

“Surely… you weren’t planning to change into those old clothes lying on that filthy trunk?”

“Ah, that’s all I have right now.”

The Empress’s sharp gaze, her mouth shut, shifted to Mark standing behind her. Mark, quick on the uptake, took out new clothes from the wardrobe in the room.

“Clothes to wear have all been prepared. A maid to attend your bath is also standing by, so you need only say the word when you need her.”

“A-a bath attendant?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Ah, no. I’m not a child, I can bathe by myself.”

The Empress shook her head at the sight of Aiden flustered and waving his hands about.

“Aiden.”

“Yes?”

“From now on, you must live with dignity as a member of the imperial house. Not as some lowly knight candidate.”

Aiden was quite taken aback by the Empress’s irritable tone. The Empress then commanded the dithering, speechless Aiden in a cold voice.

“In place of His Majesty the Emperor, I shall now strictly teach you, who have learned nothing.”

“…Yes.”

The Empress summoned Mark with a slight nod and a glance. Mark quickly approached the Empress, bowed his head slightly, and loyally awaited her words.

“You, ensure that the child is bathed first. Filthy as he is.”

“Understood, Your Majesty the Empress.”

After issuing her one-sided command, she turned her body irritably and left the room. Through her icy attitude, Aiden could grasp his own situation. That here, in this dazzlingly bright place, the imperial palace, there was no one who welcomed him.