The Crown Prince's Courtesan - Chapter 11
A chill swept through her body. No, pleasure. A feeling like sinking into thick, black tar.
‘I… I can’t breathe. Are these his pheromones?’
It wasn’t even flooding out deliberately, and that made it all the more terrifying. Just a trace — just the faintest release — was enough to make her lungs tighten.
‘From just a little of it…’
The scent was arrogant, threatening, utterly unbothered by the need to conceal itself. And yet, there was something about it that made her throat dry, her pulse tighten with unbearable anticipation.
Marie clenched her fists.
“Hello.”
She parted trembling lips. Arrogant Alphas often tried to crush an Omega’s spirit right from the start, and Marie had no intention of being drawn in like that.
“Are you the one who invited me?”
“…”
“I heard you chose me.”
“…”
She prayed her voice wouldn’t crack from nerves as she reached up and, without permission, pulled away the black cloth from her eyes. No one stopped her. And when her eyes opened, she saw exactly what she’d feared.
A man sat across from her, just as she’d expected.
“…!”
What struck her first was the sheer presence of his body. Even beneath finely tailored garments, his figure looked sculpted from stone.
But that wasn’t what shocked her.
No, what sent her heart plummeting was something else entirely.
He leaned slightly, one arm resting over the armrest as he stared at her. Snd Marie, locking eyes with him, recoiled in silent horror.
‘No. No, you can’t be serious. Of all people, why…?’
For the first time, the man’s cold, unwavering eyes flickered with a trace of interest at her reaction. His jet-black hair swayed slightly as he tilted his head. His lips were strikingly red. A man unused to being kept waiting, he spoke in a smooth, unbothered voice.
“So, you recognize me.”
“…”
Her heart skipped a beat.
‘How could I not?’
She had only ever seen that deep black hair once in her life, and it had been from a great distance.
Those eyes — amethysts sharp enough to pierce — and that suffocating pheromone, so distinct and overwhelming.
They could only belong to one person in the entire kingdom.
‘Something’s gone wrong. Why… why would he choose me?’
He was Russell Ed Crocus. A man of such an unattainably high status that she’d never even dared approach him at the academy — the one and only crown prince of this kingdom!
But why him?
Why would he ever need a courtesan?
“…”
The heir to the throne.
The absurd, almost laughable possibility she had barely dared to consider had become reality.
Fear and dread broke over her in a cold sweat.
The man lightly tapped her arm with his long fingers.
“Why so silent? I’m getting bored.”
“How could I possibly… say anything…”
What could she say?
Her heart was pounding so hard it might burst. But the man didn’t seem inclined to give her any room to breathe.
With half-lidded eyes, he spoke in a cold, detached tone.
“I assume your coming here means you’re for sale.”
For sale. It was true, but hearing it aloud was cruel.
“…Yes.”
“If it is…”
Every time his predator-like eyes met hers, his pheromones thickened, suffocating her.
“Then make me want to buy you. Isn’t that the point?”
Her legs nearly gave out at the mockery in his voice. But he didn’t stop there. His next words were unmistakably derisive.
“Or were you thinking of playing the part of a modest noble lady? How out of place.”
She heard contempt in his voice. Maybe even hatred.
Why? This was the first time Marie had ever spoken with the crown prince. Could he have heard the rumors from the academy and arranged this meeting just to humiliate her?
No, that didn’t match the kind of duties a crown prince should be concerned with.
“Your Highness, please, your pheromones…”
“You can’t handle this much?”
“Ugh…”
The pressure intensified. The pheromones of an ultra-dominant Alpha… Even a dominant Omega couldn’t endure it easily.
The relentless onslaught of pheromones finally provoked a violent reaction in her tightly-sealed Omega glands.
‘…!’
Her own pheromones, thick and unrestrained, began to spill into the room. A crisp scent of grapefruit bloomed — undetectable to her, but unmistakable to others.
The man’s eyes narrowed. Unaware of this, Marie gasped and bent forward, struggling. In a trembling whisper, she pleaded.
“Your… Highness… please, withdraw your pheromones, I—ugh…”
The man tilted his chin and asked, indifferent.
“And why should I?”
“Ah… if this continues, I’ll… commit a terrible discourtesy…”
Marie’s hand clenched into a fist. His lazy gaze seemed to track the faint wisps of her pheromones as they began to leak out.
‘No, I don’t want this.’
Tears welled up. She refused to collapse like an animal, to surrender to instinct before a man who sought to crush her.
‘If anything…’
Marie chose to do the opposite. She abruptly lifted her head as if nothing had happened, meeting the terrifying man’s eyes head-on. When she dared to glare at the crown prince, his lips curled ever so slightly.
‘I’m not your plaything.’
And with that, Marie flung open the tightly locked gates of her own pheromone reservoir. The man’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at the sudden surge.
