'Don't look around, Meria. Just keep looking forward and don't think about much. Think of this as a weird confidence-building exercise you are forced to endure.'
Meria kept his focus forward and kept walking. His cold face discouraged people from approaching him or talking to him.
Finally, once he was sure he was alone with the pup in his arms, Meria let the child go.
"Hey, you can look up now. That mean emperor is no longer here to scare you."
Misha Ferin looked like a doll. Her red hair and grey eyes framed her white face and gave the impression of being a fragile child. Combined with the tears in her eyes, it invoked anyone's protective desires.
"T-That mean alpha is not here? T-Thank you for saving me. Misha was so scared, but Misha was no longer scared. You saved Misha."
The omega pup slowly brightened as soon as she realised she was safe. The cuteness of that pup made Meria's heart melt, and he even cracked a smile.
People stopped walking, and servants crashed into each other. No one had ever seen General Misha's smiling and relaxed face. There was a rumour that the only smile he could give was one of bloodlust.
"A-Are my eyes deceiving me? Or did that happen?"
One of the passing servants asked as he cracked into the wall. The others shook their head, determined not to say a word.
A silent alliance was formed that day, and everyone telepathically agreed to never speak of this again. This scene was too dangerous for mortals like them to know about.
Meanwhile, Meria, who caused such a thing, was unaware of what was happening. He continued to listen to Misha talking with a determined and excited expression on her face.
Of course, such a perfect moment could not last long. And Meria's leisure time was interrupted by Grand Minister Ferin's arrival.
"I can see that you managed to charm my granddaughter, General Meria. But perhaps you might want to look for a better opportunity to perform such a deed. You took away a big opportunity from my dear Misha."
Grand Minister Ferin's voice was stern, and his attention made Meria squirm in his place. He was sure that the older man was blaming him for something.
He was about to surrender and bow down when a small body extended its arms. Misha looked at her grandfather angrily, and for the first time in her life, she scolded the older man.
"Grandfather, you meanie. How can you speak so angrily to someone as kindhearted as Meria? D-Don't bully Meria b-because Meria will become Misha's wife once she ages. After all, Meria is thoughtful and beautiful, just like mommy was."
A silence followed Misha's declaration, and the sudden attention caused Misha's face to turn red.
But despite being stared at by everyone in the vicinity, the young omega refused to look away. She did not even care that she was supposed to be the 'wife' in this situation.
"Misha, my dear, please calm down. I don't think you realise what you are saying right now. You should come to me, and we can talk about this, alright?"
Grand Minister Ferin was stunned to see his granddaughter acting like this.
She was shy, so she hardly ever spoke out like this. She was also obedient and liked to keep to herself. So, her current behaviour came as a shock to him.
"No! I will not calm down. Grandfather, you promised me one thing if I did as you asked, and Misha did that. What I want is to marry this person. Grandfather, please."
Misha was adamant, and Grand Minister Ferin was speechless. The on-lookers were speechless.
But most importantly, Misha was speechless.
'How did I go from not being proposed to my whole life and having my fiancé cheating on me to getting proposed by an alpha and an omega (both underaged and in pup stages) in a matter of two days?'
Meria knew he needed to do something about this situation. He did not like how Grand Minister Ferin looked at him. That annoyance made Meria's skin crawl.
"M-Misha, you cannot marry me. First, you are an omega, and I am a beta. Neither can claim the other, so forming a bond is impossible. And even if you do find a way to form a bond between us, you still need to marry an alpha. Otherwise, life will become very inconvenient for you."
Explaining biology to a kid was a difficult job. And it was even more complicated when the kid was convinced she wanted something.
"I cannot marry you? But why? I like you a lot. Father said all you need to do is love each other, and you can get married. T-Then, did father lie to me?"
Meria and Grand Minister Ferin looked at each other with awkward looks on their faces. And finally, Meria decided to tell a harmless lie to a kid.
"Misha, you cannot marry me because you are too young. You can try to marry me once you are old enough, alright?"
It was getting more and more awkward. Grand Minister Ferin's face was red in anger, but even he knew this was the best way to handle this situation was to let Misha calm down.
And the girl looked like she believed Meria.
"You promise you will marry me once I am old enough? W-What if you get married before I am old enough to marry you? No! I cannot allow that. You cannot marry anyone else, alright? You need to promise me that you will wait for me."
Misha's instincts told her she needed to extract this promise now, or she would regret it.
Once again, an awkward silence descended on the group. Meria could tell there was no way out of this situation except to make this promise. But lying like this did not make him feel good.
"Well, I cannot promise to wait for you. That decision is not in my hands, and I apologise for that. However, if you are still interested in me once you grow up, I can promise to give you a fair shot at stealing me."
Meria's words were awkward, and everyone could tell he was humouring a kid. However, little did he know that Misha was taking all these words to her heart and keeping them close.
"Alright, I understand. Our current emperor is a tyrant, and he might not give Meria a choice in his marriage. But once I grow up, I will save you from whoever you are forced to marry. And then we will live a good life, alright?"
Meria smiled on the outside, but he was exhausted on the inside.
'Oh god! Kids were scary sometimes.'