"Y-Y-You! Meria, you are a bastard. I will tell Daddy what you did to me, and then he will punish you. Just wait and watch."
Fiona threatened with tears in her eyes.
Meria almost feared she would insist on staying behind and cause him trouble.
Thankfully, Fiona had a sense of self-preservation, and she quickly made her exit.
"She's not a bright one, right? Says the Saintess."
The retainer's voice came out suddenly, and it shocked Meria.
He shivered as he looked up to see the Saintess's current mood.
She looked considerably happier than before and relieved not to face Fiona any longer.
'It looks like the Saintess did not like Fiona. I should apologise to her before the Saintess feels even more offended with Fiona.'
Meria opened his mouth to beg for forgiveness, but the Saintess had already turned her head away.
"The Saintess says that you should follow her. She will not wait for you to come to your senses."
The retainer was blunt, and the Saintess's words were even blunter.
Meria could not help but feel like a fish out of water.
"O-Of course. I did not mean to make the Saintess wait on me."
He spoke softly and quickly covered the remaining distance between himself and the Saintess.
The Saintess looked like a delicate doll from afar.
Her whole body was covered in clothes that hid her body and created an air of mystery around her.
But looking at her from close enough exposed another picture.
'Huh! Was the Saintess supposed to be this tall? Usually, even betas have difficulty crossing my height, much less omegas. I remember when Kerin used to complain about being shorter than me. His brother also looks short for his age, right?'
Meria's mind was full of fond memories, and he followed the Saintess with an empty mind.
That was why he did not notice when they entered an empty hallway, as well as the short non-verbal war between the Saintess and her retainer.
He only looked up when a gloved hand rested on his shoulder and tilted his head.
"You are much more beautiful than I imagined you to be. Darn it! I should have asked the temple to make you my knight ages ago, but that emperor would not stop blocking my way. How did you ever tolerate a man as annoying as the emperor."
Meria froze as soon as he heard a voice whispering in his ear.
It sounded soft but far from delicate.
Logically, he knew that the face leaning over his shoulder and the hand playing with his hair belonged to the Saintess, but Meria was still shocked.
Mainly because the voice speaking in his ear did not belong to a female.
It was a low and baritone voice that belonged to a male.
And a powerful alpha at that.
This close, he could finally scent the Saintess, and even that scent screamed 'alpha' to him.
'W-What is going on here? Have I finally lost my mind?'
Meria asked as he was unable to move.
"General Meria, are you alright? I did not break you or anything, right?"
The Saintess waved her? His? Hand in front of Meria's face, he did not know what to think anymore.
"Y-You are an alpha? Wait a second! There must be a mistake. Wasn't the Saintess supposed to be an omega? And, a woman. But most importantly! An omega?"
Meria asked once more, causing the Saintess to pull back finally.
The full-body cloth finally came off the Saintess, and it looked male and well-defined enough to be a powerful alpha.
"Ah, it feels so good to finally get rid of my 'fake clothes' and move around comfortably. Also, fuck those rumours. I was always a male and an alpha. I didn't even want to participate in this mess of being 'the Saintess,' but the temple insisted."
"But I am not mad anymore, and I have adapted…hey, are you alright?"
The more agitated the Saintess got, the more his scent filled the room.
Somehow, it accumulated inside the closed space, causing Meria to feel faint.
He could feel the alpha's pheromones rushing toward him, trying to test his omega scent.
'No! I need to hold on and not get found out. This is my first mission, and I cannot fail it.'
Meria clenched his fist hard until his hand bled.
The pain helped him ground himself, and the alpha in front of him finally came to his senses and realised what he was doing.
"Ah, I apologise. It has been a long time since I got to release my blockers. These retainers are brutal in carrying out their duty. Also, your scent does not help the situation. Maybe it was a bad idea to take your scent blocker off."
Meria looked at the small patch in the Saintess's hands, and his face reddened.
His shocked expression must have looked ridiculous enough for the Saintess to laugh and turn red.
The Saintess looked at Meria's embarrassed expression and saw his intention to retreat.
So, she immediately tried to assure him that everything was alright.
"H-Hey, there is no need to feel embarrassed. I told you already that I knew your secret, right? And now you know my secret as well. You can consider us even or even better, as friends who share the same secret. You will indulge me, right?"
The Saintess asked as he held Meria's hand.
Meria had never seen an alpha as beautiful as the Saintess, and now that he was slowly getting over his panic, he was better able to take in the alpha in front of him.
The alpha had bright blond hair as well as blue eyes that shined.
His body was also covered in holy power stronger than Meria had ever seen.
If not for the presence of those alpha fangs and that shrewd light in the Saintess's eyes, anyone would have seen him and thought of him as an 'omega.'
"General Meria, we are friends, right? Right?"
The alpha was too close to Meria, but his heart was calm.
The holy light was off-setting the panic Meria's instincts should be feeling.
'Ah, I need to answer the Saintess.'
Meria was conflicted about what he should do.
But in the end, he decided to play it safe and agree to the Saintess's terms.
After all, just what could go wrong with growing close to the Saintess?