"Who is the father?"

"What?"

"Look, I looked at all of the dates, and I'm not an idiot, James."

"No, I–what I mean is–I don't understand why would you even need to do all of that..?"

Huuu. 

Arthur took a deep breath and turned to look at James, who was stuttering and gulping a few mouthfuls of air. 

In this dimly lit room, there was no way out for James. He could either answer Arthur or could answer Arthur—there was no second choice. 

Despite that, Arthur didn't force him. Keeping a distance that won't terrify the already stressed omega, Arthur continued to talk. 

"I'm not mad—no, that'd be a lie. I'm livid. But I do need to understand what's happening."

James dreaded the calm look on Arthur's face, it terrified him. The way his alpha was calmly asking him something that could mean his disloyalty made his heart fall to his stomach. 

"Just what do you mean…?"

His voice shook, and the desperation was clear. The room suddenly spun around him, allowing Arthur to hold him and help him to sit down on the nearest sofa. 

"Calm down, you're pregnant."

"With—with your child."

Arthur shook his head. 

"I know the child isn't mine. James, stop the denial."

Silence fell in the room, suffocating James. The two mates sat next to each other—as if Arthur didn't just accuse James of carrying another person's child. 

Arthur wasn't aggressive, he used no force, instead he seemed to be concerned about James' and the baby's well-being.

The moonlight filled the room with the passing time until finally, James decided to speak up. 

"Since when did you doubt it…?"

"My mother did. You do know how in-laws tend to be. And my mother does quite like you, I'd say."

Arthur answered with a chuckle before letting out another sigh. 

"But leaving aside the funny things… Do you not plan to tell me who the child's father is?"

James fell silent again, hanging his head low and never meeting Arthur's gaze. 

Seeing that, Arthur arched his eyebrow but made sure to keep his voice even without any impatience. The last thing he wanted was to corner James now. 

"Why are you not answering me, James?"

"Because I—because I just can't."

"And why is that?"

However, it seemed like he still failed in making James comfortable throughout this 'interrogation'.

"Arthur, please, just stop asking me!— ugh!"

"James!"

Rushing toward James—who fell back in his chair

while clutching his stomach—Arthur didn't hesitate to call the ambulance and immediately transport him to hospital. 

'Ha. Things are just getting too complicated like this.'

As for his question regarding the child's father, it seemed that Arthur would need to give up on them if he valued James and the baby. 

»»-----------¤-----------««

"...ugh."

The world was dark. James felt his body aching as he touched his stomach instinctively, wanting to secure his baby subconsciously. 

"Are you alright?"

"...Arthur…?"

James felt a warm hand support his back as someone helped him to sit straight. After blinking several times, the world was finally less blurry in his eyes. 

Clenching his fists, James noticed the IV needle. 

"Wait, this–Arthur! Is the baby okay?!"

With a soft chuckle, Arthur touched James' head. 

"The baby is okay, thankfully. The doctor said you fainted due to stress. I wish to ask you many questions, but I doubt it would help any of us."

"Mhm…"

James bit his lip and lowered his head again. In all honesty, he wanted to be transparent with Arthur. Arthur was a great alpha who always cared about him and never mistreated him or looked down on him despite his secondary gender being omega. 

In this side of the world where humans gained magical power in addition to awakening a secondary gender once they reach the age of sixteen, sexism resurfaced. 

However, instead of males looking down on females—it became alpha and betas treating omegas as if they were nothing but dust due to their low magical power. 

Arthur was one of the rare alphas who never did that. He was James' childhood friend and even when James presented as an omega, he never changed the way he acted toward him. 

That's how the two ended up in a relationship together as mates. Their love wasn't exactly romantic, but they did care and cherish each other quite a bit. 

For these few reasons, James couldn't bring himself to confess what happened to Arthur. 

'How can I tell you that a random female alpha was drunk and found me training in the abandoned areas, and ended up taking advantage of me?'

Arthur had warned him several times about how it was dangerous for an omega like him to move around those places alone. Especially because James possessed great charm. 

Knowing that and still disregarding his warnings, only to be taken advantage of and ending up pregnant, James felt both ashamed and guilty.

However, something even worse revealed itself to him the moment he realized he was pregnant. 

That female alpha wasn't even human, she was a demon. 

'And she seemed to be powerful…'

James didn't even want to think about it. He pressed on his stomach and took a deep breath. The mere thought of how he was pregnant with a high-ranking demon's spawn while the relationship between human mages and demonic race was at its lowest was enough to put him on the edge. 

No matter how kind and caring Arthur was—nothing could make James brave enough to confess that. 

Even if Arthur was alright with James carrying someone else's kid, would he be alright if that kid had demonic blood running in his veins? 

Not to mention, the government and the Imperial family were sure to frame James as a spy to the demonic race. 

Dealing with this issue wasn't simple. 

Soon, Arthur's voice pulled James up from his deep thoughts. 

"Well. You should have calmed down a bit now, yes?"

"Yeah…"

"Then, I apologize in advance. James, we need to talk this out. So, just answer my questions. I promise I won't pressure you. Deal?"

Receiving a reluctant nod from James, Arthur gently held his free hand and started asking. 

"Was it a relationship? Do you love the father of this child?"

"No! I don't even know them that well!"

James answered anxiously, only to receive a reassuring squeeze in return. 

"Alright, would you at least tell me how it happened…?"

"No–no, I just can't."

Arthur heaved a helpless sigh. 

"If you're not honest with me, I can't protect you. I'm an alpha as well. The inner voices are livid and I'm barely holding myself back."

James yanked his hand away and curled on himself, hugging his knees close to his chest while looking warily at Arthur. 

"So this is your choice, huh?"

"...sorry…"

"Don't be. My protection to you ends up here then. I can't protect you while I can't even trust you. You were always dear to me, James, but everything has a limit."

James' eyes widened and his hand subconsciously reached to hold onto Arthur's—only to be lightly swatted away. 

Arthur stood up abruptly and heaved a deep sigh. 

"I wish you the best, take care of yourself."

"Arthur—!"

But it was too late. Arthur didn't want to wait, he immediately left. Everything was falling apart. Not only was James' stuck with the harsh reality of being impregnated—against his will—by a demon, his mate just abandoned him when he needed him the most. 

Why? 

Why? 

Tears rolled down James' cheeks as his sobs echoed through the room. The sudden loneliness in his heart felt agonizing. 

But what terrified him the most was his current status. 

An abandoned omega in a society that only valued alphas and betas, and occasionally reduced an omega's worth to a breeding servant. James was now a pregnant, abandoned omega by his mate. 

'I'm so screwed…'

James hated how helpless and terrified he felt at that moment. 

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*