Chapter Text
Hyde finally threw a tantrum. Your collar was torn to pieces from where it was on your neck. A little to the right, and your son would have scratched your scent glands off.
But he hasn’t. He won’t.
You hold the boy in your arms, who throws the rest of the rags to the floor. His nanny shakily collects the scraps of laces, unable to meet your eyes.
Not that it ever mattered.
You pick up your teacup again, only to find your reflection smiling. The tea has gone cold, but you don’t find it as bothersome.
“Hyde.”
The boy is remorseless. He clings to the lapels of your shirt, burying his nose in the bony crook of your collarbones.
“Yes father?”
Your mouth spills a laugh, and you finally seat the boy—your son properly on your lap.
“How fearless.” Hyde lets go of his tight grip, staring with all necessary attention. “Since I am feeling quite generous, I will forgo the collar for today.
The big stormy eyes calm down under your cool gaze. He’s already becoming a handful, never letting his guard down.
Ah. How did your darling duke ever handle you?
“Thank your lucky stars when you go to sleep tonight, hm?”
This is how it will be, demand anything and consider this opportunity gone.
The child looks down to your lap.
“I thank you, father.”
Precocious child. You smile, and the milky scent is on the cusp of souring again.
“Coral.”
“Close.” You shake the tube. “Coral and a subtext of vanilla.”
Hyde’s sense of smell is not as strong as yours, but the boy has already established himself to be a prodigy in recreating the scents he can smell. It’s a curious mix of the duke’s talent in creating things, and your talent of detecting the subtle layers of every scent that passed by you. Your sister would surely find him to be an interesting specimen to study.
Hyde’s little feet scurry towards you, peering over the counter. You can feel him staring holes into your hands. You shake the test tube one last time, tipping its mouth to drop a little bit of the water-like mixture on your hand. Instantly, the air is suffocated by the strong smell.
The aroma reminds you of the ailing woman in your bedroom. It wasn’t your intention to make this perfume, no, you haven’t tried something like this since the days of yore.
“…”
Hyde looked at you, and you hadn’t felt as tired as you did now.
“Hyde.” The entire tube is drained into the sterile sink, where it could’ve been smashed to pieces. “You must be careful with such things.”
“Such things?” Hyde looks at the counter, sure to check what he had done to prompt such a comment. It’s a scathing reminder that Hyde is still a pup.
You scoop the boy into your arms.
“It was a perfect sample.” Hyde looks over your shoulder, towards the sink you drained all those expensive ingredients into. “It smells just like mother now.”
“It doesn’t.”
Scents change, and it has been weeks since anyone has seen the duke, let alone Hyde.
The Duke Bonn of the near future looks at you with a silent question that you don’t have the heart to answer.
“Do you feel better now?”
The duke looked up from where she drank her tea—a medicine that smelled like mint and thistle that didn’t do shit, you were sure. For all the leeway your wife gave her personal physician, you took a particular pleasure in making that vixen’s life a living hell.
You thought it would be the final hint the duke needed to know what you were capable of.
The duke looked back down at the table.“…yes.”
Unfortunately, stubbornness seemed to be the Bonn family’s greatest weakness.
You did not point out the lie where you could have. Your answer was a simple hum instead. The chemicals were coming along just fine, but you took it upon yourself to set the liquids down. The mess would be hard to clean if your hands trembled any more than they were.
“Hyde has been investigating your attendants.”
You had done the same when the duke had started to behave strangely long ago. The implications would pinch. It should. Sometimes, all it takes to awaken from nightmares is a pinch.
“Has he now?”
Hyde was why the duke could die a peaceful death. The duke loved her son because of her selfish reasons. If you called out the reason for the gentle smile on her face, it’d be a pot calling the kettle black.
You don’t, so it doesn’t matter.
“I don’t want you to die.”
Your alpha was selfish. So utterly selfish and dishonest and cruel that it made you smile.
“I won’t.”
The duke startles. The cup tumbles to the floor, spilling tea over the stained marbles. It’s no surprise for you, because you know your wife is cruel, and wouldn’t want to leave you alone, even in death.
“Hyde needs someone to look after him.”
Possessiveness ran in their blood. Funny of the duke to think Hyde will let his mother go so easily, let alone both of his parents. Funnier yet was the thought that Duke Bonn will finally face her irrationality through her possessiveness.
There is a reason why the Bonn do not utter the phrase ‘Till death do us part.’ Duke Bonn hadn’t, either.
“I see.”
“You better.”