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Michael sipped the tea out of the expensive China porcelain cup that had been handed to him by one of the maids as the table was being set for dinner. His father, the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, had just told him he’d be married to Prince Louis of Baden in order to secure the continuation of their house and a strong alliance for the house of Schumacher-Habsburg-Görlitz.
“It’s not the worst thing in life.” his mother Elizabeth said.
The Omega placed the cup down. “I’m simply disappointed that once again I have not been asked my opinion. I had hoped that after that incident he’d listen to me.” he then looked out of the window. “Baden is quite far south.”
“A carriage will transport you and your dowry.” the Grand Duchess said to her oldest. “Your father just wants the best for you, and he believes Charles Frederick’s third son is the best option.”
In all honesty, the 20-year-old didn’t know if it was even a good idea to travel this time of year. He knew a lot of bandits would be out for the jewels he’d be dressed in as well as everything in his dowry, and those groups usually didn’t back down from using violence.
And what Michael had expected, happened.
On his second day of traveling, when they were approaching the Electorate of Hesse, they got ambushed.
The Omega knew he had to run away as far as he possibly could. He might not get murdered, but the fate of Omegas in the hands of bandits was even more insecure than the fate of others.
Once he could get out, he did.
While on the run, he threw away the heavily bejewelled robes he’d been dressed in to be presented to Prince Louis upon his arrival in Freiburg. Not that that would happen anytime soon, however. Survival would come first, notifying his family was only possible once he’d found shelter.
He just ran, he didn’t know in which direction he was even going at that point. He was only wearing his white under gown that basically functioned as a nightgown too. And the only piece of jewellery left on his body was one single golden ring laid in with a sapphire, as he’d ditched the many others.
The only thing he was able to do right now was attempt to disappear and find a safe spot to hide for a while until it was sort of safe enough to send a letter to his family to say where he was hanging out. The best spot would be a small village or a farm, no one would expect a noble Omega to hide out there!
An iron axe landed in the middle of a red dot, self-painted on a disk made from the wood of a tree.
The man who’d thrown it was standing at least 10 feet away from the disk that was resting on the stem of a tree. There was a bag with several other axes and daggers on the stump of a cut down tree next to him.
“Daddy, shall we go now?” a young boy, no older than 2, asked.
The father looked up at the sky, to see the positioning of the sun. “That would be a good idea. You go sit on Drezel’s back.” he said, referring to the small fox-coloured Shetlander pony they owned. He removed the axe he had thrown from the disk and put it in the satchel before placing that on his back. Then, he took the reins of the pony and started walking home.
Wolf attacks had become more vicious in the area, and he had to keep his son and his animals safe. He wasn’t even talking about bandits roaming through the area who stole what they could steal from travellers, and they often tried to raid farms of their valuables.
As they were on their way back to the farm, having collected nuts and berries in the forest, the father and son pair found someone lying in the bushes.
At first, the farmer thought it was a dead body until he saw fingers moving.
The person in the bushes was wearing a long white dress that was torn in many places. The ring on his left hand did indicate he was of some sort of nobility status, whether it be land nobility or the German Hochadel. Yet he wore no other clothes or jewellery.
The Alpha carefully picked up the dark blonde male Omega.
“Daddy? Who is he?” his son asked.
“I don’t know, sweetie. But something definitely happened to him.” it was likely he was a victim of a local gang, who’d kidnapped him and taken all of his riches except for the ring he still wore. “We’ll let him rest with the sheep and goats. We don’t know what he’s been through in the past couple days.”
Michael slowly regained consciousness, and noticed it was dark where he was. He noted he wasn’t lying on branches and leaves that had been the bush he fell into as his body had shut down due to exhaustion, but on a bed of straw with his head on top of a pillow of wool and his body underneath a blanket of wool.
He was in a farmer’s stables, which he saw as he opened his eyes and stared at the butt of a sheep.
A farmer had found him and had made sure he’d been warm.
Sharing a space with sheep and goats wasn’t the most ideal sleeping arrangement, but it was a fine place to hide from bandits for the time being until it was safe to travel back home.
Then, the door of the stable opened, and an Alpha man entered.
The Duchess of Oldenburg had met a few Alphas, but none had looked as pristine as the one walking in. He purred internally as he spotted the strong facial features and the soft looking platinum blonde hair.
“Are you alright, my Lord?” the farmer asked.
“I am, thanks to you.” the Omega replied. He felt his body wanted to present in front of this Alpha. Instead, he kept his back straight. “When I can get back home, I’ll reward you for your troubles.”
“I take it you were the victim of bandits?” the platinum blonde asked.
Michael nodded. “My transport to Baden was overrun. I barely avoided capture.”
“I’m glad you’re okay.” the Alpha said. “Is your home close to here?”
“Depends on how far away we are from Oldenburg.”
“You’re just south of Göttingen.”
The Duchess looked at the ground. “Well… shit.”
“I have paper, so you can inform your family where you are.” the platinum blonde offered.
“Perhaps in a bit. It’s bandit season, and I don’t want my family to risk everything just to get me. I think it’s best to wait until autumn comes around.”
The farmer nodded. “Of course, whatever is your wish. I’ll set up a bed for you in the main house, I need that bed for the help that will come from the village to help with the harvest.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” the Omega looked at his torn gown. “Uhm… do you perhaps have something I could wear? Especially with the upcoming colder days in mind.”
“I think I might have some clothes from my ex-wife lying around.”
“You’re divorced?” Michael asked, blinking in surprise. “You look quite young.”
“I am only twenty-one, if that’s what you’re wondering.” the Alpha told. “But yes, I married rather young. I think it was simply about rebelling against everything that my mother once planned for me.”
“Not a good relationship?”
The platinum blonde shook his head. “No. I was born due to an extramarital relationship from my mother, Lady Natalya Alexandrovna, with a Finnish commoner. Ever since then, I’ve been seen as a bastard that should never have been born.”
“I’m sorry.” the Duchess took the stronger man’s hand. He no longer backed down from touching now he knew the man was nobility in a way.
“There’s nothing much you can do about it.” the secret noble said before taking the Omega’s hand and kissing the back. “I have not forgotten my etiquette, and I shall treat you as you are supposed to be.”
“I thank thee, for thy kindness.” the dark blonde said.
“I hope you are not disgusted that I am living far below my birth right.”
Michael looked into the Alpha’s eyes. “I’m not disgusted. I admire you for the courage that you have by taking on a profession that isn’t one you were trained in, so far away from your home.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I’ll introduce you to my son Hugo.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting your boy.”
Mika had never meant to reveal his noble ancestry to the Omega before him, but it slipped over his tongue a bit too easy after hiding it since he ran away from home at the age of 16. He felt he was never meant for life at court, with the huge formal ceremonies and stiff collars on the suits he had been forced to wear.
He had learned German, one of the few electives that his tutors allowed the noble sons and daughters of Russia to take, and had become very fluent in the language during his stay in Hardegsen where he’d met his wife Erna who’d been the daughter of a baker.
They had eloped and married in the local Lutheran church when they were both barely 17, as they had an easy romance despite the father of the bride not liking his daughter’s groom.
And for a while, the Finn had been happy with his common German wife who had borne him a son a good year into their marriage. That was until Erna fell so easily in love with another farmer, divorcing him and leaving him and their son behind for this other farmer.
Things had gone downhill from there, and he’d ended up as a single father running a farm.
He’d handled it well thus far, but the noble Omega had made his noble upbringing resurface.
“May I have your name?” the platinum blonde asked.
“Duchess Michael Theodore Francis Wilhelm of Oldenburg.” the German replied, slightly bowing his head.
“Grand Duke Mikhail Alexander Nicolas Feodor Natalyavich Romanov of Finland.” Mika then said. “But I go by my Finnish diminutive Mika.”
“You’re Russian?” the dark blonde asked. “I never knew Russians were as handsome as you.”
“My mother is Russian, my father is Finnish.”
Michael hummed. “Where did you have those clothes?”
“They should be somewhere in here.” the Finn replied, opening a wooden chest. “I don’t know if they will fit you, but I shall leave you alone to try them out.”
“Of course, thank you.” the Duchess said. “I’ll be happy to get out of this torn gown.”
The platinum blonde left the Omega alone, going downstairs to the ground floor where the kitchen was to prepare a lunch meal for 3 people now he had an extra guest.
“Daddy?” his son began. “Is he going to be my new mommy?”
“What are you talking about, sweetheart?” the Alpha asked.
“The person you found; will he be my new mommy?”
“My child, how did you arrive at such a thought? Not every woman or Omega I take home will be your new mommy, daddy really needs to love them to make them your mommy.” the secret Grand Duke replied.
“I want a mommy.” the little boy sniffed.
“Maybe one day I’ll find someone who can make the two of us happy.”
Michael was very happy to get out of the torn gown and wear something that was slightly more appropriate to walk around in public with.
The dress was a bit tight, but not too tight to wear casually.
The Duchess twirled around once more in front of the mirror before going downstairs only to hear the comments that were made by Mika and his son. He could only imagine how the boy must feel, knowing there was something very different about him as he only had a father.
Children could be cruel, and it was likely he was judged by others for not having a mother as if it was his fault that his mother had left him alone with his father and not taken him with her.
Mika was a good father, showing his son love and kindness as he spoke.
There was no doubt in the German’s mind that the Alpha would be a good husband.
If only, heh?