“I sent a letter to the Lucius Marquisate. I told them to come and take you back as soon as possible, so once someone from the Marquisate arrives, you’ll return there.”
“…The Lucius Marquisate doesn’t take back omegas once they’ve been sold. If I leave, another omega will simply be sent in my place.”
“No. That won’t happen. I’ve already received the omega who’ll replace you. Chaika will take your place.”
At Mihail’s words, Nile’s eyes widened. Ilya, too, failed to hide his shock.
“Your Grace!”
Nile cried out as he stepped forward.
“That child is—please, let him live as he is now. You can’t make that child live the same life I’ve lived!”
“That isn’t for you to decide.”
There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in Mihail’s voice or expression. Nile studied Mihail’s face for a moment, then his shoulders sagged in despair.
“Then at least… please let me stay by his side.”
“I bought one omega from Marquis Lucius. I don’t need two.”
Having said that much, Mihail gestured to the servants waiting by the door. A servant told Nile to leave, but Nile didn’t listen. In the end, two servants forcibly dragged him out.
“Your Grace! Your Grace! Please, let that child live as he is!”
Nile shouted desperately even as he was pulled away. Ilya alternated his gaze between the dragged-away Nile and Mihail, his face twisted with distress and pity.
The door closed, and Nile’s voice soon faded into nothing. Mihail returned to the window and fixed his gaze on the Black Tower.
“Are you planning to have an heir with Chaika?”
Ilya stepped closer and asked.
“You can’t even face him properly—how are you supposed to make a child like that?”
“…….”
“Honestly, he’s so small and frail that it’s frightening to think he might die if you made him bear a child. …What are you planning to do?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
“He leaves the soft bed untouched and curls up in a cold corner where even the heat from the fireplace doesn’t reach. I hear he sleeps there too, curled up and dozing lightly. When I asked him why, he said he doesn’t deserve to be in a warm, comfortable place. He looked like he thought he needed to be punished for hurting the great Lord Mihail.”
“…You’re saying some omega injured me?”
Mihail muttered coldly. Ilya stared at the distant Black Tower for a moment, then spoke again.
“He says he wants to see you.”
“…….”
“He said he really, really wants to see you.”
After saying that much, Ilya patted Mihail’s shoulder a couple of times, as if encouraging him, and turned away. Left alone in the room, Mihail collapsed weakly into a chair and covered his eyes with his hand. A heavy sigh escaped him.
“He wants to see you. He really, really wants to see you.”
The brief words Ilya had delivered echoed in his ears.
“He wants to see you. He really, really wants to see you.”
They repeated endlessly, over and over, until the voice gradually changed. It was no longer Ilya’s voice, but the creature’s.
“I want to see you. I really, really want to see you.”
“Sorry. I was wrong. I committed a sin worthy of death. Please forgive me. Please kill me… You should be begging, spilling those words a hundred, a thousand times—and instead… all you say is that you want to see me?”
Mihail let out a hollow laugh and lifted his head. Then he glared at the Black Tower. No—he tried to glare at it.
“I want to see you. I really, really want to see you.”
“You’re not asking for forgiveness, not begging to be spared, not pleading to be released… just saying you want to see me… an omega like you.”
Mihail forced strength into his final words, but he knew it himself. His usual disgust didn’t fully carry through. And… perhaps that was because the words Ilya had conveyed were exactly the words Mihail had wanted to hear.
Less than ten days after word was sent to the Marquisate, Marquis Lucius himself paid a visit. Andre Lucius, the Marquis, didn’t fly into a rage even after hearing that the full-blooded younger sibling Nile had been protecting was an omega. He simply accepted Mihail’s condition—hand over Chaika in Nile’s place—without complaint. From the Marquis’s perspective, he had not only sold a commodity he hadn’t even known existed at a high price, but also recovered the premium product Nile intact, making it an enormous business gain.
Perhaps as a gesture in return for that profit, the Marquis agreed to lend Castiya Castle a physician from his own household—one renowned for specializing exclusively in omegas. A physician who dealt only with omegas from a family that trafficked in them would surely be of great help in caring for Chaika.
Before leaving with the Marquis, Nile begged for just one chance to see Chaika and say goodbye. Feeling pity for him, Ilya added a word in support. With permission granted, Nile climbed the Black Tower alone. Contrary to expectations that it would take a long time, he came back down in less than thirty minutes. What kind of conversation Chaika and Nile shared was something no one would ever know. And just like that, leaving Chaika behind, Nile boarded the Marquis’s carriage and departed Castiya Castle.
With Nile gone, Castiya Castle didn’t change much. It merely returned to how it had been before he was there. The only difference was that once night fell, a faint light leaked from the top of the Black Tower every single day.
“Starting today, we plan to reduce the Bellagie extract to once every three days.”
At the physician’s words, Mihail tore his gaze away from the distant Black Tower.
“I was under the impression that the daily dosage had been gradually reduced. Won’t there be problems if you suddenly increase the interval to once every three days—not even every other day?”
“We’ve already been reducing the dosage little by little for a full month. The amount taken daily is extremely small to begin with, and the withdrawal symptoms that were previously visible have improved significantly. We don’t anticipate any major issues even if we increase the interval to once every three days.”
“In that case, fine. His health?”
“As the toxicity is removed, his bodily functions are slowly recovering as well. Since omegas have strong baseline recovery abilities, if things continue like this, his recovery should proceed smoothly. It will take time to fully recover, of course.”
“I see.”
Just as Mihail was about to turn his attention back to the Black Tower, the physician cautiously stepped half a pace closer and spoke.
“However… Your Grace.”
“What is it?”
“Lord Chaika keeps asking for more Bellagie extract.”
Mihail’s gaze instantly turned sharp.
“At first, he only asked carefully for a little more, but recently, as the dosage has been significantly reduced, he asks for more every day…”
“Withdrawal symptoms?”
“He’s extremely restless, even biting his nails until they bleed, but we believe it’s psychological rather than withdrawal caused by addiction.”
“…Pheromones.”
At Mihail’s words, the physician nodded.
“The pheromones that were neutralized by the poison are slowly recovering. For now, it’s still very faint—you’d only notice it if you were quite close—but as time passes, it will grow stronger. Lord Chaika can sense that as well, which is making him even more anxious.”
Pheromones.
Mihail murmured inwardly as he stared at the Black Tower. That disgusting scent that forcibly provokes an alpha’s lust. It was now emanating from Chaika’s body.
“Once the dosage is reduced to once every three days, the pheromones will recover even faster, so I recommend changing the tower’s guards.”
“Do it.”
Mihail nodded.
Currently, the door to the tower was guarded by ordinary soldiers. In Castiya’s inner castle, no one would deliberately try to break in anyway, and even if the door weren’t locked, Chaika wouldn’t open it himself and escape. The guard was little more than a symbolic presence.
But now, things were different. Once Chaika began emitting omega pheromones, they had to be prepared for the possibility of some reckless alpha being drawn in. There were quite a few knights stationed in Castiya’s outer castle. Among them were newly appointed knights—young or immature ones who didn’t know how to control their instincts. It was time to have a seasoned alpha knight guard Chaika against such predators.
The daily reports came to an end. Normally, Mihail would have waved the physician away by now, but instead he stood there silently, gazing at the Black Tower. The physician, too, remained in place. After standing like that for quite some time, Mihail suddenly asked quietly.
“He hasn’t said it’s suffocating in there?”
“He hasn’t said anything like that. He simply curls up in the same spot every day… It’s bad for his health, so I move him to the bed each time, but as soon as I leave, he goes right back to the same place.”
“…….”
It had already been a month. Not a few days, not ten days, not even half a month—an entire month.
The season had fully passed late autumn and entered the depths of winter; the wind and air were brutally cold. The Black Tower had only a small opening with no proper window, meaning icy air would rush straight inside. One would have to stay by the fireplace just to escape the chill—and yet he was curled up against the wall farthest from it…
Mihail’s jaw clenched involuntarily. He felt a powerful urge to head straight up to the top of the tower, drag him to the bed, and bark at him to wrap himself in blankets.
“…I hesitate to speak out of turn, Your Grace, but what about changing Lord Chaika’s quarters? His depression is severe, and staying in an environment with almost no sunlight is detrimental to both physical and mental health. And even if the opening is small, the winter wind blows straight in… It’s far too harsh an environment for a patient to endure the winter. If he were somewhere with good sunlight, I believe both his body and mind would recover more quickly.”
“That’s none of your concern.”
“…My apologies.”
The physician bowed deeply. At Mihail’s gesture, he bowed again in courtesy and stepped back. A servant opened the door, and just as the physician was about to exit, Mihail stopped him.
“Wait.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The physician walked back a few steps. Mihail stared at the Black Tower for a moment before speaking.
“Let him take a walk in the garden once a day.”
“A walk?”
“He’ll get some sunlight and exercise that way.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The physician withdrew, his expression visibly brightened.
