Chaika’s Poison 52

“Chaika….”

Mihail let out a faint sigh and buried his nose into the crown of Chaika’s head. When he inhaled deeply, the scent of sweat, warm skin, and an intoxicatingly sweet pheromone filled his lungs. Lowering his head, he pressed his nose behind Chaika’s ear, along the nape of his neck and his shoulder, thoroughly breathing him in. The tension that had finally settled below stirred again, dull and insistent. Instead of pouncing on him once more, Mihail settled for grinding his teeth gently into Chaika’s nape. Chaika curled his body tightly in response, but he didn’t try to stop Mihail.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re an omega. That sort of thing… doesn’t matter anymore.”

Mihail whispered with his nose still pressed to the back of Chaika’s neck.

“…Even if I’m an omega… you’re really okay with that?”

The cautious question trembled faintly as it left his lips.

“If I wasn’t, do you think I’d be holding you like this?”

“But… you hate omegas. You hate omega pheromones too.”

“So that’s why you were so determined to keep taking that medicine—because you didn’t want me to hate you?”

“…….”

Once again, Chaika didn’t answer. But as Mihail watched him closely, he caught the slightest nod. To think he’d been seeking out a poison that would kill him, all because he was afraid Mihail might hate him….

His chest swelled until it felt like it might burst. This small, delicate, fragile creature was so unbearably lovable that he could hardly stand it.

This cute little thing. This precious thing.

Mihail pulled Chaika tightly into his arms and showered him with fervent kisses. At first, Chaika squirmed and protested that he didn’t like it, but as the kiss deepened, he wrapped his arms around Mihail’s neck and responded just as passionately.

“I don’t care if you’re an omega, a beta, or even some other kind of beast. It doesn’t matter. None of it does.”

After ending the deep kiss, Mihail spoke while looking straight into those violet eyes. The eyes that had widened slightly in surprise soon softened, and then a smile brimming with joy bloomed across Chaika’s face.

“Lord Mihail….”

Chaika stretched both arms up around Mihail’s neck and clung to him desperately, as if trying to become one with him. Mihail wrapped his arms around Chaika’s back and held him so tightly there wasn’t a single gap between them. In this moment, Mihail felt that everything was perfect. Flawless. Complete. Yes—having this lovely thing of his made Mihail’s life whole and perfect.

***

After the heat cycle ended, Chaika fell seriously ill. It was the aftermath of two days and nights of nonstop, violent sex. His entire body was covered in bruises shaped like handprints and bite marks, to the point where hardly any white skin was visible. Severe muscle pain, exhaustion, and a fever all piled on at once.

The physician attending Chaika couldn’t hide his stunned expression as he looked at the marks engraved all over Chaika’s body. Mihail himself hadn’t expected that simply holding him down and biting him would leave bruises this severe. Watching Chaika groan in pain despite taking painkillers and sleeping pills, Mihail reflected—just a little—on his failure to restrain himself.

Even after the two-day heat cycle ended, Mihail stayed glued to Chaika’s side for another full two days before finally leaving his bedroom. He’d delegated all the tedious matters to capable stewards and agents, but there were still important issues that required Mihail’s direct approval from time to time.

The moment he stepped into his office, his heart was already racing back to Chaika. Unlike usual, Mihail plowed through the piles of documents on his desk at remarkable speed. He wanted to finish as quickly as possible and return to Chaika. He’d already been told he was hateful—if he wasn’t there when Chaika finally woke up after being sick, who knew how hurt he’d feel?

Not long after Mihail sat at his desk and began working at a rapid pace, Ilya entered the office. The moment their eyes met, Ilya clapped his hands and even let out a whistle.

“Good heavens. I never thought I’d live to see the day you’d sleep with an omega!”

Ilya spoke theatrically, his face genuinely full of shock and awe.

“I hear you tormented that tiny thing for two whole days without giving him a moment’s rest? The entire castle’s buzzing about it already.”

Ilya teased as he perched on the edge of Mihail’s desk. Mihail let out a faint scoff. A sense of stability and ease radiated from him now. Noticing it, Ilya’s expression softened with relief.

“They say every shoe has its match—looks like yours really did exist in this world, judging by how you’ve changed.”

Ilya looked sincerely pleased.

“Ah, so this means I won’t have to deal with those damn imperial envoys who show up every few days anymore. Since it’s come to this, hurry up and get him pregnant already.”

At the word pregnant, Mihail’s face stiffened. Instead of realizing he’d misspoken, Ilya studied Mihail’s expression closely. The fact that Mihail—who’d loathed omegas to an extreme degree—had accepted Chaika at all was already a massive step forward. But impregnating an omega was an entirely different matter. Omegas and children—that was the very core of Mihail’s omega aversion.

“He’s someone who’s been shaving years off his life by drinking poison since childhood just to live as a beta. He desperately refuses to let omega pheromones come out of his body or to live as an omega. If he were to get pregnant in that state, the psychological shock would be enormous. He needs time to adjust to life as an omega.”

Ilya rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then lowered his voice and spoke with a conspiratorial look.

“I hear he begs for the medicine every day, saying he wants to go back to living as a beta. Even if Chaika has feelings for you, spending his entire life as an omega—something he’s rejected so fiercely—won’t be an easy decision. So don’t give him room to entertain other thoughts. Just get him pregnant quickly. Once omegas are with child, they tend to become noticeably more obedient. Pregnancy makes them vulnerable, after all, and they need protection.”

Mihail frowned. Ilya wasn’t wrong. Omegas, far fewer in number than alphas, were always precious commodities. And yet, most omegas were forced to bear an alpha’s child according to the will of their family or owner, regardless of their own wishes. Getting an omega pregnant wasn’t simply about producing an heir—it was something else entirely. A child was the most effective means of making an omega compliant and binding them to one’s side.

Mihail loathed the act of using a child to possess and restrain an omega just as much as he loathed omegas themselves. But now that he stood in that position, he couldn’t deny that the idea was tempting.

Chaika still wanted to return to being a beta. He said he didn’t want to live as an omega. If someone like that were to carry Mihail’s child….

That gentle creature would undoubtedly place the child in his womb above everything else. Sheltered and protected at the side of Mihail—one of the most powerful and wealthy men on the continent—he would safely give birth. And the moment Chaika held that newborn in his arms, he would leave the past behind and think only of a future with Mihail and their child.

Chaika finally managed to get up again nearly four days after the heat cycle ended. The severe fever and muscle pain had subsided, but the bruises scattered across his body had only darkened with time, leaving him mottled with discoloration everywhere.

Bruises could be hidden under clothes—but there was nothing he could do about his neck, which remained exposed. Bite marks and deep suction bruises covered it completely. The physician who stayed by Chaika’s side all day couldn’t help but glance at Mihail from time to time as though he were some kind of beast, likely because of those vivid marks.

Chaika’s sleeping quarters were moved back to Mihail’s bedroom. Mihail removed the cushioned makeshift bed he’d had set up near the fireplace and laid Chaika down on his own bed instead.

On their first night sharing the bed, Chaika tossed and turned all night, clearly uneasy and unable to adjust. The next morning, he asked if Mihail could put the small bed back. Mihail, of course, didn’t even pretend to listen.

Their daily life returned to how it had been before Chaika’s omega status was exposed. They slept in late, ate breakfast together, and went for walks or horseback riding as a form of exercise. When Mihail worked in his office, he had a chair placed right beside his own so Chaika could sit next to him. That, at least, was a compromise—Chaika had resisted with all his might when Mihail tried to seat him on his lap while working.

Spending every hour of the day together with another person and sleeping in the same bed was unfamiliar to both Mihail and Chaika. Yet, as if by some miracle, they adapted quickly. Mihail refused to let Chaika out of his sight for even a moment, and Chaika, too—aside from absolutely refusing things like being sat on Mihail’s lap—stayed by his side with willing, cheerful devotion.

The only problem was that Chaika’s old habits from when he worked wouldn’t fade. Whenever his eyes landed on furniture or the floor, he felt an uncontrollable urge to clean. Even if another servant or maid had just passed through and cleaned, it always looked sloppily done to Chaika’s eyes.

The rumor that Chaika was actually an omega—and that Mihail was utterly smitten with him—had already spread throughout the castle and was now treated as established fact. The story of a Duke who was a Dominant Alpha and yet hated omegas to the point of obsession falling head over heels for a single omega was irresistible gossip. In just a few days, it spread to every corner of the country.

“I’ve brought the medicine.”

The physician held out the medicine bowl. Chaika quickly accepted it, then peered inside and made a disappointed face. Inside was barely enough Bellagie juice for a single sip. The interval had already been extended to once a week, and the amount decreased noticeably with every dose. At this rate, by next week—or the week after—he wouldn’t be able to take Bellagie juice at all.

“It’s too little. Can’t you give me more?”

Chaika looked up at the physician with a pitiful expression. Now that Chaika’s omega pheromones had almost fully recovered, the physician cleared his throat awkwardly at the request. Omega pheromones primarily affected alphas, but they had a mild effect on betas as well. Combined with Chaika’s beautiful appearance and those mysterious violet eyes, the effect was amplified even further.

“…No.”

The physician barely managed to shake off Chaika’s plea and shook his head. It was a good thing he was a beta—if he’d been an alpha, he wouldn’t have been able to refuse that request at all.

Author: Levia