It was obvious where the creature had gone. There was no need to search for traces or rack his brain guessing the destination. All he had to do was walk straight toward that place. As the anger at the creature’s sudden flight faded, the senses that had briefly dulled began to return, and Mihail suddenly came to a stop.
“……”
It was a scent. Incredibly sweet, yet sharply stimulating.
Mihail had smelled it before. Chaika’s pheromones, back when he’d been spending his heat cycle in Nile’s quarters. Just passing through, and yet the scent lingered and clung like this… His pheromones had recovered to a considerable degree.
“Your Grace.”
While he stood there, the knight who had been chasing after Chaika approached and bowed his head, then raised a hand to point in one direction. Mihail nodded and dismissed the knight with a gesture. Then he began walking toward where Chaika would be.
The western edge of the garden.
Mihail pushed through the low, roundly trimmed ornamental trees deeper in the garden. Just like a few months ago, he ignored the path entirely, trampling straight through by instinct and direction alone. Soon, a small grove of trees appeared, and beneath them, a shaded patch of ground. Chaika’s secret cultivation site.
The land where Bellagie once grew in clusters now held nothing. There was nothing left except the scars of earth dug up all the way to the roots. Chaika sat collapsed on that ground, not even wearing an overcoat.
As if hoping even a single leaf might remain, his small, pale hands rummaged through the overturned soil again and again. But in a place where everything had been dug up without leaving even a single root behind, there was no way a leaf could remain. Even after confirming that nothing he sought was left, Chaika didn’t stop clawing at the earth with both hands. His small shoulders, scraping at the dirt like a madman, slowly began to tremble.
“Hhk… hff… hff….”
Chaika clenched soil in both hands, shoulders shaking as he sobbed. Hhu… hhk… hff… The sound of him swallowing back his cries was pitiful. Mihail could only stand there and watch.
“…What do I do… what do I do…. What do I do now… what do I do….”
Murmuring to himself through sobs, Chaika eventually collapsed face-first onto the ground and began to wail aloud. The small body convulsing with choking sobs looked unbearably fragile. He wanted to gather that small, delicate form, the sorrowful wailing, the fear soaked into those cries, into his arms. If he did, the creature would cling to Mihail at once and pour out his tears.
But Mihail couldn’t take even a single step closer. From the creature—from Chaika—omega pheromones were thickening with every tear that fell. A cloyingly sweet scent Mihail had never tasted in his entire life wrapped around his body. Sweet and intoxicating. A lewd, sensual fragrance that dug deep into instinct itself…. That was Chaika’s pheromones.
“You haven’t even seen him yet. That creature as an omega…. You haven’t met him yet.”
“He might be different. He said he’s quitting the medicine, didn’t he? Then meet him as an omega. See for yourself whether he’s as disgusting, as repulsive as you fear. And if he really is…. Decide then. Send him far away, or keep feeding him the medicine and live together for ten more years.”
Disgusting? Repulsive? This unbearably sweet scent? This intoxicating, sensual fragrance?
Mihail muttered inwardly as he stared at Chaika, collapsed on the dirt and sobbing.
He wanted to comfort him. And at the same time, he wanted to press the crying creature down onto the earth and tear his clothes apart. He wanted to touch, knead, suck, lick, and bite that small, fragile body however he pleased, make him moan. He wanted to grab those slender legs, force them apart, and violate his body without restraint.
Just imagining it was unbearably intoxicating. Chaika’s sweet pheromones were tempting him to do exactly that. An overwhelming temptation that was nearly impossible to resist. This wasn’t pheromones—it was poison. A poison too powerful to refuse.
There had been countless times when another omega’s pheromones had stirred his sexual desire. Being forcibly aroused by pheromones had always been filthy, unpleasant, and nauseating. And yet, in this moment, Mihail couldn’t understand why these intense pheromones, forcibly setting his lust ablaze, didn’t feel repulsive at all.
The only thing he could understand was that the creature was crying. Shaking with despair, sobbing uncontrollably. Crying because the poisonous herb that would slowly kill him had disappeared. And that Mihail wanted to violate him anyway.
After sobbing face-down for a while, the creature wiped his eyes with his sleeve and began digging through the dirt again. As if determined to find even a single root, he sifted through the soil relentlessly.
“There’s nothing there.”
Mihail spoke quietly, perfectly containing the storm of emotions raging inside him. He scrutinized himself—his voice, his expression—to ensure they were cold. They had to be. If Chaika noticed that Mihail wanted to pull him into his arms right now, that he wanted to pin him down and take him….
“…Lord Mihail….”
The creature, who had been staring at him blankly through streaming tears, finally managed to utter a single word. That tiny call, whispered like it might be carried away by the wind, made Mihail’s chest sink. Having called once, the creature seemed to find courage and called again, a little louder.
“Lord Mihail.”
After forcing out the call, Chaika rubbed his eyes with his sleeve, then—hk—his sobs burst free again.
Small, timid, utterly weak, and on top of that, he cried endlessly. A creature good for absolutely nothing. Mihail’s entire body itched with the urge to rush over and embrace him. He wanted to hold him until he broke. He wanted to bite his neck. Ah… if it wouldn’t kill him, he wanted to chew up his flesh and devour it.
Mihail couldn’t tell how long he stood there watching the creature cry. Chaika’s eyes were swollen red and puffy, so a great deal of time had clearly passed. After crying that much, the creature finally stopped, then staggered unsteadily to his feet.
“Go back.”
After confirming that Chaika had stopped crying and stood up, Mihail spoke curtly, then turned away as if without a shred of regret.
“Lord Mihail!”
Chaika took a hesitant step forward and cried out. Instead of turning his head, Mihail retraced his steps the way he’d come.
“…Lo, Lord Mihail. …Lord Mihail!”
Chaika called out again and again, mustering his courage. Mihail felt relieved. Thank goodness the creature only called his name—if he’d said even one word about wanting to see him, Mihail wouldn’t have been able to look away any longer and would have turned back and lunged at him.
“Lord Mihail. I’m sorry… I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
Chaika shouted tearfully at his retreating back. When Mihail emerged from the trees, a knight and the physician were waiting.
“It’s cold. Take him back quickly and sit him in front of the fireplace. Even if you have to give him medicine, make sure he sleeps deeply in a warm bed.”
“Yes. I’ll see to it, Your Grace.”
The physician bowed deeply.
“And.”
Mihail continued, fixing his gaze squarely on the knight’s face.
“Make sure no useless things get any ideas. Anyone at all.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The seasoned knight nodded, understanding perfectly. He wasn’t just talking about immature young alphas drawn in by pheromones. Even alphas with enough age and patience sometimes coveted omegas and caused incidents. As a nearby example, hadn’t the late emperor killed Count Vasari in order to steal Mihail’s mother, whom Mihail’s father had already imprinted on? That was why Mihail warned the knight as well. Don’t dare covet what’s mine.
It had been about two months since sending him to the Black Tower and then facing him again. Ever since then, Chaika had been taking daily walks, never resting his gaze, constantly looking around. It was obvious he was diligently watching out, just in case he might run into Mihail again. Watching him through the window, Mihail let out a rare scoff.
What he thought might subside after a day or two showed no sign of easing even after a week. With every step of his walk, he twisted his head this way and that, even craning his neck out long to look around—so much so it made one worry he might strain it. Eventually, he even started lingering past his allotted walk time, dragging it out instead of returning to the tower. The way he tried so hard, in his own way, just in case he might encounter Mihail, was so trivial it only provoked laughter.
On the tenth day, Mihail finally went out into the garden to match Chaika’s walking time. He had no hobby of strolling alone, so wandering the garden at a slow pace felt exceedingly tedious and foolish. But that feeling lasted only a moment. The instant he saw Chaika waddling toward him from afar, flanked by the physician, servants, and a knight, the corners of his mouth loosened without his noticing.
As the days grew colder, the clothes Chaika layered on grew thicker and more numerous. They were far too thick and excessive for his small body, leaving “waddling” as the only possible way to describe his gait now.
Watching Chaika—smaller than the beta physician and servants—waddle along while looking around nervously from a distance made him look exactly like a duckling. No, perhaps a baby goose. With his hands clasped behind his back, Mihail watched Chaika’s walk as though enjoying an amusing play.
A sharp gust of cold wind blew from Chaika’s direction toward Mihail. The dense pheromones carried on it made his head spin in an instant. In just ten days, Chaika’s pheromones had grown unbearably intense. With only a faint trace of scent riding the wind, part of Mihail’s mind was already anticipating ecstasy.
Chaika’s pheromones whispered and tempted him, asking just how intense that ecstasy would be if he took their owner. Mihail closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe deeply, struggling to maintain his reason.
He felt a gaze. When he opened his eyes, Chaika was standing far away, staring straight at him. As if he couldn’t believe he’d finally found him, Chaika had wide, rabbit-like eyes and his mouth hung slightly open, looking utterly foolish.
