# Chapter 52
In response to Toms’ answer, Asher clutched his outer coat tightly and climbed up to where the carriage was waiting. It was clear that returning home like this would arouse suspicion, but when it came to asking someone for help, no one came to mind except Shaki. Asher fought against the sleep that was pouring over him madly and got off at the place where the carriage had stopped.
“Where is this place?”
“It’s Young Master Shaki’s villa, sir.”
“Villa?”
Asher blinked slowly at the unfamiliar exterior of the villa, then spotted Shaki approaching from a distance. Asher pushed Toms back and approached him, barely managing to move his legs that seemed to have no strength.
“Brother.”
At Asher’s words, Shaki’s eyes shook roughly. He seemed to have many things he wanted to say, and Asher could see him tightly clenching his gloved hand while emanating a frightening aura.
“Asher.”
His voice flowed across his lips, as cold as the chilly weather. Then, biting his lips so hard they might bleed, he picked Asher up in his arms.
“B-brother?!”
“You can’t walk like this.”
As if he had assessed Asher’s condition, Shaki held him tightly and poured out his pheromones. It was an enormous amount, almost like a pheromone shower.
“You came to ask for help, right? But right now, anyone can see that you’re full of that bastard’s… no, the Grand Duke’s pheromones.”
Shaki poured in his own pheromones as if he was determined to completely erase Luke’s pheromones that covered Asher’s body. The rose scent was so suffocating that Asher felt dizzy. Eventually, Asher covered his nose and held his breath, as if he couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Just a moment. Bear with it a little longer, even if it’s difficult.”
Seeing Asher struggling, Shaki smiled as if to reassure him. That smile looked so sorrowful that Asher couldn’t bring himself to push him away, and quietly closed his eyes in his arms.
Asher remembered briefly closing his eyes as the warm pheromones enveloped his body. But when he opened his eyes and saw the unfamiliar ceiling, he sat up with a start. However, Shaki restrained his movement, making him lie halfway down, and asked in a voice calmer than usual.
“Are you awake?”
“…What happened?”
“You fell asleep. You must have been very tired.”
Having gone without sleep for five days, it seemed he had unconsciously lost consciousness as soon as the tension eased. After all, Shaki was the only person he could trust. Asher, his ear tips reddening with embarrassment, asked him.
“How long was I asleep?”
“Two days.”
“…”
“Your condition was serious, so I called a priest to replenish your energy. If it had been any later, your life might have been in danger.”
It seemed that as a receptive Omega, it was too much for him to handle the dominant Alpha. Asher muttered words of gratitude in a rough, cracked voice and got up.
“Would you like some water?”
“Yes.”
At Asher’s words, Shaki filled a glass halfway with water and approached, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Even though Asher could do this much by himself, before he could say he was fine, Shaki was already pouring water into his mouth. Asher had no choice but to hold the bottom part of the glass that Shaki was holding and emptied half the cup.
“Is it okay for you not to go to work? Father will be worried.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re more important to me than work.”
He dismissed Asher’s words before he could add anything else. Asher had thought Shaki’s feelings toward him had changed a lot recently, but he hadn’t expected them to have become this heavy. In the sinking silence, Asher thought of Braden and clutched the edge of the blanket tightly.
“Asher.”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry for forcing the pheromone shower on you. I wasn’t in my right mind then.”
Shaki clenched his fist tightly, perhaps remembering how Asher had been on the verge of collapse. But soon he maintained his composure and said to Asher.
“Father doesn’t know about your heat. I never told him that you were staying at the Grand Duke’s villa.”
“…”
“And I won’t tell him in the future. That seems to be what you want, too.”
His blue eyes, reminiscent of the sky, rippled deeply. Somehow, Asher even had the illusion that something akin to possessiveness was surging through them. Asher tensed, throwing back the covers and sitting up.
“Do you remember what I said? That I would oppose your engagement to the Grand Duke if you didn’t want it. I’d like you to stay in our family. More precisely, I want you to stay by my side, protected as you are now.”
“…Brother.”
“I don’t know why you went into heat with him, but I can hide that too. So just stay hidden behind me. I’ll take care of everything. So, Asher…”
“…”
“Tell me that all of this was a mistake.”
Shaki was looking down at Asher, clenching his fist as if desperately hoping. He seemed confused, like someone who wanted to deny what had happened to Asher.
“It wasn’t a mistake.”
“…”
“You know, don’t you, brother? How much I liked His Majesty.”
Asher smiled at Shaki as if he had gone to the villa already knowing everything. Otherwise, he couldn’t say that day was a mistake, feeling that this precarious relationship would crumble.
“Like, you say…”
Shaki echoed Asher’s words and gave a hollow laugh. As if the current situation was very displeasing, he roughly ran his hand through his hair and sat on the bed.
“Human hearts are truly difficult things. But I don’t mind. Whether I have feelings for His Majesty or not, just seeing you smile makes me happy.”
“…”
“I intend to keep quiet about what happened between you and the Grand Duke. If you need help with that, don’t hesitate to come to me. I’m the only one in this empire who will protect you.”
From Shaki’s gaze, which looked as if he would sacrifice himself solely for Asher without asking for anything in return, Asher realized that his feelings were flowing in the uneasy direction he had feared. Afraid that he might truly cross the line, Asher clutched his own hands tightly and smiled faintly.
“Thank you.”
Anyway, once Braden returned, Shaki’s feelings would be sorted out. Shaki would come to dislike him for deceiving the family, just like in the original work. Knowing that those feelings would turn into love-hate, Asher looked at him and said.
“I hope there will be a day when I can repay the gratitude I’ve received from you. But that probably won’t happen anytime soon. So, if ever there comes a time when I can help you, I’d like you to come find me without hesitation. Even if it means putting my life on the line.”
In the original story, the Duke was said to pass on his title to the person who found him. Ember, who already disliked Asher, searched desperately, and Shaki helped Ember send Asher to the depths of hell. As far as he remembered, the person who found Asher first in the original work was Ember.
No matter how desperately Asher struggled to survive, if the original story didn’t change, he would surely be caught by Ember. If that happened, being caught by Shaki, who wanted to inherit the title, would be much better. But Shaki stared at Asher’s melancholy expression and answered in a low voice.
“You’re wrong.”
“…Huh?”
“I told you, didn’t I? That I would protect you even at the cost of my life. If you’re truly grateful, then stay by my side. That’s all I need. Because nothing would be more painful than seeing you disappear from my sight.”
Shaki’s intense eyes scrutinized Asher’s face and gleamed bleakly. This aura, perceptible even without physical contact, was similar to the emotion he had felt from Luke. But why had it turned out like this? In the original work, Shaki never had feelings for Asher beyond those of a brother. Rather, he had lived with a regretful heart, doing for his real brother what he couldn’t do before. Asher looked at Shaki with uncomprehending eyes, and then hiccupped at what he heard next.
“So you shouldn’t do anything.”
“…”
“Because you are a gift from mother and more special to me than a gift from God.”
Shaki gripped Asher’s hand tightly with a voice so eerie it was suffocating. The emotion transmitted through his skin contained an indescribable obsession and affection, as if it was hard to believe how he had hidden these feelings all this time. The size of that emotion was too large, too creepy beyond imagination, that Asher unconsciously shook off his hand.
“A gift from mother… I hope you’ll protect it well.”
Asher recalled Braden’s appearance at Aria’s house. Looking at it now, Shaki’s sad eyes seemed to resemble Braden’s eyes as he looked at Aria. Asher recalled an inexplicable, alien feeling and resolved to escape as soon as possible as he got up from his seat.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
