FMY 19

‘Strange…?’

It was clearly not an alpha pheromone, yet for an omega pheromone, it had a strangely piquant quality that resembled the scent of an alpha’s pheromone. It was a truly unique pheromone that was neither here nor there. Moreover, what was peculiar was that the concentration of the scent was extremely weak for it to be considered a presentation or a rut.

〈Ugh….〉

Still unable to regain consciousness, Serge grimaced, delirious with fever and groaning in pain.

‘He is an omega…. Knowing that, I can’t just leave him here.’

It was extremely faint, and not at all an omega-like pheromone, but he had just heard clearly that he possessed the omega secondary gender.

It would be ungentlemanly to leave him like this. If he abandoned him, alphas who still had weak self-control might lose their reason and do something terrible.

〈Damn it….〉

The thought of that made it impossible for him to just leave him there.

Raphael, with arms as large as an adult’s, lifted the body of the one who was unconscious and overwhelmed with pain.

〈Hey, Serge d’Arthur!〉

Tap, tap, the alpha’s hand gently patted the omega’s face, trying to rouse him.

〈Hngh….〉

Did the contact have an effect? The omega, who had his dazed eyes squeezed shut to endure the pain, strenuously lifted them open.

For a moment, their eyes met.

The afternoon sun, which clearly proved that he had skipped his afternoon class, starkly revealed the omega’s pale face.

‘Green….’

Orbs of glass, as dark green as a dense forest where the sun does not reach well, came and lodged themselves directly into Raphael’s sea-blue eyes. It was so overwhelming, as if a vast forest had come to embrace him. And from Serge came a refreshing scent, like delicate spearmint leaves that had bloomed in such a dense forest. It was the omega pheromone he was emitting.

‘…What is this?’

It was shocking. The reality of himself smelling this without any issue.

It was only natural, because it was another person’s ‘pheromone.’ Moreover, it was an omega pheromone, which he had so disliked and despised.

And yet, he was so unaffected.

No, it was not that he was unaffected, but it just felt refreshing, like a natural scent emanating from the earth.

Like a colorblind person seeing color for the first time, or an ageusic person tasting sweetness for the first time. To Raphael, Serge’s pheromone came as a shock that seemed to turn his world upside down.

While Raphael was lost in shock, faint, intelligible words began to come from Serge.

〈Suzanne…….〉

‘Oh, dear.’

At that voice, Raphael was abruptly awakened from the mental shock he had fallen into because of Serge’s pheromone.

〈I… I’m in so much pain, Suzanne….〉

Squeezing his eyes shut again, Serge furrowed his brow and groaned, continuously repeating the same name.

‘Suzanne? Is that a girlfriend’s name?’

A question mark automatically popped up in his mind. …Is Suzanne someone precious to him?

It was an unexpected side of him. He did not seem like someone who would openly display such emotions.

Arms that looked sturdy for an omega extended from the large body and wrapped around the young alpha’s thick neck. Raphael, caught off guard, held the sick person who clung to him and erased the question mark that had appeared in his mind.

‘Is it a rut after all….’

A rut makes a person lose their senses.

Serge buried his nose near Raphael’s neck, where the pheromone gland was, and panted. The alpha froze without realizing it at the feel of another’s ragged breath on his neck.

〈…Feels good. More….〉

〈……?〉

〈Give me more pheromones….〉

The omega, who seemed not to realize where he was or who he was with, was simply driven by instinct, craving the alpha’s pheromones. Like a person seeking fresh air in a stuffy, enclosed space. No, it was a bit more sticky and blatant than that.

Raphael, with his mind like a glass jar of melted, tangled candies, unknowingly released his pheromones. It was an alpha’s pheromone, one he did not often show in front of others.

A cool mandarin orange scent spreading through a birch forest. A heavy scent that was masculine yet alluring, as if fresh olives had been mixed in and crushed there, like downing a piquant forest whole. It was truly a strong scent that could make one dizzy and bewitched.

〈Ah… good. It’s refreshing….〉

Serge buried his face deeper into his neck and inhaled sharply. In that moment, the young Raphael’s face turned bright red. It was because the hot breath and moist lips of the omega touched and rubbed against the alpha’s skin every time he spoke.

Now it was certain. It was clearly a secondary presentation, one that was more severe than a typical rut. If not, there was no way the bashful young master, who looked as if he could not even properly strike up a conversation with someone, would be clinging to a prince’s neck begging for pheromones. Moreover, the fact that he felt the alpha’s pheromones as ‘refreshing,’ as if it were resolving some of his own unfulfilled sensations. It was just as he had learned, consistent with the characteristics of a heat cycle caused by a secondary presentation.

And the other person’s situation was having the same effect on him, an alpha. It was a natural reaction, like the spinal reflex where a leg kicks up when the knee is tapped in the right spot.

No matter how faint it was, to the point where it was hard to tell if it was an alpha’s or an omega’s, it was nevertheless an omega’s sex pheromone. Blood was gradually pooling in his lower abdomen, and it was getting hot. It felt like it was strangely, gently scratching at the self-control of a dominant alpha, which was usually so excellent.

Feeling that he could not let this continue, Raphael pushed Serge’s body away and shook him.

〈Hey, get a hold of yourself.〉

But the limp body, which seemed to have already lost its reason, did not return from its daze.

Raphael picked up the unconscious Serge and headed towards the infirmary. If he just stood there blankly, students coming back from class would end up surrounding them. Even if he was a loner who did not care about the eyes of others and had no friends, he probably would not want others to see him in such a raw state. With that thought, Raphael quickened his pace.

〈Damn it….〉

Every time he took a step, the body in his arms swayed, and his pheromones wafted out, seeping into Raphael’s skin and entering his nasal cavity. For some reason, he was inhaling it without any issue, but he stubbornly denied it.

‘This can’t be happening.’

Was it because of a boy’s childish petulance?

On his way out after properly handing Serge over to the school nurse, Raphael shook his head and repeated only that thought. He felt somehow unlike himself. The boy, who solely wanted to protect his sense of self, deliberately filled his confused insides with denial.

He later heard that servants from his family, having heard the news, came and swiftly returned to the ducal estate with their precious young master. It was perhaps a matter of course, as an omega could not be expected to endure in a dormitory room while taking suppressants from the infirmary like an alpha.

Besides, unlike other nobles whose territories were far away, was he not from the greatest of the great noble families who lived in a huge mansion in the capital, Anser? Since it was the presentation of a young master from such a noble family, considered second only to royalty, it was only natural that they would come to get him faster than anyone else.

A few days later, Serge, who had returned to school after recovering from the presentation pains, did not remember meeting Raphael. Not even the help he had personally given him.

Raphael, who already secretly found omegas troublesome, was not the least bit disappointed about that part.

Rather, he seemed to have thought that it was a relief he did not remember, and that for an strange incident in which he had been uncharacteristically involved, it was quite a convenient conclusion.

However, that unique mint-family omega pheromone strangely lingered in his memory for a long time. That fresh scent within the greenery, which had been so unforgettable and shocking.

“Then and now, why is it that only his pheromone is not repulsive…?”

Now, a long time after that day, it was a question he had held onto until now.

Raphael awoke from his reminiscence of his boyhood entanglement with Serge and once again scrubbed his body with a sponge soaked in the bathwater infused with fragrant oil. Perhaps because his recollection had been long, the water had cooled to the point where it no longer steamed.

It seemed to be because it was a unique pheromone, not at all omega-like….

Besides, it was so incredibly faint. Perhaps a regular alpha would not even notice that he was an omega, his unique body scent was that faint. The rumor that he was a recessive omega, close to a beta, seemed to be true.

And soon, a curve formed on Raphael’s lips.

Truly, thinking about it again, he is perfect as a contract partner.

The son of the Arthur family, the most influential among the few powerful families that controlled Blanche, and conveniently, his pheromones were not repulsive, making him perfectly suitable for acting as if they were in love, and he had even succeeded in these negotiations by seizing his weakness.

Of course, even if his pheromone had been the kind unique to omegas that he found repulsive, he probably would have continued the alliance. But how fortunate that it was not. That he would not have to be stressed by pheromones in this grand undertaking that already had so many things to worry about. Although it might not have been his intention, it was as if he had made things more comfortable for Raphael.

Recalling all these conditions, Raphael raised one corner of his mouth into a smile and stood up from the bathtub.

Swoosh!

The lukewarm water cascaded down his body in a rough torrent.

Now, all the preliminary preparations were perfectly finished. All that was left was to put it into action.

As expected of a child born with a prophecy, God was surely aiding his plans and his path.