IBOSO 09

CHAPTER 09………………………………………….

As if he could read my thoughts, he spoke first.

“I followed the trail of your pheromone scent.”

At those words, I lifted my sleeve and sniffed my skin.
The lily-of-the-valley scent from yesterday was gone.
The fragrance was so faint that only someone like Cassius—a high-grade Alpha—could detect it.

I lowered my sleeve.

So much for running away…

If I kept leaking this scent, I had no idea where or which Alpha I might run into.
Feeling drained, I lost strength in my legs and flopped into the chair.

Cassius stepped closer.

“What troubles you?”

Was that even a question?

The more I felt like quitting everything, the less I cared about manners. I grumbled irritably.

“Everything.”

“You’re anxious because you’re the only surviving Omega, is that it?”

“…Don’t call me an Omega. We still don’t know for sure.”

We hadn’t shared a bed, after all.

With strong emotion, even Betas—not just Alphas or Omegas—could react to a pheromone surge in small ways.

“Hmm.”

He smiled meaningfully and lowered his head.

Memories flooded back—his pheromones drowning my whole body.

Pheromones were a scent meant to entice the other party.
Especially when an Alpha used pheromones on an Omega, it was no different from saying, Look at me. Choose me. Mark me.

I won’t choose anyone.

The only Omega left in the world choosing one Alpha?

The next step would be obvious.
The remaining Alphas would lose their minds, kill the marked Alpha, and fight to claim me.

No matter how alluring their pheromones might be, I had no intention of choosing anyone.

Cassius, still watching me, brought a hand to his collar.
Then he unfastened the tightly buttoned priest’s robe all the way up to his throat.

“W-what… what are you doing?”

I asked in panic. He answered only with a faint smile as he loosened the collar further.
The rigid priestly robe slid open.

Since I refused to accept that I was an Omega, was he planning to prove it physically?

Through the parted robe, his smooth neckline came into view. Heat surged all the way to the tips of my ears.

“S-stop it!”

“Stop what?”

Taking your clothes off, obviously!

He moved with calm innocence, as though he understood nothing.

Was he seriously going to do this?

“H-Holiness… p-please calm down.”

But instead of stopping, his hands worked even faster at the robe.

Through the white priest’s garment, his firm chest came into view.

I wanted to look, but I also absolutely did not want to look.
Something told me I shouldn’t see his body, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

Cassius grabbed my wrist and pulled.
My fingertips brushed against his skin—warm, taut, alive.

Firm yet soft. A heat completely different from mine burned under my touch, quickening the blood rushing to my face.

Where on earth am I touching?

I couldn’t tell what part of him my hand was pressed against.
I was too terrified to open my eyes.

“Sonia.”

“Y-yes…”

“It’s all right. Open your eyes.”

At his words, I cracked one eye open.

Is that… really a human body?

His muscles were sculpted like a statue of a god in a museum—every line sharply defined.

Especially his abs, carved as if by an artisan’s hand, looked less like human flesh and more like art.

Then I realized—my hand, held by Cassius, was pressed firmly to his broad chest.

“Huh?”

My eyes flew completely open when I saw what spread across his chest—dark markings.

It wasn’t a mistake.

Black rose vines wound across his skin.

The mark of an Aberrant Curse!

Only a handful of Alphas in the world existed.
And among them, only a tiny number possessed the curse signifying aberrant powers.

The more they used that power, the more black thorns spread.
When the vines covered their whole body, they lost their sanity and eventually collapsed into violent madness.

To purify the curse, they needed contact with the Omega they were bonded to.

That was why Alphas—especially those with aberrant powers—desperately needed an Omega.

In the original story, the yandere Alphas were all aberrant Alphas except for one prince.

Because they needed an Omega, they became obsessively attached to Lancelot.

“My curse is on my shoulder.”

Cassius guided my hand from his chest to his shoulder.
In the movement, my palm swept across his torso, feeling everything.

His robe slid away completely, baring his upper body.

Among the black vines, a single red rose bloomed—the exact color of Cassius’s eyes.

He guided my hand, and I brushed my fingers over the rose.

The black thorns that had spread across his chest began to disappear.

The curse was being purified.

My eyes widened.

Lancelot had never been able to purify the yanderes’ roses because he wasn’t a real Omega.

“It’s real.”

To purify an aberrant curse—there was no denying it anymore.
I really was the world’s one and only Omega.

“I… I really am an Omega…”

Cassius had been right.

I muttered weakly, my throat tight.

“H-how… did you know?”

“When you were near me, there was the scent of flowers. The same fragrance that comes from Omega pheromones.”

He must mean the faint lily-of-the-valley scent.

“…Have you ever met an Omega before, Holiness?”

“Yes. A few times, before the fever swept through.”

Unlike Alphas whose scents all differ, Omegas always carry the smell of lily-of-the-valley.

It was such a distinct floral scent that it was impossible to mistake it.

Everything was overwhelming.

“I really… didn’t know. I don’t even remember manifesting…”

“You truly had no idea, then. You kept releasing Omega pheromones—I thought you were trying to seduce me.”

“N-no! Not at all!”

I truly had no idea. I denied it desperately.

“Then I am the only one who knows your secret?”

For now, yes.

“That’s right…”

He released my hand and whispered:

“We now share each other’s secrets.”

I understood what he meant.
The Holy Nation did not acknowledge any power other than holy power.

I didn’t know what Cassius’s aberrant ability was, but the moment it became known, he would lose the position of Holy Sovereign.

“So do not fear. I wish to become a strength to you.”

If I exposed his secret, he would be exiled from the Holy Nation.

The reason he revealed his curse to me—risking everything—was to show that he would also protect my secret.

His consideration gave me courage to face my fear.

My mind calmed.
I began thinking through what I needed to do next.

Lancelot became ruined because he wasn’t a real Omega.
The yandere Alphas went mad from the curse, and he couldn’t suppress their insanity.

But I—being a real Omega—could subdue the curse.

I finally understood what I needed to do.

A month remained until the official priesthood ceremony.

Trainee priests were exempt from chores until the ritual.

Instead, they were to bathe daily, pray, and purify their hearts and bodies.

Priest work continued, but counseling was only done upon request.

But no one ever requested a trainee priest, so in practice, I had no work.

And free time… was poisonous to me.

Whenever I passed by, I heard people whispering nonstop.

That morning, Ellie grabbed me as soon as I woke up.

“Sonia! Why did you even keep your healing power a secret from me?”

Many people had been asking the same thing.

I’d repeated the answer so many times it came out automatically.

“I can’t undergo a final awakening.”

Holy power awakened twice.
The second awakening—the final one—was where true power manifested.

Priests, after enough training, could visit a sanctuary of their attribute and pray to trigger final awakening.

But healing had no sanctuary, so it could not undergo a final awakening.

Ellie, who knew that, nodded.

“That’s true.”

“Honestly, I thought people would make fun of me because it’s weaker than holy water.”

“But it’s special! It’s a power only you have. If it were me, I’d brag!”

My goal was to live quietly and unnoticed as a priest.

A flashy yet barely useful power was the last thing I wanted.

“It’s nothing to brag about. I can only heal small wounds.”

“What else?”

“Relieve fatigue, I guess.”

“What else? And don’t hide anything this time—tell me everything!”

I hadn’t caught a single cold since receiving healing powers.
I meant to explain properly, but Ellie’s intense expression scared me into silence.

“Hurry, tell me!”

Judging from her persistence, the other priests must have told Ellie to find out more.

Healing power was a mysterious thing in their eyes.

I escaped from Ellie and fled to the prayer room.

Then I clasped my hands tightly.

Dear God… why are you doing this to me? I only ever wanted to live as an ordinary priest.

And yet, after giving me healing power… now I was the only surviving Omega.

I felt like I’d become an endangered species with a population of one.

I don’t want all this attention. I just want to blend in quietly among the other priests…