CHAPTER 20 …………………………………
Moreover, in the author’s commentary at the end of Predators’ Territory, the author wrote:
“There’s a pheromone perfume that I really like.
An omega’s pheromone scent is exactly that of lily of the valley.
If there had been pheromone perfume in Predators’ Territory, the alphas wouldn’t have lost their minds and could have stayed sane.
Maybe someone will create it a hundred years from now to calm alphas down.
If that happens, there won’t be anyone unhappy like Lancelot. Hahaha.”
They mentioned pheromone perfume just like that.
So, if pheromone perfume is developed, alphas would no longer need to obsess over omegas.
If that happens, Lancelot and I could also escape from the alphas’ obsession.
But I couldn’t just wait a hundred years.
I needed pheromone perfume right now!
I managed to get some of that precious lily of the valley, but extracting the scent was far from easy. Looked like I still had a long way to go as a perfumer.
Cassius muttered to himself.
“Perfume…”
“Yes?”
“It’s nothing.”
And then he grew quiet.
From time to time, I heard water sloshing as he moved.
Judging by the sound, the bath must have been quite large.
In my previous life, I loved public bathhouses. The bathroom in our poor home had been so small that it was hard even to wash my hair.
Public bathhouses, on the other hand, were spacious. Stretching my legs out in a big tub filled with hot water melted away all my fatigue.
Unfortunately, what trainee priests used here was a round wooden tub, sealed with tree sap so it wouldn’t leak.
It was small, too—small enough that I had to sit curled up with my knees hugged to my chest.
Even then, the water only reached my chest. It was never satisfying.
Ugh, I’m jealous. A huge hot spring…
Unlike a public bathhouse, here he got to use a bath all to himself—he could splash around all he wanted.
How high would I need to climb to be able to use a bathroom like this?
A cardinal? At least that?
“By the way, Sonia—do you like taking baths?”
“Yes.”
I like them very much.
“The trainee priests’ bath must have been uncomfortable, wasn’t it?”
Since Cassius was my superior, this felt suspiciously like he was extracting complaints.
“Hmm…”
“I know. I lived the same way when I was a trainee priest. Narrow and inconvenient, isn’t it?”
Even though he was practically royalty, he had trained under the same conditions when he was younger.
All priests stand equally before Magnus, after all.
I had no reason to hide the truth any longer.
“You’re right. It’s really tiny. It’s cramped even for me—Your Holiness must have had an even harder time.”
There were several tubs for trainees, but they were all the same size.
Cassius was taller than I was, so it must have been worse for him.
“I was shorter than you are.”
“What? Huh? Really?”
“Yes. I think I only came up to your chin back then.”
“Ah… when you were around ten?”
“No. When we were the same age. I was worried because I wasn’t growing.”
“T-that’s impossible!”
Then again, some men do have late growth spurts, so maybe it was true.
Immediately, I imagined a smaller Cassius.
He was now the dangerously sexy type of handsome, but if he had been much shorter than me, he must have been angelically pretty.
A golden-haired, red-eyed angel.
How adorable must he have been?
I… I want to see him!
I felt genuinely regretful that I hadn’t seen his childhood.
My cheeks grew hot with anticipation; I pressed both hands to them.
“Hm, you don’t believe me. If it’s that hard to imagine, shall I show you a portrait?”
His voice held a hint of amusement.
“A portrait? There’s one?”
“Yes. There are many artists living in the Holy Nation. I posed for several at their request. I kept a few of them.”
“I want to see them!”
“It’s not difficult. I’ll show you soon.”
Anything displayed in the Holy See was always of the highest quality; surely the Holy Pope’s portrait was no exception.
Besides, Cassius himself was practically a work of art. Art plus beauty was the best combination possible.
A portrait of him as a child—just thinking about it made my heart flutter.
I never obsessed over idols when I was alive, but was this what that felt like?
Lost in excitement, I was practically bouncing.
“…Sonia.”
I was mid-fantasy when a strained voice reached me.
“Yes?”
“I taught you how to contain your pheromones. Right now… the sweetness is overwhelming…”
His words made my face burn. I must have been releasing pheromones without realizing it.
And not just any pheromones—ones loaded with my desire to see what he looked like as a child.
“I’m sorry. I’ll do it right now.”
I focused and gathered my pheromones.
“Hah…”
A low groan echoed through the bath. It seemed he was reacting to the omega pheromones.
Come on, get a grip!
Cassius was an alpha too.
Just as I reacted strongly to alpha pheromones, he would react strongly to omega ones. I shouldn’t have let myself get careless.
I scolded myself repeatedly.
“I’ll go back to my room and wash right away.”
A proper bath would wash away the pheromone-laced scent.
“This much is fine. More importantly… next time you want to bathe, use this bathroom. Since you’re part of the Holy See, it’s fine…”
To think I could use a hot-spring-like bath instead of that cramped wooden tub.
I should have been delighted.
But his voice was so heavy and strained that I couldn’t fully rejoice.
“…Ugh!”
With a short, pained cry and a loud splash, the room fell silent.
“…Your Holiness?”
“…”
“Your Holiness, are you all right?”
No answer. Not even the sound of water moving.
The bath suddenly felt far too quiet. Silence was never a good sign.
I raised my voice.
“Your Holiness, if you’re all right, please respond.”
Still nothing. A thousand thoughts rushed through my mind.
The bathhouse was filled with hot steam; he might have fainted from dizziness.
Or maybe my omega pheromones had affected him somehow.
What do I do?
I couldn’t call anyone else. Cassius still had remnants of the alien-power curse on his body.
But I also couldn’t just leave him submerged in hot water.
I won’t look. I’ll only check the situation. I promise I won’t look.
Repeating that vow over and over in my mind, I picked up a towel and a robe and slipped into the bath area.
As expected, the room was filled with hot steam.
In size, the bath was less a tub and more a lake.
And at the far end, Cassius had collapsed, half of his body out of the water.
“Your Holiness…!”
I hurried to his side. Cassius lay with his eyes shut tightly, breathing harshly.
I touched his forehead and flinched—he was burning up like fire.
Had he stayed in the water too long?
Did he faint? Should I use holy power?
First, I needed to get him out of the water. I reached for his arm—and froze.
The alien curse…!
I had seen it once before.
The black thorns had decreased significantly then…
But now they were spread across his body and even down his arms.
It seemed the reason he collapsed was because of the curse.
Had he used his alien ability?
I didn’t know what his ability was, but maybe he had needed to use it for something.
Removing the curse came first.
I placed my hand over the red rose mark on his shoulder.
Please… don’t let it be too late.
The alien curse could be erased to some extent through contact with an omega.
But once the mind was fully corrupted, nothing could be done.
The black thorns stretching along his arms slowly began to fade.
“Whew…”
I sighed in relief. Thank goodness—it wasn’t too late.
The thorns covering his body receded, and his burning skin slowly cooled.
It didn’t seem severe enough to require healing-type holy power.
Where can I lay him down…?
I looked around. There was a long marble bench prepared for resting.
I needed to move him. He was much bigger than I was, but not impossible.
I wasn’t weak, after all.
Grasping his arm, I pulled him out of the water. A loud cascade of water followed.
I quickly wrapped a towel around his lower half.
Moving him was easier than expected—but the problem was something else.
There had been… something. Like… uh… an eel?
Why was there an eel in hot water?
And if there were, it should be dead.
I couldn’t shake the thought of the eel.
Insisting to myself that I must have imagined it, I laid a towel on the marble bench and settled him onto it.
Next, to remove the remaining curse, I pressed my hand firmly against his shoulder.
If I’m going to put a robe on him, I need to dry him first…
Cassius disliked showing his cursed body.
I had accidentally seen it while moving him, but this was different.
So I squeezed my eyes shut and dried him purely by touch. The shape of his well-trained body was easy to sense with my fingertips.
Right thoughts. Pure thoughts.
Shoving away all unnecessary ideas, I carefully dried him.
“Ugh…!”
Cassius winced with a groan. He was waking up.
