Chapter 27
Cassius gathered all of his alpha pheromones back in.
He slowly savored the omega pheromones Sonia had used.
As he taught her how to control and collect pheromones, he trained alongside her as well.
It was training meant to endure Sonia’s sweet scent.
But no matter how diligently he trained, he couldn’t remain completely unaffected by her pheromones.
Let’s give up.
Admitting it made his heart feel lighter.
He simply drank in Sonia’s omega pheromones as much as his heart desired.
I want to smell more.
Just as he wondered whether he should pour his alpha pheromones over her once more, Sonia spoke.
“…What kind of emotion is it?”
Cassius revealed a fragment of his true feelings. Had she noticed?
“Try to guess.”
She seemed to think hard, but Sonia couldn’t find the answer easily.
The emotion Cassius used was the alpha instinct he had been tightly suppressing ever since meeting Sonia.
Strangely, her pheromones had smelled pleasant from the very beginning.
Especially when Sonia smiled, the scent deepened.
That was why he wanted her to keep smiling.
He wanted to give her many things—not only wealth, but even his own body.
How strange.
Though he had never been with a woman before, he was confident he could make her fall for him. It was an alpha’s instinct.
He was full of the desire to devote himself carefully until only his own scent would linger on her.
Sadly, her pheromones did not desire him.
For now, he could only endure and restrain himself—until the day she would want him.
After thinking for a while, she spoke.
“…I thought I was going to be eaten.”
Cassius smiled.
It wasn’t entirely accurate, but it wasn’t completely wrong either.
Seeing his smile, Sonia took it as a positive sign.
“Is that the right answer?”
“That is incorrect.”
“Then what is it?”
“Think about it slowly.”
She focused deeply on her thoughts. She was so absorbed that the space between her brows narrowed, faint wrinkles forming.
Cassius wanted to peer into what that small head was thinking, but he stopped himself.
Every time he used his ability on someone, it always ended in disgust. This much distance was just right.
He suppressed his desire to read her thoughts.
“A promise is a promise, so I will not permit a trip to the Empire.”
“Yes…”
She looked dejected.
She accepted it readily, but her disappointment was obvious. It was cute.
Should I be a little lenient?
Cassius bent his waist and stepped closer to give her one more chance.
Feeling the close distance, Sonia lifted her head.
They were positioned so close that their lips were just about to touch.
I want to kiss her.
He wanted to feel her breath, her warmth, her pulse—everything.
If he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulled her into his embrace, and pressed their lips together, it felt like this burning thirst would finally subside.
Happy that he had shown her a part of his true feelings, he wanted to cross the line.
As he moved even closer, driven by desire, he hesitated.
No matter how honest he decided to be with his own feelings, Sonia’s heart was another matter.
If he rushed her and she pushed him away, he felt he wouldn’t be able to endure it.
He released alpha pheromones saturated with emotion.
I want to kiss you. I want to be entangled with you.
Sonia blinked several times.
“Ah, now I get it.”
She spoke brightly, as if she had found the answer.
“I realized it after smelling it again. Your Majesty wants to eat right now.”
“……”
“It’s almost lunchtime!”
Even though he had filled the pheromones with the emotion of desire, she still didn’t notice.
Cassius crooked one side of his lips into a slanted smile.
Sonia felt like an impregnable fortress.
“It really is that time already. That will be all for today. You may go.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I hope you enjoy your meal.”
Cassius had a private dining hall.
Sonia stood up to head toward the shared dining hall used by priests of the Holy See.
Cassius reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her back.
“…There is a way to temporarily erase all of Sonia’s pheromones. If you follow it, I will permit the trip to the Empire. However.”
He whispered the method of erasing pheromones into her ear.
“Once you leave the Holy Kingdom, accept my alpha pheromones.”
Both omegas and alphas had an organ called a pheromone gland at the back of the neck. If one placed their mouth there and released control, they could share pheromones with the other.
When an alpha and an omega exchanged pheromones this way, they could even form an imprint.
In this case, imprinting was not the goal, so Cassius intended only to give his pheromones to Sonia.
After hearing the explanation, she stood there with her face flushed, lips tightly pressed together.
“Think about it and let me know.”
Lost in thought, Sonia nodded, signaling her acceptance.
Shane, who had to host a party to welcome the Holy Kingdom’s delegation, wanted to save as much of the imperial treasury as possible, so he held a sponsorship party.
The stated purpose was donations to orphanages, but most of the money collected would be siphoned into Shane’s personal account.
The sponsorship party was held at the imperial palace of the Rayntvia Empire.
Schwartz, who had not been invited to the party, was standing alone after conversing with some man.
There was no one who would have invited Schwartz to Shane’s party; he probably came after hearing there was a party being held while visiting the palace.
Shane had been in a bad mood lately because of Schwartz’s movements.
What is that bastard thinking?
His sister, the princess, was not his rival.
She had suffered a major accident in childhood and became unable to walk properly, confining herself within the princess’s palace.
Naturally, she could hardly engage in external activities and failed to build any faction of her own.
Thus, the struggle for succession was between Schwartz and himself.
Calling it a struggle was almost laughable.
Schwartz had earned resentment by recklessly using his ability in front of gathered nobles.
A cursed monster.
A bastard who never even received a baptism.
That was how all the imperial nobles judged Schwartz.
Even Schwartz himself knew his position and rarely appeared at the imperial palace, instead staying shut inside his own mansion.
Why do we keep crossing paths these days?
Schwartz appeared at every event Shane attended.
While keeping an eye on him, Shane caught a peculiar scent.
Omega… pheromones? Where is that coming from?
Even before the fever epidemic, Shane had spent nights with many omegas.
There was no way he would mistake the scent for something else.
Following the trace of omega pheromones, Shane found Lancelot. The scent was coming from him.
Is it perfume?
Lancelot did run a perfume business.
But he soon dismissed the thought.
If someone could reproduce the scent of omega pheromones, it would have already become a massive sensation.
Beta women would be buying it like crazy to seduce an alpha prince like himself. Shane decided to confirm it properly.
“You’ve been showing up a lot lately.”
Recognizing who he was speaking to, Lancelot bowed politely.
“I greet the Empire’s little sun. I am Lancelot Theodore, Your Highness.”
“Theodore, the viscount’s son, was it? How is the party? Enjoyable?”
“Yes. I’m pleased to broaden my horizons.”
“Come to think of it, you’re in the perfume business, aren’t you?”
“That’s right.”
Lancelot looked pleased that Shane remembered.
Shane examined him.
Judging by the pheromones, he seemed like an omega, but something was off—ambiguous, perhaps. To test him, Shane released alpha pheromones infused with the emotion of I will kill you.
Despite the alpha’s killing intent, like a blade driven into the heart, Lancelot showed no reaction.
A strange existence. A beta that smelled like omega pheromones.
This could be useful.
It had been a long time since all the omegas disappeared.
Shane had deliberately sent assassins to Schwartz to force him to use his ability.
His body must be on the verge of being consumed by the curse and going berserk.
A berserk alpha became uncontrollable, and even royalty had to be killed.
If Schwartz failed to find an omega, he was destined to be consumed by his power and die.
His survival instincts would be drawn to the scent of an omega.
Shane decided to use Lancelot to push Schwartz into a rampage.
That way, the throne would be his.
Even if it was only half of it, he felt no guilt about harming his brother.
After all, it wasn’t much different from how he had already ruined Sertina’s legs and effectively knocked her out of the succession race.
Once the departure date was set, the Holy Kingdom became busy assembling its delegation.
With Cassius’s workload increasing as well, I couldn’t even see his face, let alone talk to him, until the day of departure.
I was itching to get to the Sanctuary of Healing as soon as possible.
Maybe my divine power will finally become usable.
I had been diligently praying every morning, making sure God noticed me—maybe He would awaken me with great power.
I boarded the carriage heading to the Empire together with Cassius.
Even as a healing priest, I was just an ordinary low-ranking priest. Sitting side by side with the Holy Father was something I could never have dreamed of.
But Isaac—
“This newly discovered sanctuary is an important site related to the healing attribute. From now on, Priest Sonia is one of the Empire’s honored guests! Therefore, even in the Empire, you will sit beside His Holiness!”
Saying that, he practically shoved me into the carriage.
It was burdensome, but at the same time, exciting.
It feels like I won the lottery.
Divine power awakens twice.
The first time is when a powerless person gains divine power; the second is when they visit the sanctuary of their attribute and pray.
The strength of the second, final awakening varied from person to person.
The stronger one’s faith, the higher the chance of gaining great power, which was why priests prayed fervently before visiting sanctuaries.
However, innate talent also played a role, so some ended up with only minor power.
Since no one with awakened healing powers existed, there was no way to predict how strong my awakening would be.
In novels and games I read in my past life, healing priests were always powerful.
I didn’t know how strong I would become, but if things went well, I might even be able to eliminate things like omega fever entirely.
Sitting in the carriage, I smiled brightly.
“I can’t wait to awaken.”
Cassius, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, looked startled and lowered his gaze.
“I apologize for not telling you sooner. …It may not be possible for your divine power to awaken.”
