Chapter 66….
The Reason for the Heat
Lloyd was three steps away from the bed. His face was tense, restless, pacing back and forth. Even though an hour had passed since he administered the sedative, the heat hadn’t subsided. Nothing like this had ever happened before.
“What on earth is wrong?”
Lloyd ruffled his hair in frustration. The most likely explanation was that the delayed heat had prevented it from taking effect, but he’d need a proper diagnosis to know for sure.
“Are they taking too long?”
He shouted toward the outside, and Jeramy’s voice came faintly from beyond the closed door, sounding a bit awkward.
“It will take some time to get here.”
“We’re riding horses—why is it taking this long?”
“I will do my best, so please wait a little longer.”
Jeramy’s voice continued, as if trying to soothe Lloyd, who kept urging them. But Lloyd wasn’t really listening.
“Ugh… hm.”
Hearing Aileen’s groan, Lloyd turned to her. Sunlight caught her bright hair as she curled up, tears streaming down her face, a pitiful sight. Lloyd reached out but clenched his fists instead.
He could hold her, kiss her, and that would be fine—but Aileen wanted more. And exposed to her intense pheromones, Lloyd himself was reaching his limit.
Her rich floral scent—it seemed even if you gathered every flower in the world and concentrated it, it still wouldn’t match Aileen’s pheromones. The seductive scent of an Omega had already overtaken the room, shaking Lloyd’s reason to its core.
“L-Lloyd.”
Aileen opened her tear-filled eyes and looked at him. Her golden-hued eyes mesmerized him for a moment before he shook his head. Seeing her pitiful expression, Lloyd faced a dilemma: either ask her to wait a bit longer for the sedative to take effect, or…
“Lloyd!”
The moment Aileen called his name with all her strength, Lloyd could no longer resist and approached her. Stepping into her arms as she reached for him, he wiped her tear-streaked cheeks.
“I’m in pain. Please, hold me.”
“If it’s just holding you, I can do it a hundred times, a thousand times.”
“Lloyd.”
Aileen opened her wet eyes and pleaded.
“Please… calm my heat.”
Seeing her suffering cry even after the sedative, Lloyd gave one last chance.
“I can’t hold back anymore. So think carefully—just this once. Are you really okay with this?”
Aileen, as if it didn’t matter, grabbed his shoulders and pulled him to herself—the same spot where she had weakly pushed him away before he left for the battlefield.
“I’ll take this as permission.”
Lloyd found her lips and peeled back a layer of her clothing. Her body reacted honestly to his hands. Her connected undergarments beneath the dress were soaked with sweat.
Lloyd tore them off as he reached sideways. He grabbed a water pitcher from the bedside table, drank from it, and let the water flow over Aileen’s lips.
“Haah.”
As Aileen felt his cold lips along with the water, everything on her body disappeared.
“Better wet your throat in advance.”
Lloyd spoke only what he wanted, regardless of whether she understood. At the same time, he unleashed pheromones far more explosively than before.
“Hah.”
Aileen’s pupils dilated from the intensified pheromones. Her body, reluctantly responding to the scent, gradually calmed.
In the room filled with the Omega’s pheromones, the Alpha’s scent did not get overwhelmed—it began to mingle.
“Even for a heat, this is pretty strong.”
Lloyd flicked his tongue as if tasting the pheromones floating in the air, then moved his body toward Aileen.
Meanwhile, Jeramy, who had brought the sedative, kept calling Lloyd from outside the door.
“Your Highness, the sedative has arrived. Your Highness…”
Only the faint, pitiful calls of Jeramy echoed.
When her first cycle came, how had it been? She was too consumed with the grief of losing her brother to pay attention to her body. Fever rose like catching a cold, her whole body shivered.
Then came a strange scent, and the burning pain grew. Her parents noticed first, sensing her pheromones. To prevent any Alpha from approaching, they locked her in a room with only her Omega mother visiting.
They applied cold towels to her until the heat subsided, gave her water.
But since Aileen couldn’t enter heat properly at the right time, her cycle clung to her fiercely. It didn’t end until she collapsed several times.
Everyone goes through it, they said, but for Aileen, the grief of losing her brother and the scorching pain intertwined into trauma.
Time returned, and she knew she would experience the heat again—but this time… it was different. It wasn’t painful. Well, there had been moments of pain, but someone was there to push the heat wrapping her body away.
Her instincts as an Omega were met carefully, each touch tickling gently.
The large hands on her shoulders, the solid support, and the whispering voice enveloped her heart.
The crawling, ant-like heat vanished, reason returned, and Aileen opened her eyes. Lloyd’s gaze, full of concern, was fixed on her.
She looked past him into the empty space. Invisible, his pheromones floated in the air—refreshing like the wind atop a high mountain.
“So this is what it feels like… to be held by him. So warm, so pleasant.”
“Are you okay?”
“Lloyd.”
“I had no choice. The sedative wasn’t working, and if you were scared… even now…”
Aileen placed her hand on his cheek, stopping him mid-sentence.
“I feel good.”
She gently stroked his cheek with her thumb and held his hand to her face.
“Feels like I’m on a cloud… like I’m being loved.”
Surprised, Lloyd looked at her expression. Feeling the truth in her words, his lips softened into a smile.
“That’s a relief.”
He caressed her face, smiling happily, while soft pheromones spread around them.
It took three days for her cycle to stabilize. During that time, Lloyd never left her side. Later, the pheromones grew as if his rut were approaching, but fortunately, Aileen’s heat ended.
As she prepared to return home, she separated from Lloyd for the first time. While being dressed by the maid, Aileen saw her reflection in the mirror.
Her completely changed blonde hair showed no trace of the previous brown. Her eyes hadn’t changed color entirely, but a golden sheen shimmered in the light. Her skin was paler than before, and her lips more vivid.
Seeing herself as an Omega after so long, and sensing the lingering pheromones, it felt as familiar as wearing her own clothes.
“How did Lloyd recognize me like this?”
Her features hadn’t changed much, but it was still amazing he recognized her at once. She hadn’t noticed how her body gradually changed during the cycle.
‘Well, it’s already in the past. No point in dwelling on it.’
Feeling lighthearted, she dismissed thoughts about her appearance. Then, glancing down, she noticed her neck and gasped.
The marks of congestion were visible even through her dress. Realizing someone else had seen her like this before, her face flushed red.
“Don’t you have another dress?”
“I’m sorry,” the maid bowed, saying none were available. Aileen wondered what to do. Going outside like this would be like showing her marks to others.
As she smoothed her dress in front of the mirror, Lloyd stepped inside and stood behind her.
“Not ready yet?”
“I’m dressed, but…”
Aileen couldn’t finish speaking and looked at him in the mirror. Thinking of the night they shared made her cheeks burn, but saying it was because of the congestion was too embarrassing.
Then, his gaze seemed to drop, and his hand came up. Startled, she watched as Lloyd wrapped a handkerchief around her neck. His hands repeatedly touched her skin as he tied it.
Realizing the maid had already left, Aileen couldn’t meet his eyes. The pheromones she now felt were the familiar scent she had inhaled since this morning.
“Aileen.”
Lloyd lifted her chin, making her meet his eyes.
“You knew it would come, didn’t you?”
Aileen looked into Lloyd’s eyes and nodded slightly.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
She worried about asking how he knew. Any excuse about knowing the future would have sounded awkward. But Lloyd clicked his tongue, letting go of her chin.
“You did something wrong. You know what could happen if you’re alone during heat. But then you decide to visit the lake… that was dangerous.”
“…I thought it would come a little later. But suddenly…”
Even Aileen, admitting it was strange, trailed off.
