LNU 23

“You have to be careful. All that talk about noble duties is nonsense, so if it gets too hard, just take the suppressants. You packed the ones I gave you, right?”

“Yes, of course, Nanny. Don’t worry.”

“No. Since everyone there is a commoner and won’t be able to sense Pheromones, just take the suppressants as soon as you get there. Pretend to be sick and stay in your room, and no one will know.”

She had emphasized this repeatedly since the trip to the territory was decided, but Mrs. Seymour seemed unable to ease her mind, repeating the same lines every time she saw my face. She even made invisible pockets inside several of my robes that Nicole would take, filling them with suppressants, yet she still couldn’t relax.

When I muttered something similar to myself before, Nicole answered instead, saying that’s just how parents feel about their children. Hearing that made my heart tickle all day.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. It’s not like I’m staying there for that long. Why can’t you relax?”

“That’s right, Mom. I’m going with him. What are you worried about?”

“You both seemed like newborn puppies just yesterday… When did you grow up so much…”

Mrs. Seymour suddenly opened her arms wide and hugged Nicole and me tightly. Her embrace smelled of sweet, stewed butter and onions. It was the warmest smell I knew.

“Master Adrian, please wake up for a moment. It’s time for your meal.”

“Ugh… I just want to sleep more…”

“You mustn’t skip meals. Just a little. Please wake up and eat just a little, okay?”

No matter what, Nicole was unyielding when it came to meals. I, who had been sleeping soundly with a fever, eventually crawled out of the carriage. I always preferred to eat outside because I didn’t want the smell of food to linger in the carriage.

It had been three days since we set off for the territory to spend my first heat cycle. My condition, which had been perfectly fine until we departed, began to deteriorate steadily as soon as the carriage started moving.

The premonitory symptoms of the heat cycle became more pronounced.

If I started taking suppressants from the beginning, it would be a disgrace if word got out in noble society, so I had to endure until I arrived at Hamilton’s main estate, even if I started to feel feverish.

Fortunately, it was just premonitory symptoms, so I only felt a hazy fever without any other urges.

The evening breeze in the changing season was quite chilly. Or was it just me feeling that way because of the fever? Everyone else was lightly dressed.

“Master Adrian, please sit here for a moment. I’ll bring your meal right away.”

I sat down where Nicole directed me, intending to at least moisten my parched throat with water, when a daring servant strode towards me.

Through my drooping vision, a pair of tough leather boots and worn pants suddenly appeared. Under the strict supervision of Nicole, a high-ranking attendant, most people wouldn’t even dare to approach me. Had something urgent happened?

I barely managed to lift my heavy head and immediately checked the face of the servant standing before me.

“…!”

I was startled. So startled that I choked on the water I was drinking and coughed for a long time. The servant who dared to appear before me was…

“Oh dear. You seem very surprised.”

“Cough, cough…!”

Adrian Pearson. The Crown Prince of this country.

He moved closer to me and patted my back, which was shaking. His touch felt strangely sublime, burdensome, and subtly sticky… In any case, it felt strange.

“Master Adrian! Are you alright?”

Nicole, hearing me coughing violently, rushed back without finishing preparing the meal. He glared at the Crown Prince, who was standing next to me and patting my back.

“Who are you? I’ve never seen your face before.”

“I’m just someone who came to do odd jobs. I was passing by and saw that Master Adrian seemed to be choking badly, so I… I apologize if I overstepped.”

Who caused me to choke in the first place! But officially, I still had to pretend not to know his identity. And it was natural not to know. I couldn’t let Nicole be rude to the Crown Prince any further, so I squeezed out a voice even with the lingering cough.

“Cough, cough. I’m alright, Nicole. He’s someone I met at the mansion’s banquet hall before, so don’t worry.”

Only after I stopped him did Nicole relax his gaze and leave to bring the meal again. The Crown Prince shamelessly smiled at me, calling me “Master Adrian” without hesitation.

“It was just a brief encounter, but you remembered me. I’m honored.”

No, I mean, Your Highness Adrian… You’ve gotten much better at being less presumptuous, but you’re still too elegant and refined… How can a servant who came to do odd jobs, not even a high-ranking attendant, use such a tone…

“Haha… You just have a memorable face… Thank you for that day. Have you been well…?”

I don’t know why he followed me here, and I don’t know if the Crown Prince of a country is allowed to leave the Imperial Palace when preparations for the National Foundation Day are in full swing.

Well, there were many problems, but the biggest problem was that it had become impossible to secretly take suppressants as long as an Alpha who could sense Pheromones was mixed in with the group.

Wasn’t this damn Crown Prince busy? I wondered if he would follow me all the way to the territory, and sure enough, he followed me to the main estate. There was no reason to chase him away.

It was stranger that I hadn’t noticed for three days. Once I realized it, his presence was excessively prominent everywhere.

No one but me knew that he was the Crown Prince, that he was an Alpha. But I couldn’t just say, “There’s an Alpha mixed in here, so chase him away.”

In this world, Alphas and Omegas were nobles who had undergone the Blessing Day. So it was natural to think that a servant was a commoner and couldn’t be an Alpha or Omega. The moment I revealed that he was an Alpha, it would also be revealed that he was of a status higher than a noble.

No official portraits had been released yet, and I had never even been to the Imperial Palace. No matter how hard I racked my brain, there was no way to explain how I recognized the Crown Prince, who was hiding his identity so thoroughly.

“Um… Actually, I’m in the middle of endlessly repeating this life. So I’ve seen the Crown Prince up close several times, so I just knew it!”

Um… Of course, the moment I said that, my head would be shaved and I’d be sent to a monastery. I’d be treated like a crazy person.

System anticipates that it will be fun in its own way.

Look at my mind. The real crazy bastard was here. Do you want to have your head shaved and go to the monastery instead? No, do you even have hair to shave?

System expresses its disappointment in you for ignoring it.

｡°(°°᷄◠°᷅°)°｡

As expected of someone from ‘Worst Misfortune’!

A petty tantrum!(▀̿̿Ĺ̯̿̿▀̿ ̿)

Your stamina decreases by 4.

My condition wasn’t the best to begin with, but as soon as I saw that phrase, my body felt heavy, as if it were sinking downwards. Seriously, he has no tact and a narrow mind…

“Master Adrian. It’s said that it’s more comfortable to be alone during the cycle, so I’ll be on the floor below. This entire floor will be closed until you come out again, so don’t worry. Understood?”

Nicole left his last words, gently pressing a certain part of my robe. It was the location of the hidden pocket that Mrs. Seymour had sewn on. It meant that I could now safely take the suppressants.

“Ugh, Nicole… Don’t worry too much, and let’s see each other in a few days…”

This is a disaster, Nicole. I can’t take this… We’re screwed… If the Crown Prince doesn’t sense my Omega Pheromones, he’ll think it’s strange… I awkwardly raised the corners of my mouth and laughed at Nicole, who knew nothing.

After seeing Nicole off as he went downstairs, I became anxious about the surrounding air as soon as I was completely alone.

I swallowed dry saliva, and the body temperature that had been rising like a fever gradually changed to a different color.

Since I had always taken suppressants as soon as I had a heat cycle from the very first cycle, I have to confess that this was almost the first time I was really experiencing a heat cycle.

“Tsk…”

Still, they said they would close off this entire floor, so what could the Crown Prince do to break through the surveillance?

…Right?

Even though I thought nothing special would happen, I locked the bedroom door twice, just in case. Then I crawled under the thick blanket as if to hide.

System asks if you really won’t take the suppressants. Σ(‘◉⌓◉’)

▶Take them.

▶Don’t take them.