36 – Cypress Mosaic

As ​she ​climbed ​the ​stairs, carrying the ​small, ​limp ​body ​in ​her arms, Margaret listened ​to ​the sound of ​the blizzard raging ​outside ​the ​villa. ​The ​heavy ​snow and gusts ​of ​wind ​that hadn’t been ​in the forecast, and ​the sudden ​abnormal symptoms ​of the ​child left ​alone ​in ​this vast villa.

Her ​heart fluttered ​with an ominous feeling, ​and she hoped it ​was merely an unnecessary ​worry.

At the ​time, ​Lorenz’s father and mother were divorced.

Lorenz, ​who lived with his ​father ​in ​a ​Manhattan ​mansion, was staying ​for about ​two ​weeks at his ​mother’s ​Tarrytown villa for the winter.

The ​Tarrytown villa ​was ​surrounded by untouched ​nature, ​providing ​endless ​things ​to play ​with. ​Directly behind ​it was a dense forest, and below ​the hill, a ​beautiful walking trail ​led to the banks ​of the ​Hudson River.

His mother ​tried ​her best to ​spend as much ​time as ​possible ​with Lorenz. ​They ​would ride ​a ​rowboat tied ​to ​a ​small pier together ​or ​wander through ​the ​forest ​searching ​for strange plants or insects. In those moments, he didn’t notice the cold, nor did he realize how time flew.

When he stayed here last summer, he had found a puppy lost and wandering in the forest. Perhaps injured in a fight with a wild animal, the creature limped with a wound on its hind leg. Lorenz and his mother brought it back to the villa and cared for it devotedly. The dog eventually grew healthy and followed Lorenz everywhere. Lorenz had given him the name Toby himself.

That day, his mother went out late in the afternoon. She had [visit our site]a gathering at a Read on Read BL Novelssocial club near Tarrytown.

Aside from the person in charge of Lorenz’s childcare, there were several employees, including Margaret, at the villa. Since the club was only about a twenty-minute drive away, no one thought the situation was concerning.

After laying Lorenz in bed, Margaret gave him a fever reducer.

Buried deep in the large bed, he felt even smaller than usual that day.

“Margaret, the sound of the wind is incredible.”

“Are you scared?”

The young Lorenz Lockhart shook his head vigorously, insisting he was not. He was not the kind of child to admit to being afraid.

“I’m worried it might be dangerous when Mother returns.”

Margaret smiled tenderly and adjusted his blanket.

“Do not worry. Lady Helena is a very cautious and prudent person.”

Only then did Lorenz nod with a look of relief. Margaret’s neat hand stroked his hair.

“Now, get some deep sleep. I will stay by your side until you fall asleep.”

Normally, Lorenz would have been stubborn, saying there was no need and that he could sleep alone. But that day, Lorenz quietly closed his eyes at Margaret’s touch. The puppy lay down on the rug beneath the bed.

Perhaps thanks to the medication, he soon fell asleep, but he woke up shortly after. It was because of a headache that had worsened since before he slept.

The bonfire burning in the fireplace illuminated the dark room. The light, which had always felt warm and cozy, felt different that night. It was fierce and threatening. The large shadow of the flickering flames on the opposite wall looked like a fire demon trying to swallow the entire room.

No matter how much he tossed and turned, Lorenz could not fall back asleep.

He felt nauseous, as if he were lying on the deck of a tossing ship rather than a bed.

Boiled broccoli, disinfectant, wet sneakers… unpleasant smells were creeping up from somewhere. He couldn’t find any such things anywhere in the room, but Lorenz’s nose was definitely smelling something. His stomach churned as if he were smelling all the scents he hated all at once.

While burying his face in the pillow to block his nose, a good idea occurred to Lorenz.

“I’ll feel better if I smell Mother’s scent.”

He got up and climbed down from the bed. He walked across the wooden floor with bare feet, pitter-patter. Toby, who had been lying down, immediately stood up and followed him. Entering his mother’s powder room connected to the bedroom, Lorenz stopped in front of the dressing table.

“The perfume was definitely here.”

As he slid open one of the several sliding doors of the cabinet, ornate perfume bottles were revealed. The various perfume bottles lined up neatly were like jewels.

Lorenz was not hard-pressed to find the perfume his mother used most frequently.

He stood on his tiptoes and reached out.

Just a little, just a little more…

His small feet shifted their heels repeatedly.

Toby circled around Lorenz as if anxious.

The moment the perfume bottle touched the tips of his small fingers, Lorenz thought, ‘I’ve got it!’, but the bottle lost its balance and plummeted to the floor.

A thin, exquisitely crafted crystal bottle.

It shattered into pieces the moment it hit the wooden floor.

Simultaneously, a terrible stench engulfed Lorenz.

It was a violent attack. An attack more terrifying than the flickering fire demon.

It was the scent of his mother that he loved so much. He realized it could become such a pungent stench.

Lorenz collapsed on the spot and lost consciousness.

Thanks to Toby scratching at the door and barking, he was fortunately discovered shortly after he collapsed.

His mother was contacted immediately.

Upon hearing the circumstances, she rushed out of the social club and into the blizzard without even having time to put on her coat properly.

To her, this was not a simple fever experienced by children Lorenz’s age.

An Omega’s Heat nearby. The resulting strong exposure to Pheromones.

Sudden headache and dizziness.

Hypersensitivity to smells.

She had intuited it.

That her young son had fallen ill.

A terrifying disease that manifested only in members of the Lockhart family, one that his father and ex-husband, Damon Lockhart, had also suffered from.

The Lockhart curse was trying to swallow her young son.

A fair amount of snow had already accumulated on the road. The blizzard continued to blow over it. Parts of the road were already frozen. She tried her best to drive as carefully as possible. However, fear and anxiety kept making her rush.

A corner section where one had to make a wide right turn along the Hudson River to the left.

That was the spot where her car was presumed to have skidded on the icy road and fallen. The police analyzed that the rear wheels must have slipped on the frozen road, causing the car to veer off the road and plunge down a steep slope. But even that was not certain. By the time the investigation began in earnest, a large amount of snow had already covered all the traces. There was almost nothing that could be uncovered.

On a night when white snowflakes, touched by moonlight, poured down like shooting stars over the Hudson River where large chunks of ice floated, the river swallowed his mother.

It was the night the first symptoms manifested in Lorenz Lockhart.

■

After arriving at the hospital, Lorenz was able to escape the pain only after being administered a Suppressant to lower his pheromone response level.

Lying with his shirt open and chest exposed, he raised his arm to cover his eyes. He finally felt like he could breathe.

At that moment, the attending physician entered the room with a stiff expression.

“How are you feeling?”

Lorenz nodded.

“I’m better. The headache is gone too.”

His voice was tight and severely cracked.

After confirming the stable heart rate and levels, the attending physician finally let out a sigh of relief.

“It was truly harrowing this time. Your pheromone response level had soared to a dangerous level.”

“How high did it go?”

The doctor hesitated before answering as if he had no choice.

“When you arrived at the hospital, it was over 200.”

Haha.

Lorenz let out a hollow laugh.

The doctor explained.

“As you know, 200 is a level more severe than an Alpha in a state of Rut. Not only are you completely unable to control your own Pheromones, but you also cannot defend against the Pheromones of others.”

It meant that if he had encountered an Omega in Heat, an unfortunate incident would have occurred immediately. A normal Alpha would be stimulated by an Omega’s Heat, causing their sexual desire to explode and triggering a Rut, but to Lorenz, an Omega’s Pheromones were like poison. His pheromone response level would soar, and he would lose consciousness. It could even cause fatal damage to the brain.

Of course, taking Suppressants was a legal obligation. Perhaps 20 or 30 years ago it would be different, but currently, the possibility of encountering an Omega in Heat was nearly non-existent. However, the fact remained that Lorenz himself was walking around as a time bomb.

“How is it now?”

“Between 25 and 30. It’s within the normal range.”

The doctor answered in a flat voice while checking various [unauthorized copy]physical Read on Read BL Novelsreactions, [stolen content]including Lorenz’s pupils.