LNU 25

The System vehemently protests its innocence. (ර൧ර☆)

“What good are just words? How am I supposed to trust you…”

The system had consistently and deliberately erased certain memories from my mind.

At first, I didn’t even notice. The memories that remained were edited so naturally that finding the gaps was difficult. But occasionally, while having casual conversations with people, topics would emerge about things I’d said or done that I had no memory of.

After detecting these anomalies and carefully reviewing my past memories… there would always be places that skipped like a broken record.

After noticing this, I naturally protested strongly to the system. But the response was brazenly confident. The system claimed all these forced measures were to protect my sanity.

The system actively emphasizes that in this world, it alone truly knows you and genuinely works only for you.

“…So, you’re really innocent this time?”

The system impresses upon you that an Omega losing rationality during heat cycles is a perfectly natural process, an ordinary event not worth being surprised about.

“Hmm…”

If I had properly experienced heat cycles before, I might be able to refute this, but according to this world’s common sense, there was nothing wrong with what it said.

For me, who had lived in the 21st century as a fully functional adult male who’d even completed military service and formed a complete identity, concepts like Alpha and Omega were intellectually understandable but emotionally difficult to accept.

If it were happening to someone else, that would be one thing, but honestly, I still had a slight aversion to the idea that pheromones attracting others would emanate from “my” body, and that I needed to prepare to receive someone else’s genitals in a place I’d never imagined anything entering.

That’s why I’d quickly learned techniques to suppress pheromones and diligently took suppressants every cycle.

“I’ll accept it for now. For now.”

The system exists always for your comfortable life and happy future.

You say that while pushing me into an abyss of suffering with no intention of pulling me out.

I got out of bed, stretched, and moved my body around. Indeed, my body felt unusually light and in good condition.

“Not bad, for whatever reason.”

It was twilight outside. Whether the sun was rising or setting, I couldn’t immediately tell how much time had passed while I was unconscious, but strangely, I felt refreshed. I walked lightly to the window to air out the room and threw it wide open.

As the window opened, cold wind clawed at my face and momentarily swept through the room with refreshing vigor.

“…!”

That’s when the goosebumps rose.

As the cold air stirred the stable indoor atmosphere, I finally properly sensed the pheromones that had filled the room. The chaotically mixed scent was so intense it numbed my nose.

The pheromone that made its first impression with a sharp citrus note and finished with the smoky feel of heavy firewood wasn’t mine, nor was it another Omega’s. This was the scent that used to permeate Allen’s body when he would secretly return home in the early morning after rendezvousing with the Crown Prince. This was the Crown Prince’s pheromone.

“…Nicol. Nicol!”

I frantically ran out of the room and bounded down the stairs several steps at a time. I was anxious. No. Was it dreadful?

While I was unconscious, someone had seen me like a beast with nothing but lust remaining in my mind. And even left their pheromones all over me.

The self-loathing that this was the true nature of an Omega I had so desperately wanted to reject. The shame of having exposed my unknown depths. The anxiety that the person who had glimpsed this was someone I couldn’t properly trust.

My mind was in complete chaos.

Hearing my call, Nicol, who had been slowly climbing the stairs while rubbing his sleepy eyes, saw me wearing only a thin nightgown without even slippers on my bare feet. He was shocked and immediately draped his coat over me.

“How could you come out dressed so thinly! By the way, have you decided to end your cycle now? I was actually worried because you didn’t call me for longer than expected. Oh, and the suppressants? Did they work well? Would you like to eat first?”

Nicol, who started chattering questions, knelt down in front of me without hesitation and gently warmed my exposed bare feet with his warm palms. He seemed to think that I had taken the suppressants as initially planned and spent time pretending to endure the cycle before finally coming downstairs. He didn’t seem to have any idea what had happened during the night.

…One thing was fortunate. The Crown Prince didn’t seem to have any intention of revealing his secret outing to anyone. At least for now.

“Just a moment. Hold this candlestick for me, young master. It would be better if you let me carry you. Your feet are too cold. If you had just waited, I would have come to you. Why did you come all the way here barefoot? Goodness! Because of you, I might not live out my natural lifespan!”

I felt somehow melancholic hearing those words from someone who truly might not have lived out their natural lifespan because of me. Trying to hide my dejected voice, I deliberately spoke cheerfully.

“Who’s going to carry whom when you’re smaller than me? If I let you carry me, my feet would drag on the ground.”

“Young master! Tsk, let’s hurry upstairs and warm your body in hot water first. Aren’t you hungry? I tried to sneak some bread to you, but they said it’s proper etiquette not to bother with meals during your cycle, and told me not to come near until you came downstairs. I didn’t know before, but the butler at the main house is completely inflexible. No adaptability whatsoever!”

Eventually, giving in to Nicol’s fussing, I awkwardly put on the slippers that were too small for my feet, and as I went upstairs, my troubled mind gradually settled.

Fortunately, despite the crown prince having sprayed pheromones so thick that the sensation at the tip of my nose was dulled, not only throughout the room but all over my body—it seemed he hadn’t completed the act.

This was certain when I recalled Allen, who would suffer in bed for days after having relations with the crown prince.

“Hmm? Young master, but…”

“What is it?”

“Oh, nothing… Are your cheeks swollen from fatigue? But how can only your lips be swollen like that…?”

That pervert. He must have pretended to be a servant, stolen kisses from my lips to his heart’s content, and then run away.

If there had been even one more descendant of the imperial family in this empire other than him, this would have been misconduct serious enough to cost him the throne.

“I don’t know. I’m hungry. I want soup.”

“Ah! The mushroom soup we had for dinner tonight was really delicious! There should be some left. I’ll bring it right away.”

“Mmm, not that one.”

“Then what?”

“The onion soup my nanny made. With bread too.”

“…Sigh. Young master, really.”

“What? Why?”

“Nothing. It’s just that being a bit peculiar with some temper is much better than being too mild and getting taken advantage of. I support you, young master.”

Is this an insult or a compliment?

The next morning, after thoroughly indulging myself with Nicol, I gathered all the servants of the castle. It was to commend them for performing their duties well so that I could safely pass my first heat cycle.

Of course, the crown prince was no longer among them. No one questioned the suspicious disappearance of the handsome odd-jobs worker. Even Nicol, who wouldn’t allow even a speck of dust in matters concerning me, didn’t notice that the number of people who had departed together from the capital residence had decreased.

The crown prince must have used some method.

The system suggests that I might consider a positive change in perspective, asking if the crown prince’s affection level might have increased significantly due to this opportunity.

Opportunity? What a joke.

I know very well that gradually building his affection as the main character is most important for reaching the desired ending, but having to sacrifice “myself” as fuel for that purpose… is not entirely pleasing.

The system is right. Even without seeing it directly, the crown prince’s affection level would have definitely increased because of this incident.

Then, do I have to do anything and everything to gain the affection of the crown prince and other target characters in the future?

For the sake of certainly dying at an unspecified point in the future, I was essentially strangling my own neck in the present.

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. Is there any meaning to all this struggling?

If I can’t die at once, I might as well keep dying until I die for good.

Until Nicol’s voice waking me up no longer comes, I’ll jump, and jump, and jump again…

“Well now. That kind of flow is quite problematic.”

In the silent space, the being who was once an omniscient demon born with the primeval age but at some point became an omnipotent administrator, leisurely curls up the corners of their lips.