The First Heat

Whether it was a stroke of luck or simple necessity, the time spent standing in a daze was brief. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Luke promptly led Ensi—who had been staring at him blankly—toward the greenhouse.

Of course, Luke did not enter. He quickly opened the greenhouse door, ushered Ensi inside alone, and then meticulously closed it behind him.

No matter that he was a Beta and a close friend, he couldn’t exactly stay with someone during their heat, could he?

Even in the midst of the chaos, Luke didn’t forget to warn Ensi not to wander outside, promising to send a priest and a doctor immediately. Heaving a sigh of relief at having completed the most urgent task, he set off straight away to find Noah or Emma.

Perhaps because Donovan’s dash toward Ensi’s room had been rather loud, Luke didn’t even have to send word. He encountered the doctor at the path leading to the greenhouse, already laden with bags of medical supplies.

“Ah, you are the Young Master’s friend……”

“Skip the greetings and hurry inside. It doesn’t seem to have fully started yet, but it’s likely his first time.”

“Mmm, being a mage, you are well-informed. Thank you for your consideration. I’ll be off then.”

It wasn’t so much that he knew because he was a mage, but rather because he had studied specifically to create Ensi’s medicine. However, Luke didn’t bother nitpicking and simply nodded.

He had no desire to hinder someone trying to reach the greenhouse as quickly as possible. His priority was returning to the main building to contact Cyril through an artifact.

Getting a priest recommendation through Cyril would be better for Ensi than the merchant group requesting one from the temple directly. Luke believed that in times like this, it was crucial to seek help from a capable friend without hesitation.

“And you there—if it’s alright, I’d like the work to begin on the greenhouse rather than the perimeter wall.”

“I would be most grateful if you did.”

How is a merchant leader so skilled at stealth? Luke glanced at Hesperon, who had intentionally revealed his presence, before hurrying back to the main building to reach Cyril.

Abandoning his body to the bed prepared in the greenhouse, Ensi let out a languid breath. Away from the commotion, Ensi could finally perceive exactly what state his body was in.

It seemed Donovan’s claim was correct; he was indeed in heat. Though Ensi had subconsciously doubted it, now that his body was at rest, a slow heat began to rise in his forehead, and a dull, heavy warmth settled in his lower abdomen.

Above all, the pheromones leaking from the nape of his neck were overwhelming. It was so thick and potent that it seemed strange he hadn’t noticed it sooner.

It was leaking out so strongly that his habit of obsessively controlling his pheromones felt pointless. Would he have noticed sooner if there had been a manifestant among the servants?

He had intentionally kept manifestants away from his personal quarters, but perhaps that had been a mistake.

“Young Master.”

“……Nicephor?”

“Yes, it is Nicephor. I need to touch you for an examination; would that be alright?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Seeing the face of the doctor who had looked after him since he was an infant, Ensi willingly extended his arm. Nicephor briefly deactivated an artifact that was rattling violently from sensing the dense pheromones and checked Ensi’s temperature first.

“This is the highest temperature reading I have ever recorded for you. The level of pheromone leakage is also… certainly worthy of being called a heat.”

“I see……”

Ensi let out a hollow laugh at Nicephor’s confirmation. To think he would experience heat now. He had thought that as long as his illness remained uncured, this was something he would never face.

“However, Young Master. Because you suffer from Utia disease, I cannot give you suppressants. The herbs used in suppressants are completely incompatible with Utia disease.”

“Then what?”

“You have no choice but to endure it through your own strength. Alternatively, you would need an Alpha, but you have no partner to spend the night with.”

Not yet.

Ensi, silently agreeing with Nicephor’s assessment, let out a feverish breath. Perhaps because he had always lived in the cold, the heat concentrated in his head and stomach felt foreign. Yet even then, his hands and feet remained cold, making him feel the cruelty of Utia disease anew.

“But Nicephor. Didn’t you guarantee that I wouldn’t… experience heat?”

“That was because there are no records of a manifestant with Utia disease undergoing a rut or heat. Going into heat implies that the body is capable of pregnancy, does it not?”

Those with Utia disease are infertile. Organs that are deathly cold are unsuitable for carrying a child. That was common knowledge.

Therefore, Nicephor had been able to guarantee that Ensi would not experience a heat cycle. No one with even a modicum of medical knowledge would have refuted her.

And yet.

“It seems your body has judged that it is possible for you to carry a child.”

The continuous exposure to an Alpha’s pheromones recently likely played a part. The man Nicephor had caught a glimpse of seemed to possess particularly exceptional pheromones.

Ah, could that be why the heat came? Because the body judged that his seed could survive even in a frozen environment? A manifestant’s pheromones were often seen as a measure of the quality of their “seed,” so it was a plausible hypothesis.

“It’s… funny.”

Huffing out a breath, Ensi blinked repeatedly. It was now difficult to even speak normally; his words were clipped. Nicephor, understanding him clearly despite the pauses, nodded in agreement.

“As you say, it truly is a ridiculous situation. I cannot even prescribe medicine to lower your fever.”

“Why, huff, is that?”

“To use a fever reducer for the heat in your stomach and head would make your other extremities far too cold.”

“Ha—so, what… should I do?”

“It means this incompetent doctor has nothing she can do, so we must rely on a priest’s help. It is the thing I hate most.”

Nicephor had been by Ensi’s side since his mother’s generation. She felt like sighing at her own powerlessness, but remembering she was in front of a patient, she barely suppressed the lament.

Grateful that she could at least reach out for a miracle, she placed a towel imbued with cooling magic on Ensi’s forehead.

“It’s cold……”

“Do not touch it with your hands. You might accidentally give yourself frostbite, Young Master.”

“I… hate cold things.”

“Yes. You may dislike it, but you must leave it. Please endure it until the priest arrives.”

Ensi ignored Nicephor’s stern reply and continued to grumble incessantly in a weak, drained voice.

Perhaps because he had suffered from Utia disease since he was a fetus, Ensi—who had always shown the maturity of an old man—was throwing a rare tantrum.

Witnessing a scene she thought she would never see, Nicephor could only shift her eyes awkwardly. It seemed her Young Master had half-lost his mind due to the first fever he had ever felt in his life.

But usually, when people suffer a new kind of pain, don’t they lose the strength to speak? Is it because he trains regularly in swordsmanship?

While thinking that Ensi possessed a strange surplus of energy for someone so ill, Nicephor moved busily to make him even slightly more comfortable.

“But, Nice—.”

As Ensi wiggled his body, the sound of the blankets rustling reached her ears. Hearing the old nickname for the first time in a while, Nicephor looked up at him.

“You have something… to give me, right?”

Whatever he sensed, a strange light flickered in his blue eyes. Seeing that gaze filled with anticipation, Nicephor tilted her head.

“Something to give you? Not particul—ah, no. Come to think of it, your friend did ask me to deliver something.”

Though she thought she had acted calmly, it seemed she had been quite scattered, facing a situation she had never encountered in all her years as a doctor. Readily admitting her mistake, Nicephor pulled an item from her bag—specifically, an outer coat with elaborate embroidery.

“But why on earth is this—aha.”

Regrettably, being a Beta, Nicephor hadn’t even realized the clothes were saturated with pheromones. However, seeing the marked change in Ensi’s expression, she quickly handed the garment over.

The moment she saw Ensi’s face, everything became clear—from who the owner of the coat was, to how Ensi knew she had it.

Ensi smiled with satisfaction as he felt the fabric Nicephor placed in his hands. Finding it difficult to even sit up, he put the coat on backward and raised his arm, burying his nose in the sleeve that covered the back of his hand.

Since it was the garment Agniele had been wearing when he encountered Ensi’s heat pheromones, the coat was deeply steeped in its owner’s scent.

“Shall I step out?”

At Nicephor’s careful question, Ensi, who was breathing slowly while relaxing his languid body, glanced at her.

“……It’s fine.”

Because of the heat, his sexual desire would flare up, only to be suppressed again by the chill of the Utia disease. To think he would learn that the cold of Utia disease was a pain that could even override the urges of a heat cycle. The unexpected realization almost made him want to laugh.

Of course, even if the sexual urge had subsided, his desire as an Omega craving an Alpha’s pheromones had not. Thus, Ensi practically buried his face in the clothes that were heavily scented with Agniele.

“……I apologize, Young Master. My preparations were lacking as I came in a hurry, so may I step out for a moment?”

Witnessing that series of actions firsthand, Nicephor asked in a voice tinged with urgency. Knowing there was nothing special she could do by his side, there was no hesitation in her voice.

Ensi, knowing her well, rubbed his cheek against the coarse fabric and gave a half-hearted nod as if telling her to do as she pleased.

The moment permission was granted, Nicephor packed her scattered belongings and moved quickly.

She had to return to the main building first. Then, she would find the Alpha who had collapsed after being exposed to an Omega’s pheromones in heat and make a request that might be somewhat absurd.

She felt a momentary pang of nervousness at the fact that she was dealing with a high-ranking noble, but she shook her head and pushed the thought away.

No matter how noble the other party was, she had to speak up boldly when necessary. She was a doctor, after all. She could not let her precious patient spend his first heat with the mediocre pheromones of some random Alpha.

Moreover, in her patient’s case, the desired Alpha was quite specific; even if she provided another Alpha’s pheromones, he would surely not even spare them a glance.

Having the pheromones of the opposite trait made spending a heat cycle much easier. No matter how much Ensi’s sexual desire was lower than other Omegas due to Utia disease, the essence of a heat cycle remained the same.

Nicephor strengthened her resolve once more to complete a task that was, in some ways, even more important than calling for a healing priest.