A Scent of Salvation

Blink, blink. Perhaps because his consciousness had not yet fully returned, the movement of his eyelids was infinitely slow. His vision, still blurry and failing to find focus, captured an unfamiliar ceiling.

“You’ve already come to. Are you feeling alright?“

A soft voice, cautious as if testing the waters, echoed in his ear. Agniele waited a moment for his vision to clear before calmly turning his head toward the sound.

“You are……“

Was it Donovan? Ensius’s friend was sitting in a chair prepared next to the bed. Since his mind was still hazy, Agniele couldn’t quite grasp the situation yet.

“You collapsed from the aftermath of resisting the heat pheromones. This is still Ensi’s mansion, and it hasn’t even been an hour since you fainted, so you can rest easy.“

Recognizing Agniele’s state at once, Donovan summarized the situation for him.

“And, well……“

As his body was still not in peak condition, Agniele didn’t pay much mind to Donovan, who suddenly trailed off and hesitated. Instead, he pressed a hand to his forehead and focused on his breathing to regain at least a modicum of clarity.

“Ensi coveted your clothes…… He has the outer coat you were wearing. Of course, Noah said he’d prepare suitable clothes for you, so you don’t need to worry about that.“

Coveted my clothes.

Agniele, who had been slowly repeating the cycle of inhaling and exhaling, chewed over Donovan’s words a few more times before finally realizing why Ensi had wanted his coat. He also realized that regardless of how long the heat lasted, a single coat would surely be insufficient.

Having organized his thoughts, Agniele reached up without hesitation and pulled down the cravat wrapped around his neck. Donovan’s eyes widened in surprise at Agniele’s sudden action of undoing his accessories.

“Um, Your Grace? Why all of a sudden……?“

“For now, this is likely all I can give. The coat won’t be enough, so I would like you to deliver this to him later.”

“Ah, yes……”

Donovan took the cravat Agniele handed him obediently, but he couldn’t hide his bewilderment. He wondered if this sort of thing—readily handing over one’s clothing—was a given among manifestants. Of course, knowing it wasn’t a question to ask someone who was still unwell, he didn’t voice it.

“If you don’t recover soon, please stay for a day. Ensi would surely have said the same.”

“No, I cannot do that. A simple visit is one thing, but staying the night is out of the question.”

Firmly refusing Donovan’s suggestion, Agniele turned his gaze out the window. True to the claim that not much time had passed since he fainted, the sun was still adorning the sky.

He felt grateful for his healthy physique and forced his body to move, even though his strength hadn’t fully returned.

“I shall head back for today. Tomorrow—I will return tomorrow.”

“Wait, but still—!”

As Agniele attempted to walk with a staggering gait, Donovan hovered around him, unsure of what to do.

Should he stop him? Ensi had told him to let the man rest until he recovered…… but was it alright for someone like him to stop Agniele?

Donovan struggled with the conflict between their social status as commoner and noble, and the request of his sick friend. Just as Donovan was spiraling in indecision, a knock at the door sounded like a salvation.

“It is Nicephor. May I come in?”

“—Nicephor?”

“Ah, she’s Ensi’s personal doctor. She likely came to give an update on Ensi’s condition.”

Agniele, who had questioned the name since it was his first time hearing it while frequenting the mansion, permitted the visitor to enter without a second thought upon hearing he could learn of Ensi’s state.

“Despite the sudden visit, thank you for—”

“Skip the greetings. More importantly, how is Ensius?”

Nicephor, who was about to show her manners, straightened up awkwardly at the sound of Agniele’s urgent voice inquiring after Ensi’s well-being.

“Because of his illness, the heat has come on more weakly than usual. His mind is clear, and a priest is scheduled to arrive soon…… he should show improvement shortly.”

She let out a dry cough of embarrassment and answered faithfully without hiding anything. News about Agniele had even reached Nicephor, despite her being stuck in her laboratory.

Thus, as she was answering sensitive matters without delay, she tilted her head upon realizing that Agniele was subtly moving away from her.

He was acting as if she were some kind of germ. Considering that Nicephor, as a doctor, tended to be exceptionally mindful of cleanliness, it was a very strange reaction.

While checking if her clothes were soiled, Nicephor belatedly remembered that she had come straight here after being by Ensi’s side.

“Ah…… My apologies. I shall change my clothes and return.”

Coming here while reeking of an Omega’s heat pheromones, of course he would avoid her. Even if she was a Beta and dull to pheromones, it was a blatant mistake.

Have I truly lost my mind today? Her brow furrowed at the fact that she had made mistakes both in the greenhouse and here. As Nicephor bowed her head in apology, Agniele shook his head while covering his mouth.

“It’s fine, just tell me your business.”

“……It seems the Young Master requires Your Grace’s pheromones. If it isn’t an intrusion, could you imbue some clothing or fabric with your pheromones?”

Nicephor hesitated for a moment, but instead of asking sluggish questions like ‘would it really be alright,’ she quickly stated the reason for her visit. She figured that dragging out the conversation with meaningless talk would only make the other person more miserable, so she might as well finish her business and disappear quickly.

“How much is needed?”

“The more, the better.”

Donovan, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, let out a light sigh at Agniele’s complexion, which was turning paler by the minute, but he moved to help.

With a flick of his hand, he opened all the windows and summoned a breeze to ensure the pheromones clinging to Nicephor didn’t reach Agniele.

“……Since the sun hasn’t set yet, it is possible.”

Agniele gave a nod of thanks to Donovan and expressed his willingness to help Nicephor. Since he was an Alpha and had experienced ruts, he knew well enough that the pheromones of the opposite trait were vital during such periods.

Above all, he was pleased by the fact that Ensi sought his pheromones specifically. Even if Nicephor hadn’t asked, he had intended to stop by the mansion every day to deliver clothes until Ensius’s heat ended.

“You aren’t overexerting yourself, are you? If it’s too difficult, please don’t do it. Ensi would surely have stopped you.”

“I wonder.”

Agniele inwardly disagreed with Donovan’s cautious attempt to dissuade him. Normally, he would have trusted his words. However, Ensius was currently in heat, and his friend was a Beta.

A Beta who had likely only learned about manifestants through books.

Therefore, Agniele couldn’t help but receive Donovan’s words with skepticism. This was because manifestants possessed animalistic tendencies that were much stronger than those of Betas.

People say humans are great because they have the reason to suppress their instincts, but well…

Agniele knew all too well that during a cycle when instincts are at their strongest, even a human can degenerate into a mere beast.

Furthermore, it was especially so during the first cycle. Swept away by the first experience of ecstasy, pleasure, and sexual desire, reason turns into a scrap of paper…… no, perhaps something even less valuable.

So, he dared to be certain: if the current Ensius had seen this scene, far from stopping him, he would have subtly encouraged Agniele. He would have done so to get what he wanted as quickly as possible.

“I ask that you prepare the materials. And I would like everyone to leave the room.”

Since Agniele himself often ended up in a similar state during his ruts, he didn’t feel particularly awkward or averse to the idea. He simply wanted Ensi, who had to spend his heat alone, to be at least a little more comfortable.

As Agniele naturally issued the order for them to leave, Donovan and Nicephor withdrew cleanly. Since his intention was to help Ensi, there was no reason to interfere.

Whether they had heard the news, several servants swarmed in shortly after, delivered soft blankets and items of clothing, and then vanished.

The blankets were large enough that Agniele could have covered himself with room to spare, making them no different from quilts, and the shirts and thick outer coats were clearly large enough that they would be oversized for Ensius.

Given the substantial amount handed over, it seemed it would take quite some time to imbue them with pheromones. Checking the clock, Agniele immediately set to work.

Even if he couldn’t do all of them, he had to move quickly to scent as many as possible. Although the pheromones would vanish sooner compared to clothes he actually wore, it would certainly be better than nothing.

Around a wrist that was thin for a man’s, the cravat was crudely tied. Sweat, from the heat he couldn’t fully dissipate, pooled on his forehead. Ensi, who was rubbing his forehead against the pillow, furrowed his brow upon sensing a strange presence.

As time passed, his mind grew more clouded. Ecstasy that rushed in clumsily and pain that blocked it with a ferocious weight tore through his body.

It was difficult not because of the heat, but because he was physically unwell. His condition was already at its worst, and yet external factors were tormenting him too. It was enough to make him lament.

Ensi tried to calm his trembling body by taking deep breaths. He was used to pain, so he could endure this much. He could move if he wanted to.

As he repeated similar words to himself like an incantation, the trembling of his body stopped as if by magic. He slowly clenched and unclenched his hand, confirming that although his senses were duller than usual, it wasn’t too bad.

Just as he was about to pull out the sword he kept under the bed and head outside, a familiar spirit suddenly poked its face in front of Ensi’s eyes.

[You don’t have to go out.]

“……You.”

[They said it’s okay. They said you can rest.]

That boy will handle it instead.

The spirit, adding those whispered words, vanished in an instant. The way it disappeared after only saying what it wanted was exactly like a certain someone who would push their point and flee for fear of hearing a rebuttal. Thanks to that, the tension left Ensi’s body, and he let out a hollow laugh.

“I told them all they had to do was build the facilities……”

It seemed they were even standing guard now. Not having expected to be protected in this way, Ensi rubbed his forehead, where the fever still hadn’t broken, in a circular motion.

It was baffling, but it didn’t feel all that bad.