Since there was no one to stop him, he drank the mild wine without resistance and… collapsed, hitting his head on the table.
“Master!”
“Poison!”
Tyllian threatened the butler with his sword.
The butler’s face turned ashen.
“No, poison?! This is just a medicinal… a medicinal drink to enhance… the flavor of the bedroom…”
“Is it custom in this Count’s domain to secretly give such things to esteemed guests?! Silence! Lord Ash, stand behind me. I’ll clear a path!”
“Oh, no! This isn’t…!”
As the butler waved his arms, noise was heard from outside the door.
“What’s going on? Lord Ash, your room is ready. Warm bathwater with bath salts perfect for you has been prepared to wash away all your fatigue…”
The timid-looking Count was startled by the scene in the dining room.
Ash realized for the first time that the Count’s small eyes could widen so much.
“Wha—what, why?!”
“The Count killed my master!”
Ash cried out in shock.
“He—he aimed poison at me, and my master… instead…!”
“O-Oh, no! No, Lord Ash! It’s a misunderstanding!”
“Tyllian! We need to retrieve Master’s b-body.”
Ash’s voice trembled.
He was on the verge of tears.
My master died?
Because of me?
However, it wasn’t Ash’s nature to do nothing while crying.
He didn’t just give orders with his mouth.
When he drew his sword, the Count’s eyes widened further.
‘That sword wasn’t just for decoration?’
The scabbard was so ornate that he thought it was a young master’s ornamental piece, but the blade was properly sharpened.
Ash pointed his sword at the Count.
“Stand back! Call off your soldiers. Now!”
“Ugh…!”
The knight’s sword held steady, giving confidence that his neck wouldn’t be severed unless he wished it.
But Ash’s sword was different.
It trembled erratically in the air, looking as if it would stab the Count at any moment.
The Count, also in confusion, shouted, “Everyone, retreat! Get out! Clear the way! Ugh, Lord Ash! Please lower your sword. No, I can’t die here. Not without even holding Lord Ash…!”
“You crazy…”
Ash’s head felt like it was on fire.
What was this madman babling about?
But before he could curse, Tyllian moved first.
His sword swept over the Count’s head.
Snip!
The Count’s already sparse hair was instantly more than halved.
He fumbled at his shiny bald head. He screamed.
“Aargh! Aaagh! My, my, my, my hair! My hair!”
“Ah… my head…”
At the same time, the wizard uttered similar noises and raised his head.
Ash, who had been crying, felt his surging emotions suddenly cut off.
“M-Master? You’re not dead?”
“I just fell asleep after drinking… Ah…? What’s going on?”
His master blinked his half-closed eyes from beneath his hood.
Ash was confused whether to be angry or relieved.
Still, the joy that his master wasn’t dead outweighed everything else.
Tyllian, of course, was different.
The wizard’s life or death meant nothing to him. He had more important matters to attend to.
“Lord Ash. Come here.”
“Huh?!”
Tyllian spread his arms.
Though he only extended one arm, still holding his sword in the other hand, Ash understood what he wanted him to do.
Ash leapt into his embrace.
As he wrapped his arms around Tyllian’s neck, Tyllian’s free hand supported Ash’s backside.
As soon as he held Ash firmly, Tyllian shattered the window with the hand holding his sword.
CRASH!
“You can come out on your own.”
“…Huh?”
Thud!
Tyllian jumped through the window, holding Ash.
The dining room was on the first floor, so it wasn’t a dangerous height.
The only problem was the soldiers rushing in after hearing the breaking glass, but Tyllian could handle them easily.
Thwack!
Thwack!
He merely swung his scabbard twice, and the soldiers fell without a sound.
The dining room was still in chaos.
It was noisy with shouts of ‘My hair! No, Lord Ash! Stop him immediately!’ and the sound of footsteps.
‘Is it okay to leave Master like that?’
Ash worried belatedly, but they were already far away. T
yllian ran well even while carrying someone.
Ash was well aware of his skill at running with burdens.
Tyllian was the one who had often helped him scale walls.
Once he started something, Tyllian couldn’t let Ash get caught.
“Tyl, Master…!”
Flash!
Just as Ash was about to worry, an immense light burst from the dining room.
A bird fluttered out through the window.
Ash let go of all his worries.
‘Well. My master wouldn’t get caught.’
“He’ll take care of himself.”
“You’re smart. You’re right. He just escaped.”
Ash exclaimed in admiration.
Tyllian didn’t have eyes in the back of his head, yet he knew perfectly.
He maintained his silence even as he ran.
But Ash had many questions.
“How did you know what was in that wine?”
“The scent was strange.”
“Aren’t all wines supposed to smell different?”
“No, it’s not that. That wine… it smelled like something that sometimes came from you, Lord Ash.”
Tyllian hesitated.
Ash lifted his wrist and brought it to his nose.
“My scent?”
Even taking a deep breath, he couldn’t really smell anything.
Tyllian seemed flustered.
“It’s not like that, something you yourself can’t smell… that…”
“My pheromone scent?”
What a shameful thing to beat around the bush about, Ash thought.
Anyway, as soon as Ash asked again, his first thought was, ‘How do you know that?’
‘Of course he’d know. We slept together, didn’t we?’
He was about to correct his own internal question, but then another strange thought arose.
“…A scent that sometimes came from me?”
Ash didn’t always take Tyllian along on his nightly escapades.
What could be more uncool than bringing an escort knight when going on a date?
Because he was a man who understood style and etiquette, he basically went out without Tyllian.
It was only when Tyllian eerily followed him and caught him that he often ended up getting help with his escapes.
And this implied that Ash met Tyllian after he’d gotten into trouble…
Still, it should have been normal for Tyllian not to smell Ash’s pheromones.
‘I sprayed deodorizer, didn’t I?’
The traits of Alpha and Omega were hereditary.
Alphas were born with superior physical abilities and keen intellect.
Omegas were the only ones who could emit scents that captivated Alphas and form pairs with them to produce children.
Their numbers were extremely rare, and all were nobles.
Being an Alpha or Omega meant they were born with noble blood, and even if they were born commoners, they were considered to have a strong trace of noble blood from their ancestors, so they were usually adopted into noble families.
Owen was an example of this.
As a child, Ash wondered why no one understood his mother’s despair.
His mother’s room was filled with her emotions—confusion, sorrow, despair, loneliness, resentment, yearning… so much so that Ash’s heart pounded before he even entered.
But above all emotions, a profound loneliness clung to his mother’s pheromones.
Ash knew this, which was why he couldn’t help but go to his mother’s room.
No matter how angry she was with him.
Sometimes, his mother needed Ash so desperately.
Why didn’t the servants who attended his mother know?
That his mother needed Ash.
No, that she needed anyone at all.
He wondered.
‘How do the servants smell pheromones? They’re all Betas.’
Until Owen’s words brought him understanding.
So Ash grew up not caring much about his own pheromones or getting others’ pheromones on him.
‘Everyone can’t smell pheromones anyway? There’s no need to hide it, then.’
This was also true when he started attending night balls.
At that time, a high-ranking friend who was well-versed in strange activities took Ash to various games, calling it ‘experiencing and getting used to things.’
He gave Ash pheromone deodorizer, calling it an essential for night escapades, but Ash didn’t use it much.
Perhaps only when Tyllian came to catch him.
Other than that, he just went about his business…
Then that incident happened.
‘A vulgar smell. You… what have you been doing?’
That was the decisive event that made Owen despise Ash.
After that, Ash never failed to use deodorizer.
Except in truly unavoidable circumstances.
Unless it was a situation like fainting due to a rough sleeping arrangement with a companion like Tyllian, who didn’t even consider the other’s condition, he used deodorizer without fail, even if the only people he met all day were servants.
But how could Tyllian sometimes smell Ash’s pheromones?
With a questioning look, Ash turned to Tyllian.
Tyllian passed through the castle gate and shouted, “Wizard!”
Ash and Tyllian were caught in a whirlwind.
The intense wind made it impossible to open their eyes.
Ash buried his face in Tyllian’s shoulder.
The ground receded with a dizzying sensation.
Trying to suppress his nausea, he forgot the question he had just pondered.