<Episode 38>
“Are you worried that I might attack?”
Elkais was startled, his eyes widening.
“The last time, I noticed you couldn’t resist well when I tried to attack you.”
“Oh.”
“If I seem like I’m going to do it again, just push me away. Just don’t kill me. Brother Abellard will heal me.”
She spoke rationally and turned her back. Elkais, unable to hide his blushing cheeks, turned away as well and covered his eyes.
He couldn’t bring himself to tell her that covering his eyes was useless.
He didn’t understand why he was acting so irrationally.
He wondered if pheromones could be this powerful. Thinking back to the absolute strength he felt when he first met Abellard, he could understand the current situation.
However, it seemed unfair that her pheromones made his head spin, while she didn’t seem to feel any Alpha pheromones.
The only pheromones she seemed to sense were those of Rubellite Croppers, the Omega Grand Duke.
Rubellite openly expressed his discomfort and rudeness towards her, but she tried not to show how difficult it was for her to handle the Omega pheromones.
He could only tell from the slight furrowing of her brows or the tight line of her lips.
“But can you wield a sword with your eyes covered?”
“With some practice.”
He didn’t elaborate.
The truth was, he could see perfectly well even with his eyes covered.
“That’s impressive. When I look closely, Elkais, you seem very capable.”
She said this as she began to undress.
Eveline knew from reading the original novel that he was indeed very capable.
In the book, Abellard wasn’t particularly skilled in survival. However, with his cardinal-level divine power, he easily healed Elkais.
In the original story, Elkais handled most of the survival tasks.
“Should we make a fish trap next time?”
“Do you want to eat fish?”
“Fish is delicious. But if we don’t find any predators like today, we’ll go hungry.”
“I’ll make sure we don’t go hungry. Don’t worry.”
“Still, let’s make a fish trap. We can’t go out at night anyway.”
Elkais found it hard to focus on the conversation. Even though she was behind him, he could feel her undressing without hesitation, making it hard for him to breathe.
“…Okay.”
He barely managed to answer, covering his mouth with his large hand and bending over slightly.
The strong scent of blood clung to her torn negligee.
“Oh.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t have any clothes to change into.”
At that moment, a white note appeared in Elkais’s hand. He quietly exhaled and unfolded it. Even with his eyes covered, he could read it.
[Say the following to Eveline Wilden and you will receive a spare shirt.
“I can take care of you.”
P.S. You have 5 minutes.]
Elkais couldn’t understand the strange commands the white notes had been giving him recently. But it was true that she needed clothes.
“I can take care of you.”
“What?”
She turned around in surprise, and he held up the shirt that appeared in his hand.
“Oh, you brought clothes. Can I wear that?”
“…Yes.”
He thought the note was probably a result of someone’s magic.
“Eveline.”
“Yes?”
She placed her discarded clothes at her feet and stepped forward, squishing the grass beneath her.
Every time a breeze blew, her scent tickled his senses, making him feel like he had swallowed a butterfly.
“When you summoned a weapon last time, it looked like you were using magic.”
“Oh, that.”
“Do you have magical power?”
“No, I don’t summon them myself. Actually, I can’t use magic.”
“I see.”
Elkais felt a bit relieved that she was being honest with him. It seemed she trusted him as much as he wanted to trust her.
“Oh, the water is cold.”
She sat on the grass and dipped her toes in the water before pulling them back out.
“Was the water always this cold?”
“It was never warm.”
He couldn’t help but chuckle. Then he heard the sound of her fully submerging her legs in the water, and he laughed again.
“Oh…!”
Her shivering from the cold was endearing.
“Oh, I don’t have a towel either!”
“You’ll have to dry off with the clothes you were wearing.”
“Right, that should work.”
Elkais found their casual conversation enjoyable but suddenly had a troubling thought.
He was likely feeling this way because of her pheromones, but she, unaffected by pheromones, probably felt nothing.
That’s why she could talk so casually in this situation.
If she saw him as a man, she might have felt a bit nervous.
Elkais felt his insides churn with that thought, but he didn’t want to show it.
If he showed it, even the comfort she felt around him would surely disappear.
“I wish I had been born a Beta.”
“All of a sudden?”
“I thought you might be bored, Eveline.”
He didn’t know why he was saying this. But he felt that he wouldn’t get many opportunities to talk with her.
The hut already had Abellard, who was showing an unusual obsession with her, and Rubellite, who seemed strangely different from the person he once knew.
“Well, I wished I was born an Alpha.”
“Why? Being an Omega would be much easier.”
“An Omega can’t get bitten on the neck. I often saw how scared my brother Abellard was because of that.”
Eveline regretted saying that without thinking.
“Ah… it’s so cold.”
She changed the subject, stepping deeper into the water. The cold lake water made her shiver.
“Now that I think about it, you’ve changed too, Lady.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Eveline Wilden I knew used to hate her brother. You even broke his choker and switched his tranquilizers.”
“Yes, I did. I was quite mean back then.”
It was something the original Eveline did, but she didn’t bother explaining. No one would believe her anyway.
“Is that why you’re being nice to Abellard now?”
“Does it seem that way?”
“Yes.”
“That, and… well, because he’s my brother. I can’t just abandon him.”
Eveline spoke honestly, scrubbing her body. The dried blood was washed away by the water.
She moved to the shallow water, put the yucca leaves in her hand, and rubbed them together. Bubbles started to form, and she used them to wash herself.
“And he keeps bothering me.”
Elkais, forgetting that his eyes were covered, turned to look at her. Eveline felt like their eyes met for a moment, but his eyes were covered, so she ignored it and continued washing her shoulders.
“Do you feel drawn to his vulnerable side?”
“That’s part of it, and I was also quite mean to him before.”
He fell silent and turned his head back, prompting her to change the subject.
“Why did you want to be a Beta, Elkais?”
“Betas don’t have heat cycles. They aren’t swayed by such foolish emotions.”
“Betas aren’t devoid of sexual desire.”
“But they don’t mistake it for love.”
“That’s a big misunderstanding.”
Eveline scrubbed her neck, arms, waist, legs, and fingers, then walked into the deeper water and came back out, completely soaked.
“Phew…”
“Why is that a misunderstanding?”
“Ehm…”
Eveline, shivering from the cold, answered without much thought.
“Betas also mistake sexual desire for love.”
“Are you talking about yourself, Eveline?”
“Yes.”
He was at a loss for words at her reply.
She didn’t seem to care about what she said and used the yucca leaves to make more bubbles, scrubbing her hair.
“Who do you feel sexual desire for, Eveline?”
“Isn’t that a bit inappropriate to ask?”
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
Elkais felt ashamed for asking.
“Do you feel sexual desire for Omegas, Elkais? I suppose that’s obvious.”
“…Yes.”
It wasn’t easy to admit, but he had already acknowledged it once before, so he said it.
“Do you hate that… Ah!”
Eveline’s scream made Elkais draw his sword and rush toward the lake.
He immediately slashed at the source of the scream.
“A snake.”
“That scared me.”
The snake had red, white, and black markings.
Even though the snake was cut in two, it still moved, making Eveline feel even more creeped out.
“Can you really not see?”
She asked, wanting to confirm.
“…Yes.”
Elkais felt a bit guilty for lying.
“Then can you scrub my back? I can’t reach.”
However, he didn’t regret his lie when she asked him to scrub her back.
“Are you sure that’s okay?”
“You said you can’t see.”
Eveline turned her back to him, exposing her bare back to his view.
Elkais could clearly see her white back, feeling the weight of the situation.
