Chapter 30
Since he had invited her in, she couldn’t just close the door.
Edith averted her gaze, feeling out of place. Eventually, her eyes wandered over the man’s smooth bare skin.
He looked quite casual with only pants on. He leaned against the carpet with bare feet, wearing a garment that barely covered his lower body. His ankles were wrapped in tight-fitting fabric, and his bare feet pressed against the carpet. The distinct contours of his ankle bones and tendons were strangely sensual.
He fastened the garment around his wrist. His large hand slid smoothly through the white silk sleeve.
His chest, as broad as a mountain, raised thick muscles with every movement he made.
As the garment wrapped around his arms, it followed the sensual curves of Clyde’s back. His sharp elbows were angularly defined. Even his muscular arms, with their protruding veins, seemed seductive.
One could easily imagine what he would do with those arms on the bed.
She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Shocked and wide-eyed, Edith stood like a scarecrow at the door.
“Why are you standing there like that?”
He tilted his head slightly. He was facing the direction of the bed.
Her heart, which had been racing non-stop, felt like it was about to explode now. The scene of a scantily clad man waiting by the bed, from his blue hair tips to his bare toenails…
“Ah, yes.”
But Edith had to gather her wits and close her gaping mouth.
Trying to hide the fact that she had been ogling his naked body, she lowered her head and turned to the opposite corner of the room. Just then, a group of palace attendants emerged from the bathroom and dressing room. They had just finished tidying up.
Clyde casually ran his hand through his hair. After a formal bow from the attendants, they left the bedroom. Once again, it was just the two of them.
However, the atmosphere indoors had changed significantly.
“Wow, a bed.”
Another bed, similar in size to the one that was already there, had appeared next to the original bed. The wall, which used to have a banner hanging on it due to long-term renovations, had been significantly dug out to accommodate it.
The new bed was a structure that was raised and lowered against the wall. While it lacked the grandeur of the canopy on the prince’s bed, which was adorned with golden columns, the plush mattress looked functional and comfortable at a glance.
“So, the construction was for making a bed.”
She circled around, marveling, and pressed the sheets with her hands.
“It didn’t turn out as useful as I thought it would. It seems to require several attendants to raise and lower it.”
It seemed to have taken a long time to prepare for dinner, as Clyde had bathed late, and by the time she returned, he hadn’t finished dressing yet. As a result, she had witnessed a flesh fest.
“It’s quite big, so it makes sense.”
“I hope it’s not too uncomfortable.”
“Did they make it because of me?”
“Then would you sleep on one side alone? My body is just one.”
The confirmation of what she had felt as a suspicion made her face pale. Since they had provided a new bed, was it a sign that she shouldn’t go home at all?
“I’m going home. I’ll definitely leave early tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I’ll cheer for Edith’s early departure.”
“Really?”
He responded nonchalantly but coolly.
“I know how you feel. But we should be prepared for when it gets late. I can’t predict how long I’ll have to sleep on the couch.”
“Well…”
She wanted to retort, asking if it was because he wouldn’t let her go, but she refrained from crossing that line.
In the past, Clyde would put Edith to bed while he slept on the couch.
Part of her shock stemmed from the day she woke up to find them sharing the same pillow. He seemed cautious not to wake her up in the early hours, knowing she didn’t sleep much and got up early.
There were also times when he would lie down briefly next to her after returning from his physical training. Each time, she felt sorry. It was unbecoming of her to drive Clyde, a prince by name, out.
“Shall we have one more drink and go to bed? Or should I put out the fire?”
Still, she wasn’t happy about being given a new bed.
She glanced at him sideways.
Despite saying he supported her early departure, there was no sign of him letting her go. In many ways, he seemed to be urging her to give up. The message that she should just live here was clear.
“I want to go to bed early.”
Clyde shrugged effortlessly and proceeded to turn off the lights one by one in the room.
As darkness fell, Edith crawled onto the bed. Her eyes, still unaccustomed to the darkness, turned everything around her pitch black.
The sound of sheets rustling came from her knees and hands. But then, she heard another unfamiliar friction sound.
What on earth could it be?
“Edith?”
A large body collided with hers.
“Ugh.”
She gasped in surprise as a thick and sturdy arm wrapped around her waist, causing her to inhale sharply. The elasticity of the new mattress was unfamiliar to her body, and she couldn’t resist the bouncing force, causing her to lean helplessly to the side.
Another person’s slender body overlapped hers, carrying a heavy weight over her.
The warmth against her side was intense.
She let out a short scream in alarm. Her breath mingled with his startled sigh. With the sheets and blankets tangled around them, Clyde’s warm breath brushed against her ear.
“Why did Edith come up here?”
With his soldier-like physique adding weight, every time he spoke, Edith’s chest vibrated.
Her pressed throat would have turned crimson. It wouldn’t be visible to him in the darkness.
“But this isn’t my bed?”
“What do you mean? Edith’s bed is the one next to it. You always slept there.”
“But that’s the space for the prince.”
“It’s different now.”
A slow, gentle touch was felt on her hair next to her ear.
Her mind was about to go blank. Being pressed against and hearing his husky voice, coupled with his hand touching her head, was overwhelming.
“If you want to sleep on the new bed… you’ll have to compete with me, is that okay?”
Clyde indicated that he would be guarding this bed. If she insisted on sleeping here, they might end up sharing a blanket soon.
“No, I’ll step back.”
She could only step back obediently.
Edith tried to get up, but he didn’t move aside.
The enthusiasm she had for a moment was quickly buried. Clyde’s state, as he lay stretched out, was difficult to discern. Only his breath, like a beast’s in the dark, floated around his tousled hair.
“Why.”
“Just a moment.”
His breath stopped. Instead of the wind flowing past her ear, the heat enveloped her entire body more intensely.
The silence was heavy.
Clyde’s jumping abdomen and protruding collarbone were much heavier than the darkness. It seemed to absorb all kinds of resentment and complaints. The feeling of being excessively trusted and the difficulty of resisting because of the authority of the palace, as well as the rebellion of wanting to go home, were all absorbed by the darkness.
What kind of feeling was it? Why was he insisting on keeping her here even if it meant resorting to force and coercion?
“That’s enough now.”
Just as various fantasies confused her, the heavy mesh-like body slowly moved away.
Edith struggled to move her heated back and barely managed to move to the adjacent bed.
Without untying the canopy attached to the bedposts, she buried herself in the bed, flipping the blanket up to her head.
Because of his ostentatious actions, her anger was still burning. It was all Clyde’s fault. He was behaving like a despicable boss who kept her up all night. It was a situation where she couldn’t even leave easily due to the authority of the royal family.
She had to suppress indescribable feelings by pressing them deep into the blanket.
“The examination earlier…”
A gruff voice was heard from beside her.
“…”
“The doctor’s opinion should be followed. It’s the opinion of the empire’s top doctor.”
“I understand.”
“I was also surprised to hear that Edith is a rare case.”
“I’ve always lived as a beta so far. It was natural.”
She didn’t need to bring up the fact that she didn’t have a single penny of allowance. Her past, where she had barely left the campus since entering the academy, was not worth mentioning.
She couldn’t confess to Clyde, the protagonist of the novel, about the struggles she had gone through, spinning around the classroom, library, and dormitory, trying to familiarize herself with the unfamiliar world.
“But Clyde.”
He responded a little late to being called by name, as if savoring the sound.
“What was that talk earlier?”
“What talk?”
She groped her memory and brought up the new vocabulary she had just heard.
“The pheromone shower?”
Suddenly, the adjacent bed fell silent. The lively conversation they were having abruptly stopped.
It was suspicious that he, who usually enjoyed teasing her, closed his mouth first. It was quite different from Clyde, who usually enjoyed watching Edith suffer.
Perhaps it had a negative meaning after all.
It was related to treatment. Was it an abnormal method? Or some kind of folk remedy?
“Why? What’s a pheromone shower?”
As she asked repeatedly, he turned his body toward her, lying on the bed. She had gotten used to the darkness, and could now vaguely discern his silhouette.
“That… if you can, would you do it?”
“Decide whether you want to tell me or not.”
“If you want to do it, do it with me. Not with anyone else.”
He was evasive and only revealing partial truths.
As she gazed at the golden glow from his bed, she wondered what kind of scheme this man was up to.
“A pheromone shower is…”
After waiting impatiently for so long that the food had burnt, Clyde finally mumbled hesitantly.
“It’s dousing your whole body with pheromones.”
“But what do you mean by dousing? Pheromones aren’t liquids, they’re just gases that produce scents.”
Pheromones are the power and charm that seduce others. Alphas and omegas use their unique scents as weapons to entice each other. In addition, alpha males possess an intangible power to dominate others.
With just a small amount of pheromones that wouldn’t even be noticeable, it was impossible to take a shower.
“What method is there to cover your whole body with pheromones? I don’t know as a newcomer to this world, and the doctor and Clyde obviously do.”
There was another long silence.
Breaking the silence, a rich and deep voice was heard, making her instinctively perk up her ears.
“I’ll cover your whole body with my pheromones.”
Even though she hadn’t received an omega diagnosis yet, he said it like this.
“Take off the cumbersome clothes between you and me.”
“…”
“Face each other with our bare bodies, not from a distance like now.”
