III. Signs of a Fracture
"It will sting a little."
At the warning, Etienne flinched at the needle pricking his skin, his eyes tightening. He ought to have been used to it by now, but somehow it hurt every time.
"My apologies. I will prick you once more."
With an apology, Saladin moved his hand again. A moment later, the pad of Etienne’s finger stung anew.
"That will do."
Confirming the rise of a red bead on the pale finger, Saladin took out a small, narrow glass vial. With practiced motion, he set the vial to the finger.
No sooner had the glass touched than the blood beaded at the fingertip fell in—one drop, then another.
"Hmm."
The blood was too thin. Watching the blood fill the clear vial, Saladin hummed under his breath. Deep lines gathered between his brows.
"Why? Is it bad?"
Seeing Saladin’s face darken, Etienne asked with studied indifference.
"N—no."
Startled, Saladin answered, though he had been staring at the vial with a grave face. It was, to any eye, a lie.
"The color looks paler than usual."
Etienne lifted his bleeding hand. It looked off even to him.
"Well… we will only know for certain after testing."
"You can speak plainly."
Etienne let out a small laugh at Saladin’s fidgeting. No one knew better than he did that his body was unwell.
"My health has been poor of late. I even had a sudden heat cycle the other day."
Shifting his posture, Etienne looked at Saladin. The man belonged to the Empress, but he also had the conscience a physician ought to possess.
"As you said, I’ve been cutting down on drink by degrees. Is that not enough? Should I take more medicine?"
"No. Now is the time to reduce every medicine."
At Etienne’s question, Saladin shook his head. He hesitated for a long time, as if choosing his words. His loyalty to the Empress and his conscience as a doctor seemed to be in conflict.
"Phew."
Letting out a long, heavy sigh, Saladin raised his head with a resolute face.
"I will be frank. Your body, Your Highness… is like one addicted to poison."
He spoke with a set expression. It had already been ten years since he became Etienne’s attending physician. Since the start of the year, Etienne’s health had declined sharply. A body at its limits was collapsing fast.
Frankly, it was a miracle it had held out this long. Without the wealth of the Empress and House Herace, without the utmost efforts of the Empire’s foremost physicians and apothecaries, Etienne would have broken long ago.
"I told Her Majesty as well: His Highness the Prince needs a drug holiday."
"And if I don’t?"
"In the worst case… you will lose your life. Or the aftereffects of drug dependence could damage your nervous system and leave you with a disability."
At Saladin’s words, Ben, standing behind Etienne, blanched white. Etienne himself remained calm, as if he had expected to hear as much.
"I see."
With a light nod, Etienne leaned his weary body into the sofa and spoke slowly.
"What did my lady mother say when she received your report?"
"Her Majesty the Empress…"
Saladin trailed off, unable to answer at once. In truth, he had warned the Empress several times that Etienne’s medicines needed reducing; otherwise, Etienne’s health would be damaged beyond repair.
But the Empress had not listened. She had, rather, threatened him.
"Has it been about ten years since you became the Prince’s physician?"
"Yes."
"Ten years… the longest of any so far. Do you know this? There were three others who tended the Prince before you became Palace Physician. They were all dismissed for letting their tongues wag. What do you think became of them?"
"Your Majesty."
"I ask only one thing of you. Do not let it be discovered that our Prince is an Omega. Is that so hard?"
"But at this rate… His Highness’s health will be destroyed completely."
"He only has to hold out until he is made crown prince. There isn’t long left."
"…Truly?"
"Yes. We need only remove the Grand Duke of Eckhart. Until then, manage him not to break. And if he does break… there’s no helping it. As long as he doesn’t die."
Swallowing, Saladin recalled the conversation with the Empress. He had no idea how to relay this to Etienne.
A ruined body did not easily return. The Empress knew that and still told him to keep feeding Etienne medicine. She did not care if the body broke—as long as he did not die.
"So Her Majesty did not give permission."
Watching the Palace Physician’s face grow darker by the moment, Etienne smiled bitterly, as if it were to be expected. Saladin bowed his head with a stricken face.
"My apologies. It is my inadequacy…"
"It’s fine."
Etienne waved a hand as if to say it was all right. After a small pause for thought, he spoke again.
"Is there any solution besides reducing the drugs?"
"…There is one."
At Etienne’s question, Saladin wet his lips and answered carefully.
"What is it?"
"…To pass a heat cycle fully."
"Fully?"
Etienne jerked his chin for detail. Ben, who was pouring tea, pricked up his ears as well.
"Until now, Your Highness has never passed a proper heat cycle. When it came, you took a sedative and a sleeping draught and slept through it."
"Yes."
Etienne nodded. The best way to pass a heat cycle was to sleep with an Alpha. With contraceptives, even during rut or a heat cycle, no child would be conceived.
If pregnancy was still a worry, he could at least spend the night with a Beta or an Omega. It was inferior to sleeping with an Alpha, but it could still quell the sexual drive stirred by the heat cycle.
If both methods were refused, only the sedative remained. It was miserable until the drug took effect, but sedatives were the only way to get through without joining bodies with someone else.
That was the method Etienne had chosen whenever a heat cycle came. It was, from the start, not much of a choice. The Empress was not one to allow Etienne to join bodies with anyone.
So Etienne had endured each heat cycle with sedatives. When the sedative failed to work well, he took a sleeping draught as well.
"As Your Highness must already feel, the sedative is not working as before."
"You’re right. It gave me some trouble this time. Is that, too, because my body has broken down?"
"Yes. Your body has developed tolerance, so the effect is late to set in."
Saladin answered in a firm voice. As if he had steeled himself, he poured out his words.
"Because you have taken drugs since childhood, Your Highness’s heat cycle frequency is longer than others’. Most have heat six or seven times a year; Your Highness only two or three. Even those you suppress with drugs."
"Hmm."
"Until now, forced regulation with drugs allowed us to control the cycle, but tolerance has caused a problem. Because suppression is no longer complete, your cycle has turned irregular."
The trouble with Etienne’s heat cycle had started the year before last. Had they taken measures then—such as halting the drugs—today would not have happened.
But even if he could return, the Prince taking a drug holiday would still be impossible. Then and now, Saladin had no confidence he could persuade the Empress.
"…"
Biting his lower lip, Saladin felt guilt rise. Even if it had been under the Empress’s orders, he bore a share of responsibility for the Prince’s body being so damaged.
"So in this state, medicine is neither here nor there?"
"It isn’t that there’s no effect at all. But we can no longer fully block the heat cycle. If we keep trying to dam it with drugs, it will come on suddenly again, as before."
"In other words, a bomb that could go off at any time."
"Yes."
"…What if we change the compounding and use a new drug?"
"Change it and there might be effect for a time… but in the end, it will be the same. There is a limit to artificially blocking a natural process."
Heaving a long breath, Saladin seemed to feel a long-stuck weight lift now that he had said what he’d long wanted to say.
"More than anything… in your current state, it is difficult to administer any new drug."
"…"
Etienne fell into a long silence, lips pressed in a line, his mind tangled by the explanation. At length, his tightly closed mouth opened slightly.
"In short—if I want to get out of this state, I have to sleep with an Alpha."
"…Yes."
Saladin, halted by the bluntness of the question, answered in a voice that shrank. He had feared Etienne would take offense, but thankfully, there was no sign of it. Encouraged a little, he explained the effects of passing a heat cycle with an Alpha.
"If Your Highness spends the night with an Alpha… ah—this is awkward to state directly, but… as you take the Alpha’s seed and expel your own… the wastes and toxins accumulated in your body will be expelled together. It’s like purifying tainted ground…"
When it came time to be explicit, Saladin’s face flushed. Even though it was a physician’s plain duty to explain, he felt abashed.
Likely because he had never once discussed such matters with the Prince before now.
Feeling his cheeks burn, Saladin stumbled onward through the explanation.
"After spending the night with an Alpha, Your Highness’s body will stabilize for a time without drugs. At least for a month or two."
"Will that be all right?"
"Of course. You will need to return to suppressants after that, but taking them after a drug holiday will make them more effective than now. That is the end of my explanation."
Saladin took the water glass on the table. After talking without pause, his throat was parched. Draining it at a gulp, he watched Etienne’s face. A moment ago, he’d felt relieved; now that he’d said it, anxiety returned.
"I understand that that is the best method. But at present, it is impossible."
"Yes."
Saladin agreed, crestfallen. The Empress, who wished to conceal that Etienne was an Omega, would never permit it.
If this conversation reached her ears, there would be hell to pay. At the thought, a cold sweat ran down his spine.
The Prince and his faithful valet would not relay today’s conversation to the Empress, so it wouldn’t leak—but he was still uneasy.
"Your Highness…"
Uneasy, Saladin watched Etienne’s face and addressed him carefully.
"What is it?"
"What we have discussed…"
"Yes, don’t worry. It will not reach my lady mother’s ears."
"Thank you!"
At Etienne’s assurance, Saladin’s expression brightened. With an easier face, he took out an alcohol swab.
"Then I will stop the bleeding now."
He disinfected the cut on Etienne’s finger, then placed a bandage. Etienne watched him gather his bag and stand, and spoke.
"I’m sorry, after your kind explanation—that I cannot follow your advice."
"Not at all. I only did my duty."
Saladin waved both hands at the apology. He had spoken knowing it was impossible, because he wanted to keep, at least, a doctor’s last piece of conscience.
"For now, we will reduce the medicines. On that point, I will speak with my lady mother myself, so do not worry."
Etienne smiled at Saladin. Then, as if reminded of something, he asked:
"But… if I reduce the drugs, I should refrain from outside activity, shouldn’t I?"
"Most likely. Your pheromone control is top-class, but in your current weakened state, it’s best to avoid exposure to Alphas’ pheromones as much as possible."
"Understood. Then relay only that part to my lady mother."
"…Pardon?"
"That I should reduce outside activity. If I tell her, she will assume I’m merely shirking."
"Ah, I see."
That much was fine. Saladin nodded lightly.
Etienne’s smile deepened, having obtained what he wanted from Saladin. He meant to use this pretext to hole up in the palace for a time.
"Then go on. I’ll see you next week."
"Yes. If you feel unwell, call me at any time."
Saladin made a formal bow and stepped out. The moment he left, Ben approached with a hard face.
"What do you intend to do?"
"What?"
"For the Palace Physician to speak that far means your condition is that serious."
"And?"
"Your Highness!"
Ben raised his voice, frustration plain. Raising one’s voice before the Prince was an offense, but this was no time to mind it.
"My ears aren’t deaf. Speak quietly."
"Please tell Her Majesty and pass a proper heat cycle…"
"Ben."
Etienne called him in a low voice. Ben, about to press on, faltered.
"You know better than I that my lady mother would never allow it."
"This is a matter of your life. He said you could end up disabled for life. No matter that it’s Her Majesty…"
"No. My lady mother will not move until I am truly on death’s door."
The Empress was cautious by nature. With the crown prince seat at stake should it be revealed he was an Omega, she would never risk a gamble.
"My lady mother would sooner have me crippled."
Etienne spoke with quiet certainty. Above all, the Empress’s pride was fierce. She would not permit Etienne to sleep with just anyone.
"Even if she did allow it, with whom would it be? You cannot choose just anyone to serve the Prince in bed."
"That…"
Ben’s mouth worked soundlessly. Etienne, watching him, crooked one corner of his mouth in mischief.
"Or will you do it?"
"…What?"
"My night service. Will you do it?"
"Th—that—what… Your jest goes too far."
"It isn’t a jest. Who else can I trust? There’s only you."
"…Huh?"
"So? If you do it, my lady mother might even permit it."
"Impossible. I haven’t even a title!"
"You have no title, but you aren’t a commoner, are you? Right, second son of House Luton."
"But I’m… a Beta…"
"Hm? If anything, a Beta is safer. No worry of a child. From how you keep making excuses, you must dislike the idea of bedding me."
"I—I don’t dislike it, it’s… I—ah— I’m not qualified…"
"Ha."
Flustered, Ben stammered. Seeing him turn beet red in an instant, Etienne let out a small laugh.
"See? It isn’t a simple matter."