"An unmarried Alpha isn't supposed to come into contact with an Omega in Heat Cycle, right?"
"Of course not! If they're not even planning to get married, and they spend a cycle together—"
Aswin abruptly shut his mouth after realizing that wasn't his place to say.
"I'm going to pretend I'm in Heat Cycle. While everyone's distracted, you run."
"Huh? How are you going to fake a cycle?"
"I think your brother believes I'm an Omega. I'm going to use that."
"But you are an Omega."
Tilting his head from side to side like a curious puppy, Aswin looked Kwon Minseong up and down. He had an Adam's apple, a masculine trait, but it wasn't prominent. His frame was slender. His hands were small.
No matter how he looked at him, he looked like an Omega.
"I'm not an Omega."
However, Kwon Minseong firmly believed that he was a Beta and that the only side effect of dimensional travel had been rejuvenation. Not for a single second had he imagined he might be something else.
"But..."
Aswin cautiously opened his mouth to object, but Kwon Minseong raised a finger and cut him off.
"I've read every medical book that exists in this country."
He picked a whole peppercorn out of the pepper shaker and popped it into his mouth.
"My theory is perfect."
Crunch.
The instant he bit down on the peppercorn, heat rushed into his face.
The skin beneath his eyes turned crimson.
Moisture gathered at the corners of his eyes.
His lips swelled plump and soft.
Holding up three fingers toward Aswin, Kwon Minseong declared—
"But Doctor—!"
"At minimum, lying to the Emperor gets you thrown into an underground prison—!"
"Go!"
Kwon Minseong spun around and charged straight at Tillio.
The crowd parted like the Red Sea, opening a path before him.
Caught completely off guard, Tillio automatically wrapped his arms around the man who had thrown himself into his embrace.
"We've got a problem."
Grabbing the Emperor's cloak, Kwon Minseong whispered quietly.
"A bigger problem than the situation you created?"
"Probably. My Heat Cycle started."
The Emperor raised a thick eyebrow.
Tillio's disbelief had already boarded a train heading toward the border.
Just moments ago this man had been sobbing as though the ceiling were about to collapse.
Now what?
Heat Cycle?
"You're lying."
"I'm not. The truth is... I'm an Omega."
Kwon Minseong lowered his voice as though revealing a tremendous secret.
Unfortunately, this was not new information to the Emperor.
In fact, there was probably no one in the world who knew better that this uneducated quack was an Omega.
Tillio had known ever since the day they met.
Ever since he'd driven a knife into the man's abdomen.
With one hand, Tillio lifted Kwon Minseong's chin.
The Omega's eyes were red beneath them, tears glistening at the edges. His breathing was shallow and uneven.
It certainly didn't look normal.
But that couldn't be all.
There was one thing that no Omega in Heat Cycle could possibly lack.
Narrowing his eyes, the Emperor focused on the tip of his nose.
"This is your Derfyu?"
"What? First time smelling an Omega?"
Tillio's eyebrow twitched again.
Those with secondary genders did not refer to Derfyu as a smell.
It was practically an unspoken taboo.
Yet this uneducated Omega shattered a long-standing social convention without the slightest hesitation. The source of this chapter is g.com.
And of all things...
An Omega's Derfyu smelled like—
"I've never met an Omega who smells like pepper before. Why is your Derfyu like that?"
"Do you have any idea how expensive and important pepper was throughout history? You don't appreciate quality."
Is this really a Heat Cycle?
Tillio found himself wondering.
He recalled the Omegas who had relentlessly pursued him since he was fifteen years old.
The tears.
The flushed cheeks.
The ragged breathing.
Those symptoms were certainly similar to a normal Heat Cycle.
But there was none of the obsession.
None of the desperate longing for an Alpha.
Most importantly...
Tillio's lower half remained perfectly calm.
When an Omega entered Heat Cycle, an Alpha naturally responded.
That was the will of the god who had created this world.
Yet standing in front of an Omega supposedly in Heat Cycle, Tillio felt absolutely nothing.
The pheromones of this uneducated Omega smelled like ordinary pepper.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
"Anyway, I can't leave if I'm in Heat Cycle. You know what happens if I go out like this, right?"
Kwon Minseong chattered away while absentmindedly chewing on his swollen lips.
Tillio studied his pupils and complexion.
Pupil size.
Facial color.
Body scent.
Trying to judge based on those things was a waste of time.
You could look a hundred times and smell a hundred times and still learn nothing.
Tillio's mind was quick.
His hands were even quicker.
That was why he had been able to stab a complete stranger in the stomach without hesitation.
The moment he made up his mind, he wrapped Kwon Minseong completely in his cloak.
"So you'll probably have to go to the station alone. It's a biological process, so it can't really be help— Ah!"
At the mention of Heat Cycle, the surrounding people took one step backward.
Then, seeing Tillio holding Kwon Minseong in his arms, they took two more.
Judging by the looks they exchanged, they seemed to have reached the same conclusion.
The commotion that had turned the inn's dining room upside down all morning had not been a kidnapping.
Nor abuse.
It had merely been a lovers' quarrel between two mechanical dolls who were secretly involved.
Avoiding the crowd's gaze, Tillio grabbed Kwon Minseong's backside.
Then he discreetly moved his fingers, rubbing between the cheeks through the fabric of his trousers.
Something sticky smeared across his glove.
A sweet scent rose from the slick fluid.
It was very similar to the secretion produced by Omegas during Heat Cycle.
Even with the clearest possible evidence directly before his eyes, Tillio still couldn't believe it.
What in the world is this?
How could he possibly be unaffected?
He was holding an Omega in Heat Cycle in his arms.
And yet he felt absolutely nothing.
That day, not a single train departed from the famous station of Parselcona.
An emergency inspection had abruptly halted all rail traffic.
While Tillio was busy taking control of the station, Kwon Minseong quietly slipped back to the hospital.
To his surprise, the entrance had already been restored to its original condition.
Thanks to Ian and Adelgius.
"Why was His Majesty trying to drag you to the border?"
The mechanical pigeon followed Kwon Minseong everywhere, chattering incessantly.
"I have no idea."
"And why did he break the door? Why bother when doors open automatically for Imperial Family Members?"
"That part I know."
Kwon Minseong shrugged.
"I wouldn't let him in."
"What?"
"I didn't realize he was the Emperor, so I locked the manual deadbolt."
"And then I hit him with bread."
The mechanical pigeon lost the ability to speak.
Only small bursts of static crackled from its beak.
Bzzzt. Crackle.
For once it's quiet.
Kwon Minseong tossed the clothes he had borrowed from Yvonne into the laundry basket, changed into a comfortable shirt and black trousers, then collapsed onto the bed.
"Pwahahahahaha!"
A booming laugh exploded from the tiny speaker hidden inside the bird's beak.
The microphone and speaker were so close together that shrill mechanical feedback immediately followed.
Beeeeep! Screeeech!
"You really might be the funniest doctor in the world."
"My ears are going to fall off. Since when did Imperial Family Members laugh with so little dignity?"
"Still, I never imagined His Majesty would disguise himself as a mechanical doll."
"Maybe he dreams of becoming an idol."
"An idol? What is an idol?"
"Young mechanical dolls that sing and dance."
A mechanical arm placed a large tray onto the table.
Kwon Minseong's eyes immediately lit up.
He sprang from the bed and hurried over.
Today's lunch consisted of seasonal fruits including Banashe, a basket of bread, beef stew he had asked Yvonne to package for him, and a noodle dish made from twisted strands of boiled dough.
Aswin had probably received the same meal.
When Kwon Minseong had informed Ian that a new guest would be staying in the room at the far western end of the building and should be served three meals a day, Ian had asked no questions.
He had merely nodded with professional efficiency.
"I should marry Ian."
Employees like that couldn't be found even if you crossed dimensions a hundred times.
A talent that deserved to be legally tied down with household registration.
Muttering to himself, Kwon Minseong began peeling a round Banashe.
The way he cradled the precious fruit in both hands made him look exactly like a squirrel clutching an acorn.
Even while he was preparing his stomach for work, the automatic carrier pigeon perched on the edge of the table and continued chirping endlessly.
"Business booming tomorrow too?"
"No."
Kwon Minseong bit into the fruit and answered.
"It dropped all the way down to twenty patients."
"I thought you were bragging about having a waiting list. What happened?"
"Everyone canceled after rumors spread that a thief broke in."
He scooped up a large spoonful of stew from Yvonne's inn.
Like a priest performing a sacred ritual, he carefully blew on it.
His tongue was still sensitive after the relentless assault of pepper and needed time to recover.
"Sounds like you'll go bankrupt soon. Why don't you come to the Imperial Palace before you embarrass yourself?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe? Did you just say maybe?"
Adelgius's voice jumped an entire octave.
The pigeon opened its beak wide in excitement.
"The fact that you're saying maybe instead of rejecting me outright means you're considering it, doesn't it? I'll send people immediately. You'll receive the finest treatment. You absolutely won't regret it."