Keo was currently inside the cabinet chamber.
The towering, magnificent hall featured a massive circular table crafted from dark marble.
Draped in deep red velvet, the table looked precisely like a gaping maw of blood.
Facing Keo across the table were several cabinet members. Their backs were turned against a massive celestial backdrop, rendering their features somewhat blurred, yet every single one of them exuded an overpowering aggressiveness.
“Putting aside the matter of striking a male for the moment, what exactly is your relationship with that Paz prince?”
“Paz certainly does not wish to see their commander turning into someone from the enemy camp right in the middle of a war!”
Lounging lazily in his chair, Keo merely lifted his eyelids at the remark. “You doubt my loyalty?”
Seeming provoked by his nonchalant attitude, the accusations from across the table grew even more fervent. “It is because you are far too intimate with him!”
“What self-control do female Zergs possess to speak of? When kneeling on the ground and begging for his pheromones, will you even remember that you are of the Hashu royal family?”
Someone even gave a sweeping wave of his hand and rendered a direct verdict. “With a male of that caliber pursuing him, he has likely already fallen. He cannot be trusted!”
Slamming his hand against the table, Keo rose to his feet.
The opposite side abruptly fell silent.
Keo let out a cold laugh. “I know you have always resented the military authority in my hands, but we are facing an active battlefield right now. Exactly who among you wishes to personally lead troops into battle and slaughter the enemy? Is it you, or you?”
Those words instantly drained the color from the faces of several individuals across the table.
A bunch of useless male parasites.
Keo knew full well that they wanted to reap the benefits without lifting a finger while simultaneously resenting him for holding power, which was why they were so eager to marry him off and keep him firmly under control.
They simply had to see him reduced to a slave of pheromones as well, concentrating all authority exclusively back into the hands of the males so they could finally rest easy.
Keo felt a sense of nausea rising in his chest and could not be bothered to play games with them.
Even if he died today, he would never let them get their way.
“Farewell.”
“Halt!”
Regardless of their shouting, Keo turned on his heel and strode out. It was at that moment that Ross’s communication call came through.
“Admiral…”
Keo frowned.
“What did you say?”
By the time Keo arrived, Ross and the others had already located the room where Eugene was staying, only to find the door deadbolted from the inside. Despite their frantic shoving and hammering, they could not force it open.
“Admiral…” Ross’s face lit up with relief upon seeing him arrive, but before he could finish speaking, Keo’s expression turned grim as he delivered a powerful kick that shattered the door open with a resounding crash.
Eugene’s mind was currently enveloped in a thick fog, requiring him to focus every ounce of his willpower on maintaining self-control just to stay conscious.
Sensing someone approaching, he opened his eyes with cold detachment, only to discover that the person standing before him was Keo.
“Are you alright?”
Stepping forward with long strides, Keo cupped his face and pressed a palm against his forehead.
His palm was dry and warm, bringing with it a subtle yet familiar and comforting scent amidst his movements.
“What is wrong? Are you in pain?”
At present, Eugene’s face was flushed a deep crimson and his body temperature was running dangerously high.
He stared straight into Keo’s face as if verifying the identity of the person before him, and then, as if exhaling a long-suppressed breath, he leaned his head directly against Keo’s chest.
Keo froze instantly.
“Eugene?”
When Keo attempted to pull him away, Eugene let out a look of genuine distress. “It hurts…”
The response caused Keo to pause in hesitation. “Where does it hurt?”
Yet no matter how he pressed for answers, Eugene merely shook his head in silence, continuing to press his body against him.
Lu, who had taken a punch from Keo earlier, knelt on the floor unable to stand and was being restrained by several other military Zergs.
“I had no other choice! What do you people know!”
Before being hauled away, he kept glaring at Keo with venomous eyes.
“My gland is hurting like hell. Taking suppressants any longer will only cause me even more agony. I am being driven insane! Why must you all stop me?”
The surrounding female Zergs wore expressions of utter speechlessness; none of them had it any easier, as every female Zerg required a male’s pheromones. But that was never an excuse to coerce a male lord.
For a high-ranking female Zerg like His Highness Keo, the suffering was only magnified.
“What the hell kind of drug did you give him?”
With his expression darkening, Keo prepared to step forward and interrogate him personally, only to be held back by Eugene.
Eugene wrapped both arms around him. His slender, fair arms locked across Keo’s broad chest, clutching tightly at the black military uniform. Burying his entire face against Keo’s back, he rubbed his silver hair against Keo’s shoulder, even brushing it lightly against his neck.
Every muscle in Keo’s body immediately tensed up. For a split second, he looked ready to lose his temper, yet forcibly reined it in.
“Do not lean on me!”
Buried deep within Keo’s clothing, Eugene appeared to hear nothing at all.
A vein throbbed visibly at Keo’s temple as he reached out to push Eugene away, but mindful of how fragile males were, he dared not apply any force.
It was the very first time in his life he had ever felt so utterly overwhelmed.
“Go investigate what drug he used!”
With the sweet aroma of pheromones drifting through the air, Ross, whose face was now completely flushed and who had been staring blankly at Eugene, finally snapped back to his senses. “Ah, yes! I will go find a doctor.”
Stammering hastily, he retreated from the room alongside the others just like the rest, pulling the door shut behind them.
“What on earth is wrong with you?”
A persistent buzzing filled Eugene’s head while the world spun around him, rendering him virtually incapable of comprehending what Keo was saying.
Yet, miraculously, he could clearly hear the powerful, steady thud of Keo’s heartbeat echoing from his chest, and he could inhale the pleasant fragrance radiating from his body.
Lifting his head, he gazed at Keo’s face. Though the details were slightly blurred, he could strangely make out that Keo’s normally wheat-toned skin was flushed red as if suffused with blood, while his ears and neck had turned starkly crimson.
A low-frequency vibration emanated from Keo’s throat as he continuously spoke right beside his ear, placing a palm against his forehead to sweep aside the bangs damp with cold sweat.
The rough texture of his palm made Eugene narrow his eyes in comfort.
He shifted closer. Following the fine hairs on Keo’s earlobe, he could almost perceive the rushing sound of blood beneath the skin, smelling how the warmth of that blood constantly radiated Keo’s alluring scent outward.
Abruptly, Eugene leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Keo’s earlobe.
Keo instantly petrified like a statue.
It took several seconds for his brain to process what had just happened, during which Eugene had already taken his earlobe between his lips and given it a light bite.
“You…!”
Jumping abruptly to his feet, Keo turned red down to his neck, especially the ear that Eugene had just bitten, which looked as though it might drip blood. “What are you doing?”
He pinned Eugene down onto the bed with one hand and raised his fist as if to strike.
Staring blankly upward with flushed cheeks, his bangs swept back to fully reveal his delicate facial features, Eugene offered no resistance.
Keo kept his fist suspended for a long moment before letting it drop.
“Damn it…”
Keo pressed a hand to his forehead.
Sensing the pleasant-smelling person attempting to retreat, Eugene reached out to pull him back.
With his face entirely flushed, Keo slammed his hand down onto the bed right beside Eugene’s head to press him back down.
“Stop messing around!”
Eugene’s eyelashes fluttered as his striking light-golden eyes opened through Keo’s fingers, fixing a direct gaze upon him.
The pheromone scent grew overwhelmingly potent, dispersing in a sudden, violent wave as if a dam had finally burst after being held back too long, rapidly saturating the entire room.
Frozen in place, Keo felt his pupils dilate as his heart began to pound uncontrollably.
The pheromone aura resembled countless invisible white threads wrapping tightly around Keo’s slender waist, powerful arms, broad back, and even winding across his mouth and nose, desperately dragging him toward Eugene.
The formidable commander who had never tasted defeat on the battlefield was now rendered as helpless as prey. Merely maintaining self-control exhausted every ounce of his strength, leaving beads of sweat clinging to his temples.
Underneath Keo’s palm, Eugene slowly closed his eyes, gently nuzzling against his palm before pressing a kiss to his wrist.
Keo shuddered, yanking his hand back as if scalded by fire.
Seizing the opening, Eugene propped himself up into a sitting position once more and smoothly wrapped his arms around Keo’s waist, burying his face against his chest.
Damn it…
Keo’s Adam’s apple bobbed as his breathing involuntarily grew ragged.
The fragrance was intoxicatingly sweet.
Though he caught Eugene’s wrists to keep him from moving, he found himself utterly devoid of the strength to shove those hands away.
Terrifying.
Given Keo’s exceptionally high bloodline rank, he had never known a male whose pheromones could possess such a terrifying potency. The frantic hammering of his heart even caused a faint ache, forcing him to hunch forward slightly.
He could perceive that under the influence of the medication, Eugene’s cognitive faculties were likely severely compromised.
If the two of them crossed a line right now, the fault would not lie with Eugene, but with him for failing to push him away.
“Eugene…”
As sweat dripped down from Keo’s brow, he awkwardly averted his face, attempting to peel Eugene’s arms away from his waist, only to find his voice thoroughly hoarse when he spoke.
At that moment, Eugene raised his head to look at him, those brilliant golden eyes shining with an intensity that rivaled gemstones.
“My female consort…?”
Eugene’s voice drifted softly into his ear. Keo stared at him as if glued to the spot.
Eugene, too, found himself captivated by those pure golden eyes before him.
He could sense the person in his arms continuously radiating an increasingly alluring fragrance while his body temperature climbed higher, his gaze carrying the weight of a silent invitation.
His hand stroked soothingly down along Keo’s hairline and neck while he tilted his chin upward.
The distance between them steadily closed.
Until their noses brushed and their exhalations mingled. Yet Keo remained petrified and immobile, right up until a sharp series of loud raps shattered the silence at the door.
“Admiral!”
As if snapping out of a deep dream, Keo abruptly shoved Eugene away.
When the room’s door finally swung open, Keo emerged drenched in sweat.
“Admiral, I have retrieved it.”
Wearing a protective mask, Ross froze the instant the door opened.
The surrounding pheromones were overwhelmingly dense, causing him to momentarily forget what he had been about to say as his eyes glazed over, staring fixedly at the gap in the doorway.
Keo frowned. “Ross!”
“Ah…” Ross’s Adam’s apple bobbed as his ears turned scarlet, raising a tiny syringe in his hand.
“The doctor said that if this is injected, he will recover significantly…”
As Ross spoke, his throat bobbed a couple more times, and he made to push past the threshold to enter, but Keo abruptly thrust out a hand to block him.
“Give it here.” The Admiral’s expression looked far from pleasant.
“But…” For a fraction of a second, Ross looked deeply reluctant to let go. His breathing trembled slightly while his entire body’s instincts screamed at him, begging him to step inside that room and desperately longing to drop to his knees to render assistance to His Highness Eugene.
Lifting his gaze, however, he locked eyes with Keo’s deep, piercing stare and flinched in terror.
“Apologies, Admiral.”
“Get away from here immediately.” Gritting his teeth, Keo slammed the door shut and locked it.
“Clear out this entire level.”
With that instruction, he grabbed Ross by the arm and strode rapidly toward the end of the corridor, ducking into an unoccupied room.
Keo flung open a medicine cabinet, fished out a protective mask to secure over his face, and then hurriedly continued rummaging through the shelves, accidentally knocking several bottles to the floor.
“Admiral?”
Stepping closer, Ross attempted to ask what the Admiral was searching for, but Keo waved him off.
“Nothing. Go clear the area. No one is permitted near this section.”
“Understood.” As Ross turned to leave, he caught sight of the Admiral pulling out a packet of suppression medication, tearing it open violently, and swallowing several pills straight down.
Ross’s footsteps stuttered to a halt as a sudden thought struck him: the Admiral’s own rutting period seemed to be fast approaching as well, did it not?