* * *
The alpha’s fingers traced the omega’s delicate lips.
Unlike the innocent young man’s compliment, the touch was laden with impure intentions.
“Huh? What…?”
“You know what I mean, Etienne. You know how you look.”
The omega, unaware of the desire lurking in Lucian’s violet eyes, tilted his head innocently, not understanding Lucian’s sudden change.
“Well, I suppose…”
Etienne’s attention was quickly diverted by a scent wafting past his nose, making him sniff curiously.
“Wait, this smell…”
Etienne’s eyes darted around, searching for the source of the scent, his head turning awkwardly as Lucian still held his face.
Annoyed but curious, Lucian followed Etienne’s gaze.
A bakery stood where Etienne’s bright eyes were fixed, filled with a variety of delicious-looking pastries and bread behind a glass window.
‘Is it the bread smell?’
Lucian hadn’t noticed the warm, enticing smell of freshly baked bread, too focused on Etienne.
But now, Etienne’s eyes were gleaming as he looked at the bakery, so Lucian reluctantly let go and spoke.
“Are you hungry? If so, let’s have a proper meal…”
“What are you talking about?”
Worried that his precious partner might be hungry, Lucian started to ask, but Etienne interrupted, pointing somewhere else.
“Not the bakery. There, next to it, Duke.”
“Next to it…”
Etienne’s white, straight finger pointed to a pharmacy beside the bakery.
The familiar smell of chemicals used for their experiments emanated from there.
“Are you talking about the pharmacy?”
“Yes! I thought I smelled chemicals earlier; it’s coming from there.”
Confirming his suspicion, Etienne nodded enthusiastically, his eyes still shining like a child.
Lucian chuckled in disbelief.
He thought Etienne was salivating over bread, but he was actually excited about the chemicals for their experiments.
“Can we go in, Duke?”
“Do as you like. I don’t mind.”
With Lucian’s permission, Etienne smiled brightly and entered the pharmacy without hesitation, seemingly forgetting Lucian’s earlier touch.
Inside, Etienne eagerly explored the pharmacy, chatting about the various chemicals he found.
The cozy intimacy they had moments before was nowhere to be seen as he flitted around, his tied-back brown hair swaying.
“Ether, chloroform… Wow, Duke! They have drugs here!”
“I wouldn’t recommend drugs. Put that back, Etienne.”
“Oh, come on, do you think I’d use drugs?”
Etienne looked like an explorer who had found a treasure.
He buzzed around the pharmacy, examining everything, while Lucian watched with folded arms, occasionally explaining things or engaging in conversation.
“During heat cycles or ruts, doesn’t it feel like being on drugs? Maybe the substances affecting the omega and alpha’s nervous systems during those times are similar…”
Their scholarly discussion seemed never-ending.
They could debate for minutes over a single bottle of chemicals, sharing their thoughts passionately.
As their conversation extended, the pharmacy owner’s complexion only grew more ahen.
Lucian and Etienne lingered in the pharmacy for quite a while before finally leaving, the anxious owner left trembling after unexpectedly hosting the Duke of Leondine.
Walking out, they resumed their leisurely stroll to the hospital where they were to observe a surgery.
They still had time, so Lucian, as their guide, satisfied Etienne’s curiosity.
“If we go this way, we’ll reach the Imperial Medical University, where we’ll start in the fall.”
No one would believe someone was using the Duke of Leondine as a guide, but Etienne, enjoying the exceptional favor, thought nothing of it, simply finding it convenient.
“That’s the Hesfield Theater, the largest in the Letheon Empire.”
“Wow… it’s huge. They put on operas and plays there, right? Is that owned by the royal family too?”
“Yes. If you want to see a performance, let me know. I’ll take you.”
“Oh, that’s okay.”
While others would’ve been grateful for such an offer from the Duke, Etienne declined without much thought.
“I find surgeries more interesting than performances.”
The reason for the refusal was also unique.
The subtle madness in Etienne’s eyes when he said he was more intrigued by observing a surgery than watching a performance was unmistakable.
Lucian, who found that look attractive, was equally mad.
“That’s so you, Etienne.”
One was an abnormal research maniac, and the other, a deranged sponsor who clapped at the research maniac’s antics.
It was hard to tell who was more abnormal.
The two of them, similarly deranged, walked side by side into the hospital where the public surgery would take place.
The moment they finally arrived at the hospital operating room on time.
“Is this the operating room?”
“Yes. Sit anywhere you like; it will start soon.”
“Uh…”
Etienne, who had walked in with some expectation, was at a loss for words and stopped dead at the threshold.
No, it would be more accurate to say he froze because he couldn’t take another step.
What he saw was far too different from the operating room he had envisioned.
“This is…”
Of course, he hadn’t expected a modern, spotless operating room.
Etienne was sensible enough to know that.
He had come expecting a somewhat outdated environment.
Nevertheless, as soon as he stepped into the operating room, he was horrified and froze at the sight before him.
The operating room was more like a lecture hall.
At the front was a table stained with blood and flesh, emitting a foul odor, with knives and saws that looked more like weapons.
Surrounding it were desks and chairs lined up in rows.
Many students and onlookers were seated at the desks.
In short, the operating room was an environment devoid of any hygiene.
“What on earth is this…?”
“What’s wrong, Etienne?”
Lucian’s question left Etienne speechless.
He was about to lose his mind facing an operating room that seemed designed to induce infections.
Seeing Etienne’s dazed state, Lucian frowned slightly and glanced around.
The surrounding crowd, recognizing Duke Leondine, stared intensely, which Lucian thought might be bothering Etienne.
“Are the others bothering you?”
At Lucian’s question, the “others” flinched and quickly turned their heads forward.
But Etienne paid them no mind and instead pointed a trembling finger at the central table.
“No, it’s not that… Duke, are you really going to perform surgery there? On that filthy table, with those crude tools?”
Confirming what Etienne was pointing at, Lucian nodded as if it were only natural for such tools to be in an operating room.
“Didn’t I tell you? Surgery involves cutting human flesh with knives and saws.”
“I mean, I… ”
Etienne stuttered again, losing his words.
He couldn’t tell if he was in an operating room or a slaughterhouse.
Leaving the tools aside, what was with that table soaked in blood and rotting away?
“Even if that’s the case, why is the table like that? What about hygiene…? What if the patient gets infected? And why does the operating room look like a lecture hall…? I thought at least the space would be separated, even if it was open for viewing…”
There were too many problems to point out.
The environment was so absurd that Etienne could only stammer in disbelief.
After hearing Lucian’s explanation, Etienne realized there had been a significant communication error between them before coming here.
“The theory you told me about germs isn’t widely known, Etienne. Remember?”
“That’s…!”
Etienne belatedly understood the meaning of Lucian’s explanation about cutting flesh and making blood flow.
* * *
Why is there no Free chapter?🙂