* * *

In his eyes, Remy was a delicate and pale Omega, recently awakened, frail from his unstable pheromones, collapsing under their strain.

Yet his serene gaze and ethereal beauty were enough to make it unbearable to leave him be.

“Y-Your Highness?” Remy stammered, horrified.

“Remy.”

“Yes?”

“Leaving you like this feels wrong as an Alpha.”

“Excuse me?”

“Waiting for the physician seems too long. I’ll carry you there myself.”

“…??”

“No, seriously. Even if an Omega collapses, does it make sense for the prince to personally carry him? I’m not even the main uke here. This is driving me insane.”

First Ashton, and now…

Even Hayward, who had seemed perfectly rational—so captivated by Allen, the main uke, just as described in the original work—was acting strangely.

What was going on?

Remy couldn’t fathom why these crazy Alphas were behaving this way toward him.

But one thing was clear: a firm boundary had to be set, here and now.

Before things escalated any further, he needed to make it crystal clear—no matter how hard they tried, he wasn’t falling for it.

“Your Highness, I’m fine. I can walk on my own.”

Remy stood up abruptly, as if to prove his point, blinking at Hayward.

But Hayward, unperturbed, shot back without hesitation.

“No, you might be injured.”

“I’m not injured at all.”

“Still, it’d be better if I carried you.”

“My legs are perfectly fine.”

“You could faint again.”

“I get motion sickness when I’m carried.”

The standoff was as intense as it was ridiculous.

By this point, anyone else might have thought, ‘Okay, fine. You’re clearly okay.’

But Hayward didn’t budge.

Instead, as if deciding words were useless, he picked Remy up effortlessly.

“Your Highness??”

Remy’s already large eyes widened further in shock.

Sure, he was an Omega, but still—Hayward had just lifted his male body with no visible effort.

Supporting him under his back and thighs, Hayward’s expression remained calm, as if this were entirely normal.

Not a single sign of strain.

‘What the…? He looks like some kind of elf, but he’s this strong? Isn’t this completely unbalanced?!’

“Your Highness! Please put me down! I’m begging you!”

But Hayward ignored Remy’s protests and started walking.

Like a fish just pulled out of water, Remy flailed helplessly in Hayward’s arms, his voice the only thing putting up a fight.

---

“You’re perfectly fine. The bump on your forehead will go down with some ice for a day or so.”

Despite the doctor’s reassuring diagnosis, the prince’s face remained clouded with concern.

The doctor, sensing the tension, grew increasingly uneasy.

Displeasing the third prince—beloved by the king—was never a good idea.

“I’ll prepare a special ointment for the swelling right away, Your Highness. In the meantime, perhaps a servant could—”

“You may leave.”

“Pardon?”

“Did I stutter?”

“N-no! Of course not! I’ll take my leave immediately!”

The doctor, clad in a powdered wig, bowed and hastily exited under the guidance of the attendants.

Remy squirmed under the prince’s unrelenting gaze, his discomfort palpable.

‘This is way too much. I thought Hayward would be easier to deal with than Ashton, but that was a huge miscalculation. He’s just as bad, if not worse.’

“How are you feeling? Any better?”

‘No! Please, stop leaning in with that ridiculously gorgeous face!’

Even as another man, it was hard not to be affected.

“I’m fine, Your Highness. Really, you should go—”

“No. The doctor said you need ice. I’ll do it myself.”

“You? Personally?”

‘Were royalty in this era really like this? A prince icing someone’s forehead for a mere bump?’

This couldn’t be right. Something had to be off with the original storyline.

‘Maybe it’s because I haven’t pushed Allen down the stairs yet? I need to make sure that happens on his birthday. At this rate, it feels like the third prince might start chasing me instead of Allen.’

“Is there a problem?”

Hayward’s innocent, questioning gaze clashed with Remy’s firm resistance.

“Yes. A noble task like this shouldn’t be carried out by someone as exalted as Your Highness.”

“I’ll decide what’s appropriate.”

With a line straight out of a BL novel, the prince wrung out a towel soaked in cold water and gently placed it on Remy’s forehead.

‘Seriously, could you at least not be so good-looking? Or if you’re going to be beautiful, stop being so kind!’

Remy felt his face flush despite the cold compress.

“You’re awfully red. Are you running a fever?”

The prince removed the towel and pressed his cool hand against Remy’s forehead.

The chill of an Alpha’s naturally lower body temperature made Remy feel like the strength was draining from his body.

“Mmph…”

Without meaning to, Remy let out a soft, contented sound.

The change in Hayward’s gaze was immediate.

‘Oh no. Oh no no no. That look. What do I do now?’

Remy cursed himself internally, knowing he’d just made things worse.

“Uh, Your Highness, about that noise just now—”

Hayward’s expression suggested that no explanation would be sufficient.

“Remy.”

The prince’s serious tone made Remy gulp.

With wide, pleading eyes, he silently begged the prince not to say anything strange.

“Yes?”

“You haven’t experienced it yet, have you?”

“Experienced… what, exactly?”

“Your heat.”

‘Heat? Heat cycle?’

Remy’s mind reeled.

He remembered reading about it in the original work—Allen, the main uke, suffering through his heat cycle, overwhelmed by rising desires, even seeking out an Alpha to…

‘Wait. What?! Seeking out an Alpha for…?!’

“……!”

Remy froze in place as if struck by lightning.

‘What do you mean I have to… with a man?!’

As an Omega, going through a heat cycle was inevitable.

Being an adult only made it more certain.

And in this old-fashioned setting, there didn’t seem to be any medication for it.

That left only two options: endure unbearable agony or resolve it with an Alpha.

In other words, he’d have to either suffer or… do that.

No avoiding it.

“N-no way!!”

Remy’s outburst startled Hayward momentarily, but the prince quickly composed himself, his expression softening with understanding.

‘He must be scared,’ Hayward thought. ‘It’s probably his first time.’

Though his assumption was technically correct, he was missing the mark in a crucial way.

Still, Hayward nodded to himself as if he understood everything.

“Are you afraid of your heat, Remy?”

Hayward, who had no idea about Remy’s circumstances, spoke in the gentlest voice he could muster for the trembling omega.

Along with his words, he released pheromones meant to soothe the omega’s anxiety.

Like the molten chocolate that flows out when you cut into a freshly baked brownie, Hayward’s pheromones were unbearably sweet.

Alarmed, Remy instinctively raised both hands to cover his nose.

Though he vaguely realized it was impolite, the sheer intensity of Hayward’s pheromones left him no choice.

If this continued, something bad might happen. It was a genuinely dangerous moment.

“It’s okay. These pheromones are meant to comfort omegas,” Hayward said, taking Remy’s trembling hand and gently stroking it.

Unfortunately, the touch broke whatever barrier had been holding back the pheromones, and they surged directly through Remy’s nostrils and into his lungs.

“Your Highness… I’m truly sorry, but… could you tone down your pheromones…?”

“Don’t you feel better with them?”

“Well… it does make me feel a little better, but…”

“Then take in a bit more. It’ll help you feel lighter.”

Feel lighter…? That was true.

* * *