The Married Alpha Who Refuses to Be a Heartthrob (A/B/O · Alpha POV) - Chapter 8

Chapter 8 A Cursed Omega’s Heat Cycle

After washing up, Kaes sat at the edge of his bed, unable to stop thinking about Keith.

Was he cursed?—his mind was full of Keith’s image. On impulse, he pulled out the small “perfume sample” Keith had given him and opened the lid. A faint floral scent drifted out.

He didn’t know what Keith’s pheromone smelled like, but he guessed it was probably some kind of flower.

If this world had smartphones, he might’ve messaged Keith before bed.

Ten days passed quietly after Kaes sent his letter to the Queen. There hasn’t been any reply.

During those days, Kaes handled his duties by day and occasionally visited Kis’s home at night.

Long Shi grew increasingly withdrawn. He wasn’t the type to cause a scene; after their brief argument, he was practically self-isolating. He often sat by the sea, staring blankly into the waves, mourning the years of affection that had seemingly vanished.

Then, Kaes finally received a message from the Queen. She didn’t mention matchmaking again. Instead, she issued a decree to replace the Inspector-General.

The Third Prince would take the post, and the current Inspector-General would depart the day the Prince arrived.

Kaes went to the seaside to deliver the news to Long Shi.

Long Shi sat on a rock, his expression grim. He had expected the Queen to outright reject the matter with Keith but was surprised she issued a completely unrelated decree.

“So the Queen implicitly approved of you and Keith? Does Keith know?”

Kaes stood beside him, arms crossed, gazing out at the ocean. “Who knows if it’s approval… I haven’t told Keith.”

He had considered whether Keith would even agree, but the Alpha blood in his body instinctively made him aggressive and dominant. The main problem was always the Queen’s consent.

He was slightly surprised Long Shi wasn’t raising a fuss anymore. Had he finally accepted it?

“Do you know anything about the Third Prince?” Kaes asked.

“I only know the Third Prince is named Erlan. He’s a Mage, an Alpha, and an eccentric. Rumor is he likes other Alphas and has many Alpha lovers. He’s very promiscuous.”

“Oh?”

Isn’t he the gayest of the gays?

Kaes suddenly remembered. “Oh—he’s Keith’s cousin. I’ll ask him about it sometime.”

Long Shi didn’t think that was good news. Keith was trouble enough. Now his cousin too? Lanqi would be a spectacle.

Long Shi stared at Kaes’s face, convinced Kaes still loved him—just trapped by circumstance. He pointed to a boat at the dock.

“Kaes, want to sit on the boat for a while?”

“What for?” Kaes glanced at the small fishing boat Long Shi indicated. It looked small,  only able to fit a few people.

Long Shi looked at him, feeling a mix of the familiar and the strange. “When you were little, you loved taking the boat out to sea with me.”

“I had that kind of weird hobby?” Kaes muttered. The original host had strange tastes—sailing with a Beta for fun?

The Lanqi pier at dusk was beautiful. If it were Keith, he might consider it.

Kaes left. Long Shi felt a pang of disappointment. Kaes had only come to deliver news. Telling him in person was already a gesture of old affection.

The Inspector-General was a portly man nearing sixty. He and Kaes had gotten along well enough during his tenure, and he put on a show of genuine hospitality.

Kaes assured him that his departure arrangements, including the ship he’d sail on, were ready.

The Inspector-General laughed, saying he was old enough to retire and let the young generation take over; he’d been looking forward to a peaceful retirement for years.

The two exchanged pleasantries, speaking only formal government language. Half an hour later, Kaes left the Inspectorate.

On the way back to the Governor’s estate, he passed Keith’s house. Since it was on the way, he decided to stop by.

The carriage arrived at Keith’s backyard. Kaes was about to have the driver turn to the front gate when he saw someone busy inside the fence.

He asked the driver to stop and got out.

Inside the garden, someone in a dark green ornate robe was crouched on the ground. A white shirt peeked out beneath the robe and the hood was up obscuring their face.

The figure was half-kneeling, the hem of the robe trailing on the grass, planting a strange-looking flower. A small trowel pushed soil around the root of the flower, and the delicate trinkets on the robe swayed with their movements.

“Kaes?” the figure turned at the sound of the carriage.

Sunlight hit the hood, casting shadows over the eyes. But the lower half of the face glowed, almost blending with the light.

Kaes squinted. It took him a second to recognize Keith. He was dressed so formally and lavishly! He hadn’t seen Keith in his mage robes before. He looks like a completely different person.

“Where have you been?” Kaes walked toward the garden gate.

“Come in, quickly.” Keith looked delighted. He clapped the dirt from his hands and hurried over to open the door. “I just got back from the Magic Forest and didn’t have time to change. Vansen won’t be back for a while.”

Kaes entered the garden. They stood face to face. He couldn’t help but admire Keith.

“That robe suits you… Was the trip smooth?”

“Thank you. Everything went smoothly. We found a new formula, and we only went to the less dangerous parts of the forest.” Keith rubbed the mud from his hands. Was Kaes actually complimenting him? He felt a bit disheveled and travel-worn.

“Planting something?” Kaes asked, looking at the flower.

It was strange-looking, small, and easily overlooked.

“A Tier-3 Magic Flower. Fairly easy to find,” Keith led him over, and they both leaned down to look at the flower. “We need to plant it for a few days before it can be used for medicine. I rushed back to plant it so it wouldn’t wilt.

Kaes, realizing he hadn’t left Lanqi yet, pulled up his intel network to check:

(Magic plants and beasts are ranked in seven tiers. Only A-rank mages can use them. The higher the mage’s rank, the higher the tier they can handle.)

The white flower looked like a small, drooping face, currently wearing a dejected expression.

“It looks a little unhappy,” Kaes noted. “Do you need any help? Feel free to ask.”

You would? We haven’t gathered all the ingredients yet. Vansen says this formula can cure your eye, but the materials are tricky.” Keith hadn’t expected Kaes to offer, and a rush of excitement bloomed inside him.

“I’ll go inside and get some water for the flower.” Keith turned and headed back to the house.

Kaes nodded. He was worried about Keith and Vansen getting into trouble outside and decided he would accompany them next time. He’d feel guilty if something happened to them.

He waited in the yard for a few minutes when he suddenly heard the sound of someone falling inside the house.

Kaes rushed back in to check. He found Keith collapsed on the floor, trembling all over. The watering can lay beside him, water spilling everywhere, soaking his robe.

“What happened?” Kaes hurried over, frantically helping Keith up and seating him on the floor, leaning against him. He was fine a moment ago, then suddenly collapsed.

“Are you injured?” Kaes pulled down Keith’s hood. He saw no obvious blood but detected a faint, metallic scent.

Could it be a heat cycle? But he didn’t smell any pheromone scent.

Keith felt excruciating, needle-like pain everywhere. He curled up, leaning on Kaes’s shoulder, one hand gripping the other man’s jacket. “I’m sorry, my heat cycle is irregular. I didn’t expect it now… My whole body hurts.”

“What? How are you different from others?” Kaes was confused. He had considered a heat cycle but dismissed it. He grabbed Keith’s shoulders, practically holding him in his lap.

Kaes was panicking. They were so close. He smelled the scent on Keith’s hair, but still no recognizable pheromones. Naturally, he felt no physiological reaction, and his own pheromones were safely masked.

He’d heard that releasing Alpha pheromones could soothe an Omega in heat. But that felt like taking advantage. And Keith’s heat cycle was irregular.

“What should I do? You can’t stay on the floor.” Kaes scooped him up in a bridal carry and headed for the second floor.

Kaes felt Keith’s temperature rising. Keith mumbled incoherently. Kaes laid him on the bed in the second-floor bedroom and touched his face. His cheeks were flushed with a feverish red.

He removed Keith’s cloak. The shirt underneath had a high collar with a row of buttons at the back. He turned Keith on his side and leaned in to unbutton them.

Kaes saw that the area of the scent gland was actually cracked and bleeding with thin red lines. A red, inverted triangle sigil floated on the gland and glowed faintly.

It was the curse.

Every heat cycle, the scent gland would tear and the body would be damaged, preventing conception. As the body slowly recovered, the heat cycle would return, tearing it again—a vicious loop.

“Your gland is bleeding.” Kaes rummaged through the closet, found a cloth, and leaned over to wipe the blood from the back of Keith’s neck.

“It hurts!” Keith suddenly jerked, as if salt had been poured on a wound. He shot up and violently gripped Kaes’s arm.

“Okay, okay, I won’t touch it,” Kaes quickly braced himself with one hand on the bed, narrowly avoiding crushing Keith. His nose was right next to Keith’s neck. Besides the smell of blood, he caught a very faint scent—narcissus.

It was too faint, requiring his nose to be pressed right against the skin. It wasn’t enough to trigger an Alpha’s reaction.

As an Omega, he’s practically ruined. No wonder no one wanted to marry Keith.

Whoever cast that curse is truly vicious!

Kaes clenched the cloth tightly, his knuckles white. They better hope I never find out who they are.

“Please… get the pain medication… It’s in the potion cabinet in the next room. It has a label,” Keith’s voice was slow, weak, as if the words exhausted his remaining strength.

As an Omega, he had no typical physiological heat reactions; he could only endure the agony with painkillers. This is torture.

“I’ll go get it.” Kaes gently positioned Keith on the bed and immediately left the room.