Rowan sat stiffly on the edge of the canopy bed while the thin white robe draped over his shoulders emphasizing the delicate lines of his slender body. The robe fell open slightly at the chest, revealing pale, smooth skin that felt alien to him.
His small, almost feminine face was framed by long, dark hair that tumbled over his shoulders and his ocean-blue eyes reflected both confusion and fear.
The old palace doctor shuffled into the room, leaning heavily on his cane. Despite his frailty, his sharp eyes immediately took in Rowan's appearance, noting the unusual softness of the young prince's frame and the way the white robe clung to his form.
With a low groan, the doctor pulled over a wooden chair and lowered himself beside the bed. He extended a trembling hand and gently grasped Rowan's wrist, pressing his fingers to the pulse.
"Your Highness… your pulse is steady but it seems like you're a bit stress," he murmured, squinting through thick glasses.
Rhydan, Rowan's alpha brother and heir to the Vlandia throne, remained standing nearby, arms crossed, his sharp gaze assessing him. The weight of his scrutiny made Rowan shrink slightly into himself, acutely aware of his bare chest, his delicate hands and the feminine softness of his new form.
The doctor's fingers counted the pulse, steady and professional while Rowan's mind raced.
What should I do? I read the manhwa, it's true but being here myself was too hard and I became Rowan of all people!
Should I tell them?
"So… what's wrong now? Has my brother lost his mind enough that he's looking for breasts that he didn't have to begin with?" Rhydan asked, his voice sharp as he strode toward the bedchamber, arms crossed, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"But it's true!" Rowan shot back, panic and frustration mingling in his voice that behind his panic and confusion, he's subconsciously releasing a bit of his sweet, scented pheromone.
"I had breasts in the past, and they were… big! But now… look! My chest is flat and I even became… a man!"
Rhydan froze mid-step while his eyes widening, feeling and smelling his pheromones and that even the people around them started feeling awkward. He had rarely seen his timid, quiet brother—always so soft-spoken and submissive to speak up like this, let alone shout while baring his chest.
The sight made Rhydan's face go slightly pale and for a brief moment, he felt a rush of… disbelief.
The old doctor, who had been leaning over the bed checking Rowan's pulse let out a startled groan, almost collapsing in his chair without being disturbed by his patient's scent since he's a beta. His frail hands clutched the edge of the wooden seat as he tried to regain composure.
"W-what the hell are you doing, Your Highness?!" the doctor stammered and voice cracking, while his eyes darted nervously between Rowan's bare chest and Rhydan's frozen expression.
Rowan's face flushed bright red.
He scrambled backward on the bed, tugging at the thin white robe that barely covered his delicate frame. "I-I'm… I'm just trying to explain! You don't understand!"
Rhydan's smirk returned, though it was now tinged with disbelief while his face is now flushed and feeling a bit hot.
"Explain, huh? Maybe I should have called a priest… instead of a doctor."
He shook his head, clearly trying to process the chaotic scene in front of him, while the other servants in the room exchanged anxious glances, unsure whether to intervene or flee.
The doctor adjusted his glasses, leaning closer to Rowan with a concerned expression.
"Your Highness… it's possible that you're experiencing emotional trauma, or perhaps even hallucinations. You may have dreamed of this and mistaken it for reality," he explained cautiously while his frail hands wringing the edge of his cane.
Rowan's gaze drifted to his brother, locking eyes with Rhydan in a way the original Rowan never had the courage to. There was fear, confusion and a flicker of defiance swirling in those ocean-blue eyes that Rhydan had never seen before.
"Leave us," Rhydan commanded with his voice sharp, cold and those words left no room for argument.
Immediately, the servants moved to obey and they gently assisted the old doctor as he shuffled toward the door. One by one, the other attendants quietly withdrew, casting hesitant glances at Rowan before disappearing from the chamber.
The room fell into heavy silence—just Rowan and his alpha brother. Before Rowan could steady his thoughts, Rhydan's furious bellow ripped through the air loud enough to shake beyond the bedchamber doors.
His rage spilled over with a surge of pheromones, so suffocating that Rowan nearly doubled over from the sickness that stirred within him.
"Keugh!" Rowan clamped a hand over his mouth and nose while his features twisting beyond recognition. The stench that was flooding his senses was foul, as if something long decayed had been forced down his own throat.
"If you only knew how to follow instructions, you wouldn't be in this mess!" Rhydan shouted, his voice sharp and cutting. "I told you weeks—maybe even months ago—that you were not allowed to enter the banquet! And yet, you disobeyed me! Look at what has happened because of your actions! Do you even realize what you've done?"
Rowan flinched under the sheer force of his brother's anger and as well as his overwhelming pheromones that he couldn't even looked at him now properly. The words hammered against him, a mixture of fear and disbelief tightening in his chest.
He had never been confronted like this, never spoken back and never had the chance to see Rhydan's fury directed at him so directly.
"B-brother, could you please s-stop emitting y-your pheromones, I think I'm going to passed out…"
After a moment, Rhydan ceased releasing his pheromones and without realizing it, Rowan did too. Perhaps he still couldn't control it properly, since he had only recently possessed this body and it hadn't been long since he arrived in this world as Rowan.
"Hah, I don't really know what to do with you. If only you had listened, you wouldn't be in this mess."
"But why are you angry? Shouldn't you be glad if I died? You've always hated me… right?" Rowan blurted out with Mari's instincts slipping through before he could stop himself.
That's it, why would someone who despised him show anger, even worry, over his being poisoned? It didn't make sense at all.
The room seemed to shrink around them, silence pressing so close they could almost hear their own heartbeats. When Rowan finally realized what he had just said, his eyes widened in panic and he clapped trembling hands over his mouth.
"N-never mind that," Rhydan spat while stepping closer, his eyes sharp and cold.
"Since when have you ever done anything right, Rowan? If it weren't for me, Father would have already sent you off to a random Kingdom as a political pawn just to breed children...And for goddess' sake, don't even see this as me worrying about you because it's disgusting to even think about it."
Rowan flinched at the words and the weight of neglect, fear as well as shame pressing down on him. His chest tightened and he swallowed hard, the realization of just how powerless he had been in this family and in this body, sinking deep into his bones.
Before Rowan could even think of responding, Rhydan's hand shot out, grabbing his wrists out of his face and gripping his chin with firm authority. His fingers dug gently but unyieldingly into Rowan's jaw, tilting his face up to meet his gaze where the pressure was controlling, demanding and impossible to ignore.
"Look at me, Rowan," Rhydan said, his voice low but commanding.
"Do you even realize what your place is in this family? You are nothing but a useless, a wimp omega. You don't even know how to do things, and you don't know how dumb you are. Do you think you can just disobey me and not face consequences?"
Rowan's ocean-blue eyes widened while his body trembling involuntarily under the weight of Rhydan's gaze and the firm grip on his chin. The robe then slipped slightly from his shoulders, leaving him exposed, fragile and entirely at the mercy of his brother's authority and the subtle smell of his rotten pheromones now.
"I… I understand…" Rowan whispered, his voice barely audible but the knot of fear, shame and reluctant obedience settled deep in his chest. For the first time, he felt just how absolute Rhydan's control was and how powerless he truly was in this world.
"I'm screwed!" Mari's voice screamed inside his mind, thrashing in frustration as she raked her hands through her hair.