"That, um… if you need any help—"
"Don't cross the line. It's my problem."
Anyone overhearing would think Gillen was trying to extort money from him. At that sharp retort, Gillen gave a hollow laugh and stood up.
"Alright, well… I hope you get the proper treatment you need. Then."
With a light nod, Gillen left Ewan's room. He could feel the sting of those sharp eyes and the prick of pheromones at the back of his head, but he didn't pause or look back.
"Phew…"
He had told Cecilia and Hexion that he'd be back soon, but instead of heading down to the first-floor dining hall, he went to his own room. Not only did he firmly believe that the two of them would be having a good time without needing any liquid courage…
"This is really inconvenient."
… but also because, whether from being exposed to overly strong pheromones all at once or from coming into contact with someone else's pheromones for the first time in a while, he was now half-hard below the waist.
Of course, it wasn't like omega pheromones that could send an alpha into a dramatic state of arousal. In the first place, the reason Ewan had released pheromones earlier was far from anything seductive. Strictly speaking, it was probably because he'd fallen into a state of panic and lost control over his pheromone regulation.
'Still, getting hard from another extreme-dominant alpha's pheromones? What the hell is wrong with me?'
Pressing down on the growing ache in his lower body, Gillen hurried into the bathroom attached to his room. As soon as he pulled down his pants and underwear, his massive erection sprang free.
"What's wrong with you, huh?"
He muttered down at his own member. Was it because he'd held back too long? Or was it an illness? A pheromone issue? His head was crowded with questions, but Gillen decided he needed to take care of this first.
He began stroking himself roughly, up and down. His skin still tingled, and the citrus scent lingered at the tip of his nose.
At this rate, I really can't complain if people call me a lecher.'
Biting his lip, Gillen moved his hand faster. Since the erection had been triggered by pheromones, the best thing was to just finish quickly.
***
His fogged mind, steeped in pheromones, cleared with release. Feeling almost as if he'd gone through detox, Gillen finished himself off and took a leisurely bath, thinking:
'But that looked like a panic attack earlier… so why the hell did that lunatic suddenly do that?'
The most likely trigger had been the situation where Ewan couldn't move his body at will. Gillen had jokingly bundled him tightly in the blankets, but in Ewan's drunken state, it must have touched on something deep in his subconscious.
Should he apologize? Gillen ran a hand down his face, looking uneasy. Even if he hadn't meant it that way, he had ended up tormenting Ewan pretty badly. And, to be honest, it wasn't as if he'd been completely without intent.
Gillen rose from the bathtub, streams of water pouring down his well-built frame. After roughly drying himself with a towel, he changed into comfortable loungewear and stepped out of the bathroom. But—
"Whoa—! You scared me!"
On a single-seater sofa in the dim corner of the bedroom sat a silver-haired beauty.
"H–Hampton?"
"You certainly take your time bathing, Duke."
…Was this brat dropping honourifics with him now? Not even "Your Grace," just "Duke"? The 45-year-old man, marinated in twenty years of rigid social hierarchy, thought sourly. Sensing his thoughts, Ewan gave a mocking smile.
"First you sneak an inebriated person to their room, then you smother them with blankets and pillows, and when you get the chance, you even molest them. And I'm supposed to keep calling you 'Your Grace'?"
"Molest you? I was trying to help! And I didn't sneak you to your room, either! I took you there in plain sight!"
"Oh? So you're openly admitting you took me to your room?"
"My room? No, yours! What the hell is wrong with your head? It's like you've got some filthy devil whispering in your ear!"
"Devil? What is that? Are you saying I'm possessed?"
Gillen froze. Right—he'd forgotten. In this world, people really did get possessed, and priests actually went around performing exorcisms. This was a place where someone could heal a wounded man in a second with holy power, or receive a divine oracle straight from the gods—of course evil spirits existed here.
"No, I just meant it as a figure of speech. I meant your mind's in the gutter."
Gillen hastily backtracked. Ewan gave a short, derisive laugh.
"More in the gutter than the duke who got turned on by my pheromones and went to the bathroom to masturbate?"
"..."
How did he know? Had he heard everything? Gillen's face flushed red.
Seeing the unusual blush spread across Gillen's cheeks, Ewan's expression turned strange for a moment. But then, he stood from the sofa.
"This room was traditionally the lady of the lord's chamber. Not only is it connected by a door, but the wall is thin. I can hear even the drops of water falling in the bath. Did you really think I wouldn't hear… all that?"
You could've told me sooner, you brat!
The shame of being caught masturbating by someone young enough to be his son made Gillen's face burn hotter and hotter. And worse—knowing he'd been aroused by another alpha's pheromones was mortifying beyond words.
"T-There's clearly something wrong here. You and I are both extreme-dominant alphas, aren't we? It's probably some kind of… medical reason—like two overly strong pheromones clashing! Do you think I enjoyed it? That I got hard because I was turned on by your pheromones? That's not it at all. If it made you uncomfortable, then I apologize."
"Yes, it was very uncomfortable. Hearing that was enough to sober me up completely."
"Ahem…"
This time, he truly had nothing to say for himself. As Gillen kept quiet, Ewan brushed his hair back and spoke.
"If you keep what you saw in my room a secret, I'll keep my mouth shut about this incident as well."
"R-Really?"
Gillen was genuinely surprised. Knowing Ewan, he had half expected him to say, 'I've recorded every sound of your little bathroom session with a magical orb, and by tomorrow the entire Empire will know the Duke of Blake's filthy little secret.'
"I'm not the type to shamelessly lie like some people."
He had an uncanny talent for making every word irritating, but his offer was generous enough that Gillen nodded.
"I won't tell a soul. And I'll apologize again. Even if pheromones can scatter a person's reason, I shouldn't have let that happen. You had every right to be offended. I'm sorry."
"…Well. I do know just how damn troublesome pheromones can be."
Ewan spoke with feigned coldness, then turned toward the door connecting to the lord's chamber. That was when Gillen called after him.
"But Hampton—are you really alright?"
"What do you mean?"
"That panic attack earlier. If you're keeping it a secret, then I take it you've never sought treatment for it."
Ewan's eyes flickered. But almost immediately, he cut Gillen off, voice cold and final.
"Stay out of it, Duke Blake."
With that, Ewan stepped into his own room and shut the door behind him. Gillen stood there for a moment in silence. As Ewan had said, sounds from the neighbouring room carried as clearly as if they were happening right beside him.
'This is driving me crazy.'
Gillen lay down on the bed, covered his face with one hand, and let out a silent scream. He'd heard plenty of stories about friends getting caught masturbating back in their adolescent years, but never about a man in his forties suffering such humiliation.
At least Ewan's face had still been flushed with drink when he'd claimed to be sober, and at least he'd been the one to offer to keep it a secret. If not, Gillen might have been so overcome with shame that he would have left the Empire altogether.
'Still… there's definitely something going on there.'
In the original story, there had never been a scene where Ewan struggled to breathe or seemed to be in pain. But for him to be willing to trade such a decisive piece of blackmail—like catching Gillen masturbating—meant that what Gillen had seen earlier must be a very significant secret for Ewan.
"…Forget it."
Gillen muttered to himself, then shut his mouth. If Ewan was in the next room, he'd likely hear even that. Moving as quietly as possible, Gillen slipped under the covers.
He had no desire to know Ewan's secrets. He didn't want to get any closer to him. Right now, all he wanted was to fall asleep quickly.
***
The night passed without incident, and Gillen's party left the lord's manor for the Blake family's villa. Ewan, true to his word, told no one about Gillen's little incident, and Gillen did the same.
The early summer holiday went by pleasantly. The sea around Capelli Island was a clear, vivid blue. Nobles in summer suits and dresses played by dipping their feet in the water or swimming. Since there was no such thing as proper swimwear here, everyone simply wore thin everyday clothes to enjoy the ocean.
Gillen's group was no exception. Cecilia, dressed in a deep green summer dress, plunged into the sea without caring that her clothes would get wet. Hexion, worried she might hurt herself, followed her in, while Ewan stood at a distance, casting waterproofing magic around her. Gillen sat inside a small tent that the servants had pitched, playing chess with his aide.
"Not going for a swim, Your Grace?"
"What's the point? There are no swimsuits, and I'm not about to strip. Where's the fun in that?"
"Your Grace sometimes says things that sound rather… perverse."
At the word perverse, the events of the previous night flashed through Gillen's mind. He cleared his throat and moved a chess piece.
"You certainly have no shortage of things you shouldn't be saying to your superior."
Navard chuckled softly at Gillen's rebuke. At that moment, Ewan stepped into the tent.