Chapter 36: An Uninvited Alpha.

“Indeed, as I heard, his pheromones are terrible.”

The grumbling voice was one I heard for the first time.

A stranger who broke the glass window covered with blinds and intruded stood before me.

He was an Alpha. Although my left wrist was empty now, I could tell even without using the pheromone detection device on the watch the King’s Brother gave me.

For a trespasser, he was quite confident. Arrogance beyond confidence was deeply imbued in his face.

Examining the food trays on the floor and me standing in front of the door in turn, his lips curved crookedly.

“Thank you for saving me the trouble of finding the way?”

It was a strange, and extremely rude way of speaking.

As he turned his body toward the King’s Brother’s bedroom without hesitation, I reflexively blocked the door.

“I apologize, but we cannot receive visitors for the time being. Please understand.”

That trespasser said it with his own mouth. That the pheromones were terrible.

He couldn’t be unaware that the King’s Brother had entered his Rut. Etiquette be damned, that guy completely ignored the King’s Brother.

The letter Count Umbra persistently sent ignoring procedures caught my eye on one side. And the intruder smiling amusedly as he lightly shook a white envelope in front of me also had a seal with the same crest.

What was inside that white envelope wasn’t an invitation sent by the King’s Brother, but a unilateral mockery from Count Umbra, no, the King.

“I apologize.”

The intruder must also be the King’s lackey, but I could only say sorry like an AI responding according to the input manual. The ways I, a Beta, could stop him, an Alpha, were extremely limited.

“This is quite cute.”

Unlike his voice pretending to be cheerful as if he came out for a rare spectacle, the intruder’s face distorted asymmetrically. It was a clearly mocking expression.

“What is that again?”

The intruder, who took a step closer, suddenly turned his head and muttered in an incredulous voice.

“This house seems to have gathered only incredibly bold guys as servants.”

What the intruder whistled and watched was Ian, who had recklessly run towards us, having entered the main building at some point.

In an instant, I felt mana moving. The intruder was raising magical power. As soon as I realized it was a mana pattern quite familiar to me too, I reached out without time to think further.

Snap.

Magic manifested just by the rude intruder snapping his fingers without an activation word created a fireball in the hallway.

Only after seeing Ian bounce off with the momentum he ran with upon hitting the air barrier I manifested later than him did I clench my open palm.

The fire trapped in the vacuum space lost its heat at once and went out.

Whether he let his guard down because Ian and I were Betas, or exercised a sliver of political judgment considering this was inside the King’s Brother’s mansion, it was thanks to the intruder manifesting simple basic magic.

Thinking this one time was the only opportunity I could respond, I poured out mana recklessly without considering efficiency.

Manifesting magic without an activation word consumed 2/3 of my mana at once.

In the blink of an eye, an acrid smell wafted from the scorched hallway.

“I apologize for not informing you in advance. Please refrain from using magic inside the mansion.”

I barely swallowed the breath that rose to my throat and spoke. The intruder, who had been relaxed throughout, crumpled his face.

Even if it’s obvious his backer is the King, the justification he put forward was strictly Count Umbra.

If he had intruded with the King’s personal letter, circumstances might have been slightly different, but he had already committed acts he couldn’t handle with the apparent justification. If he were just an ordinary Alpha, that is.

The light brown eyes visible through the dirty blonde hair disheveled over his forehead frowned at once.

Physical characteristics seen in the newspaper, arrogant personality, and background capable of handling such actions reminded me of only one person.

The left wrist wearing a bracelet decorated with rubies instead of the national flag edition watch, which was now impossible to get, added certainty to my guess.

“Lord Spes Umbra.”

It was certain he was the son Count Umbra cherished enough to name him ‘Hope’ (Spes). Also the only Alpha to inherit Count Umbra’s title later.

“…You, impertinent.”

The extremely angry voice proved that I got the answer right.

A figure known to participate in the 2nd Expeditionary Force as an army major general. Since he’s still young, there is a separate commander-in-chief, but he would be merely nominal.

Even if the 2nd Expeditionary Force doesn’t achieve much, he will avoid censure, and if they succeed in driving out the Petan army, all glory will go to this young man.

Spes Umbra, for whom special treatment was natural, suddenly gave an arrogant smile.

Thud, a dull sound of falling was heard.

Ian falling again while trying to rush fearlessly was caught in my peripheral vision. The air barrier I made had already dispersed. No new flow of mana was felt either.

Then it was pheromones. Pheromones were crushing Ian.

A scoundrel releasing his pheromones in a place where an Alpha in Rut was present; it was such an absurd act that even a scoff didn’t come out.

Above all, it was a situation where I shouldn’t be standing like this.

Just as I tried to relax my legs and pretend to collapse, a burning pain ran across my cheek.

“Don’t try cheap tricks, will you?”

Spes Umbra grabbed me by the collar and forcibly stood me up.

“Seeing as he sprays artifacts even on a servant, rumors that he’s raking in money with a rake must be true.”

As if it were impossible for his pheromones to have no effect on me, Spes Umbra was convinced I possessed a magic item capable of absorbing pheromones.

Thinking it was rather fortunate, a subtle smile hung on the guy’s lips.

“You, you aren’t just a servant, are you? He was a young master capable of quite interesting things, our King’s Brother.”

The collar the guy gripped tightly strangled my neck. The guy who misunderstood as he pleased grinned, tearing his lips wide as if finding something very amusing.

“Taking a Beta as a Rut partner. Being passive in social activities leads to such unfortunate events. Doesn’t it?”

As if his misguided delusion were the truth, Spes Umbra pressed my Adam’s apple and lower jaw so I couldn’t say no. I clenched my hands with all my might. To avoid scratching the guy’s hand gripping my neck.

If I, a Beta, hurt him here, it would only give him an unnecessary excuse. The only person in this mansion qualified to punish him was the King’s Brother.

“For a Beta, you seem to have a pretty good head, but you should also think well about your future.”

Although he seemed to be pushing fiercely, the guy was clearly holding back his hand. He didn’t strangle me with the intention of completely cutting off my breath, and he wasn’t using his hands anymore on Ian suppressed by pheromones.

In the first place, he only used basic magic that I could also subdue, and released only pheromones that could be defended against with basic magic items.

Although his tone revealed he was a typical Alpha looking down on Betas, the fact that he couldn’t harm Ian and me as he pleased was proof that he recognized we were the King’s Brother’s servants.

Behaving like a lunatic, but not a real crazy guy.

I thought he would go back now since he showed off his power appropriately. Since he sufficiently delivered the message not to forget that envelope and make the King’s Brother read it.

“Because quite a lot will change in the future. This mansion, and your master too.”

Thud.

The guy pushed my body against the door.

Thud, thud.

Vibrations were felt behind my back.

“Oh my, your master seems urgent.”

Ugh—, Ian, already fallen, groaned as if receiving another shock. The guy raised his pheromones more. As if preparing something.

Thud, thud.

Sounds like heartbeats knocked on my back.

“He seems very anxious but can’t open the door. A loyal servant should help, right?”

The door, which the King’s Brother never tried to open himself even while suffering pain that prevented proper reasoning, was shaking violently now. Thud, thud. As if throwing his whole body against it.

My arm stretched out regardless of my will. The guy pulled my right wrist with his other hand not holding my neck. I clenched my fist until nails dug into my palm, but it was useless.

The guy forced my fingers open. A metallic texture was felt at the fingertips Spes Umbra forcibly pulled.

The doorknob opening the King’s Brother’s bedroom door touched my fingertips.

Only then did I struggle. It was a belated struggle.

Even raising magical power, I couldn’t cause any change because I couldn’t speak the activation word. Non-chant magic manifestation was impossible with mana not yet filled.

I raised my left hand, the only one I could move, and scratched the back of the guy’s hand strangling my neck, but my nails, always kept short, couldn’t inflict a wound on Spes Umbra.

“You should beg for your life, please, to your master.”

The guy laughed, tearing his lips wide as if excited.

I didn’t know he would try to see the King’s Brother in Rut directly. It was an act excessively crossing the line.

What justification does Spes Umbra have to act so rudely to this extent? Did the King permit this too?

Eventually, with my fingers hooked on the doorknob, the guy applied force to his hand and lowered the doorknob.

Click. The door, which the King’s Brother couldn’t open even by throwing his whole body against it, unlocked simply. Spes Umbra’s smile deepened. It was a bloody expression like a hunter facing prey.

Held like bait, I was dragged inside the widely opened door and stood in front of the guy’s body. I couldn’t smell pheromones, but I felt intense heat.

I heard a growling sound like a beast.

It was a sound made by the King’s Brother. As if he forgot how to speak.