FLBE Chapter 7 Part 4

The priest struggled to continue, intimidated by Emma’s fierce gaze. Frustrated, Liena stepped closer to the priest and pressed for an answer.

 

“Quickly, what’s happened to Roan?”

 

“The Pope is in a very bad state right now.”

 

“What?”

 

“The Saintess is needed.”

 

“W-What does that mean…!”

 

Trembling, Liena was confronted by Emma, who blocked the path to the priest with a fearful face. She then fiercely questioned him.

 

“Why is the Pope suddenly mentioning his illness to the Saintess? Shouldn’t the Pope possess divine power far superior to the Saintess’s divine power?”

 

“Haa…”

 

For some reason, the priest could not rebut Emma’s words. However, Liena’s mind was already filled with worries for Roan.

 

He was the man who had helped her. He had helped her escape this dismal reality and protected her. Now, to hear that he was so ill that not even his own divine power could cure him, she couldn’t just stand by.

 

“Emma, I’ll be back soon.”

 

“Your Holiness!”

 

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back very quickly. Roan is also precious to me. Of course, not as much as you… So, please let me go. Okay?”

 

She knew Emma was worried about her, but she had to go, no matter what. She couldn’t betray the gratitude she owed to Roan. She wanted to offer whatever little help she could. She wanted to do everything she could for Roan, who was like a benefactor to her.

 

Leaving Emma, who no longer tried to stop her, behind, Liena hurriedly followed the priest out of the Imperial palace. She was not in her right mind.

 

* * *

 

As soon as she arrived at the temple, Liena, who was running towards Roan’s room, stopped at the call of the priest. He led her to a different place, indicating he wasn’t there.

 

Following him deep into the temple, her hands trembled with increasing anxiety. She couldn’t remember how many doors they had passed through. She had never known there was such a place in the temple during her time there.

 

Standing in front of a door, she looked at the priest leading her, and he gestured towards the door. Taking a deep breath and steeling her resolve, she was about to open the door, determined to save Roan by any means, when she inhaled sharply.

 

“Ugh.”

 

The room was filled with Roan’s intense pheromone scent, which engulfed Liena instantly. Startled, she covered her nose and stepped back, but someone pushed her back into the room from behind, and the door closed with a bang.

 

Hearing the door, Roan slowly turned around. As their eyes met, Liena instinctively stepped back. His eyes seemed void of will, filled only with madness and lust.

 

This was not the Roan she knew.

 

Despite her determination, her body trembled uncontrollably. She hadn’t known Roan was in this state. Then, a term crossed her mind.

 

‘Estrus period.’

 

My God, could it be the time of his estrus now?

 

Liena’s face turned pale as she remembered scenes from the novel about Rhetrik’s estrus period. The rut of the top righteous alpha who mercilessly tormented the saintess was, indeed, akin to torture.

 

The man before her wasn’t Rhetrik, but he was a top-righteous Alpha nonetheless. Seeing his eyes, now a lost myriad of colors, she had an ominous feeling that her life might end here.

 

She wanted to call out to him, but her mouth wouldn’t move. Because she feared waking the beast that merely looked at her.

 

Liena tightened her grip on her nose. She knew that inhaling his intense pheromone scent would sweep her away in an instant. Cautiously guarding against the man who had lost his senses, she began to stealthily retreat towards the closed door.

 

Suddenly, Roan bit his lips so hard that drops of red blood fell, leaving marks on the marble floor. At that moment, his myriad-colored eyes shifted back to grey. Liena, witnessing his strange transformation, became even more guarded.

 

Then, with a heavy sigh, he placed a hand on his head and spoke in a cracked voice, struggling for words.

 

“Why on earth are you here? I’m sure I told you to leave.”

 

“Ro, Roan… Are you okay?”

 

“Haaa… No, I’m not okay at all. So, please, leave now. Immediately.”

 

His voice, strained as if squeezed out, was fiercely sharp. Having always heard his gentle voice, Liena felt as though her heart was being squeezed on this day of witnessing his cold demeanor multiple times. However, she knew she had to leave. A siren in her head was loudly warning her to escape.

 

“T-The door won’t open.”

 

“Ugh! Haaa… haaa…”

 

“Roan!”

 

The man’s legs buckled, and he nearly fell forward. He looked dangerously unstable. Instinctively, her body moved to approach him, but Roan shouted at her.

 

“Don’t come! Haa, haa… You mustn’t come any closer. Urgh!”

 

Tears mixed with fear and pity filled Liena’s eyes. She wanted to help him but was too scared to get close. She wanted to reciprocate the help he had given her, but knowing his current state, she couldn’t bring herself to move.

 

How difficult it must be. Countless times in the novel it had been described what the rut of a top Alpha was like. Although she couldn’t know the sensations she had never experienced, his labored breathing alone seemed to indicate his immense pain.

 

Yet, Roan was enduring this pain, even biting his own lips, with an Omega like her in front of him.

 

If she hadn’t managed to keep her pheromones in check until now, he would have certainly pounced on her like a beast. Liena felt relieved by this fact but also immensely guilty. She owed her survival to Roan, yet there was nothing she could do for him.

 

Her despair was short-lived as the terrified look in Liena’s eyes suddenly became indifferent.

 

No. Why is there nothing I can do? I’m an Omega. The cure for an Alpha’s rut. That’s me. With me here, Roan could recover quickly.

 

Omega. The very role she had dreaded and despised.

 

Yet, ironically, she, an omega, was the only one who could help the man before her now. Liena looked at the bottles scattered beside him.