Rejected by Daughter’s Second Male Lead Chapter 101

What would happen if a person with traits was subjected to a pheromone shower? There might be slight differences for each person, but most would lose their reason and yield to the pheromones.

They might go into a full-blown heat regardless of their will, be dominated by fear and grovel on the ground, or suddenly feel ardent love for an opponent they despise.

That was why, among those with traits, it was very basic common sense to refrain from pheromone showers unless it was with a mate or someone you truly wanted to kill. If one were to ignore this unspoken rule and recklessly use a pheromone shower on another, they could, depending on the circumstances, be punished under imperial law.

But what would happen if a person without traits, a beta, were to be hit by this pheromone shower? Naturally, they would not be as affected as those with traits. However, alphas and omegas were, from the beginning, beings created from the maximization of humanity’s most primal and beastly instincts—that was how they were established in the original novel.

Therefore, even a beta, when exposed to an overwhelming amount and intensity of pheromones like a pheromone shower for a certain period, was bound to react instinctively.

Furthermore, in this world, alphas and omegas were a minority and were concentrated among the imperial family and nobility, in other words, the upper class. As a result, commoners who had not encountered them often generally did not know much about pheromones.

On top of that, the temple was practically a sanctuary for ‘betas’. You couldn’t find anyone with traits even if you searched high and low. Thus, it was the priests who were even more ignorant about traits than other betas. No matter how long Marius had lived, it was unthinkable that he would have bothered to care about or study traits. He was far too arrogant for that.

Thanks to this, Marius could not help but be surprised by the second pheromone shower he received from Gillen. He did not want to admit it, but Gillen appeared as an immensely large and fearsome being, and goosebumps broke out all over his body. The thought of wanting to run away right this instant flooded his mind.

And then there were Gillen’s words.

‘I told you. I received a divine revelation.’

Having served the god Retina for decades, he had witnessed His power numerous times and had marveled at His strength. But the pressure and fear he felt now were on a completely different level from the awe he had received from the god Retina.

Had Marius known even a little more about people with and without traits, he might have guessed to some extent that this was a reaction to a pheromone shower. Even if he had guessed, it might not have been very effective, but in any case, the act of recognition has a profound effect on emotions, so he might have been better off than he was now.

However, his interests were focused solely on Retina and Yuan. To him, alphas were nothing more than beasts to be tamed, slaves to filthy and base sex, so he would never have been able to admit that he had been frightened by an alpha’s pheromones.

In any case, all of that combined caused Marius to feel intimidated by Gillen without realizing it, step back, and find himself leaning against the wall. And that became the decisive cause of his defeat.

“Heok…!”

As the sulfur stone touched his body directly, the feeling of his divine power being completely blocked grew stronger. Just as Yuan had predicted, his divine power had begun to be properly cut off. Only then did Marius realize the real reason Yuan had cleaned this room.

“Yuan… how could you do this to me?”

“Shut your mouth. You’re not the one who should be asking that question.”

Gillen said in a calm but anger-tinged voice. He reached out a hand toward Marius.

Is this a death sent by God? Marius thought for a moment. But instead of strangling Marius or striking him in the face, Gillen took the magic-blocking chains he was wearing and tied Marius’s arms and legs more meticulously. Gillen did not care that his own protective barrier broke from touching the chains. And Yuan did not particularly try to stop him either.

“Marius. You will be judged according to imperial law. For child abuse, confinement, and attempted murder. As you are the High Priest, the punishment may be aggravated, or it may be reduced, but in any case, it is clear that you will be imprisoned in this jail.”

After tightly binding even Marius’s feet, Gillen straightened his posture and spoke.

“You will stay here until the Imperial Security Force arrives. In the prison you created, bound by the very chains you put on.”

Gillen approached Yuan.

“Shouldn’t I use magic to knock him out? What if that crazy old man calls another priest and asks for help?”

Yuan asked wryly. But his eyes, as he looked at Gillen, were full of affection and desire. Gillen gently patted Yuan’s back.

“As soon as we leave this room, you can just use teleportation to summon the Imperial Security Force. I’ll guard the temple in the meantime.”

Gillen grinned brightly and gave a thumbs-up.

“Because you’re a genius magician.”

“…”

He’s right, but why am I so pissed off? I still think he sees me and my magic as some kind of tool. Yuan thought to himself, a sour expression on his face.

Marius, who was standing behind them, struggled to move his body, only to tumble over comically because of the chains wrapped all over him. He shouted.

“Yuan! Save me!”

He truly was a man who did not know his place until the very end. He seemed to genuinely believe that Yuan would save him. Gillen stood blocking Yuan and glared at Marius.

“Marius, mark my words.”

The one who received Lady Retina’s revelation instead of me. The one who is by Yuan’s side instead of me. The one who whispers words of love with Yuan… the filthy one. Hatred and jealousy were evident in Marius’s glaring eyes. But Gillen paid him no mind.

“The god Retina chose you as High Priest to increase His followers, as you were the person who would most effectively carry out that mission. And that was you. On the other hand, what about you, Marius? You wanted the human being named Yuan, and to obtain him, you kidnapped and tortured Yuan 13 years ago.”

“So? What’s your point?”

Marius did not seem to have understood Gillen’s point at all. Instead, he was just grinding his teeth and glaring at him. His expression suggested that if his divine power were working properly, he would want to suck Gillen’s life force dry right this instant.

“It means that the god Retina chose you not because He loved you but because He needed you, but you chose Yuan not because you needed him but… because you loved Yuan. It’s questionable whether one could even call that love in the first place, but what is clear is that your method was completely wrong.”

Gillen reached his hand back. As expected, Yuan took it.

“The love you desire is something that can never be done alone. You can never win anyone’s love with that one-sided method where a god bestows divine power upon humans, saves them, and also turns away from them.”

“Ha… This is why you agnostics are the way you are. The love between a god and a person is not one-sided. Do not speak so carelessly when you know nothing.”

Still, having served as High Priest for several decades must have counted for something, as Marius pointed out Gillen’s words, displeased.

“You understood what I meant, didn’t you? Marius, you have failed. So I’m telling you to stop now.”

“Failed? What makes you any different, Duke Blake? You want to have Yuan too. At least I have never vented my filthy desires on Yuan.”

Gillen ignored Marius’s words and, holding Yuan’s hand, left prison cell 444. From behind, Marius called out desperately, “Yuan! Yuan!” but neither Yuan nor Gillen paid him any mind.

They walked in silence, hand in hand, down the long corridor and up the stairs. The heat from their palms transferred, the hot air rose, and sweat formed, but neither of them let go.

When they had finally left the underground completely, Yuan spoke.

“To think the day would come when I’d be the one locking that bastard in that goddamn room and walking out. I was always the one left behind with the sound of the door closing.”

Those words made Gillen’s heart ache. The corners of his eyes grew moist, and Yuan became greatly flustered.

“Why, why are you looking at me like that all of a sudden? It’s not like it’s new. It’s not as if you didn’t know.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen it with my own eyes. How hard it must have been for that little kid, all alone. Now, you can say you were locked up for three years, but back then, you couldn’t have even fathomed when the suffering would end…”

Gillen pulled Yuan into an embrace and patted his back.

“You’ve been through so much, Yuan. Thank you for holding on so well until now.”

“…Hah, what are you…”

Yuan grumbled something more, but Gillen held him tighter. He knew now that Yuan was deliberately acting that way out of embarrassment and sorrow. The frantic thumping of Yuan’s heart, pressed against his chest, was transmitted in its entirety. His pulse grew faster and faster.

On a normal day, Gillen would have been troubled, thinking, ‘This guy, doesn’t he really like me too much? This is driving me crazy,’ but for today, he freely shared that heartbeat. He did not want to think about anything else today. He could not. Having just come out of that room, how could he possibly push Yuan away? This poor, admirable, and beautiful man.

Feeling as though tears might suddenly pour out, Gillen blinked his eyes rapidly and took a breath. He had no intention of stealing even Yuan’s tears by crying in his place now.

Just then, behind the blinking Gillen, a group of priests could be seen running about noisily. He tried to ignore them, but they were making such a commotion that it was impossible to pretend he did not notice.

“Um… Yuan, sorry to bring this up in this situation but… the temple is in an uproar? Is this because we locked Marius up?”

Yuan quietly pulled away from Gillen’s embrace—but one of his arms remained wrapped around Gillen’s waist. Yuan looked behind him.

“[Audio].”

He recited a short spell, then listened intently. It seemed to be a magic that allowed one to eavesdrop on people from far away.

Meanwhile, Gillen quietly gazed at the lovely, silver-haired young man whose eyes were rimmed with red. So he did cry. It seems he cries quite often in front of me. Well, of course, I cry often in front of Yuan too, especially in bed.

“Ahem, ahem…”

As Gillen needlessly cleared his throat and fidgeted about, Yuan’s expression changed. He turned to Gillen with a jerk.

“Gillen. What did you do?”

“Huh? Me, what, me? What did I, what?”

Did he hear what I was just thinking? No, that can’t be. He said he can’t read minds. As Gillen clutched his trembling heart, Yuan brought up an unbelievable story.