Kiss the Stranger

“Are you going to do that again?”
I shrieked before I could stop myself. Haham glared down at me in annoyance.
“If not, what other option is there? Tell me—what can we do?”

Of course I had no answer. I lowered my head in silence, and he scoffed as if he’d expected as much. I dared to speak again.
“But… Your Highness showed no effect last time.”
“It was just insufficient quantity.”

Haham cut me off bluntly. Though Asgail had ordered us to find another method, the medical team, led by Haham, proposed preparing more omegas. They judged that by dosing them to squeeze out more pheromones, they could reach an amount to induce a rut in the prince.
“After all, extreme omegas inducing a rut in an extreme alpha works on that principle.”
All the attendants nodded in agreement. Their plan rested on the steward’s theory, which was just theoretical—so nothing was guaranteed—but Haham and his colleagues had no other idea.

“Waiting for the rut to come naturally…”
I ventured, only to be rebuked. They all took turns blaming me, saying, What if you waited and didn’t know when it would come? Asgail’s natural cycle meant months remained; even theoretically, it would take over a month to accumulate enough pheromones to hasten it.
“What on earth was that American doing?”
As they blamed the steward, I stayed silent. To defend him I would need proof—and he’d told me nothing. I only had to trust his humanity, which felt woefully insufficient. Better to say nothing than stumble over baseless excuses.

In the end the physicians petitioned Asgail to run more trials. All they received was his sneer.
“Do you think I am your guinea pig?”
Shocked, they fell silent. Even I, dragged here against my will, felt a flicker of relief—no more of that spectacle, I thought.

I hate seeing Kamar hold someone else.
Though the act held no emotion for him, it still pained me. My nose stung at the thought, and I swallowed hard when Asgail’s voice cut through.
“Why is he still here?”

At his sudden question every pair of eyes turned to me. I blinked, and Haham hurried to explain.
“We included him because he was the steward’s assistant—he must know something.”
Though he’d grilled me about the prince’s condition, he’d never once asked my opinion or shared needed information. He was merely present. His explanation felt hollow, but I said nothing. Asgail watched me in silence, a strange smile on his lips.

“I see.”
He clearly misunderstood my relationship with the steward. He believed I was here because I was the steward’s lover, so Haham’s words were mere nonsense to him. Yet Asgail let the matter drop without comment. Unsure what he was thinking, I lowered my gaze—then he spoke again.
“Fine.”

Startled by his assent, I raised my head to see him seated on the faraway throne. The physicians around him murmured in excitement as he continued.
“But we cannot waste endless time. We need a deadline. Is three days enough?”
“T-three days?”

Haham stammered, as if he’d never expected a fixed limit. The prince asked lightly,
“Or would you have me repeat this until it succeeds?”
Haham couldn’t answer. I recalled his earlier remark: The prince must extract pheromones regularly anyway, so why not? He certainly hadn’t considered a time frame.
“Th- that’s right, Your Highness… but three days is too… can we have more? There’s trial and error…”

Haham spoke awkwardly, betraying his unease. Asgail narrowed his eyes and said nothing. Haham mustered courage.
“C-could we have a week? We need to monitor Your Highness’s health. Three days is too short. Please allow more time.”
Asgail remained silent, but his pheromones deepened, betraying his displeasure.

“A week of that?”
He murmured, and Haham bowed hastily. A suffocating tension filled the hall. I nursed a small hope.
What if he’d refused…

Then the prince’s voice rang out.
“Make it five days.”
Haham exclaimed gratefully.

“Th-thank you, Your Highness….”
The others echoed thanks, but Asgail rose as if he had nothing more to say.
“Very well. That’s settled. You may withdraw.”

I thought it was over, but he seemed to remember something. He paused, then suddenly fixed me with his gaze.
“You will observe.”
“I—?”

I swallowed a startled gasp. All eyes fell on me, but Asgail’s face remained impassive.
“Yes. You must tell the physician what spectacle we performed in his absence.”
With a final sneer he turned away. His secretary followed to report something. Watching them depart, Haham muttered under his breath, then rose and grabbed me by the collar.

“You brat—what filthy trick did you pull?”
“What are you talking about?!”
I shouted, struggling to break free, but his grip wouldn’t budge. My throat constricted, blood rushed to my face in a flush. Haham glared and barked,

“Why did His Highness single you out? Do you think we didn’t notice you and that American?”
“Wait, Haham. Stop.”
One attendant stepped forward to restrain him.

“If you say that, you’re implying His Highness took that man here. Surely that didn’t happen? Calm down.”
Haham bellowed,
“Perhaps the brat used some unknown drug!”

Another man retorted,
“If that were so, His Highness would know. You understand his constitution better than anyone.”
Haham glared at me for a moment before finally letting me drop to the floor. He spat once, then turned back to the others.

“Enough dawdling. Gather the omegas— as many as you can. Bring all the stimulants, too. We start tonight. You must succeed!”
Then he spat at me roughly,
“You will report every detail of that night to me. Understand? If you step out of line, I will pull out your tongue and gouge out your eyes!”

I could only nod in fear. And so the day approached.
Click.
Dragging my tired feet down the corridor, I opened the laboratory door, and Rikal sprinted out to greet me. Normally I would scoop him up and kiss him, but there was no time. I dodged past him into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I stood under the spray, waiting for hot water. After a moment the warmth came, and I finally calmed. I stayed in the bath for a long time before emerging.

“Rikal.”
The cat, pacing outside, leapt into my arms. This time I hugged and kissed him gratefully.
I’d been following the steward’s instructions: never miss a suppressant, and always wash thoroughly after ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) pheromone exposure.

So far, I’d managed. Four days of the prince’s rut experiment had passed. Only one remained. During that time I’d watched Kamar hold others. Once it ended, the physicians would drag me in and make me recite everything I’d seen.
I felt as though I were torturing myself as I relayed their demands: how many times the prince had sex, how many partners, how often he’d climaxed. On the first day I hesitated and was slapped. From the second day on, I etched the scenes into my mind and reported them verbatim.
Every trial, I stood against one wall, watching the prince. If anything went wrong, Haham had told me to alert the waiting chamberlain—but that seemed unlikely. Asgail remained perfectly composed; the rut only seemed to sharpen his mind rather than dull it. Everyone could see this attempt was a failure.

Soon it would be over….
I closed my eyes, holding Rikal tight. This would be the last time. One more day—I could endure one more day.