The Duke’s Obsession Leads to a Death Flag

“Ugh, this feels gross.”

As I stepped out of the storage room, I kept shaking off the sensation of the child’s tongue touching my hand. I had wiped it with water, but it still felt like the dampness lingered. I understood that he wanted to eat the crumbs, but licking someone else’s hand so casually? He was really just a wolf boy who happened to understand words.

“My head hurts.”

The child didn’t even know how to button his clothes or open a lid—his mind was a complete blank slate. Not only was he missing the basic common sense that any person should naturally have, but despite understanding words, he moved purely on instinct, just like a beast.

Every time I saw him like this, I couldn’t help but understand. Even without hearing the details, I could easily guess what kind of life he had lived in Zone 1.

“Let’s stop thinking about it.”

Shaking off the thoughts that weighed heavily on my chest, I left the western forest. I trudged along, exhausted, heading toward the side door, when I suddenly made eye contact with a group of attendants standing outside. I froze for a moment, and at that exact moment, a young boy among them spotted me and waved excitedly.

“Young Master!”

Did they just see me coming out of the western forest? If this got to Han Jae-hoon’s ears, it would definitely turn into a hassle. What should I do? While casually waving back at the attendants, my mind raced.

“Did you just come from the forest?”

The boy, unable to contain his excitement, ran up to me and asked. I didn’t remember his name, but I had seen him often while walking in the garden, so his face was familiar.

“No, I was just resting in the shade.”

It was a sloppy lie, obvious to anyone who heard it, but fortunately, the boy seemed to believe me without a shred of doubt. He nodded innocently, making me feel like a terrible adult for deceiving such a pure child.

No, wait—I’m still a kid too.

“Isn’t your bag heavy?”

As the boy reached for my bag, I swiftly avoided his hand. I had left everything I brought in the storage room, so the bag was completely empty.

That was exactly why I had to avoid his kindness. Walking around with an empty bag was bound to look strange.

“It’s fine. I can carry this much.”

To quickly smooth over the awkward moment, I forced a laugh. The boy, easily influenced, laughed along with me, and I gave his shoulder a light pat before heading toward the side entrance of the mansion.

As I walked through the hallways, I greeted the attendants I passed, just as I always did, before finally returning to my room. The moment I shut the door, my legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the floor.

“God, that was close.”

Pressing a hand over my racing heart, I let out a deep breath and leaned back, knocking the back of my head against the door with a thud. I needed to be more careful from now on. If I wasn’t, it was only a matter of time before Han Jae-hoon found out I’d been sneaking into the storage room.

Not yet. If Han Jae-hoon stepped in now, before I had even broken down the child’s guard, the situation could easily spiral into something even worse.

If he were to move the child somewhere without my knowledge, I would be left powerless, worrying about the bleak future ahead, or worse—watching the child die, unable to escape, in a way that deviated from the original story.

‘Should I just tell him to run away now?’

It wouldn’t be difficult to pick a spot with weak security and send him off. But the real problem would come after that. The child had nowhere to go. He had been abandoned in Zone 1, and he had no connections in Zone 5.

If his appearance were unremarkable, it might be different, but with that strikingly vivid red hair, as brilliant as a burning flame, he would stand out no matter where he went.

The moment I sent him over the wall without a plan, there was a real chance he could be kidnapped by human traffickers. Of course, I believed the protagonist wouldn’t die so easily… but still, that would be far too irresponsible.

“Nothing’s ever simple, huh.”

I raised my knees and rested my chin on them. As I got lost in my endless, unsolvable thoughts, the sky outside darkened, and a gentle rain began to fall.

It was the first spring rain of the year.

***

A cold stethoscope pressed against my flat chest. The physician listening to my steadily beating heart wore a rather serious expression. Seeing this, Han Jae-hoon’s face stiffened as well.

“There’s nothing wrong, right?”

“I’m still in the middle of the examination, so please wait a little longer.”

The physician, trying to calm the anxious Han Jae-hoon, set aside the stethoscope and used another instrument to check various parts of my body. Meanwhile, Han Jae-hoon, unable to hide his worry, anxiously shifted his weight from foot to foot. Finally, after what felt like a long examination, the doctor spoke.

“For now, I don’t see any particular abnormalities. Your breathing is normal, your body temperature is normal—everything is normal.”

Only after hearing the awaited diagnosis did Han Jae-hoon’s tense expression finally relax. I, too, had been holding my breath, nervous about the possibility of some unexpected issue, and let out a quiet sigh of relief.

“But…”

Of course, it wouldn’t be that simple.

Both Han Jae-hoon and I froze, our fleeting sense of relief vanishing, as we stared at the physician, who hesitated to continue. After a moment’s pause, he turned—not to me, but to Han Jae-hoon—and said,

“The pheromones are extremely unstable.”

Han Jae-hoon immediately understood the implications of those words, his face going rigid. The butler standing beside him also seemed to grasp the meaning, but I was the only one left in the dark, unsure of what the physician was trying to say.

“I was under the impression that such a thing was impossible.”

Han Jae-hoon’s voice wavered slightly as he spoke, but he forced himself to stay composed. The physician, swallowing nervously, adjusted his slipping glasses and replied,

“There aren’t many recorded cases, but there is a definite possibility of postnatal occurrence—”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

Han Jae-hoon cut the physician off sharply. Startled by the sudden outburst, I flinched, my shoulders trembling. Noticing this, Han Jae-hoon quickly regained his composure, softening the fierce expression on his face.

The butler, who had been cautiously observing the situation, patted the frightened physician on the back and led him out of the room. Han Jae-hoon let out a deep sigh and was about to follow them, but before leaving, he turned to look at me.

“Baby, get some rest.”

I quietly nodded, and with a small smile, Han Jae-hoon left the room. Once the door closed and I was alone, I sat there blankly for a moment before moving to the bed.

‘What does it mean for pheromones to be unstable?’

Is it something like growth hormones? That’s the only remotely similar term I could think of. As I kept mulling over the physician’s cryptic words, the door opened again. This time, it was only the butler—Han Jae-hoon was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Father?”

“The District Chief has returned to the study.”

As I got off the bed, the butler knelt down and instinctively straightened my slightly disheveled clothes. Watching his hands smooth out the wrinkles in my shirt, I suddenly blurted out the question that had been nagging at me.

“What does it mean that my pheromones are unstable?”

The butler’s hands froze as he looked at me. The close distance made it impossible to miss the way his pupils trembled. Was it really that serious? Even I, who hadn’t been too concerned at first, started feeling uneasy. But the butler quickly suppressed his reaction.

“…It’s hard to explain.”

“What? Is it serious?”

“It’s not serious, but I can’t say it’s a good thing either.”

His vague response made me frown, but instead of elaborating, he simply finished fixing my clothes and gave my shoulder a light pat. It was a silent refusal to continue the conversation.

“There’s no need to worry, so don’t make that face.”

“How can I not worry?”

“I promise—it’s nothing worth worrying about.”

Even as I pouted, the butler only smiled gently and refused to say anything more. He withdrew his hand from my shoulder and began tidying up the room. Then, gazing out the cloudy window, he murmured,

“This year’s spring rain is unusually long.”

Following his gaze, I looked outside at the gray sky. Because of the continuous rain that hadn’t let up for days, I had been forbidden from going out due to the chilly weather. As a result, I hadn’t been able to check on the child at all.

Even if I wanted to go, I wasn’t sure my fragile body could handle wandering around in the rain. If I caught another fever, it wouldn’t just be a matter of getting sick—I could end up facing even stricter restrictions on going out.

‘For now, it’s best to lay low.’

I absentmindedly fiddled with my hand, now free from that lingering discomfort, and stared at the swaying western forest. When would this rain finally stop? My thoughts grew heavier.

“Will Young Master Se-yul come again once the spring rain stops this year?”

“Huh?”

The sudden mention of a name I had forgotten left my mind momentarily blank. Young Master Se-yul? I snapped out of my daze when the butler called for me again and quickly composed myself, continuing the conversation as if nothing had happened.

“Is it already time for Se-yul to come back?”

“Yes, time has passed so quickly.”

Unlike me, who was too weak to leave the mansion, Se-yul attended a boarding school in Zone 1.

Because it took a full week by car to get here, Se-yul could only return to Zone 5 once a year during his school break.

‘Time really flies.’

Se-yul had entered school around the same time I was reincarnated into this world, so even if I added up all the time we had spent together, it wouldn’t even amount to a full month. Maybe that was why he still felt awkward and difficult for me to deal with.

Of course, another reason for this awkwardness was that, unlike me—who wasn’t even mentioned in the original story—Se-yul was not only Choi Yeo-min’s longtime friend but also the secondary love interest in Mad Love.

‘Maybe it’s because it feels like I’ve been forced to witness my own relative’s entire love life in detail.’

Meanwhile, the person in question, Se-yul, was completely unaware of any of this. He simply adored me and would excitedly call me “Hyung! Hyung!” while following me around everywhere.

‘I’m the one being weird about this.’

While I was lost in self-reflection, the butler started planning things for Se-yul’s one-week stay. He would probably suggest the same thing as always—going on a picnic.

“I hope Young Master Se-yul arrives soon. Then our Young Master won’t have to be alone and lonely anymore.”

I was about to say that I wasn’t particularly lonely when I suddenly noticed a change in the sky. Looking up, I saw that the thick gray clouds were beginning to break apart, allowing patches of clear sunlight to peek through.

I jumped up from my seat and ran to the window.

“The rain stopped.”

After an endless week of rain, it had finally come to an end.