Chapter 45
Lily stared at the computer screen, her posture as relaxed as if she were watching some interesting leisure program.
On the screen was none other than Zhuang Chi's room. She quietly watched the person on the screen try to open the window to no avail, finally pulling the quilt from the bed to wrap around herself, curling up in a corner.
She probably thinks that will reduce her contact with the pheromones. Lily thought nonchalantly. It's useless. Pheromones are the kind of thing that gets in everywhere. Unless Zhuang Chi could wrap herself up as airtight as a vacuum, it was only a matter of time, and she had no intention of stopping the release of her pheromones yet.
Even an Alpha in their susceptible period might feel discomfort after soaking in such a high concentration of Omega pheromones for so long, let alone Zhuang Chi, who wasn't in her susceptible period. What's more…
Lily picked up a file from the side and flipped through a few pages. Yes, what's more, it had been less than a month since Zhuang Chi differentiated. It was a critical period when her glands hadn't even fully developed. She must be in extreme pain right now.
It couldn't be helped. Who asked her to be so disobedient? Lily thought. If Zhuang Chi were smart enough, she would be begging for mercy right now. Then she would immediately stop releasing her pheromones, and everything else would be negotiable.
But for some reason, although Lily wanted to see such a development, she had a faint feeling that Zhuang Chi would not choose this path.
She recalled the few seconds of eye contact with Zhuang Chi before leaving the room. That person's eyes made her a little angry. Despite being trapped here, unable to do anything, she still looked at her with such eyes when she made a small request—firm and unwavering, silently declaring her stance. There even seemed to be a hint of disapproval, as if to say: What you're doing is not right, stop it.
None of the people she had dealt with before dared to look at her with such eyes. What kind of saint was this? She didn't know what position she thought she was in. She had to make Zhuang Chi clearly recognize her own situation. Lily's lips curled into a fleeting smile. She went to pour herself a glass of hot milk, sipping it slowly while quietly watching the screen. Even if she couldn't hear Zhuang Chi's pleas for mercy, hearing her pained sounds would be fine too. Perhaps that would make her feel a little better.
But Zhuang Chi remained silent. Even as she gradually lost the strength to sit up and curled into a ball, even as the look in her eyes peeking out from the quilt became vacant, even as she bit her lower lip until it bled, she still didn't make a single sound, making Lily, who had been watching for so long, grow anxious.
…What the hell. Lily put the cup down with a dull thud. She really can endure, can't she? It's making me lose my appetite.
Olivia was currently running around everywhere looking for Zhuang Chi, but she had no idea that the person she was looking for was in her sister's villa. Lily had deliberately chosen the most remote location, moving here under the pretext that she didn't feel safe near St. Blaisedon. Right now, besides her, there were only a few loyal servants in the entire villa.
The scheduled date for her return to her country was fast approaching. Lily didn't have much to do these days, and observing Zhuang Chi was gradually becoming her most interesting activity. But now, the more she watched, the more her interest waned, while a nameless fire seemed to burn in her heart, directed at who knows who—the Zhuang Chi who refused to cry out in pain, or someone else. In any case, she was in a very bad mood. She thought she might as well just turn it off; there was no point in continuing anyway.
Just as Lily was about to turn off the computer, Zhuang Chi, who had been motionless for a long time, suddenly moved, propping herself up with some effort.
Lily instantly froze her actions, staring intently at the screen. The quilt was now meaningless to Zhuang Chi, aside from being stuffy. She probably realized this herself and casually tossed it aside. Then, she staggered to the wardrobe, fumbled inside for a long time, and finally brought out a jacket.
What is she trying to do? Lily frowned slightly. She remembered that jacket was the one Zhuang Chi was wearing when she was brought here—the St. Blaisedon uniform. Zhuang Chi had changed out of it when she washed up earlier and had put it away neatly. Why was she taking it out now? Even a quilt much thicker than it couldn't block the pheromones. Surely Zhuang Chi wasn't expecting this thin jacket to have any effect, was she?
This question was somewhat answered when she saw Zhuang Chi's face as she turned around. Zhuang Chi's face was extremely red, and her gaze was dazed and unfocused. It was clear she was no longer lucid. Thinking that in this state, she was probably no different from a sleepwalker and could do anything illogical, Lily stopped thinking about it. She watched as Zhuang Chi hugged the jacket and slowly walked to the corner, leaning against the wall to sit down.
Zhuang Chi looked like she was hesitating about something. The neatly folded jacket was held to her chest, her hands clenching and unclenching slightly, at a loss. She anxiously smoothed out the wrinkles caused by her movements. If Lily didn't know it was just a school uniform jacket, she would have thought she was holding some expensive limited-edition item to be so careful.
But her hesitation finally ended. Lily saw Zhuang Chi lower her head as if she had made up her mind. She slowly buried her nose in the jacket, and even through the monitor screen, it was visible that she was trembling violently. After pausing like this for a moment, Zhuang Chi slightly opened her mouth and carefully bit a small corner of the jacket's sleeve.
She clearly looked like she wanted to bite harder, to bite more. Lily could see that Zhuang Chi was enduring with great difficulty. She didn't know what was going on, nor why she had to endure, only that Zhuang Chi was trembling severely, yet her action of lightly biting the corner of the sleeve always seemed cautious. Those annoying eyes that had left such an impression on Lily before were now misty and moist. The corners of her brows and eyes drooped with an indescribable sadness. The bright light in her eyes was hidden deep within, and her eyes, whether from extreme sadness or a physiological reaction, gradually reddened.
Zhuang Chi's lips moved slightly. Lily thought she was finally giving in and about to beg for mercy. She subconsciously leaned closer to the screen, holding her breath as if afraid to miss a single word.
And Zhuang Chi's lips did tremble and part. She did make a sound, but it was too soft, and muffled because she was still holding a corner of the sleeve. Lily couldn't hear it clearly the first time. Annoyed, she turned the volume to the maximum and finally heard a few scattered sounds.
“…Gu…”
Zhuang Chi's voice was very soft, the syllables faint and fragmented. She herself might not have been aware that she had spoken, just softly and indistinctly murmuring.
“…Gu… Ximian…”
She was calling Gu Ximian's name, over and over again.
Her consciousness had cut out midway. When she came to her senses again, the sky outside the window was dark, and the room was pitch black, but the scent had dissipated.
Zhuang Chi sat up abruptly. Her mind was a muddled, heavy fog, and a dull ache throbbed deep within her glands, but it was nothing compared to the sharp, stabbing pain she had felt before losing consciousness. It was probably like how the moment a knife pierces the body is the most painful, and afterward, you just go numb.
Many things in her memory were blurry, but her body remembered the pain so vividly that Zhuang Chi flinched subconsciously just recalling it. She shook her head, trying to shake off these memories, and with difficulty, got up to turn on the light before dragging herself back to sit down.
Bright lights always brought some warmth, at least more beneficial to her current state than the thick darkness. The light in the room came on. Her eyes, having been soaked in darkness for too long, didn't adjust immediately, causing Zhuang Chi to squint as deep and shallow shadows appeared before her.
…Her memory became blurry midway through. Zhuang Chi tried to recall, but the sharp pain in her memory was too profound, making it hard for her to remember anything else. Lily must have entered her room after she lost consciousness, opened the window to air it out, and even "kindly" moved her and the scattered quilt onto the bed. Who knew if it was because she thought she was an eyesore on the floor or something else.
This was a bit bad. Zhuang Chi thought. The sweet, honey-like scent was temporarily gone, but in its place… she seemed to be able to smell her own pheromones, faint, but definitely the familiar, clear, bitter scent.
She had clearly been able to control it well before. Why was it not working now? Zhuang Chi grew faintly anxious, knowing that something was probably wrong with her glands. The area where the collar on her neck made contact was burning. This thing wasn't like the suppression collar she wore before, which was made of special materials designed for the glands. It was heavy and rough, already chafing her painfully, and now it was just adding insult to injury.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and then, still without waiting for her response, the door opened. Lily walked in from outside. "You're awake."
She was stating the obvious. Zhuang Chi almost instantly stood up guardedly. Her legs gave way, and she staggered, but she managed to brace herself against the wall. Lily, however, seemed completely unaware that she was unwelcome, looking at her with a normal expression. "You slept for a long time. If you hadn't woken up, I was about to call a doctor to check on you."
Her heart leaped in alarm. Zhuang Chi first confirmed, "A long time… Did I sleep for another whole day?"
"Not quite." Fortunately, Lily denied it. She shook her head and said, "You were out from two in the afternoon until three in the morning. Not quite a full day."
…So it was three in the morning now. Zhuang Chi's eyes widened in astonishment, shocked that she had been unconscious for over ten hours, and surprised that Lily was still monitoring her at this hour. Lily seemed to have noticed her confusion and said lightly, "Because you didn't wake up for a long time, I was worried I might have broken you, so I came to check."
Sigh, it sounded like she was being treated like a dragonfly in the hands of a child. Zhuang Chi sighed silently in her heart. Lily looked at her for a long while, then suddenly twitched her nose. "…It seems there's a… coffee-like smell."
Zhuang Chi froze, subconsciously wanting to cover her glands, but the moment she touched the collar, it sent a jolt of pain through them, making her frown. Lily saw through her action and raised an eyebrow slightly. "Oh, so your pheromones smell like this."
…She can smell it from this far away? It seems my glands are really in trouble. Zhuang Chi pursed her lips uneasily. Lily probably guessed her thoughts and added, "I only smelled a little bit, the scent isn't very clear. The higher the grade of an Omega, the more sensitive they are to pheromones. I'm an A-class Omega, so that's probably why I noticed."
Although it was inappropriate for the moment, upon hearing this, Zhuang Chi thought of Gu Ximian. No wonder Gu Ximian was so sensitive to pheromones. She remembered that during their first meeting, Gu Ximian had discerned that she hadn't differentiated yet. It was probably based on her pheromones… Hiss.
For some reason, her glands suddenly twinged when she thought of Gu Ximian. Zhuang Chi was a little confused, but then she heard Lily change the subject. "I heard before that if you're exposed to a high-grade, high-concentration pheromone shock within a month of differentiation, there's a high probability of becoming addicted to it. How are you feeling now?"
"—"
Her mind went blank for a moment. Even though she didn't have any similar feelings right now, Zhuang Chi was still horrified by what she heard. She looked at Lily in disbelief and murmured, "…Addicted?"
"Mhm," Lily nodded. "Do you want me to explain what that word means?"
She didn't need her to explain. Zhuang Chi could roughly understand, and all the related images that came to mind were terrible, making her distraught. "…Why…"
"Didn't I already tell you the reason? It's a punishment." Lily was unmoved, smiling slightly. "It's not too late for you to come to your senses now. As long as you listen to me, you won't have to suffer like this anymore."
"…" Zhuang Chi's brow furrowed tightly. She closed her eyes. "…Stop doing this, Lily. I don't know what's wrong with you, but this kind of criminal act is not the same as your previous petty squabbles. If you really like Olivia, you should go and have a proper talk with her, not—"
"A talk?" As if hearing something utterly ridiculous, Lily let out a soft laugh. "And what good would talking do? Would my sister agree to be with me?"
"…No matter the outcome, it's better than this." Zhuang Chi's voice sounded somewhat weary. "What can you possibly achieve by doing all this?"
"…"
Lily was quiet for a long moment, then suddenly strode over to stand in front of Zhuang Chi.
"What can I achieve?" Her eyes were dark, like a deep sea where no light could penetrate. "To tell you the truth, the pheromones you smelled today were mine. You know what that means, right? It means you might soon become addicted to me, Zhuang Chi."
"I've only heard of the theory of addiction before. So if the experiment is successful on you, perhaps it can be further studied for its feasibility on Alphas who are no longer newly differentiated… for use on my sister."
"…Anyway, Alphas are all the same in this regard. Physiologically so fragile and easy to control, all unable to resist their instincts." Lily said softly, her gaze flickering minutely before she slowly added, "This is a great thing that kills two birds with one stone—no matter how much you like Gu Ximian, once you're truly addicted to my pheromones… what will become of you then?"
At this point, Zhuang Chi had no heart to argue with her about her perceptions and just shook her head in silence. Lily had no intention of saying more to her either. With a cold laugh, she took two steps back.
"That's how it is. If you don't want to be a guinea pig, then struggle hard, though it's useless anyway." Her deep blue eyes shifted, the mockery plain to see. "I'm going to St. Blaisedon tomorrow. If you can entertain me, maybe I'll consider bringing back some news about Gu Ximian for you. Bye-bye."
Without waiting for Zhuang Chi's response, Lily left just like that.
"…"
So Lily just said she's going to St. Blaisedon tomorrow, right?
Unexpectedly hearing a piece of valuable information at the end of a conversation she thought was useless, Zhuang Chi's mind immediately started racing. She wondered if there was any way to use this, feeling like her time was running out—heaven knew when Lily would get another whim to "punish" her. Although its authenticity was still questionable, wouldn't it be terrible if she really did develop a pheromone addiction? She didn't know if this afternoon's incident had already had any effect…
A trace of apprehension rose in Zhuang Chi's heart, but for some reason, it didn't reach the point of fear.
…Although she had indeed smelled a lot this afternoon, and her glands ached terribly. But now… it didn't seem like she particularly wanted to smell that scent again. Zhuang Chi thought. In fact, it was a bit strange. Subconsciously, what she could immediately recall was another scent, sweet and light, elegant and calming.
…Right, it was Gu Ximian's scent. Zhuang Chi thought. It was the perfume Gu Ximian often used… mixed with Gu Ximian's pheromones. It reminded one of a field full of bluebells.
Looking at the pitch-black night outside the window, Zhuang Chi let out a soft breath.
Having remembered such a scent, it felt like it would be very difficult to become addicted to any other.
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