When Celestio lifted his heavy eyelids, the first thing he saw was the sky. It stretched out above him, vast and endless, a canvas of deep indigo dotted with countless stars. The cool night air was a refreshing contrast to the stifling heat of the banquet hall and the suffocating pressure of foul pheromones. For a moment, he simply stared upward, his mind sluggish and uncomprehending.

  He was outside. That much was obvious. The faint rustling of leaves and the distant chirp of crickets filled the air, their soft sounds grounding him in a way nothing else could. The scent of the gardens lingered faintly in his nose – earthy, floral, and clean. It was a welcome relief, washing away the lingering traces of Alpha pheromones that had clung to him.

  Groggily, Celestio became more aware of his surroundings. He was lying on a bench, the smooth wooden planks cool against his back. Beneath his head was something soft, though not soft enough to be a pillow. He shifted slightly, wincing as his body protested the movement. His limbs felt leaden and his muscles stiff, as though he had been asleep for hours.

  He blinked rapidly, his vision clearing as he turned his head to take in more of the courtyard around him. The familiar outlines of the castle’s gardens came into view – the neatly trimmed hedges, the marble fountain at the center, its water glinting faintly in the starlight. Lanterns hung at intervals along the paths, their light dim and flickering.

  For a moment, Celestio simply lay there, his mind struggling to piece together what had happened. The last thing he remembered was Darion, his iron grip pulling him down the corridor to the guest chambers…

  Panic flared in his chest, sharp and suffocating on his lungs. The bench creaked softly under his weight, the sound startling in the quiet night. Something moved next to his head, and his breath hitched as his gaze landed on a figure that sat on the ground.

  The man was dressed in dark red, his shoulders outlined by the light from the lantern that sat next to him on the paving stones. His head was tilted slightly, his expression calm as he gazed out at the courtyard. The man turned his head at the sound of Celestio’s stirring, his blue-gray eyes meeting the advisor’s.

  Sabas.

  For a moment, neither of them spoke. Celestio’s mind sped up again, fragments of memory flashing through his thoughts. Why was Sabas with him? Where was Darion?

  “You’re awake,” Sabas said, breaking the comfortable, cool silence. His voice was low and laced with a warmth that took Celestio by surprise. “How are you feeling?”

  Celestio tried to push himself up on his elbows, wincing as a dull ache radiated through his head. He laid back down and raised his hand to his forehead. His fingers brushed against the soft fabric that pooled beneath his head and he saw the cuff, realizing it was a coat, neatly folded to serve as a makeshift pillow. “I… I’m fine?” he said, not sure if he was confirming or asking. He looked at Sabas, his brows furrowing. “What… why are we out here?”

  Sabas turned his body to face him, his legs crossed under the bench and his arms wrapped around his knees as he regarded Celestio with a calm expression. “I saw an Alpha trying to take you somewhere,” he said. “You did not seem to be enjoying his endeavors.”

  Celestio’s stomach flipped at the memory of Darion’s smirk and the suffocating weight of his pheromones. He averted his eyes so his gaze fell to the folded coat beneath him. “You stopped him?”

  “I did,” Sabas replied. “He didn’t take kindly to me, to say the least; but I wasn’t in the mood to argue. I thought it was better to get you out out into open air before things escalated.”

  Celestio’s fingers tightened on his forehead, his throat dry as he processed Sabas’s words. He couldn’t remember how he had gotten out of Darion’s grasp, nor how he had ended up here in the courtyard with the night air clearing his mind. But why had Sabas truly intervened?

  “You didn’t have to,” Celestio said after a long pause. “You could have just ignored it.”

  Sabas’s lips curved into a wry smile. “I didn’t want to. Do I need a further reason to stop someone from doing something so disgusting?”

  Celestio’s gaze snapped back to Sabas. “And what about you?” he asked, his voice sharper now. “Did you stop him just so you could have me to yourself?”

  For a moment, Sabas didn’t respond. He simply studied Celestio, then he let out a laugh, the sound low and almost bitter. “You think I’m like him simply because I’m an Alpha?” he asked. “Sir Celestio, I stopped him because what he was doing was wrong.”

  Celestio stared at him, his breath catching at the quiet conviction in Sabas’s voice. There was no trace of arrogance or condescension, no hint of the predatory intent he had seen in Darion and so many other Alphas. Sabas’s words were simple and honest, and he found himself desperately wanting to believe them.

  “You know,” Sabas continued, leaning back and tilting his head to look up at the stars, “I think you know, too – that’s the lie that Alphas like to tell ourselves and Omegas. They claim they can’t control themselves, that Omega pheromones make them lose their minds. But I think it’s merely a convenient lie. We don’t lose control of our basic human decency because of pheromones. We just like to take what we want and society allows it, simply because of what we are.”

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  His voice was calm, but there was a sharp edge to it, a quiet irritation that simmered beneath the surface. Celestio watched him, curious at the odd musings.

  “I’m not like that,” Sabas said, turning his gaze back to Celestio. “I don’t take what doesn’t belong to me. And I certainly wouldn’t use something like pheromones as an excuse to hurt someone.”

  The sincerity in his tone left Celestio speechless. Sabas’s words were a stark contrast to everything Celestio had come to expect from Alphas. It was, conveniently, the exact thing Celestio had bitterly thought so many times after deflecting the advances from arrogant Alphas.

  And yet, there was something that made him believe that Sabas believed it, too.

  The silence stretched between them, broken only by the soft rustle of leaves in the cold night breeze. The smell of freshly bloomed roses drifted in the wind, a welcome scent compared to the stench of pheromones. Finally, Celestio spoke, his voice barely more than a whisper. “Thank you.”

  “I just did what any decent person would do,” Sabas said gently.

  Celestio shook his head, his lips pressing into a thin line. “No, not many would,” he murmured.

  Sabas didn’t argue. He simply nodded, his gaze thoughtful as he looked back out at the courtyard. The two of them sat in silence for a while longer, the chilled night air wrapping around them like a fragile barrier against the chaos of the world beyond the courtyard.

  The air cooled the lingering heat on Celestio’s cheeks and helped calm his nerves. As he lay on the bench, he studied Sabas from the corner of his eye. The noble was still turned towards him but his attention was on the night sky. There was something steady and grounding about the man’s presence – a calmness that felt wholly out of place in that day’s festivities.

  After spending his entire life learning how to navigate the treacherous waters of the castle, Celestio knew how to read people. Their intentions, their hidden motives, their carefully guarded secrets – discovering it all was second nature to him. And as he watched Sabas search for constellations, he didn’t sense any deception or ill intent. This Alpha wasn’t trying to manipulate Prince Edess’s most trusted advisor. Instead, there was a quiet sincerity in his demeanor, a subtle but unmistakable warmth that made Celestio’s shoulders relax.

  He pulled himself up slowly, brushing his fingers through his hair as he rose. Sabas rose to his feet as well and took a seat beside Celestio, leaving a respectful distance between them. The bench was cold beneath them but the proximity felt oddly comforting.

  They sat in silence for another moment, the faint rustle of leaves and crickets filling the air. Then Celestio said the words he dreaded. “Can you still smell my pheromones?”

  Sabas turned his head slightly, regarding Celestio with those blue-gray eyes that seemed to see straight through him. There was no hesitation as he nodded. “Yes,” he said simply. “Right now, your scent is stronger than ever.”

  Celestio’s lips pressed into a tight line, his gaze dropping to his lap. He had known the answer before he asked the question, but hearing it confirmed aloud still sent a flicker of unease through him. He was always so careful – always so controlled. The idea that his pheromones were now so noticeable made him feel like he was walking around naked. But he couldn’t stop himself from asking the next, obvious question.

  “What do I…” Celestio began, then hesitated, his voice faltering. He cleared his throat and tried again. “What do I smell like?”

  A small smile tugged at the corners of Sabas’s lips, softening his expression even more. He tilted his head back slightly, taking a slow, deliberate breath. “Lilacs,” he said finally, his voice low and thoughtful. “Fresh and sweet, with a hint of something else. Something warm. It’s unique.”

  Celestio blinked, his brow furrowing slightly. “Lilacs?” he repeated. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but somehow the direct answer caught him off guard. Other Alphas would butter him up with exaggerated descriptions of how seductive his scent was, even when he knew they couldn’t smell him. Edess had smelled him plenty of times and described him only as smelling like flowers, nodding along when Celestio specified that his scent was lilac compared to Edess’s carnation-like pheromones.

  “That’s why I noticed it,” Sabas went on. He clasped his hands between his spread knees, his eyes now admiring the flourishing courtyard. “When I was a child, there was a corner of Father’s estate that was quiet. I could go there and no one would bother me. It had a lilac tree – the ugliest tree in the world – but for one week, every spring, it would be covered in purple blooms.” He smiled at the memory. “I found the scent so comforting… and when I smelled it in your office, I thought perhaps some lilacs had been delivered earlier, and I wondered whether I could find the trees here in the courtyard. I didn’t realize what I was actually smelling until you reacted.” He returned his gaze to Celestio. “I sincerely apologize for my transgression that day. It was never my intent to disturb you in that way.”

  For the first time in many, many years, the advisor was genuinely speechless.

  Occasionally, he would allow someone to speak and then not respond right away, to let their idiocy hang in the air and give them time to realize their mistakes. Edess could rarely contain his grin, enjoying his advisor allowing his opponents to embarrass themselves.

  “I drink a suppressant every day so that no one can detect my pheromones. Even His Highness can’t detect my scent,” Celestio said quietly, his fingers tightening in his lap. The fresh air was doing wonders for his recovery, and he could finally string two thoughts together. “You should not have been able to smell my pheromones.”

  Sabas nodded, his expression thoughtful. “I can understand why you would want to protect yourself in a place like this. I imagine that people, even friends, are always looking for a weakness to exploit.”

  There was no judgment in his voice, no hint of condescension. Just quiet understanding. When he spoke again, there was a wistful element in his tone. “It’s no wonder you were the talk of the Alphas at the banquet.”

  Celestio stiffened, his gaze snapping to Sabas. “What do you mean?” he asked sharply.

  There was a glimmer of something wry in Sabas’s eyes. “You didn’t notice? Half of the Alphas in the hall couldn’t stop staring or talking about you. His Highness certainly noticed. He seemed to revel in their jealousy.”

  A flush crept up Celestio’s neck again, though it wasn’t accompanied by a fever this time. He had assumed the Alphas’ attention during the banquet had been due to his presence at the prince’s side, acting as the now-adult man’s caretaker. Could they really have been detecting his pheromones instead?

  “I don’t mean to embarrass you,” Sabas said gently, his voice cutting through Celestio’s spiraling thoughts. “I just wanted you to know the truth. Your scent is wonderful.”

  Celestio glanced at him, his expression softening despite himself. There was something about Sabas’s simple, honest words that made it hard to hold onto his frustration. He exhaled slowly, the tension in his shoulders easing just a fraction.

  “Thank you,” he said quietly – the first time he had ever uttered those words to an Alpha complimenting his pheromones.