I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 196

Chapter 196

Who Were You With Last Night?

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“Who were you with last night?”

‘If I could just confirm the pheromones… everything would be clear.’

As that thought crossed his mind, another naturally followed: ‘I want to know about pheromones.’ And with that, a strange intuition welled up from deep within his chest.

Like a newborn baby instinctively knowing how to suckle, Lian suddenly realized something.

He looked down at his hands and body, thinking, ‘If I’m covered in pheromones, I should be able to tell.’

The gaze that had been fixed on Jess, on the Demon King, now turned inward, as his power awakened and he looked down at his own body.

“Huh…?”

‘This power lets me see and understand things. It should at least tell me whether my body is covered in pheromones or not, right?’ But as soon as he thought that, his body went pale with shock.

The power that had been flowing through him like a snake coiled around his neck and then disappeared.

Where the power vanished, a foreign sensation lingered. As he lightly touched his neck—

“Ugh!”

A sharp, overpowering scent hit his nose, as if he’d buried his face in pure perfume essence. Lian quickly clamped his hands over his nose, tears streaming down his face.

“What… is this…”

He blinked repeatedly, his voice nasal from the overpowering scent. He was confused, but he quickly grasped what was happening.

‘Did… I develop an organ that senses pheromones?’

The power, which he thought would simply help him detect the presence of pheromones, had instead created an organ near his neck that allowed him to both sense and emit pheromones.

Because of that, he instantly believed Jess’ claim that she had drenched him in pheromones.

‘I can’t breathe!’

Just blocking his nose wasn’t enough to endure the thick cloud of pheromones marking Jess’ territory.

His eyes stung, his nose burned, and his entire body ached.

Normally, when marking their mate with pheromones, beastmen would carefully control the amount to avoid causing discomfort. But since Lian was a human who couldn’t originally sense pheromones, Jess had poured them on without restraint.

As a result, Lian was writhing in agony. His mind was consumed by the desperate thought of escaping the pain, and like a hero awakening in a moment of crisis, he instinctively understood how to use the new organ in his neck.

‘I have to cover it… with my own pheromones!’

To claim the marked area, he had to mark it as his own. To rid himself of Jess’ pheromones, he would need to cover himself with an even stronger amount of his own.

Desperately, Lian began to emit pheromones, trying to overwhelm Jess’ scent. It was clumsy, like a child learning to hold a spoon or pencil for the first time, but he managed to release his pheromones.

Though awkward, after much effort, Lian succeeded in covering Jess’ pheromones with his own.

“Hah… ha…”

He took a deep breath, then exhaled, wiping the tears from his soaked cheeks. His eyes still stung, as if something spicy had gotten into them.

“Phew, I thought I was going to die.”

The pheromones, which were more like a ‘scent,’ could be controlled through the new organ. He wasn’t sure if it had evolved this way to hide his scent from those stronger than him, but when he thought about retracting the pheromones, he could feel them being absorbed back into the organ.

‘Is it just me?’

Since he didn’t know how other beastmen’s pheromones worked, he couldn’t tell if this was normal or not.

‘Well, I guess it’s a good thing.’

A deep sense of satisfaction washed over him as he realized he wouldn’t be rejected anymore. At the same time, a thought he had been avoiding began to take over his mind.

‘If Jess said she covered me in pheromones… then that means her actions were… a confession.’

The reality he had managed to ignore was now staring him in the face. How could he feel romantic interest in Jess while still liking Noah?

It was one thing to feel a flutter or be conscious of Jess’ well-developed body, but at this point, he was deeply involved with Noah… just shy of a formal confession. Feeling romantic interest in Jess, who was practically like a younger sister, made him feel like utter trash.

‘Was I always this promiscuous?’

If he had more experience with relationships or understood that polygamous love could exist, he might have been less confused. But for Lian, who believed that feeling romantic emotions for someone else while in love with another was impossible, his emotions were incredibly confusing.

Normally, he would suppress his feelings and force himself into a rigid mold, but this time, he couldn’t let it go. The affection he felt for Jess was far from small.

If he wasn’t so certain about his love for Noah, he might have accepted Jess’ love right away. Lian was now fully seeing Jess as a romantic interest.

But the social norms that said he shouldn’t, and the memories of seeing her only as a younger sister, clung to him, refusing to let go.

Knock, knock.

“Master?”

“Ah…”

As Lian was lost in his inner turmoil, Jess arrived. Quite some time had passed. Worried about Lian, who hadn’t shown up for breakfast, Jess had come to check on him. Lian, still dazed and unable to clear his confused thoughts, approached the door.

Creak.

“Jess… good morning.”

His face, slightly haggard from the night, softened into a gentle smile.

“…”

But there was no response.

“…? Jess, is there something on my face?”

As Lian awkwardly smiled and touched his face, feeling the intense gaze Jess was giving him, she spoke in a tone colder than he was used to hearing from her.

“Who is it?”

“Huh?”

“Who were you with?”

Jess stepped closer, pressing her body against Lian’s. Her firm chest pushed against his torso, and as he almost let out a gasp from the sensation, Jess roughly shoved him into the cabin.

Bang!

She slammed the door shut and pinned Lian against it. In an instant, his body was turned, his back hitting the door, leaving him bewildered. Jess grabbed his shoulders and pressed him down, forcing him into a crouched position, so he had to look up at her.

Grab!

Jess cupped Lian’s face with both hands, trapping him in her gaze. Her eyes, like those of a beast, contracted and expanded, staring down at him with an intensity that made his breath catch.

“Who were you with last night?”

“Uh… I was alone…”

His voice trembled as if he’d been caught cheating. Even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, his heart pounded wildly. Jess brought her face closer, so close he could feel her breath, as if she were trying to read every lie, truth, and emotion in his eyes.

Her red hair cascaded around Lian’s face like a beautiful curtain. Trapped in Jess’ world, he swallowed nervously.

Her expression, colder than usual, was dangerously sexy, making his heart skip a beat.

“Then who were you with?”

Under Jess’ relentless questioning, Lian couldn’t even blink as he answered.

“I was alone… and then… oh, a beastman with cat ears came by early this morning—”

Bang!

Before Lian could finish his sentence, Jess disappeared from in front of him. He found himself sitting on the floor, facing the door, which had been ripped off its hinges and was now completely gone.

“Jess?”

Lian called out in confusion, but the only response was the sound of something breaking and the panicked cries of the beastmen outside.

“Ah! What the—?! What’s going on?!”

After several more loud crashes, Lian snapped out of his daze. Just as he was about to push himself up from the floor, something suddenly rushed into the cabin.

“Ahhh! Save me!”

“Ugh!”

The intruder was a beastman with black cat ears and short black hair. The cat-eared beastman leaped into Lian’s arms, then quickly crawled behind him, hiding.

Shivering.

He could feel the trembling body clinging to his back. ‘What on earth is going on?’ No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than a terrifying presence appeared at the cabin’s now wide-open entrance.

“Heh… if you come out quietly, I’ll kill you quickly.”

Jess appeared, her eyes flashing as her sharp claws extended. Her claws, sharp enough to cut through stone, were pointed directly at the cat-eared beastman.

“Nooo! I don’t want to die!”

“Ugh!”

The cat-eared beastman, terrified by the furious Jess, clung even tighter to Lian’s waist. The sudden, strong hug made Lian let out a reflexive groan. Jess’ claws gleamed even sharper at the sight.

“Wait! Jess!”

“It’ll be over soon, so just wait a moment.”

Jess, completely consumed by rage, didn’t stop at Lian’s words. Lian recalled how Jess had disappeared in the blink of an eye just moments ago.

‘With my current strength, I can’t stop her!’

If he didn’t act fast, the cat-eared beastman would be shredded to pieces.

‘I need to stop Jess… but how…?! Ah!’

In the midst of this chaotic situation, an idea popped into his head. It was something he had never tried before, and he wasn’t sure if it would work, but if he didn’t act now, the cat-eared beastman would be turned into minced meat.

Without hesitation, he put his plan into motion.

“…!”

Lian awkwardly released his pheromones, lightly covering Jess with them. Her eyes widened in surprise, and her movements came to an abrupt halt.

End of Chapter