Omega Manual chapter 10

I’ll be very gentle

The place they settled in was called Sudu, which was considered a corner of the suburban town. In fact, it was only about the size of a village, but it was barely classified as part of the central urban area, with all the necessities, just slightly worse conditions.

For example, there were one or two inns for accommodating outsiders in Sudu. Such places would definitely not be seen in Lansai. If there were travelers coming to Lansai — if anyone was willing to go to such a place, they could only ask to stay at someone’s house or spend the night in a dirty tavern.

But no matter which way, the probability of your wallet disappearing the next morning was high — unless you could find a kind-hearted person like Mrs. Jones. But the likelihood of finding a good person in Lansai was almost as slim as finding a needle in a haystack in the ocean, basically nonexistent.

So, being able to stay in an inn when away from home, Irey was quite happy. Unlike Shelley, who had a look on his face as if he wanted to leave immediately upon seeing the dirty wooden houses, dusty counters, and the untidy beard of the innkeeper.

Irey couldn’t be bothered to explain to him, “Having a place to stay is good enough,” and just pulled him over, “One night, check out at eight tomorrow morning.”

The innkeeper had small eyes that resembled spotlights, hidden within the thick hair on his face, which spun around on Irey, then on Shelley, before lingering on the latter for a while before speaking, “We’re out of double-bed rooms, would a standard room be okay?”

It was only then that Irey noticed that the thick-haired innkeeper was an Alpha.

A feeling of annoyance rose from the bottom of his heart, he frowned, reached out and hooked Shelley’s waist, pulling him towards himself, “It’s fine.”

Shelley had just breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing there were no double-bed rooms, then he was caught off guard by Irey’s grip on his waist.

“Second floor, room 201,” the innkeeper withdrew his gaze and tossed the key to Irey.

“Is there a private bathroom in the room?” Shelley asked, “Can we take a shower?”

The innkeeper glanced at Shelley, with a kind of indescribable disdain and surprise in his eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure your butt is squeaky clean from the inside out,” the innkeeper said.

“Show some respect, he’s not your Omega,” Irey said calmly.

The innkeeper shrugged and didn’t say anything more, he took a cloth and began to clean the dust on the table. Irey led Shelley upstairs, and when they were close to the second floor, Shelley frowned, broke free from Irey’s embrace, rubbed his wrist, “How long are you going to keep pulling me like this?”

“Sorry, boss,” Irey opened the door with the key, “In a place like this, if you don’t assert dominance, you’ll easily attract unwanted attention.”

Shelley couldn’t be bothered to refute what he said.

The room was narrow, with a faint musty smell. Two small beds were almost side by side, with only a narrow gap between them that could barely fit two legs. The window was broken, couldn’t be opened or closed, and made a rattling noise when the wind blew, causing the whole window to shake.

But thankfully, the blankets on the beds were thick enough, haphazardly folded into a large bundle. The dusty and bulging appearance made Shelley unwilling to imagine what the filling inside could be.

In such a narrow and dim room, there was actually a narrow area squeezed out for a bathroom. Of course, the so-called bathroom only consisted of a toilet stained with urine and a showerhead hanging precariously above the toilet.

Irey closed the door, took off his coat and threw it on the bed, “You said you wanted to take a shower, right? You go first.”

Shelley looked at the rudimentary bathroom and frowned, “I just took a shower before leaving today. I asked for you. It’s you who should take a shower.”

“Me?” Irey was taken aback for a moment, sniffed his own sleeve, “Do I smell? Why can’t I smell it?”

“…” Shelley looked at him coldly, “By the time you smell it, it’ll be too late. I’ll fire you and throw you into the roadside trash can, and during this process, I won’t let you come within two meters of me.”

Irey laughed and made a surrender gesture, “Alright, I’ll listen to the boss, I’ll go wash.”

With that, he started unbuttoning his shirt, taking off his clothes, “At least there’s hot water supply here, it’s a waste not to wash. It’s just best not to use their shower gel and shampoo. Sometimes you don’t know what weird stuff has been added to them…”

“Halton!” Shelley couldn’t help but interrupt him.

“What’s up?” Irey turned around, holding up his pants.

“Take off your clothes inside!” Shelley pointed at the bathroom door and raised his voice.

Irey shrugged, lifted his pants with one hand, kicked off his shoes, and then walked barefoot into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

The old plastic door couldn’t be completely closed, and Shelley could hear the sound of fabric rubbing through the crack, followed by dismantling and scrubbing noises, probably cleaning the stains on the toilet and shower head.

Shelley closed his eyes and lay down on the bed against the wall. He knew that the beds in such small inns were probably not clean either, but at least the sheets were washed white, which seemed safer than other places in the room.

After a while, the sounds of dismantling and scrubbing in the bathroom stopped, replaced by the sound of the shower pouring down.

Opposite the bed, there was a simple dressing table. Whether intentional or not, it was perfectly aligned with his bed, so upon opening his eyes, he could see his own face reflected in the mirror.

His skin was fair, his features delicate, with a face that looked younger than his peers. Only his hair was a bit messy, and there was an undeniable weariness in his beautiful blue eyes.

Shelley sat up from the bed and walked to the mirror. He lifted the long hair covering the back of his neck, exposing the gland that had been causing him constant pain.

Even with the mirror, he couldn’t see the condition at the back of his neck. He reached back and felt the uneven mess and the slight dampness.

At that moment, he suddenly felt that time was passing too slowly.

Outside the window, it was already pitch black, yet it had only been eight hours since he left Nantes.

How much longer until he reached Mount Yinbu? How much longer until he could escape this endless pain?

Irey finished his shower and turned off the faucet.

The hotel shower was on its last legs, still dripping water from its seams and joints despite being turned off. Irey dried his hair with a towel, then, for the sake of his finicky boss, changed into clean clothes under the dripping water before stepping out of the bathroom.

Steaming white mist drifted out the door. Irey saw Shelley standing dazedly in front of the dressing mirror, completely unaware of his presence.

The look in Shelley’s eyes was unusually calm, reminding Irey of the statue of the goddess behind the fountain in Nantes Square: tall, beautiful, with an eternal benevolent smile, but lifeless, staring blankly at the world.

Irey had no idea what Shelley was thinking. He seemed to be looking at himself, yet also through his own reflection at some unknown void.

But he quickly noticed Shelley’s exposed neck. He had only caught a glimpse at the checkpoint before, but now he saw the full picture clearly.

The gland was swollen, protruding significantly above the surrounding skin, an unhealthy red color with two bite marks crudely piercing through it. It was difficult to heal on its own; he could even see pus and dark red blood oozing from the deepest part of the wound.

Irey frowned, “It’s been nine days, hasn’t it?”

Shelley almost jumped like a startled cat. Seeing Irey standing there fully dressed, he relaxed a bit, “What?”

Irey walked straight to Shelley’s back and pointed at his neck, “The mark. It’s been nine days since then, and your wound is still bleeding.”

“It’s fine.” Shelley irritably let his hair fall back down, “It’ll heal on its own in a few days.”

“Did I bite too deep?” Irey clicked his tongue, “First time, maybe I didn’t control the strength well…”

“No, it’s not your fault. If an Alpha’s canine teeth don’t bite deep enough, they can’t penetrate the sex gland to complete the mark,” Shelley said. “This is just a temporary mark. A permanent mark requires an even deeper bite, basically destroying the Omega’s gland function… But no one cares about an Omega’s life or death, everyone just takes it for granted.”

Irey frowned and didn’t speak for a while.

As Shelley was about to get up and leave the mirror, Irey suddenly spoke.

“I don’t know much, but I do know some basic things. Like, you should disinfect and care for a wound, and you shouldn’t bathe before it scabs over,” Irey said. “How many times have you bathed these days?”

Shelley pursed his lips, “…Every day?”

“No one to help you care for the wound, to disinfect it?”

“I… don’t want anyone to see.” Shelley paused, “So I just ignored it.”

Irey sighed, drawing a conclusion, “No wonder it got infected and festering.”

He squatted in front of the room’s wardrobe, opening drawers one by one. Luckily, he was fortunate; the innkeeper wasn’t as unreliable as he looked. In the bottom drawer was a simple first-aid kit with alcohol, iodine, cotton swabs, and bandages.

“You…” Shelley began to speak but was cut off by Irey.

“At least let me see it, okay?” He put the iodine bottle on the table, emphasizing, “Boss?”

Shelley had no words, only nodding. Irey reached out and moved Shelley’s fine, light blonde hair to the front, exposing the hideous wound.

The gland was the most sensitive and vulnerable part of an Omega’s body, and this action was tantamount to agreeing to expose his greatest weakness to the other.

Shelley’s fingers involuntarily gripped the edge of the dressing table, his body trembling slightly.

It was very different from losing his mind during heat; this time he could clearly feel Irey’s breath on the back of his neck, and as he got closer, he could faintly smell a light fragrance.

The cheap street stall body wash he used had no scent. The faint oolong tea fragrance was the scent of the Irey’s pheromones.

“Don’t move, I’ll be gentle,” Irey said.