“No matter what, finish it in two-and-a-half years at most.”

I said while sucking a grape-flavored lollipop.

“Ha? Impossible.”

“Then, make it possible.”

“Do you even understand the amount of work I need to do here? “

“So you need me to give you more work?”

“How did you conclude it? Are you even listening to me?”

With a fast movement, I brought my hand near his face, my four digits up, making the number four.

“Four times. That’s the amount I’ll increase my investments in your research. Also, I’ll permit you to contract some assistants. However, they must be reliable and get my approval.”

“Even with it, to make it in half the time...”

Crack.

There goes my third lollipop.

“Laurence. Do you think you’ll ever find someone else to invest so much in a research that’ll probably generate no profit at all?”

“W-Well...”

“Didn’t I tell you? The government didn’t like a bit this kind of research. If you keep doing in the open, what do you think would happen? At best, your research will be ruined and you’ll be defamed, unable to be accepted by the scientific community ever again.”

He cowered a little, meeting his gaze with everything but my eyes.

“At least give me three years”

“Sigh. I can’t, Laurence. Two and a half years is the biggest concession I can make. If you can’t do this, both of us will be in trouble.”

We glared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Laurence avoided his gaze first.

“... I’ll do my best.”

“Good.”

I was already preparing myself to leave, however; I remembered there was another urgent matter I needed to talk to Laurence about. I almost forgot about it because of the inhibitor matter.

“There’s also one more thing-“

He looked at me tearing up. But I ignored it.

“Do you know about a disease that causes hypersensitivity to omega’s pheromone? “

“There’s quite a few that cause it. Do you want to get information about one in specific?”

“Do you know about a hereditary one? A disease that can happen in the families of pure-blooded alphas?”

“Oh, I heard about it. We call it AHS. That’s the result of alphas’ sickening inbreeding to give birth to a pure lineage. Only happens in pure-blooded dominant alphas. Their life expectancy becomes short too.”

“Can you tell me what you know about it? In a way that I can understand, please.”

“You know how alphas get crazy when they scent an omega in heat? Well, to explain the difference between a normal alpha and one with AHS, I’ll tell you about two different situations. Let’s say there’s a person who didn’t eat for almost a day who suddenly finds their favorite dish in front of him. If you were this person, could you refuse it?”

“I guess I could. Though it would take me some effort.”

“Exactly. As long as he has some willpower, a normal alpha can still keep some reason and don’t attack an omega in heat. If an alpha says otherwise, usually it just proves that they are garbage. Now, let’s say, there’s this person who didn’t stay just a few hours without eating, but starved his entire life. He feels extremely hungry every day, without being able to alleviate it even a little. Now, this person is given not only a dish but a banquet, with lots of delicacies he never even imagine that existed and a salivating smell floating in the air. This person doesn’t if he’ll have another chance to eat like this. What do you think he’ll do? Well, if it was me, I’d probably pounce on it and eat like there’s no tomorrow.”

“So, in this case, not even a strong willpower could resist it?”

Laurence shook his head.

“I don’t think so. It’s like these alphas have something lacking, I don’t know exactly what but, whatever it is, it’s liberated when an omega emits his pheromones. Do you know how people say how an alpha’s search for perfection is endless? This might as well apply for this case. Whatever they are lacking ends up affecting their health and their lifespan. Never heard of an alpha with this disease who lived after his 120s, even with medical treatment. It’s like their body is intuitively seeking what they lack by making the alpha completely lose the control when encountering an omega in heat, consequences be dammed.”

Crack.

Damn, I bit my fourth lollipop.

It was more dangerous to stay near Sebert than I thought.

If I don’t find something to keep his disease under control, maybe I’d just become his banquet?

Luckily, I knew the novel’s development, so I had a general idea of how to cure his illness.

“I once heard from a very reliable source, about one alpha with this kind of hypersensitivity encountered, by chance, a dominant omega in heat. However, instead of attacking him, the alpha relaxed. Got the best sleep in his life...Is what I heard. “

“Oh? If what he’s telling is true, then that’s quite interesting. Dominant omegas are extremely rare as are the chances of you ever encountering one. I don’t think there’s research about their influence on alphas with AHS. Maybe they release enough of whatever-factor-alphas-need in the air? We’d need to investigate it.”

As I got deep in thought, Laurence kept talking.

“But I’m surprised that you’re so interested in this topic. This is very specific, you know? It’s a very rare disease and one that alphas don’t like people to know about, so they covered up everything about it from the population. You know how they enjoy people thinking they are so perfect, don’t you? There’s probably only a handful of researchers about this theme in the whole world. I only know about it because, lucky for you, one of my teacher’s lines of works was just the study of this particular condition. “

“Your teacher?”

“Yes, doctor Simons.”

Wait, isn’t he the one Laurence said that had disappeared? Perhaps someone didn’t want him to progress or divulge his findings on this subject?

Although Sebert’s grandfather didn’t die, I heard his condition is severe... The reasons behind his collapse weren’t made public, but it was too sudden for a man who didn’t even reach middle age (for this world’s parameters) and always heeled the state of his health. Perhaps someone is deliberately targeting the Rosenwoods?

If so, who is it? A politician? A business competitor? Or even... Sebert’s father, Lucien Rosenwood.

Did he put into practice his plan to take over the Rosenwoods company so soon? How frightening.

But if so...

Shit.

“Laurence, by any chance did your professor even gave you a copy of his research before he disappeared?”

“Why yes, he did. He gave me an old pen drive. I didn’t even know that those things still existed “

“Did you happen to even look at its contents?”

Laurence looked a little uncomfortable.

“Well, you see, that thing is very old, so at the time I received it, I had nothing I could use to read it. And after that. Cough. Well, I encountered you at that bank, and after you said doctor Simons was probably taken care of... I thought it would be wise to wait a while before I opened it. “

“Does anyone else knows you have that?”

“No.”

“Did someone even came looking for you after the doctor’s disappearance? “

“Yes, someone really did. However, when I said my research focused on omegas, they seemed to have lost their interest.”

I sighed in relief. I don’t think those people knew that doctor Simon made a copy of his work and gave it to someone.

“You did well. For now, don’t open those documents. Better, give the drive to me, I’ll keep it safe for a while and try to find a way to safely open it. Appearance-wise, I’m still a kid, so I doubt they’d be interested in me. Though I don’t think they’re still suspicious of you, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Laurence sighed in relief as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Well, in a way it did. As he transferred all his responsibility to me.

I smiled at him.

“You shouldn’t be so happy yet.”

“Happy? Who is happy? Haha.”

“I’m not angry about it, I just mean you should be happier after I finish talking.”

“Ha?”

“I said it, didn’t I? I’m interested in the AHS condition, which you told me was your teacher’s research. Congratulations, you get to complete your teacher’s research. Since his results are probably on the drive you gave me, I guess you can finish it in a year. Isn’t this wonderful? “

Laurence’s eyes teared up.

I gave him my brightest smile.

“Now you can rejoice as much as you want.”