"Forgive my presumption, but I need to confirm-there's... nothing else added to this tea, is there?"
"Rest assured, this is merely an infusion of several dried herbs. The Forest Morning Dew it contains is also used in the formulation of Zemigla."
Zemigla. Shen Yi remembered that familiar drug name.
It was a supplementary preparation used by top-tier Alphas and Omegas to slightly enhance their pheromone traits.
He also knew that Yuan Chen had spent months working to secure the Zemigla contract.
At this very moment, the signing ceremony was probably underway.
If he refused outright, the contract might not fall through immediately, but for the sake of their long-term partnership, appropriately "soothing" Duke von Heinrich's displeasure seemed the wiser choice.
As he struggled with the decision, the silence stretched longer and longer.
Watching the duke's expression, the butler murmured with an undertone of impatience:
"Whether you drink it is entirely your choice."
"I'm not in the habit of drinking tea..." Shen Yi's dry lips trembled a few times, and he drew a difficult breath. "I'm very sorry."
"If you don't want to drink it, you don't have to."
"I'll release my pheromones for ten minutes. That should be enough, shouldn't it?"
The butler immediately relayed this to the duke.
The old duke gave a low, satisfied sound in his throat and nodded.
Shen Yi let out a long, almost despairing breath and began releasing his pheromones.
The old duke's undisguised, expectant gaze clung to Shen Yi's face like a sticky spiderweb.
Faced with that naked, vulgar desire of an old-school Alpha, Shen Yi needed almost every ounce of his self-control to suppress his churning nausea and anger.
The signing ceremony seemed to have concluded smoothly.
About half an hour had passed.
Amid the seemingly cordial atmosphere between hosts and guests,