OPDPS 132

“Really?”

Aeryl’s eyes went round with surprise. The conversation had gone off in another direction yesterday, so he hadn’t gotten a clear answer. He’d assumed it was a tentative refusal—but now he was agreeing?

“Then go ahead and do what you want.”

“Yes.”

“But you must be there during the conversation.”

“Of course. Naturally. If I left the two of you alone, you’d just end up in a contest to see who could say the meanest thing.”

Aeryl beamed brightly as he delivered that sharp remark.

“I kind of think the same…”

The Grand Duke had always been skeptical about talking with Lady Merel. They had mistrusted and disliked each other for too long—there was no way a few words would change that. Still, Aeryl’s offer to mediate felt like he was truly becoming family, so he gave his permission.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already got everything planned out. You just need to spare a bit of time this afternoon.”

“Alright.”

Now he had another excuse to see Aeryl later in the day—something that made the Grand Duke even more satisfied with his decision.

“You’re not too busy with work, are you?”

“It’s fine. The winter festival preparations are in full swing. Not much I need to personally worry about.”

Thanks to that, he was more focused on external matters than on managing the duchy itself—particularly when it came to the imperial princes or palace affairs.

“And your physical condition…”

“I’ll speak to my attending physician about that.”

The Grand Duke cut him off firmly when Aeryl brought it up out of concern. Aeryl glared fiercely.

“Are you seriously doing this? Really? Let me do the checkup.”

“I’ve been taking the medicine properly. And… are you sure you’d be okay with me going back to being a patient?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I think Doctor Aeryl has already done far too many things one shouldn’t do with a patient.”

“What—!”

Aeryl was struck speechless. Who had seduced who first?

“And you’re totally into me, aren’t you?”

The Grand Duke murmured meaningfully, and Aeryl’s face flushed bright red. He couldn’t refute it—because it wasn’t wrong—so instead he gave the Grand Duke a push.

“Just go! Get to work! I have work to do too!”

He barked and stormed off toward the infirmary. The Grand Duke burst into laughter at the sight of Aeryl fleeing.

Then, suddenly, Aeryl turned back toward him.

“See you later!”

“Alright.”

The Grand Duke replied, and Aeryl spun on his heel again and disappeared into the infirmary. His manner was curt, but he hadn’t told him not to smile—that was endearing, too.

The Grand Duke left the Central Wing feeling like he was walking on clouds. He’d never had a morning this good before.

***

After completing his morning rounds, Aeryl moved on to the main task of mediating between the Grand Duke and Lady Merel.

He compiled what he had heard from both of them and created a questionnaire that pinpointed the key areas of misunderstanding. Then he went to Lady Merel, informed her that the Grand Duke had agreed to mediation, and asked her to fill out the answers.

The lady grumbled that she didn’t see the point of this, but her hand moved steadily over the paper.

Meanwhile, Aeryl subtly released his pheromones to lower her guard and observed her carefully, occasionally posing questions to confirm whether she was answering sincerely. Judging by her reactions, she was.

After meeting with the lady, it was the Grand Duke’s turn.

That afternoon, he returned to the Central Wing. Aeryl requested the same task of him as he had of the lady. The Grand Duke wrote his answers without complaint, and Aeryl once again asked a few questions while observing him. With the Grand Duke, it was easier—his pheromones revealed his true feelings.

‘Yesterday, it seemed like he was controlling his pheromones—but today, it doesn’t feel that way at all.’

The Grand Duke, as usual, was leaving his pheromones unchecked and unrestrained. Just in case, Aeryl had released his own pheromones, and the Grand Duke hadn’t been able to resist at all—his guard had dropped so much that he fell asleep.

‘Judging by that, he definitely wasn’t controlling it. So was yesterday just a coincidence?’

Afterward, Aeryl fetched a blanket and draped it over the Grand Duke, then sat down at his bedside. Since he’d put him to sleep, he might as well stay until he woke up.

The fact that Aeryl ended up dozing off himself and being carried into bed by the Grand Duke—who held him in his arms—was a trivial incident.

‘Just in case, I should give him a proper checkup soon.’

He would try to find an opportunity after tomorrow’s conversation between the Grand Duke and Lady Merel.

***

The next day.

From the morning, a solemn atmosphere hung over the Grand Duke’s estate.

The meeting between Lady Merel and the Grand Duke was scheduled for three in the afternoon.

Aeryl had arranged for it to be a simple tea time rather than a meal, thinking dining together would be too uncomfortable. The simplicity of the tea time also meant there wasn’t much to prepare.

But for the people working at the estate, it was a tremendous burden.

The open hostility between the Grand Duke and Lady Merel had lasted more than ten years. Whenever they happened to cross paths, sharp words always flew between them, and the fallout always landed on the staff.

Spies. Factional disputes… For those who remembered the stormy work environment before Aeryl arrived, this tea time felt like nothing less than a natural disaster.

“The Grand Duke and Lady Merel having tea together… are we gonna be okay? Whenever they fought, I felt like I couldn’t even breathe.”

“Doctor Aeryl’s going to be with them. So it’ll be fine. We have to believe that…”

And so, the Central Wing was in chaos from early morning—cleaning, changing the curtains, preparing the tea set, and assigning someone to quickly clean up anything that might break.

At the infirmary, Raeler and Connie were packing an emergency treatment kit, just in case.

***

Three in the afternoon.

The clock hands pointed exactly to the hour as the Grand Duke and Lady Merel appeared in the first-floor hall. They exchanged a reluctant, perfunctory greeting and headed toward the family loungt on the third floor, just as Aeryl had instructed.

The room had been prepared according to Aeryl’s specifications to facilitate conversation.

A long table with three chairs had been set up—one at each end and one in the middle. It was obvious who was meant to sit where. But neither the Grand Duke nor Lady Merel sat at the table.

The Grand Duke went to an armchair in front of the fireplace, while Lady Merel moved to the far end of the room and leaned against the wall. The two of them thoroughly ignored each other—but each was acutely aware of the other and deliberately tried to think about something else.

The Grand Duke’s thoughts drifted to the time he’d spent with Aeryl, and a feeling of happiness welled up inside him.

This room had always made him uncomfortable, but now, it felt different.

‘I should order it to be decorated more warmly.’

Aeryl was sensitive to the cold. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could spend more time here together over the winter? He even thought it might be fine to redecorate it according to Aeryl’s tastes.

Meanwhile, Lady Merel was caught up in a strange wave of sentiment.

‘This place hasn’t changed at all.’

The décor was just as she’d arranged it with her own hands.

And it wasn’t just this room—the Central Wing itself hadn’t changed in over a decade, since the Grand Duke had little interest in interior design and had done little more than basic maintenance.

Because of that, old memories kept surfacing. Her husband smiling as he cradled infant Sorel in a bundle of cloth. Herself, watching that scene.

‘How did so much time pass already?’

Sorel, who had once been a newborn, was now a child. In a few more years, he’d hit his growth spurt—and in the blink of an eye, he’d be grown.

It had just been a brief thought, but it left her nose stinging. She blamed the unchanging room for stirring up all this emotion.

Then her gaze fell on the table at the center of the room, which exuded an undeniable presence.

It was a rectangular table that could seat ten, but only three chairs had been set out—one at each end, and one in the middle. The arrangement made the intention obvious.

The two of them would sit on either side, and Aeryl would sit in the middle to mediate.

But what caught her eye were the unusual items placed on the table.

At each end seat were a sheet of paper with a circle drawn on it, blank paper for notes, pens, and a thin, unidentified report. At Aeryl’s seat were the same items—paper and pen—as well as a sandglass and a small doctor’s gavel.

“What in the world is the doctor trying to do…?”

Lady Merel muttered without realizing it.

Usually, in a meeting between nobles, one would at least expect tea and refreshments.

But on this table, there were no refreshments at all—just a single wooden water cup.

Since the meeting was set in the family lounge, she’d expected a warm, gentle atmosphere that would stir up shared familial feelings…

“From the setup, it looks more like a debate,” said the Grand Duke, who had approached the table without her noticing.

The moment Lady Merel voiced a question about Aeryl, he had moved at once.