OPDPS 147

“…His Highness, the Prince.”

“Do I look like your game, dragged in as prey? Hm?”

“…Forgive me.”

Though Dervan quickly lowered his tail, it wasn’t enough to satisfy Aeryl.

“I see no sincerity in your words.”

“I have been disrespectful. I sincerely apologize.”

At last, Dervan dropped to his knees and bowed his head deeply. Aeryl had technically won, but the fact that the man bowed not to him but to his title as a prince only made the victory feel hollow.

“Now be gone.”

He had considered kicking the man out with force, but chose instead to speak civilly.

Dervan gave a formal bow and exited the room. Not that Aeryl was truly alone—attendants and maids, their eyes covered, stood guard at every window and door.

It was said to be for secrecy, but it was excessive. It showed just how thorough Dervan and the baron’s household were being. No doubt guards stood beyond the door as well.

There was no opportunity to escape from this place.

“I’ll have to try something while we’re on the move… No, with Dervan’s magic, there’s no way.”

He hadn’t expected him to have tracking magic. As much as he hated to admit it, the Emperor had sent the right man for the job.

“I don’t want to be dragged away like this. But what can I do…?”

No answer came to mind. Hiello… he just wanted to see him so badly.

Aeryl leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. He’d tried not to show weakness, but both his body and mind were exhausted. His heart, most of all, had collapsed.

“He must’ve realized I was gone.”

The moment the tent disappeared, and he saw that Aeryl was no longer there—how shocked must he have been? Did he go searching for him?

Imagining Hiello wandering through the joyful crowd of the festival, the only one with a distressed face, looking for him—his chest felt as if it might tear apart.

It had been their first festival. Their first date. He’d hoped the day would be filled only with happiness, and now it had ended in the worst way.

“If I’d known it’d end like this, I should’ve said everything.”

He should’ve confessed everything in that alley—everything that had run through his mind.

That he wanted to spend his life with him. That their hearts were one.

That he feared, because he was a prince, Hiello would end up entangled with the Emperor.

He didn’t know how Hiello would’ve reacted upon hearing the truth. But if he had told him then, at least the wounded look in his eyes might not haunt him now. It wouldn’t have ended in such utter ruin.

The Grand Duke was intelligent and perceptive. By now, he may have already figured out the truth.

‘So much for hiding it desperately… in the end…’

He must be angry. Feeling betrayed. Would he believe Aeryl had deceived him?

And what if he thought even Aeryl’s feelings had been a lie?

Even though everything they shared had been sincere, even if he’d hidden who he was… now he had no way to explain it.

Between a lover vanishing without a word and one who had lied all along only to disappear—what hurt more?

Aeryl knew better than anyone how difficult it had been for Hiello to open his heart. That made the guilt even heavier.

‘Why did I hide my identity? If I was going to, I should’ve kept it hidden till the end.’

Why had he let Hiello lean on him, if he couldn’t stay?

To give hope to someone scarred and then betray them—how cruel could he be?

“Disgusting.”

He was so disgusted with himself, he couldn’t even lift his head.

“Please, just… let him not be in pain…”

All he could do was hope. Even that felt like another betrayal.

Meanwhile, Dervan was hurrying throughout the castle, finalizing preparations for the journey to the capital.

If it were up to him, he would’ve dragged Aeryl straight to the imperial palace without stopping—but one didn’t simply rush a royal through the country. Preparations, at the very least, were necessary.

“Am I really supposed to handle all this myself?”

Baron Berel was nowhere to be seen.

He was supposed to return to the southern castle with Dervan after being expelled from the Grand Duke’s castle, but he hadn’t shown his face once. Knowing him, he was probably still hiding and watching the baroness’s mood.

“This is exactly when he should be stepping up to help.”

Grumbling internally, Derban began hauling baggage himself to speed things along. Perhaps it was the snow that had just begun to fall, but he had a bad feeling creeping over him.

Then came the sound of galloping hooves.

“Damn it.”

Dervan cursed aloud. A group of five or six riders in black uniforms—it was unmistakably the Black Knights of House Asirion. And at the front of the group, as expected, was the Grand Duke himself.

“How did he get here so quickly?”

Could the Baron have leaked the information? Derban had tried to act swiftly, precisely to avoid a confrontation with the Grand Duke—but they had been a step faster.

The Grand Duke and the Black Knights stopped before the gates of the fortress. Without even dismounting, the Grand Duke stared down at Dervan.

“Where is Aeryl?”

The Grand Duke’s eyes were so fierce, it looked as though he might tear Dervan apart right there and then. For a moment, Dervan faltered in fear, but then he recalled his conversation with the Emperor and found his courage again. No matter how formidable the Grand Duke was, it was the Emperor who stood behind him.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about my Aeryl—the one you dragged away.”

“You know now, don’t you? His Highness isn’t someone whose name you may speak so freely.”

“Hah.”

The Grand Duke let out a scoffing laugh and dismounted. The sheer force of him made Dervan instinctively step back half a pace. Realizing this, his face twisted in frustration—he had yielded to the man’s presence.

“Fine. Then I’ll go meet him. Lead the way.”

“That is not allowed.”

“And who are you to bar my way?”

“…I am carrying out His Majesty’s orders.”

“Then step aside before I do something disloyal to His Majesty.”

“…”

It wasn’t a bluff. A chill wind swept across the back of Dervan’s neck, and he froze in place. The Grand Duke brushed past him and strode into the castle.

“Damn it!”

Dervan hurried after him, but he was a step too late. The Grand Duke didn’t even hesitate. Though he couldn’t have known where Aeryl was being kept, he walked with swift certainty and opened the very door to Aeryl’s room. Not even the soldiers stationed there tried to stop him—they may as well have been scarecrows, given Dervan hadn’t managed to restrain him.

“Stand guard properly, you fools!”

Dervan barked out in frustration, then rushed into the room after him. The Grand Duke, though he’d chased all this way, came to a halt a few steps from Aeryl, not daring to approach.

Seeing Aeryl rise from his seat in surprise, it became clear why he stopped.

Prince Aeryl was utterly different from the physician Aeryl the Grand Duke remembered.

Back then, Aeryl had disheveled brown hair and wore outdated glasses. Though still beautiful, he had been simple—plain, even.

But now, Prince Aeryl was splendor incarnate. The contrast was undoubtedly a shock.

‘If only that shock would turn to disillusionment, and he’d walk away for good.’

Dervan didn’t know what exactly had driven the Grand Duke to chase all the way here, but he hoped desperately that he would now realize his ‘Aeryl’ didn’t exist in this world, and turn back without a fuss.

In that sense, the expression on the Grand Duke’s face was exactly what Dervan had hoped for. He looked like a man betrayed by the one he loved.

“Your Grace.”

When Aeryl rose and took a step toward him, the Grand Duke stepped back that same distance.

“Such a title is too grand for me, Your Highness. Please, speak as you would comfortably.”

Though the Grand Duke’s rank surpassed that of a prince, he still used honorifics out of respect for the imperial family. That said, a prince could not casually return the favor—they had to respond with formal, respectful speech.

By insisting on the proper honorific, the Grand Duke was showing his intent to treat Aeryl as a prince from here on.

“…Grand Duke Asirion. Will this do, then?”

“Yes. I greet Your Highness.”

The Grand Duke offered a bow as per formal custom, and though Aeryl looked as if he might cry, he had no choice but to return the gesture.

“You must’ve been shocked…”

“Yes. I was very shocked.”

Aeryl barely managed to speak, but the Grand Duke’s cold reply cut his sentence short. Beneath his curt tone, one could feel the deep breaths of a man barely restraining his fury. His anger and sense of betrayal rang clear.

“How long did you intend to hide that you were a prince? What did you think, watching me all that time, knowing I was ignorant of the truth?”

“I couldn’t tell you. If my identity was revealed, I was sure I’d be dragged back to the palace. And…”

“And?”

“I was afraid… that you would come to hate me.”