OPDPS 160 (End)

“Did you wake up?”

“Yeah.”

The Grand Duke kissed Aeryl’s shoulder and back as his hand caressed Aeryl’s lower belly. But his hand didn’t stop there—it moved upward to tease Aeryl’s chest.

“Mm…”

Aeryl let out a low moan. The Grand Duke was rubbing his hardened length against Aeryl’s backside. At some point, the Alpha’s pheromones had filled his body, and heat began to build inside him.

Maybe there won’t even be time to feel cold at this rate…

If it was like this normally, what would it be like during a real rut?

Come to think of it, I don’t have to worry about an Alpha test subject anymore, right? What kind of experiments—That was the last thought Aeryl had. As the Grand Duke’s member pushed inside him, his mind was overtaken by pleasure, leaving no room for anything else.

***

Not long after Aeryl arrived, a massive blizzard rolled in and completely blocked the roads.

Main routes were cleared of snow, and though the road connecting to the South had narrowed from the snowfall, it was still passable. But it was inconvenient enough that travel became highly restricted.

Because of that, aside from vital messages or large merchant caravans, barely anything came up from the South.

Still, Aeryl couldn’t fully shake his worry about the Emperor. Then, through the snowstorm, two pieces of news arrived in succession from Viscount Karoki in the capital.

The first was the death of the Emperor’s youngest son—Prince Aeryl.

He had been bedridden, dedicating himself to treatment, but in the end, he succumbed to illness.

It was a strange feeling to be alive and hearing about his own funeral. But aside from that oddity, he didn’t feel much. Perhaps it was because he had already let everything go. What actually bothered him more was the way people started treating him like a fragile chick the moment the news arrived.

The second report was about a bizarre incident that took place during the youngest prince’s funeral.

Apparently, during the ceremony, the Emperor had summoned the prince’s suitors for a final farewell. It was likely meant to prove the prince’s death to any suspicious suitors. Things were going solemnly enough—until it happened.

The youngest prince, who was lying in the coffin, suddenly sat up and shouted, “The Emperor is a fraud!” before vanishing.

Later, when the attendants tidied the coffin, the only thing left was an eyeball—no one knew whose.

The aftermath was enormous. The suitors collectively demanded answers from the Emperor and launched formal protests. Their loyalties had already waned, and this incident only accelerated the collapse of the Emperor’s authority.

Only then did the Emperor realize he’d been deceived. He sent knights to the North, but since he’d already killed Dervan, it was expected that no one would carry out his orders properly. Cracks had formed in the Emperor’s power.

“If we leave the Emperor alone now, he’ll lose power on his own,” the Grand Duke said.

The Empress and the Crown Prince had resolved to push the Emperor aside, and the other princes and princesses all had their own grievances. They would each act according to their own interests.

The Grand Duke was confident: the chaos in the Imperial family would unfold exactly as he had set the stage for.

“I see,” Aeryl murmured, burying his face in a blanket while sprawled out in front of the fireplace. The Grand Duke sat beside him, absentmindedly playing with Aeryl’s hair.

Since winter was relatively quiet, the two had been spending more and more time idling together by the hearth. As he basked in the Grand Duke’s touch, Aeryl suddenly grew curious.

“What about Derbas? He left only an eyeball—where did he go?”

“I gave him something he liked and sent him out to sea.”

Apparently, Valbean had originally been scheduled to return to the sea to work on maritime charts. He was a pirate who hated life on the ocean, but from now on, he’d spend his life there in service to the Grand Duchy. That was the punishment he received.

The Grand Duke had sent Derbas along with Valbean as a reward for helping with the plan. He promised to keep Derbas stuck to Valbean’s side forever, isolated out at sea, and Derbas had eagerly agreed to switch sides.

During that conversation, he’d also said a bunch of nonsense like, “Take good care of Aeryl,” and “Make sure to knock him down,” but since Aeryl didn’t need any advice from Derbas, the Grand Duke didn’t bother to pass any of that along.

“Since Derbas joined, we’ve been able to clean up the smaller pirate groups too. It worked out nicely.”

As Aeryl listened, it sounded like the Grand Duke got nothing but benefits, while Valbean was paying for his sins several times over. Then again, it was his punishment. What else could you expect?

Derbas had lost one eye, but in the end, he ended up with Valbean—so in a way, he had achieved what he wanted. His persistence was at least something to be acknowledged. Though, their relationship was still impossible to understand.

Was it love or obsession?

It wasn’t something Aeryl, who was an outsider, could judge. He just thought everything was better in moderation.

“My Hiello is perfect even in that way.”

Aeryl squirmed over and lay down with his head resting on the Grand Duke’s thigh. The Grand Duke smiled with his eyes.

If he could’ve seen exactly what was in the Grand Duke’s mind, he might not have said that. Of course, pheromones alone couldn’t reveal that much.

“And which part are you talking about?”

The Grand Duke’s hand slipped under Aeryl’s clothes and traced along his collarbone. Alpha pheromones wafted around, tempting him. Aeryl reached up and brushed his fingers against the Grand Duke’s lips.

“Do I have to say the answer out loud?”

“No.”

The Grand Duke leaned down and kissed him. The kiss lingered, deep and warm. This was always how their idle moments ended.

That was why there still weren’t any attendants or maids allowed on the third floor—but there were no complaints. Aeryl smiled and wrapped his arms around the Grand Duke’s neck.

***

Winter passed without a moment to feel the cold, and spring arrived. During that time, both Aeryl and the Grand Duke went through a heat. Aeryl looked back on it as a very productive period.

As the snow melted and the roads opened again, news from the South began to come in. A lot had happened over the winter.

First, the Crown Prince had seized control, and the Emperor had been reduced to nothing more than a senile old man in the back chambers.

At the same time, the other princes and princesses each began building their own factions. Everyone said in unison that the Empress and the Crown Prince wouldn’t be able to care about anything beyond internal affairs for the time being.

That was proven true when the news of the Grand Duke and Aeryl’s marriage reached the Imperial Palace—they sent only a perfunctory delegation to offer congratulations. No other action was taken.

There wasn’t really anyone from the capital that Aeryl had wanted to invite anyway. It left a small void, but it wasn’t sad.

The only one he truly wanted to invite was his teacher, so he reached out, even knowing it was unlikely. He hadn’t expected much, but his teacher braved the snowstorm and showed up at the Grand Duke’s castle, saying he couldn’t miss his disciple’s wedding. It was a tremendous joy. Though the Grand Duke had a hard time dealing with the teacher’s difficult attitude.

Thanks to that, they were able to focus entirely on preparing for the wedding. When Rynello excitedly claimed everything was already ready, Aeryl had brushed it off at the time. But when the time came, there really was too much prepared—it was more trouble to pick what they needed.

After that whirlwind of preparations, on a day with the most beautiful spring weather, the wedding was held.

The Grand Duke, dressed in black ceremonial robes, and Aeryl, dressed in blue, linked arms and walked together down a white carpet. In front of a large crowd, the two swore eternal love to one another.

The sky was clear, and a warm breeze blew through. Aeryl held the Grand Duke’s hand and looked out from the platform, taking it all in.

His teacher was seated off to one side, subtly wiping his eyes with his sleeve. On the other side, members of the purge unit and physician friends he had grown close to over the winter could be seen. Further back, Raeler, Connie, and others from the Grand Duke’s castle were cheering and clapping enthusiastically.

He was in a place he loved, surrounded by people he cared about, with the person he loved at his side.

‘This is the place meant for me.’

When he had first left the Imperial Palace, he’d thought there must be a place somewhere that was waiting just for him. But in reality, no such place existed.

Looking back now, Aeryl realized—maybe the place meant for you is something you create for yourself.

Maybe, if you live with all your strength, no matter where or when, that place naturally begins to form.

Aeryl turned his head to look at the Grand Duke.

“Hiello, let’s live well together.”

“We will. Because I’m with you.”

They gazed into each other’s eyes and kissed, naturally, as thunderous applause followed.

It truly felt like they had taken root here.

In a place he loved, with the person he loved. Aeryl vowed to continue living that way—and to give it his all, for the rest of his life.

<The Omega Prince Is the Northern Grand Duke’s Secret Physician> — The End.