OPDPS 73

Although Aeryl had received an apology from Lady Merel regarding the misunderstanding about Sorel, he didn’t expect her behavior to change. After all, she was bothering him with a goal in mind.

If anything were to change, Aeryl assumed it would be for the worse—that she’d hold a grudge over being made to apologize in public and escalate or refine her harassment.

But Aeryl’s expectations were completely off the mark.

The next day, there was a noticeable drop in people rushing to the infirmary. The malingering patients disappeared entirely, and only those who genuinely needed medical attention came to see him.

At first, Aeryl was puzzled, but by the following day, it became clear—Lady Merel had stopped harassing him!

‘Wh-what… why…?’

Had she changed her strategy? Given up? What was she planning?

Aeryl tried to guess her intentions during his now-spare time, but came up with nothing. Even with the extra breathing room, he couldn’t feel at ease. Connie said there was no need to worry, but it wasn’t that easy to ignore.

At least Sorel came by the infirmary to have his foot treated, which lessened Aeryl’s concerns. If Lady Merel still held a grudge, she wouldn’t have sent the boy to him. Sorel shared a few stories, and his expression looked far more relaxed than before.

‘I hope it’s really fine…’

He wasn’t sure whether it was safe to let his guard down.

***

Another day passed like that, and now today had arrived.

‘It’s quiet again today.’

Aeryl sat at his desk in the consultation room, then lifted his head. The clock showed that more than an hour had already passed.

‘Well, it is nice not being disturbed.’

Only now could he focus on his original purpose for coming to the castle: overseeing the Grand Duke’s health. Just a moment ago, Aeryl had been reviewing the Grand Duke’s data, gathered through medical artifacts.

For the past three nights, he had run diagnostic scans on the Grand Duke using those tools. As a result, he was able to confirm not only pheromone levels but also blood sufficiency, organ function, and whether anything abnormal was present or missing.

Everything about the Grand Duke’s body was normal. Contrary to his hopes of discovering a cause for the low pheromone output through a thorough examination, he found nothing. Not even a hint of something suspicious. He wondered if he had made a mistake in his analysis and scoured medical texts, but still came up empty.

‘Judging by the results, the Grand Duke is in excellent health.’

But reality said otherwise. The Grand Duke was barely holding on with the help of medication.

‘Let’s assume the test results are accurate. Everything confirmed so far is normal.’

That meant he had to suspect the parts that couldn’t be examined by the medical artifacts. Since the tool was originally designed for betas, it had limitations when it came to analyzing the unique reproductive organs of Alphas and Omegas.

‘I’d need to inspect the external features, palpate them, and ask whether everything functions properly…?’

It sounded logical in a medical sense, but what it boiled down to was this: he would have to look at and touch the Grand Duke’s reproductive organ, then ask if he could ejaculate properly and if he had normal sensitivity. Aeryl furrowed his brows, face flushing red without even realizing it.

‘How… am I supposed to do that…?’

The thought alone was dizzying. He barely managed to get through the sexual education part—this would be in a whole different league of embarrassment.

He couldn’t bring himself to undress the fully sober Grand Duke. Even though he was a physician, the Grand Duke surely wouldn’t want such a private part examined.

‘Isn’t there another way? There has to be…’

Even just the feel of the Grand Duke’s body had left him flustered, and now he had to look and touch that place? He didn’t want to get even more intimate with that part of the Grand Duke.

While wrestling with this problem, Aeryl suddenly thought of something.

‘Master! I’ll ask Master!’

Surely his master would know another way!

He hadn’t contacted him since he’d run away, so now was a good time to send a letter anyway. Aeryl stood to look for stationery. Just then, a servant entered the infirmary.

“What is it?”

Connie, sitting by the door, responded first. Ever since a few days ago, anyone seeking treatment had to go through her first. Aeryl didn’t know what prompted the change, but just accepted it. Thanks to that, the number of troublesome patients had dropped.

“Someone in the outer quarters asked me to deliver a letter to the doctor.”

Ordinary people weren’t allowed into the inner quarters, so a few servants working inside regularly went back and forth to relay messages. It seemed that one of the purge unit members had sent a letter to Aeryl through them.

Overjoyed, Aeryl quickly approached the servant. The man gave a polite bow upon seeing him.

“Doctor, we meet again.”

He was a familiar face—one of Aeryl’s former patients.

“Mr. Logue, right? Is your wrist better now?”

“Yes! Ever since you treated it, it’s gotten so much better. I’ve also been keeping up with the massage techniques you taught me.”

“You’re doing great. Keep up with the maintenance.”

When Aeryl praised him, the servant smiled shyly.

“And the letter?”

Connie interjected.

“Oh, right. Here it is.”

“Thank you. You may go now.”

Connie took the letter and promptly shooed the lingering servant out.

‘If you’re done, then stop dawdling and go already!’

Aeryl, busy fulfilling his role as a doctor, hadn’t noticed, but lately there had been an increase in people loitering around the infirmary without actually being sick.

Thanks to Lady Merel’s antics, Aeryl ended up examining the majority of people working in the inner keep. Most had come out of simple curiosity or to feign illness, but he didn’t treat a single one carelessly.

They say sincerity always comes through—perhaps it was his earnest attitude that moved people’s hearts, but most of them came to view him favorably. A few, sharp-eyed enough to notice that Lady Merel was harassing him, even felt quietly apologetic.

Despite being personally brought in by the Grand Duke, disfavored by Lady Merel, likely of noble birth, and a doctor from the South on top of that, Aeryl still managed to settle into the inner quarters naturally. All without even realizing it.

Ironically, all of this was thanks to Lady Merel’s harassment.

‘It’s not like she meant for this to happen, though.’

Connie handed Aeryl the letter, not forgetting to check it thoroughly beforehand for anything suspicious.

“Here you go. Just a normal letter.”

“That’s a relief. Thank you.”

Aeryl took the letter. The name on the envelope was Innis. Wondering what this could be about, he immediately opened it. As expected of her, the handwriting was upright and neat, stating a request to meet, along with a time and place.

He’d been so busy lately he had forgotten about her, but now that he saw the letter, he found himself worried about how she was doing after returning to her duties as a soldier.

‘Is something wrong?’

He had to go see Innis.

***

A short while later, Aeryl finished tidying up the medical room and left the inner quarters. Connie followed one step behind.

“I can go alone, you know.”

“And what if you get lost again? It’s not this left turn, it’s the next one.”

“…Okay.”

Aeryl hunched his shoulders. But it wasn’t because he didn’t know the way—it was the cold. The air had been growing chillier each day, just enough to feel that winter was approaching. He already dreaded it. Would the Grand Duke’s castle be warm?

“Doctor, I said it’s the next left.”

“Oh.”

Aeryl’s confidence in his sense of direction was beginning to waver after getting a few more turns wrong. Eventually, the two arrived at the designated spot. Just ahead was the gate that separated the inner and outer quarters. On the other side, Innis was waiting.

Out of habit, Aeryl first checked her condition—and was relieved. Her complexion was clear, her expression bright. She stood with confidence, radiating self-assurance.

‘I guess I don’t need to worry about her anymore.’

But then, why did she ask to meet today? What was in that box she was holding?

As Aeryl took a few steps forward and was about to call her name—

“Wait a moment.”

Connie grabbed his arm and stepped in front of him. Noticing the movement, Innis turned to look at the two of them. She was about to greet them happily, but then froze in confusion.

“Connie? What’s wrong?”

“Weren’t you supposed to meet just that woman?”

“Yes, I was.”

“Then what’s that person doing hiding behind that tree?”

With a hard look on her face, Coni glared not at Innis, but past her—at someone lurking behind a tree.

“Behind the tree?”

Aeryl couldn’t see anything. But Innis turned to look where Connie was staring, and immediately shouted,

“What do you think you’re doing back there?!”

‘What? What’s there? Why am I the only one who can’t see anything? This is scary!’

Just as Aeryl was about to panic, a man suddenly stepped out from between the trees in the direction Connie and Innis were both watching.