OPDPS 80

‘I heard Lord Rynello’s maid has been hanging around the laundry area a lot lately.’

Rynello came from a vassal noble house that had sworn allegiance to the House of Grand Duke Asirion. From a young age, he served as a bureaucrat in the grand ducal capital and eventually rose to the position of Chancellor of Administration, the rank directly beneath the Grand Duke. Though now retired from his post, he continued to wield considerable influence by presiding over the fellowship of vassal noble houses.

A man like that sending a maid to the Grand Duke’s castle could hardly be without motive—and of all times, it happened just as Aeryl’s name was becoming known across the outer quarters. That was cause for concern.

‘I’ll have to make sure the doctor doesn’t leave the inner quarters if I can help it.’

Connie judged that the best way to protect Aeryl was to keep him away from anything that might put him at risk.

“Have you prepared the fatigue relief tonic?”

“Yes. It’s in the dispensary. I was going to take it over later…”

“I’ll just go deliver it now.”

“Would you? Thank you, as always.”

The outer quarters wasn’t an exception. If anything, it was the most dangerous place for Aeryl.

‘They’re going crazy over that tonic out there.’

Connie headed to the dispensary. The prepared tonic was enough for about thirty people.

“This is all? I heard Mr. Feyers asked for a big batch. Supposedly a lot of people want it.”

“Yeah. I made ten more bottles than yesterday, actually.”

“Still seems like it won’t be enough.”

“Come on, really? That’s just Feyers exaggerating again. He’s that kind of guy.”

Aeryl laughed it off. He was completely unaware of how popular the fatigue relief tonic had become in the outer quarters. Since he hadn’t stepped foot outside the inner quarters lately, he took Feyers’ words as mere exaggeration.

‘That’s just making your name more famous.’

It wasn’t Aeryl’s intention, but because of the limited supply, the tonic had gained a reputation for rarity, making it increasingly well-known. All of it happened regardless of his will.

‘He always says he wants a quiet life, and then this happens.’

In the inner quarters, there was no one who didn’t know Aeryl’s face. And now his name was spreading through the outer quarters as well. A quiet life was long gone. Still, Connie didn’t point that out—she kept her mouth shut.

‘If he works too hard, his face will suffer.’

If Aeryl found out, he would no doubt push himself to help everyone. Letting that face get worn down by fatigue would be a sin.

Before leaving the infirmary, Connie took another long look at Aeryl’s face. As expected—it was lovely. Her motivation to work surged from deep within her chest.

‘I have to protect that face at all costs.’

She was already screening out patients faking illness from those visiting the infirmary. There may have been a bit of selfishness involved, but she was doing her job as a guard maid properly. Just now, she’d even picked up a crucial piece of information about Aeryl.

At that moment, Aeryl suddenly stood up.

“Your Grace?”

At the sound of his voice, both Connie and Sorel looked toward the infirmary door—just as it opened and the Grand Duke appeared.

“Your Grace.”

Connie bowed her head to the Grand Duke. Then a sudden question popped into her mind.

‘How did the doctor know His Grace was coming?’

The answer was pheromones—but she didn’t have the faintest idea.

“Well then, I’ll be going now.”

Connie bowed and left the infirmary.

“M-Me too. I-I mean, I’ll be off as well!”

Sorel stumbled after her in a rush, just like always whenever he made eye contact with Aeryl and fled.

“Running off again,” Aeryl murmured.

“Does the young master come by the infirmary often?” the Grand Duke asked, eyes lingering on Sorel’s retreating back.

“Almost every day,” Aeryl replied.

At that, the Grand Duke’s pheromones gave off a hint of unease.

“I heard he hurt his ankle—should he be walking around like that?”

“His ankle is completely healed. He’s in good health. Since his training has been reduced, walking lightly isn’t a problem.”

“I see.”

“Were you worried about him?”

“Not particularly.”

The Grand Duke replied coldly. His tone suggested, ‘Do I look like the kind of man who’d worry about that?’—yet his pheromones betrayed a wave of relief.

Look at this man who can’t be honest.

“You were worried. You can’t fool my nose, you know!”

“…Pheromones, is it?”

“Yes!”

“I need to hurry up and learn how to control that.”

The Grand Duke muttered with a sigh. Watching someone so capable at everything get flustered was rather entertaining. Aeryl chuckled.

“Having fun, are we?”

“No. Not at all.”

Aeryl quickly wiped the smile off his face and feigned innocence. Too bad—my pheromone control is flawless!

“…Just you wait.”

The Grand Duke growled under his breath. He swore he would one day fluster Aeryl so thoroughly that the man would lose control and let his pheromones spill all over the place.

“Anyway, that was unexpected. I thought Your Grace wasn’t interested in the young master. Next time, I’ll make sure to keep him here so you can ask him directly. He’d be happy.”

“No chance. Sorel dislikes me.”

“Pardon? The young master?”

That didn’t seem true at all. When Aeryl had stood up after sensing the Grand Duke’s pheromones, Sorel had clearly looked happy. He had run off once the Grand Duke actually entered—but it had seemed more like he didn’t know what to do, rather than dislike.

“Enough of that,” the Grand Duke cut off the topic.

“Come. There’s something I want to show you.”

The Grand Duke led Aeryl out of the infirmary. They climbed the central staircase to the second floor and walked down the corridor.

Aeryl felt anxious that someone might see him walking with the Grand Duke. It was the busiest time of day for servants to be out and about—what was he thinking, doing this now?

“Wouldn’t it be better if we went separately? Just tell me where to go, and I’ll find it myself.”

“It’s fine.”

“But someone might notice. That I’m… your personal physician.”

Aeryl lowered his voice as much as he could. When he said “personal physician,” it was practically a whisper. Still, the Grand Duke had sharp senses and understood him perfectly.

“It’s fine.”

“There are a lot of eyes watching us.”

“I’ve already cleared the central wing.”

The Grand Duke sounded pleased. “Cleared,” huh? In this context, it probably meant that anyone who might talk about him had already been dismissed. Aeryl nodded and relaxed.

‘No need to worry about being seen anymore!’

“So, where are we going?”

He finally asked the question he had been holding back, too busy trying to follow the Grand Duke while also staying aware of his surroundings. They were passing through a corridor connected to a room at the far end of the second floor—someplace he’d never visited before, not even during his initial tour of the inner quarters.

The Grand Duke didn’t answer. He simply opened the wooden door at the end of the corridor. Behind it was a spiral staircase leading upward.

“Is this some kind of secret passage?”

“Not exactly. But it’s a path most people don’t know about.”

“Oh.”

The Grand Duke went up the stairs first, and Aeryl followed close behind. The castle was old, so it wasn’t surprising that it had hidden corners like this. The sense of adventure made his heart flutter with excitement. At the top of the stairs was another door.

Creaaak.

The rusty hinges groaned as the door opened. As they stepped through, the sky spread wide and open before them, flooding Aeryl’s vision. The weather was clear, and the high sky looked even higher than usual, with a few white clouds drifting lazily by.

“Aeryl.”

The Grand Duke pointed toward something. Aeryl, who had been scanning the sky in wonder, lowered his gaze to follow the gesture. Then the view of the entire ducal estate unfolded before his eyes. He could see the outer quarters surrounding the inner quarters, the walls, and beyond them, clusters of small buildings.

“Wow.”

Aeryl let out a gasp. The town, though mostly gray, had a serene atmosphere that was beautiful in its own right.

“Quite a nice view, isn’t it?”

“‘Quite’? It’s amazing!”

The capital’s grandeur was beautiful in its own way, but Aeryl had never liked how noisy it was. He found the Grand Duke’s domain much more appealing with its calm and composed air.

“It’s almost time.”

“Time?”

The Grand Duke checked his pocket watch as he spoke. What did he mean by that? Aeryl was confused—but he didn’t have to wonder for long.

Daaaang. Daaaang. Daaaang.

A bell began to ring from a small tower connected to the outer quarters. It was noon.

The sound spread across the town below, and people began pouring out of buildings. They split into small groups, heading into other buildings or settling in the parks. The sight of so many people moving in sync was dynamic, and the energy of it all was exhilarating.

“What are they doing? Oh—are they eating?”

“Yes. The people of the town eat when the noon bell rings.”

“Wow. I didn’t know that. Come to think of it, I feel like I’ve heard the bell before. Not just at lunchtime either.”

“It rings three times a day—at six in the morning, noon, and six in the evening. People live according to the bell, and it’s their standard for time.”

That’s so convenient! Aeryl was genuinely impressed.

Most people estimated time by the sun’s position or shadows. Clocks were expensive, rare, and often unreliable because they would slow down or stop entirely.

Because of that, everyone had different ideas of what time it was, and that often caused problems. Some lord’s castles or temples would announce the time to visitors, but not everyone could go there.

Seeing an entire town function in orderly rhythm based on a shared time was a rare and spectacular sight.

“All of the Grand Duchy sets its time by that bell tower. It makes everything more efficient. The mechanism rings the bell automatically at set times, so there’s no margin of error.”

“That makes sense!”

With time as a shared standard, rules and systems could be established—definitely beneficial in many ways.

“I had that bell tower built the year I became Grand Duke.”