OPDPS 91

“Was it you? You con artist, filling my kid’s head with nonsense!”

“Hey now, don’t talk like that to the doctor.”

Mason had forced the inventor to kneel. Raeler stood nervously beside him, and Aeryl approached Raeler.

“I’m sorry. I said I’d come with you.”

“No, it’s okay. More importantly, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m…”

Raeler looked at the inventor. Only then did Aeryl notice the back of the inventor’s neck was drenched in blood. So the one who was hurt was his father!

“I’ll treat him first.”

“Get lost! You damn con artist!”

“Now, now…”

Mason looked down at the inventor with a cold gaze, and Aeryl quickly stepped in to stop him. Something about Mason made it seem like he might knock the inventor out at any moment.

“Mason, that’s enough. Just keep him quiet.”

Aeryl hated the inventor just as much, but his condition was too pitiful to ignore. Besides, the Grand Duke needed him, and Aeryl couldn’t let him die before giving him a proper reckoning.

“Mmph! Mmph!”

“Mr. Raeler, if you’re alright, could you bring me some clean water and a towel?”

“Yes!”

Raeler rushed off in a hurry.

“What should I do?”

Rynello asked, and Aeryl gave him an awkward look. The old man had barely been able to move from back pain—what kind of job could he possibly be given? But he had a feeling that not giving him a role would only make him fuss.

“Ventilation…?”

“Hah, ventilation?”

“Fresh air is… good for the health. And His Grace will be here soon—it smells musty in here…”

It was a good thing they hadn’t brought the Grand Duke. Just as Aeryl expected, the house was thick with Raeler’s pheromones.

“Seems like the air really isn’t circulating. No wonder it feels so stuffy.”

Rynello walked over to the window.

“Mmph! Mmmph!”

The inventor clearly had a lot to say.

“Excuse me, Mr. Vale. I have more to say than you do, so please be quiet.”

Aeryl’s tone was cold for someone treating a patient. Inspecting the back of the inventor’s head, it looked like his scalp had torn, but the injury itself seemed easy to treat. Still, small wooden splinters were embedded in the wound, and the blood had clotted, tangling with his hair.

“I’ll clean off the mess first and then use healing magic.”

“Mmph?”

“Yes, I’m a doctor. I was part of the Great Purge, too.”

“Mmph?”

The inventor looked at Aeryl in disbelief, as if saying, No way you are.

‘…Now I’m getting mad?’

Dipping the towel Raeler had brought in water, Aeryl began wiping the wound, pulling out the splinters one by one. He was angry, so his hands were rough.

“Mmph!”

“Bear with it. Your son probably went through worse than this every month. Tying up a kid just because he went into heat? As a fellow Omega, I can’t forgive that.”

Aeryl shuddered. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

“Mmph?”

The inventor’s eyes widened as he looked at Aeryl. He ignored him and placed a hand on the back of his head.

Using a coagulant would have been more efficient, but he hadn’t brought one. So instead, he channeled healing magic into the wound, stronger than usual. A bright white light flared as the bleeding stopped.

“All done.”

Aeryl gave the area one final wipe with a clean towel and pulled his hand away. The inventor stared at him in shock.

“You really are a doctor.”

Raeler murmured in a daze.

“Mmph! Mmmph mmph mmph! Ugh! Urrgh—!”

The inventor suddenly exploded with muffled shouting. Mason removed his hand from the inventor’s mouth.

“He tried to bite me!”

“The treatment’s over. It’s fine now.”

“Hey, you—are you really a doctor? And an Omega? No, wait—how did an Omega become a doctor? It’s not even easy for regular people! And how do you go outside? What does your father do? What kind of man leaves his Omega kid to fend for himself like this?”

My father is the Emperor of the Empire, and that man always neglected me, was not something Aeryl could say. So he said nothing.

“What is it you’re really trying to ask?”

Rynello returned from the window and cut straight to the point.

“Well…”

The inventor couldn’t answer clearly. He hadn’t sorted his thoughts. So many things were tangled up in his head, he didn’t even know what to ask first.

“It’s obvious. He thought he was doing a good job locking his kid up—but then he sees a proper omega standing here and it shocks him.”

Rynello clicked his tongue.

“No! I mean… I just… I was wondering if, like my son said… there really was a way to live a normal life…”

The inventor trailed off. If what Aeryl said was true, then he’d be nothing but a father who ruined his perfectly normal son’s life.

“Why? I thought I was a con artist. But you are curious about the answer, huh?”

“Of course!”

“And yet you didn’t even teach him the basics about being an Omega? With medication and time, heats can pass like a cold. But you tied him up instead?”

“I—I never heard anything like that!”

“…Sorry?”

“I didn’t know there were even medicines! I mean it!”

“Didn’t your doctor tell you? Or your priest?”

“All they said was to keep an eye on him so he wouldn’t seduce men… The priest didn’t say much either.”

Aeryl’s head throbbed. The doctor actually said that?

“All he ever did was prescribe a bunch of useless medication.”

At least the priest gave some useful advice—he told him to hide the fact that Raeler was an Omega. There were people out there who would exploit the weakness during a manifestation to kidnap or harm him.

“I changed the lock to a bigger one right away and started investigating on my own.”

The inventor had tried to learn more about Omegas. But he couldn’t do it openly, for fear someone would find out. He spent all his time in libraries, tracked down old men to hear their stories.

“But I got nothing out of it. There was nothing useful to go on!”

Even now, the memory made him seethe. There were countless stories of brave Alphas, but when it came to Omegas, it was all garbage like how to bear an alpha’s Child.

“What was I supposed to do? If people found out he was an Omega, he could be kidnapped or worse! We had to hide—avoid the risk!”

“You could’ve just asked me or the Grand Duke for help.”

Rynello spoke calmly.

“How could I trust the Grand Duke’s castle? That basement. That place, I—”

“Hey! There’s no need to talk about that! That’s in the past!”

Rynello snapped, startled by the mention.

The basement? The one Connie had told him never to go near when he first arrived at the Grand Duke’s castle? Aeryl suddenly remembered the rule.

“Where even is that basement? I’ve never seen any stairs going down from the first floor.”

It gave him chills, like something out of a ghost story.

“Right, right. I get it. I can imagine how you felt. You were trying your best in your own way.”

Rynello offered a sympathetic tone. He was trying to lower the inventor’s guard with kindness so he could persuade him more easily.

“But things are different now. You can’t keep living like this.”

“That’s why I plan to leave. If I follow His Grace, the boy will be left here alone. I won’t be able to protect him!”

“Your son’s grown. He’ll be fine on his own.”

“It’s dangerous, I’m telling you!”

The inventor shouted like he was having a fit. His sudden outburst left everyone stunned.

“What if someone breaks into the house when I’m not here? Secrets don’t stay hidden forever! Locks, windows—none of it made a difference! The boy doesn’t even know what’s happening to him—he’s just pure instinct! If some bastard decides to come after him, I won’t be there to stop it!”

The words tumbled out of him in a rush. His eyes had lost focus, like he wasn’t here but trapped in some memory.

‘…Wait. He’s not just being paranoid, is he?’

Aeryl looked at Rynello. He nodded, thinking the same thing. Raeler sat quietly, shrinking in on himself.

So there really was some kind of incident Raeler doesn’t remember.

It was horrific. If something like that had happened, then the inventor’s extreme behavior made sense. Building a house in the middle of a lake, surrounding it with high walls, setting traps everywhere—it was all to protect his son. Refusing the Grand Duke’s summons was likely out of fear that the same thing would happen again while he was away.

What awful luck.

It hadn’t even been that long ago—ten years wasn’t ancient history. Even then, there were researchers studying dynamics, and heat suppressants existed. With the money and connections he clearly had—enough to build this fortress—he could’ve found someone to help.

But ignorance, bad advice, and a traumatic event had combined to create a tragedy.

“I’m really sorry.”

What they’d endured should never have happened.

“So help us escape. Please.”

The inventor pleaded.

“That’s not going to happen.”

Aeryl’s tone was firm. The mood had grown sympathetic, so the inventor looked taken aback.

“Why not? If we get dragged off to the Grand Duke’s castle, His Grace will definitely try to separate us! And without me, who’s going to protect my boy?!”

He was nearly spitting with emotion.

“And the Grand Duke’s castle—inside the inner quarters—there’s…”

The inventor trailed off, as if even saying it was too much.