OPDSP 1

Hey everyone! I’ll be taking over the translation for this novel since it hasn’t been updated in over three months.

I really love the story and didn’t want to see it left hanging, so I’ll be continuing from where it left off.

Hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters—thanks for sticking around!

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Aeryl was weighed down by the second most serious dilemma of his life.

“I don’t have a single patient.”

His glasses slipped askew as he slumped forward over his desk, which still looked brand new—it hadn’t been long since he’d opened the clinic.

***

About three weeks earlier, Aeryl had arrived at the “Edge of the World” Village at the northernmost edge of the empire.

He was a wandering physician, searching for a place to settle. Coincidentally, this village had no doctor. With the help of the village chief, he quickly moved into a vacant house and turned the first floor into a clinic.

“Once the hospital opens, patients will come flooding in!”

But his expectations were utterly crushed. Over the past two weeks, the only visitor to the clinic had been the village chief. One would think that with a new facility opening, people might stop by out of curiosity, but not a single soul had shown up. The reason was simple.

“I didn’t think they’d be this wary of outsiders.”

The villagers had all been born and raised here. They were naturally unwelcoming toward strangers, and to make matters worse, Aeryl wasn’t even from the North.

He was from the South, where the Imperial Capital lay, and both his appearance and accent made him seem foreign. Unsurprisingly, the villagers kept their distance.

“If I were them, I wouldn’t trust my body to someone I didn’t know either.”

Aeryl understood their distrust. The village chief had told him that everyone had been busy with the harvest, and suggested that once the village festival and other events began, he’d have more chances to get acquainted. He figured that time would take care of it eventually.

“Still, just sitting around doing nothing is driving me crazy.”

While he waited, someone in need of treatment might miss their window for care—and more than anything, sitting idly didn’t suit his nature.

“It’s already… one o’clock.”

He looked at the clock and rose from his seat. He had decided to wait only until this morning.

“If no one comes to me, I’ll just go to them.”

He pulled out his doctor’s bag and began packing it with supplies.

“Flyers, too.”

He carefully slipped in a stack of hand-made promotional leaflets that explained the clinic and who he was. He had too much time on his hands, so he’d designed them himself. Whether they’d be effective or not, who knew—but any effort was better than none.

“Oh, better do a final check.”

Standing at the front door, he looked into the mirror. His reflection stared back—disheveled brown hair, oversized glasses, and a thin, almost frail frame. The glasses did a decent job of obscuring his face, but not enough to hide his sharp jawline.

Aeryl slowly removed his glasses, which had gotten crooked when he’d collapsed onto his desk earlier. The moment he did, his brown eyes turned gold.

His eyes gleamed with a transparent luster, like molten gold sealed in a crystal orb. Those golden eyes were undeniable proof that he was a direct descendant of the Imperial bloodline.

His full name was Ayrich Pryon. He was the Emperor’s fourteenth son.

And now—having secretly fled from his family—he was nurturing his dream of practicing medicine in the frozen, faraway land of the North.

Officially, Aeryl was the youngest son of the Emperor—but unlike the image most people had of the “youngest,” he hadn’t grown up showered with affection.

By the time he was born, his older siblings were already fully grown and showing off their talents. The Emperor had no interest in him. In fact, the Emperor’s indifference ran so deep that he completely forgot about his existence and left him to be raised by his maternal relatives for fourteen years.

His mother, the Empress, wasn’t much better. About a month after giving birth to Aeryl, she returned to the palace upon hearing that her beloved eldest son had been injured—leaving Aeryl behind without a second thought.

‘If I hadn’t presented as an omega, they probably would’ve forgotten about me completely.’

It wasn’t until he turned fourteen that the Emperor finally took notice of him—because that was when he presented as an omega.

In this world, beyond the sexes of male and female, there were also secondary genders: alpha, beta, and omega. The majority of humanity were betas, while alphas and omegas were rare. Alphas and omegas were collectively referred to as “dynamics,” and they received special treatment in society.

From the moment he presented as an omega, Aeryl’s life turned upside down. He was dragged into the palace and forced to take bridal training classes he had zero interest in. But he wasn’t the obedient type—he rebelled.

‘At least, I did until I met my teacher.’

His teacher had been hired to guide him—a renowned omega physician with a difficult personality, one who had no trouble snapping his rebellious streak in half.

A lot had happened since then, but it was that same teacher’s guidance that made Aeryl resolve to run away. It hadn’t been a reckless decision—he had planned it thoroughly for a long time. Learning medicine had been part of that preparation.

“Though, in the end, I fell in love with medicine itself.”

In the end, Aeryl succeeded in escaping the Imperial Palace.

A new life! I’m finally going to live as my true self!

When he first left the palace, his heart had been full of hope. It felt like there had to be a place in the world waiting just for him.

“But there was no such place.”

It didn’t take long for that dream to shatter. And now, in the one village he’d finally managed to settle in, he was being rejected again. If his teacher knew, he’d probably laugh and say, “You thought life was going to be easy, you brat?”

“Stubborn old man.”

Even so, Aeryl had only made it this far because of that teacher. He had provided him with a false identity and advised him to head to an obscure northern village.

‘The rest is up to me.’

Aeryl put his glasses back on. He didn’t forget to tie the cord behind his head to keep them from slipping off by accident. Once the glasses were back in place, his eyes returned to their usual brown.

‘Good to go.’

With his final checks complete, he stepped out of the house. The moment he opened the door, a biting wind slammed into him.

“C-cold!”

He yelped instinctively. He had braced himself for the northern chill, but he hadn’t expected it to be this cold even before winter had officially arrived. Even with his thickest coat, he was shivering.

‘Everyone else looks completely fine.’

The villagers were wearing light jackets, some even short sleeves. Aeryl was the only one bundled up like an overstuffed snowman.

‘As if I didn’t already stand out enough.’

He could feel the way people on the street stared at him like they were seeing some kind of rare creature. Every little difference like this only fueled their suspicion of outsiders.

‘Still… it’s cold, what do you want from me?’

Sniffling for no real reason, Aeryl hurried toward the grocery store. Yesterday, the village chief had mentioned that the shopkeeper was suffering from back pain.

“At the very least, she won’t turn me away, right? If I win them over one by one, eventually the clinic won’t feel so intimidating!”

With that small hope, he arrived at the grocery store. It was a small place, and the front of the store was already packed with three or four women shopping. Unable to squeeze in between them, Aeryl stood quietly by the entrance and waited. Standing there, he naturally started to overhear their conversation.

“I was thinking of preparing a more luxurious dinner than usual, since His Grace the Grand Duke is coming.”

“Looks like we’re all thinking the same thing. Our house is having a special meal tonight too.”

It was just casual chatter—but one phrase caught Aeryl’d ear. The feet he’d been stomping from the cold came to a sudden halt.

“His Grace the Grand Duke is coming?”

He asked without thinking. And it was no wonder—the person they were talking about was none other than the Grand Duke Asrion.

Crowned Grand Duke at the age of fourteen, he had pacified the chaotic North and brought it into prosperity. The strongest ruler of the current age, and the only living Swordmaster.

Despite his fame, he was notoriously private. He almost never appeared in public, making him a mysterious figure. Even Aeryl, a prince, had never met him—only heard rumors.

And now that man was passing through this remote village? Why?

“Oh my, did you hear someone’s coming?”

“Yes, but… who’s that man? Never seen him before…”

The women cast wary glances at Aeryl. Realizing his mistake, Aeryl hurried to add,

“Ah, I’m sorry for interrupting.”

“Oh, and you are…?”

“Um, yes. I’m the doctor at the clinic down by the crossroads.”

Gathering his courage, Aeryl took out some flyers from his medical bag and handed them to the women. Though they accepted them, they kept glancing sideways at him.

‘What should I say now?’

His mind went blank.

“Uh, so… you were saying something about the Grand Duke…”

And just like that, he ended up repeating his earlier question like a parrot. But still—why would the Grand Duke come to a place like this?

‘Surely… he’s not here to capture me or something, right…?’