OPDSP 4

He was a southerner and a skilled physician—Aeryl. As the Archduke had said, he could have gone anywhere, yet he had chosen to stay in this remote village at the far end of the land, right in the path of the subjugation force.

‘No wonder he finds me suspicious. I am being suspected right now.’

If he accepted the offer here, it would only drive the suspicion deeper. It would confirm that he had come to this village for the purpose of approaching the Grand Duke.

“Thank you for the offer, but I cannot join the subjugation force.”

Aeryl swiftly declined. The moment he did, everyone—including the village chief—stared at him all at once. Every one of them had the same look on their faces: Are you out of your mind?

“Why not? It’s a good opportunity.”

“This village has long been without a physician. There are many sick people, and I wish to take care of them.”

He offered a convenient excuse. Though it was just an excuse, truthfully, even if the Grand Duke hadn’t been suspicious of him, he would have given the same answer.

Even after Aeryl’s refusal, he showed no reaction. The tension only deepened, as he had no idea what the man might be thinking.

‘Is there a clearer way to break the misunderstanding…? Ah.’

A good idea came to him.

“Your Grace, may I ask—when you marched through the village earlier, you saw me, didn’t you? Was it you who ordered the knights to keep moving when they tried to stop?”

“I did.”

The Grand Duke replied calmly. Aeryl was stunned.

So he really was trying to run me over?

“Why didn’t you order them to stop?”

“Must I explain every little thing?”

The Grand Duke shot back with a question of his own. Of course, he didn’t need to explain himself. He was the Grand Duke, and Aeryl was no prince now—just a common doctor.

But to stand in front of the very person he nearly trampled to death and remain so brazen? It was enough to make one faint from sheer outrage.

“As expected. You are just like the rumors, Your Grace.”

The sharp words slipped from Aeryl’s mouth before he could stop them.

“I have no desire to serve under someone like you. Someone who doesn’t value people would toss me aside like a worn-out tool.”

He let his temper speak for him.

“What insolence!”

“How dare you speak such madness to His Grace!”

The uproar grew worse than before. It looked as though someone might draw their sword and punish Aeryl on the spot. But the Grand Duke remained unmoved, simply lifting a finger.

Amazingly, that tiny motion brought complete silence to the room. His presence was astounding.

‘Gods… maybe I went too far.’

He should have said it more diplomatically. He’d fallen into the old habits of the imperial palace.

‘Should I release a bit of my pheromone…?’

Aeryl quietly let a bit of it out. Just then, the Grand Duke finally opened his mouth.

“I see.”

That’s it?

The answer was so anticlimactic that Aeryl was left speechless. Was it because the suspicion was cleared? But even so, he had just been insulted to his face—was this really his only reaction?

‘He really is like a snowman. Not human at all.’

As Aeryl watched in disbelief, the Grand Duke furrowed his brow slightly—for the first time showing an expression. The whole room tensed up in response.

“You, aren’t you wearing a bit too much perfume?”

The comment came out of nowhere.

“Me? I don’t wear perfume.”

‘Do I smell or something?’ Aeryl sniffed himself but could detect nothing aside from his own pheromone. Betas couldn’t pick up that scent anyway, and as far as he knew, the Grand Duke was a beta.

“Open the windows. You may leave. It’s giving me a headache.”

At the command, everyone promptly moved to open the windows.

‘I said I’m not wearing any perfume. What the hell is he talking about?’

Still, being dismissed was a relief. Aeryl quickly bowed and turned to leave.

‘Seems like the suspicion is gone. Good enough.’

He stepped out of the village head’s house with a much lighter heart.

***

“What an outrageously rude man! Speaking without understanding a thing!”

The knight commander, who had remained silent until now, finally exploded in anger.

“If the knights had stopped there, a bigger accident would’ve happened!”

The Great Purge force didn’t consist of knights alone—it included military physicians, porters, soldiers, and more. All of them were marching at the same pace. If the front line stopped suddenly, those behind would crash into them, and that could lead to a greater casualty.

Because Aeryl had suddenly run into the road, the knights at the front almost stopped instinctively. The Grand Duke had stopped them from doing so.

“If someone in the subjugation force is injured, we can’t carry out the mission properly! If we fail, the monsters will descend upon the villages during winter and cause even more devastation! That fool doesn’t understand any of that!”

Of course, he hadn’t seen the collapsed child. And yes, it was true Aeryl had been in danger. But as the commander, the Grand Duke had no choice but to make decisions that minimized greater harm.

“Enough.”

The Grand Duke quietly raised a hand, cutting off the knight commander. His face said clearly that he didn’t care whether others defended or criticized him. Whether people cursed him or misunderstood him—it made no difference to him.

“…Forgive me. I let my emotions get the better of me.”

The knight commander apologized and stepped back.

“Then… what shall we do about that physician?”

The village chief cautiously asked.

The Grand Duke recalled Aeryl’s demeanor—boldly challenging him without a hint of fear. It was the very image of a youth intoxicated by a sense of justice.

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

If Aeryl were a spy, he wouldn’t have refused the offer, let alone gotten so transparently angry. If anything, he would have tried to exploit the near-death incident for personal gain.

‘There are still some suspicious points… but nothing worth concern.’

He concluded Aeryl was the sort of person that could be handled at the village chief’s level. From this moment on, Aeryl no longer occupied any place in the Grand Duke’s thoughts. The Grand Duke never clung to matters that were over and done with.

Yet, the scent Aeryl had left behind continued to stir at his nerves. It was a fragrance that mirrored its owner perfectly.

“How much perfume did he pour on himself?”

“Now that you mention it… what exactly is the smell you were talking about earlier?”

Those nearby sniffed the air with puzzled looks.

“Is it an unpleasant scent, Your Grace?”

“I can’t remain here any longer.”

Rather than answer, the Grand Duke simply rose from his seat. A wave of dizziness passed through him, but his face remained expressionless, so no one noticed.

‘Is it fatigue?’

He brushed it off without concern. He was always exhausted this time of year—having just finished the harvest and now preparing for the Great Purge.

Without a second thought, he stepped out of the village chief’s house. The air outside was crisp, and the scent Aeryl left behind quickly dissipated into the wind. Soon, Aeryl was completely erased from the Grand Duke’s mind.

***

It was the early hours before dawn—closer to night than morning. Aeryl was asleep.

Boom!

A tremendous crash sounded. Aeryl jolted awake, sitting up in bed with a start.

“What was that? What’s going on?”

Still disoriented, he glanced around in alarm—

Boom!

Another loud noise echoed out. It wasn’t as loud as before, but it clearly came from inside the house.

“Gasp! Don’t tell me… they’re here to catch me?”

No. If the Emperor had sent someone, they would’ve moved far more covertly.

‘I better go check.’

Aeryl carefully climbed out of bed. His living quarters were on the second floor, so he had to descend the stairs. In the darkness, he could see the first floor—his clinic. But the front door was completely gone.

‘Huh? The door’s destroyed?’

That first loud crash must have been the door being broken down.

‘What is going on…?’

Looking more closely, he saw someone collapsed by the entrance. A strange scent drifted toward him on the wind from that figure.

The smell reminded him of the eternal snow atop the great mountains behind the village. His instincts screamed louder than his sense of smell.

‘Alpha pheromones.’

Aeryl’s expression grew serious. As far as he knew, there were no alphas in this village.

Was he a member of the subjugation force? People with dynamics like his were usually trained to suppress their pheromones—it affected others with the same disposition. To release this much meant the person had lost control, indicating a severe state.

‘Is it an emergency?’

Aeryl quickly covered his nose with his sleeve and hurried back upstairs. From the wardrobe where he kept his things, he retrieved a mask he’d made himself. It was an old-fashioned leather mask that covered the entire face, with a beak-like protrusion over the mouth—an eerie design, but one historically used by physicians to protect themselves from disease.

‘I’ve collected herbs that help neutralize pheromones.’

He stuffed the herbs he’d gathered over time into the beak of the mask and put it on. It wouldn’t block everything, but it was better than nothing.

Masked, Aeryl rushed back downstairs. The closer he got, the more his fingertips tingled with the sharp intensity of the pheromones. He had never encountered anything this powerful—it was physically painful.

‘Fascinating.’

His heart was pounding loudly in his chest. He realized he was being drawn to the unfamiliar pheromones. Was it the curiosity of a researcher? Or something else? He couldn’t tell. But whatever it was, his body was already moving toward the source.

A black figure came into view. As he looked closer, he saw a man collapsed on the ground—dressed in black, with black hair. He was moving his fingers, so he was still alive.

“Hey. Are you alright?”

Aeryl turned the man over.

It was a familiar face.

None other than Grand Duke Asirion.