OPDSP 42

“Huh? Ah, well, it is possible…! The method basically works by stimulating pheromone secretion, so with enough experience— Ah, ah! Are you teasing me right now?”

“You said it was possible. I didn’t take you for that kind of person.”

The Grand Duke gave him a meaningful look. He was teasing him! Aeryl’s face turned bright red.

“This isn’t the time to be making fun of me!”

“Then why the long face? It’s not like we’re out of options.”

“Still…”

“You got away safely from that situation. Let the past go.”

“…Yes.”

The Grand Duke was right. The bag was gone, and there was no getting it back. There was no point in beating himself up about it. All he could do was focus on what he could do now.

‘Was he teasing me on purpose?’

Thanks to that, his heart felt a little lighter. It was uncharacteristically playful for the Grand Duke—but thinking of it as his way of showing concern made it feel strangely heartwarming.

‘I should repay him!’

What the Grand Duke needed now was to be in top condition.

“I’m going to do a light checkup. Will that be alright?”

“Go ahead.”

With his permission, Aeryl released his pheromones. He controlled them carefully, directing them gently toward the Grand Duke. As they reached him, the Grand Duke’s pheromones responded. Aeryl observed the interaction closely.

‘The effect is about what I expected. The levels have probably dropped, but this range of fluctuation is acceptable. If I push too hard, it might induce a rut instead.’

He assessed the situation and planned accordingly. In the process, he also picked up on the emotions the Grand Duke was holding inside—vague, but enough to grasp the general state of his mind.

He’s hesitating.

Their initial attack had failed and they’d been forced to flee. He had to give the next order, but he wasn’t sure what the best course of action was. The pressure to decide, and the fear of the consequences, were weighing heavily on him.

That kind of stress will wear him down.

Without thinking, Aeryl took the Grand Duke’s hand. It was an instinctive gesture—he simply wanted to offer comfort. His pheromones shifted gently, wrapping around the Grand Duke in a warm, sweet scent. Drawn in, the Grand Duke leaned his head on Aeryl’s shoulder and murmured drowsily,

“Can you read my thoughts too?”

“Not exactly… but you just seemed like you were struggling.”

“Not really. It wasn’t a serious injury.”

He replied indifferently, as if speaking of someone else’s body. But Aeryl hadn’t been talking about the physical wound. And yet, it seemed the Grand Duke wasn’t even considering his emotional state. It didn’t seem worth correcting, so Aeryl just went along with it.

“Still, it was dangerous. I was shocked—I thought you were going to charge in with a sword.”

“The battle was a failure anyway, and the injury could be healed. It’s more efficient to save a well-trained knight’s life.”

Is that something to weigh by efficiency?

When people get hurt, they suffer. The Grand Duke was human, too—he had to feel pain. But he was completely ignoring his own suffering. It wasn’t even self-sacrifice; it wasn’t noble or tragic.

It’s more like cold logic, like he’s playing a chess game.

If so, did he see himself as just another piece on the board? Maybe this was part of the reason he’d earned the title “Ice Monster.” A single conversation wasn’t enough to know for sure.

‘I never imagined he was like this when we first met.’

Maybe because he’d watched the Grand Duke struggle so closely, he started to feel a strange tenderness. Aeryl gently stroked the back of his hand.

“Rest now.”

The Grand Duke slowly closed his eyes.

Outside, the monsters were still scouring the forest for them with glowing eyes. They hadn’t even decided whether to push forward or turn back. That choice would determine the life and death of many.

Nothing had truly improved—yet somehow, his heart felt at ease. Because Aeryl was there. His presence had never felt more vivid. Suddenly, the Grand Duke wondered,

‘…Could I really leave him behind?’

He could no longer be sure he’d be alright without Aeryl by his side.

After a brief nap, the Grand Duke decided to pursue the Snow Woman once more. The group drank water and ate hardtack. They were dry and tasted like dust.

As they rested, they discussed how to take her down.

“The Snow Woman is different from the other monsters. Her mind control even affected humans.”

“We couldn’t resist it at all. Considering that, having only a few people pursue her was the right call, but… now what?”

The knights all agreed: the biggest obstacle in defeating her was her mind-control ability. Under normal circumstances, they could have used tools to block mental interference, but in the middle of the forest, that wasn’t an option.

“So either we stop her from using her power at all—or end it before she can.”

It didn’t sound easy, even just hearing it. As Aeryl thought back on the earlier battle, a question suddenly came to mind. Of course, even as he spoke, he didn’t expect his opinion to be of much value.

“The Snow Woman… when she used her power, she seemed to freeze up for a moment. Couldn’t we take advantage of that opening somehow?”

“…You said she froze?”

Mason’s eyes widened. The knights and the Grand Duke all turned to look at Aeryl. Did I say something wrong? He didn’t know a thing about monsters, so maybe his question had been too basic.

“You saw the Snow Woman using her ability?”

“Pardon? Yes.”

“And you weren’t affected by her mind control?”

Huh, now that he mentioned it—he wasn’t. Aeryl had just been confused when the others suddenly froze, but his mind hadn’t been taken over.

“Why weren’t you affected? Do you have some kind of magic tool?”

“No, nothing like that…”

Aeryl trailed off, but in truth, he had an idea why.

‘It’s because I’m a prince!’

The Emperor held absolute power over the entire empire. Naturally, there were always those who aimed to manipulate him, including with mind-controlling abilities. To counter this, emperors were blessed with magic that made them immune to any such influence. Because the emperor’s decisions affected everything, his immediate family was given the same enchantment.

When Aeryl returned to the imperial palace after manifesting as an omega, he had received the spell too. He had only agreed to it because they’d threatened to withhold meals otherwise—and since he’d never been in danger, he’d forgotten about it entirely. He never imagined he’d feel its effects so clearly like this.

“Maybe… I was too far away?”

He couldn’t reveal the truth, so Aeryl did his best to play dumb.

“Distance, you say? That’s possible.”

Mason took his vague excuse seriously.

“Either way, it’s a relief that at least one person wasn’t affected by the mind control.”

The Grand Duke focused not on uncovering the untraceable reason, but on how to make use of it. Thankfully, no one here seemed to be overly academic. If it were him, Aeryl thought, he wouldn’t have let it go so easily. He let out a silent sigh of relief.

“Good. That gives us a way forward.”

After a moment of thought, the Grand Duke spoke. Everyone turned their attention to him. His expression was calm, without any sign of joy or worry—but that only reassured the knights further.

‘No. I don’t believe it.’

Aeryl had already decided not to trust that expression. He subtly checked the Grand Duke’s pheromones. Steady. He was confident in their chances of victory. Aeryl let out a silent wow and focused on the Grand Duke’s new plan.

And at the heart of that new strategy—was Aeryl.

Once they left the safe zone, monsters began creeping through the forest in search of Aeryl’s group. The Grand Duke and the knights remained calm, as if expecting this. Avoiding the monsters’ line of sight, they located the Snow Woman.

She stood with her back to a cliff. In front of her was a dense thicket of trees, and among the trees, monsters were positioned at every interval, leaving no gaps. Perhaps the previous battle had rattled her—she was acting far more defensively now.

Aeryl and the Grand Duke watched her from a perch in the trees. To avoid the monsters, they’d had no choice but to move along the branches. At that moment, right beneath Aeryl’s foot, something with an exposed skull was gnashing its teeth.

What kind of monster is this one…?

The knights were waiting at a distance. The Grand Duke gave the signal.

“YAAAHHH!”

With a shout, the first knight swung his sword and cut through a tree. With a loud thud, the tree fell, revealing the knight’s figure.

The Snow Woman shrieked and flailed. In response, the monsters closed in protectively and charged the knight. He kicked up a ruckus on purpose.

“Over here! Come and get me!”

He yelled at the top of his lungs and fired off attacks in every direction, provoking the monsters—then turned and ran without looking back.

The Snow Woman screamed in rage. The monsters all surged after the knight.