OPDSP 51

“Lover?”

“Who?”

“Whose?”

The man’s words were so jarring that even Aeryl’s sharp mind went blank for a moment.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll send you off in one blow.”

“No…”

“But it’s a shame, really. It’s rare to see someone as pretty as you.”

“No, no…”

Where was he supposed to react first? That this man mistook him for the Grand Duke’s lover? Or that he was trying to kill him right now?

Overwhelmed by the flood of information, his mind almost went foggy, but he pulled himself together. If he hesitated here, he’d die. The sense of danger gripped him tightly.

“First of all, I’m not the Grand Duke’s lover.”

Aeryl corrected the biggest misunderstanding right away.

“Yeah, of course you’d say that.”

“No, seriously. I don’t know what gave you that impression, but I’m really not!”

“You went in and out of the Grand Duke’s quarters every night. Stayed for more than an hour.”

“That was…”

How did he see that? He always checked his surroundings before entering the Grand Duke’s tent. He had even asked the Grand Duke if it was safe, and he’d said there was no need to worry. Even if someone had spotted them, the real concern was that people would find out he was ill—not that he’d be mistaken for his lover.

‘Is that really how it looked to others?’

Aeryl hesitated for a moment before speaking again. Under normal circumstances, he would never say this, but hid life was at stake. The purge was over, so he believed the Grand Duke would understand.

“Actually, the Grand Duke had health issues. I was visiting daily as his attending physician.”

“The Grand Duke? He looked fine to me.”

“Because I worked hard to make him look that way.”

“Hard to believe. You were… different.”

“Of course I was. I’m his physician.”

“Hm…”

The man paused to think, then continued.

“So you’re saying the Grand Duke trusts and relies on you? It’s a shame you’re not his lover, but that’s okay! He’ll still take a hit from this. You pass!”

Who knew hearing the word ‘pass’ could feel so humiliating? Aeryl didn’t give up and kept trying to reason with him.

“Wait… think this through again. Is it really wise to cause trouble here? Have you thought about what comes after?”

“Hmm, nope!”

Was he proud of that? Well, it made sense—his reckless and sloppy behavior didn’t exactly suggest deep thinking.

“Someone once told me I’d be better off not thinking at all.”

He spaced out for a moment as if lost in thought, then stood up.

“Alright, that’s enough talking. Let’s go.”

“W–where to?”

“Looks like enough people have gathered. The Black Knights really are something. I left plenty of traces, and they followed them well.”

The man grabbed Aeryl by the collar and yanked him to his feet. He struggled, twisting hid body, but it was no use—he was dragged away.

Creak—

The door opened, and a burst of light flooded in. He squinted against it and saw the walls surrounded by countless torches.

Beyond the yard and the surrounding wall of the house, the purge unit had encircled the area. They were completely surrounded.

But far from intimidated, the man pulled Aeryl in front of him and pressed a dagger to his throat.

“Drop your weapons and surrender!”

The commander of the soldiers, Innis, shouted. She wanted to cut the kidnapper in half right then and there, but with Aeryl as a hostage, she couldn’t make a move.

“Where’s the Grand Duke? Can you see him?”

“…This isn’t a good idea. Look, we’re surrounded… If you kill me, you won’t make it out either. You don’t want to die here, do you?”

“Bring out the Grand Duke!”

Ignoring Aeryl, the man shouted toward the soldiers.

“Where is he? Get him out here now, so he can see what his precious little games have led to!”

What should he do? Aeryl racked his brain in desperation. He couldn’t match the man in strength, and with a blade pressed to his throat, even the smallest mistake could cost him his life.

‘Should I reveal who I am?’

If he confessed now that he was a prince, maybe the man would reconsider. Killing a member of the imperial family meant becoming a public enemy of the Empire—a hellish life of being hunted down until death.

At the very least, he’d be shocked. That might be enough to create a chance to escape.

‘But the moment I say it… it’s over.’

He’d be dragged back to the palace and placed under stricter surveillance than before. Forced to marry the man chosen by the Emperor. Bear a child he didn’t want. Live a life of confinement until the day he died.

That might sound like a satisfactory life to some, but not to Aeryl. He wanted to be free. To live as he chose, wherever and however he pleased.

So it’s a choice between dying physically by keeping silent, or dying mentally by revealing the truth. Is that it?

Either way, the road led to death.

‘I want to live.’

Was there really no way out? Aeryl felt tears welling up and forced himself to keep them in. He wasn’t going to cry—not here, not now. If he had the strength to cry, he’d use that strength to fight back instead.

He lowered his head—then suddenly flung it backward, slamming the back of his skull into the man’s jaw.

“Gah!”

The blow landed cleanly, and the grip on Aeryl’s shoulders loosened slightly. He tried to push forward through that brief opening.

“Aeryl!”

The purge unit members rushed forward to catch him. But the man was quicker. He used the same spell he’d used before to trap Aeryl’s feet—this time on them—and at the same time yanked Aeryl back by the hair.

“Ugh…!”

Aeryl was dragged by his hair. His glasses slipped off from the jolt, and his eyes shut reflexively. The man kicked the back of his knees, forcing him to kneel.

“Damn it! That little stunt’s not gonna work! Get the Grand Duke out here! I said bring him out!”

The man screamed wildly, eyes manic. In the shadows, knights began to move in case of emergency—but none of them dared act directly. The standoff remained.

In the middle of it all, Aeryl—though unable to see—was the first to notice something had changed.

It started with a prickling sensation at his fingertips.

Huh?

The moment he sensed the odd tingle, a chilling, razor-sharp presence swept over him. It was like the sting of winter wind slicing through skin.

That’s the Grand Duke’s pheromones.

Aeryl had never felt the Grand Duke’s presence so intensely before. He was coming—step by step—and with each step, the weight of his fury grew heavier.

The purge unit members, all betas, couldn’t sense pheromones like Aeryl could. But instinctively, they felt the pressure of the alpha approaching. They began to retreat without realizing it. And from their withdrawal, a path opened.

The Grand Duke appeared in the courtyard.

“There you are! I’ve been waiting forever!”

The man cheered, thrilled. Aeryl could feel his heartbeat pounding with excitement. The Grand Duke stepped into the courtyard.

“Look! You seemed to treasure this one, so I brought you a little present!”

Still gripping Aeryl by the hair, the man extended his arm and shook him like a toy being shown off.

The Grand Duke looked at Aeryl.

His condition was pitiful. Bruises and dirt showed he’d been dragged around, and the knife pressed against his neck had left a gash. Blood trickled down from the cut. From a distance, he might even look dead.

‘If he had died…’

Just the thought made it hard to breathe. A colossal wave of loss hit the Grand Duke—something he’d never felt in all his encounters with death. Like a child who had lost a beloved toy. Like an old man who had lost the cane he’d leaned on for years. It was a despair so bleak and unbearable it hollowed him out.

That’s what Aeryl had become to him. Someone he relied on, someone whose presence calmed him. Like a swaddled infant feeling peace in warm arms.

If he’d never known that peace, perhaps he could have gone without. But now that he did, there was no going back. A life without Aeryl would be like an eternal punishment—endlessly pushing a boulder up a mountain.

‘He needs to be by my side.’

The Grand Duke thought to himself:

No one will take him from me.

But right now, Aeryl was in someone else’s hands. The man before him was trying to take Aeryl away.

‘No. He’s mine.’

He’d realized it too late. But he still had a chance.

‘I’ll take him back.’

He was his. He’d reclaim him, hold him close—and this time, he wouldn’t let anyone else take him again.

The Grand Duke walked toward Aeryl. His alpha instincts—territorial and combative—erupted into a violent wave of pheromones. At the center of it all, he radiated a storm of dominance. The air turned savage, wild—ready to tear everything apart.