OPDSP 44

The Grand Duke Asirion stepped into Aeryl’s tent. Beside him, Aeryl stood with his eyes half-closed.

By the time the group had returned to the main base, Aeryl had used up all his strength and was starting to stumble. He’d pushed himself past his limits.

The Grand Duke dismissed the others, telling them to go and rest. But Aeryl, instead of doing the same, clung to the hem of the Grand Duke’s robe.

“Y-Your… Grace… med…icine… tent… need to… take it…”

From what the Grand Duke could make out, he was trying to say he needed to take his medicine. He initially tried to ignore him and hand Aeryl over to Mason instead. There were extra doses in the Grand Duke’s own tent anyway, and there were still things he needed to instruct.

But when it came time to actually send Mason, he hesitated. In the end, he let himself be dragged all the way to Aeryl’s tent, unable to shake off the hand that was so easy to push away.

‘What am I seeing…? His Grace is getting dragged by the doctor?’

Mason stood frozen like he’d seen a ghost. But the Grand Duke didn’t notice—his attention was fully on the unsteady Aeryl.

“Hngh… go… tent… in… take…”

Aeryl mumbled something, but it was closer to sleep-talking than actual words. The Grand Duke gently guided him onto the bed.

“Ungh…”

Aeryl barely opened his eyes and weakly flailed his arms in the air. The Grand Duke pulled a blanket from the edge [unauthorized copy]of the bed and draped it over him. Aeryl didn’t resist anymore and soon fell into a deep sleep.

His glasses looked uncomfortable, so the Grand Duke reached out to remove them. Slipping his hand behind Aeryl’s head, he searched for the knot tying the strap in place.

…

Maybe it was because he was combing through someone else’s hair, but he felt strangely self-conscious. It was just stiff hair—what was so pleasant about it?

He quickly undid the knot. The glasses Aeryl had guarded so fiercely came off with ease.

Aeryl didn’t even notice. His eyes remained tightly shut in deep slumber. In a way, it was a relief.

The Grand Duke silently looked down at Aeryl’s face. Without the barrier of glasses, his bare features were revealed.

‘He really is pretty.’

Even to someone indifferent to appearances, Aeryl was undeniably attractive. The Grand Duke took another long look at his face. It reminded him of a sculpture he’d once seen at the imperial palace.

Much better than that hunk of stone.

A statue might be smoothly elegant, but it couldn’t compare to Aeryl’s liveliness.

‘What a strange person. To think he worries about me.’

Being on the receiving end of someone’s concern felt foreign to the Grand Duke. He was the strongest man in the empire, a figure of immense power, wealth, and honor. People either feared ​Read on​or resented him—or else revered and obeyed him.

Of course, he too had once been small and weak like any other living thing. But that was so long ago he had no memory of it. His father had raised him strictly as the heir to House Asirion, and his mother had been little more than a shadow. It was more accurate to say there was nothing to remember at all.

So when he thought about it, Aeryl really was an oddity. He worried about him like he would any ordinary patient. That was a feeling the Grand Duke didn’t recognize.

‘If someone else had done that, I would’ve been pissed.’

If someone else had looked at him with the same worried eyes Aeryl had, he would’ve smashed their face in with a fist. Some lowly nobody thinking they had the right. He wasn’t weak enough to need the pity of common folk.

But with Aeryl, it was different. Before attacking the Snow Woman, Aeryl had looked at him like he was worried sick—and it had been so ridiculous and kind of funny that he’d ended up ruffling his hair.

‘Why, though?’

He had shown Aeryl many of his weakest sides. The sudden manifestation had left him shaken, and he’d had no choice but to lean on him.

Maybe that’s why—because he’d already shown him everything—his attitude toward Aeryl kept changing.

He found himself relying more, being more honest. If Aeryl heard that, he’d probably scoff and ask, “Since when?” But to the Grand Duke, the change was undeniable.

Just look at him now. Instead of using his time more efficiently—receiving reports from the Knight Commander or reviewing another document—he was standing here, wasting time, staring at Aeryl’s sleeping face.

Of course, he looked like a painting, peacefully asleep and smelling faintly sweet. But the Grand Duke wasn’t the type to enjoy such luxury as admiring paintings.

Most people were desperate to get something from the Grand Duke—whether it was wealth, recognition, or trust.

But Aeryl had no such greed. In fact, even when offered rewards, he barely reacted. It wasn’t that he was indifferent to the world, or too dull to look after his own interests—so why?

The only things he ever asked for were a bit of blood, or a review after taking medicine. He took medicine seriously too. But even then, he didn’t ask for rare medical texts or anything of the sort.

This only made him think about it more.

What did Aeryl want?

What kind of bait would he need to dangle to reel him in?

“What can I do to keep him by my side?”

The Grand Duke found himself wanting to keep Aeryl close. He was trustworthy and highly capable. He carried himself well and would make an excellent retainer. Most of all, the peace he brought was comforting.

The promise he’d made at the beginning—to send Aeryl back once the subjugation was over—no longer mattered. One way or another, he would bring Aeryl back to the Grand Duchy.

‘No matter what it takes…’

The Grand Duke gazed quietly at Aeryl’s face. His Alpha pheromones, saturated with a uniquely intense obsession, slowly spread into the air.

“Mm…”

Aeryl let out a soft moan and shifted unauthorized copyslightly in his sleep. Even unconscious, his body responded to the Grand Duke’s pheromones.

That tiny sound—barely anything—was enough to freeze the Grand Duke in place for a moment. Breathing felt difficult. He stared down at Aeryl, then gave in to a sudden impulse and reached out his hand.

His fingertips brushed a cheek with surprising ease. The smooth skin and soft flesh sent a tremor through him.

His touch grew bolder. Fingers trailing down Aeryl’s cheek slipped to his neck, tickled the nape, and then moved lower. He slipped his hand through the open collar of Aeryl’s shirt and touched the delicate line of his collarbone.

“…Mmnn…”

Was he feeling it? Aeryl’s eyelashes fluttered faintly at the sensation, paired with a soft sigh.

Was he about to wake up? The thought of meeting those eyes unshielded by glasses stirred both anticipation and unease in the Grand Duke.

“….”

He held his breath and waited. Aeryl’s eyes barely opened, only to slowly close again, overcome by sleep.

The Grand Duke licked his dry lips, struck by a strange sense of disappointment. Would he wake up if he touched him just a bit more? The terrible urge surged again.

“Your Grace. Are you there?”

The voice of the Knight Commander came from outside the tent. Since the Grand Duke hadn’t returned, the man must have come himself.

‘I’ve wasted quite a bit of time…’

All he’d done was look at Aeryl and think about him. What a waste. All for the face of a man fast asleep.

The Grand Duke turned toward the entrance. Just as he was about to push open the flap, he paused and looked back. Aeryl was still sleeping like a painting. Why had he turned back again?

Determined not to lose any more time, he opened the tent flap firmly. The moment he stepped out, the Knight Commander bowed respectfully.

“Congratulations on the Snow Woman’s subjugation.”

“It was just a monster. What about the other combat units?”

“They’ve all returned.”

It seemed the other units, having seen the monsters freed from mental control, had correctly assumed the Snow Woman was dead and made their way back.

“The rest of the monsters will be finished within a few hours. Form a new combat unit and begin clean-up.”

“Yes, understood. What about you, Your Highness?”

The Knight Commander asked. The Grand Duke always led the battle. Even if he’d fainted the day before or looked like he might collapse any second, he always pushed through. Of course he planned to fight in the final battle too.

But he hesitated. The image of Aeryl’s scowling face, saying “I said rest!” popped into his mind.

‘Why am I thinking about that now?’

The Grand Duke frowned slightly and forced the image of Aeryl out of his head.

“I’ll lead the combat unit myself.”

“I’ll make the preparations.”

Though the Grand Duke’s reply had been uncharacteristically hesitant, the loyal Knight Commander received the order without so much as a flicker of reaction.

Leaving Aeryl’s tent behind, the Grand Duke set off toward the duties that awaited him.

Only the lingering trace of his pheromones remained in the empty space, as if reluctant to part.