"That idiot..."
Forgetting all about the pepper attack, Kwon Minseong smacked his forehead.
"Doctor!"
Aswin silently mouthed the words.
"Should I bring this to you?"
Minseong had only been in this country a short time, but he was already deeply concerned about Elunem's future.
The citizens of a nation that worshipped a psychopathic thug and an idiot younger brother as royalty were genuinely pitiful.
Aswin approached with a bright, vacant smile plastered across his face.
Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—Tillio still hadn't realized that the brother he'd been desperately searching for was standing right behind him.
Whatever. If he's this stupid, getting caught is his own fault. I've done everything I can.
Minseong folded his arms in resignation.
Then—
"You know that new Omega hospital?"
"I heard a thief broke in last night."
"A thief robbed a hospital? What could there possibly be to steal from a hospital? Hah!"
"Isn't it the most successful hospital in Elun? I heard nobles and wealthy merchants line up for appointments. They must rake in money every single day."
"Oh..."
"The world really has become a place where people can live comfortably without becoming Court Physicians."
"That was true until yesterday."
"Why?"
"I just told you. A thief broke in. They say the front door got ripped clean off and was found lying on the ground."
"Good heavens... in such a peaceful age..."
"My daughter had an appointment there. I was just on my way to tell her not to go."
"Your daughter? Wasn't she a Beta?"
"She is. But that hospital is unusual. They say they'll paint a portrait of a child that hasn't even been born yet. And there's supposedly a miraculous injection that lets women give birth without any pain at all. It's become a huge rumor among women, not just Male Omegas."
"What nonsense is that? How could anyone know what an unborn child looks like well enough to paint a portrait?"
"How should I know?"
"It's not a miraculous injection. It's a devil's injection. People ought to follow the natural order. These days everyone gets carried away chasing ridiculous trends. Childbirth is supposed to hurt so much you feel like you're dying. That's what makes children precious."
"That's easy for you to say. You don't have a daughter."
"Hah... even you're saying that?"
"If it meant my daughter wouldn't suffer, I'd gladly give her a devil's injection. But the hospital's security really worries me. What if a robber barged in while she was giving birth?"
The hospital's reputation was plummeting in real time.
People said rumors had legs.
These weren't legs.
They were thoroughbred racehorses.
Crunch.
Minseong clenched his fist.
He had endured them wrecking valuable medical supplies and trashing the lobby.
He had endured losing a soft bed and being banished to the cold floor.
He had even endured being carried around like luggage before he could properly enjoy a syrup-soaked pancake.
He might look twenty years old, but Kwon Minseong was thirty-five.
Old enough to let most things slide.
And experienced enough to know how.
But this?
No.
He would not let it go.
You can do whatever you want to me, but I refuse to forgive anyone who damages my hospital's reputation!
Minseong covered his face with both hands and inhaled deeply.
Then, summoning every ounce of strength in his body—
"WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH...! HUUUUUUUUAAAHHHHHH!"
He burst into loud, heartbroken sobs.
Tillio stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Minseong.
More specifically, at Minseong's backside hanging over his shoulder.
"Hey. Hey. Have you lost your mind?"
"WAAAAAAAH! HUUUUUUUUUU...! Mom! Dad!"
Minseong immediately began crying for his parents.
The dining room had already been watching them.
Now that a grown man was wailing for his mother and father at the top of his lungs, the atmosphere changed dramatically.
"Oh my goodness."
"Is that a kidnapping?"
"A kidnapping? In a country as safe as Elunem? Besides, that's a fully grown adult."
"What do you mean? Crime exists even in peaceful times."
"Someone should report this!"
Guests began rising from their seats one after another.
One particularly civic-minded individual requested that Yvonne send an automatic messenger bird.
Tillio hurriedly set Minseong down on a table.
Pretending to hand him a tissue, he muttered a threat under his breath.
"What exactly are you trying to pull? Do you finally have a death wish—"
"WAAAAAAAH! I was raised with love too! I know how to sleep in a bed too! He shoved me onto the floor! He won't even let me eat breakfast! He keeps threatening to kill me!"
"Hey! Hey! Will you shut up?!"
The moment Tillio barked at him, the entire dining room erupted.
"Did you hear that?"
"I heard every word."
"He didn't feed him and made him sleep on the floor. That's abuse."
"Maybe he isn't a kidnapper. Maybe that's his servant."
"In this day and age there are still nobles like that?"
"We should definitely report him."
"Will the guards even come for something like this?"
"Of course they will. His Majesty despises inhumane nobles. Someone like that needs a trip to the underground prison."
Completely unaware that the man they were condemning was the Emperor of the Elunem Empire himself, the guests gradually surrounded Tillio.
Then they turned to Yvonne.
"Hey! Why aren't you sending the messenger bird?"
"Call the guards immediately!"
Yvonne looked helplessly at Tillio.
She had promised to keep the secret.
She had promised they could trust her.
But neither could she stand by and watch him be branded a kidnapper.
Caught between the two, she anxiously stomped her feet.
"No! It's not like that! He isn't... he isn't..."
"If it isn't, then what is it? Yvonne, are you working with him?"
"I'm disappointed in you, Yvonne! I've been staying at this inn for ten years!"
Unable to withstand the mounting pressure any longer, Yvonne squeezed her eyes shut and shouted,
"He's a Royal Mechanical Doll of the Imperial Household!"
Taking advantage of the chaos engulfing Tillio, Minseong slipped away and quietly approached Aswin.
"Aswin."
"Ah... Doctor..."
Minseong dragged him behind a pillar.
In his haste, he stepped on a discarded banashe peel and slipped.
Thud.
He landed squarely on his backside.
Apparently more than the peel had fallen to the floor. Sweet, sticky fruit pulp smeared across his trousers.
"Ow... my butt..."
Clutching his aching rear, Minseong lowered his head.
Aswin helped him up, eyes sparkling.
"Doctor, that outfit really suits you. You look just like a Royal Mechanical Doll."
"What are you doing here?"
"The person you came with is really a Royal Mechanical Doll? Wow... Even in the Imperial Palace I hardly ever see them."
"Not a Royal Mechanical Doll."
"That's your brother."
"...What?"
Good grief. What a blockhead.
"The Emperor came all the way here looking for you. Actually, I only said that as an excuse, but what are the odds you'd really be here?!"
Aswin instantly turned pale.
His hands trembled.
"D-Doctor, please help me. Just until I find my sweetheart in Debia... No, just until I get on the train..."
"No."
Tears immediately welled in Aswin's eyes.
"If you head for the border right now, you'll definitely get caught."
Minseong grabbed both of Aswin's hands firmly.
After witnessing his hospital's reputation being shredded like a supermarket flash sale, there was no way he could let Aswin go.
He absolutely had to deliver Aswin's baby.
Then he would rebuild his reputation.
If the Emperor's own brother gave birth at his hospital, nobody would dare complain about security again.
Minseong glanced sideways at Tillio.
The Emperor was currently being swarmed by admirers demanding autographs, thanks to the complete misunderstanding that he was a Royal Mechanical Doll.
"Go back to my hospital right now. They already searched it once. They won't think to look there again for a while."
"M-My hospital...?"
"The last room at the end of the west corridor on the second floor. Stay there for now."
"But... how do I get back? To leave the dining room, I'd have to pass right by my brother."
"Your brother's an Alpha, right?"
"Of course."