By Zephyria 
Isaac changed the Prince’s bandages every night, and each time, the Prince would suck Isaac’s blood, claiming he needed something to replace the pain relievers.
It wasn’t pain caused by a witch’s curse, so drinking a witch’s blood shouldn’t have made the pain vanish, yet as the Prince licked the blood from the nape of Isaac’s neck and his lips, he seemed as if the pain truly did disappear. Then again, he hadn’t shown much sign of being in pain from the start.
Compared to the agony of the Dark Moon night, most pains likely didn’t even register as pain.
“…….”
Isaac, who had been holding the Prince’s shoulder as the Prince’s lips brushed his cheek and moved back down to his neck, flinched as he felt a wound beneath his hand. A bumpy scar that had not yet fully healed remained. Then, his eyes met those of the three cats perched atop the cabinet like loaves of bread.
“……Why don’t you lick it a bit……?”
The moment Isaac suggested it to help the wound heal quickly, the cats bristled their fur and shouted in unison, 「No!」 If they didn’t want to, they didn’t want to, but did they really need to tremble that much? Isaac smacked his lips with a grumbling heart.
Lately, the cats had been in a very foul mood. Rather than lately, it had been since the Great Dark Moon. Isaac had no words of excuse, as he had fallen off the Moon Fragment Ship, and they had fallen with him while trying to hold onto him. All he could do was hang his head and keep his mouth shut. 「We have to wait seven more years now」, 「Manbang is a fool」—no matter how many times they poured out the same nagging while glaring with those large eyes, Isaac just listened quietly.
‘Can’t we use that flint jar one more time? I’ll beat on it and wish for the Moon Fragment Ship to come back.’
Isaac had tried suggesting this while pointing to the flint jar the cats cherished and hugged, but seeing as they screeched 「You’ve already used your three turns!」, it seemed wishing upon the flint jar was out of the question. He had also tried saying that if he couldn’t do it, he could ask someone else, but the only response was, 「Do you think we’d let just anyone use our precious flint jar?!」 ……If one had to get into the good graces of those picky cats to use the flint jar, no one would be wishing with it for a while.
But despite this and that, those ill-tempered cats happily ate the goat meat and wine provided at every meal, and it seemed they were gradually starting to wander outside and play at their leisure.
“…….”
The Prince seemed satisfied with the blood he had drunk; he no longer showed signs of wanting more and simply caressed Isaac’s lips, cheeks, and neck with his own. Holding the Prince in his arms, Isaac looked out the window. A beautiful first-quarter moon hung in the night sky. The moon would gradually wax to become full, then wane to become a Dark Moon, then full again, then Dark Moon, cycling endlessly. Then, one day, the Moon Fragment Ship would come again.
“Do you regret it?”
The Prince asked abruptly. Isaac paused, then realized what he was asking. The Prince had noticed that Isaac was thinking of the Moon Fragment Ship while gazing at the moon.
Do you regret not being able to go to the Land of Witches?
No. Isaac did not regret not being able to go.
What remained like a shadow in Isaac’s heart was the fact that he had remained by the Prince’s side as a witch.
Every time the Prince looked at him, he would be reminded of the existence of the witch. The existence of the witch, which might have faded and been forgotten in time had he vanished from this world entirely, would be constantly recalled by him, and he would continue to remember that hatred and rage.
Even if the intense emotion he held for Isaac was great enough to cover the strong hatred for the witch, that hatred would never be forgotten; it would be continuously ruminated upon in his memory. By seeing the existence of the witch right before his eyes.
Isaac remained silent for a moment, then shook his head.
“I don’t regret it. I’m just…… a bit curious. About what it would have been like if I had become human.”
Knowing it was meaningless, he thought about the path he could not take.
What if he had become human? What if he hadn’t been a witch?
Would the Prince have hated him less?
As Isaac sank into thought, the Prince, who also seemed to think for a moment, spoke casually.
“I don’t think it would have been much different.”
“Is that so?”
The Prince nodded. Then, as if thinking it over once more, he gazed intently at Isaac before nodding again.
“I don’t think it would be very different from now.”
Isaac blinked and looked at the Prince.
He had thought that if he had become human, the parts of those intense emotions closest to hatred and rage would have softened at least a little. He wondered how wonderful that would have been.
But if it wouldn’t have been much different from now.
……Then he doesn’t hate me.
Is that intense emotion not an emotion resembling hatred?
“…….”
I hope so. If that intense emotion, enough to cover the hatred and rage toward the witch, is not hatred. If it is something entirely different—a completely different emotion.
Isaac suddenly burst into a smile. Perhaps finding Isaac’s sudden laughter strange, the Prince raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why?” Isaac shook his head.
“No, I’m just happy.”
As he spoke, he felt even happier, and Isaac smiled more deeply. The Prince’s gaze stopped at Isaac’s lips and did not leave for a while.
Isaac took the bandages from the drawer and began to change the bandages wrapped around the Prince’s body. The wounds were already closing, but he wrapped them firmly every night just in case they might burst if he moved incorrectly.
“It’s already too late, but I do regret it a bit, thinking it would have been nice to become human. Things I gave up on because I wasn’t human, I might have been able to try if I had become one.”
Isaac wrapped the bandages while carefully examining the Prince’s wounds. The wounds that had once exposed the bone were already closed. It was good that they healed quickly, but he truly wasn’t like a human. In fact, he was less human than Isaac, who wasn’t human.
“Like what?”
“Well…… a pretty house, or a pretty chicken, or a pretty……”
Isaac, who had been answering half-heartedly while checking the Prince’s wounds, barely regained his senses before the last word and shut his mouth. Come to think of it, he had once been severely reprimanded for saying something similar.
Isaac glanced up to gauge the Prince’s reaction and flinched when his eyes met the Prince’s expressionless gaze. After staring at Isaac with cool eyes for a moment, the Prince spoke.
“I will give you a pretty house and a pretty chicken.”
“…….”
“I should add that there are times when you draw out exceptionally intense emotions from me…… and from your position, that might not be a very good thing.”
“……, yes, I will keep that in mind.”
Even without that low, cold voice, even without that utterly chilling gaze, Isaac read the clear warning contained in those words. The Prince gazed at Isaac, who immediately bowed his head and answered obediently, and seemed to decide to let it slide this time. He held up his arm to Isaac, who had frozen mid-bandage. Isaac quickly began to finish wrapping the bandage around his shoulder.
“If that’s why you wanted to become human, then it’s better that you became a witch.”
The Prince said. Isaac, who was securing the bandages wrapped from the shoulder to the back, looked at the Prince with surprised eyes. To say it’s better he became a witch—he never expected to hear such words from this man.
“……. Still, if I had become human, I would have finally been able to break the Curse.”
If he hadn’t remained as a witch in this land, the Curse would have been broken by now. As Isaac muttered his lingering regret, the Prince spoke casually.
“It doesn’t matter if a Curse that has lasted hundreds of years lasts a few dozen more. Let those who have remained asleep every Dark Moon until now continue to sleep. That is none of my concern.”
“But Lord Kaieon, it must be hard for you every Dark Moon.”
“Why, when you are here?”
The Prince asked back. Isaac was momentarily speechless. ……Well, since there is a highly effective pain reliever, it should be fine. As Isaac smacked his lips bitterly, the Prince, looking down at him, tilted his head slightly.
“I suppose you don’t like having your blood sucked.”
“……. Since I’ve already sworn an oath on the River of the Moon, I’m…… accepting it as fate.”
It would be a lie to say he liked having his blood sucked. First of all, it hurt, and it was exhausting. Moreover, when the Prince drank blood during the Dark Moon, he drank as if he were intoxicated, and then Isaac’s head would grow foggy and his vision would shake due to the lack of blood.
But.
He didn’t hate it that much. No, rather, he thought it was a good thing that he could give it.
If this could make the Prince’s pain disappear, he could give as much as needed. He was glad he could do so. Even if he had to live bound by the oath sworn on the River of the Moon for the rest of his life.
The Prince gazed silently at Isaac.
Isaac also gazed back at him, unable to tell what he was thinking.
Then, suddenly, the Prince nodded, saying, “Right, it wouldn’t be right to only receive.”
“I will give you one thing you desire, whatever it may be.”
The Prince said.
Isaac stopped moving. And he just stared at the Prince. The Prince was also staring intensely at Isaac.
He would give him whatever he desired.
He had heard these words before.
Right after the Grand Coven of Witches ended, the Prince had said he would give Isaac a reward. That he would give him one thing he desired. And at that time, Isaac had said he wanted a treasure from the King’s treasury.
……But in truth,
“Will you truly give me anything?”
Isaac asked while staring at the Prince. It was the same question he had asked then. And the Prince, just as before, nodded.
“If it is something I can give.”
The same answer as then.
Isaac kept his mouth shut and just looked at the Prince in silence for a while. And the Prince waited for Isaac’s answer.
――But in truth, at that time, Isaac had wanted to ask for something else. He felt as if he were suffocating from an immense greed he hadn’t even known himself. What he had desperately wanted then was,
“……. When I went into the King’s treasury a while ago, there were many things I coveted……”
The moment Isaac muttered after a long silence, the Prince’s gaze, which had been waiting calmly, instantly turned cold. Not just cold, but desolate.
“There was something that was the most brilliant and beautiful.”
At Isaac’s words, the Prince, who had been listening silently, asked, “What is it?” Even his voice seemed to drip with ice.
Isaac looked straight at the Prince and spoke.
“I want to obtain the greatest beauty in this country.”
At that moment, the Prince’s expression froze.
A face that looked as if he had heard something unexpected—or as if he had been caught off guard.
His face, staring at Isaac without even blinking, gradually became strange. He couldn’t tell what that indescribable expression was. ……Was he angry? Had he said something too presumptuous?
“No, it was just a joke—”
“I’ll give it to you.”
Just as Isaac was about to speak, rubbing the nape of his neck, the Prince answered before he could finish. It took a moment for that short and concise answer to register in his mind.
“……. Pardon?”
“I’ll give it to you.”
“…….”
This time, Isaac’s expression froze.
It was an unexpected answer, and he was the one caught off guard.
Does this person not know who the greatest beauty in the country is yet?
To Isaac, who was momentarily lost for words in bewilderment, the Prince answered with his usual expressionless face.
“From now on, you are mine.”
“……, ……Th-thank you.”
Though he answered instinctively, Isaac felt as if they were still not communicating properly, so he just blinked and looked at the Prince for a long time. After that hesitation, Isaac asked cautiously.
“Um……, ……you know that Lord Kaieon is very handsome, right……?”
“Is there anyone more handsome than me?”
The Prince asked back in response to Isaac’s words. Faced with that confident answer, Isaac, rendered speechless, replied, “No…….” It seems he does know who the greatest beauty is.
“…….”
Is it a joke? It must be a prank. Could he be serious? He’s not the type to joke at times like this.
He couldn’t tell. However, he didn’t have the nerve to ask seriously and with a straight face if he was being sincere.
Isaac stood straight beside the Prince, clutching his head in thought internally. Whether he knew of such worries—or whether he knew and simply had no intention of resolving them—the Prince said nothing. He only watched Isaac, who was agonizing in thought, with narrowed eyes.
Suddenly, the Prince seemed to chuckle. Isaac, who had been looking down at his feet in thought, raised his head to look at him, but by then, the trace of a smile had already vanished.
Instead, the Prince lightly tapped the spot next to him on the long sofa where he was sitting. After hesitating for a moment in his capacity as a guard, Isaac obediently followed the order and sat straight beside him, and the Prince lay down sideways, using Isaac’s thigh as a pillow.
“…….”
While they had often tangled their bodies in bed with Isaac pinned beneath him, this was the first time he had lain with his legs as a pillow on a sofa.
Though slightly flustered, Isaac sat still without moving. And he looked down at the Prince, who had closed his eyes while using his leg as a pillow.
Perhaps he was nervous because it was the first time. And that tension seemed to have reached the Prince as well. With his eyes closed, the Prince lightly tapped Isaac’s thigh and spoke.
“Get used to it. This is your place.”
After saying that, as if he were truly about to fall asleep, the Prince lightly crossed his arms and did not move further.
Isaac looked down at him in silence.
Even though it was a face he knew well, as he observed every detail as if seeing it for the first time, he heard the Prince’s low and steady breathing. While listening to that sound, Isaac’s heart gradually settled.
This quiet and peaceful moment.
It was a moment that filled his heart perfectly, with nothing lacking and nothing to regret.
After gazing at him for a long time, Isaac raised his eyes to the window. Beneath the night sky where a beautiful half-moon hung, Isaac’s reflection was mirrored in the glass. And the Prince’s reflection as well.
Looking at the two figures together in one window, a certain memory suddenly came to Isaac. A thought he had once had.
He had wished that someone would be by the Prince’s side.
Someone the Prince would willingly give his side to, and someone who would willingly stand there. He had hoped there would be someone to walk with the Prince forever.
And now, looking at the two reflected side by side in the glass, Isaac suddenly felt his heart ache with a poignant longing.
……Finally.
By the side of one who had spent long, harsh, and painful times alone, finally.
“――.”
He will stay. He will continue to protect his side. As long as this person does not cast him out, he would remain by his side and never leave him alone.
And finally――I will not be alone either.
Isaac breathed deeply into his chest. His heart ached so poignantly that he felt he couldn’t endure it without breathing life into it.
Remaining still, Isaac slowly looked around. The Prince with his eyes closed on his lap, the three cats curled up and dozing off by the head of the bed, and the flint jar the cats were hugging tightly.
Looking at the things that made up this peaceful and complete moment, Isaac quietly exhaled the breath that had filled his chest and closed his eyes. And as he immersed himself in that moment, he thought.
He no longer needed a flint stone or a flint jar.
Everything he had desperately desired had been fulfilled.
[Tinder box End]
a little more
In front of the annex of Byeokyeong Palace, a chicken was walking around, nodding its head rhythmically.
A white chicken with a short, deep-pink comb was pecking at the dirt ground with its bright yellow beak. Occasionally, it flapped its wings, and every time it did, its snow-white feathers fluttered.
There were three pairs of eyes intently watching those fluttering feathers.
Three pitch-black cats perched on a tree were staring intently at the chicken strolling in front of the annex.
「He kept singing about a pretty chicken, a pretty chicken, and it really does look pretty.」
「Su-bun promised to get a pretty chicken.」
「Hmm. It looks very delicious.」
「They say a cake that looks good tastes good, too.」
The three of them stared at the chicken, drooling profusely.
The chicken was truly beautiful. From its size and plumpness to the shape, color, and size of its beak and comb, and even the texture of its pure white, fine feathers—there wasn’t a single flaw. It was so striking that even passersby would absentmindedly remark, “Oh my, what a lovely-looking chicken.”
One morning, on a day that was neither a birthday nor an anniversary, nor any special occasion at all, the Prince suddenly presented Isaac with a gift: a chicken. A beautiful chicken.
Isaac seemed a bit bewildered upon receiving it, perhaps having forgotten that he had once rambled on about wanting a beautiful chicken, but he was soon captivated by its beauty and began raising it in the front yard of the annex. Rumors quickly spread that this beautiful chicken was a gift from the Prince to the witch, and so, even when the chicken wandered beyond the annex yard and strutted right up to the Byeokyeong Palace, no one dared touch it.
Every morning, late in the forenoon, Isaac would scatter a handful of feed for the beautiful chicken, and the bird would rush toward him from afar to peck at the food eagerly. And behind them, three cats would watch that plump, luscious backside, swallowing their saliva.
However, today, the chicken—which usually carried itself with a haughty tilt of its head before Isaac fed it—had been pecking at the dirt for some time. Lunchtime had already passed, but because Isaac hadn’t scattered any feed, it was starving.
「I guess Manbang hasn’t woken up yet.」
「He slept after the sun rose this morning.」
「How is it that he sucks away life force, yet cries about being exhausted and tired as if he’s the one being drained?」
「Hmm. I think it’s because he’s too full. It’s tiring when you eat too much, right? Subun is feeding him far too much life force.」
「True, he does pour it into him until he’s bursting every time.」
The cats chattered, remarking that he truly lived up to the name ‘life source,’ but in the next instant, they snapped their mouths shut.
The beautiful chicken was passing right beneath the branch where the cats were perched.
As it waddled past directly below, the cats instinctively crouched low, their hindquarters twitching. Glaring at the chicken while salivating, the cats finally couldn’t resist and leaped from the tree the moment the chicken suddenly turned, its tail feathers fluttering.
Just as the cats’ sharp forepaws were about to pin down the chicken’s nape,
“Do not touch it.”
A low voice echoed.
Simultaneously, the cats quickly retracted their claws and stepped aside nonchalantly, as if they had never done anything at all.
The Prince, who had walked out of the annex with slow steps, leaving his own Byeokyeong Palace behind, seemed to have just woken up; he gave his neck a couple of languid shakes, picked up the feed bin sitting by the annex window, and scattered feed for the chicken. The chicken, which had been uselessly pecking at the dirt, hopped over excitedly and began to eat.
The three cats, who had been eyeing the bird with predatory intent, also scampered off excitedly when the Prince, turning a disinterested gaze toward them, told a passing servant to bring goat meat and wine.
「Subun might be a bit mean, but he’s quite admirable in how he serves us.」
「Right. He might not let us eat the chicken, but he gives us plenty of goat meat.」
「Exactly. Even if Subun bullies Manbang a bit, he’s generous with the wine.」
The three of them chattered away as they dove into the mountain of goat meat served on a large platter.
From a spot where the cats and the chicken were visible, the Prince, sitting at the outdoor table in front of the annex, stretched his arms long. Though he seemed languid, he looked full and satisfied.
Just then, a man emerged from the direction of Byeokyeong Palace and walked toward the annex. Seeing the Prince on the way, he approached immediately, as if he had business with him from the start. The Prince glanced at him from the corner of his eye and acknowledged him with a mere flicker of his gaze.
“I came to pay my respects since I was in the capital for a relative’s wedding.”
The man, speaking with a frontier accent and bowing his head, was Rihan. He was a man the Prince saw only once or twice a year since he lived in the far reaches of the border, but the Prince simply nodded and indifferently looked away. Rihan, already knowing the Prince was such a person, nonchalantly pulled up a chair beside him and sat down.
“Did you just wake up?”
Rihan asked in a curious tone, watching the man crack his neck left and right with a languid air. The Prince was typically not one to sleep much, and even if he went to bed late, he usually woke early. It was rare for him to oversleep until this hour.
The Prince merely gave a simple nod. Rihan, looking at the Prince as if something were strange, suddenly stopped his gaze at a certain spot. There were bite marks near the Prince’s shoulder and handprints on his forearm. The marks were vivid, appearing as though they had occurred recently.
“…….”
Rihan stared at the marks for a moment, then turned his head without saying a word. He tilted his head as he happened to look at the cats.
“Is that goat meat? Do you feed cats such expensive food?”
Rihan asked if it was possible to feed cats something that even wealthy households only occasionally ate as a delicacy, even in the Royal Palace. The Prince replied nonchalantly.
“Because they are the ones that fellow likes.”
“……. Ah, yes.”
Rihan nodded without asking who ‘that fellow’ was. He glanced at the Prince as if witnessing something truly bizarre, but he said nothing. Perhaps because it wasn’t the first time he’d seen such things, he wasn’t even that surprised.
“……. Do you raise that chicken here as well? It’s quite beautiful.”
“Because that fellow said he wanted to raise a beautiful chicken.”
Again, the Prince replied indifferently, and after a short silence, Rihan only answered, “Ah, yes.” The fact that he didn’t speak unnecessarily was the biggest reason he had managed to keep his limbs and life intact despite staying by the Prince’s side for quite some time.
Nevertheless, Rihan eventually managed to say,
“You seem to… um… treat that witch quite well.”
He simply couldn’t endure the strangeness. At least as far as Rihan knew, the Prince had never treated anyone this way. Beyond treating a person this way, he had never—especially not—treated someone’s pet this way—at that moment, it felt as if a voice shouted from somewhere, 「He’s not a pet!」—and even more surprising, the youth was a witch.
The Prince, watching the animals with a languid expression, spoke calmly.
“I can do things up to this line.”
Up to this line. It seemed he was drawing a boundary at a certain point.
Rihan, who had never seen even ‘this line’ to begin with, became curious about what that line was, but as expected, he did not ask.
Just then, the door to the annex opened and Isaac stepped out. Appearing as if he had just woken up, he widened his eyes in surprise upon seeing Rihan.
“Oh, it’s been a while. What brings you to the capital?”
“I came for a relative’s wedding and stopped by to say hello.”
After greeting Rihan, Isaac headed to retrieve the chicken feed bin from the annex window, but he stopped when he noticed the chicken was already pecking at feed over there. It seemed he had intended to lounge longer but got up to feed the chicken.
Rihan silently watched Isaac as he perched on the opposite chair. Wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts instead of pajamas, Isaac’s exposed limbs were in a disastrous state. Between bite marks, handprints, and bruises, it was hard to find a spot that was unscathed.
「I guess Manbang got his blood sucked again. Look at those bite marks. It’s not even the Dark Moon, why is he sucking the life out of him?」
「Subun always likes sucking things. Even when he’s not drinking blood, he’s always sucking on his lips, skin, chest, and… thingy.」
「He should just eat him whole, just eat him.」
「He can’t. If he eats any more than now, Manbang will die.」
The three cats, chattering among themselves, soon became grumpy. They narrowed their eyes—though they were so large it hardly showed—and stared blankly at the Prince.
「Subun serves us devotedly by giving us goat meat every meal… but sometimes it’s just a bit…」
「Hmm… I feel that way too.」
While looking back and forth between Isaac and the Prince with eyes full of disapproval, the three continued to eat and drink, remarking, 「Still, the goat meat is innocent.」
Meanwhile, Rihan, who had truly only stopped by to say hello and had no intention of staying long, rose from his seat.
“Then I shall take my leave. I plan to stay in the capital for about fifteen days, so please call for me if you need anything.”
Beside the Prince, who gave a barely perceptible nod, Isaac also stood up to say goodbye.
“Fifteen days is quite a long time. You’ll be bored.”
“No, not really. I’ll take walks, go fishing… time flies when you do that.”
“Fishing… .”
Realizing he hadn’t gone fishing in a long while, Isaac murmured to himself and then asked Rihan.
“Are you going alone?”
“Probably.”
“Then let’s go together. I’ve wanted to go fishing for the first time in a while too. It’ll be less boring with two people than one.”
“Sure, that sounds goo—”
However, Rihan, who had been speaking casually, stopped mid-sentence.
It was because his eyes met those of the Prince, who was looking at him askew from the chair. Rihan, frozen for a moment under that chilling gaze, turned back to Isaac and spoke nonchalantly.
“No, come to think of it, I prefer fishing alone for contemplation, so going together might not be a good idea.”
I see. This was the ‘line.’ I almost crossed it.
Rihan, whose intuition had become ghost-like through years of life on the battlefield, broke into a cold sweat internally, but showed no sign of it externally.
“Then it can’t be helped. That’s a shame.”
Rihan didn’t particularly respond to Isaac’s disappointed words. He felt that no matter what he said, now was the time to withdraw. Instead of replying to Isaac, he bowed deeply to the Prince to conclude his greeting and turned away.
Watching Rihan walk away with wide strides, Isaac murmured, “It’s a shame he left so soon after we met,” and sat back down in the chair. Isaac, meeting the gaze of the Prince who had been staring at him intently, gave a puzzled look, and after a short pause, the Prince shook his head as if it were nothing.
As Isaac leaned back long in the chair and stretched, the three cats were chewing goat meat, exchanging bleak glances at his feet.
「Looks like he’s going to get his life force devoured again tonight.」
「Yesterday too, he spent the night talking and playing with that former colleague, and in the end, his life force was devoured all night long.」
「Manbang can’t see that pitch-black aura emanating from Subun?」
This kid is truly lacking… The three of them briefly turned their gaze toward Isaac. The Prince watched with an expressionless face as Isaac tapped his waist, as if the fatigue from being tormented until sunrise hadn’t worn off. Isaac seemed unaware that the expressionless face had become faintly colder than before.
The three turned their heads back and sighed in unison.
「Sometimes Manbang pretends to be clever, but in the end, he’s just airheaded.」
「That’s why he got on the Moon Fragment Ship and ended up captured by that man.」
「I told him to throw it away, throw it away!」
The cat cried out in indignation, but soon returned to chewing the meat, saying, 「But the goat meat is innocent.」
Meanwhile, Isaac was looking happily at the beautiful chicken pecking at feed beyond the three cats huddled next to the meat platter. In truth, raising a chicken hadn’t been his dream, nor did the chicken necessarily have to be beautiful; he simply wanted to live happily in a beautiful house with a beautiful lover, raising animals.
But the Prince had actually provided a beautiful chicken, and as Isaac raised it in the elegant annex that was now as much his home as anyone’s, he suddenly realized that what he had wished for had come true.
“I couldn’t ask for more. I have a beautiful annex, a beautiful chicken, and a beautiful…”
Looking at the chicken with narrowed eyes and unconsciously murmuring to himself, Isaac suddenly stopped mid-sentence. For some reason, he felt a bit shy about saying it all the way, even if it was just to himself.
“…I have everything.”
Isaac ended up murmuring with a small chuckle.
It was a pleasant day.
Although his body was extremely languid from being held too excessively by the Prince last night—or more accurately, until this morning—the sunlight was lovely, the chicken was pretty, the three cats were eating well, and the Prince was sitting beside him.
Isaac let out a contented sigh and closed his eyes. He liked the feeling of the warm sunlight touching his eyelids.
Behind him, the Prince seemed to raise an eyebrow slightly. His eyes softened ever so faintly as he silently watched Isaac whisper that he had everything.
「…Looks like Subun’s mood has improved a bit.」
「True. The black stuff has subsided a bit.」
「I’ll bet one meal’s worth of goat meat that he’ll devour a massive amount of life force tonight.」
「Then I’ll bet one meal’s worth of wine that Manbang will cling to him at dawn, sobbing and begging to be let sleep.」
「I told him he should have thrown it away when I said so! Why did he pick up such a thing!」
The cats began whispering again. Clicking their tongues, the three looked back at Isaac, staring blankly at him lounging comfortably in the chair with the Prince sitting beside him.
After staring for a long while, one cat let out a deep sigh.
「Well… if Manbang likes it, what can we do. We just have to leave them be,」 it murmured, then moved away from the emptying meat platter to lap up the wine, saying, 「I should just drink more wine.」
[Fin]
a little bit more
Prince Kaieon used to leave the capital once every couple of months.
Although it had decreased significantly compared to the past, monsters still appeared in the outskirts or border regions. When monsters appeared that the border soldiers could not handle on their own, he would set out to eliminate them and return.
During the hot season when monsters were most active, it was almost every month; during the cold season when they were relatively dormant, it was once every three or four months. It varied, but usually, each expedition took him away from the capital for a week to fifteen days.
During that time, Isaac waited for Kaieon in the annex of Byeokyeong Palace.
In the beginning, Kaieon, who always took Isaac with him wherever he went, had brought him to the battlefield. However, after Isaac suffered a severe burn from a sudden monster attack that he couldn’t avoid, Kaieon began leaving him behind at Byeokyeong Palace.
Upon returning from an expedition, Kaieon went to Isaac first, even before reporting to his father, the King.
The King was generous toward Kaieon’s attitude, despite some whispering that it was impudent. This was because the atmosphere surrounding Kaieon was entirely different when he visited the King first versus when he stopped by Isaac’s first before seeking the King.
Last time, Kaieon had returned from the battlefield a few days earlier than expected, and since Isaac hadn’t known he was returning, he had gone to town and was away. Naturally, Kaieon went straight to the King first, but having just returned from slaughtering monsters, his aura was so terrifying and precarious that the King had been restless.
At that time, the King had quite generously commanded, ‘Ahem, from now on, when you return to the capital, check first if everything is well in your palace. Taking care of one’s own people is the most important thing for a monarch.’ Since then, no one complained even if Kaieon, after a long journey, went to his palace first and spent a night there before visiting the King.
Thus, on this day as well, Kaieon went straight to the annex of Byeokyeong Palace as soon as he returned from the border.
As he always did when returning from afar, Kaieon shut himself in the annex with Isaac for a full day, and only finally emerged around lunch the next day. Leaving Isaac, who had fallen into a deep, exhausted sleep buried in the bed, Kaieon stepped out of the bedroom to prepare for the audience. He was expressionless as usual, but the air surrounding him was warm. A maid, noticing this, whispered while helping him dress.
“Lord Isaac seemed quite lonely while Your Highness was away. He would occasionally sigh and mutter to himself, ‘I am lonely…’ Sometimes he would even shut himself in the annex bedroom, saying he was depressed. Of course, it didn’t last long—he’d be like that for a few hours and then quickly return to normal, so there is no need to worry.”
While Kaieon was away, the maid detailed everything Isaac had been up to. Although the Prince’s expression remained unchanged as he listened, Rihan—who had been serving him as a confidant for a long time and had happened to visit to report matters regarding the capital—could feel the air surrounding the Prince soften.
Rihan had seen it several times before, but it never ceased to amaze him.
The Prince had always seemed frozen from the center of his heart, perpetually bored. He was a man who felt like a living blade; Rihan had believed he was merely wearing a human skin and could never truly be human. To see that man become so calm was staggering.
Looking at this, Isaac must be a witch. Isaac was surely a witch unlike any other in the world, having cast some incredible spell on the Prince.
Admiring this inwardly, Rihan followed Kaieon to an audience with the King to offer his greetings. After finishing a few tasks in the afternoon, he planned to return to his own quarters.
No matter how calm he had become, the Prince was still the Prince. The King, who viewed his own son with a mixture of awe and avoidance, kept the audience short. Naturally, Kaieon headed back toward the annex. He seemed more like a resident of that annex than of his own palace, the Byeokyeong Palace.
However, just as he left the main palace and entered the garden leading to the Byeokyeong Palace.
“Your Highness, I have something urgent to tell you.”
A short man shrouded in a black robe appeared from nowhere and approached Kaieon, bowing his head and speaking in a low voice. He was a Court Mage.
Flustered by Kaieon, who passed him by indifferently without so much as a glance, the mage followed behind and spoke with a more serious tone.
“It is a matter of great importance. Your Highness must be aware of this.”
Kaieon still did not look back. He had always disliked mages. To come and speak to him without a formal request for an audience—in the past, such an act would have resulted in the man’s head being severed.
Even if he has become calmer, if he says one more word, his head will fly off… Just as Rihan was thinking this, sure enough, when the mage spoke for the third time, saying, “Your Highness,” Kaieon gripped the hilt of his sword, his face remaining expressionless. Ah, a fearless and clueless fool has appeared; looks like we’ll be cleaning up a corpse, Rihan thought.
“The witch in the annex is betraying Your Highness’s grace.”
The mage shouted urgently in a hushed voice, as if reporting an act of treason, and the hand gripping the sword hilt paused.
Simultaneously, Kaieon stopped walking.
Kaieon turned around with a blank expression. The mage glanced at the hand gripping the sword and bowed his head, breaking into a cold sweat.
“I often visit the Byeokyeong Palace while maintaining the barrier that protects the Royal Palace. Especially when Lord Kaieon is away, I must strengthen the defenses, so I visit frequently… and in doing so, I discovered something.”
Speaking in a low voice lest anyone overhear, the mage quickly led the way. Kaieon silently followed him.
After taking a long detour to reach the annex of the Byeokyeong Palace, the mage pointed to a silver ornament attached as a protective charm at the corner of the annex’s backyard. The charm, which should have shone with a polished silver light, had turned a murky black.
“This is evidence that an evil spell was cast inside this building. Looking at the traces of soot, it wasn’t just once or twice. This mark here looks freshly carved, so he likely used magic very recently.”
The mage whispered with a tense expression, glancing around as if exposing a secret and sinister plot.
“So, I made a plausible excuse to enter the annex. The witch seemed uneasy while I was inspecting the place, and when I asked to look into his bedroom, he jumped and showed extreme reluctance.”
Rihan, listening with growing tension, glanced at Kaieon, who remained silent and expressionless.
It didn’t seem like the mage was lying, but if those words were true, it was certainly strange.
With Isaac’s easygoing personality, he wasn’t the type to act like a sheltered maiden, crying, ‘How could you possibly enter my bedroom?!’ Even if he were bathing in the tub, if someone came and said they needed to handle some business for a moment, he was the type to readily say, ‘Yes, go ahead,’ and continue what he was doing.
“Still, I told him it was necessary for security and went inside, and there… I found traces of magic! Upon closer inspection, it seemed he used teleportation magic; he likely used it to secretly enter and leave some other place.”
The moment he heard the mage’s words, Rihan recalled what the maid had said earlier.
That he occasionally sighed about being lonely, or would shut himself in the annex bedroom for hours, saying he was depressed.
Isaac didn’t leave the palace very often. Since he was a witch, he was always monitored when leaving. (Though it was less because he was a witch and more because the Prince wanted to know his every move.) Still, he wasn’t forbidden from going out, so he occasionally went out for a drink with old colleagues or friends.
And yet, to use magic to sneak out behind everyone’s back—why?
“And… it is a bit awkward to mention this… but after that, I intentionally visited again when the witch had locked his bedroom door and was inside. I knocked several times, but there was no sign of anyone. Only after a long while did the witch open the door, looking flustered, and… well…”
The mage, lowering his voice further, hesitated before whispering.
“His face seemed faintly flushed… and there was a scent similar to night-blooming jasmine…”
As the mage muttered that he looked as if he had just finished a carnal act, he saw Kaieon’s tightly closed lips twitch and a vein pop on his temple, and he hurriedly prostrated himself.
“Forgive me, Your Highness! But it is no lie. I simply feared that the evil witch might betray the grace of Your Highness’s favor and commit some wicked deed in secret while Your Highness was away from the capital… I wondered if he was using teleportation to meet Your Highness, but if so, there would be no reason to do it in secret, nor could he travel that far due to the barrier surrounding the Royal Palace. Of course, I do not know where the witch goes or what he does. Surely, the witch would not do something so audacious, but since witches are known to be lewd and evil, I was simply concerned for Your Highness…”
A sinister aura erupted instantly.
It had been a long time since the air had felt so pricklingly sharp in the silence. It was a chilling sensation that Rihan had rarely felt even in the middle of a battlefield teeming with monsters.
Rihan shrank back, holding his breath, seized by shock.
The witch? That Isaac? Surely…?
However, witches were a race that could not be trusted. They were the kind of people who would smile sweetly and coax you in front of you, only to stab you in the back and cackle. They were born cunning, wicked, and lewd.
Although Isaac had never shown such a side, the blood flowing through his veins was still that of a witch. One could never know a person’s true heart, let alone a witch’s.
Moreover, hadn’t the maid mentioned it earlier?
That the witch felt desolate and lonely while Kaieon was away. That when he emerged after being shut in the annex for hours, he returned to his usual self.
And, perhaps suspicion was breeding more suspicion, but Kaieon had mentioned something in passing recently.
The Prince, whose physical and mental state would become abysmal during every Dark Moon, making everyone around him tremble, had recently been in a good mood after the Dark Moon passed. When asked why, Kaieon had said, ‘Witches tend to have strong sexual desires. Especially during the Dark Moon when their power grows. He was less so when he was a half-breed, but after becoming a Pureblood Witch, his body becomes far more sensitive and his desires more rampant as the Dark Moon approaches.’
Thinking of that…
A witch with rampant desires, left alone in the capital, to soothe his loneliness and desolation…
Rihan gasped as his thoughts reached that point.
Beside him, a terrifyingly cold aura was swirling, so fierce that Rihan was afraid to even look back.
“Ka-Kaieon, my Lord. We do not yet know the actual truth. Please, stay calm.”
When Rihan barely managed to speak, summoning all his courage, Kaieon glanced at him. That alone made Rihan’s heart sink.
“Whatever the truth is, the fact remains that he is hiding something from me.”
Something unfamiliar was flickering at the bottom of that coldly sunken voice.
It was anxiety.
Rihan couldn’t believe it.
Anxiety. This man. The man who feared nothing in the world.
As soon as Kaieon returned to the annex after dismissing the mage, Isaac sensed his mood with uncanny accuracy.
Isaac, walking out of bed with messy hair, greeted Kaieon with a sleepy face, then paused and asked.
“Did you hear something bad about me, Your Highness?”
No, that couldn’t be, Isaac answered himself, tilting his head. Kaieon looked down at him intently and spoke.
“Is there anything you’re hiding from me?”
“Me?”
Isaac blinked with a bewildered expression.
What could there be to hide? As he blinked and searched his mind, looking up into the air, his careless face didn’t seem like that of someone who could deceive others and do wicked things behind their backs.
Then, for one single moment, a very brief instant.
A flash of panic crossed that gap-filled face.
Though he wiped the expression away quickly, Isaac had definitely been flustered.
“Uh, that… was I caught…? The wine Lord Kaieon specially got for me to drink—I played a card game with the cats and lost, so I gave it to them… I’m sorry. I lost the precious wine you went through the trouble of getting…”
As Isaac apologized, shrinking his shoulders, the sounds of cats—Meow? Meow-meow? Meow-meow-meow?—and the pitter-patter of small paws running across the ceiling could be heard. As always, they were quite boisterous.
Isaac seemed to often make bets with those cats. Or rather, it seemed there was always some kind of stake involved. When Isaac lost, he usually gave them top-grade A++ goat meat or the extremely precious wine Kaieon had bestowed upon him; Rihan wasn’t sure what the cats gave him when they lost.
Although Isaac had quickly made an excuse, Rihan had clearly seen that brief look of dismay. If Rihan had seen it, then surely the Prince had as well…
Rihan glanced sideways at Kaieon. Kaieon stared at Isaac for a moment, then simply nodded without saying anything. He did not press Isaac further or interrogate him, and smoothly moved on to another topic.
On this particular day, Isaac seemed to be unconsciously reading Kaieon’s mood; while he acted as usual, there was a certain cautiousness to him. He pretended to be nonchalant, but he seemed to have something on his conscience.
Similarly, seeing Kaieon, who seemed similar to usual but was quieter than other times and appeared to be deep in thought, Rihan inwardly trembled, sinking into anxiety and sadness.
Although Rihan had long served by Kaieon’s side as a fearless warrior, he was a delicate and warm-hearted man inside. He feared and revered his lord, but at the same time, he wanted his lord to be happy.
Therefore, although he was a witch, Rihan had been surprised yet pleased to see Kaieon showing different sides of himself after taking the fairly kind and decent young man, Isaac, by his side…
Oh, God, please have mercy on that witch.
Offering a futile prayer in his heart, Rihan finished his meal feeling as if he were sitting on a bed of thorns. When only he and Kaieon remained to discuss work, he cautiously spoke up.
“If Isaac… if that witch… did something bad…”
Rihan liked that witch.
Though he hadn’t seen him often, he was a kind and sincere young man. He had even achieved great merit during the legendary witch purge years ago. From the witches’ perspective, he might be called a traitor.
Rihan recalled Isaac’s sorrowful eyes as he looked over the dying witches. He was a young man who had possessed both witch and human blood, grieving for the pain of both.
Though he was now a Pureblood Witch, Rihan couldn’t imagine him doing something bad behind Kaieon’s back while living peacefully in a small annex, raising chickens and bickering with cats. I’m actually quite good at judging people…
However, the mage would not have risked his own life to frame Isaac. He might have snitched to gain merit, but knowing Kaieon’s personality, he wouldn’t have made up a story from thin air.
“If he did something behind my back.”
Kaieon muttered.
Rihan’s spine chilled at the terrifyingly cold voice.
“I shall bind him with chains of pure silver. He will not be able to leave the annex for the rest of his life, and he shall meet no one but me.”
Yes, perhaps that’s for the best; I wasn’t particularly fond of him wandering around freely, Kaieon muttered to himself, as if it were a joke or a serious thought. …It sounded like a joke, but it was serious.
Rihan looked at Kaieon in disbelief.
To not eliminate a betrayer—it was unthinkable. He would never have believed it if he hadn’t heard it with his own ears. This was a man who had killed favorites and subordinates without a shred of regret for the smallest mistakes.
“No matter what happens, that witch is mine. If my possession is touched by another—I will tear that person to shreds and lock my witch away forever. So that only I may see him.”
The low voice was chillingly cold and resolute.
At the same time, those words were steeped in a pain that felt like a curse.
Rihan looked at Kaieon and then bowed his head.
At least that witch’s life will be spared, he thought, feeling relieved yet experiencing a sharp pang in a corner of his heart.
It was a few weeks later when Kaieon set out for the frontier again.
His hand in slaughtering monsters was particularly vicious this time. Everyone whispered and kept their distance, saying it felt as if the Prince had returned to the person he was before all the witches had vanished from the world; his momentum was terrifying and eerie.
Rihan, who had been called as reinforcements, felt as if he were facing the old Kaieon after a long time. He was as scary and brave as ever, but he felt much more desolate and distant, as if he were behind a ten-thousand-year-old wall of ice.
Please, let it not be true. Please, let that witch not have betrayed him.
‘Lord Kaieon has been a bit strange lately. If you ask how he’s strange, I can’t really put my finger on it… but he hardly speaks, and when he stares at people, his expression is heavy. I wonder if something upset him… It would be nice if he didn’t keep it to himself and told me.’
Just before the expedition, Isaac, who had bumped into Rihan in the garden, had chattered away.
‘Sigh… I just wish he could be at peace now… Please take good care of our Lord Kaieon even while you’re away. In my heart, I want to go too, but he won’t let me go to the battlefield.’
As he said this and sighed gloomily, Isaac seemed sincere, without any sign of hiding anything. Rihan almost said something to Isaac but held it back.
After the mage’s report, Rihan had carefully investigated further. The more he looked into it, the clearer it became that while Kaieon was away, Isaac had secretly used teleportation magic to go somewhere, and whenever he did, he returned looking refreshed and polished, as if he had relieved a built-up desire.
In such a situation, Kaieon had remained silent and then set out on his next expedition—
And right now, he had secretly returned home three days earlier than the date he had reported to the capital.
Following the notification of the Court Mage who had been secretly monitoring the area, Prince Kaieon burst into the annex. The bedroom door was locked.
Despite reports that Isaac had entered and locked the door, there was no sign of anyone inside.
CRASH!!
When Kaieon shattered the heavy bedroom door handle with a single kick and entered the room, sure enough, there was no one there.
No, to be precise, there were signs of being startled. One, two, three small presences jumping up in surprise.
A bluish light was emanating from inside the bedroom. A large, pitch-black hole flickered like a shadow on one part of the wall, surrounded by a sinister, wavering blue glow.
Three cats sat before that black hole, which looked like some sort of ominous portal; upon seeing the sudden intruders, they leaped up in surprise and scrambled about.
Kaieon swiftly snatched up the creatures as they meowed and hopped here and there, gripping all three of their necks in his two hands at once. Trapped in his firm grasp, the creatures rolled their large eyes anxiously.
“Cats. Where is my witch? Take me to where my witch is.”
Kaieon spoke.
The cats continued to meow, rolling their eyes as if pretending not to know, pretending not to understand, or pretending to deny it, but as he tightened his grip as if he were about to strangle them, they widened their eyes, unable to breathe properly.
“I have never spoken empty words, you monsters. So listen well. If you do not take me to where my witch is immediately, before I count to three, I will lock you in silver cages for the rest of your lives and feed you nothing but crow meat and rotten water.”
The cats’ eyes grew twice as large. Rihan was inwardly surprised that those eyes could possibly get any larger, while Kaieon, ignoring the sounds they made as if trying to make excuses, counted steadily, neither too slow nor too fast.
“One. Two. Th—”
The moment the final number was about to leave his lips, the vision before them wavered.
The pitch-black hole flickering like a shadow on the wall suddenly expanded as if opening its mouth and swallowed them instantly.
Their vision went dark, as if they had been eaten by the belly of a monster.
In a bizarre sensation where the air was sticky and heavy, pressing down on their entire bodies, and everything seemed to shake so violently that they couldn’t tell which way was up or down, or whether they were lying down or hanging upside down, they couldn’t even tell how time was passing.
After being trapped in that grotesque space for perhaps a fleeting moment, or perhaps an eternity.
At some point, they were standing in a space as silent as a grave, as if nothing had happened.
A vast interior with an impossibly high ceiling and a far-off opposite wall.
A place that was dazzlingly brilliant despite having no lamps lit and no windows.
“This place is…”
Rihan murmured, bewildered.
Treasures overflowed everywhere. Gold and silver treasures were piled up to the top of the ceiling, and there were spheres that lit themselves, winged shoes, and spinning wheels that spun golden thread; strange and wonderful things glittered wherever the eye landed.
It was the King’s treasure vault.
The place he had heard so much about in rumors.
The King, who cherished his treasures, would have leaped up and trembled in his beard if he knew, but they had stepped right into the innermost sanctuary, protected by layers of locked doors and dozens of soldiers.
「He finally came, he did.」
「Manbang is innocent, so he’ll take his anger out on us poor souls. What shall we do?」
「It can’t be helped. It’s better than a life of filling our bellies with crow meat and rotten water.」
Then, a humming sound was heard from somewhere very close.
Rihan flinched upon discovering three house-sized tigers crouching beside them. The creatures, who had been grumbling with sullen and dissatisfied expressions, quickly shut their mouths when Kaieon looked at them.
In the ensuing deathly silence, Kaieon shifted his gaze.
It was a place where there should have been no people, yet there was a faint sign of a human presence further inside.
The mage and Rihan followed behind Kaieon, muffling their footsteps as he walked quietly in that direction.
After passing a few pillars of gold and silver that soared to the ceiling, they found the person they were looking for.
Isaac was standing some distance away.
He was walking slowly, looking around the vault with an enchanted expression.
Right, come to think of it, they said witches love sparkly things. But wasn’t he going to meet someone…? What is he doing here? Could he be stealing…?
Isaac was gazing at the various treasures as if dazzled. Occasionally, he stroked a golden calf or fiddled with a jeweled crown, but there was no sign of theft. He was simply looking at them with an enchanted gaze.
Then, as if shaking off his lingering attachment, Isaac suddenly shook his head and strode toward one spot. He stopped as if he had reached his destination.
It was in front of a heavy golden chest of drawers. Upon it sat a mirror. A large, tray-like mirror with a bronze frame.
Is that it? Does he use that as a magical medium to summon people?
Rihan held his breath. He shrank back, feeling as if a chill was emanating from Kaieon, who stood beside him.
Just then.
Isaac stroked the mirror. Gently, as if caressing it, he whispered softly.
“Mirror, mirror. Who is the most beautiful person in the world…?”
The moment the low incantation fell from the witch’s lips.
The mirror began to glow faintly. The mirror, which seemed to blur as if fogged over, cleared up shortly after, and the person reflected in it was—
“…”
Though they were far apart, it was unmistakably clear. That dazzling blonde hair, those sculpted features, those jade-like eyes.
Rihan, frozen and unable to breathe properly, shifted only his eyes to glance at the man standing beside him.
Prince Kaieon.
The greatest beauty in this land.
There stood a man who could undoubtedly overwhelm anyone in terms of appearance. And that man was fixing his gaze on the mirror Isaac was facing. On his own face, reflected within.
「He has a face that makes you want to feed him a poison apple.」
「Let’s feed him one! Feed him a poison apple and tear him away from Manbang!」
「It’s useless. Even if it’s a corpse lying in a glass coffin, if the face is pretty, Manbang would probably kiss it.」
「That’s true. He’s the one who ruined his life over a pretty face. Just because he ruined it once doesn’t mean he can’t ruin it twice.」
「Even so, surely our Manbang isn’t a necrophil—」
The loud humming sounds from the side stopped as if doused with cold water the moment the clink of Kaieon gripping the hilt of his sword echoed.
No one said a word. No one even budged. In that silence where one could hear a pin drop, only Isaac, oblivious to everything, stared into the mirror as if entranced.
Eventually, a long sigh was heard.
“Ah… he really is beautiful no matter how much I look… how can he be this beautiful…”
Isaac, murmuring like a moan, carefully caressed the mirror. Though there could be no tactile sensation to an image reflected in a mirror, he stroked it as if it were precious. The image, captured like a painting, was moving vividly inside the mirror. Truly, it was the King’s treasure. It was so vivid it felt as if the real person were before him. He had heard it was a mirror stolen from a Queen Consort of some snowy country after feeding her a poison apple to kill her…
After staring and stroking the mirror for a long time, Isaac whispered at one point.
“Please come back soon. I miss you.”
He whispered it so softly that no one would hear, then blushed on his own.
Then, clicking his tongue, he let out a self-deprecating sigh, saying, “Honestly, I only have to endure a few more days.”
After that, as if leaning in stealthily, Isaac kissed the mirror.
Softly, with affection.
Several times, without even noticing the blue eyes staring intently at him.
Meanwhile, Isaac’s breath slowly grew heated.
“Ah, seriously, please come back before the Dark Moon…”
Desire lingered in the voice that murmured like a lament. Come to think of it, the Dark Moon was almost here. The night when witches become as vibrant as if intoxicated was just around the corner.
Even from a distance, it was visible that Isaac’s complexion was flushing and desire was flickering as he kissed the mirror repeatedly. Lust seeped into his low breaths.
Kyaaaang! I didn’t want to come here because I didn’t want to see this! I ruined my eyes before, and now I’ve ruined them again! The humming sounds whispered once more.
Then.
Kaieon took a step.
By the time Isaac, noticing the presence of him walking relentlessly toward him, turned around in shock, Kaieon had already reached him.
“—! Ka—”
Before Isaac, with wide eyes, could even properly open his mouth, Kaieon grabbed Isaac’s forearm and pulled him away from the mirror. And without giving him a moment to breathe, Kaieon bit into Isaac’s lips.
“You wicked witch.”
Kaieon murmured lowly, as if grinding his teeth, and kissed him again as if he couldn’t bear even that short interval. Simultaneously with a rough and fierce kiss, as if to devour him, Kaieon’s hand dove downward. Isaac gasped as his genitals, which had been slowly heating up, were gripped.
“Every time I am gone, you sneak in here,”
“—”
“And use me as a snack? While emitting such an alluring scent?”
“Kaie-on-nim, when did you ret—”
“Tell me.”
Kaieon gripped the chin of the bewildered Isaac and looked down at him. Under that terrifying gaze, Isaac’s eyes wandered frantically before he finally slumped his shoulders.
“I don’t always do this… I heard that in the King’s treasure vault, there is a mirror that reflects the most beautiful person in the world, so I originally just wanted to see the face… just to see Kaieon-nim’s face… But unfortunately, because the Dark Moon is approaching… I am sorry.”
Looking at Isaac, who was stammering as if making excuses with a flushed face, Kaieon swallowed a low breath. Then, he pulled Isaac closer, biting his lips and neck, and ripped off the buttons that were firmly fastened up to his throat.
Kaieon’s rough touch was uncharacteristically urgent. He climbed atop him fiercely as if to devour Isaac whole, suppressing even the slightest resistance.
As if something he had been barely suppressing had been released in an instant.
As if he had been suddenly freed from that unfamiliar knot of anxiety, anger, and pain.
Soon, hot breaths mingled. A startled cry was quickly swallowed and disappeared.
And—
「See, I told you. He’s going to ruin his life over a pretty face.」
「Tsk tsk, he ran over so excitedly, even offering wine the moment he heard about the mirror.」
The humming sounds echoed overhead.
Three tigers had climbed onto the golden chest of drawers where the mirror had been and were looking down.
Kaieon, who had momentarily stopped moving under those glaring eyes, lifted his head. After making eye contact with the mage and Rihan, who were frozen like statues, he looked at the three creatures last.
Fierce words fell from Kaieon’s mouth.
“If you do not disappear with them this instant, the crow meat and rotten water—”
Before those words could even finish, the quick-witted cats let out a loud, wailing weeeeeng.
And.
Rihan, and the Court Mage, found themselves suddenly standing alone in the bedroom of the annex.
The pitch-black portal that had flickered like a shadow on the bedroom wall had vanished without a trace.
Beside them, only the three cats were hopping around.
Rihan, standing dazed as if waking from a dream, locked eyes with the mage. The mage, who had also been blinking for a moment, eventually shrugged his shoulders awkwardly.
“I didn’t expect this… I truly thought the witch had done something suspicious… But how on earth are those two going to get out…”
The mage, who had been stammering as if making excuses, hurriedly left, saying he should quickly go tip off the keeper of the treasure vault. Perhaps thinking that was the only way to avoid being punished later, his hurried footsteps were very fast.
Rihan, left alone in that spot, stood blankly for a long time before eventually letting out a weak, hollow laugh. Then, he slid down into a nearby chair. Once the heart that had been frozen in tension relaxed, his legs gave out as well.
Either way, it’s a relief. Truly a relief.
That anxiety and pain suppressed beneath that expressionless face. He didn’t want to see such a thing again.
Rihan let out a long sigh, recalling that unfamiliar face of his lord, which he had never even imagined.
It really was for the best. That they were living together like that.
“…! …!!”
Isaac had been squirming beneath Kaieon for a while now. Sobbing moans were flowing out endlessly, but they were devoured by Kaieon as soon as they emerged, so no sound escaped.
The clothes stripped off and scattered beneath the two were already a mess, crumpled and damp. The hems were already soaked, splashing every time their bodies shook, but the desire overflowing continuously above them showed no sign of stopping.
How much time had passed? How many times had desire exploded and exploded again?
“I thought I would finally be able to lock you away this time,”
Biting Isaac’s cheek, Kaieon growled lowly.
Isaac didn’t seem to even understand the sound he heard in his ear. The member that had been thrusting and entering his body without leaving for a single moment, forcing him open, continued to drive and enter relentlessly. Even though he was already exhausted and gasping for air, the desire of the witch facing the Dark Moon continued to heat his body and push his consciousness.
Exhaustion to the point of collapse, yet simultaneously, pleasure to the point of suffocation.
Whenever Isaac tried to say something, Kaieon’s lips had long since blocked him.
He didn’t want to hear excuses. Nor apologies.
Such things were unnecessary. No words were needed.
The desire that he wanted him was enough.
In a desire that could not be filled no matter how much he devoured and devoured, when he poured another climax—he didn’t even know which number it was—into Isaac’s body.
Only after Isaac trembled like a young animal meeting a brief death and collapsed onto the floor, as if he couldn’t take any more, did Kaieon’s movements subside. Upon the body that could barely gasp for air and couldn’t even move a finger, Kaieon still did not get up, continuing to bite Isaac’s cheek, lips, and neck.
Then, at some point.
After lying there for a while, Isaac, as if he had finally regained a bit of strength, heavily raised his hand and touched Kaieon’s cheek. His languid, exhausted eyes looked at Kaieon.
“It really is… Kaieon-nim…”
A faint voice, sounding as if he might faint at any moment.
His weakened eyes were faintly smiling.
I missed you, his lips moved without making a sound.
Despite having a mountain of things he wanted to say, these were the words he had finally chosen and left.
Kaieon clenched his teeth and held his breath for a moment; immediately after, their lips overlapped again.
Under the fierce onslaught of kisses, Isaac squirmed as if suffocating before collapsing again, but Kaieon did not pull away. He could not pull away.
—The one who missed you this much was me.
I was the one who didn’t want to be apart for a single moment.
I wanted to take him wherever I went. I wanted to keep him within reach of my hand at all times. I hoped that whenever I turned my gaze, he would always be there.
If it weren’t for that unfamiliar fear he had felt for the first time in his life—the fear that he might get hurt at some moment—Kaieon would have been with Isaac wherever he went.
While forced to be apart to leave him in the safest place in the world, he was always thirsty and starving for him.
He always wanted to see him and touch him.
And yet.
He wasn’t the only one.
“My witch.”
Kaieon whispered, his lips still touching.
“I will give you a vault like this, in its entirety. I will give you whatever you want. So, promise me.”
Isaac’s eyes looked at Kaieon from a distance so close that they couldn’t even focus. Kissing those eyelids, Kaieon spoke.
“Always think of me.”
“—”
“Even when I am far away, or even while you are with me. Just as I do. —Always think of me.”
At that desperate and affectionate command, Isaac’s face clouded.
Looking as if he were troubled and contemplating, Isaac managed to stammer in a voice so hoarse it barely came out.
‘Can’t it be something else?’
Kaieon fell silent. Before that sharp gaze looking down at him as if to pierce through, Isaac let out a troubled sigh.
‘Because, I’m already doing that…’
If I want to receive a vault like this, just that wouldn’t be enough, would it? Looking down at the lips that murmured greedily, Kaieon almost burst into laughter for a moment.
But before the laughter, what surged up hotly was a desperate desire. Thus, Kaieon swallowed his escaping moans and let his head fall back onto Isaac’s face.
My witch.
The only one in the world, just for me.
Kaieon pulled that precious thing, irreplaceable by anything, tightly into his arms.
I wonder when they’ll come out.
Outside the King’s treasure vault, the Court Mage was waiting restlessly.
Fearing he might be severely punished for perhaps having spoken incorrectly, he stood anxious, while the vault’s guards lined up behind him.
Upon hearing the report that an intruder had entered the treasure vault, the King had jumped and flustered, but upon hearing that the intruder was the Prince, he instantly calmed down and ordered, “Open the doors at once.” However, after opening layer upon layer of doors to reach the final one, that door would not budge, as if it were locked from the inside.
Signs of presence continued to drift from the other side of the door, yet the intruders showed no sign of emerging, leaving the guards with no choice but to wait in front of the door until they came out.
As time flowed and the night grew deep, the sultry and fervent presence inside the treasure vault did not cease; only the mage and the guards, who had been completely forgotten by those inside, waited endlessly beneath a star-studded sky.
[Fin]