2.5 There is No Regression for the Victor
The next morning. From the moment he woke up, Mikhail spent the entire time taking deep breaths and waiting for the sun to reach its zenith. And finally, when it was the time of day when the sun hit the garden best, he asked for understanding from the aides assisting his work and requested a brief break. The place the Crown Prince, having gained an hour’s grace, headed to was obvious. It was the room where Hyeon was confined. Regardless of whether the maids were surprised or not, Mikhail took Hyeon—who ignored him without a word—and headed toward the garden.
It was not the garden leading to the Emperor’s Palace where the pond was visible, but a small outdoor garden connected to the glass greenhouse at the center of the Crown Prince’s Palace; nevertheless, it was equally beautiful. For some reason, most of the colorful flowers blooming within the Imperial Palace felt familiar to Hyeon, making him wonder if he was experiencing déjà vu. However, upon closer inspection, he realized that every single one of them was something Mikhail had brought to his garden.
This one in the spring of his nineteenth year, that one in the winter of his seventeenth, this one in the spring of his eighteenth. The more he looked, the more the moments he had spent with Mikhail returned to him, bringing pain. Had he been brought here intentionally to shake his heart? But Mikhail had no such intention. He was simply concerned that Hyeon must have felt suffocated spending all his time in a room without windows, and he merely wanted the Duke to get some fresh air at the hour when the garden was at its most beautiful.
A cool breeze fluttered, tossing the Crown Prince’s soft blonde hair. Watching it wave like a golden wheat field during harvest season, anyone would have been swayed by such breathtaking beauty. The flowers that dyed the garden in vibrant colors, the grass emitting a fresh scent, and the sunlight pouring down from above—tickling the skin warmly without stinging—suddenly made Hyeon feel as though he might forget his own plight, so he turned his head away. The Crown Prince simply wanted to keep him locked in this beautiful garden like an ornamental bird. Hyeon reminded himself of his situation once more.
“…….”
After about ten minutes, Hyeon turned back without a word and headed back inside the Crown Prince’s Palace. He then pulled the blanket over his head and tried to sleep. His heart must not be shaken any further. He would no longer engage in self-destructive acts like mixing bodies. Unfortunately, however, Hyeon’s firm resolve did not last long before it crumbled.
As long as a person is alive, they need energy. When food, which should be supplied to the stomach, does not enter, the gastric juices—unable to perform their role fully—irritate the stomach lining, causing pain. It was a kind of protest, demanding he cooperate and eat something to produce energy. During the time when he was so frail that it wouldn’t have been strange for him to die at any moment, his body had been so ruined that he couldn’t even feel heartburn. But after being liberated from the curse that had weighed down the Duke’s body like shackles, he began to become needlessly sensitive to various pains.
The pain of having a narrow hole thrust into without being loosened, as well as the heartburn, became so vivid that it was impossible to ignore and endure, so Hyeon had no choice but to chew and [visit our site]swallow part of his [stolen content]meal as if it were a rite of passage. Fearing that savoring and chewing for a long time would make him clearly feel and distinguish the taste, he intentionally swallowed the greasiest-looking parts as if he were drinking them. As calories to recover his body were supplied, he soon regained the stamina of an ordinary laborer, though not quite as much as before the curse. Once that happened, a troublesome change began.
“Ha….”
He had a fever. Hyeon was not so naive as to be unable to distinguish why his body temperature had risen. Since he hadn’t taken any suppressants and didn’t have an imprinted Omega, it was only natural for his heat to arrive according to his cycle. However, he simply could not bring himself to ask for medicine to calm his rut. If there was any consolation, it was that most of the people working in the Crown Prince’s Palace, except for a few attendants, were Betas rather than Alphas or Omegas. Since most were Betas, except for one attendant he had sent away early, Hyeon chose to shut himself in his room and endure until the rut ended.
Fortunately, Mikhail had to be away for a long time due to a ceremony that the Crown Prince could not miss, held in a region quite far from the capital. Although he was a Dominant Alpha, if there was no partner to stimulate the heat, he could finish it by suffering for about a week. It could end sooner with medicine, but rather than letting Mikhail know about his rut, it was a hundred times better to suffer through a fever for a week.
Thinking this, he desperately pushed away his meals and lay down under the covers. But for some reason, no matter how much time passed, the heat in this damn body would not subside.
“Ugh….”
Eventually, Hyeon gripped his genitals with his hand and masturbated. In the drawer of the nightstand by the bed, there was Scented Oil that Mikhail had left behind. Hyeon poured a bit of the oil onto the tip of his highly aroused cock and gripped the shaft, shaking it with a slight force. As a reflexive response to the stimulation, a pleasure that subtly spread throughout his entire body made his head tilt back involuntarily.
“Ah…, ngh….”
Yes. This was the perfectly natural way for an Alpha to relieve his sexual desire. Hyeon lay prone on the bed like a dog, forming a large circle with one hand and rubbing his hips against it. As he moved his waist [stolen content]as if [visit our site]embracing an Omega, his lower abdomen twitched on its own. Just a little more. As Hyeon reflexively tightened his grip on his genitals and thrust his hips up, a groan like that of a beast escaped him. That time was just a fluke; I am originally a person who feels sexual pleasure and ejaculates like this. Just as he reached the peak, desperately denying the intercourse with Mikhail.
“Ha, ugh…!”
No matter how hard he gripped and massaged his cock, he couldn’t come. He continued to hover precariously around the edge, but a frustrating, tantalizing pleasure swept through his body as if something were missing. This shouldn’t be happening. He tried changing his position, lying on his back and thrusting his hips as if riding, but it was only stifling. His cock was rubbed so much that it was almost painful, even though he had slathered it in Scented Oil until it was slippery. By the time touching his cock brought more pain than pleasure, Hyeon writhed in an uncontrollable thirst. And at that moment, the Scented Oil that had flowed down from his genitals traveled along the perineum and moistened Hyeon’s private area.
“Ah…!”
Then, as if it had been waiting, the hole twitched and welcomed the oil as if even that were a joyful stimulation. Having suffered from an unquenched thirst and rut for several days, Hyeon had nothing left to lose. The moment he thrust his fingers into his own hole, just as Mikhail had done, a sensitive spot in the shallow area was rubbed, and his half-withered genitals snapped upright.
“Ngh….”
It was humiliating. But the only way to relieve this thirst even slightly was to poke this hole. Hyeon had no choice but to grit his teeth and slowly stir his fingers, recalling the movements Mikhail had used on him. It was better than just touching his cock, but it was still equally unsatisfying. Something more than this… Without realizing it, Hyeon wished for a massive volume to pierce him deeper, and he was startled by the realization of his own thought.
“…Kugh.”
He would rather bite his tongue and die than ask Mikhail to hold him. It wasn’t just a day or two that he had been held by him, but to want it now—not to make himself unable to think due to unbearable humiliation, or to hate him completely—but to reach a climax. It was an intolerable situation. However, regardless of how much Hyeon loathed this situation, his [unauthorized copy]body wanted Mikhail. The sensation of him recklessly sowing his seeds inside him kept coming back, making his thighs tremble. It was a nightmare far worse than the moments he had seen countless times in his dreams.
I’ve suffered this much, so it should be enough now. He barely endured for a long time, hoping this unpleasant sensation would end, but the rut did not subside.
“…….”
There was someone watching Hyeon suffer in the castle while Mikhail was away. It was a young attendant who had served him shortly after Hyeon arrived at the palace. As Hyeon had expected, he was indeed an Omega, and he was being terribly swayed by the Alpha pheromones pouring out of the Crown Prince’s Palace, unrefined and unrestrained. He had endured by taking plenty of suppressants brought from home, but he could no longer stand it.
Although he was the third son of a decent minor noble family, it was becoming financially burdensome to swallow expensive suppressants every day as if they were candy. Yet, the Duke’s pheromones were too strong to endure with teas or herbs that had suppressant effects closer to folk remedies, like those commoners used. Although he had become frail for a while due to the curse, a Dominant was still a Dominant; the pheromones were so strong that even the Alphas working in the castle frowned whenever they passed by. Unable to take it any longer, the attendant informed Marcel of the Duke’s current state.
Since Mikhail still had time remaining before he could return to the castle, Marcel had a Beta attendant deliver suppressants to the Duke. However, since the rut had already begun in earnest, it was already too late for suppressants to block it. Eventually, Mikhail hurried his schedule and returned to the palace earlier than planned.
“Lord Isaac…!”
Just as Mikhail rushed into the room in surprise, before he could even stop him, the Duke lunged at Mikhail first. He was nothing less than a beast with nothing left in his head but desire. Without even knowing what he was doing, he pulled Mikhail onto the bed, climbed on top of him, and moved his hips. The red marks from rubbing his exposed private area with his hands, unable to actually enter, were vivid. Mikhail knew exactly what he had to do for the Duke right now.
“Wait, please, wait…. I have to loosen….”
Contrary to Mikhail’s expectations, the hole where he hurriedly pushed his fingers in was already wide open. As Mikhail paused in surprise, the Duke murmured in a cracked, hoarse voice.
“I tried… putting it in… but it’s different… from then….”
He put something in? What? For a moment, Mikhail felt an impulse that made his eyes flip; he gripped the inside of Hyeon’s thighs and pinned him beneath him.
“What? What did you put in?”
At Mikhail’s urging, Hyeon answered while panting, his eyes tightly shut.
“My… fingers….”
Then, as if it were too shameful to bear even for himself, he bit his lip hard. Mikhail murmured, unaware of what he was saying.
“Fingers? Were you not satisfied with that?”
“…….”
Hyeon bit his lip again until the color drained, then slowly nodded. Before he could cover his face, Mikhail lifted Hyeon’s chin and kissed him. The lips of the feverish body were hotter than usual. Although it was because of the rut, Mikhail couldn’t think of anything else knowing that the Duke wanted him. All Mikhail had to do now was split through his narrow private area and serve him with all his heart so that the Duke could finally reach a climax.
“Haa… mm… mmm….”
With one hand, Mikhail toyed with the Duke’s erect nipples, and with the other, he lifted the inside of the Duke’s legs to spread his thighs wide, making the hole that was leaking Scented Oil clearly visible. The entrance was slightly swollen from how clumsily he had poked it. Since the Duke had already loosened it thoroughly, as Mikhail pressed the tip of his genitals against the hole and slowly pushed in, the soft mucosa bit into Mikhail’s glans with an ecstatic sensation.
“Ah…!”
Hyeon’s body trembled at the overwhelming volume that rushed in, pressing firmly against a spot in the shallow area. The rounded glans, pushing through and flattening every single fold, was so tight that he could feel the pulse beating in the protruding veins. The highly aroused inner walls clung to the shaft with a chewy grip, making it hard for Mikhail to resist moving his hips.
“I’m going to… move….”
It was a warning uttered barely, fearing the Duke might feel pain or distress, but the Duke in Mikhail’s sight was in [visit our site]a state where such consideration was not [Read on Read BL Novels][Read on Read BL Novels]needed at all. He simply wanted Mikhail, his safest partner, more intensely than ever, to relieve the desire boiling up from deep within his body.
“Huu….”
Mikhail briefly pulled his genitals back and then pushed in again as if pressing down, and the Duke shook his hips as if he had been desperate for a long time. Every time Hyeon’s buttocks moved in a flexible arc, Hyeon’s fully erect cock bounced against Mikhail’s smooth stomach.
“Haa…. ugh….”
Because Mikhail pulled back his hips to avoid inserting fully, fearing it might hurt, even this insertion soon became tantalizing for Hyeon. A bit deeper than this. A bit harder than this. Finally, as Hyeon wrapped his legs around Mikhail’s waist so he couldn’t escape and slammed into him with a wet, slapping sound, a white fluid shot out from the tip of Hyeon’s fully erect genitals. Reaching the climax he had been unable to attain all this time, Hyeon convulsed, his hole tightening as he felt a sense of liberation, as if every nerve in his body had been tightened and then released.
“Kugh…. Ahh…!”
“Ugh….”
At the moan that burst from Hyeon’s lips, Mikhail lunged again. He gripped both of Hyeon’s popliteal fossae to spread him wide and drove his center deeper, causing the Duke to tremble and wrap his arms around the back of Mikhail’s neck.
“Lord Isaac, ngh…. does it… feel good?”
As Mikhail murmured, looking down at Hyeon as if to confirm, Hyeon looked up at Mikhail with completely dilated pupils and nodded. To Mikhail, that small gesture felt more erotic than any temptation. While Mikhail unconsciously increased the speed of his hip movements more and more violently, Hyeon’s lower abdomen tightened as the sensation of ejaculation returned. His whole body trembled at a pleasure on a completely different level from when he had stimulated himself with his fingers. Every time they slammed together, the brutally invading glans continued to poke his abdominal wall, making his stomach bulge and his toes curl.
“Uugh… ha-eut….”
Without even having time to feel the afterglow of the climax he had just reached, pleasure continued to wash over him like waves. The sound of a heartbeat thundering in his ears mixed with rough breathing, making it feel as if only the two of them were left in the world. As if afraid that the Duke would disappear if he moved even slightly away, Mikhail hugged him tightly every time he buried himself deep, pushing in with force as if to insert himself to the root.
“Ah…! Hi, ugh….”
To think that this brutal pressure, ravaging his insides, could feel this good rather than painful. Without realizing it, Hyeon arched his hips again, striving to accept Mikhail even deeper. A little more. A little deeper…. The moment the unquenched thirst burst forth again, Mikhail flipped Hyeon’s body over and made him lie prone like a dog. Then, he applied force so that the firm buttocks were flattened, driving the tip of his cock in until it hit the bend of the internal wall.
“Eu, ha-eugh….”
After slamming in brutally a few more times as if splitting the flesh, Mikhail took a sharp breath and violently shot semen inside Hyeon. Perhaps because they had been apart for quite a while, the ejaculation did not end quickly but hammered against the mucosa in several bursts. Was it because he was stimulated by the Dominant Alpha’s pheromones filling his stomach? At that moment, Hyeon tightened his hole in surprise at an overwhelming pleasure different from a normal climax.
Startled by the strong pressure, Mikhail panted and checked the Duke’s lower abdomen; the cock that had been twitching in the air swelled up from the [Read on Read BL Novels]root, and white fluid burst from the tip. He hadn’t even touched it for fear it would hurt. To think he felt so good from being poked from behind that he even knotted…. Mikhail looked down at [unauthorized copy]Hyeon as if possessed, and within the vaginal walls that were tightening as if to snap his cock, he began to move again, obsessively rubbing the spot that Hyeon felt.
“Ah…! Ahh… hng….”
Now, the moans flowing from the Duke’s mouth were high-pitched nasal sounds, like a beast sobbing. As Mikhail drove into the same spot even faster, the vein-streaked genitals twitched violently, and a thin, large amount of semen leaked out as if he were urinating. Knotting was an act Alphas did entirely to make an Omega conceive. However, now the Duke—far from being an Omega—was pinned in the arms of a fellow Dominant Alpha, accepting Mikhail in a place an Alpha would never normally use, and his own cock was swelling from the stimulation of being poked. It was an utterly humiliating and shocking thing. But now, as if such things were completely unimportant, Hyeon twitched his hole and shifted his hips again, wishing only for Mikhail to move once more. The sight of the Alpha’s cock, swollen from the root, shaking about without being used for its intended purpose, was quite a spectacle.
“Haa…. ha….”
Mikhail embraced Hyeon from behind and tilted his chin up to kiss him. Perhaps it was because the knotting had quenched some of his thirst; the kiss, which had been as ravenous as a beast’s, regained a sense of leisure, and Hyeon could feel Mikhail’s tongue slowly exploring the inside of his mouth. Mikhail now knew exactly where to touch to please Hyeon and where to stimulate him to induce arousal. As he carefully turned the Duke around and massaged his budding chest with his entire palm, the Duke’s lips trembled against his own.
It was utterly adorable how the Duke reacted with a spasm whenever Mikhail kneaded from his collarbone down to his chest and then pressed deep inside.
“Mmm…. Nnh….”
Whether it was the inner walls that murmured as if still unsatisfied despite the knotting, or the blunt fingertips that couldn’t bring themselves to scratch Mikhail for fear of hurting him even while driven by pleasure and unable to compose his own body—every single part of him was lovely.
“I love you, Lord Isaac….”
When Mikhail whispered the meager confession he could barely manage at times like this, Hyeon swallowed Mikhail’s lips instead of answering. At that soft yet dizzying kiss, Mikhail began to shake his hips violently once again. The night was long, and it was only after another three days had passed that the Duke’s rut finally ended.
After the grueling heat ended and he finally regained his senses, Hyeon found it difficult to accept reality. Waves of disgust and self-loathing washed over him. He wanted to resent Mikhail, but he was the one who had lured him into the bedroom and thrown himself at him. He had never caused such an incident by failing to control a rut until now; to think he had committed such a wretched act. He didn’t want to believe this was reality.
“…Lord Isaac.”
Finding it horrific that Mikhail was even looking at him with worried eyes, Hyeon treated him even more coldly.
“…I told you to leave.”
At Hyeon’s angry expression, Mikhail reluctantly backed away, yet he stubbornly spoke.
“Everything that happened… is my fault. I could not control my impulses and held you like a beast.”
Hyeon found it even more shameful and agonizing unauthorized copythat Mikhail tried to say such things. It was a laughable excuse. Hyeon immediately denied it, shaking his head.
“Don’t talk nonsense. I was the one who couldn’t control myself.”
However, Mikhail did not back down.
“No. You don’t have to think that. It is all my fault, so….”
Hyeon found it hard to keep tolerating Mikhail. He wished Mikhail would just mock him, criticize him, or even degrade him. He could have said countless things—like asking if he didn’t actually crave his cock like a dog in heat while speaking those words—yet Mikhail continued to repeat apologies like a broken record, making Hyeon feel even more disgusted with himself. He had no choice but to admit it now. He loved him. The affection he had accepted while naked, exposing every flaw without a shred of concealment, was more miserable than any insult.
When Hyeon dropped his head, unable to say a word, Mikhail instinctively took the Duke’s chin in his hand and cupped his cheeks to kiss him in an attempt to comfort him. It was a tender kiss, devoid of anger, resentment, or hatred. At the lips that murmured softly as if to console him, Hyeon did not push Mikhail away immediately but accepted him. When the long kiss ended and their entwined tongues parted, Mikhail left the Duke’s room without a word.
Even after fleeing the room, Mikhail’s heart continued to race so fast that he struggled to regain his composure. The Duke had accepted his kiss while in his right mind. It felt like a glimmer of hope that their hopelessly tangled relationship might actually be resolved, and that was why he had no choice but to flee from that spot. I’d rather you just resent me. Knowing that giving him such an opening would only make him more greedy, even though he knew the right thing was to let him go. His kindness was, as it had always been, a potent poison.
He wondered which fool had announced that Alphas only find each other’s pheromones disgusting. How could something so fragrant and sweet be described as disgusting? Mikhail shook his head vigorously to dispel the greed that was beginning to rise. Let’s not think strange thoughts. As long as Lord Isaac is okay, even as it is now… Just as Mikhail denied it while unconsciously harboring hope, a storm that Mikhail could never have imagined was brewing in the Emperor’s Palace.
“Right. So the Crown Prince rushed to the Crown Prince’s Palace because of that fellow.”
It had been a headache since the moment he insisted on bringing that man into the palace, even going so far as to make him a slave. Just as the Emperor had worst-case expected, the Crown Prince had not appeared in public for several days because he was preoccupied with an Alpha older than himself; the Emperor felt so nauseated he wanted to collapse in bed.
The Emperor’s head throbbed. Did he truly intend to make that man the Crown Princess Consort? It would have been better if the Duke had at least been an Omega. No, it would have been an even bigger disaster if he had actually conceived the Crown Prince’s seed. Even the child of a traitor is an imperial descendant. If Mikhail, who would become Emperor the moment he stepped down from the throne, were to appoint that child as the Crown Prince, it would be no different from Osbrant—which he had protected alongside his ancestors—being devoured entirely by Transis.
‘Such a thing must not happen.’
In that sense, it was actually a relief that the Duke was an Alpha. They said that Betas, who have no pheromones, occasionally undergo a late trait change due to the influence of surrounding Alphas or Omegas. However, once the organs and constitution for producing pheromones are established, no matter how much of another’s pheromones are poured in, the pheromones secreted by the body only react with opposition; the trait does not change.
It was better to use him as a sex slave as he was now and bring in an Omega from another dignified family as the Crown Princess Consort to produce an heir. If a proper heir was produced, the Emperor could simply say he wouldn’t interfere with the Duke being kept as a concubine. With a deep sigh, the Emperor looked down at his dying body. The Crown Prince did not yet know how far his health had deteriorated. Ignorance was such a fatal weakness. If he knew that the Emperor would abdicate to him within two years no matter what, he would not follow orders so obediently.
‘I told him he must suspect everyone within the palace.’
He would understand once the Emperor was dead. How cunning and shrewd one must be in politics. The Emperor smiled, covering his rotting fingertips with gloves.
“Leave them be for now. A man’s lust is inherently tied to the desire for conquest. He [unauthorized copy]may be immersed in the sense of achievement now that he has stolen contentembraced the man he admired, but he will soon grow tired of it.”
At the Emperor’s command, the aides serving under him bowed their heads in response. Watching them, the Emperor had one final thought.
‘But it’s troublesome for him to stay by his side… it would be best to take measures soon.’
This plan had to be carried out very secretly, without the Crown Prince’s knowledge. The Emperor chose those who would commit suicide before his eyes if ordered and gave them secret instructions.
And a few days later, a very filthy and vulgar rumor began to circulate not only in the Imperial Palace but also in the marketplaces of the capital. It claimed that a terrible and fearsome traitor, who had once threatened the safety of all Osbrant, had sold out his honor and his subordinates to save his own life, and was now servilely spreading his legs just to survive. No one explicitly named the subject of the rumor, but given the circumstances, there was no one who didn’t know who was being mocked.
Word travels fast. The rumor spread quicker than a wildfire and reached Quilan. The monastery group, who had been detained for hiding the criminal on the day Hyeon was dragged to the Imperial Palace, had only just returned to their daily lives. Not only had the Duke been hollowly snatched away by the Crown Prince, but such an obscene and insulting rumor was now spreading; the loyal supporters of Transis could no longer endure it.
“This must be a false rumor spread by those people to humiliate His Highness.”
Indeed, how could it be possible that the Duke, a Dominant Alpha who exuded overwhelming pressure through pheromones alone, had become a courtesan? What kind of nonsense was this? Even if it was the most humiliating gossip for a man and an Alpha, to fabricate such an absurd story was unthinkable. To free the Duke from that terrible shackle, the priority was to get him out of the Imperial Palace.
But how? Only nobles of clear origin and verified identity could enter the palace. However, it was unlikely that everyone within the palace supported the Crown Prince. If so, they might be able to use the nobles [visit our site]who were grinding their teeth to bring the [stolen content]Crown Prince down. The Duke’s supporters met for several days, putting their heads together to secretly devise a plan.
Finally, they decided to contact the Duke first so that he could endure this shameful life. How? The method was surprisingly simple. As communication orbs became widely used, carrier pigeons had almost vanished, and the idea of secretly exchanging letters via well-trained pigeons was often dismissed as a child’s make-believe.
However, that was the case in the Osbrant mainland where communication networks were well-established; in Quilan, where the network had not yet been smoothly implemented, there were still those who trained and raised carrier pigeons. They trained a small crow, smaller than a typical carrier pigeon, to reach the Duke safely and sent it off with a letter—its surface painted pitch black—tied to its leg. To a casual observer, it wouldn’t even look like anything was tied to its leg, but if the crow reached the Duke safely, it would peck at the back of his hand to draw attention and tell him to look closely at its leg.
Whether it was a blessing or a curse, Hyeon had been tacitly allowed to stroll through the garden after the rut commotion. To think he was in a position where he had to ask permission just to get some fresh air in such a small plot of land. Finding his situation both miserable and absurd, Hyeon always stood still, looking like someone who had lost their soul.
“…….”
One day, after countless nights of living while feeling as if he weren’t alive. Hyeon was startled to see a small crow land on his hand. Why is it doing this? Wondering if it was hurt, he looked closely at its beak and wings, but the crow lightly pecked his finger as if to say that wasn’t the spot.
“……? Why are you….”
Puzzled, Hyeon looked at the crow and his heart began to race when he noticed something tied to its leg. Could it be a letter from the people of Quilan? In that moment, Hyeon wanted to burn the letter. He intuitively felt that regardless of what was written inside, it couldn’t be welcoming news. No matter how hard they struggled to get him out, they would never penetrate this strict security. The Emperor was no fool. He couldn’t possibly not know what it meant to let a recovered Duke back out into the world. It would be the same as giving the Duke a chance to regain his resolve and truly bring down the Imperial Family next time. There was no way they could breach the Empire’s strictest security. Thus, it would be better to remain ignorant, as if the outside world no longer had anything to do with him.
“Ugh….”
Hyeon pressed his hand to his forehead as a splitting headache struck. Even if they succeeded in helping him escape, Hyeon knew all too well that he could no longer ignore their wishes by claiming he was sick or dying. To aim a blade at the Crown Prince as a true traitor and avenger was a path of immense pain. He would have to trample over the sacrifices of many, and Hyeon himself, standing at the center, would undergo an ordeal far removed from a comfortable and peaceful life. At the thought of having to walk the path of an avenger once more, he felt as if the world was turning black beneath his feet.
With trembling hands, Hyeon quickly untied the letter from the crow’s leg. And the contents within were things that might have been better left unknown.
[To the Dear Grand Duke]
[I know you must be greatly surprised by this sudden contact. Not a single day has passed in peace since the day those people took Your Highness to the Imperial Palace….]
[…Therefore, we are searching for a way in every possible direction, so please do not worry.]
Between the introduction and the conclusion that they were searching for a way to rescue him, there was content so shocking it made his heart freeze. It was the story of the vulgar courtesan of the Imperial Palace circulating in the world. It was an accusation that the Imperial Family was going as far as such filthy acts to trample on the honor of Transis, but as long as the content wasn’t a complete lie, Hyeon could no longer endure it with a sane mind.
“Haha…. Ha… hu, ugh…. Haha….”
To be in such a shameful and miserable state. When the next rut came, would he beg Mikhail to hold him again? He didn’t care that his body, which had [visit our site]become more accustomed to using the back to the point where [visit our site]he could no longer feel pleasure using only the front, was no different from the whore they mocked. Without caring that his knees were getting dirty, Hyeon collapsed and swallowed a desperate roar within.
[Such a thing should not happen, but if those people commit shameful acts against Your Highness, we are sending something you may need.]
A very small glass vial was tied to the crow’s leg along with the letter. It was so small that one wouldn’t recognize it as a bottle containing liquid without looking closely. The bottle, which looked like a pendant slightly larger than a pinky nail, contained a blue-tinted juice.
When he smelled it, it had a tart herbal scent—what they called ‘Eternal Night’ in Quilan. It was a potent poison that could make one sleep as if dead for a week. It caused an immediate loss of consciousness, but once the effect wore off, one could wake up as if nothing had happened. It was a drug similar to a sedative, and it seemed they hoped he would escape a crisis by pretending to be dead. Hyeon secretly tucked the glass vial into his pocket.
That night, Mikhail came to check on the Duke’s condition after finishing all his duties as the Crown Prince. Usually, the Duke would be sleeping quietly in bed, as he had when he was sick, except when he went for walks. However, for some reason, the Duke was sitting upright, waiting for Mikhail.
“Are you… feeling a bit better?”
Mikhail carefully checked Hyeon’s condition, as if he were the Duke’s servant. Unlike usual, the Duke’s posture was poised, and his clothes were neat without a single wrinkle from lying down. At the upright and dignified demeanor, like a monarch stepping out for official business, Mikhail felt a strange sense of fear.
“You aren’t lying down today. If you need something to stave off boredom, I can have the servants bring some books….”
Mikhail feared the silence. He felt that if he didn’t say something to hold him there, he would [Read on Read BL Novels]melt away like snow on a heater, so he couldn’t leave the silence alone.
“Ah…! Come to think of it, you’ve never been to the greenhouse behind the Crown Prince’s Palace, have you? I’ll make some time tomorrow when the weather is nice, so if you’re okay with it….”
He knew it was already twisted beyond repair. He knew that no matter what, he could never return to the days when they laughed together as a simple servant, but every time he tried to let him go completely, lingering attachment held onto his ankles. Every time those warm and tender lips kissed him, every time the deepest desires of the Duke wanted him, that attachment refused to let go of Mikhail.
Marcel was right. He claimed it was for the other man, but in the end, he made a selfish choice. He had known long ago that as long as he kept him alive, he could not freely let him out of the castle. Even though he understood what it meant to simply survive, he pretended not to. Selfishness disguised as ignorance was his crime. Before making the choice to save him, Mikhail could not abandon his duties as the Crown Prince. But if you love me even just a little, not as Crown Prince Mikhail, but as the human Mikhail, everything of me is yours, so could you please just survive a little longer? Driven by an utterly selfish wish, Mikhail could say no more and simply looked at the Duke.
“…….”
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