SLDS 61

On a night of pouring rain, thirty members of the Imperial Knight Order, including Knight Commander Claude, gathered outside the castle gates in full armor.

Ostensibly, it was the knight order’s night training, but the reason they had gathered was to find Cecil Adrian, who had run away from home.

Fortunately, the imperial palace was still unaware of this fact. They were given the grave mission of bringing him back safely before a major incident occurred.

First, Alexis tried to deduce where Cecil might have headed.

It was unlikely that a boy who had been raised so delicately within the imperial palace for most of his life would have hidden himself away on a rugged mountainside or in a rural province. As expected, the most probable location was the capital, and they had to focus their search on the bustling city streets and residential areas.

Alexis, who stood at the forefront, looked at the knights before him and shouted.

“Our objective is to find out Cecil’s whereabouts before the sun rises. Report to me the moment you find him!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

With a resounding answer, the sound of horses’ hooves began to shake the earth. With the elite knight order on the move, it was surely only a matter of time before they found Cecil.

Before long, Claude, who had gone ahead as the advance party, returned and delivered some significant news.

“Your Highness, there is something you must check for a moment.”

Then, a healthy horse and a bundle of jewels were presented to Alexis.

“This is a horse managed by the imperial palace.”

“Yes, judging by the mark on its ear, it is certain. And these jewels as well…”

The jewels had been dismantled, making it difficult to even tell if their original forms were necklaces or bracelets, but every single one was of the highest quality, glowing with a clear and transparent light.

Upon seeing this, Alexis’s eyes narrowed coldly.

“Where did you find this?”

“Some bandits living in hiding in the mountains had it. We have them in custody, so you may question them yourself.”

Bring them here! When Claude shouted, the knights dragged the gang of bandits they had detained before Alexis.

The bandits, who had been running wild as if they had nothing to fear in the world, lost all their nerve in front of the knight order and the crown prince, their limbs trembling.

The one presumed to be the leader among them dropped to his knees in the mud.

“P-Please spare me! Please, just spare my life!”

“I will decide after I hear your answer. From whom did you steal all of this?”

“It was a young man. A-A young and very pretty-looking young man.”

“Was he the one with dark brown hair and green eyes?”

“Yes, yes. That’s right! I remember clearly.”

Alexis let out a small sigh. With this, it became certain that the one the bandits had targeted was Cecil.

“…What did you do to him?”

“We only took what he had and let him go. It’s true! He looked like the son of a rich and noble family at a glance, so we didn’t touch him!”

Should he consider it a relief that they at least hadn’t harmed him? The thought of the boy, who must have left after having his horse taken and being left penniless, made his heart grow intensely impatient.

“Tell me where he headed.”

“I-I don’t know exactly. Only that he went down to the west…”

“The direction of the central district.”

Alexis gestured to Claude with his eyes, and Claude summoned the remaining knights and relayed the instructions. It was to gather all the search parties, which had been scattered individually, toward the capital’s central district.

“Your Highness, what should we do with these men?”

“Tie them up tightly so they cannot escape. I will decide their punishment after we find Cecil.”

He had no time to worry about punishing the bandits. Alexis said only that and gripped the horse’s reins firmly. Then, with a vigorous command, the horse carrying the crown prince galloped swiftly down the winding forest path.

The harsh rain was still pouring from the sky. With the foul weather added to a situation where even Cecil’s well-being could not be guaranteed, Alexis was constantly engulfed in anxiety.

✽ ✽ ✽

Cecil let out a ragged breath.

That filthy, hideous pig! The reality of being unable to do anything but watch as the marquis tried to touch him made him so angry he felt like he would faint.

“Untie this right now!”

Unable to overcome his rage, he struggled once more, but the strange ropes wrapped tightly around his entire body only constricted him further the more he moved.

“As I thought, red is what suits white skin best. It is just as I expected. I knew it would look good on you.”

Marquis Valerie licked his lips and smiled. Just like his lips, which glistened with saliva, a bizarre gleam flashed in his eyes.

The act of binding a body with ropes was one of Marquis Valerie’s favorite things. He would feel a thrill from watching his opponents resist while deprived of their freedom, only to gradually break down.

The Cecil before him looked, in a way, like a work of art.

An excitement incomparable to when he had tied up catamites or other one-night playthings was making his head grow faint.

It was probably because his opponent possessed a high status.

Just imagining tying Cecil Adrian to his bed like this and subjugating him was enough to make Marquis Valerie’s lower body swell up to the point of aching.

The marquis reached out and languidly stroked from Cecil’s cheek down to his neck.

At the touch, which was filled with sexual implication, Cecil shook his head in horror. But no matter how much he struggled, he could not escape the man’s grasp with his limbs tied down so tightly.

“I will definitely kill you, I’m going to kill you for sure!”

“I can assure you, Mr. Cecil, that you will not be able to do so.”

“Do you think you’ll be safe after daring to touch a member of the imperial family?”

“Yes, there will be no problem. Because I am going to tame you down to your very bones. I can promise you, I will make you into a body that cannot live without me from now on.”

Marquis Valerie smiled confidently and bent his waist to the side.

He brought over a beautifully crafted incense burner and fanned it with his hand. White smoke slithered toward Cecil. It was the problematic incense that had been making his head feel fuzzy since earlier.

“Try to inhale deeply. This is a medicine I went to great trouble to obtain, and it is good to drink directly or to smell as an incense like this. It is extremely effective at relaxing the body and making it comfortable. Moreover, its dependency is so outstanding that after just one day, it will make you think of it again.”

“Is it… a drug?”

“Please refrain from using such a low-quality expression.”

Marquis Valerie chuckled, kikik.

The more the smoke billowed, the more the catamites who were on the bed with them had their eyes go slack. They were clearly already addicted to this smoke.

“Uungh, Master. Please love me too. Please kiss me.”

“Master, my hole is itching. Haaahng, hurry, aahng, please scratch it.”

The catamites all had their mouths agape and their genitals erect as they reached their arms toward Marquis Valerie. They were clamoring for him to touch them first.

“You cute little things. Wait. How dare you rush in without knowing your turn.”

When Marquis Valerie pulled on a catamite’s genitals, the handsome young man shrieked and let out a moan.

Nausea rose at the disgusting sight. Unable to bear watching, Cecil squeezed his eyes shut.

The problem was that even if he closed his eyes, he could not block the smoke flowing into his nose. Feeling his strength draining away against his will, Cecil bit down hard on his own tongue.

The search party that had entered the central district began to thoroughly investigate the area. The hour was already late, and there were very few people coming and going on the streets.

But that didn’t mean they could just sit back and do nothing. The knights went into every shop that was open late and, describing Cecil’s appearance, questioned them about his whereabouts.

The fortunate thing was that since Cecil had such a striking appearance, there were quite a few people who remembered him.

After some time had passed, the knights brought back new pieces of information one by one and reported to the crown prince.

“There are several people who saw Mr. Cecil.”

“They say they saw him taking shelter from the rain in front of a fruit stand.”

“An innkeeper said that he asked to stay for a day without a single coin. He said his appearance, soaked to the bone in rain, was indescribably shabby…”

The knights could not dare to meet Alexis’s eyes even as they spoke. It was because the crown prince’s expression grew progressively grimmer as the reports continued.

“Does that mean he has been wandering the streets for over six hours now?”

“For now, we are searching all the surrounding inns and taverns. We will inform you as soon as new information comes in.”

Alexis wiped his rain-soaked face with his palm.

Was it because of the weather? He didn’t know why his heart was growing so anxious. Cecil wasn’t even a child; he was a full-grown adult.

“Your Highness! An important piece of information has come in.”

Just then, a few knights rushed over and reported.

“There is someone who saw Mr. Cecil get into a carriage! They said it was a very luxurious four-horse carriage.”

“Who was it, from which family?”

“…The thing is, the person who saw it happened to be a vagrant, so it seems he couldn’t recognize the family crest.”

Still, it was a meaningful enough piece of information. A four-horse carriage was surely that of a noble family, and the fact that they had given Cecil a ride meant they clearly knew he was a member of the imperial family.

“Knight Commander Vandel, summon the knights at once and have them search all the nearby noble estates.”

“Yes!”

Then, Alexis himself mounted his horse and joined the search. It was a relief that Cecil had asked someone for lodging, but that did not mean he was reassured.

He had to see with his own two eyes that he was alright, and right away.