SLDS 78

“The two of us cannot be absent at the same time.”

Alexis flatly rejected Cecil’s request, telling him to fulfill his duty as a royal. Instead, he lightly patted the back of Cecil’s hand.

“I know what you are worried about, but there will be no problem.”

“Please be careful. As I told you, the Princess is…”

“Do you really think I would mess things up?”

Alexis asked back, his lips drawing into a long smile. His condescending eyes and charming smile combined to reveal the Crown Prince’s unique superiority. He would show an unwavering front no matter what problem he faced. That was also one of the reasons Cecil had fallen for Alexis.

“Wait here quietly.”

Alexis pressed Cecil’s shoulder gently and then abruptly left. Left behind, Cecil corrected his crooked posture and tried to once again fulfill his royal duties.

“……”

But worries like that don’t disappear so easily. Cecil leaned loosely against the chair, his mind racing. He had long given up on eating, and whenever someone approached to speak with him, he would mostly let their words go in one ear and out the other.

The way he was chewing his lip made it obvious to anyone that his mind was elsewhere. Feeling anxious, Cecil eventually decided to ignore Alexis’s request and make a move. He was just pulling his chair back and about to stand up.

“Woah!”

He ended up bumping into Killian, who had approached without a sound. With a surprised gasp, the wine glass wobbled, and unluckily, the wine spilled onto Cecil.

Drenched in the cold wine, Cecil froze for a moment. Needless to say, the sudden accident drew everyone’s attention. As bad luck would have it, the clothes he was wearing were light in color, making the red stain stand out all the more.

“Oh dear, your clothes are all ruined.”

Killian immediately tried to handle the situation. He put down the empty glass and picked up a napkin instead. Just as the white cloth was about to touch him, Cecil raised his hand to stop it.

“It’s fine.”

“You’re quite soaked.”

“I will take care of it myself.”

As he stood up, the wine that had pooled in his trouser cuffs trickled down, making his appearance even more of a mess. Cecil winced for a moment before composing his expression to feign nonchalance.

“I need to change my clothes.”

“Yes, Mr. Cecil. I will attend to you immediately.”

Leo, the head chamberlain who was standing nearby, answered instantly. He had been looking for the right moment to step in and assist Cecil.

They went outside the banquet hall and found a suitable place to rest. In the meantime, Cecil’s attendants hurried to the Peridot Palace to prepare a change of clothes.

“Damn it, there isn’t a single spot that’s not soaked.”

Cecil sent even Leo outside, then began to dry his wet body alone. He had been doused with so much wine that the smell of alcohol emanated from his entire body.

But thanks to that, didn’t he now have an excuse to leave the banquet hall? Cecil resolved to use this opportunity to find Alexis.

Just then, knock, knock, the sound of a light rap on the door was heard.

“You’re here fast.”

Cecil naturally assumed it was his attendants. To hide the scar on his chest, he re-fastened his damp shirt and roughly did up the buttons.

Not much time had passed when another knock was heard. Who on earth was in such a hurry?

Cecil blew a gust of air upwards, making his bangs fly. In his haste, he had put a button in the wrong hole. Figuring it didn’t matter since he was going to change anyway, he left it as it was and walked over.

“Why are you in such a hurry?”

He opened the door in annoyance, but standing in front of him was not an attendant, but Killian.

While the surprised Cecil hesitated for a moment, he brazenly invaded the room. At the sound of the door slamming shut with a thud, Cecil’s nerves immediately went on high alert. Somehow, he was now alone with Killian.

“It was bothering me, you see. I came because I thought I would feel better after I apologized.”

“I don’t need an apology, so please leave.”

“You’ve gotten sharp again. So this was your true self after all.”

Click. The lock on the door was fastened right before his eyes. Cecil could not understand Killian’s actions.

“What are you doing?”

“I was always curious.”

As Killian calmly started to walk, Cecil instinctively backed away. The two maintained a certain distance as they moved deeper into the room.

“Whenever you look at me, I can read a sense of loathing from time to time. I thought about it carefully. Wondering if we had ever been involved with each other. But no. No matter how much I tried to recall, it’s certain we never had any real point of contact.”

“Loathing? I have never looked at you that way. You must have misunderstood something.”

“There’s no way it’s a misunderstanding, Cecil Adrian.”

Killian tilted his head and gave a slight, wry smile.

“In case you didn’t know, I hold the real power in Khazarjan. Most are desperate to get on my good side; it’s rare to find someone who glares at me like they want to tear me to shreds, like you do. So of course, I would be curious.”

At those words, Cecil gave up trying to control his expression. He let out a small sigh and squeezed his eyes shut then opened them. As his eyelids opened to reveal fierce eyes, Killian broke into a wide smile, as if his prediction had been correct.

He abruptly took a step forward. The distance became uncomfortably close, but Cecil watched his opponent without batting an eye.

“Yesterday, I had the opportunity for a private audience with Empress Elizabeth.”

“……”

“It seems she wants to get rid of Alexis and put you in his place. She asked if I could help.”

Killian relayed the Empress’s intentions as if whispering. His voice, tinged with amusement, flowed into Cecil’s eardrums like a sleek snake. Cecil flinched, his shoulders trembling. A chill ran down his spine and his back grew stiff.

“It was a rather interesting proposal. I didn’t know the Empress of the Empire would reveal her greed so openly. When I asked what I could gain, she said she would give me whatever I wanted.”

Cecil was a little shocked. Because it was a story he knew all too well.

Wasn’t it the same as the proposal he had first made to Killian in his previous life? Only the speaker had changed; the situation was unfolding in the exact same way, and for a moment, his train of thought came to a halt.

Seeing Cecil’s complexion harden, Killian smiled in satisfaction.

“So I just threw it out there. ‘Can I sleep with your son?’”

“What… did you say?”

“She consented very readily. Of course, she did say to ask for your consent first. She said you have quite the ambition yourself, so you would permit that much.”

The rich scent of wine wafting from his nape was very much to Killian’s liking. As he brought his lips to that long, outstretched neck, Cecil shoved Killian’s shoulder with all his might.

“Dream on. I have absolutely no intention of doing that.”

“Hmm, really?”

As if he had naturally anticipated the refusal, Killian tilted his head back nonchalantly.

“As you know, I don’t discriminate between genders. I’m not asking for your hand in a serious courtship, just suggesting we have a little fun. It’s good for me because I get to roll around intensely with a partner I’ve taken a liking to for the first time in a while, and it’s good for you because you gain a reliable supporter. Isn’t it a win-win?”

“……”

“Think about it carefully. I can be of great help.”

“……”

“The silence is getting long. Can I take that as a yes?”

Cecil knew he had to get out of this place immediately. But strangely, his feet wouldn’t move.

Killian didn’t miss the opportunity and grabbed Cecil by the collar. He brought his face extremely close and threw out words that were both a suggestion and a command.

“What are you doing? Get on your knees right now and come between my legs. I’d like it if you sucked my cock with that pretty mouth of yours.”

One hand gripped his collar, while the other pressed down firmly on the crown of Cecil’s head. His head was forcibly pushed lower and lower. Cecil had no choice but to squeeze his eyes shut as a terrible memory resurfaced.

At that same time, Alexis was on his way to meet Princess Larisa. After knocking, he opened the door, and the characteristically dim interior of the lounge greeted him.

The purpose of a lounge was to allow guests to rest comfortably for a short while, so only one or two candles were lit, making the environment inherently dark.

Alexis looked around the dark interior once. But Princess Larisa, who was supposedly waiting, was nowhere to be seen.

In any case, the person who had been desperate for the meeting was Princess Larisa. Since he had shown the minimum required action, he now had a pretext to leave this place immediately.

“Princess Larisa Ortega. If you are not here, I will take my leave.”

Alexis said into the dark, empty air. Then, as if on cue, a rustling sound was heard.

Larisa, who had been hiding in the darkness, ran out naked and threw herself into his arms without a second thought.

“Alexis! Please, stay with me tonight! For you, I can willingly give myself!”

Larisa clung to him, shamelessly naked. Alexis let out a long sigh, his gaze fixed on the empty air. She was truly a difficult woman to handle.

Alexis kept his eyes away from Larisa until the very end, and instead reached out his arm and tore off the curtain hanging by the window with a rip.

Only after wrapping the curtain, which was large enough to cover one person, around her like a blanket was he able to forcefully push the clinging princess away.

“You seem to have had too much to drink. That can happen.”

“I am not drunk!”

“Let’s say you are drunk. That way, we won’t have to get angry at each other.”

His meaning was that if it were a mistake, he could let it slide, but if she had come at him with intent, he would make an issue of it.

When her seduction was ignored, Larisa’s face instantly turned bright red.

Frankly, she had thought that if she ran at him naked, even a crown prince as sharp as a knife would fall for her. But he was so uninterested that he treated her like a mere decoration.

Her pride wounded, Larisa’s hands, which were clutching the curtain, began to tremble. Her eyes, visible in the darkness, were exceptionally fierce.

“Do you perhaps have a problem with your sexual function? How can you be like this?”

“Whether I am impotent or not is none of the Princess’s concern.”

“I will spread rumors to the entire world! That the Crown Prince of the Berka Empire is in fact severely impotent! That he is postponing marriage because he has no confidence in producing an heir!”

Alexis lifted one corner of his mouth and laughed it off. He was completely unaffected by the threat.

“Do as you wish.”

“Are you really going to marry that saintess or whatever?”

Their relationship was already over, but there was no need to explain it truthfully. Alexis looked down at Larisa intently as a sign of affirmation.

“I am the Princess of Khazarjan. If you marry me, I can give you great power! I can make everything you wish to achieve happen.”

“You are making me repeat the same thing.”

Alexis did not want to continue this fruitless confrontation any longer. He was about to turn his back and leave Larisa when she desperately blocked his path. Even in the darkness, it was clear how much her wide-open eyes were trembling.

“Just you wait and see what happens if you abandon me here now. That saintess you cherish so much, I’ll make Killian steal her away.”

“Is that the best threat you can come up with?”

“You think I can’t do it?”

“I admit that Killian is a charming person, but I doubt his charm works on everyone.”

Alexis replied leisurely. Princess Larisa was currently treading a very thin line.

If it were his usual self, he wouldn’t have just stood there and tolerated it, no matter how high her status was, but Cecil’s plea was acting as a strong brake on him.

When he remained unshaken no matter how much she provoked him, Larisa let out a laugh filled with exasperation.

“Such great faith.”

She swept back her disheveled hair. Being rejected was humiliating enough, but having her one and only sibling insulted as well hurt her feelings quite a bit.

Larisa twisted her lips and said.

“It seems you don’t know what kind of person Killian is. When he targets someone, he absolutely makes them submit. Even now, he’s probably stripping Cecil Adrian bare and devouring him somewhere.”

“…What?”

The face of Alexis, who had been cloaked in composure the entire time, instantly stiffened. He asked back fiercely.

“What are you talking about?”