Chapter 21

While Lino’s descent to the third basement floor had been a slow, agonizing slog, the Duke, carrying Lino effortlessly in his arms, breached the first floor and exited the building in a matter of moments.

Without needing to be summoned, the sleek sedan was already idling at the entrance, as if waiting specifically for Grondil’s emergence. He ducked into the open rear door held by the driver and settled into the seat. From the depths of the third basement floor to the plush leather of the sedan, Lino remained utterly limp in Grondil’s embrace, unable to even open his eyes as he gasped out ragged, feverish breaths.

Within the freezing confines of the iron cage, the biting cold of the floor had forced his mind to maintain a fragile, desperate grip on consciousness. But now, cocooned in the arms of the Duke who had inexplicably arrived to rescue him, his body seemingly surrendered to profound relief, collapsing completely as he exhaled hot, weary sighs.

I just want to fall asleep like this and never wake up.

Hovering on the absolute precipice of unconsciousness, Lino unwittingly muttered the thought to himself. It wasn’t because he feared what would happen when he woke; it was simply because everything was far too exhausting. While his immune system had certainly weakened since losing his divine power, resulting in more frequent illnesses, he had never been this incapacitated. If it had merely been physical sickness, he would have likely pushed through, thinking, I just need to shake this off and get up. But the accumulated tension and crushing fatigue that had been steadily building since the moment he escaped the Haklan estate seemed to have finally detonated today.

Even with his eyes closed, the world spun violently. Are my eyeballs rolling back in my skull? Or is my inner ear completely destroyed? Despite being clutched so tightly to the Duke’s chest that it was almost suffocating, his stomach churned violently, as if someone had grabbed him by the hair and was violently swinging him in circles.

For once, even his desperate, burning desire to reach Isberg failed to provide him with the strength to endure. That was how unimaginably exhausting Lino found merely existing in that moment.

I don’t want to wake up.

Just as his feverish sigh dissolved into the air, and his consciousness threatened to follow, a low, rumbling chuckle echoed from above him. It seemed his internal monologue had actually slipped past his lips as a whisper.

“My, I’ve already gone to the trouble of getting you fully upright, and now you say you don’t want it?”

What the hell is he talking about…? Certain the Duke’s words carried a less-than-pure implication, Lino scowled deeply before finally plunging into a profound, suffocating slumber.

***

Naturally, Lino’s desperate plea to never wake up was not granted. Considering that from the very moment of his birth until now, absolutely nothing had ever gone exactly as he wished, this outcome was entirely predictable.

Still, he had hoped to sleep just a little bit longer. He figured if he could just sleep undisturbed for a full day, he could probably shake off a flu-like cold.

“Gasp…!”

His consciousness slammed back into his body like a violent lightning strike, accompanied by the distinct, terrifying sensation of being completely enveloped by something blisteringly hot and incredibly soft. It was the exact same visceral, heart-stopping jolt one feels when nodding off and suddenly dreaming of falling off a cliff.

His eyes flew open, but his vision was immediately obscured by a thick, heavy veil of steam that made it look as though a dense fog had rolled in. The absolute second his consciousness rebooted, the horrific events at the Baron Merchant Guild’s black market auction house—where he had gone to find the Duke and Yuneria—crashed into his mind like a tidal wave.

I went down to the third basement floor looking for the Duke, and then that cloth soaked in some bizarre drug…

“Aagh!”

As he desperately tried to organize his chaotic memories and deduce what had happened, an agonizing spike of pain suddenly violently assaulted his groin. It felt as though the most sensitive, fragile, and utterly humiliating part of the male anatomy was being brutally ripped off.

Driven by pure reflex, he threw his head forward to inspect the source of the agony.

What the hell? What… what exactly am I looking at right now?

Between the severe brain fog from the flu, the aggressive aphrodisiac the guards had forced into his lungs, and his entire body currently submerged in scalding hot water, it was entirely understandable that Lino couldn’t immediately process the scene unfolding between his legs, despite staring directly at it. Truthfully, even if he had been in perfect physical condition, instantly comprehending this situation would have been mathematically impossible.

A hand, reaching from behind him, was ruthlessly and aggressively gripping his cock. As the surface of the water rippled, the submerged hand distorted slightly, but it undeniably belonged to a man. The hand was so massive it not only fully encompassed Lino’s better-than-average-sized member in a single grip, but completely swallowed it from view. The thick blue veins bulging prominently against the skin, the pronounced, sharp knuckles… every single anatomical detail definitively proved the owner of the hand was male.

Which meant Lino had not only been dragged into a bathtub with another man, but he had also been fast asleep the entire time while that man ruthlessly gripped his cock.

Having finally assessed the situation, it was only natural that Lino—despite his usually incredibly easygoing, “whatever” personality—felt a rage so intense his vision literally swam with red.

“You crazy fucking bastard, take your hand off me right—!”

“Are you awake?”

“…?”

A deeply resonant, incredibly low voice drifted down, settling heavily against the crown of Lino’s head. Lino, who had been fully prepared to shred his swollen, agonizing throat to scream at the bastard to release him immediately, flinched violently. His shoulders jerked in pure, involuntary reflex at the sheer depth of that voice. If a voice could possess physical form, that sound would have been a jagged claw violently raking down his nape and scraping violently down his spine.

And while it wasn’t a voice he heard frequently, it was undeniably one he recognized. It was the exact same voice he had heard right before he lost consciousness in that iron cage.

Don’t tell me…

As Lino, who had been seconds away from violently throwing a sharp elbow backward to dislodge his assailant, froze in absolute, rigid horror, Grondil slowly released his crushing grip on Lino’s cock.

Hngh… A whimpering, pathetic moan escaped Lino’s lips. As blood finally rushed back into his severely constricted member, a bizarre, intensely sharp sensation—like being struck by a localized electric shock—shot painfully through his groin.

“You simply refused to wake up, so I decided to indulge in a bit of a prank.”

“A… prank?!”

At the word prank, Lino’s eyes practically bulged out of his skull, and he whipped his head around with such violent force it produced an audible whoosh. Though his vision was still significantly blurred by the raging fever, he could clearly see the Duke’s lips curled into a breathtakingly handsome, serene smile.

You’re smiling? You squeezed another man’s dick so hard it felt like it was going to literally explode, and you’re casually brushing it off with the word ‘prank’ while smiling?! Isn’t that attempted fucking murder?! Huh?!

Lino’s normally gentle, pale green eyes—which usually evoked the soft, peaceful imagery of spring—darkened viciously, resembling the thick, resilient leaves of a plant that had aggressively survived the brutal, scorching sun of midsummer.

Staring into those deep, furiously dark green eyes, Grondil detected the distinct, raw scent of something unripened and fresh. It looked exactly like a meticulously cut Smaragdos, the absolute pride of his Principality. It was the rarest, most priceless variant of mana stone, a vibrant green gem that occasionally emitted a faint, intoxicating fragrance depending on its exact hue.

Lino’s dark green eyes, blazing with absolute, unadulterated fury, looked identical to the Smaragdos gems that even Grondil only possessed a handful of.

Perhaps that was why. Rather than issuing a harsh, crushing command to the man who dared to glare at him with such venomous hostility, Grondil offered words of gentle, soothing appeasement instead.

“Did it hurt?”

“You squeezed it so fucking hard it felt like it was going to burst… and you’re asking if it hurt…?”

His voice tore from his throat like grinding metal, sounding as though he had literally shredded his vocal cords just to force the words out. It was a terrifying, jagged sound that instantly broadcasted the severely compromised state of his throat.

Displeased by the horrific sound, Grondil moved his hand, which had been idly lingering near Lino’s waist, up to gently wrap around the boy’s neck.

His massive palm completely enveloped Lino’s throat, from just beneath his jawline down to his collarbone. Grondil’s intent was purely to prevent Lino from further destroying his vocal cords by speaking, but to Lino, the gesture felt like an immediate, lethal threat. Given that Grondil’s hand had nearly eradicated his cock just moments prior, there was absolutely no guarantee his neck wouldn’t suffer a similar, catastrophic fate. Terrified he was about to be strangled to death, Lino’s shoulders violently hunched up to his ears, and driven by pure, frantic instinct, he dug his heels in and shoved his hips backward, desperately trying to escape the hand wrapping around his windpipe.

However, the solid, unyielding wall he bumped into directly behind him didn’t budge a single millimeter. Instead, as if he had been patiently waiting for Lino to do exactly that, Grondil leaned his upper body forward, pressing himself completely and seamlessly flush against Lino’s back.

A perfectly smooth, rock-hard chest rubbed firmly against Lino’s spine. Lino’s frantic thrashing caused the bathwater to splash violently, scalding his skin, but an even more intense, searing heat pressed intimately against the small of his back.

What the hell is this.

Lino, who had been desperately scrambling backward to protect his airway, froze entirely, as if struck by a paralyzing bolt of lightning. The violent, chaotic splashing of the bathwater slowly subsided into an eerie stillness. Shocked beyond rational thought, Lino’s breathing became incredibly erratic and shallow. Immediately, he heard the unmistakable sound of suppressed laughter rumbling from the man directly behind him. The deep vibration transferred perfectly through their pressed bodies. And simultaneously, Lino unmistakably felt something hard, thick, and extraordinarily long pressing directly against his spine, violently expanding in size. He desperately wanted to ignore it, but since it was pressed flush against his back and rapidly inflating its volume in a single, aggressive motion, ignoring it was a physical impossibility.

“Right behind my back… what is that? Please don’t tell me that is Your Highness’s… your…”

It isn’t, right? He desperately wanted to ask. Yet, because Lino already knew the horrifying, undeniable truth, he couldn’t bring himself to vocalize the question.

He had passed out in the Duke’s arms, and when he woke up, he was in a bathtub. With the Duke. Being held by the Duke.

Since the Duke obviously wouldn’t step into a bathtub fully clothed, that terrifyingly massive entity currently asserting its horrifying, undeniable presence against his spine was undoubtedly the Duke’s… cock.

However, Lino absolutely refused to receive the verbal confirmation that would officially sign his death warrant.

Highly amused by Lino freezing completely stiff upon recognizing his erection, Grondil deliberately leaned down, pressing his lips firmly against the shell of Lino’s ear.

“Now, Sir Cliff, I am incredibly curious to know whether you are truly aware of exactly what this is or not,” Grondil whispered, slowly rolling his hips forward to deliberately, aggressively grind his erection against Lino’s back.

“If you are asking while fully aware, you are putting on quite the coy act. If you are genuinely asking because you do not know… it makes me wonder how on earth you’ve managed to live such a remarkably innocent life with a body like yours.”

Whispering in a low, resonant voice as if reciting a dark poem, Grondil casually stroked the cock he was still holding once. Instantly, a short, sharp moan—Hngh—tore from Lino’s lips.

“You do not need to be terrified. I promise I will not burst it, nor will I snap it in half. It is the absolute perfect size to hold; why on earth would I destroy it? Especially when it cries with such a delightfully pretty sound… there is absolutely no reason for me to damage it.”

Even though the Duke deliberately omitted the subject of the sentence, Lino instantly understood exactly what he was promising not to burst or snap, and swallowed hard in pure terror. So, if it hadn’t been the ‘perfect size to hold,’ you absolutely would have fucking burst it? Is that what you’re saying?

If that bursts, I’ll literally die of shock. No, wait, if my neck snaps, I’ll just die instantly, won’t I?

Whether he touches my dick or my neck, I’m heading straight to the graveyard. If I have to die, I want to die intact. I absolutely refuse to die because my dick exploded and my neck was snapped. But if I want to die intact… does that mean I have to play along with whatever the Duke wants right now…?

Fuck, this is driving me insane.

Do I throw away my life to protect my pride as a man, or do I throw away my pride to save my life?

Lino agonized over the decision with such intense, profound gravity that an outside observer might have assumed he was making a critical, world-altering tactical decision to save an entire nation. The deep, dark furrow carved between his eyebrows clearly broadcasted the absolute severity of his internal debate.

However, there was a horrifying third possibility: throwing away his pride and still losing his life. He could tell simply from the terrifying sensation pressing against his back. Grondil’s monstrosity was absolutely, unequivocally not a size that belonged between the legs of a human being. If he puts that inside me, I will literally be ripped in half.

While Lino was severely agonizing over the very real possibility of a catastrophic anal rupture, Grondil continued kneading and stroking Lino’s cock, casually calling out to him.

“By the way, Sir Cliff.”

“Y-Yes, Your Highness…”

“Regarding the bathwater. It was perfectly, crystal clear when we first got in, you see.”

“?”