Chapter 41

The words slipped out before Isaac could arrest them. A sudden, sharp ache of pity constricted his chest. He wished the prince did not have to exist in such a hollow state. He hoped Kaiyan could find something better, something warmer—something that filled the heart rather than draining it dry. Isaac suddenly realized the prince was watching him, and he flinched instinctively.

Did I say something unnecessary?

It should not matter. A man like Kaiyan was a monolith; he paid no heed to the mundane observations of others. He would surely let the comment pass into the ether. Or so Isaac assumed.

“You are strange sometimes,” Kaiyan said softly.

Isaac sensed immediately that the atmosphere had curdled.

“I do not know why. You speak of things that should be insignificant, yet they scrape against the corners of my mind.”

He did not sound angry, yet an inexplicable alarm shrilled inside Isaac’s head. Bad premonitions were never wrong.

“…”

Isaac’s eyes widened as Kaiyan stared straight at him and unfastened his belt.

Why is he doing this now?

Before Isaac could parse the dread pooling in his stomach, the prince parted his trousers and released his cock. Isaac stared at it, his mind completely blanked by the absurdity of the moment.

“Suck it.”

Kaiyan offered only those two words. Isaac’s head snapped up, searching for a sign of a joke, but the prince’s face remained a perfect, terrifying void. Isaac’s lips parted, but no sound escaped. Kaiyan merely tipped his chin toward the space below.

“…”

There it was.

I have crossed the line. I have finally stepped on a mine.

Darkness swallowed Isaac’s vision. He waited, praying for a reprieve, but the scene remained stubbornly, horrifyingly real.

This was no dream.

An attendant standing some distance away wore the weary, solemn expression of a man who had long anticipated this inevitable degradation.

Kaiyan’s eyebrow arched with agonizing slowness. If Isaac delayed a second longer, genuine disaster would follow. He swallowed against his parched throat, moved forward, and knelt before the prince.

Fine. Sucking a man’s cock is hardly the end of the world.

Isaac had endured far more wretched experiences throughout his difficult life. His resolve was not so brittle that this alone would shatter him. It was, at the very least, a hundred times better than having his head severed without warning.

What truly sent his pulse into a frantic flutter was the question of whether this would end here. It would not. A man like Kaiyan would not be satisfied with a mere blowjob. Would today mark the end of Isaac’s physical integrity? The prince’s former bedwarmers had been torn until they bled.

Forget it. Whatever happens, I will not die. At worst, I will be confined to a physician’s care for a few days. Yes. Still better than death.

Having steeled his nerves, Isaac reached out and gripped him.

“…”

Mom…

Isaac’s mind went vacant. He had known the prince was large, but he had never witnessed him at such close proximity. Now, with the reality staring him in the face, he understood that the rumors were, if anything, understated.

Dear God. Is that even attached to a human body?

He remained frozen, blinking in sheer disbelief, until Kaiyan released a long, sharp exhale of breath above him, clearly losing patience.

I will die. If that enters me, I will surely die.

“I am sorry,” Isaac whispered.

Unable to bear the sight any longer, he dropped his gaze, planted his hands against the floor, and bowed his head where he knelt.

“I will not scratch at your mind again.”

His voice trembled so violently it nearly vanished. Kaiyan rarely listened to anyone, so an apology was unlikely to move him. Isaac had nothing left except the desperate, clawing need to seize whatever straw of salvation remained.

The prince offered no reply. Isaac lifted his gaze just enough to scrutinize Kaiyan’s expression, only to find the prince peering down at him with clinical, unfeeling eyes.

It is useless.

Isaac’s shoulders slumped. His face had drained to a sickly yellow, and as he swayed, he guided his mouth toward the prince’s groin. When he was close enough that his skin brushed the prince’s thigh, Isaac squeezed his eyes shut and parted his lips.

“It makes little difference whom I empty myself into,” Kaiyan said at that precise moment.

Isaac stopped, paralyzed.

“But I do have preferences.”

The prince’s voice possessed its usual timbre, yet there was a subtle, dangerous shift in the cadence. It sounded almost as though he were teasing him.

No. Impossible. This man does not know the first thing about humor.

Confused by the unidentifiable inflection in Kaiyan’s voice, Isaac pried his eyes open. He slowly raised his gaze until it locked with the cold blue eyes looking down at him. They remained as indifferent as ever, yet they had narrowed, and although his face remained a mask, his gaze somehow appeared to hold a flicker of dark amusement.

It was a look that seemed to say: Now, you finally understand your transgression.

The prince offered a casual wave of his hand.

Isaac, who had been retreating backward without even realizing it, blinked in confusion.

When Kaiyan raised no objection even after Isaac had retreated a considerable distance, the suffocating tension drained from his body, and he collapsed onto the floor right where he stood. He had been teasing him. The notion was so profoundly unlike the prince that Isaac was still struggling to grasp it. Even the attendant who had been watching from afar with an anxious expression merely blinked in bewilderment, plainly baffled by the sudden shift in atmosphere.

Yet, there was no other explanation.

Kaiyan had simply decided to toy with him.

“I am deeply grateful.”

Isaac bowed at once and scrambled to his feet before the prince could change his mind. Perhaps his desperation showed a bit too clearly, because this time, Kaiyan’s eyes unmistakably smiled. His expression remained so close to a blank slate that almost no one else would have noticed, but Isaac was certain of it. Those eyes were laughing.

“You may relax,” the prince said, straightening his attire. “There is no need to prepare yourself with sausages.”

Isaac stared at him, bewildered. Then, the memory struck him like a physical blow. He froze. Kaiyan had heard every word Aunt Natasha said. Of course he had; the prince had been in the study directly above them at the time.

“That is… reassuring. Thank you.”

Isaac bowed his burning face, mumbling the words. A brief sound escaped the prince—almost a quiet snort of laughter. Isaac’s head shot up, but by then, Kaiyan had already finished adjusting his clothing. He wore the same impassive mask as always as he rose from his chair.

“Find out where they intend to gather this time.”

The lightness in his voice had vanished without a trace, his tone returning to its customary, chilling frost. Isaac straightened his posture as well.

“Yes.”

There was no need to ask whom he meant.

It was not a name that should be spoken where attendants might overhear, even at a distance.

Besides, Isaac had already been calculating that the time for the people of Roverni to convene again must be approaching. Kaiyan looked at him for a long moment before turning away. Isaac had the peculiar sense that he had passed some sort of test. Perhaps the prince approved of the fact that he had not added any useless questions or complaints.

Afterward, Kaiyan moved to the study and began reading.

Isaac knew the prince had no other appointments that afternoon, and when he saw the impressive thickness of the volume in Kaiyan’s hands, he released a quiet breath of relief and took his position beside the door. It seemed he would only have to stand there until his shift concluded.

Now that peace had returned after what felt like the passage of a brief but violent storm, Isaac watched the prince keep his eyes fixed upon the book and swallowed a soft sigh. At times, he felt as though he were constantly being tested without ever realizing when the ordeal had begun. It was like balancing on a thin rope above a sheer cliff, where one mistake might end his life. What made it worse was that he had no idea what counted as passing and what counted as failure.

Isaac quietly tapped his chest.

He could only hope that everything would proceed without disaster.

For himself.

And for that man as well.

***