The Villain’s Aide Has Run Away - Chapter 30.1
Kailos spoke with the corners of his lips curved upward. It sounded like a joke, but there was no trace of laughter in his eyes. On the contrary, a clear flame of desire was burning deep within his pupils.
Leslun’s heart pounded wildly. The beat that rose from the depths of his chest throbbed all the way up to the nape of his neck.
His body betrayed him, refusing to obey the thought that he had to break free of the Crown Prince’s hold. At this suffocatingly close distance, even the instinct to flee dulled—leaving only one overwhelming awareness.
That the man’s lips were far too close to his own.
The Crown Prince’s striking face filled his entire vision, making it nearly impossible to hold onto reason. Their lips drew close enough that a kiss seemed inevitable, yet he couldn’t move away. Instead, his heart raced as though waiting for the moment they would meet.
He shut his eyes and held his breath. For that fleeting instant, he thought the Crown Prince really would kiss him.
But this must not happen.
He knew full well who stood before him—the Crown Prince of the Empire. And more than that, the final villain who would one day drag this Empire to ruin.
Even so, he could not push him away.
A sting shot through his heart, the pain he had shaken off earlier rising again. It wasn’t torment—if anything, it stirred a strange exhilaration.
‘Have I ever felt this before?’
The thought slipped past his consciousness—and like a shock of cold water, Leslun’s eyes flew open. He shoved Kailos away with all his strength, trying to widen the distance.
Perhaps he pushed harder than intended, for his fist struck the Crown Prince’s chest with an audible thud. Kailos’s expression did not change, but Leslun’s hand burned red.
At the same time, his legs gave way and he collapsed onto the floor.
Kailos calmly stepped back.
Yet at that awkwardly measured distance, Leslun saw something he should not have seen. From his seat on the ground, his line of sight clashed with the Crown Prince’s, at precisely the wrong place.
Behind them, books that had been teetering on the shelf finally toppled with a loud clatter. It felt as though his heart had fallen right along with them.
The instant their eyes met, Leslun instinctively raised the back of his hand to cover his lips, though they hadn’t even truly touched.
‘Why am I acting like this?’
It was the second most urgent moment of his life. He must not be swept up in the Crown Prince’s mood.
Meanwhile, Kailos, feeling a strange emptiness at the sudden separation, frowned before speaking.
“Tell me, then. I saved you—so does that make me a good man?”
It was a line that by now felt etched into his ears. But rather than irritation, it jolted Leslun’s mind wide awake.
“…I’m sorry.”
He didn’t say what he was apologizing for. Everything about this situation was simply wrong.
Unless someone was manipulating him, this could never have happened.
He had imagined Kailos torturing him before, but never, not once, had he imagined the Crown Prince touching him with such gentleness.
That wasn’t the kind of story written in books.
And yet he had dared to face the Crown Prince this closely, their faces nearly touching. And those sweet, coaxing words—what were they supposed to mean?
Could this be a dream?
No. That was just an excuse to avoid the truth.
While Leslun’s thoughts tangled, the Crown Prince, who had been staring down at his chest, asked,
“Why didn’t you run away?”
Leslun couldn’t answer. He didn’t know why himself.
“Well, even if you wanted to, you wouldn’t have been able to escape. Not when even I can’t.”
Kailos turned, brushing back the bangs that had fallen forward. It was his attempt to restrain the excitement still running through him.
“What in the world is happening here…”
While both Kailos and Leslun remained caught in something neither could define, Robin and Baron Kelly appeared between the shelves. They must have come because of the sound of books falling.
The two exchanged a glance as they took in the strange current surrounding the Crown Prince and his aide. Neither dared to speak of what they saw.
Robin in particular blinked a few times, then slowly shook his head, his expression one of someone struggling to suppress a sigh.
Baron Kelly, too, furrowed his brows as though he had caught on to something. His gaze moved slowly back and forth between the two men, as if retracing the situation, unsure what words he could possibly say.
His expression all but shouted: So this is why you asked me to look after Leslun.
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