The Villain’s Aide Has Run Away - Chapter 31.1
[How foolish.]
Clear words rang inside his head. The Crown Prince Kailos, deep in thought, felt a vein rise sharply on his forehead.
He slowly lifted his gaze. At the window sat Blue, who had paused his grooming and was staring at him with only his eyes, as if to say, “How could you be so dense?”
Kailos drew in a short breath and pressed against the vein at his temple, muttering,
“Then explain the reason. One that I can actually accept.”
Even under the Crown Prince’s pressure, Blue didn’t care in the slightest.
If anything, Kailos looked pathetic to him, too blind to recognize a human blessed with fortune, and instead thinking only of tormenting him.
[If you want to become Emperor, then keep that boy at my side!]
As Blue finally began to push unreasonable demands, the Crown Prince’s expression grew darker and darker, his face contorting with fury, as though flames might erupt at any moment.
“Um…”
From the corner, Robin, who had been watching nervously, carefully spoke up. Kailos’s gaze was still sharp as a blade, but Robin pressed on, unfazed.
“What exactly happened?”
“The necklace the Empress gave me—it was to test Blue’s power.”
The true power of a Guardian Beast only revealed itself when a new Emperor ascended the throne, or when the beast’s own will became clear. In that sense, Empress Tera must have tried to forcibly expose Blue’s power, intending to use it.
Her scheme was not difficult to grasp. A similar incident had occurred in a previous reign.
Of course, Kailos too had wanted to know what kind of power Blue possessed. If not for the Empress, he might have been the one to procure such a necklace first.
“And she thought that would be enough to claim Blue?”
Since it was something he had only considered but never acted upon, Kailos could brazenly dismiss it.
“But a power that shakes the mind…”
Unlike the Guardian Beasts of past Emperors, Blue did not wield physical strength but instead an intangible force. That whispering voice, so alluring it seemed to ensnare the soul, still echoed in Kailos’s mind.
“Take Leslun.”
The expression “take” could carry many meanings.
There were countless ways to claim Leslun. Even without Blue’s power, it would not have been difficult.
‘…Or would it really be that easy?’
At times Leslun seemed like a trivial, defenseless creature, only to slip skillfully from his grasp the moment Kailos let his guard down.
And that was not particularly pleasant.
‘Possessing him with the body alone would be nothing more than an illusion.’
After all, Leslun was a man, incapable of producing an heir, and a commoner of unknown parentage.
“Lowly blood.”
Those words were the ones Kailos had heard more than any others for as long as he could remember.
There had been Emperors before who kept male lovers. In fact, legend said that the First Emperor had cherished a same-sex partner at his side for a long time.
But Kailos had always thought such things had nothing to do with him. And now he was being told to see Leslun in such a way?
Human imagination, like an untamed cat, ran wherever it pleased. Kailos’s thoughts sprawled recklessly.
He smelled so good.
It didn’t seem like a scent that could come from a human. There was something in it that pricked at instinct.
Whenever that slender voice pleaded, he wanted to sink his teeth into the nape of his neck. No, he wanted to drive himself into far deeper places. To press down on that throat and tear him apart, utterly and completely.
Breaking a defenseless beast was not a hunt. It was play. Kailos pictured Leslun trembling beneath him, body offered up entirely to his dominion.
Kailos broke from his thoughts and crossed his legs where he sat.
He still could not pull himself out of the shock.
Even though Blue’s influence had now subsided, strangely, his body continued to react whenever he thought of Leslun.
“I don’t really understand.”
“Is that so? Then come closer, and I’ll explain.”
Kailos beckoned Robin. As the aide approached, he extended his hand without even looking.
“Take my hand.”
“…My apologies.”
Robin reflexively declined, but the Crown Prince’s mood was too serious, it was clear he wasn’t speaking in jest. At times like this, refusal was not an option.
Robin tugged at the end of his glove’s middle finger. The glove slid smoothly off, revealing a long, fine hand marked only by the calluses left from holding a pen.
Robin, who was obsessively fastidious about cleanliness, took a deep breath and offered his hand.
As their palms nearly touched, the warmth of another’s body seeped in, and an instinctive aversion rose within him. His fingers twitched on their own. Just as Robin was about to pull them back—
“How unpleasant. Take it away.”
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
