The Villain’s Aide Has Run Away - Chapter 40.1
That innocent reaction made him laugh.
So he thought it would stop at just a kiss, did he?
Saying there was no intent only made it sound more enticing. Kailos stripped Leslun’s clothes until he was satisfied. Leaving him with only a single shirt, he hung Leslun’s discarded garments casually over a chair before the boy could even feel bare.
Just one thin shirt. In contrast, Kailos had only shed his jacket.
And that was as far as it went.
“For a student entering the Academy, this is a rare opportunity. I won’t give you long.”
Kailos pulled his hand away from Leslun and leaned back against the chair. Left standing alone in the center with nothing but his shirt, Leslun straightened his body with effort and looked around.
From rare ancient texts to restricted research materials forbidden from leaving the archives, the books stored here were far more than mere knowledge.
“Perhaps… Perhaps there might be a method here that I don’t yet know of.”
The hope rose in him that there might be a way to protect his family with his own strength—or even to change the Crown Prince.
“Am I truly allowed to look as I please?”
Leslun looked to Kailos for confirmation.
“Don’t mind me. Read as you like.”
Then why strip me of my clothes?
He couldn’t tell what the Crown Prince was thinking. But for now, he felt he had no choice but to go along with his mood.
Leslun’s eyes moved swiftly, scanning the spines of the books one by one.
Every single one was of enormous value. Just pulling them out would feel burdensome.
Yet the fact that he had stepped into a space filled with such volumes lifted his spirits. There was a strange allure, one that pulled him away from reality.
“Each one is of great worth, but in the end, they’re just books.”
Though the thought made him uneasy, since the Crown Prince had brought him here, he resolved to make full use of the chance. Leslun exhaled deeply, gathering resolve in his eyes.
He would handle them as if he were touching Blue. He would never crease a page or leave the slightest trace.
With that mindset, Leslun reached his hand toward a book.
“I’ll be doing as I please in the meantime.”
Kailos’s low voice fell. Before Leslun could even turn his head, a hand reached from behind him, brushing past his face and skimming along the shelves.
The familiar warmth, and even more familiar—the deliberate closeness.
His body trembled. Leslun turned to look at him. Feeling his gaze, Kailos looked down at him.
“Do you want another reward?”
“That’s not it…”
His words denied it, but he couldn’t push Kailos away as he drew nearer. Strangely enough, he didn’t dislike the heat radiating from him, even now.
Kailos’s hand skimmed along Leslun’s side. Thankfully, he was wearing an undershirt beneath his shirt, but that only made him more conscious of it.
The hand slid over his flat stomach, tickling his ribs. Kailos’s blunt nails lightly scratched his skin.
Because it all happened beneath the shirt, even if Leslun looked down, he couldn’t see the hand. That only spurred his imagination.
His legs crossed of their own accord. It felt like his knees might give way.
It was a state neither fully clothed nor unclothed. Leslun blamed the Crown Prince inwardly, telling himself that his constant flinching wasn’t entirely his own fault.
When he forced himself to hold back a groan, Kailos’s hand withdrew.
“This will be of use to you as well.”
As he said so, he pulled out a book. Leslun’s eyes, damp with heat, followed it.
“……”
Nothing happened. The pounding in his chest eased slightly, and though he felt a measure of relief, he also looked disappointed as he accepted the book.
<The Eldenia Treaty>
A diplomatic document signed centuries ago between the Empire and the Kingdom of Vancor. Even now, the trade between the two nations was based upon this treaty—it was nothing less than its foundation.
“Seems you want a reward. Shouldn’t you work to stay in my favor?”
“…Pardon?”
Leslun couldn’t guess what the Crown Prince had in mind by saying such a thing, but his thoughts immediately went to his family.
Could it be that within this book lay a new problem?
“Go on. Read.”
Leslun nodded. Then, sitting opposite the Crown Prince, he settled himself and opened the book.
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