The Villain’s Aide Has Run Away

Kailos examined it with a serious look, then turned back to Leslun. It was a silent pressure, as if urging him to explain further.

“I once helped organize the weapons storage. It is the same preservative oil used back then.”

Kailos lifted one corner of the sack to look underneath, then wrinkled his brow slightly at the faint oil smell.

“Then where did the contents of this box go?”

“I do not know.”

Leslun closed the box and exhaled deeply. The gradual reduction of supplies had not been because someone was secretly diverting them. Someone had partially filled the boxes with these and later brought in food supplies, covering up the entire affair seamlessly.

“To think they dared to do such a thing in my academy.”

Anger laced Kailos’s muttered words.

“We should go out right now and—”

“We cannot go out.”

Leslun cut him off with a single line, as if the Crown Prince had already forgotten. Until someone opened the door from outside, they could not leave.

Kailos pressed his lips into a firm line. A beat later, his brows furrowed as if recalling the fact, and he turned his head quietly.

Then Leslun found himself shrinking without meaning to. The cold he had forgotten slowly began to seep back into him.

The floor was already icy, and every breath left a faint cloud in the air.

Leslun crossed his arms and rubbed them. Kailos glanced at him.

“Are you that cold?”

“I am fine.”

Even as he said so, the chill in the cold storage room had drained the color from his lips. When Kailos began unbuttoning his coat, Leslun quickly shook his head.

“You do not need to take it off for me. If we wait just a little longer, the head chef will come.”

“I never said I was going to take it off.”

Kailos frowned, but continued undoing the buttons. Leslun could not understand it, especially when even fastening them tighter was barely enough against the cold.

Then Kailos spread his arms, causing his coat to flutter open.

“Come here.”

Leslun stiffened like a broken doll. Had he heard correctly?

“Y-Your Highness. You mean… into Your Highness’s arms…”

“Yes. In times like this, we should rely on each other’s body heat.”

It was not wrong, technically. Still, having the Crown Prince as the one saying it was a heavy burden.

He considered standing alone and enduring the cold instead. But Kailos was relentless.

“If we wait a little longer, the door will open. If we just endure until then—”

“And what if I cannot endure?”

Leslun’s eyes widened.

“If I collapse from the cold, it will be a disaster. Think of this as a precaution.”

The thought of the Crown Prince collapsing in the academy was dizzying. He did not even want to imagine what rumors would spread.

Leslun hesitated, then slowly stepped toward Kailos. Flinching slightly, he wrapped his arms around his waist.

Kailos did the rest. He pulled Leslun straight into his embrace.

Warmth radiated from his chest, and Leslun felt Kailos’s breath brush past the collar of his clothes.

“Your Highness, this is too close—”

“Ah, it is warm.”

Kailos pulled him even closer, wrapping his arms around his back. Their bodies were now completely pressed together.

The feel of their collars brushing, the press of his chest, the slight bump of their sides—it all seemed to raise the heat in the air. Especially since their lower bodies were touching, Leslun’s face burned.

He drew in a short breath. All he had wanted was to fend off the cold, yet the atmosphere had become strangely charged.

Even if he tried not to think about it, the closeness made him feel embarrassed.

He drew in another sharp breath. His attempt to forget the chill was now heading in a completely different direction.

He could feel everything even without moving. Their breathing overlapped, and his heartbeat quickened.

He had been able to forget it for a while by focusing on his lessons, but this was the first time since that day that he had held the Crown Prince this close.

“…Your Highness.”

As soon as Leslun spoke, Kailos answered casually.

“Do not worry. I will not do anything.”

Leslun’s face flushed even deeper at those words. If anything, Kailos’s touch felt even more intimate.

Even when Leslun tried to lean back, Kailos’s arms would not let him go. The last sliver of space between them disappeared. Their lower bodies pressed together fully, making Leslun’s stomach tighten.

“It may be dangerous since someone could come in at any moment…”

Kailos cupped Leslun’s cheek. His palm was cold to the touch.

“I cannot just watch you shiver.”

At Kailos’s words, Leslun looked up at him.