The Villain’s Aide Has Run Away - Chapter 9.2
“Shouldn’t you be happy in a situation like this?”
At the muttered words from above his head, Leslun lifted his gaze then flinched when he realized how close the other was. But there was nowhere to run from the bed, so he ended up locking eyes with the Crown Prince at close range.
Kailos leaned his upper body toward Leslun, his gaze sweeping over his face.
After letting him rest for a few days, at least his complexion had brightened a little.
For someone who had lived a rough life, his skin was even and smooth like white porcelain. Beneath his lashes, his clear, large eyes trembled. His straight nose and lips pressed tightly together quivered faintly with tension.
His flushed cheeks bore the traces of mingled fear and distress, and the fine hairs trailing down to his nape, damp with sweat, only emphasized his delicate impression.
He looked like a frightened young deer, hesitation and wariness written all over him.
Ever since being captured, his appearance had been consistently like this—but now, just after waking, he looked all the more defenseless. Slightly swollen eyes, damp lips, and hair disheveled across his face made him seem as though he might shatter at a touch.
Rejecting his plea to save his parents made Kailos feel like a particularly cruel man.
Leslun, trying hard to hide his disappointment, spoke softly.
“I… I want to go back.”
“Where to?”
The Crown Prince refuted him without a moment’s hesitation.
“Shall I send you back to the prison?”
“That’s not what I meant…”
He must mean he wants to return to his family. But Kailos had no intention of giving him the answer he wanted.
“Hm.”
Kailos rested his chin on one hand and looked down at him for a long time. Leslun endured that silence with anxious eyes.
“I’ll set one condition.”
“…A condition?”
“I could let you leave here and return to your original room. But in exchange, you’ll become my aide.”
Leslun’s eyes went wide. That was, in effect, an invitation into the Crown Prince’s most intimate circle.
“Don’t tell me… that’s your way of saying you don’t want me?”
“It’s just… so sudden.”
“Then you’re free to stay here instead.”
Kailos shrugged, speaking as if it were nothing at all.
“This room is fairly quiet and warm anyway. I prepared it thinking you’d be here longer than you expected.”
At that, Leslun dropped his gaze.
“For the record, I sleep in this bed too. The sun will be setting soon.”
The thought of lying in the same bed as the Crown Prince drained the color from Leslun’s face. It was unthinkable, and he shook his head violently, wanting to deny even the idea itself.
“…P-please, let me go.”
But unlike Leslun’s desperate plea, the Crown Prince seemed to have no intention of granting it.
“There’s one thing you must know if you’re to become my aide.”
Kailos closed the distance between them.
When he lowered his head, Leslun instinctively leaned back, but the bed offered no more space to retreat.
“It’s usually at times like this that I’m in the worst mood.”
“…At times like this?”
“Yes. Like this.”
Every time he returned from his invisible clashes with the Empress, Kailos’s mood would sink to its lowest. But now… it wasn’t quite as bad as before.
Hiding those thoughts, Kailos raised one corner of his lips in a sly smile.
“If you keep delaying your answer, then you’ll have to comfort me here instead.”
So it really did mean he had to pay with his body! Then the rumors must have been true.
Leslun’s face flushed as though it might burst.
“Or are you worried I’ll try something improper?”
A low, quiet voice whispered at close range. The tone had a teasing lilt, but the atmosphere was heavy and pressing.
“Or… are you the one expecting something?”
Leslun drew a sharp breath. He knew full well that being shaken now would bring him no advantage, but he couldn’t help it. Especially when the Crown Prince reached out and seized his collar—he nearly fainted.
Reflexively, Leslun lifted his head. Their eyes met.
“Now, choose. Will you lie here with me in this bed, or will you work by my side?”
The Crown Prince was smiling, but beneath that smile lay something that was no joke.
“Personally, I don’t think either option is bad…”
“I’ll do it!”
Without realizing he had cut the Crown Prince off, Leslun cried out the words like a scream.
“A wise choice.”
Kailos tugged back on his collar, pulling his body down until he lay flat, sinking completely into the bed.
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