Chapter 3: Undress

Had he been caught?

No, calm down.

The fact that he wasn’t from Sinhye Kingdom was something anyone could have guessed already from when he performed the sword dance.

The dance he performed couldn’t help but be different from those here.

“…I am not.”

He answered honestly.

Rather than stubbornly insisting he was from here, it seemed better to admit he wasn’t, since that would also help explain why his way of speaking differed from this place.

King Seongrim hadn’t said he mustn’t be discovered as a non-Sinhye person either.

“Where are you from?”

That was a tricky question.

Even if he told him, would he know?

If he said the Republic of Korea, would His Highness have any idea what that meant?

“It is a place Your Highness would not know.”

“There’s a place I don’t know?”

He raised his voice in disbelief.

“You say interesting things.

Interesting.

In many ways.”

Although he said it was interesting, his expression didn’t look interesting at all.

The corners of his mouth were turned up in a smile, but the eyes staring at him were piercingly cold.

“More importantly, Your Highness, shouldn’t you be spending tonight with the Crown Princess, not with me?”

If he could just avoid going to bed, it seemed he might get through this without being discovered as a man.

The Crown Prince still didn’t seem to suspect at all that he was male.

At Eun-gyo’s words, the Crown Prince’s eyes narrowed.

“Are you refusing me now?”

What, why did he have to put it like that?

“That’s not it, it’s just that on a day like this, if you leave the Crown Princess alone, she might be very upset…”

His voice trailed off as the Crown Prince’s eyes grew even narrower.

By Eun-gyo’s common sense, he couldn’t understand leaving a new bride alone on the wedding night and taking another woman.

Even if he was the Crown Prince, and even if imperial nobles could have concubines according to the laws of this world, wasn’t there a minimum level of courtesy?

He’d only said that, so what was the problem…

“Do you dare refuse me?”

Ah, he understood the problem now.

The mere fact that he’d dared to voice his opinion in front of the Crown Prince was the issue itself.

Ugh, damn.

He swore internally.

Not being able to speak righteously as he pleased—this world truly wasn’t for him.

He had no choice but to find a way back as soon as possible.

“Ahaha, of-of course not.”

How could I possibly dare refuse His Highness the Crown Prince?

He suppressed his urge to be sarcastic and forced a smile.

But even if I don’t refuse, you’re not going to want to do it once you find out I’m a man.

It’s not that you just won’t do it—you’ll probably try to kill me.

So wouldn’t it be better for everyone if you, Your Highness, just went to the Crown Princess, and let me go?

“I was merely concerned that the Crown Princess might be deeply hurt, so I voiced my worry.”

Putting on a look of extreme injustice at being misunderstood, he met the Crown Prince’s gaze.

He’d already been told he could look, so he didn’t care anymore.

He had no choice but to try and get through this somehow with his acting.

The Crown Prince, who had been staring straight into Eun-gyo’s eyes, made a subtle expression.

It didn’t seem like he was more suspicious, but it wasn’t exactly a pleasant expression either.

“You need not worry about the Crown Princess.

She will be relieved that I chose you.”

What kind of nonsense was that now?

Why would the Crown Princess be relieved…

Ah, wait.

Could it be that the previous Crown Princesses’ suicides had something to do with the Crown Prince?

That would explain why the Crown Princess’s expression had looked like a cow being led to the slaughter.

“Could it be you have some strange kink—hup!”

His inner thoughts slipped out before he could stop them, and realizing his mistake, he quickly clamped both hands over his mouth.

“Strange kink?”

He wished the Crown Prince hadn’t heard, but it seemed he had sharp ears.

No, he had spoken far too conspicuously.

What if he drew a sword for speaking carelessly and being insolent?

Surely no matter how ruthless he was, he wouldn’t kill someone that easily, he believed…

“Kuhahaha!”

Suddenly, the Crown Prince burst into loud laughter.

Startled, Eun-gyo stared at him with wide eyes, and the Crown Prince abruptly stopped laughing, his expression turning serious as he looked back.

“Are you not afraid of me?”

‘Of course I am.

You just laughed and then suddenly got serious—you look like a crazy person, which makes me even more scared.’

Not being able to say everything on his mind was truly a trial.

He barely swallowed his dry saliva, concealed his feelings, and shook his head.

“How could I not be afraid?”

“Yet unlike your words, you don’t avert your eyes.”

“That is because Your Highness commanded me to look straight at you…”

He’d looked because he was told to, and now was that a problem too?

If that was the case, why hadn’t he just said not to look in the first place?

Why flip-flop like this?

Still, since he wanted to live, he was subtly lowering his gaze when his chin was grabbed.

The Crown Prince grabbed Eun-gyo’s chin, lifted it back up, and curled the corner of his mouth into a smirk.

“I’ve changed my mind.”

Eun-gyo prayed, again and again, that whatever the Crown Prince was thinking, it would change in the right direction—in a direction that wouldn’t harm him.

The Crown Prince rose from his seat, grabbed Eun-gyo’s arm, and pulled him to his feet.

Dragged along helplessly by the strong force, he was pushed into the innermost bedchamber and flung onto the bed.

He tried to brace himself with his elbows and lift his upper body, but the Crown Prince loomed over him.

“To be honest, I was just planning to avoid the Crown Princess and had no real intention of taking you to bed.”

That was welcome news.

Just as he was about to brighten up, the Crown Prince continued.

“But you pique my interest.”

No, wait!

You don’t need to take an interest in me!

The Crown Prince took off his dragon robe.

When he even unfastened the undergarment he was wearing underneath, his upper body was revealed to be more muscular and solidly built than Eun-gyo had expected.

Eun-gyo stared up at him with wide eyes, unable to even blink.

“No matter how audacious one might be, you are the only one who would stare so intently.”

It was unclear whether that meant he liked it or not.

But that wasn’t the important thing right now.

The Crown Prince was genuinely trying to take him.

Of course, since he’d been brought here with that very intention, he had been somewhat prepared, but still, he’d thought there might be some way out.

To suddenly have this atmosphere shift was startling.

“W-wait a moment!”

He had no energy left to worry about his tone or manner of speaking.

Thinking he absolutely couldn’t let this continue, he frantically pushed against the Crown Prince with both hands.

Swish.

The Crown Prince caught one of Eun-gyo’s wrists.

The moment his cool eyes met Eun-gyo’s, his mouth went completely dry.

“You dare lay your hands on my person?”

Huh?

Was that also a problem?

But you were the one trying to lay your hands on me first.

And you’re the one who wants to sleep with me now.

How can you do that without touching?

He couldn’t even voice such complaints—it was maddening.

He kept his mouth tightly shut, his eyes darting around helplessly.

Under the Crown Prince’s steady gaze, he felt like a hole was being bored through his face.

Whoosh.

A long breath, and the grip on his wrist was released.

He felt a wave of relief, but then immediately, a shwook sound cut through the air right beside his face.

Rolling only his eyes to check, he gasped, sucking in his breath.

A sharp dagger was embedded right beside his face.

Where on earth had that come from?

Why was he carrying something like that?

So deadly.

He felt like crying.

He never thought he’d face an actual life-threatening situation, not just acting.

Moreover, the Crown Prince’s eyes weren’t just a threat.

He was someone who had genuinely killed people before—likely more than Eun-gyo could even imagine.

“Try refusing me again.”

His low, deepened voice fell.

If he refused just one more time, that blade would likely pierce the center of his throat.

Who on earth acted this terrifyingly when asking for s*x?

“Th-that’s not it…”

“Not it?”

As if displeased, the Crown Prince cut Eun-gyo off mid-sentence.

He looked down as if telling him to say more, but was it his imagination that he felt a threat that one wrong word would not be tolerated?

“I ha-have a p-problem…”

“A problem?”

“So, that is, well…”

What would happen if he confessed the truth here—that he was a man?

Would the Crown Prince back down quietly, saying he couldn’t take a man?

And then what?

Would he still cut his throat for deceiving the imperial court?

Only horrific scenes he’d seen long ago in novels and dramas came to mind, and he shuddered.

“C-could you please put out the lights?”

He could insist his chest was just flat, and for down below, if he just covered the front carefully, since it was a hole anyway, he might be able to fool him somehow.

No, he was determined to fool him somehow.

It seemed the only way to survive.

“Put out the lights?”

This damned Crown Prince never agreed to anything easily.

He was picking apart his words again.

Trying his best to act embarrassed, he lowered his gaze, and heard the Crown Prince snort.

“Do you have some kind of scar on your body?”

Ah!

There was a way.

If he said he had an ugly scar, wouldn’t the noble Crown Prince be reluctant to embrace him?

But just as he was about to nod, the Crown Prince’s hand touched Eun-gyo’s chest.

“Heeek!”

Startled, he twisted his waist to escape his grip, but the Crown Prince was faster at unfastening the band binding his chest.

Feeling his tightly bound clothes loosen, he panicked, and immediately the Crown Prince grabbed his collar and pulled it open in both directions.

His inner undergarment must have been caught together, as his skin was exposed in an instant.

Ah, damn.

It’s over.

Exposing his chest under such bright light, he couldn’t even insist it was just small.

It wasn’t fully visible, but the Crown Prince frowned, seeming to sense something was off.

Letting go of the collar he’d been holding, the Crown Prince stepped back and got off the bed.

He retrieved a sword hidden below and aimed it at Eun-gyo.

“Undress.”

That single word sounded like a death sentence to Eun-gyo.

“I command you to undress.”

The tip of the sword was pressed close to Eun-gyo’s throat.

Getting down from the bed, Eun-gyo bit his lower lip hard, then released it.

With trembling hands, he unfastened his belt and removed the narrow-sleeved outer garment made for easy movement during the sword dance.

Once the dance costume was off, all that remained was the chest binding and his undergarments.

The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes, glaring at his chest.

Since he had no chest to speak of, there was no real need to bind it, but he’d done so just for appearances.

So naturally, it wouldn’t be perky and prominent like other women’s.

“Unbind it.”

The sword tip moved toward his chest.

If he didn’t undo it himself, it seemed he’d slash it off.

There was no more point in pretending.

Ah, so this is where my life ends.

Eun-gyo took a deep breath and unwound the cloth binding his chest.

Slip.

The cloth fell to the floor.

With his bare skin fully exposed, the Crown Prince’s eyes, which had widened, soon gleamed coldly.

“A man…”

Even his voice, clicking his tongue in disbelief, was icy cold.

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