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Join the ServerHe had been caught coming from elsewhere.
But it wasn’t all that surprising.
Eun-gyo’s way of speaking differed from this place, so he knew it would be discovered once he opened his mouth.
Moreover, his opponent was the Crown Prince—someone twice as perceptive and sharp as others.
Not being caught would have been the real miracle.
“It was a place I’d never heard of.”
“Yes, that child said the same.
That even if told, I wouldn’t know it.
Do you know of it?”
No.
“I did not.”
He deliberately thought firmly in his mind once before answering.
“Did you hear?”
“He called it the Republic of Korea.”
The Crown Prince frowned.
There was no such name anywhere among neighboring kingdoms, nor even among the smallest of small states.
Whether he believed it at face value or considered it a lie was unclear.
“When did you start looking after that child?”
There were more questions than expected.
“Two months ago.”
“Have you ever taken that child?”
The question veered in an entirely unexpected direction.
King Seongrim shook his head.
“We are not that sort of relationship.”
Two months ago, after bringing Eun-gyo to his estate, he had indeed taken care of him since he had nowhere else to go, but there had never been a sexual relationship.
He was fond of Eun-gyo.
But he had never harbored any desire to hold him.
“I see.”
Having apparently said all he needed, the Crown Prince turned away.
“Your Highness.”
He called out to stop him as he was about to leave.
The Crown Prince paused but did not turn around.
“What do you intend to do with Eun-gyo?”
King Seongrim asked, gazing steadily at his back.
“He is mine now.”
So he had taken him.
He had suspected, but to think he truly had…
Since he had taken him, it meant Eun-gyo was the Crown Prince’s person.
For some reason, his feelings were complicated.
He must have been complacent, thinking that if his being a man was discovered, things wouldn’t go that far.
The Crown Prince frowned and turned around.
Only then did King Seongrim realize his mistake.
He tensed and waited for what he might say, but the Crown Prince only furrowed his brow without any particular remark.
“Do you want him back?”
The object was omitted, but he knew it referred to Eun-gyo.
King Seongrim met the Crown Prince’s gaze without flinching.
“If I said I did, would you grant it?”
He asked with a faint smile.
All expression faded from the Crown Prince’s face.
With a face that was blank to the point of coldness, he stared at King Seongrim for a long while.
“Do not covet him.
I already said he is mine.”
It was the answer he had expected.
King Seongrim bowed his head.
“I have never coveted what is Your Highness’s.
I only answered because you asked.”
Not anticipating that Eun-gyo would become the Crown Prince’s was his own mistake.
Since he had already sent him, there was no way to reclaim him.
Nor was there any compelling reason he had to.
“Before you leave, please allow me to see Eun-gyo’s face.
I would like to say my farewells.”
Surely that much would not be refused.
The Crown Prince’s face still revealed no expression.
“You may see him if you come around noon.”
Having given the time he could meet Eun-gyo, he departed.
Only after his footsteps faded and disappeared completely did King Seongrim let out a long breath.
In a moment of carelessness, he had let his feelings for Eun-gyo slip out.
It probably wouldn’t be enough for the Crown Prince to suspect anything, but it was certainly enough to make him wonder about the relationship between him and Eun-gyo.
Dealing with the Crown Prince always left him easily fatigued from being on edge.
Still, it was strange.
Why had he come to him specifically to ask all these questions about Eun-gyo?
He would have gotten the same answers from asking Eun-gyo directly, and if anyone could read Eun-gyo’s mind, it would be the Crown Prince…
Ah.
Realizing it belatedly, a hollow laugh escaped him.
He hadn’t been able to read him.
It was clear that he had come personally at this late hour to confirm from him because he couldn’t read Eun-gyo’s thoughts at all.
So after all, Eun-gyo was the answer.
Ha Eun-gyo—he was glad he had brought him into the palace.
Leaning against the window, humming an old nursery rhyme passed down through generations, the corners of King Seongrim’s lips curved upward into a smile.
The black dragon descends from the heavens and casts its shadow over Sinhye Kingdom.
The dragon’s energy spreads far and wide, making Sinhye Kingdom the most prosperous.
And it shall lead it down the path of destruction.
Neither heaven nor earth can block this dragon’s energy.
Only one person—a child born receiving the light on the day two moons rise—shall put the black dragon to rest.
***
His body ached as if it had been beaten.
If not for the sensation of the blanket brushing against his bare skin, he might have thought he’d been rolled up in a mat somewhere without knowing it.
It was astonishing that s*x alone could make his body feel this heavy.
Mmm.
Even shifting his body let out a pained groan.
“How long do you intend to lie there?”
The cold voice jolted him fully awake.
Blinking a few times, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
Eun-gyo tried to sit up abruptly, but let out a pained moan.
His lower back and the inside of his buttocks throbbed.
Tsk—at the sound of a clicking tongue, he turned to see the Crown Prince leaning against the table between the bedchamber and the entrance, looking at him.
“Your lack of manners truly knows no bounds.”
“Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to deeply learn the etiquette of this place.”
He must still be half-asleep.
He reflexively shot back and regretted it a moment too late.
Damn it.
What if he gets all ‘kill or spare’ again for misspeaking the moment I open my eyes?
He was subtly lowering his gaze when he saw the Crown Prince straighten up.
Probably reaching for his sword again.
Fortunately, he approached the bed without drawing his sword.
“Since you haven’t learned, I’ll teach you.”
He didn’t need that kind of kindness…
Well, at least he wasn’t saying he’d changed his mind and would kill him upon waking—that was a relief.
“What it means that I, the Crown Prince of Sinhye Kingdom, have taken you.”
Unable to comprehend his words, Eun-gyo just blinked.
Whether because he was still half-asleep, his mind wasn’t working properly.
“Everyone will treat you not as the dancer who performed the sword dance, but as the Crown Prince’s woman.”
The Crown Prince’s… what?
Why did spending one night together make him sound like the Crown Prince’s possession?
“Do you know what that means?”
The Crown Prince asked again.
This time too, Eun-gyo couldn’t answer and just stared at him.
When their eyes met, the Crown Prince snorted as if he’d expected as much.
“Do you want to live?”
Of course.
Who in the world would be eager to die?
“Then you shall live as a woman.”
What kind of nonsense was this…
“You deceived your way into the palace as a woman.
So within these walls, live as my woman.
If you do, your life will be spared.”
At the Crown Prince’s clear voice, Eun-gyo could only swallow dryly.
So he was telling him to continue living in this palace, cross-dressed, as the Crown Prince’s woman?
His head was a complete mess.
It was fortunate he wasn’t being killed for the defilement of having been taken by the Crown Prince as a man, nor being immediately expelled from the palace.
Since he still had things to find, being able to stay even a little longer was a blessing for him.
Cross-dressing wasn’t a major issue either.
Since the Crown Prince already knew he was a man, at least in front of him, he wouldn’t need to put on a forced act.
However…
“Do you truly think I won’t be discovered until the end, Your Highness?”
From what he’d briefly heard yesterday, even the dancers underwent physical examinations.
What was he supposed to do if the servants insisted on attending to his baths because he was the Crown Prince’s woman?
“To not be discovered is how you will survive.”
A smile flickered at the corner of the Crown Prince’s mouth.
Damn bastard.
He was clearly enjoying his reaction.
“Wouldn’t Your Highness be in trouble if I were discovered?”
“Why?”
“If you took me, there’s no way you didn’t know I was a man.
If you knew and still spared me, rumors would spread that Your Highness has a taste for sodomy.”
“Then it seems I should kill you now after all.”
He looked around as if searching for his sword.
Horrified, Eun-gyo quickly grabbed the hem of his robe.
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“Not what you meant?”
His face hardened as if to point out his curtness.
Ah, truly exhausting.
What was it with this Crown Prince?
They didn’t seem that far apart in age either.
He was realizing through his bones how comfortably he’d lived beside King Seongrim ever since entering this palace.
“I just meant I’d like you to give me the bare minimum of help so I don’t get discovered.
Something like that.”
Anyway, the Crown Prince was the boss and he was the underling.
Even if it was dirty and pathetic, the only way to survive right now was through the Crown Prince’s mercy, so he had no choice but to cling to him.
“Did he help you when you were by King Seongrim’s side?”
He was a bit startled by the exact mention of King Seongrim’s name.
Well, since he had come looking for him yesterday and answered that he knew King Seongrim, he must have figured out that it was him who brought him into the palace.
“King Seongrim was a kind person.”
He had never thought it strange that his appearance and way of speaking were different.
He had been curious yet kind, and had provided everything he needed.
And he had also told him how to return to his original world.
“King Seongrim was kind?”
The Crown Prince latched onto his words.
“Well.
He does always wear a smile that’s impossible to read.”
He mockingly described King Seongrim’s gentle nature.
So that’s why you remain expressionless or cold enough to devour someone?
He wanted to retort, but held back because that would likely get a sword at his throat.
No matter how little he knew of this world’s laws, he did have some learning ability.
“So you’re saying you even hold affection for him?”
Affection?
Was he asking if he liked him?
Of course he liked him.
It was natural to be grateful and fond of someone who had stayed by his side and helped him during difficult times.
But if he meant romantic affection between a man and a woman, that was a bit ambiguous.
When he looked at his face, his heart would race, and sometimes ache and tighten.
But that was…
Tap.
The Crown Prince grabbed his chin.
“Don’t look away from me.”
He must have inadvertently become lost in thought and lowered his gaze.
For whatever reason, the Crown Prince stared at Eun-gyo with sharp eyes.
“It seems your heart is as womanly as your body.”
If he meant he could be taken by another man, he couldn’t exactly deny it.
And if he was pointing out that his romantic interests were men, that was also true.
Keeping his mouth shut and meeting his gaze, after a long while the Crown Prince crooked one corner of his mouth.
“It doesn’t matter who the object of your affection is.”
Grabbing Eun-gyo’s chin, the Crown Prince closed the distance.
“From now on, you are mine.”
His breath brushed against Eun-gyo’s cheek with every movement of his lips, so close.
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