Side Story 1
Part 2
1
“I don’t think it’s that big of a deal…… is it, Hedel?”
Meow.
Hedel yawned softly on Radan’s lap.
He was not the one who paid much attention to what was going on around him. Radan was a little jealous of him because everything always went his way whenever he wanted it to.
“Where did you find the snake, anyway?”
Mew.
He tapped Radan on the chin with his front paw, as though saying, “Don’t bother asking me that”.
Radan stroked Hedel’s back.
“You shouldn’t scratch people to the point of bleeding. It would have hurt Idir.”
Thump.
Hedel thumped Radan’s thigh with his long tail. It meant he was not pleased with something.
“Are you hungry, do you want a treat?”
Hedel’s closed eyes fluttered open.
Meoowww!
Radan nodded his head in agreement.
“Alright, I’ll give you a treat. But remember, it’s Idir who brings you your snacks, so don’t nibble.”
Meoww, Meoww.
Radan picked up Hedel and stood up.
Now that he was familiar with the layout of the room, he found the cord that connected to the bell without any trouble.
A moment later, however, it wasn’t Idir who appeared with Hedel’s treats, but Leshak.
“Are you all right?”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
He looked at Radan, and Radan looked at Hedel.
Hedel was absorbed in munching on a cake made of dried fish that Leshak had brought him.
Judging by the occasional grunts and gulps, the fish cake must be really good.
The fish cake had been made for the first time yesterday by the Crown Prince’s Chef, who had recently become so enamored of Hedel that he was the subject of an unsavory rumor that he was putting more effort into Hedel’s snacks than the Crown Prince’s dinner.
Rumor or fact, the Chef’s fish cake had won Hedel’s heart.
Yesterday Hedel licked the whole plate clean, and today was no different.
“Don’t get too full, Hedel. You shouldn’t eat too much. You’ll vomit it up again.”
All of Radan’s attention was on Hedel.
Originally, the cat was a desert animal, so it took some time for it to adjust to the vastly different climate of Ibeden.
He lost his appetite for a month and suffered from constant diarrhea. Once his appetite returned, he would often vomit from the gluttony that followed afterward, or perhaps from memories of starvation.
After he adapted, he was as healthy as he’d ever been, but Radan’s suffering was indescribable.
Watching him suffer was too much for Crown Prince Leshak.
He’d had a hard enough time hiding his animosity toward the cat who was stealing all of Radan’s attention.
“Radan,”
Leshak called out to him in a soothing, affectionate voice.
“Hedel is eating well on his own.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The answer came out well enough.
Without so much as a glance at the questioner.
“Radan.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Are you alarmed?”
Radan thought for a moment before answering.
“No. It was a small snake, and…… I was not at all alarmed.”
“Well, size isn’t the only consideration.”
“But…… I was told it wasn’t venomous.”
“Sure. However, regardless of whether you were sent something poisonous, this is not a matter to be taken lightly. I intend to find the one who sent it and make an example of them to ensure it never happens again, but I also don’t want you to be too vulnerable.”
To put it plainly, Leshak’s words were disingenuous.
He had no intention of accepting that anything had entered Radan’s bedroom that he hadn’t authorized. For the time being, everyone in Cratea’s Palace would have to face the Crown Prince’s wrath with such thoroughness that they would have to rethink the meaning of setting an example.
Radan could remain defenseless for as long as he liked.
Regardless of that fact, however, Leshak hoped that Radan would be a little frightened.
Because right now, he wanted very, very badly to be the one to ease a frightened Radan’s fears.
“……Yes, Your Majesty.”
Radan nodded meekly and turned back to Hedel.
It was unfortunate, but Radan didn’t have the ability to read Leshak’s inner thoughts. Besides, he had his own thoughts on this incident.
He hadn’t realized what a big deal it was that Hedel had caught the snake, and while he wanted it to be nothing, it was obviously not going to be.
It wasn’t pleasant to know that someone was harassing him. Most of the people he’d met since coming to Ibeden had been kind and friendly, though not without a few nasty remarks.
People have said things about him such as, “He was a prostitute from Kemened who struck gold,” or “He will not last long” that “His Majesty needs a proper successor” or “It will be interesting to watch things when the Crown Princess enters the picture”.
The hardest part for Radan was that Lashak would have to take a Crown Princess someday.
He was prepared for this since he came to Ibeden. Ozdin had said so as well. So had everyone else who came and went from the palace.
Nevertheless, he was the one who decided to stay with Leshak.
He loved Leshak very much, and Leshak loved him, so that was fine. No, it was more like he was okay with it, but he put it aside like it was something that would happen in the very distant future, not right now.
But after what happened today, he realized that it wasn’t so far off.
Radan focused on Hedel, attempting to push away the thoughts that hovered over him like weights on a pendulum.
He could tell how fast Hedel was eating by the slurping sound.
“Hedel. Slow down.”
“…….”
Unfortunately, Leshak didn’t know what Radan was thinking at the moment; he could only see his back, and his focus remained stubbornly on Hedel.
Leshak’s expression turned sour.
A fucking snake or a fucking monkey.
Or a damn cat!
Why the hell should he have to be concerned with any of that?!
Especially with Radan was right in front of him.
Leshak suddenly spoke aloud.
“I heard you got bitten on the hand.”
“……What? No,”
Leshak reached around Radan and snatched the hand that was stroking Hedel.
“Ugh.”
Radan lost his balance and flopped back into Leshak’s embrace.
Leshak lifted his hand to his eye level and examined it carefully.
“I don’t see anything.”
“Yes, Your Majesty, I was not bitten.”
Leshakk didn’t seem to hear him at all.
“The snake’s teeth are small, and you might not be able to see them.”
He began to run his tongue along Radan’s hand.
Slowly, starting at the inside of the wrist,
To his fingers, in a slow, deep caress.
“L,Let……..go, I’m ok.”
“Hold on.”
“Thats…….”
The sensation of his fingers being engulfed in soft warm wet flesh was strange and bizarre.
At first, it only tickled his hand, but then it began to tickle in the most unlikely of places, like his head, and his heart.
“Ma,…jesty.”
“I think your hands are fine.”
Leshak’s lips moved to the back of his neck. His hand remained clasped around Radan’s wrist.
“Here, too.”
His lips slipped down.
With his other hand, the one he wasn’t clasping his wrist, he began to untie the knot on Radan’s shirt.
pop, pop-pop.
With each knot, his lips traveled as well.
“Y,Your Majesty.”
Meow…….
Hedel looked up from the fish cake he was practically buried in.
His expression was displeased. His ears flattened, and he nudged Radan’s foot with his front paw.
“Your back is fine too.”
Leshak’s hand groped for his chest. Radan gripped his hand helplessly.
“Your Majesty, this isn’t…… to check for bites, is it?”
“…….”
Leshak parted his lips for a moment and laughed.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because…… it keeps giving me this weird…… feeling…… ha, ha, ha.”
He gritted his teeth, his words trailing off.
He pressed his lips to Radan’s wing-bone and moved his hands from skimming over his chest to his waist.
“Weird feeling?”
“Well, ……yes.”
“How is it weird? Tell me, Radan.”
“It’s that…… aah,”
Leshak’s hand loosened on his pants, sliding under the loose material to grasp his thigh.
“You didn’t get bitten here either, so how do you feel?”
“I-“
“Answer me, Radan.”
Radan turned his head. His cheeks were very red.
His shirt was open, barely hanging onto his shoulders, and his pants were loose and looked incredibly erotic to Leshak’s eyes.
“Ahh.”
“Hmm?”
Leshak, who was making a series of lewd kiss marks on the contours of his shoulder, raised an eyebrow.
“I feel like I want to see your face……to face you, I suppose.”
Radan forced himself to turn around. Leshak let go of his wrist, and Radan adjusted his position more comfortably.
His clothes were still dripping from his body, and the sight of him slumped over his thighs in that state was so erotic that Leshak’s gaze stiffened as he stared at him.
“Your Majesty.”
Radan reached out and clasped both of his cheeks, just as Leshak often had done.
“Radan.”
“And again…… I feel like doing this.”
Radan’s face came closer.
He cupped his face with both hands and tilted his head to find Leshak’s lips.
The smell was the same as always, the warmth of his body, the texture of his flesh made even smoother by the heat.
It was so good, so good that it couldn’t get any better, and yet so bad that it made his heart ache.
Radan felt goosebumps rise on his naked torso, and he knew it wasn’t because he was cold.
“I want to do this.”
Radan stopped his fingers from tracing Leshak’s lips.
“And……and this.”
Now it was time to kiss.
Radan wrapped his arms around Leshak’s neck. It was something Leshak had taught him some time ago.
“Close your eyes.”
“…….”
He closed Leshak’s eyelids with his hands.
He thought that he must be making an ugly face at the moment. He tried to tell himself it was okay, that it was nothing, but it still hurt.
Their lips overlapped.
A soft sob escaped him, and he began to nibble on Leshak’s lip. As he nibbled on his lower lip, he felt a strange sensation he’d never experienced before.
It wasn’t until he had explored his lips to the point of exhaustion that Radan released him.
Leshak ran his tongue over his numbed bottom lip, holding on tightly to prevent Radan from pulling away.
“And?”
“……?”
“That’s it?”
“…….I think it’s something like…….”
“Right. Then,”
Leshak smiled a roguish grin that didn’t quite suit him. He rotated his body halfway around while holding Radan.
“I guess it’s my turn to do what I want to do.”
The thick carpet was plush enough to lie down on. Leshak pulled off Radan’s shirt, which was already hanging loose.
“Though it would be better if you could open your eyes.”
Leshak whispered, kissing his bare fingers.
“But I’ll take this right now.”
In fact, there would be no better time than now.
Whenever it’s daylight, or whenever it’s night.
If he had to have his eyes covered, he would.
Leshak’s hand moved to the edge of the last layer of clothing.
It was then.
Meowww.
Hedel, who had just finished eating his fish cake, stepped between Leshak and Radan.
“Hedel?”
Radan stirred, feeling the cat’s soft fur on his chest.
“Don’t move.”
Leshak pushed Hedel away. With a flick on his rump, he fell back to the carpet, landing this time in Radan’s hair.
“Ah…….”
Radan shook his head, bewildered. Hedel scrambled to his feet, this time climbing onto the bed. It gave him a full view of the two of them on the carpet.
Leshak raised an eyebrow. Hedel glared at him, tongue flicking over his teeth. The fish crumbs that lingered in the corners of his mouth and near his beard slipped into his mouth with a flourish.
“…..shit.”
Leshak gave up on the futility of a tit-for-tat fight with the surly cat. He also gave up on the idea of kicking Hedel out.
Radan would probably make trouble for him, and besides, cats were more sophisticated than humans.
Even if he did evict him, he’d find a way to come back, a way that humans couldn’t even conceive of.
Instead, he gathered Radan into his arms and stood up.
“Let’s go to my bedroom.”
“What?”
“Well, now that I think about it, we don’t know who else might show up here. We still don’t know who’s behind the assassin.”
Leshak yanked on the corner of the sheet with one hand.
Yelp!
Hedel flipped over, but Leshak didn’t even bat an eye as he wrapped the sheet around Radan.
It was a spur-of-the-moment decision because of Hedel, but in retrospect, it was a pretty plausible excuse.
“Stay in my bedroom until we get things sorted out. It’ll be safer.”
“But…… that would be a little strange.”
Radan said, taking Leshak’s arm.
There was no precedent for sharing a bedroom in the palace. It was considered too unorthodox for Radan to stay in a spare room, so his official residence became Elk Palace.
There would certainly be an outcry if Leshak said he was moving Radan into his own bedroom, let alone a spare room.
“What’s so strange about that?”
“It’s just that…… they say you have to follow proper etiquette.”
“To hell with etiquette.”
Radan’s mouth dropped open at the unexpected remark.
“Your Majesty.”
Leshak strode forward, holding Radan tightly in his arms.
“It is against etiquette for a person I do not recognize to enter my people’s quarters, and if you cared so much about etiquette, you shouldn’t have been so incompetent as to allow it to happen in the first place. If you have anything else to say, I will silence you myself.”
The only thing worse than imperial etiquette for Leshak was Hedel, more to the point, Hedel following them into his chambers.
But there was a remedy for that too.
He pushed open his bedchamber door with his foot and called to his waiting Guardian Knight.
“Bring the cat treats. Pile them up and keep the door closed.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
It was a command whose intentions were hard to decipher, but it wasn’t too hard to guess given that he was holding Radan in his arms, alone in the sheet.
With that, the Hedel problem was solved.
Now Leshak’s problem was solely Radan, naked beneath the sheet.
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