Side Story 2
The Hour of Awakening
Part 5
1
“What are you doing here?”
At the sound of Veroz’s voice, Leshak forced his head up.
A Giant Reshi had appeared, and somehow he managed to draw his hunting knife and fight him, but the short dagger was no match for him, and he suffered wounds of his own.
He decided it was better to flee while he still had strength, so he jumped into the stream. The Giant Reshi followed, but his fur was soaked and his movements were noticeably more sluggish.
He crossed the stream safely and looked back, but Giant Reshi was nowhere to be seen.
However, that did not mean that he could let his guard down. The fierce beast was cunning, often rallying a pack to attack prey it could not hunt alone. Perhaps he had gone to summon the pack, so he shifted his position.
But he was still naked, and his soaked body felt like it would freeze to the ground. He knew he had to keep moving, but his feet wouldn’t budge.
After lying there for a while, his eyes closed. He was bleeding, and his body temperature had dropped too low.
In the meantime, Veroz found him.
For a moment, he was confused, his head was spinning. But for all he knew, Veroz should be in Crateas Palace at the moment.
“What about the Capital Guard?”
Leshak opened his eyes with a frown.
Well, it was a good thing, anyway. At least he could borrow some clothes.
“For now…..let’s get you covered up.”
Leshak realized a second too late that Veroz wasn’t the only unexpected person in this place.
“……Radan.”
His eyelids fluttered uncontrollably.
What the hell was this. It didn’t make sense.
He must be freezing to death. Now he was seeing things.
“Your Majesty.”
Radan called out to him in a thin, shaky voice.
His eyelids twitched, followed by his ears.
Damn, now he’s hearing things too!
Radan walked toward him. He groped ahead, finding his hand and squeezing it.
His body temperature was cold against his own.
It felt like a lie. Not the cold, Radan.
“How did you get here?”
“Are you hurt, Your Majesty?”
“A little. But why are you……,”
Leshak realized that Radan was soaked through and through.
“You’re here.”
The lethargy was gone.
He scrambled to his feet.
“Veroz, take off your robes.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Veroz untied his cloak, which came to his ankles, and handed it to Leshak. It was the same as wading in the water, but it was better than being naked.
Instead of putting the cloak on, Leshak wrapped it around Radan.
“Your Majesty? I don’t think,……you’re not wearing any clothes…… right now.”
“Shut up, he can’t afford to lose any body heat.”
And with that, he lifted him up.
Radan’s panicked pleas to be put down and walk on his own feet, were useless.
“This is faster. Just be quiet until we get to camp.”
Incris and Veroz didn’t even have the courage to ask him to put something on first.
With Radan in his arms and his back turned to them, Leshak’s pace was too fast for them to find a moment to speak.
“Well, it’s a good thing the camp is so close. Isn’t it?”
“Yes. His Majesty seems to have injured his shoulder, but at least he’s moving, so that’s good.”
They exchanged a few quick words, and in the meantime, theyarrived at the camp.
Of course, there was a lot of commotion in the camp.
If you’re reading this anywhere other than FoolishtranslationsS.wordpress.com, it was stolen from the translator’s website. Reading this anywhere other than the translator’s website ensures that the translator may never translate any other works. Thank you.
2
“……Are you all right?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Radan pulled himself to his feet, wrapped in layers of thick furs.
He was a little chilled, but nothing else was wrong, and yet Leshak had treated him as if he were about to die.
Now he was warm again, and he wasn’t sneezing.
His blanket was fluffy, and the fire was warm in the barracks.
“Thank the Gods!”
“I heard you were injured, how……are you doing?”
“It’s not much. Just a few bruises.”
“Good, then.”
Leshak’s words were cut off as Radan pushed himself to his feet.
“Get some rest, then.”
“……Your Majesty.”
Radan stumbled after him, his foot got caught in the blanket and he fell.
“Tsk.”
Leshak returned, pulling off the blanket and helping him up.
“Stand up.”
Radan quickly tugged on his sleeve.
“Your Majesty.”
“Don’t do this.”
There had to be a reason he’d come this far. He just wasn’t ready to face it yet.
Leshak plucked Radan’s hand from his sleeve.
It wasn’t as freakishly cold as it had been earlier. It was the same Radan as before.
Suddenly, the reality hit him. In reality, Radan had said that he didn’t want to have sex with him, that he was purposely avoiding him, and that he was glad they hadn’t run into each other.
Leshak let go of Radan’s hand.
He had no idea what he’d come all this way to talk about this time.
All he knew was that if it was more of the same, he didn’t want to hear it, and he didn’t need to hear it.
“Go to sleep. You’ll feel better afterward.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
The firelight in the tent created a red shadow over Radan’s face. Then the shadows mingled with the flush on his cheeks.
Radan swallowed once and spoke through warm, red lips.
“I would like to sleep…… with you, Your Majesty.”
Leshak stared at him for a long moment.
It took him a moment to comprehend what Radan was saying.
“You mean sleep with…… here?”
“Anywhere.”
Leshak reached out and squeezed Radan’s chin.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I thought you said you didn’t want to sleep with me anymore?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I mean…… during the Bloody Moon.”
“You mean, only on Bloody Moon?”
“Yes.”
An uproarious confusion flashed across his face, and Leshak rubbed his thumb lazily across Radan’s chin.
“Why?”
“Because we’re wasting time.”
There was less and less time during the Bloody Moon, and there would be less and less in the future.
“I don’t understand.”
“Because I can only see you on that day.”
Radan’s voice dropped to a whisper.
Perhaps he didn’t realize it, but that small change was triggering everything in Leshak.
“At first, I thought if I could just see you once, that would be enough……,”
Radan interlaced his fingers with Leshak’s as he rubbed his chin.
“But then I got greedy and kept wanting to see…… more and more.”
Radan’s fingertips brushed against Leshak’s hand. The fingertips that traced the shape so carefully were actually sightless eyes.
“Last time I saw you, your nails were rounded here, but not now.”
It was a little chipped from dealing with Giant Reshi.
The fingertips that took the place of his sight traveled beyond Leshak’s fingers, to the back of his hand, to his wrist, to his arm, to his shoulder.
“You’re hurt here now, and-“
Radan had to lift himself to touch him. Radan’s fingers gingerly traced the claw wounds. There was another one, different from the last one.
“Last time I saw you, your hair covered your ears by this much, but now it’s a little further down. I think your hair has grown.”
Fingers touched his ears. Leshak’s shoulders flinched, and so did Radan, who was leaning against him.
Instead of letting go of him, Leshak grabbed onto him and together they lost their balance.
Thud!
Their bodies collapsed together onto the blanket.
Leshak pinned Radan with his arms and asked.
“Tell me more.”
His hands groped at his face now.
“There’s a cut here where you said you cut yourself shaving……but it’s healed, and here’s a spot that appears to form only when you laugh, like this, and your eyebrows are dark, but there’s one hair here that’s silver, like your hair. Sometimes it’s one and sometimes it’s two.”
His fingers rested on his eyebrows like a pause.
“It keeps changing while I’m not looking…… and I want to see it all while I can.”
But when they were in bed together, they’d be asleep before the moon set.
No matter how hard he tried to keep his eyes open, Leshak had already drained what little energy he had left, and he felt so warm and cozy in his arms that sleep poured over him.
It felt like a bad habit. Leshak’s arms had been the safest place in the world for Radan since the first time he’d wrapped his wounds in the streets of Merv. Perhaps that was why he could fall asleep so easily in his arms, snuggled up against him.
He would close his eyes for a few moments and then wake up, but when he opened them, it was morning. Leshak probably doesn’t understand what it’s like to rush to find a blindfold and put it on.
“Do you remember that time I accidentally hurt you?”
It happened.
Radan had bitten the nape of his neck, mimicking the way Leshak often kissed him.
Leshak thought he was doing something very inappropriate and burst out laughing, and Radan assumed the reason for his laughter was because he was being tickled, so he bit harder.
The result was a bruise on the nape of his neck.
Everyone who saw it remarked on it, and so did Radan. He also learned that it was a very big deal for a Crown Prince to have a wound on his body.
But Leshak didn’t bother to hide it, so he let everyone see it, and when they asked him to cover it with an ornament, he replied, “If it’s the shape of Radan’s lips, it is an ornament,” so they kept quiet.
Idar told him about it all day long, saying, “When His Majesty said that, it really did look like an ornament.” But he couldn’t seem to believe it.
However, Radan wouldn’t be able to look.
Before the next Bloody Moon, the mark on the nape of Leshak’s neck was gone.
There were so many things that disappeared without him seeing them. Radan felt remorse at each and every one of them.
“That was the only reason?”
“It was ……Your Majesty.”
“Then why…. the other stuff, later.”
There were other things, like how he’d deliberately avoided him for days on end, and how he’d said he was frustrated, but Leshak decided to focus on one thing.
“If that was the case, you should have told me, Radan.”
Leshak’s hands untied the knot in Radan’s shirt.
pop, pop-pop.
The sound of the knots opening, one by one, filled the quiet tent with a new tension.
Leshak’s whisper lowered, as did Radan’s.
“I got it all wrong.”
“I didn’t mean to imply that…… I wouldn’t be sleeping with you at all. Did you misunderstand?”
“Um. Quite…… yes, quite a bit.”
So he wandered all this way, and as if that weren’t bad enough, he waded into icy water to cool off, and then he fought the beast naked and under-armed.
A little bit of the resentment of the day mixed in with his shirt-opening hands.
Leshak pulled his pants off slowly, making sure Radan felt sufficiently awkward.
The hood was removed, and they were naked.
Leshak stuck his finger in Radan’s mouth. The slick tongue and mucous membranes became the means to wet his fingers all over.
Leshak sat Radan on his thighs. Radan naturally threw his arms around his neck. Leshak pressed his lips to the crown of Radan’s head and slipped his wet fingers between his legs.
“The basilisk’s eyes don’t matter if you don’t look into another’s, right?”
“Yeah…… ugh.”
The fingers that had been gently rubbing his nether regions began to spread his entrance.
It was the first time he’d ever been pushed down without foreplay like this. When Radan winced and whimpered weakly, Leshak smiled a lecherous grin that was uncharacteristic of him.
“Then I must not look.”
“But I can’t see anyway……Your Majesty.”
Radan squeezed the back of Leshak’s neck. The movement of his fingers was already too blatant. Roughly, they spread apart rubbing his inner walls and making them slippery. His fingertips barely brushed a spot.
“Aah, Your Majesty…….”
Radan flinched, straining against the hand that held him. Leshak crooked his finger deftly, and the tip of his erect penis dribbled a clear, oozing fluid.
Radan’s eyes bulged with excitement. He rubbed his cheek against Leshak’s as he shifted his weight. Soft flesh brushed against flesh, and Radan moved his head of his own accord to find Leshak’s lips.
“No, not yet.”
With his other hand, Leshak grabbed Radan’s cock and pressed down on the tip. At the same time, the fingers inside him moved faster and more erotically.
The constant stimulation and interrupted pleasure made Radan writhe helplessly. zzzzz, the vibrations of his body told him the magnitude of his erection.
“Ah, Your Majesty…….”
Radan called out to him as though begging.
Leshak withdrew his finger only when Radan looked like he was about to cry. His insides fluttered. He could feel his entrance moving.
Leshak grabbed Radan’s waist and leaned down.
“Hold on, Radan. Don’t be alarmed.”
“What……?”
As his hot body continued to lean into him, Leshak untied Radan’s blindfold.
He told him not to be alarmed, but he couldn’t help but be.
Radan covered his eyes with both hands and cried out.
“Your Majesty!”
“A little……Oh, never mind.”
Leshak’s hand reached out and removed the blindfold.
“Open your eyes now, Radan, you’ll be fine.”
“……?”
Radan cautiously opened his eyes.
Leshak had taken his own blindfold from his eyes,
“Ah…….”
Pulled Radan up, and knotted the blindfold over his eyes.
“So this is,……what you did.”
“Of course, you can’t see my eyes.”
Radan swallowed hard at the words.
It was a very strange feeling. He was looking at Leshak, even though it wasn’t the day of the Bloody Moon.
And he realized one thing.
If he wanted to, he could blindfold Leshak at any time.
He could be the one to see if he wanted to.
“You’re right about the hair.”
Radan’s fingers slid through his silver hair.
His eyes, the ones that he’d always done without, were fixed in front of him.
Thump, thump, thump, thump, his heart began to beat very fast.
Leshak shrugged.
“Cut it off.”
“Me?”
“Because I’m all yours now.”
“Ah…….”
Leshak groped forward and took Radan’s hand the same way Radan always did.
Clumsily, he found Radan’s wrist and kissed it, his voice a low whisper.
“You’ll have to do the rest, Radan. I can’t do anything right now, as you can see.”
He pressed Radan’s hand against his chest.
“Why don’t you undress me first?”
“……Yes, Your Majesty.”
Leshak raised his arms. Radan sat in front of him and undid the knots one by one, just as Leshak had done. His fingers brushed against his bare skin as each knot came undone.
Leshak smirked.
“So that’s how erotic the untying of a knot can sound.”
“…….”
Radan had a similar thought.
No wonder he kept getting slower and slower at untying the knots as he stripped off his shirt.
The more excited he got, the less his hands would cooperate. His entrance previously loosened by Leshak, nudged him, hinting at the pleasure to come.
Plop.
The shirt fell onto the blanket.
“You’ll need to remove your pants as well, Your Majesty.”
His voice cracked from the dryness in his mouth. Impatiently, Radan pulled Leshak’s head down and pressed their lips together.
His thirst was quenched as he swallowed the incoming tongue.
Leshak’s breath was hot against his lips. His arousal was palpable between their entwined legs. Radan pulled his lips away for a moment and moved his hands to his pants.
It was his first time removing someone else’s pants, so it was a bit of a struggle. When Radan grunted in response to his impatience with the stubborn garment, Leshak burst out laughing, pulling him into a hug and rolling him around on the fur.
“Why are you laughing, Your Majesty?”
“Because you are so lovely.”
Radan licked his parched lips.
“Look, you can do that later, though. I’m in a bit of a hurry right now…….”
Leshak laughed, louder than before.
“You have no idea what you’ve been sounding like.”
He wasn’t in any position to stop his laughter, so Radan let him laugh and then tried to finish undoing his pants.
Eventually, he managed to get Leshak’s pants off with his own hands.
Once he was completely naked, he laid down and Radan straddled him.
As the kiss began, Leshak gave way, holding him tight.
When Radan opened his mouth, his kiss became greedy, as though he were trying to quench a thirst that had been building.
“Your Majesty…….”
“Radan.”
Their legs tangled in the rush of breathless need.
His penis slid into the path he’d left for it beforehand.
What followed was an ecstatic downpour of sensations, both familiar and new.
It was a world of pleasure that made him feel like his heart was about to burst.
3
Abadd greeted the morning sun with a beaming face.
“I must say, I’m impressed.”
He splashed unheated cold water on his face and grumbled in response.
“The determination to come all the way here, His Highness Elkiana, and to do it in a day and a half. That’s the power of love.”
Sidris offered him a cloth, clearly seeing why he was in a good mood.
“Now that the His Highness is here, we won’t be able to continue camping. The Crown Prince will want us to move to Fort LeGaben.”
“Ha, you bastard. You talk like that.”
Abadd raised a finger and wagged it dismissively.
“Don’t you see, Ris, the hunt is over, his Consort is here, and I’m sure he’s been burning the midnight oil, so he must be in a very good mood right now? I mean, there’s no reason for him to be out hunting monsters in the first place.”
“Hmm. I thought the Northern Guard said he would remain until the hunt was over.”
“Whoa, we’ll say the Crown Prince has changed his mind. Never mind, never mind. The defense of the capital is more important than the monsters in the North.”
“Well, you can say that in front of the captain of the Northern Guard, if you’re sure your sword can handle that massive Battle Axe.”
“Why would I do that? It’s up to the Crown Prince to change his mind. Anyway, we’re going back today. Think about it. Do you really think His Majesty would allow His Highness to stay in this cold, unforgiving place?”
Abadd was so sure of himself that he couldn’t control how loudly his voice was rising.
“I swear, just yesterday, I debated whether or not to tell the Crown Prince about what happened in the fox cage. Now, I’m glad I didn’t. How else would he know, and His Highness himself came here. Now, when His Highness wakes up, he can go back to the fox cage.”
“The fox cage?”
Leshak was already awake.
In fact, he felt too good to sleep. Radan was now exhausted and asleep, and he felt that if he stayed with him he would wake him up, so he left the tent alone.
It turned out to be a misunderstanding this time, however, and it made him think.
He was going to make sure that Radan would never say to him, “let’s not have sex for a while.”
And unfortunately, he heard all of Abadd’s ramblings.
“I’m……, I’m……, Your Majesty.”
Abadd turned his head to check on Leshak and then took a hesitant step backward.
“Why are you already up…… no….sleep……did you sleep well?
“What happened in the fox cage?”
“Well, I…….”
Abadd squirmed desperately.
Sidris was gone, gone, gone. It was unbelievable.
“He…… that,”
Prince Leshak and his party returned to the capital that day.
All hail the Crown Prince, for in a single day he had captured half of the Giant Reshi that would be hunted this winter.
Prince Leshak, who is said to be the greatest warrior that Ibeden has ever seen, was not only as brave as he was said to be, but also as generous and forgiving, and he allowed his three favorite Guardian Knights to stay at Fort LeGaben all winter to help them hunt the Giant Reshi.
Rumor has it that the Guardians, named Abadd, Sidris, and Karum, climbed the watchtower after the Crown Prince’s departure and screamed at the top of their lungs, but that’s probably not true.
The winter in the North was suddenly milder, and everyone at Fort LeGaben praised the Crown Prince’s grace.
Even after he had finished preparing his meal, the Crown Prince took a long look around the walls of Fort LeGaben with his beautiful lover.
“It was all ice here back then.”
The slightly suspicious story that the Prince’s lover was not a person but something far more exquisite hovered over the Northern winter for many years afterward.
-Bloody Moon, End of Side Story 2
End of Book 3
(with thanks)
If you’re reading this anywhere other than FoolishtranslationsS.wordpress.com, it was stolen from the translator’s website. Reading this anywhere other than the translator’s website ensures that the translator may never translate any other works. Thank you.