RHH | Chapter 3.4

After his regression, he had laughed at his past self, who had only known how to bury his doubts. But now, standing at another crossroads, he found himself grappling with the same issue.

If he walked forward with doubts, he might run into an ambush at any moment. But if he voiced his doubts, the other person might turn away.

And that wasn’t all.

‘What does this guy really think of me?’

What had once seemed so clear was now completely obscured. His thoughts naturally drifted toward the possibility that Absalom’s feelings had cooled.

And one last thing.

‘If Absalom does like me, does that mean I have to give up on returning?’

This was what it meant to be lost in a maze. Leehwan let out a faint sigh.

By now, the crowd had thinned considerably. Leehwan and Absalom emerged from the alley. A comfortable silence hung between them.

As they walked down the street toward the inn, Absalom suddenly pulled Leehwan into a hug. Caught off guard, Leehwan looked up in confusion. Absalom’s eyes, slightly higher than his, were cold and sharp.

“What’s wrong?”

In response, Absalom tightened his grip. His broad shoulders, strong arms, and warm body temperature enveloped Leehwan. Having always been the protector, Leehwan felt an odd sensation. He cleared his throat to dispel the ticklish feeling.

“Absalom?”

They couldn’t stay like this forever. Moreover, a scent he had never noticed before wafted from Absalom.

It was a mix of grass, wildflowers, forest, earth, and rain. It didn’t seem like perfume, so it must have been Absalom’s natural scent. Taking a deep breath, Leehwan felt a part of his mind go numb.

‘This is dangerous.’

Just as Leehwan was about to place his hand on Absalom’s shoulder…

“Sir Alexander……”

At that moment, a chill ran down Leehwan’s spine. He gripped Absalom’s shoulder tightly. Absalom called his name softly, but Leehwan, still in shock, didn’t notice the emotion in his voice.

After a moment of stillness, Leehwan gently pushed Absalom away. Absalom resisted briefly but soon let him go. Leehwan slowly turned around.

Why hadn’t he sensed that presence earlier? Had he grown complacent due to the lack of recent danger? Chiding himself, Leehwan spoke.

“It’s been a while, Lucien.”

The face he had once found endearing was now twisted in horror.

When Lucien had entered the market office earlier, he had planned to stay the night. But after noticing the market official leering at him, he couldn’t stand to remain any longer. He stormed out.

Lucien, known for his beauty, was used to being ogled with lustful eyes.

If he hadn’t been born a prince, he might have ended up as a wealthy man’s concubine or rotting in a brothel’s backroom. One of his brothers had once said as much.

Some had told Lucien that lust was just another form of affection and that he should accept it. They pretended to offer advice, but their encouragement was no different from a pimp’s.

As a child, he had believed those words. If Leehwan hadn’t shown him a different kind of gaze, he might still believe them.

Lucien recalled Leehwan’s eyes. They were warm, affectionate, and sincere. Even when they occasionally glinted with desire, they were endlessly pure. Whenever Leehwan looked at him like that, Lucien had felt a strange itchiness all over his body. At the time, he had thought it was aversion.

But there was a stark difference between that sensation and the discomfort he felt now. If it wasn’t aversion, then what was it?

“Be careful, it’s crowded.”

Wibaeng subtly tugged on Lucien’s reins. A horse’s hoof narrowly missed a child.

“That was close. Thanks, Sir Wibaeng.”

“Not at all.”

While the skilled knights were adept riders, Lucien’s horsemanship paled in comparison. Wibaeng had been keeping an eye on him the whole time. Lucien decided to focus solely on riding.

About ten years ago, Wibaeng had lost his young son in a carriage accident. Since then, he had been particularly sensitive to children’s safety.

‘His son had blond hair and green eyes, didn’t he?’

If not for that, Wibaeng would likely be somewhere else now. The thought dampened Lucien’s mood.

After some time, the streets grew quieter. Finally able to relax, Lucien looked around.

Could that person be here? Without any special sensitivity or training in sensing energy like the knights, Lucien had no way of knowing.

If that person was here, what should he do? Would he follow Lucien willingly? And most importantly…

‘Why didn’t Sir Alexander come back to me?’

At that moment, a dazzling silver light entered his vision, as if the moon had descended there. Reflexively, Lucien scanned the area.

“Ah……”

Sound faded, and everything in the world lost its color.

In the quiet grayness, only one person stood out in Lucien’s vision. A man composed of black, brown, and beige. Before any other emotion, joy surged within him.

“Alex……”

Lucien reached out toward Leehwan. But someone else moved first.

A pale hand gripped Leehwan’s shoulder. Leehwan moved as the hand guided him, stepping into someone else’s embrace. Lucien froze, staring at them.

Soon, someone else took Leehwan’s place. The first thing Lucien noticed was the silver hair. It was something he had been obsessing over.

The silver-haired beauty everyone had praised. He was a man without a single flaw, just as the rumors had said. Lucien couldn’t compare. He gritted his teeth.

‘Let him go.’

He repeated it internally. No matter how beautiful the man was, Leehwan belonged to Lucien. As if hearing his thoughts, the man looked up.

Hatred, resentment, curses—a condensed aura of malice radiated from him. Lucien froze like a frog before a snake.

At that moment, Leehwan looked up at the man and said something. The man hugged him tighter. A new emotion flickered in those deep blue eyes.

‘Don’t tell me that man also…….’

A sense of crisis overwhelmed Lucien. Using fear as motivation, he barely managed to move his lips.

“Sir Alexander……”

Even though Lucien called out, Leehwan showed no reaction. I’m here. Look at me. Words that couldn’t form into sound wouldn’t reach him. But Lucien couldn’t say anything else. It felt like Leehwan would drift further away if he did.

After a moment of silence, Leehwan slowly pushed the man away. The gentleness in his touch made Lucien anxious.

‘The reason Sir Alexander didn’t return to me… could it be……?’

No. Leehwan wasn’t the type to change his feelings. That man must have been forcing him, and Leehwan, being kind, had no choice but to comply. That had to be it.

Thoughts he had suppressed began to sprout wildly. Lucien shook his head. He just needed to confirm it with Leehwan. Until then, he refused to doubt him.

Leehwan turned around. Lucien searched his face. But the affection that had always overflowed when Leehwan looked at him was nowhere to be found.

‘That can’t be.’

As the gaze grew more persistent, Leehwan finally looked up. His brown eyes met Lucien’s. Lucien let out an involuntary groan. The eyes that had always transparently revealed his inner thoughts now shone with a cool, autumnal light as they turned toward Lucien.

“It’s been a while, Lucien.”

In that short greeting, Lucien felt despair.

After Leehwan’s words, silence fell between the two groups. The unusual tension made even the passersby slowly step away. By the time the area had cleared, Leehwan let out a sigh.

Before his regression, when Leehwan had fallen off a cliff, the imperial family had done nothing more than send a search party. At that time, he had returned after being missing for 42 days, and even then, the imperial family hadn’t dispatched a tracking team. So, he thought he had at least created that much distance.

On top of that, he had chosen difficult paths to hide his tracks. There was no way they could have caught up so quickly. He had revealed his face midway—maybe that was the problem.

Just then, Absalom moved closer. His breath brushed against Leehwan’s ear and tickled his cheek. Leehwan reflexively flinched, but Absalom spoke.

“Should I kill them all?”

His voice wasn’t quiet, despite the secretive tone. A murderous aura emanated from the knights. But Leehwan didn’t take his eyes off Lucien.

“Just say the word. I can take care of them right now.”

Please, Leehwan. The following words were so soft only Leehwan could hear them. The tone was almost pleading, but Absalom’s eyes remained fixed on Lucien.

Just as Leehwan was about to open his mouth, Absalom wrapped his arm around Leehwan’s waist. The grip was so tight it almost made Leehwan groan. When he tried to loosen it slightly, a noticeably darker voice called his name. In the end, Leehwan had no choice but to speak while still in Absalom’s embrace.

“From what I can tell, it seems like you’ve been chasing me. What’s the reason?”

It was an uncharacteristic remark from Leehwan, who had always been meticulous about etiquette in front of others. Lucien felt it more acutely than anyone. With trembling lips, he barely managed to reply.

“D-did we need a reason to find each other……? Was that the kind of relationship we had?”

But the Leehwan reflected in Lucien’s eyes remained cold. Desperately, Lucien continued.

“I was worried! When I heard you fell off a cliff, I thought…… what if you were hurt…….”

Absalom’s gaze, sharp as a blade, turned toward Lucien. Meeting those eyes, an inexplicable fear gripped Lucien.

Leehwan couldn’t have missed Lucien’s fearful panting. Yet, he spoke with an indifferent expression.

“You should’ve thought I was dead. That way, you wouldn’t have had to go through all this trouble to come here, and I could’ve been at peace.”

It was a statement that couldn’t be misinterpreted. Unease spread among the knights who had only been listening to the conversation. Wibaeng responded in Lucien’s place.

“Should we take that as betrayal?”

Leehwan scanned Lucien, Wibaeng, and the knights. Unintentionally, a crooked smile formed on his lips.

“Was this a relationship where betrayal was even possible?”

“What…… do you mean?”

“Betrayal only exists where there’s trust first.”

If Wibaeng was Lucien’s closest confidant, he must know a lot. Leehwan thought so. His assumption seemed correct, as Wibaeng’s expression hardened.

Leehwan looked at Lucien again. His pale face and the despair staining his once-clear green eyes spoke volumes about his feelings. Leehwan tried not to react, but the pain, like a dull blade cutting through him, wasn’t something he could erase at will.

“Lucien.”

When Leehwan called, Lucien immediately responded. Leehwan continued, pretending to be indifferent.

“Still, given our past connection…… go to Charles and tell him I’m dead. Then I’ll let you go.”

Both sides reacted to that. Leehwan pulled Absalom into an embrace as he seemed ready to lunge forward.

On the other side, Lucien stepped forward. His face, now tinged with a cold malice, seemed to have broken free from Absalom’s pressure.

“Whether you let me go or not is up to the stronger side, isn’t it? There are seven of us here, excluding me. All knights, and four of them were assigned by my brother Charles. Do you think you can take on all of us alone?”

Lucien spoke with a confident demeanor, as if he truly believed it. But Leehwan’s response was merciless.

“Yes.”

In Leehwan’s eyes, most of the knights were subpar. Especially those assigned by the Crown Prince.