RHH | Chapter 3.6

Absalom’s wide, deep blue eyes narrowed. For a moment, it seemed like his pupils had turned vertical. Was it an illusion? Just as Leehwan was thinking that, a dry swallow was heard. His Adam’s apple bobbed visibly. It was strangely alluring, and Leehwan couldn’t take his eyes off Absalom’s neck.

“Leehwan.”

In the dimly lit room, illuminated only by a single lamp, Absalom’s voice dropped low. A shiver ran down Leehwan’s spine.

“You’ve made the wrong choice. You shouldn’t have done this. If you knew the weight of your words, of this action, you would never have done it.”

“What?”

“For your sake, I should erase everything that happened today…….”

“Absalom!”

Leehwan clenched his teeth. Just then, Absalom continued.

“But unfortunately, I have no intention of doing that.”

Absalom slowly raised his lowered eyelids. His eyes were revealed. The black pupils in the center of his deep blue irises had elongated vertically. It was a part of Absalom’s draconic nature. Leehwan realized this.

“Leehwan, can I be a little greedy?”

Would someone standing before a god act like this? A desperate plea for salvation could be heard in his deep, dark voice. But Leehwan didn’t want to be a god to Absalom. He barely moved his lips and spoke curtly.

“……Why are you asking me that?”

With a nervous laugh, Absalom moved closer. The scent that had been teasing Leehwan grew stronger. The heat of Absalom’s body crossed the negligible distance between them and reached Leehwan.

Sight, hearing, smell, and touch. The remaining sense clamored for fulfillment. Leehwan licked his dry lips. A spark flickered in Absalom’s eyes.

“Then let me ask something else.”

“What is it?”

Leehwan raised his chin. Absalom tilted his head in response and asked.

“Can I kiss you?”

Instead of answering, Leehwan grabbed the back of Absalom’s head and pulled him in. Absalom, as if he had been waiting, immediately swallowed Leehwan’s lips. Leehwan welcomed Absalom’s rough tongue, sweetly tangling with it. Absalom flinched but delved deeper.

Their tongues competed, intertwining. Unidentifiable moans mingled together. More. Leehwan wanted to get even closer to Absalom. He mindlessly sucked on Absalom’s tongue and swallowed their shared saliva. His overheated mind only regained a semblance of sanity when his back hit the wall.

This was the first time he had lost himself in a kiss. With Lucien, he had never been able to fully immerse himself, always worried that Lucien might be frightened.

Perhaps sensing that Leehwan’s thoughts had drifted, Absalom roughly swirled his tongue inside Leehwan’s mouth. The hot tongue dragged along the roof of his mouth, sending a throbbing pain to his lower back. Leehwan squeezed his eyes shut and tried to regain his composure.

He raised his hand and stroked Absalom’s hair. As he repeated the motion slowly, the wild tongue and lips began to calm down.

Just as the heated kiss began to take on a hint of sweetness, Leehwan tilted his head slightly. His lips, now finally parted, throbbed for a different reason.

Absalom’s wet lips immediately chased after him. Leehwan showered them with light kisses. Absalom let out a dissatisfied whine.

“I’m going to devour you, really.”

Leehwan whispered with a mischievous smile. The desire to devour was mutual, but now wasn’t the time.

Leehwan wiped Absalom’s wet lips with his finger. As he did, he felt a rough texture at the tip of his finger. It must have been the spot injured when their teeth clashed earlier.

Thinking it might hurt, Leehwan tried to pull his hand away, but Absalom opened his mouth. His lips, redder than usual, swallowed Leehwan’s thumb. The wet mucous membrane wrapped around the rough finger. At the same time, Leehwan stared, momentarily entranced, at the lustful curve of Absalom’s silver eyes.

“……You’re really something.”

Leehwan muttered as he finally regained his senses. When he applied pressure to his finger, Absalom obediently opened his mouth.

“Where did you even learn this?”

“Learn? I just did it because you said you could devour me.”

“When did I…….”

Leehwan, exasperated, started to mutter but ended up laughing. A smile also appeared on Absalom’s face.

“This really isn’t the time for this.”

“Ah, right. Should I pack our things now?”

Absalom reached for the luggage he had dropped at some point. Leehwan grabbed his hand. With a gentle pull, Absalom fell into his embrace.

“There’s somewhere I need to go for a moment.”

“Together……”

“Alone.”

The body in his arms stiffened. Leehwan slowly stroked Absalom’s back.

“I’ll just check and come back.”

When Leehwan released his arms, this time Absalom clung to him. Leehwan turned his head slightly and kissed the cheek right in front of him.

“I’ll come back as soon as possible.”

As he whispered into Absalom’s ear, his cheeks finally flushed. After one more kiss, Leehwan gently removed Absalom’s arms.

“I’ll be back.”

Absalom smiled without answering. Leehwan opened the door. Before leaving, he looked back. Absalom was still smiling as if painted.

Thud.

The door closed. Leehwan quickly stepped out. Once he made up his mind, he wanted to finish his business and return as soon as possible.

As he stepped into the street, he pulled up the hood of his cloak. It was late at night, so his face was completely hidden. When he was far enough from the inn, he stopped a passerby. When he asked where someone of high status might stay nearby, the passerby named two places.

Leehwan ruled out the market office. It was in the opposite direction from where Lucien had been heading earlier.

The remaining option, an inn, was located a short distance away. Leehwan headed there.

𓂃 ོ☼𓂃

After parting with Leehwan, Lucien’s group entered a nearby inn. After calling a doctor to treat the injured, they all gathered in Lucien’s room. They were supposed to discuss their next steps, but only silence filled the room.

With this number of people, they couldn’t capture Leehwan. Ultimately, they would need to recruit more knights, but with the city gates closed due to the late hour, they couldn’t send anyone out. They were stuck in a situation where they could do nothing.

Two of the knights exchanged glances. They were the ones assigned to Lucien by Charles. There had been four, but two had recklessly charged in and broken their bones, leaving only these two.

They all had backing, which allowed them to remain in the imperial knight order despite their lack of skill and poor conduct. When they first heard about this mission, they thought it would be a brief excursion.

But the Fifth Prince, who could barely ride a horse without getting blisters and muscle pain, refused to give up the chase. Moreover, Leehwan, who they thought was dead, was indeed alive. It was clear that their suffering would only prolong if this continued.

“Fifth Prince.”

The knights turned to Lucien. His face, filled with malice as he stared into the void, was somewhat eerie. One of the knights swallowed hard and continued.

“With this number of people, we can’t pursue Sir Alexander any further.”

“That’s right. Even with significant reinforcements, it would be impossible.”

“We’d need at least ten, no, twenty more knights, wouldn’t we?”

“Would that even be enough? From what we saw earlier, he’s almost……”

“Right. Even though we didn’t wear armor for mobility, to take us down so easily……”

The conversation continued, bypassing Lucien. Even the knights who had been accompanying Lucien from the beginning joined in.

Wibaeng looked at them with sorrowful eyes. Today’s clash had also happened without any orders. It was a clear example of how little they respected Lucien. But the person who should have reprimanded them was half out of his mind.

One of the knights cleared his throat. He had been the loudest just moments ago.

“Quiet, quiet. Arguing among ourselves won’t lead to any conclusions. So, Fifth Prince? We believe it’s best to return to the imperial palace, properly prepare, and then continue the pursuit. What do you think?”

Lucien showed no reaction this time either. Discontent began to show on the knights’ faces.

“It’s a bit disheartening how predictable this is.”

It was a voice they never expected to hear here. Everyone’s gaze focused on one point. Leaning against the firmly closed door was Leehwan.

“Sir Alexander!”

Lucien, who had been unresponsive to any words until now, immediately reacted. He jumped up from his seat and took a step forward. Wibaeng stopped him.

“Let go!”

“You can’t!”

Wibaeng made a gesture. Only then did Lucien notice that Leehwan’s right hand was on the hilt of his sword. The words he had heard earlier came back to him like a tail chasing its own body.

The knights also remembered Leehwan’s words. Leehwan stood blocking the only door. Jumping out the window wasn’t an option either, as they were on the top floor of the inn. The knights each grabbed their weapons, preparing for an attack.

Leehwan straightened up from his slouched position against the door. His indifferent face looked like someone bored on their way to do a mundane task. One of the knights shouted in a trembling voice.

“You said you’d let us go……!”

“I said I’d let you go if you quietly returned and kept quiet about me. But.”

Leehwan’s blade slowly revealed itself. To the knights, it looked like a crude sword one might find in a village blacksmith’s shop.

“Listening to what you’re saying, it seems like it’ll be more troublesome next time. In that case, wouldn’t it be better to make an example out of you?”

As he spoke, Leehwan swung his arm. The moment the pristine blade cut through the air.

Thud.

It was such a small sound that none of the knights heard it properly. They missed the signal of the first attack.

The sword moved as if sucked in, piercing through a chest. The tip protruding from the back glistened with blood and fat. The knight, whose lungs had been pierced in one strike, opened his mouth. He must have intended to breathe, but only the sound of bubbling foam came out.

The next moment, the sword sliced through the lungs and heart before pulling out of the body.

The sword sought its next victim before the dead knight’s body even hit the floor. A knight, whose head was severed from his body in one strike, staggered. Lucien screamed as the head flew into his arms.

“Ahhh!”

“Prince Lucien!”

Wibaeng pulled him toward the door. Excluding the injured, there were five knights left, including himself. He intended to buy as much time as possible to at least get Lucien out. But the death cries of the next four knights extinguished even that faint hope.

Bang!

Leehwan grabbed Wibaeng’s head and slammed it into the wall. Wibaeng’s eyes, which had widened for a moment, closed weakly. Confirming that he had been knocked out, Leehwan threw him at Lucien’s feet.

“Lucien.”

Unsurprisingly, Lucien didn’t respond properly. His trembling figure was pitiful. But at the same time, the harshness unique to fading love reared its head.