PRU | Chapter 1.6

“Good. I don’t mind.”

Jaehwan’s voice went up by half an octave. Alpeon seemed to notice that and smiled again. A man with a loose laugh. Jaehwan steadied his chest in embarrassment. Jaehwan tried hard to think: that is not for me. Happiness bestowed upon an unspecified multitude. A life sustained by that, miserable or grateful. This was only like relief goods given by a rich person to the poor.

But Jaehwan clutched it as if it were a lifeline. Would it slip away like sand, or would it deepen the thirst like seawater and call death?

Or maybe save me, It would not save me. He continued his thoughts. All descendants of Sin Kala. This one was the king’s cousin. Jaehwan pulled again at the reins of his own heart. Ah, it struggled to rush out.

But the forceful reason pulled the reins. In any case, this one had come by the king’s order. Bloodline of divinity. Duty to the king was everything that held all of these people captive. He had helplessly yielded to them.

His name was honor and a yoke in the other world and in this one. Study was glory and Apene was divinity, yet all of them turned him into a docile beast. He was whipped everywhere. All things he could not understand were things he had to understand. Jaehwan desperately held his emotions down. But once again Alpeon smiled, and Jaehwan’s vision blurred.

“Then, I will take my leave now.”

A “don’t go” rose all the way to Jaehwan’s throat. It was as if he would save him. But then, “There is nothing Apene can do.” Alestia’s voice. The delusion came to an end.

“I permit it. Go.”

“Then, I am sorry.”

Alpeon opened the door and went out. Jaehwan spat out his last words.

“Your wounds looked severe.”

“…….”

“It seems better to stop by the priest first.”

“I am embarrassed.”

The man left. Jaehwan sank into self-loathing. Ah, in the end, he had not been able to hold back and had thrown out words of concern. What if he thought he was a strange person. Ridiculous, but he was the wife of his cousin. Disgusting. No, maybe he would think it was just polite talk.

But if so, it would hurt. His thoughts spread out however they pleased. It was just like ink scattered thickly over mulberry paper. The ink burrowed along the grain of the paper, like blood spreading through veins.

It was painful.

Jaehwan curled up on the chair. It felt as if his mind were being chopped into pieces at the unit of neurons. This was nothing more than a physiological reaction to hormones. He tried to soothe himself. He really might have gone crazy.

Alpeon left Jaehwan’s room as he was and headed for the main palace. Jaehwan had told him to stop by the priest, but because he was bothered by having unilaterally broken the promise last time, he had come to see Jaehwan first instead of going to the king first. No further delay was allowed. Alpeon felt quite a bit of sympathy for Jaehwan. After all, the outrages of his cousin and friend were not a matter of yesterday or today.

His side hurt. It was a wound he had gotten when he was ambushed while approaching the Black Forest. Because of that, he had had to turn his horse back at the beginning of the Black Forest.

“Are you only coming now?”

“Well, yes.”

When he entered the office, the red lion growled. It was a sign that something displeased him. Alpeon sat on the chair with a casual expression. And naturally, he took out the pipe from his pocket and put it in his mouth, but the attempt was foiled by Mehion’s interference.

“Don’t smoke tobacco. I thought I told you that having tobacco smell soak into the office is awful.”

“Ah, you don’t like it.”

It’s a major imported item that came in from the western continent this time. You don’t know how to enjoy it. Alpeon said casually. Watching Alpeon like that, Mehion frowned.

“So you have time to smoke your precious tobacco, and no time to go to the Black Forest?”

“I said it was an ambush. Want me to show you the wound?”

“Forget it. Looking at your face, I can see it well enough.”

Mehion rubbed his face as if tired. Then he gestured to Alpeon, telling him to get out quickly. Alpeon ignored that gesture and leaned back in the chair.

“You have really locked Apene in that room.”

“That is not something you should be concerned with.”

“Apene doesn’t have a single muscle. If you leave him alone like that, his stamina will weaken, and he will surely die from something like Dekaria endemic disease.”

“I told you not to care about it.”

So, that kind of attitude is a problem. Alpeon sighed. Hey, Your Majesty.

“Raise your standing. If the other kings knew you were treating Apene like this, what kind of face do you think they would make? If you hate that, think of the Apene of the Gray Wolf… .”

Bang-

A seal flew fast past the side of Alpeon’s head, struck the wall, and dropped. After it scraped the edge of his ear and tingled, when he confirmed that blood was finally coming out, Alpeon twisted his lips.

“Shut up.”

“You tore my ear.”

“Serves you right.”

“Still, you should make sure Apene doesn’t die.”

“I said shut up.”

“Fine, I’m leaving.”

I can’t even smoke tobacco here, so I’m leaving too. Alpeon put the pipe back into his clothes, then stood up while holding his side. I gave first aid, but the blood is flowing again. He spoke casually again, then a short bang, the sound of the door closing.

Mehion, who had been glaring at the door Alpeon had gone out through, snorted at the rising anger and sprang up. As Mehion went outside, a servant hurried to follow his quick steps.

Jaehwan was eating fruit for a late lunch when he received the violent visit. Alestia had reproached Jaehwan, asking whether he wanted to become a fairy, but Jaehwan still only took in extremely small amounts of carbohydrates, fat, and protein. What at least put Alestia at ease was that he steadily ate fruit or salad.

Meat had a gamy smell, so Jaehwan could not bring himself to eat it. The other thing Jaehwan ate well was a grain grown in the east of the continent, the food most similar to rice. It was a little fluffier and yellower, but unmistakable.

However, while it was imported by sea from the East Continent, the price had become more valuable than gold, so even among wealthy nobles, those who ate this unusual grain, and not even as a spice, were rare. Therefore, for Apene, the king’s thorn in the eye, it was too luxurious to enjoy, so the only times Jaehwan saw rice were when he was sick and laid up.

With still awkward hand movements, Jaehwan picked up the fruit. As he had heard, it seemed that they used forks in the Gray Wolf’s territory, but even now there was no chance of the benefits of civilization here.

He had heard about table manners from the Viscount Banteil, but he still could not understand talks like elegantly picking it up, or which finger to use to dip the sauce. Those difficult hand movements eventually made him drop the food with a noisy sound.

“Your Majesty Mehion. Your Majesty Mehion!”

“Shut up! I came to see Apene. Apene!”

Bang-

With that sound, the door flew open and Jaehwan jumped to his feet in shock. It was a man. A man with red hair. The man barged in rudely and immediately grabbed Jaehwan by the hair. And sparks flew right in front of his eyes. Arispee, who came in behind him, let out an “Oh dear,” and Alestia, who had been watching over Jaehwan, stepped back slightly and observed the situation.

“Ah!”

“Apene, I told you to shut up and stay quiet.”

“Qui, q, quietly, st, st…”

Jaehwan gasped. He tried to form a complete sentence, but the fear that suddenly hit him before his eyes shook his hair. Jaehwan felt as if his tongue had turned into hard bone at the sudden disaster. It was hard to say even words, let alone syllables. Fear slapped Jaehwan’s cheek again.

“Ah, ah, ah-”

“Are you in heat, Apene? Fawning over my cousin? Is your lower body aching so much that you can’t hold back?”

“A, no, no, a, no. Re, really, a.”

“Why. If it’s not that, then why is Alpeon rushing over to me, all worried about you? Hm? Has your skill improved in the meantime, to the point that it is better than that third-rate whore?”

No, no. No. Jaehwan rolled his tongue around inside his mouth like that. It would not move at all. He looked at Arispee. He could not move at all. He looked at Alestia. She could not move at all.

Even trying once more, his vocal cords could only emit groans. The only thing moving dynamically was the red terror in front of him. It gripped his hair as if it would rip off his scalp, but Jaehwan felt no pain at all.

“Taking care of a wife’s condition is the husband’s duty, Apene, sorry. Since I haven’t been taking care of you all this time.”

“No, no, please, a, please.”

Jaehwan tried to escape like a startled Thomson’s gazelle. He tried to shake off the wrist that looked to be twice the size of his own, but in the end he was slapped on the ear by that rough hand. Ah! His ear rang.

He wriggled and resisted, but the man’s hand was merciless. The binding came down without mercy. In the middle of the dizziness, Jaehwan thought. It feels like I got hit in the wrong place…

[Too, too, ah, it hurts, ah.]

“You’ve gotten more rebellious since I last saw you, Apene. It wouldn’t be bad to educate you once more.”

After being beaten enough to be like a dog dragged to a slaughterhouse, Jaehwan went limp. It hurts, it hurts. Jaehwan gave up on the local words he had awkwardly shouted with the instinct to live and muttered. It’s becoming fluent. It hurts. Before he knew it, the hair that had gone past his shoulder line was suitable to be used as Jaehwan’s reins.

His mouth must have split open, because blood had pooled everywhere. The front of his vision was blurry. Why did the cheekbone hurt so much. Mehion dragged Jaehwan by the hair from the reception room into the room. Through the half-open gap in the door, Alestia could be seen. Save me. Jaehwan mouthed. Alestia completely shut the door.

Mehion slammed Jaehwan onto the bed. O king moving more dynamically than any flame. Jaehwan buried himself in the soft duck-down sheet with his head bent like a marionette whose strings had been cut, in a grotesque posture. Jaehwan flapped his wings. Awkwardly. The man firmly seized Jaehwan’s wing roots. It looked like a vow that no resistance at all would be forgiven.

With his head pressed into the soft pillow, Jaehwan found it hard to breathe. When he swallowed, the blood pooled in his mouth clogged his airway. Pant, pant. Mehion handled the panting Jaehwan mercilessly. The man left bruises on Jaehwan’s body more easily than breathing.