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After shedding tears, Yi-Gyeol fell into a deep sleep as if he’s exhausted. But in fact, it was close to exhaustion because he couldn’t stop shedding tears with his weak body, still Seth felt relieved that he cried enough to shake it all off.
Sethian was lying in bed with Yi-Gyeol in his arms, and was still patting him on the back even though he was already asleep. It was the first time he tried to do it, but Adelan, who always rushed to put his young self to sleep in the past, did this often, and it certainly seemed to work. At that time, Adelan fell asleep before himself every time, so he wasn’t really sure of the effect.
To be honest, he didn’t mean to lie in bed together with him on a bright afternoon and hug him so much to comfort him. It’d be better if he could just fall asleep, but that’s not the case, and he only shed tears, so Sethian worried that maybe he’d cry until he ran out of breath. However, if he stops him from crying, he will feel sorry, thinking, ‘I’m causing trouble to him,’ again. Then he will soon put up walls and put on a mask.
Sethian stared at Yi-Gyeol’s sleeping face for a long time with him pillowing his arms. Even though it’s been a while since tears stopped flowing down, the long eyelashes are still moist. Sethian didn’t bother to wipe it off.
The more he looks at him, the more strange he is. Except for his exotic and emaciated face, he doesn’t look much different from a normal person, but strangely, he keeps catching Sethian’s eyes. Even for Sethian, who has no standard of aesthetics for people, he is not attractive at all. Nevertheless, even the tears that dyed his eyelashes caught his attention.
‘Fascinating.’
It was also what he thought the most after meeting Joo Yi-Gyeol, and it was a word that came to mind only for him. This fascination could be said to be the source of his interest towards Joo Yi-Gyeol.
Knock, knock-
“Prince, we have received a letter from Count Levant.”
Hearing Lenox’s voice from outside, Sethian told him to come in briefly. Perhaps because of his voice, Yi-Gyeol’s eyes, who was in his arms, slightly twitched. When Sethian swept his back just in case he woke up, his eyes became calm once again.
As soon as Lenox, who thought Sethian would be at his desk when he comes in, was about to look at him, he unexpectedly saw Sethian lying on the bed. It was the first time he had seen Sethian lying in bed at such an hour, so he was a little surprised and approached him quickly.
“Your Highness, what’s the…! Your Highness?”
Belatedly, he realized that there was something in his arms. It was almost invisible because it was covered with Sethian’s body and the blanket, but he could tell that it was a human being.
“Mmm….”
Yi-Gyeol, who was in Sethian’s arms, frowned and gave a small groan. At the same time, Sethian’s forehead also frowned as if they were twins.
“Your…!”
“Lower your voice.”
Even when he said that, his voice was very low.
Sethian gently rubbed Yi-Gyeol’s frown on his forehead and stroked his hair as if to soothe him. The sound of breathing, which had almost been disturbed, spread evenly again. He barely managed to coax him to sleep, so he didn’t want to wake him up without even recovering his physical strength.
Lenox, who was speechless and stiff, felt a sense of incongruity at Sethian, who only turned his head and stared sharply at him.
“Letters to the table. Do you have more to say?”
“…There’s none.”
Even if he had something to say, he didn’t think he should say it.
Lenox placed the letter on the table with a hardened face and left the room under Sethian’s glare. If there was even a slight delay, it seemed that he would come forward and kick him out by force.
After Lenox came out of the room, he had a puzzled expression on his face for a while. His gaze was fixed on the tightly closed bedchamber door.
‘It’s not someone else but the prince….’
It was the first time Lenox had ever seen Sethian like that. He thought it would be strange that he’d do something to a skinny young man, but who would’ve expected that that young man would be lying in Sethian’s arms in broad daylight like this. On top of that, the consideration of lowering his voice for fear that the young man would wake up seemed not to be the Prince Sethian he knew.
Does he really like that young man so much? If that’s the case, up to where?
Lenox recalled Sethian’s partners that he had seen.
He has embraced beautiful women and has experience hugging men as well. They came here with the intention of assassination anyway, so after the relationship, they were all crushed and abandoned to the point of being unrecognizable, but their appearance and body were certainly attractive to Lenox.
On the other hand, Yi-Gyeol was too shabby and poor compared to them. Just looking at his face, which had been held in Sethian’s arms a while ago, it was so close to a corpse that at first glance you might think he was dead.
‘Is it just a glimmer of entertainment, or….’
Lenox pondered on what he had seen again and questioned Sethian’s actions.
⋆♚⋆♛⋆♚⋆
It was three days later that Yi-Gyeol was able to get out of bed on his own. It was hard to even lift a finger at first, but now he feels much more free than when he was last in Korea. He had to use a cane because his legs were wobbly, but he was able to approach the table in the room and have a cup of tea, and he could also stand by the window and look out for a short time.
‘Amazing. I’ve really improved.’
With one hand holding a cane and the other on the wall, Yi-Gyeol’s face, looking out the window, was as brilliant as the bright sunlight. If someone had brought him a mirror, he would have been surprised to see it himself.
Yi-Gyeol looked out with a smile on his face and glanced at the training ground not far away. Although there was some distance, he was able to recognize the face to some extent with the naked eye. At the end of his gaze was Sethian, who was fighting some knights in comfortable clothes.
Sethian and another knight, who were facing each other with a wooden sword, confront in the blink of an eye. Yi-Gyeol, who was watching, was so frightened that he tightly grabbed the cane without realizing it, but fortunately, the other knight quickly rolled the floor. On the other hand, Sethian stood with his wooden sword hanging down in a relaxed manner, as if nothing had happened. Then another knight bowed deeply and pointed his sword at him, but he too became the same as the person before him.
‘So you’re strong….’
That’s what he originally thought when they first met but watching him fight like this, he realized that Sethian was really strong.
Then, Yi-Gyeol’s face abruptly turned red. He remembered Sethian hugging and kissing him deeply before going there, saying he’ll give him vitality.
It was also due to his lack of strength, but Sethian’s arms, which were hugging his waist, were definitely like solid stones.  The tongue that was plundering his lips was so strong that it could not be pushed out, and the power of the big hand, which was holding the back of his head, made Yi-Gyeol unable to move at all. In addition to that, seeing him easily carry him around frequently, it was not an ordinary strength at all.
Yi-Gyeol, who had been stroking his hot cheeks with one hand, opened his eyes wide, startled to see Sethian’s opponent wielding a dreadful wooden sword. Sethian dodged it easily and knocked down his opponent with astonishing speed.
It may be absurd to think that a weak person like him was worried about such a strong person, but every time he sees a scene like that, he always flinches and gets surprised.
‘I’m afraid he’ll get hurt.’
Even if it was luckily just a wooden sword, the momentum of each of the opposing knights was great. He was worried Sethian might get bruises or break his bones if something goes wrong and he gets hit. The fallen knights also looked quite hurt, but he was more worried about Sethian whom he sees every day. As a result, he keeps thinking that he could’ve been hurt somewhere, but he was the only one who didn’t notice.
‘If I could only watch up close….’
There was a bit of distance from here, so he couldn’t even tell what state Sethian was in. Moreover, there was no means of contact in this world, and even if there was, he shouldn’t ever get in his way. He remembered the large man outside the room asking Yi-Gyeol to always call him whenever he needed anything, but he couldn’t ask him to support him all the way there.
Yi-Gyeol’s eyes naturally turned to the bed. The gorgeous duvet engraved with gold embroidery on the pure white sheet is a little messy. Even though he just got out of it, he wanted to go back in.
‘It would be fine if I didn’t bother and just come to see him for a while, right?’
He was getting a little languid because of the sunlight. With the peaceful atmosphere and the cool breeze blowing, he wonders if he can fall asleep quickly.
Yi-Gyeol looked at Sethian out the window one more time, and finally approached the bed with the cane. He occasionally leaned against the wall and grabbed the back of the sofa, then approached the bed and sat down on it. As he lifted the blanket and lay down slowly, his eyes were already droopy, perhaps because of warmth and comfort. A small smile formed on Yi-Gyeol’s lips from the fact that he was able to feel this way.
‘I’m not going to make a sound, and just going to watch him for a while. I’ll just check if he’s fine….’
He promised himself a few times and tightly closed his eyes. It must have been the influence of the bright sunlight, but the bed was pleasantly warm as if Sethian’s warmth had remained on the bed.
Soon Yi-Gyeol fell into a deep sleep.
TL Notes:
Awarding this Certificate to Sethian Wren Kinelly for being the best nanny! xD Am I the only one smiling this crazily because of the endless fluffs?! I actually didn’t expect this! Also, I just now realized that JYG might turn out to be the obsessive one! (≧▽≦)