Chapter 57

'Hains, that bastard.'

No, is Hains the crazy one, or is the High Priest crazy? Why did the High Priest take Hains again? My stomach is boiling. Latil walked quickly toward the harem. If the person who took him was Klein, then it’s a rare reunion between brothers. If it’s another concubine, I could at least guess what’s going on. But since it’s the High Priest, I can’t even imagine what they’re doing.

“Eh? Your Majesty!”

As soon as he entered the harem, Gestah, who happened to be there, approached with a smile, but Latil only said he would talk later and quickly passed by.

“Your Majesty...”

Gestah called out to Latil from behind, dazed, but Latil was too preoccupied with what Hains and the High Priest were doing to pay attention to Gestah.

‘What should I do?’

Seeing Gestah’s expression, the attendant worriedly consoled him, but Gestah couldn’t relax his face.

‘This young master. His Majesty seems to be busy. Don’t worry too much.’

The attendant, seeing Gestah’s blank expression, felt embarrassed and couldn’t even lift his head. Fortunately, it was a good thing. If he had seen Gestah just now, he would have been startled by the cold eyes. Gestah raised his hand to cover his eyes and called out to the attendant.

“Trie.”

“Yes, young master! Ah, young master, don’t cry...”

“Hey. Could you follow His Majesty and see who he’s so urgently visiting?”

“Yes, I will!”

Trie, misunderstanding that Gestah was crying, hurriedly ran in the direction Latil had gone. Once alone, Gestah slowly lowered his hand from his eyes and took a deep breath.

‘No matter who he’s visiting... I will eliminate that person with my own hands, Your Majesty. It’s not a life I saved to send you to another man.’

* * *

Unaware of the thoughts of jealousy that Gestah, who had passed by like a pebble on the street, was having, Latil headed straight for the High Priest’s room. The only thing on his mind was to find Hains quickly and throw him out, even if it meant causing a scene with Karisen.

‘If he’s not in the High Priest’s room...’

No, I still have to go to the High Priest. Since he disappeared with the High Priest last.

“Eh? Isn’t it His Majesty!”

Fortunately, Hains was there with the High Priest, and they were even exercising together, looking very friendly.

“What are you doing?”

As Latil stormed in and saw the unexpected scene, he was taken aback and asked. The High Priest quickly got up and laughed heartily.

“This young man is from Karisen, and he has a very good build. Moreover, he has talent in swordsmanship. I felt like I had found a worthy opponent after a long time, so we were talking about various things...”

Stop it! Latil’s head was throbbing, and he clamped the High Priest’s mouth shut. Even if he’s clueless, the High Priest is really... Latil, still holding the High Priest’s mouth, glared at Hains. Even if you don’t know, you shouldn’t be like this, right? But Hains was already sitting on the sofa, smiling and looking at him. It must be funny. It must be. To see his ex-girlfriend’s lover showing off in front of him, it must be funny.

“Your Majesty?”

As Latil’s expression turned grim, the High Priest finally noticed something was wrong and, holding Latil’s hand that was covering his mouth, called out.

“Why are you like this? You don’t look well.”

Originally, Latil planned to drag Hains out of the High Priest’s room, take him to a secluded place, kick him in the shins, and yell at him. But when Hains looked at him with a smile that said, “Your lover is cute, isn’t she?”, Latil’s pride was twisted. Anger and wounded pride mixed so much that he couldn’t even distinguish between them. In front of his ex-girlfriend, especially the one who left him, he should be the most perfect and handsome. The moment their gray eyes met, Latil’s anger exploded, and he grabbed the High Priest’s collar.

“Your Majesty.”

The lips that were pulled over were the High Priest’s.

“!”

Holding the soft lips in his mouth and roughly grabbing the High Priest’s hair, Latil poured out a kiss filled with anger. But his gaze was fixed on Hains.

This kiss was to show Hains. Whether you play with my concubine, ignore her, or deceive her, my concubine is this one, not you. If Hains came here just because he wanted to see him... this time, it would hurt his pride.

“Your Majesty.”

The High Priest, experiencing his first kiss, was panting. His chest was rapidly rising and falling as if he didn’t know how to breathe. Still, the High Priest, forgetting that someone was behind him, wrapped his arms around Latil, savoring the new sensation. Latil stroked the High Priest’s hair with one hand and left his teeth marks on the cheek that no one had ever touched, glaring at Hains. It was very effective. Hains’ eyes, which were full of laughter, had become heavy. Seeing this, the black anger slowly faded, turning into a gray similar to Hains’ eyes. Only then did Latil’s eyes curve into a half-moon.

* * *

“High Priest, the nobles have sent another gift package...”

After Latil took Hains away, the attendant entered the room, groaning under the weight of the gifts, and, upon seeing the High Priest’s swollen lips, let out a “Huh!” and dropped all the packages. The attendant, who fell on his bottom, trembled and pointed at the High Priest’s face.

“High Priest, your lips...!”

The High Priest, standing in the middle of the room, touched his lips upon hearing the attendant’s words.

“Who dared to do this to our High Priest’s lips!”

The attendant was almost in tears. Even when hiding his identity and wandering around, the High Priest had always tried to keep his body and mind free from secular matters. How dare someone ruin the High Priest’s lips like this!

“Who is it! Who did this to the High Priest!”

“It was His Majesty.”

The attendant, who had been crying out, shut his mouth upon hearing the High Priest’s embarrassed whisper. The High Priest was now a concubine, and the owner of the concubines was Emperor Latrasil. There was nothing he could do if the Emperor came to kiss his lover. Moreover, the High Priest’s face was dazed.

“Did he steal your soul with a kiss? Why do you look like that, High Priest? It’s not like you!”

Still, the attendant’s voice trembled, feeling a bit sad. Even though he had no reason to be sad, he just felt sad. The High Priest, who always shouted “Exercise!” and “Muscles!”, now looked strange with his hand on his lips, looking dazed. But the High Priest, instead of saying anything, just smiled quietly and curled up on the bed.

“Do you like it that much?”

Seeing this, the attendant was even more frustrated and angry, but the High Priest nodded and smiled widely.

“It was very good. I didn’t understand why people kiss, but it was better than I thought.”

* * *

Latil, who unintentionally shocked the attendant, was walking quickly down the corridor, regretting his impulsive act. The other concubines were people he would keep for life, but the High Priest was someone he might have to send away once the danger passed. Kissing him impulsively... Even if the person there had been another concubine, he would have kissed, but after kissing the High Priest, he felt a sense of guilt for leaving a mark on a sacred place. Still, thinking of Hains’ tightly closed lips, he felt a sense of satisfaction. How could human emotions be so complex? How long had he been walking? In the silence of the night, only the sound of birds and their footsteps could be heard. Then, Hains’ voice cut in.

“I’ve never kissed anyone but you.”

Latil, who was walking quickly down the corridor, stopped and turned around. Hains, who had been following from behind, also stopped and turned to face Latil. Latil noticed that while Hains’ expression was filled with anger earlier, it was now stained with sadness, perhaps a bit of jealousy. Whether “I came because I missed you” was true or not, the feeling of missing him seemed genuine. But that was all. Latil smiled and said arrogantly.

“Really? I’ve kissed many. I have six concubines.”

“!”

Hains’ eyes wavered. Seeing this, Latil felt even more satisfied and added with a smirk.

“Why are you pretending to be shocked? You have many concubines too. Enjoy your life. You won’t change me by doing this. You won’t gain anything by keeping your purity alone. You’re already married.”

After saying this, Latil felt a bit regretful, thinking, “Why did I say such a petty thing?” but he hesitated for a moment and then continued walking quickly. Anyway, he couldn’t ask Hains why he came today. In this state, neither Hains nor he could calmly talk to each other.

“I don’t care about the others. But I have one question.”

However, Hains’ voice from behind stopped Latil’s feet. The voice sounded so pitiful. And this voice...

- Prince Heum has rebelled. We must return, Your Majesty.

- What about my father? What about Father?

When the messenger came to inform Hains about the rebellion in Heum during his studies. The voice Hains used to ask about the late emperor was exactly like this. Latil slowly turned his head. Hains was standing a few steps away, looking at Latil with teary eyes.

“Did you... kiss my brother too?”

“!”

“Did you... kiss my brother?”

* * *

“Captain. You’ll be caught if you keep this up.”

Seeing Tahir hanging from a tree branch, staring blankly at something, Hyeran sighed.

“What are you so entranced by?”

But Tahir, instead of answering, signaled to be quiet and continued to stare at something. After a while, Tahir finally climbed down from the tree, sighed, and shook his head.

“I saw something incredible.”

“Whatever you saw, it can’t be as bad as what I saw.”

“What did you see?”

“Your hanging butt from the tree!”

Hyeran, grinding his teeth, said, and Tahir chuckled and patted his subordinate’s back.

“I’m not joking. You’ll be really surprised when you hear what I saw.”

“What is it? Is His Majesty taking a seventh concubine?”

“Emperor Hains.”

Hyeran, grumbling about maintaining some dignity, was startled and asked.

“Who?”

“Emperor Hains. I couldn’t hear the conversation because it was too far, but the atmosphere was unmistakable.”

Hyeran looked around and whispered.

“Really? Did he come unofficially?”

“Emperor Hains and our Majesty used to date.”

“While it’s not certain, the Captain suspected as much.”

“I thought they had broken up, but it seems their feelings are still tangled.”

Hyeran’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Isn’t this a big deal?”

“What’s the big deal? No matter how they feel now, Emperor Hains is already married and has a queen. That’s the end of it.”

Hyeran looked around again and whispered even more quietly.

“That’s not necessarily true, Captain. There are many strange rumors circulating in Karisen these days.”

“Strange rumors? Oh, the one about Emperor Hains getting a divorce?”

Tahir, who had heard the rumor but didn’t think much of it, shrugged.

“It hasn’t progressed yet. Empress Aini and her family haven’t committed any significant wrongdoings. Whatever they’re doing behind the scenes, for now...”

“No, not that old news. It’s the latest, fresh news.”

Hyeran, known for his quick information gathering within the Anges Caravan, was a subordinate who sometimes even got information faster than the Black Forest. Tahir, instead of dismissing it, immediately perked up and asked.

“What news?”

“Empress Aini. They say she’s gone mad.”

“What? What do you mean? A sane person, why?”

“She’s saying she sees ghosts, that the dead prince is eating his friends, and causing a commotion. It must have happened a few days ago.”