Chapter 68 - Trapped In A Dream

They finally reached the last point where they left Leron with the corpses and the wolves. The jittery Ilvedian prince distracted himself by doing chores and he himself prepared dinner for the first time.

When he saw Vladstin, he immediately rushed to embrace him. "Where have you been, Vladstin!? I was so worried, you don't even know how much I... Anyway, you're back now. I'm glad that you are safe."

Vladstin did not mind the hug, but did not move at all either to reciprocate it. He just stood stiffly in Leron's arms, eyes focused on Sangfroid.

"I'm not glad that I'm safe, but at least Mi—er, Sangfroid is with me."

Leron gave Sangfroid a look and the big man shrugged. "I finally managed to stop him from referring to me as this 'Min Libitino', Leron. Now we all refer to our first names."

Sangfroid walked over to the boiling kettle. "Did you really..... prepare this yourself? For me?"

He opened it and the smell that wafted in the air was so good that it warmed his heart. He felt really pleased by this

Leron let go of Vladstin. "Yes, I prepared food for the both of us since you were always the one to do it. I can also catch fish and cook by myself, you just never let me. I hope it would be decent."

He gave Vladstin a meaningful look. "I learned that dish back in Crescentia, your mother taught us to cook. Do you remember that?"

Leron secretly added: 'That was the day when we announced that we want to be engaged. She said if we're going to have a spouse, the best way to keep the marriage stable is to know how to cook because then when you have a fight, you can bribe them with your cooking.'

Vladstin was disinterested then and ended up overcooking and burning the fish to crisps, but Leron being the diligent student did well and feed his dish to him.

"Yeah, I remember." Vladstin nodded and this gave Leron hope.

But that's all Vladstin said and he walked towards Sangfroid who was preparing two bowls of fish soup. The one for Prince Leron is of course much larger and has more fish and stuff in it.

"Anyway, Mi—Sangfroid. What do you say about the ballad I've written?" Vladstin said with his hands behind his back, eyes bright as ever.

"It's good." Sangfroid said dismissively. "Prince Leron, let's go eat."

Leron took his bowl and sat on one of the logs they use as a chair with a sulk.

"The scenery is truly a sight to behold and would truly serve as an inspiration to the beholder." Vladstin said. "I like the flowers too, the lavenders remind me of you."

"How did you come upon that place anyway?" Sangfroid had been meaning to ask, and now he did while eating Prince Leron's cooking. The moment he took his first bite, he instantly shifted into a good mood. "Prince Leron, thank you so much for the meal. I feel like I am undeserving of such heavenly food from you."

"It's nothing, Your Majesty." Leron waved his hand, and he is more interested in what Vladstin had to say. "Where did you find lavenders, Vladstin? Is there a field somewhere here?"

Sangfroid narrowed his eyes and reminded. "Prince Leron, please call me Sangfroid like you always have. Like I said, we all go by our first name."

"You're still not dropping the 'prince' though. Old habits die hard, I guess. It will take time before we could talk to each other casually because of our titles, so I hope you would be more forgiving, Sangfroid." Leron sighed.

Vladstin chimed in. "Die hard? I want to die hard too! Who is this Old Habits?"

It may be that the saying was lost in translation on him since he came from a foreign kingdom. Or he was just too insane to understand it.

The two ignored this. Sangfroid's ears reddened and he cleared his throat. "I'm not enforcing this 'first-name basis' strictly, Prince Leron. And, of course..... I'll be forgiving in everything you do. So please, do not mind also if I call you Your Highness every now and then."

"Alright, I will let it off for now. Let's allow Vladstin to finish speaking first." Leron directed the attention to the overenthusiastic vampire.

"Oh, uh.... What was I saying again?" Vladstin picked his ear. "Old Habits?"

"The location of where you went just now. The small hill of flowers." Sangfroid's tone became a few degrees more colder. "How did you find it?"

"Ah, that. I don't know, I just found myself drawn to it." Vladstin shrugged, hugging his cape to himself like how bats would cover themselves with their wings. "There's like a voice..... It told me to come, and so I went."

The two humans immediately stopped eating after he told them this.

Leron's eyes widened and his hand shook. "What voice? Where did it come from?"

"Nowhere..... But kinda like everywhere at the same time?"

"What did the voice sound like?" Sangfroid interrogated, being a little skeptical since he is aware of Vladstin's unstable mind.

"It sounded like... Hmm....." Vladstin tried to remember. "Like, a thousand bees swarming to the sky and getting drowned into the waters, their choir picked up and put into a horn that was blown to signal a thousand troops as they storm in battle."

He nodded to himself. "Yep, that's definitely how it sounds like."

Sangfroid's alertness vanished and he relaxed. "It's probably nothing, Prince Leron. It may be internal voices that Vladstin was hearing, not external ones."

"Yes.... That may be it." Prince Leron rubbed his chin thoughtfully and slowly picked up his spoon.

He is still unsettled, but with Vladstin having lost his former sense, they wouldn't be able to know if this voice is real or not, and whether or not it is a threat.

After finishing their meal and having small, awkward talks from time to time of things that never get settled, they prepared their beds to rest for the night. Vladstin, the corpses, and the wolves do not need any sleep, so they are always on watch duty.

Sometimes, Sangfroid would check, or Leron would wake up and overthink for a long while, staring at his mad former lover. But most of the time, the two humans spent their nights sleeping and resting to prepare themselves for another grating and unsatisfying day.

Sangfroid rarely had dreams. That is because he rarely slept in his life, causing the never-ending migraine that he simply endures but never went away.

But tonight, he dreamed so vividly that he almost thought it was real.

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Prince Leron was by his side, sitting on a throne with a crown on his head. He smiled at Sangfroid with that angelic smile he had when they were children.

"Thank you, Sangfroid." Prince Leron took his hand and gently caressed it. "For always being there for me. For never letting me go after all this time. I truly appreciate your service."

"There is no need to thank me, Your Highness."

"Your Majesty." Leron corrected.

He reached into his collar and pulled out the Amulet dangling over his neck.

"It looks well on me, doesn't it?" Leron said.

Sangfroid was momentarily surprised, but somberly nodded. "It does. It is what's mean to be."

"Meant to be? Hmm.... I do wonder that." Leron frowned, and looked into the distance, as if deep in thought. "You are the only person I know who would give up such opportunity and power so carelessly."

"It is not careless. I....." Sangfroid bowed his head. "I just love you with all my heart and would give anything you ask of me, Your Majesty."

"Sangfroid, I know of your feelings for me. But even now, I cannot differentiate if it is romantic or merely severe loyalty and platonic admiration." Leron used his golden staff to lift Sangfroid's head up. "Would you mind to clear it up for me? Do you truly love me or do you merely worship me?"

"Worship?" Sangfroid was stunned.

"The highest sin in Draconian religion is to worship another god other than the Holy Dragon Lord. The way you regard me is closer to worship, is it not? You did put me on this pedestal and wanted nothing more out of me than just to make you my servant, my slave."

Leron stood in full glory with his robes of blue and purple, but his eyes have a glint of a greenish hue on them.

"To you, I am not a person of equal footing, and I will never be no matter how deep I fall. Is that correct? To you, I am no different from a deity. A savior. Someone far out of reach that you contentedly just admire and gaze upon from afar, like the heavenly bodies."

"Real, romantic love needs a little bit selfishness in it." This King Leron went to the side and picked up a wolf's skull. "That is why I continue to seek for Vladstin's affection despite knowing there's no chance or point to it. To love means to always desire for that person not to be taken from you."

He made the skull face Sangfroid. "Being so selfless and merely going with the person's whims does not constitute as this type of possessive love."

"And so my verdict, Sangfroid, Former Leader of the Noble Huntsmen and Short-Lived King of Ilvedia, and my most, most loyal servant..... Is that you do not love me the way you think you do. You simply adore me and worship an idealized version of me, perhaps one that you have created since our childhood ."

Sangfroid was stupefied by all this, not comprehending quite what he was saying since he cannot see his perfect prince that thinks before he spoke to say such harsh, condescending words.

"But, this verdict can be taken away if you pass my test." King Leron said with those vicious greenish-blue eyes.

"And.... If I do not pass the test?" Sangfroid asked, his throat becoming dry.

This isn't the Prince Leron he knew and loved. He knows he's in a dream, but this may be something more than a dream. Something more sinister at work. And it may trap him here if it wants to, it already had the power to manipulate things to this degree.

"If you do not pass..... Then you are trapped in this alternate reality with me as your king and you as my right-hand man. It's not so bad, isn't it? After all, this is your dream scenario, and as long as you are with me, you are already contented as can be, are you not?"

No. He's wrong. He doesn't want this fake Leron even if this is what he dreams to happen.

"If I pass the test, you would set me free then?"

King Leron merely laughed. "Hahaha! Dear Sangfroid... Freedom is subjective. Do you really think you're more free outside this dreamland than you are when staying here?"

He flashed his pearly white fanged teeth.. "This would be much more fun than I thought."