CH 45

Clack-

The sound of the teacup being put down was surprisingly loud, making Yi-Gyeol’s fingertips flinch. In fact, it wasn’t really that loud, but it sounded especially so, probably because of the eerie silence.

Yi-Gyeol cautiously looked up at the eyes that had been lowered towards the teacup. Just as he thought, they were eyes full of interest directed at him.

‘I think his eyes look a bit like Seth’s….’

Piercing eyes full of unknown interest. 

It feels a little different now, but it was the look he always felt whenever he met Sethian in the soul state before. He heard that their mothers are different, so do they both resemble their father?

After looking into each other’s eyes for a moment, Zair, who had been sitting still pretending not to notice that the tea on the other side of the table cooled down without even being touched, opened his mouth.

“You can relax. I really just wanted to talk.”

Zair slightly curved the corners of his eyes and held out his index finger towards Yi-Gyeol. With that single movement alone, a sense of intimidation filled with vigilance emanated from Lenox, who was on stand-by behind Yi-Gyeol.

It was only Yi-Gyeol who knew what Zair’s actions were for.

Zair smiled lightly as he saw Yi-Gyeol’s eyes not falling from the tip of his index finger. At the tip of his index finger, a white butterfly that was wandering around gently settled down and waved its wings, but Lenox, who was standing behind Yi-Gyeol, was not aware at all.

“What exactly does this look like to your eyes?”

“A butterfly….”

Yi-Gyeol, who was distracted by the white butterfly and answered unknowingly, closed his mouth in surprise. He thoughtlessly answered Zair’s question, who was on the lookout.

“As expected, you can see it too.”

Zair faintly muttered and lowered his index finger. The white butterfly, which seemed to soar into the sky, circled in the air and landed on Zair’s shoulder, fluttering its wings peacefully as if it had settled on a flower. Yi-Gyeol couldn’t take his eyes off of the two’s countenance.

“It’s rare to meet someone who can also see soul butterflies.”

−That’s right. Not anyone can hear my voice.

Yi-Gyeol’s shoulders shuddered. The words of the woman who agreed with Zair reverberated gently inside his head. Instinctively knowing that the owner of that voice was the white butterfly, he felt even more amazed.

“You seem to be able to hear its voice as well, since when did you have that ability?”

“I found out for the first time today.”

Yi-Gyeol gently answered, looked away from the white butterfly, and met Zair’s gaze. He smiled a little, alleviating his vigilance that was vaguely exposed on the outside as much as possible.

They had met once before, but he was in the soul state then, so he thought that Zair wouldn’t find out. He saw himself as a golden butterfly at that time, so it might seem strange for him to be overly nervous and wary since it would be the first time they met in his perspective.

‘Let’s talk a little and go back.’

Even if Zair doesn’t seem like such a bad person at the moment, he is someone who definitely hates Sethian and threatens him. There’s a big chance that he’s scheming something, so nothing good will come out of talking with him for a long time.

‘Though I’m curious…about the butterfly.’

Time and time again, his gaze falls to the white butterfly. He’s extremely curious as to why the butterfly follows Zair. The white butterfly he knew did not pay any attention to other souls or people at all, nor did it willingly talk to him. He wondered if that butterfly was just strange or if Zair just had an affinity.

However, Yi-Gyeol did not want the conversation with Zair to be prolonged even with his escalating curiosity. Even though they are only sitting opposite each other at a tea table in the garden as they are now for no reason, talking for a long time can make Sethian unintentionally uncomfortable.

Thinking that way, all the interest and fancy he was supposed to have towards the white butterfly disappeared, and his heart, which had been surrounded by tension and palpitations, calmed down in an instant. The white butterfly’s voice, which was still speaking to him, seemed to have drifted away making him not hear it, and the clearly visible white butterfly that fluttered in front of him turned into a non-existent being.

For Yi-Gyeol, the more curiosity and interest he had, the more at a loss he was feeling. He has felt it so deeply to the point of repulsion for the last five years. Every time he recognized the feeling of wanting to have something and wanting to know, it would only get harder because it was something he couldn’t get as a sick person. Whether the subject was a person or an object, the resulting answer was always the same.

Perhaps because of that, once he thought that he would be interested in something, he would hit the wall in advance and divert his attention early on. He had forgotten about it ever since he had been with Sethian, but he had to be alert from the moment he left his bedroom.

‘If you find something that catches your interest, don’t reveal it to anyone other than me. There’ll be people who will take advantage of it.’

Yi-Gyeol couldn’t help but agree after recounting Sethian’s words.

The other person is one of Sethian’s siblings who sees him as a thorn in his eyes and is trying to kill him. Who knows what he’ll do after sweet-talking him who’s staying within Sethian’s castle.

Thinking that such a person was in front of him, his heart, which had been pounding because of the white butterfly, calmed down and his head turned cold as if freezing water had been poured on it.

Yi-Gyeol’s expression that seemed of an innocent child gradually focused unswervingly. His eyes fixed on Zair, not on the butterfly. His appearance of creating a wall from the elements that stimulates his curiosity and interest by himself made Zair even more intrigued.

Zair was a person who had a lot in common with Sethian whom he hated so much. Just as Sethian gets madly obsessed with what catches his interest and tenaciously digs in until the feeling disappears, so is Zair. Until the interest in the thing he’s interested in disappears, he doesn’t build a wall or turn away to block it from himself. He would struggle until he got it in his hands somehow.

To such a Zair, Yi-Gyeol was a pretty novel human being.

Fascination, which soon turned into an excessive desire for possession.

However, Yi-Gyeol, who showed pure interest in the beginning, suppressed his heart in an instant and changed his air as if he never had such a mind in the first place. It was also quite surprising that such a young man did so, not an old and seasoned aristocrat who had years dabbling in politics.

Moreover, according to wizard Eda, he is presumed to be Sethian’s ‘sex slave’ and as if to prove it, there were red marks everywhere on that thin, pure white neck.

Eda said that Sethian, who doesn’t give much care about his own lifespan, seemed to be keeping him around for a while out of simple interest, but Zair thought it was unlikely for Sethian to have that much sentiment for some reason.

‘Does he really like him so much?’

It was especially noticeable because of his pale-white skin.

Although he had a clear memory of the day Eda met Yi-Gyeol through the soul-possessed crow, he was still suspicious.

Not only was it not enough that Sethian, and not anyone else, extorted the Crown Prince position just to create him a body, but he is also showing considerable affection for him. Even if they say that he is a sex slave who is good in bed unlike his innocent appearance, he doesn’t think that would make Sethian so obsessed. In particular, he has never seen such an act of engraving one’s own marks on something from him.

What part of this man stimulates and makes Sethian obsessed with him?

Heat was added to the interest that repeatedly circulated inside Zair.

“What’s your name?”

“It’s Joo Yi-Gyeol.”

“Joo Yi-Gyeol….”

Zair recited the already known name with his mouth and gave off a gentle smile that no one had ever seen before.

“That’s such a unique name. It’s quite memorable.”

Then suddenly, he put a bitter expression on his face.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a person who can see souls like me, so I’m glad to have a conversation with you. I hope you don’t feel uncomfortable. They are the only ones I’ve been able to open up my heart to so far.”

There was a small tremor in Yi-Gyeol’s calm eyes. Not missing it, Zair lowered his eyes and pretended to have an even more lonely voice.

“That’s why I’m a little persistent. Coming over the garden was really nothing and I had no intention of asking for anything, I just got a little excited to meet someone who sees the same thing as me. I’m sorry.”

As he predicted, Yi-Gyeol showed a slightly bewildered look when he offered an apology. He doesn’t know what he might have thought of himself, but he probably wouldn’t have imagined that he would sincerely apologize to others as a prince. His words must have been quite surprising to the extent that Lenox standing behind him was barely keeping his contorted face.

“You don’t have to be sorry. It’s true that I’m the one who did something wrong.”

Seeing Yi-Gyeol lower his head with an apologetic expression, the corners of Zair’s lips rose softly. Lenox’s face was about to be distorted even more strangely, but his whole nerves were only directed at Yi-Gyeol.

“Thank you for saying that. However….”

Zair slowly rose from his chair and drew his face closer to Yi-Gyeol. The exotic appearance and clear black eyes seen from a short distance caught Zair’s attention.

“Isn’t that bastard Sethian treating you too harshly?”

Zair’s hand headed to Yi-Gyeol’s neck. If you look closely, you will see that there are more than ten red marks that were explicitly placed.

“If it were me, I would treat you more gently than him.”

Despite the gentle whisper, Yi-Gyeol’s pure eyes only contained curiosity and did not show any particular reaction.

However, instead of Lenox, who immediately took a step closer in response to those words, someone else abruptly appeared.

“…!”

Someone grabbed Zair’s hand, which was stretched out towards Yi-Gyeol’s neck, and painfully smashed it down on the tea table. That person suddenly blocked Yi-Gyeol’s view with his hand and buried his face in his arms, and as soon as he released Zair’s hand, he picked up the golden teaspoon lying on the side of the teacup and slammed it at the back of his hand before he could even pull it out.

Tuck-

A dull sound and Zair’s swallowed groan resonated at the same time.