"Lord Kaiden, you are back…? Who is that…?"
The saintess's face immediately broke out into a blush as soon as she saw the hero, but then her eyes moved over the person he was dragging behind, and they became hostile.
Shuu knew that he needed to keep his head down if he wanted to hide his identity. But was there any way of doing that when he was being dragged behind the hard-headed hero who refused to hear him out.
"Oh, you mean Lady Shuu? Please do not mind her. She has agreed to become my problem, so I will keep her with me at all times now."
The smile on the saintess's face was even more strained now. Her eyes stabbed me with anger and regret, but she showed none of it when she smiled at the hero in front of her.
"I am sure that there is a story behind all this, Lord Kaiden. But I am afraid we need to take Lady Shuu into custody for now. There has been an accident where she stayed, and we need to question her about it."
The saintess replied in the same calm manner as before.
Everyone knew that Shuu's cover about being male had been broken, but they all pretended they had not noticed.
The air turned awkward, and Shuu wanted to run away. But the crown prince's hold on him kept him in place.
The saintess coughed to break the awkwardness before she reached toward Shuu. He was ready to be taken by the saintess as well before he was pulled back against a hard chest.
It caused the saintess and others to frown.
"Hero Kaiden, if you would allow us to take custody of Lady Shuu…"
"No way. I told you already, right? She has become my burden. So anything she is responsible for, I am responsible for as well. Wait—! Does that mean I am a suspect as well? Do you want to lock us up together?"
The crown prince asked, and the saintess fell quiet.
No one knew what to do about this situation anymore. Especially since it was taboo for the temple to raise a hand against the chosen hero.
"Lord Kaiden, the protocol says—"
"It's quite late right now. I will meet you tomorrow with my problem. Lady Shuu, we should get going now. There are a few things I want to run by you before we leave for our journey."
Before the saintess could say anything more, the crown prince quickly walked away with Shuu in his arms. Shuu instantly felt glares stabbing him in the back of his head as he continued to be led out of the situation.
Shuu let out a sigh of relief as the eyes trying to tear him apart finally faded, and he reached a safe space once more.
…and then he noticed that he was still being led around by the crown prince…who had no intentions of letting him go anytime soon.
cough
Shuu tried to cough to gain the crown prince's attention, but it only backfired as the crown prince immediately patted him on his back.
"What happened? Does something hurt? Do you need to drink water? We better hurry back to my room—"
"N-No, that is not the reason I am coughing. I just…I think you can let go of me now. We are safe…I think.."
The real danger was the atmosphere around us at the moment. The hero's attention felt a little stiffening for me to truly feel comfortable.
"Oh, I see. So you want me to let you go? Hmm…what to do now? I truly do not want to let you go since holding you feels so good…"
The crown prince sounded both composed and sincere even as he joked. Shuu wanted to snap at him, but somehow, the timing did not feel right.
Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the crown prince's room, and he was led inside. The door snapped shut behind them, almost like an ominous omen.
"Lord, I—"
"First, sit down, 'Lady Shuu'. I think there are some things we need to get out in the clear before we talk any further."
That made Shuu go quiet. The authority the crown prince used made Shuu immediately obey him.
The hero let out a pleased hum as he saw Shuu following his orders, but Shuu could not help but feel like he had fallen into a trap of some sort.
"Now, shall we have a talk? Do you know that lying to the imperial family…and especially to the hero is considered a crime punishable by death?"
Shuu…knew that. But he still pretended he had no idea.
"I-Is that so? But the Saintess…"
"She will find a way out of this mess. After all, she's far too cunning for her own good. As for you…I don't think we can say the same for you."
'Oh no…this is a threat, right? What do I do?'
Shuu's mind spiraled as he considered what he should do about this situation. Was knocking out the crown prince and making a run for it the right thing to do? No, that was too reckless.
But what if…
"Whatever you are planning, just forget about it. I can tell you that it's not going to be successful. Instead, how about you focus on me? I have…a proposal for you."
Those words made Shuu's brain come to a halt.
Somehow, he had a bad feeling about this. He wanted to back off, but there was nowhere for him to go.
"A-A proposal? Won't it be better to make it to the saintess…or someone more suited?"
Shuu asked, but the crown prince only shook his head.
"Hmm, that won't work. I need you specifically, or it won't work. I knew from the second that I touched you that you will be the only one I will be able to ask for help because you do not have the goddess's gift."
Those words sounded ominous, and Shuu immediately felt alerted.
However, the crown prince either did not notice, or did not care to take notice of his feelings before he continued.
"Those with strong powers are also gifted with…strong desires. But our powers can often clash with others' powers, making it hard to find a partner. And that's why, you are perfect. Won't you become my partner?"
Shuu's brain felt like it was short-circuiting.
He blinked at the crown prince slowly before he opened his mouth and closed it. This happened a few times before he finally found the courage to speak up.
"I…you do realize that I am not a female, right? Won't that cause an issue with succession? Also, won't your highness prefer a female companion…?"
Shuu suddenly had a feeling he should not have spoken. The crown prince's eyes were shining in a way that made him nervous.
"It's fine. I don't have a specific preference. As for you not being female…the imperial family's magic is special, so that won't be a problem when it's time to have children. As for our compatibility…should we just try right now? You won't have any problems if we check it now, right?"
Shuu felt…overwhelmed. He had a lot he wanted to say, but none of it escaped his mouth.
He could only open and close his mouth in shock before he saw the crown prince's face move close to his own.
"Make sure to push me back if it's too much."
And then, soft lips pressed against his own, causing Shuu to let out a small noise.
__________
Next chapter is smut. I am rusty with BL smut so be patient with me...but smut is smut...so....Please leave review and PS for fast updates.