by Dr. D
“No. Wait!” Dezi didn’t expect his attitude would be this bad. “I didn’t kill her.”
Lisa’s expression changed at those words. She yelped as if Dezi had molested her, extricated her hand from Dezi’s, and backed away.
Dezi was soon buckled down by the servants. “Let me explain.”
“There is no needed to explain, my friend.” Bartolo gestured for his servants to drag Dezi away from the crowd and pushed him into a carriage once they were on a quiet street.
“Bartolo?!” Dezi jerked his head back.
Bartolo gazed down on Dezi for a moment and turned his head away. “I don’t have a cousin named Stacey.”
Dezi shut his eyes, and he collapsed down to the seats. He should have guessed. It was too easy for him to befriend an elite student.
It also explained why Acheron would show up that day.
Bartolo slammed the carriage door and barked. “Go.”
Dezi was brought back to the palace and sent deep into the center of the building.
The door at the coronation hall opened, and then closed behind him.
A flowing crown shone at the far end of all the vast space. It was above an extravagant throne in the royal purple. They all sat on a stage that had nine golden stairs.
Dezi’s eyes opened wide upon seeing it and couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by its powerful presence. He simply couldn’t look away.
The crack of the door pulled Dezi out of his tunnel vision. He saw the life-size paintings of the past king and queens of the kingdom that was surrounding him. They stood tall and majestic on the wall, staring down silently at him.
Tatiana entered through a door on the side and smiled sweetly at him.
“Your Highness …” Dezi felt coldness come down his back and dropped to the ground.
“I told you Dezi would be here.” Tatiana stepped away from the door, and Acheron entered the room. He headed straight toward Dezi and crouched down by his side.
Under so many painted eyes of the royal family, Dezi didn’t dare to move when Acheron nudged him to stand up.
The prince touched his burned neck, and Dezi hissed in pain.
Acheron’s fingers tightened on his arm and yanked him up harder.
Dezi stood up and looked timidly at the princess.
The princess waved Dezi to come closer. “Dezi. What did I ask you to remember when you first came to the palace?”
“The most important thing was … to know my place.” Dezi’s lips quivered with the recollection.
“You didn’t listen to me,” Tatiana said as she walked toward the coronation throne on top of the stairs. “But I don’t blame you for that.” She turned to smile at Dezi. “The moment we hear our magic rating, we were set into a place on the social ladder. It told us what we couldn’t do, what things we would never get.” Tatiana stepped on the first stair and then the next one without looking back at Dezi.
Dezi followed her steps with his eyes and ascended all the way to the throne.
“But that only made us wanting those unobtainable things more, don’t you agree?” The princess stopped at the top. “Who wouldn’t be tempted to break the rules?” Tatiana’s gaze was fixed on the crown. The heat of ambition burned behind the shadow of her lashes.
The crown was magnificent and beautiful. Its beauty and glory pulled on Dezi and drew him in. Acheron’s brows furrowed as Dezi stepped toward the princess.
“But, Dezi, there is always a price,” the princess closed her eyes and said as Dezi stepped on the first stair. “Sometimes it is just too much to pay.”
A magic shield suddenly lit up around the throne with an aggressive charge, as if it had angered by the presence of a low birth commoner.
Dezi’s hair stood on ends on his nape, and it was too late for him to run.
Acheron’s eyes widened, and he shoved Dezi behind him.
Light purple lighting broke out on the hemisphere above the throne, and the shield was instantly lifted.
Dezi fell down to the ground, pale-faced.
Acheron turned to Dezi, pulled him into his arms, and examined his body.
Dezi looked up and saw the flowing crown behind the prince. The crown shined even brighter, almost anticipating for the rightful heir to grab it. Its radiance happened to line up with the top of the prince's head from his angle.
Dezi turned to the princess and saw she smiled with great satisfaction.
It was a test.
And the ancestors had proved it. Acheron was of royal blood and possessed a magic talent above B rating, a legitimate heir to the throne.
The prince caressed Dezi’s pale face and glared at Tatiana. He supported Dezi to get up and decided it was time to leave.
Tatiana slowly sat down on the smaller throne next to the coronation throne and smiled sweetly when Dezi looked back at her.
The throne would be for the queen when there was a king.
Dezi’s mouth fell open and he almost tripped as Acheron tried to bring him to the door.
“We will give you a second chance.” She said with a tone as if they were having a fun chatter over tea and biscuits. “And I advise you to cherish it …”
Tatiana’s lips curved up and she delivered her next words in an almost a whisper. But Dezi saw what she said clearly, and it echoed in his head like a spell.
“For your life.”
Chapter 32
Dezi crumpled in on the bed with his hands tugged behind his elbows.
Acheron hugged him from behind and carefully traced the fresh bandage on Dezi’s neck. He eyed the collar and held it with his hand so the burn underneath didn’t rub against the metal band.
“You could just take it off.” Dezi’s cringed at the prince’s effort.
The collar was slowly put down after a few moments of silence.
Acheron sneaked his hands under Dezi’s crossed arms and brought him closer to his chest. Dezi’s muscles tensed up, but the warmth of Acheron’s body slowly melted away the tension. Dezi closed his eyes, but his thoughts wouldn’t settle down.
He thought that he would be most upset about how he ended up missing the chef exam after all the effort he had put in. But the only thing that kept replaying in his head was the princess’s words and the ways she looked down at him in that chair.
“Know my place ...” Dezi took in a breath and murmured. “What is my place?”
Being a whore?
That’s what it was, wasn’t it?
Dezi forced out a self-demeaning smile. There was a bitterness balling up in his throat and spreading out on his tongue.
Nothing had changed.
Nothing ever changed, no matter how hard he had tried.
He should just accept what he was cut out to do.
Dezi brought his limbs closer to himself. He felt as if there was a drain in his chest that was sucking away all the air in his lung. Despite his effort to breathe, his breathing only became more shallow and rapid, and his body felt heavy and weak with the lack of oxygen.
Acheron’s warm palm lifted his chin and turned his head around to face him.
Dezi glanced up at the prince and dropped his gaze.
The opportunity with Bartolo was fake. Everything he got from Acheron must come from the princess as well. No wonder she knew about the ice stone. She had been watching him the whole time and laughing at his stupidity.
The princess was the one that had been holding Acheron’s leash; he was just a toy that was thrown to reward the loyal dog.
How foolish of him to think that he was in control.
Dezi furrowed his brows and desperately sucked in more air, but the tips of his fingers and his chest were still turning numb. Acheron noticed his distress and caressed his head. But the gentle touch only made the pull inside of him tighten.
“You could have just told me...” Dezi swallowed the rest of his words and bit his lips. He didn’t want to sound like he was begging for sympathy.
It wouldn’t matter anyway.
; The prince was not on his side.
No one was on his side.
Dezi shut his eyes and swallowed hard to force the lump down in his throat.
Acheron studied Dezi’s face with confusion and tentatively reached in to kiss him. Dezi’s lashes quivered, but eventually, he gave in and parted his lips.
Acheron paused for a moment out of surprise. He hadn’t been able to get any permission from Dezi since he put the collar on him. But Acheron soon deepened the kiss and grabbed onto the back of Dezi’s head to bring him closer.
Dezi’s heart started to beat louder and numbness spread on his chest. He tolerated the dizziness until he had to push the prince away to breathe.
But Acheron’s long-suppressed yearning was far from sated, he continued to kiss Dezi’s cheek and chin enthusiastically, and his hard-on throbbed at the base of Dezi’s legs.
Dezi bit the tip of his tongue and stripped his pants. The princess had told him to cherish his chance, after all.
The prince fell into silence behind him, but a warm hand eventually reached behind his butt cheeks. Dezi shut his eyes and buried his face in the sheet.
“Dezi?” The prince’s voice was uncertain, but Dezi kept silent until he suddenly gasped for air as the prince’s long fingers slid into him. Dezi pressed his palms on Acheron, but didn’t push him away.
Acheron swallowed and massaged the walnut-sized bump he felt on his fingertips.
Dezi quivered. He knew his prostate was larger and easy to find. It was also pathetically sensitive.
The pain had long left him since he was old enough to leave that whorehouse, but the shameful pleasure that his young body had been trained to experience had seeped into his bones and haunted him until today.
Blood rushed in his member, and redness quickly stained his cheeks. At the same time, the numbness in chest crawled onto his skin and spread the pricking pain through his body.
Soon Dezi could no longer sense his arms and legs, only the pricking pain under his skin and the trembling longing that had crawled out from his memories and was drilling down his spine. Dezi opened his mouth wide, but could no longer take in any air. The numbness had crept up his face and sealed up his throat.
“Dezi?” The prince pulled him closer and caressed him.
“Come in …” Dezi blurred out the withering words like a drowning person finally breaking out of the water to deliver the last plea for his life.
Once Dezi lost hold of it, the desire for relief become all he could think of. “Fuck me!” he heard himself saying.
He saw Acheron’s black eyes gaze carefully at him. He knew the prince had never seen him like this.
Dezi signed impatiently and pulled Acheron down for a kiss. Acheron was startled for a moment, but soon gripped Dezi tight and sucked on his tongue. Dezi spread his legs wide open and held on to Acheron’s erection. The shaft in his hand was almost scorching his palm.
Dezi eagerly raised his hips and let Acheron thrust into his body.
“Ah!” Dezi eyes widened and he moaned out loud as he was penetrated. It sent a vibration through his whole body, slicing open the numbness and letting air rush back into his lungs.
“More,” Dezi heard himself say.
Acheron’s eyes darkened; the rod in Dezi’s body throbbed within the churning walls, backing up an inch and boring into him again, aiming deeper and deeper.
Dezi clung onto the lean muscles on Acheron’s back and backed his hips shamelessly toward Acheron’s thrusts. Even the slight pain pushed him closer to spewing out his seed. “Don’t stop ...” Dezi threw his head back and whimpered. “I want to cum.”
Acheron’s fingers bit into his thighs as he penetrated him deeper.
Dezi let his mind go blank and chased after the familiar pleasure. The only raft that the little boy knew that could let him breathe a little while drowning in the dark sea of shame and self-loathing.
Soon, the sweet relief took over his senses, and the blissful oblivious finally rushed back into his blood.
Chapter 33
The garden had bone crafts lined up on the short grass, and the princess glanced at the Lavabreaker. Dezi stood silent and still in front of it with his eyes fixed at the gate. Outside was the road that would lead him to the city and away from the palace. He looked like a bird that was eager to fly away, but Acheron was holding him tight by the hand.
“I won’t be accompanying you on this trip, your highness.” Mathew took care of the luggage and was ready to take his leave.
“But I am?” Dezi’s brows knitted up together.
Mathew glanced at Dezi as if he had asked a dumb question. “Yes.”
Dezi pursed his lips and glanced down.
Tatiana chuckled inwardly and turned her attention back to the conversation she was having. “So not just the dragons, it sounds like all the large beasts are coming out of the mountains.”
“Yes. We just got the news this morning, but the letter was written three days ago,” Lord Marcel said with concern.
“Please don’t worry,” the princess said. “We are here to help, of course.” She stopped a cart that passed by her and gave an order. “Let’s gather some of the elemental stones in one bone craft and send them to Ushuocia more quickly.”
“I appreciate it, your highness.”
“You are most welcome, Lord Marcel.” Tatiana took another look at the Lavabreaker before she boarded her bone craft, but what she saw had her stopped in her tracks. She didn’t know who was assigned to ride with Acheron, but she was certain it shouldn’t have been Ronan.
“Lord Ronan.” The princess arrived in front of the Lavabreaker before it took off.
“Your highness …” Ronan turned to her.
“I wish to ride with prince Acheron,” she said and entered the bone craft.
Ronan looked like he wanted to say something. But the princess smiled and said, “I hope it is not troublesome to you.”
Ronan forced out a laugh. “Of course not.”
He gave her a quick bow and left.
Tatiana let out a small sigh, but she turned around and smiled at Acheron and Dezi. “Good day to you.”
Dezi winced and dropped his gaze. He was going to kneel down to greet her, but Acheron pulled him back before he could get to the floor.
“You are spoiling him, my dear cousin.” The princess chuckled. Tatiana saw Dezi clenching his fingers and didn’t pursue the issue. She sat down in the front of the bone craft and placed her hand on the fire stone. “I haven’t done this in a while.”
The princess paused and took out an empty earth stone.
“How are you feeling?” She stepped forward and handed the earth stone to the prince.
Acheron took it almost reflectively; his bandaged fingers held onto the smooth stone and gave it a dim luminous glow.
“I thought so.” Tatiana murmured to herself.
Dezi stared down at it curiously and looked up at Acheron.
The prince met Dezi’s eyes, softened his features, and placed the stone on Dezi’s hand.
Dezi was almost afraid to touch it. He then gave a quick glance at the princess and handed it back to her with his eyes on the ground. “Your highness…”
The casual smiled on Tatiana’s face went rigid as she took the stone.
“Remarkable.” She rubbed the surface of the stone and felt the energy within. Forcing energy back into an elemental stone was a hundred times more difficult than extracting it. She could spend weeks trying to restore energy back into an empty water stone, wasting ten times more energy than she could put in. But this one had been filled to the top with electrical buzz with only seconds in Acheron’s hands.
Tatiana had suspected that her mother had been borrowing Acheron’s power in this manner, but at this point, she knew that Acheron used it more as a way to lessen the pressure that was constantly tormenting his bones.
Who knew. Even something as desired as magical power, while at its extreme, could turn into a curse.
Tati
ana shook her head and went back to driving. The Lavabreaker shifted and slowly took off.
Tatiana ended up being the only one that had been controlling the Lavabreaker, while most of other teams had at least two people rotating. Dezi wasn’t capable of controlling a flying bone craft, and Acheron never learned it.
At some point, Tatiana looked back at the seats and saw Dezi leaning into Acheron’s chest with his eyes closed. Acheron took him securely in his arm and gently stroked his head. The tension between Dezi’s eyes brows slowly dissipated with the caress.
Wind blew around them and the air was peaceful.
Tatiana looked at the sight with her mouth slightly ajar. It was the first time that she had seen that kind of expression on Acheron’s face. But the smile she saw on the prince disappeared like a snowflake as soon as she laid her eyes on it.
“Well, that was a first ...” Tatiana murmured.
Acheron glanced at her coldly and held Dezi closer to his chest.
Dezi frowned, opened his bleary eyes, and blinked blankly at the princess.
“Didn’t sleep well last night?” Tatiana asked.
“Huh?” Dezi’s head took a second to register.
The princess glanced back at him again with a smile.
“Um ... No … I …” Dezi sat up and his face burned. “No …”
Tatiana chuckled and changed the subject. “We have arrived at a resting place.”
The Lavabreaker lowered itself towards the ground.
Chapter 34
Dezi kept his head low and worried that his blonde hair had stood out too much in this crowd. He could only hope that no one would pay attention to him.
Acheron stood beside him, studied his profile, and grabbed his hand. Dezi frowned deeply and glowered at the prince. Acheron’s eyes were calm and emotionless as always, but behind the prince, Dezi also saw so many people surrounding them, all looking at the princess.
He quickly dropped his gaze.
The duke of this location took great honor in hosting the royal family and welcomed everyone with enthusiasm. A dinner was held in his spacious dining hall. The princess showed no signs of weariness from her day of flying and greeted her host with radiating grace.