“When we return to the Imperial Palace, I’ll make sure you eat nothing but white bread every single day, just like I promised. And I’ll give you a generous raise. I’m going to leave my personal care to you even at the Palace, so you and Rob will need to start receiving etiquette lessons from now on… Becky? What’s wrong?”
Joel, who had been wiping Becky’s cheek, belatedly realized that she was frozen stiff, like a herbivore standing before a predator.
He tilted his head and asked again, but Becky couldn’t find her voice.
Joel followed her gaze and looked behind him.
There, he met the Crown Prince’s smoldering green eyes.
“Oh? Your Highness. Weren’t you sleeping?”
Instead of answering, the Crown Prince pulled Joel’s hand away from Becky’s cheek.
He then laced his fingers firmly through Joel’s and issued a cold command to Becky.
“Bring a handkerchief.”
“Yes! I-I’ll bring one immediately!”
Becky had no choice but to scramble to her feet.
Her companion was no ordinary noble, but the Crown Prince—a person of such high status that a commoner like her wouldn’t normally see his face from a distance in a lifetime.
As she hurried out to fulfill the order, Joel called out casually toward her back, “Be careful! Don’t trip!”
Becky simply couldn’t understand Joel.
She was so terrified that her legs were shaking just from making eye contact with the Prince, so how could Joel treat him so nonchalantly?
Was it because they were a married couple?
By the time Becky returned with the handkerchief, Joel and the Crown Prince were bickering quite undignifiedly, their foreheads pressed together on the bed.
“Was it really necessary to call her in for such an unimportant conversation right now? When we’ve just reunited after so long and are trying to have some private time?”
“Unimportant? Becky is like a younger sister to me. Your Highness, why are you even awake instead of sleeping?”
“You expect me to sleep soundly while you’re making eye contact with another person? Is that even a reasonable thing to ask?”
Becky barely managed to suppress her bewildered expression.
Watching them like this, the noble Imperial couple seemed no different from any other pair of newlyweds.
The Crown Prince reached out his hand toward the dazed Becky as if demanding the handkerchief.
“Ah, here it is.”
Taking the handkerchief from Becky, the Crown Prince began to meticulously wipe Joel’s hand.
Specifically, the very hand that had wiped the tears from her cheek seconds ago.
It was as if he couldn’t bear the thought of any other person’s trace remaining on Joel’s body.
After thoroughly cleaning Joel’s hand, the Prince tossed the handkerchief aside and pulled Joel into an embrace.
As if showing off to the standing Becky, he began to plant kisses all over Joel’s neck.
“Your Highne—ss, Becky is watching…”
“So what if she is? We are a married couple. Showing a harmonious image in front of the people is part of our duty.”
Joel let out a hollow, incredulous laugh at the Prince’s haughty retort.
Guarding against a mere seventeen-year-old girl like a romantic rival was beyond absurd.
“I shall take my leave now.”
Fortunately, Becky, who had been witnessing the Prince’s display, bowed quickly and retreated with sharp intuition.
Between trying to fix his disheveled clothes and dealing with the clingy Crown Prince, Joel was barely able to wave a hand at her.
“Right, okay! Let’s talk more later!”
The moment the bedroom door closed, the Crown Prince reached under Joel’s shirt.
He seemed to intend to tease Joel’s nipples, but unable to withstand the wave of exhaustion, he ended up falling fast asleep with his face buried in Joel’s chest.
He didn’t wake up for two whole days.
Two days later, the Crown Prince finally woke up with a refreshed face and wanted to return to the capital immediately.
Since Joel was no longer alone, the wedding had to be hurried.
Having been sufficiently exposed to Joel’s pheromones for two days, the Prince had mostly recovered his strength, and Joel, who had no particular lingering feelings for the South, agreed.
Once preparations for the departure were complete, Joel descended from the bedroom with the Prince’s support.
“Careful, careful.”
The Prince supported Joel by his side as he walked with a nonchalant face.
Calling it “support” was generous; in reality, he was practically hindering Joel’s movement.
The Prince fussed over him with every single step, acting as if Joel’s feet were made of fragile porcelain.
By the time they had descended about three steps, Joel finally lost his patience and hissed irritably in a low voice.
“Your Highness, at this rate, will we even reach the carriage by today?”
It wasn’t an exaggeration—they were moving at a pace of one step per minute.
The nobles from neighboring territories who had lined up from the bedroom entrance to see off the Crown Prince and his companion (though not yet officially married) didn’t dare show boredom in front of the Prince and were simply waiting for them to pass.
“Hmm… But your legs are so thin that I simply can’t put my mind at ease. Instead of this, how about I just carry you…?”
The Crown Prince whispered intimately. Before he could even finish, Joel rejected him firmly.
“No.”
Being carried by the Prince in front of so many people was a humiliation he had endured once when leaving Lord Bennett’s estate, and that was enough.
Besides, this time he didn’t even have a cloak to hide his face.
Thirty minutes later, the mansion doors finally opened.
The subjects who had been waiting to send off Joel and the Prince cheered and waved their hands in unison.
Thanks to the couple, they had been liberated from Baron Aster’s exploitation, and they felt deep gratitude—especially toward Joel.
These were the same people who, two days ago, had thrown stones and curses at Baron Aster as he was chased out like a beggar.
Now, they threw flowers at Joel, blessing his future.
Unlike when he left Lord Bennett’s estate, Joel was able to maintain quite a dignified presence before the people this time.
He climbed into the carriage bearing the Imperial crest with a natural and elegant gait.
As the carriage passed through the endless line of cheering people, he waved to them for a long time.
The moment the line of people ended, the Crown Prince reached out and pulled the curtains shut.
As the thick red drapes were drawn, the interior of the carriage was instantly plunged into darkness.
The Prince, his reason snapping, came between Joel’s legs, breathing heavily like a beast.
Joel tried to restrain him, but there was no stopping a man who had made up his mind.
“Your Highness! W-why so suddenly, ah…!”
In the blink of an eye, his shirt was pulled off, and when he opened his eyes again, Joel found himself lying on the carriage seat.
The seat, covered in plush cushions, was perfectly comfortable to lie on, but that didn’t mean he could be intimate with the Crown Prince in broad daylight—and in a carriage, no less.
Joel struggled to push away the Prince, who was latched onto his chest, sucking his nipples.
“Ah, Your Highness…!”
“I’ve been starving for so long.”
The Crown Prince complained resentfully while Joel held onto his hair.
Seeing the Prince’s eyes looking as sorrowful as a child abandoned by its parents, Joel’s strength wavered.
The Prince didn’t miss the opening and lowered his head.
His fine hair slipped through Joel’s fingers, and Joel gasped as he felt those leech-like lips latch back onto his chest.
“Perhaps because you’re pregnant, they seem a bit larger.”
The Prince whispered in an excited voice, planting kisses on the nipples that had become prominent from the suction.
Joel’s face burned with shame, and he covered his face with both hands.
He felt like he might die of embarrassment, but when the Prince moved to pull his pants down, he had no choice but to take his hands off his face.
Joel spoke urgently while gripping the waistband of his pants.
“Your High—ness! I have a baby in my stomach!”
“Naturally, I know that too.”
The Crown Prince spoke in a dignified, soothing tone.
But contrary to his calm manner, his green eyes were flashing with an eerie light, and Joel couldn’t be certain if the Prince truly understood there was a baby inside him.
After a brief scuffle with Joel as he tried to protect his pants, the Prince spoke with an air of great generosity.
“Truly, do you think I would ever do anything to harm my own child? I’m only going to use my fingers, so there’s no need to worry so much.”
“Your Highness, please…!”
‘Please maintain your dignity!’
Joel tried to say, but he barely swallowed a scream as his pants and underwear were pulled down all at once.
“Eek!”
In an instant, his member was enveloped in hot flesh.
The Crown Prince had taken Joel into his mouth in one go.
At the intense stimulation, Joel covered his own mouth.
Rob and Becky were just outside; he was terrified that a sound might leak out.
