* * *
The Crown Prince’s entourage continued to traverse the vast Sharpleaf Forest.
As they went deeper, the path grew rougher, and all they could see around them were tall conifers.
They relied solely on a compass to navigate the deep and rugged forest paths.
When the sun set, Commander Abe, the Knight Captain, decided it would be dangerous to continue travelling on the difficult forest road and halted the carriages.
While passing through Viscount Spencer’s domain, the Viscount had maintained the roads, allowing them to travel even at night.
However, now that they were deep in the forest, moving in the dark without sunlight could easily lead to an accident.
According to the map, they still had two more days of travel before reaching an inn for travellers.
Until then, they would have no choice but to camp.
Knight Captain Abe briefly reported the situation to the Crown Prince, found a suitable clearing, and began setting up the tents they had brought for camping with the knights.
Three tents were quickly pitched in the forest clearing.
Joel naturally assumed he would be spending the night with Benjamin and stepped into the first tent.
However, contrary to Joel’s expectation, the person who entered the tent where he was resting was the Crown Prince.
“Wh-What is it? Why are you coming in here?”
As Joel jumped up in surprise, the Crown Prince looked puzzled and asked back,
“You and I are officially dating, so shouldn’t we naturally share a bed?”
The Crown Prince’s words were entirely unconvincing.
Firstly, Joel was not ‘officially’ dating him but rather dating him ‘secretly’, and secondly, openly sharing a bed was something only married couples did.
Thinking that Benjamin would be resting in the tent right next door, Joel, anxious about being discovered by him, pushed the Crown Prince’s shoulder, urging him to leave quickly.
“We are not officially dating, are we? We agreed to meet for a month, as a trial. What are you going to do if other people notice our relationship?”
“What does that matter?”
“It may not matter to Your Highness, the Crown Prince, but what about my honour? Please leave. If Your Highness doesn’t leave, I will go sleep in the carriage.”
Joel’s refusal was more stubborn than the Crown Prince had anticipated.
However, the Crown Prince was already prepared for Joel to react this way.
“Then let’s do this,” he whispered, then shouted loudly, “Then, Joel, I shall sleep in the carriage!” and stamped his foot a few times on the spot.
“What are you doi—?”
“Now everyone will think I’ve gone to sleep in the carriage, won’t they?”
Joel stared blankly at the Crown Prince, who was wearing a satisfied expression.
“There’s no way that will wo—”
Joel was naturally about to argue, thinking it was ridiculous, but he involuntarily shut his mouth when the Crown Prince flashed a languid smile.
It was a smile so beautiful it felt suffocating. Joel gazed at the Crown Prince with a lost expression.
He was very susceptible to the Crown Prince’s handsome face, and especially when the Crown Prince acted so sweetly, like melted sugar, he felt no will to resist.
For the past three years, Joel had only seen countless cold expressions from the Crown Prince, subtly laced with disregard.
How desperately he had wished to see his smiling face even just once.
The Crown Prince had consistently shown a favourable attitude towards Joel for the past few days, yet the sight of him smiling at Joel still felt incredibly unfamiliar.
The quick-witted Crown Prince did not miss the chance while Joel was distracted.
He muttered, “Perhaps it’s from the long carriage ride, but I feel unusually tired today,” and quickly unbuttoned three of the buttons on his shirt.
As his sensual chest was revealed between the shirt, Joel’s gaze, which had been fixed on the Crown Prince’s handsome face, was drawn downwards like a magnet.
“Wow…”
Staring intently at the muscular chest, Joel missed his chance to argue.
The Crown Prince swiftly approached Joel and naturally wrapped his arm around Joel’s waist.
His bright red lips were close in an instant.
A light, feathery touch landed on his lips, and Joel realized a moment later that he had been kissed.
As he tensed his body with nervousness, the hand stroking his back moved up and gently grasped his shoulder.
Soon, the large, reliable hand began to massage his tense shoulder.
Gently relaxing the tense muscles, the Crown Prince spoke in a low voice, “I promise I won’t do anything beyond a kiss. So, there is no need to be so nervous,” he coaxed.
Joel hesitated slightly, then relaxed his body.
At that, a hot tongue slipped past his lips and into his mouth.
Sharing a deep kiss with the Crown Prince, Joel was conflicted inside.
Mentally, he felt he should push the Crown Prince away.
The problem, however, was that he liked him too much to do so.
Joel had only looked at the Crown Prince for the past three years.
He had countless times sincerely prayed to God for this hopeless crush to miraculously come true.
If there were a demon, he would have sold his soul to possess the Crown Prince’s heart.
Being so blind and foolishly devoted, there was no way he could refuse the Crown Prince’s kiss now.
As Joel’s gaze wandered, lost in confusion, the Crown Prince reached out and gently closed Joel’s eyes.
With his vision blocked, his sense of touch became even more sensitive.
Joel could hear his own heart pounding like it would burst.
The sensation of their lips meeting was so dizzying that he felt like he would stop breathing.
Why was he so skilled?
He almost felt like crying.
When Joel regained his senses, he was already lying down in the Crown Prince’s embrace.
By then, his own arms were tightly wrapped around the Crown Prince’s waist, and his head was buried in the Crown Prince’s chest.
Joel was simply too happy.
He felt exceptionally good because of the Crown Prince’s captivating pheromones.
Even though the bed was uncomfortable, being nothing more than a few layers of thick leather fabric, being held in the Crown Prince’s arms made him feel as if he were lying on a soft cloud.
The initial thought of ‘should I be doing this?’ had long since turned into ‘I guess it’s okay’.
Intoxicated by the Crown Prince’s pheromones, it even seemed plausible that the Crown Prince’s idea—that everyone would think he had gone to the carriage—had some merit.
No, actually, he couldn’t think at all. He was just limitlessly happy.
Joel even started wishing that time would stop forever—even while on a journey to rescue his father who had been lured by a cult.
“Since Your Highness the Crown Prince slept in the carriage yesterday, I will sleep in the carriage today.”
And on the night of the second day of camping, Joel conspicuously spoke to the Crown Prince in front of the knights preparing to pitch the tents.
The problem was that his tone was excessively artificial, like an actor on stage for the first time.
However, Joel seemed quite satisfied with his extremely clumsy acting, and he retreated back into the carriage with awkward, clunky steps, like a broken puppet.
Joel was one thing, but the Crown Prince (who was somehow being silly today) was equally foolish.
Throughout the farce, he was merely grinning with a vacant expression.
He was delighted that Joel had been the first to suggest sleeping together.
However, since no one was unaware that Joel had shared a bed with the Crown Prince for the past two days, an atmosphere of bewilderment naturally formed among the remaining entourage.
Knight Captain Abe, representing those who were tilting their heads, asked the Crown Prince a question.
“…What exactly is going on right now?”
“Joel is quite shy, isn’t he? He said he wanted to start dating secretly for now. Everyone, I would appreciate it if you would pretend not to notice the relationship between Joel and me for the time being.”
The entourage’s reactions to the Crown Prince’s astounding reply were varied.
Knight Captain Abe seemed to be barely holding back from arguing, ‘Considering that, haven’t the two of you been a little too close?’
The members of the Fourth Knight Order exchanged looks that said, ‘Shy? That wildcat Joel?’
Robert and Felix wore expressions that suggested, ‘Seriously, this is too much.’
Only Benjamin simply nodded obediently, saying, “Yes, Your Highness.”
Meanwhile, Joel, who had boarded the carriage, was waiting, thoroughly tense, for the surroundings to quiet down.
This little play was an idea that Joel himself had come up with.
After spending the third night with the Crown Prince to his satisfaction, Joel completely erased the option of sleeping separately from the Crown Prince from his mind.
Now, his thoughts were entirely consumed by how he could share a bed with the Crown Prince again without Benjamin noticing.
[Your Highness, how about this? Since everyone thinks Your Highness slept in the carriage yesterday, I’ll pretend to sleep in the carriage today.]
[That’s a very good idea. Then I will come to fetch you when the surroundings quiet down, so you just rest in the carriage.]
Joel recalled the conversation he had with the Crown Prince in the carriage earlier in the day.
Since the Crown Prince had agreed, his plan didn’t seem bad, but he wasn’t sure if his carefully thought-out scheme had worked properly.
Benjamin was very sharp, so he just couldn’t feel at ease.
At this point, it should be noted that Joel firmly believed he had come up with a truly good idea.
* * *
