CHAPTER 39: CLAWS, JEALOUSY AND DECEIT, PART III

When they returned to the palace, Shion kissed Haru in front of the royal chamber and held him tightly.

"You know I want to spend as much time with you as I can, but... I have to finish my work. I’m going to issue orders to the envoys."

"O-okay," Haru nodded and returned the kiss.

Haru entered the chamber with Gari, while Shion headed for his office.

When Shion walked in, Hayate was stretching and yawning.

"Oh, Your Majesty, you’re back! That took you a while, haha," he said with a smile.

"How did it go with the papers?" Shion asked flatly, sitting down behind the desk.

"I took care of almost all pending documents. The remaining correspondence and reports are just from the last few days."

"Oh, that’s... impressive," Shion admitted hesitantly and skimmed through the papers Hayate had finished.

They were flawless, both in form and content.

"With someone like this by my side, I might actually get to spend more time with my family," Shion said, smiling to himself.

"That’s right," Hayate said with a broad smile, pretending to share his happiness.

"As a reward for your work, I’ll give you a generous payment. And maybe there’s something else you’d like?"

"I–if it’s about the payment, t-then..." Hayate stammered pretending to be shy, blushing on command as he got up from his chair.

"Yes?" Shion asked, surprised.

His cursed eyes met Hayate’s gaze. Unfortunately, it was a mistake – even the purple veil could not protect him from the dragon’s eyes.

Hayate’s look returned to its previous form with golden eyes and burgundy hair. His pupils glowed with a hypnotic light.

"Kiss me," he said in a commanding tone.

Forgive me, Your Majesty, but some... powers forced me to use these primitive methods.

I would’ve done it differently, taken it slow, if it wasn’t for that sneaky...

...don’t get carried away. You need to be in a good mood for the love hypnosis to work better

Hayate sat on Shion’s lap, facing him. He placed his hands on Shion’s shoulders.

"First, let me see what you can do with those lips," he said quietly, full of desire.

Hayate started kissing Shion passionately, sliding his tongue in right away. The king, still under hypnosis, just gave in to him, pulling Hayate closer.

"Ah! You’re holding me so tight!" Hayate said between kisses. "Don’t stop!" he said, pressing his lips back to Hayate’s.

They kissed like that for a long while.

"Enough," he said, then got off his lap. "You’re a pretty good kisser," he said with a smile.

Should I leave him in this hypnotic state...?

On the one hand, I want his queen to suffer and leave him naturally, no longer feeling loved, but on the other...

...that bitch might break the hypnosis again. Why the hell did she have to reincarnate as their child!?

Never mind, I’ll somehow manage that. Better just get him back to normal.

My handsome little king will have a lot of joy now, I envy him. Once a dragon, once a queen...

Hayate looked straight into Shion’s eyes again, the dragon’s eyes shining just the same.

The king shook his head, as if suddenly waking up from a dream.

"What was I... what happened?" he asked, confused.

"I was just about to leave, but you suddenly lost consciousness, Your Majesty. I wanted to help, but then you woke up, and..."

"I see. Must be from the lack of sleep and exhaustion," he sighed. "Thank you for today. Let me take you to your quarters."

"With pleasure, Your Majesty! Truly, with pleasure."

Literally, with pleasure. Maybe I should just take him to bed already? Then he’ll naturally be too tired to give his love to his partner

Hmmm, that sounds like a good plan.

As they left Shion’s office, the king noticed a wide, slightly devilish grin on his new secretary’s face.

"Is there something you’d like to tell me, Haya?" the king asked.

Hayate snapped out of it immediately. He knew that was the royal way of saying, ’I don’t like that look – are you plotting something?’

"Oh, forgive me, Your Majesty. I just remembered a joke."

"Then tell me."

That threw Hayate off guard. He hadn’t expected Shion to actually ask.

Not wanting to seem suspicious by hesitating even more, he made something up on the spot:

"What does one ant say to another? Nothing, ants can’t talk!" he blurted, followed by a forced, nervous laugh.

Silence. The king didn’t even crack a smile.

Good thing I’ve got hypnosis as a backup, or I’d commit seppuku right here for saying something so dumb to someone I actually want to seduce.

"Your room is in the servants’ wing, where the maids’ and attendants’ quarters are as well."

Damn, so I’ll have to keep quiet? Ugh, what a pain.

"Y-your Majesty, isn’t it improper for you to walk me here alone?"

"Well, everyone’s busy with their duties in the palace," Shion replied politely. "You’ve helped with my workload, so let me at least return the favor this way."

They walked straight for a while, then turned right, then again straight, finally turning left before heading down a flight of stairs. In a small recess to the right of the staircase were three wooden doors.

Shion grabbed the handle of the middle one.

"Here, this will be your new room," he said, gesturing for Hayate to step inside.

"You’ll go in there with me and lock the door from the inside," Hayate said, his eyes flashing again.

Shion silently obeyed the dragon’s orders. When Hayate heard the sound of the lock turning, he used the hypnosis again.

Next thing he knew, he was sitting on the bed with Shion, and then suddenly he was under the king...

*

After all that, Haru took a short nap. Maldie, in a good mood, insisted he rest, promising to watch over the children. She felt relieved she wouldn’t be separated from Gari for too long – and couldn’t wait to show her just how much she wanted her here, right next to her.

While wiping the desk and glancing at the kids, she noticed Haru frowning in his sleep and turning to the other side.

In truth, Haru was having a strange, unsettling dream.

He stood on an endless meadow, facing Egri, though half of her body was blurred, slowly shifting into a girl who looked a lot like him.

"E-Egri?" he asked, his voice trembling with fear and confusion.

"Not Egri – Yuri. You gave me that name yourself, Haru," she said with a smile. "Well, to be honest, I’m not exactly either of them."

"Then... what are you?" he asked, fear rising in his chest.

"More and more your daughter," she sighed. "The awareness of who I used to be is fading faster than either of us can imagine."

"Why are you in my dream? Is something wrong?"

Egri – Yuri sighed again.

"I can’t tell you, Haru. I don’t have the heart to. I just want to warn you and give you two pieces of advice. Shion’s coldness won’t be real, don’t push him away, because..." her voice turned into a wall of static. "... guilt. Watch out for..."

"Egri, what’s happening? What should I watch out for? What does Shion have to do with this? I can’t hear you!"

"...beware of... and... don’t... his coldness... the dragon... the fourth... here."

Egri –Yuri turned her head sharply, as if in fear, then vanished.

W-what the hell is going on? Haru thought, terrified and frustrated.

Suddenly, the meadow and the bright sky collapsed into a bottomless abyss – and above it, a pair of golden, dragon eyes stared down at him.

*

Haru woke up drenched in cold sweat. He almost screamed, but stopped himself just in time – he didn’t want to wake the babies.

"Are you all right?" Maldie asked worriedly, seeing his pale face.

"Yeah... just a nightmare," he said, sitting up and breathing heavily. "H-how long was I asleep?"

"I was just about to wake you. It’s already dark and I was going to head home. I changed the babies and fed them, they’re sleeping soundly now."

"Thanks."

"See you tomorrow."

"S-see you."

Once Maldie left the royal chamber, Haru found himself alone in the dimly lit room, the only light coming from the moon spilling through the large window.

Shion still hadn’t come back. Haru started to wonder if he really had that much work, or if something else had happened.

Something felt wrong. He lit a candle on the desk and began walking nervously across the room.

Shion finally returned in the middle of the night. As soon as he entered, a scent of perfume spread through the room.

Haru immediately knew – it wasn’t his, and it wasn’t Shion’s either. It belonged to someone else.

"W-where were you?" he asked, his lips trembling.

"I worked late, Haru," Shion said gently. "I don’t even remember exactly what I was doing."

He moved slowly toward the bed, not even bothering to change.

Haru stopped him mid-step – part of him worried, part of him angry.

"Why do you smell so strange?" he asked in a shaking voice.

"I don’t know, maybe a vase of flowers spilled on me. Honestly, I don’t remember..."

"Shion, did you..."

Haru hissed in pain as a sharp migraine hit him – the echo of Egri–Yuri’s warning about coldness. He fell silent.

"Are you okay?" Shion asked, exhausted. "I don’t know what you’re accusing me of, but you know I love you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go to sl–"

Shion didn’t finish. He fainted, collapsing onto Haru. Thankfully, Haru steadied himself and caught his husband just in time

As Shion’s head rested on his shoulder, Haru noticed a mark on his neck.

It was a hickey.