# 54
“My father soon welcomed a new mother. For a while, it seemed quite happy. Although my father was often away hunting monsters, my stepmother was a kind person.”
“I see.”
Even though Riyekan, the son from a previous marriage, might have been bothersome to her, she never showed any signs of it. She was consistently warm and bright, which is why Riyekan followed her well.
But that peaceful daily life shattered one day when his father returned from hunting monsters in the magical realm. His father was shocked to see his new wife’s pregnant belly.
“My new mother was a very frail person. Father had been secretly giving her contraceptive tea because he was afraid she would die giving birth.”
It wasn’t infidelity. There had been a problem with the contraceptive tea, and she became pregnant the night before his father left for the magical realm.
His father suggested terminating the pregnancy. His new mother refused, and the two had a huge fight.
“And on the day the child was born, my new mother died.”
What his father had feared came to pass.
Holding the wailing newborn, his father emerged from the delivery room with a pale face and declared that an heir had been born. Since there was already a child being raised and educated as the heir, it was extremely unreasonable to immediately declare a newborn as the new successor. Everyone thought it was just the impulsive action of the head of the family who was shocked by his wife’s death. Riyekan’s nanny consoled him, saying that with time, it would be as if nothing had happened.
But his father never retracted that day’s declaration. Riyekan lost everything he had. The heir’s room, the pony he had received as a birthday gift, fancy clothes, access to the library, and even all the education he had been receiving until then.
“From that day on, I was no longer the heir to the Ertolic family, but it was okay. My stepmother was a good person, and I loved my younger brother too.”
His stepmother had married his father when he was just a baby and had taken care of him with devotion until now. She had loved him without hating or mistreating him for being another woman’s child, so there was no reason not to love both her and his younger brother.
Besides, there was one thing that his father could not take away from Riyekan, even if he tried to take everything else and give it to his brother. It was his talent. The eldest son of the Ertolic family had inherited powerful magical abilities for generations. Since magicians were scarce wherever he went, he could leave for the royal family and serve as a royal magician, then receive a new castle and become independent.
If that happened, it would be the Ertolic family that would be in danger. Riyekan thought that the future of the Ertolic family had darkened because of his foolish father.
“That day, when my father threw me among the omegas and tried to breed me, I…”
On that day, Riyekan learned many truths he hadn’t known until then. The fact that his birth mother was a woman chosen through careful selection to give birth to a talented child. The fact that the omegas before him also fulfilled the same conditions. And finally, the fact that his father planned to place magical restrictions on the children who would be born in the future to make them pledge loyalty to Jeidrus.
There was only one reason. His father wanted to make the child of the only woman he had ever loved the master of the Ertolic family, not Riyekan. So he plotted to take not only the heir’s position but also the future possibilities inherent in Riyekan’s blood and give them to Jeidrus.
The moment he learned this fact, Riyekan felt fear.
“I realized the emotion I had arrogantly ignored. That’s why I came to the tower.”
Riyekan twisted the corner of his mouth.
“And the moment I saw Hunter Lee Jin-ha with that child, those feelings were revived.”
“Riyekan…”
“I’m afraid of that child, Jin-ha.”
Riyekan, who stated this in an eerie tone, waited for Jin-ha’s reaction.
“…Afraid… you say?”
“You can’t understand, can you? Yes, you wouldn’t. I’ve led dozens of wars to victory and published laws that had never been discovered before. There must be hundreds of magicians studying my papers. Countless magicians use the new magic I created and revere my name. Above all, I’m the Master of the Noon Moon Tower.”
Riyekan’s voice faded as he recited his achievements.
“Yet I couldn’t stop thinking that I might lose you…”
He had numerous followers and completely dominated the Noon Moon Tower. The artifacts he created had made the tower wealthy, and his influence continued to grow even now.
Even if he had grown up as the heir to the Ertolic family and become the head, he would not have had many of the things he had acquired here by himself.
Yet, despite all this, an emotion that couldn’t be understood by reason swirled in his head.
The delusion that that foolish and stupid child could effortlessly take away everything he had built in an instant. The confusion that this delusion might be a prophecy. And thus, the conviction that the delusion might not be a delusion but a fragment of the future.
Riyekan’s breathing gradually became rougher. Labored breathing while staying still was never a good sign.
“It’s not strange at all.”
Jin-ha saw Riyekan’s eyes beginning to sink despite his rough breathing, and quickly grabbed both his cheeks to meet his gaze. With half-closed eyes, Riyekan looked up at him, his eyelashes fluttering.
“You were young. You lost everything when you were young, so it’s not strange to have such thoughts.”
“The king is ignoring the Ertolic family that lost its eldest son. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been sent to a place like this. His shoes were worn out, and his clothes were out of fashion. He is nothing now. Nothing, and yet…!”
This was a trauma that had left a deep wound in the man’s life. Jin-ha stared at the man writhing weakly beneath him. Riyekan had described it as a scratch, but it was closer to a stab wound from a broken blade. The surface had healed, but the blade was still inside Riyekan’s soul, continuing to wound him even now.
Jin-ha wasn’t sure what to say to comfort this man. The thought that any word might hurt him instead made it difficult to open his mouth.
He wanted to say that the Noon Moon Tower was his and that Legas was not someone who would betray him, but this was just speculation about others.
It didn’t seem like it would reach the current Riyekan.
“Riyekan!”
Jin-ha grabbed Riyekan and kissed him deeply. Unlike the playful, brief kisses they had shared until now, this was a long, intense kiss. The continuing kiss paused as their noses touched, then resumed immediately.
Only after Riyekan’s excited breathing had calmed did Jin-ha carefully separate his lips.
“The reason I originally investigated your past from Jeidrus was because I heard you take medicine that shortens your life by half a year every time you go into rut, and I wanted to find a way to prevent that.”
“…”
“And we made a contract, didn’t we? If I caress you, you’ll give me information about the Abon Kingdom… I haven’t received anything in return yet. I won’t leave you until I get what I want!”
“…Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
Jin-ha confidently replied as he wiped Riyekan’s wet lips with his thumb. How many kisses had this been already? To calm him down, he had given countless kisses today alone.
This wasn’t in the contract. Jin-ha inwardly sighed, but he couldn’t deny that from the middle, his heart had been moved as well.
Perhaps he was the only one who had unilaterally benefited from this relationship. The truth was that Riyekan’s obsession with him was just because he wanted to reclaim his lost soul, but this happened before he could tell him that.
Jin-ha thought it was about time to convey the truth.
“Riyekan.”
“Then prove it.”
“What?”
“I said prove it.”
“How… what do you mean?”
Without saying a word, Riyekan rose and pushed Jin-ha’s body backward. A heavy sensation that he hadn’t felt until now due to his distraction brushed against his buttocks and groin. While Jin-ha was looking at him in shock, Riyekan sat him down on the sand.
Their faces were too close. As he tried to back away, Riyekan pressed down on his lower back. This time, their groins were almost touching.
“What, what, what are you doing now?!”
A shrill voice escaped like a scream. Jin-ha tried not to lower his gaze. Riyekan pulled Jin-ha close, embracing him and resting his chin on his shoulder.
“Proof.”
“No, this isn’t proof, this is…”
He was so perplexed that his words couldn’t continue properly. A rustling sound from below pierced his eardrums. Riyekan took one of Jin-ha’s hands, which had been gripping the sand tightly in confusion, gently dusted it off, and then placed something hot in it.
Jin-ha trembled and removed his hand. Then Riyekan, exhaling hot breath, covered Jin-ha’s hand and made him grasp it again.
“Why, why…”
“I told you, didn’t I? Without Hunter Lee Jin-ha, I get so lonely that I get hard.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
