#37
Chapter 5
“Let me touch it just once. Come on, just once~. Hm?”
Julian, clinging to Enrique’s side, whined coyly. Enrique frowned fiercely, but that wouldn’t work on his close friend. Julian skillfully avoided Enrique’s pushing hands and finally managed to touch the back of his head.
“Ouch!”
Enrique, who hated pain, yelled. After feeling the protruding bump on the back of Enrique’s head, Julian collapsed to the floor, holding his stomach with both hands.
“Bwahahahaha-!”
Julian’s laughter filled the reception room. The sound was so loud it made Enrique’s ears ring.
“Bwahaha! Kuhaha!”
“What’s so funny that you’re laughing yourself to death?”
Enrique irritably smacked the back of Julian’s head. But Julian simply couldn’t stop laughing. He kept giggling even while wincing from the pain in his stomach from laughing so hard.
“Tsk.”
Enrique clicked his tongue and felt the back of his head, which was still throbbing with pain. His face instinctively scrunched up as soon as he touched the protruding bump.
Julian, after laughing on the floor for a while, finally managed to grab the sofa and stagger to his feet before plopping down on it. A smile was still escaping from the corners of his mouth.
“Oh my, I thought I was going to die laughing.”
Julian said, rubbing his stomach as he finally caught his breath. Then, chuckling, he rested his chin on the armrest of the sofa.
“To think you headbutted the Prince of Ruben’s chin. And even gave him a nosebleed… Indeed, the world is full of surprises the longer you live.”
“…If he did something to deserve it, he should get hit.”
At Enrique’s curt words, Julian’s eyes narrowed.
“Why are you looking at me with such impure eyes?”
“No, it’s just… When you meet that prince, you seem… not like your usual self.”
“What do you mean?”
Enrique immediately glared. Julian hummed thoughtfully before speaking.
“Although you have a nasty personality, you’re always thorough when it comes to state affairs. Ruben is a great nation. That prince is the precious heir to the Ruben Empire. The usual you would have maintained proper etiquette towards the prince no matter what. But looking at how you treat the prince…”
Julian’s voice trailed off.
Enrique silently brought the teacup to his lips.
Julian was right. Although Enrique had an arrogant personality, he was always meticulous when it came to matters concerning the country’s safety and interests. By the book, such behavior towards Anture would be unacceptable. But for some reason, when dealing with Anture, he just couldn’t control his temper.
“Do you know why that is?”
Julian asked. Enrique gave him a sidelong glance.
“It’s because you’ve already formed a physical bond.”
“Forming a bond from rolling around just once? Nonsense.”
As Enrique rolled his eyes dismissively, Julian snorted.
“Try rolling around with just anyone dozens or hundreds of times. See if a physical bond forms that easily. It only forms when there’s compatibility between partners. If the compatibility is good, a physical bond can last a lifetime even after just one encounter.”
“What bond with a business partner?”
“Do you think bonds form after considering such things?”
Julian, who acted like he knew everything because he got married first, moistened his dry lips with tea and suddenly asked.
“You don’t regret headbutting that prince at all, do you?”
“Of course not.”
“You’re not afraid of future consequences either?”
“What do I have to be afraid of?”
At Enrique’s nonchalant response, Julian clicked his tongue.
“See? You headbutted the Prince of Ruben, even made his nose bleed, and you’re not worried in the slightest. Do you know what that means?”
“What does it mean?”
“It means you don’t think at all that the prince will use this incident to harm you or cause you trouble. In other words, you already trust that prince.”
Enrique frowned at Julian’s know-it-all attitude.
“Trust my ass. I just think he won’t make an issue out of it because it would be too embarrassing.”
“No, it’s that you trust the prince’s feelings for you. You clearly believe deep down that he’s so smitten with you that he won’t make an issue out of something like that at all.”
“…”
Enrique, who was about to retort, closed his mouth. Honestly, Julian was right. If Anture was truly infatuated with him, he wouldn’t use that incident to cause trouble for Enrique. Deep down, Enrique thought so too.
“What does that guy being infatuated with me have to do with a physical bond?”
“That’s what I’m saying~ The fact that you can act recklessly believing in the prince’s affection is only possible because you have some kind of bond with him.”
“What nonsense. Why are you forcibly connecting unrelated things?”
Enrique snorted. Julian shrugged as if to say ‘think what you want.’
“You’ll see. I’m sure you’ve already formed a physical bond with that prince. If the prince seduces you well, you’ll fall for it again, won’t you?”
“That won’t happen.”
Enrique said firmly.
Of course, he admitted that his heat was triggered by reacting to Anture’s pheromones this time, and that’s why he ended up sleeping with him. He also acknowledged that it was difficult to resist an alpha’s pheromones after this incident. That’s why Enrique planned not to see Anture again until the wedding day. What could possibly go wrong if they didn’t meet?
As if to break Enrique’s resolve, Anture came every day. Despite King Shamier’s clear disapproval, he stubbornly remained at the royal palace. One day he came with flowers, another day he came to invite Enrique for a walk, another day he came to have a cup of tea… He came up with every possible excuse to visit Enrique’s quarters.
Enrique, of course, refused all meetings. After hearing reports from servants that Anture was lurking around his usual walking paths and the stables, he stopped leaving his quarters altogether. He had all his work brought to his quarters by servants to handle there. The calculation was that if Anture realized it was hopeless to meet Enrique while staying here, he would eventually get tired and leave.
After spending all day cooped up in the study of his quarters handling work, Enrique felt completely drained.
He lay on the soft bed, sighing heavily. Even normally, he often stayed in all day working when busy. But being forcibly confined because of Anture was unbearably stifling.
As he tossed and turned on the bed in the dark night, useless thoughts kept flooding in. Enrique closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep quickly. But sleep just wouldn’t come. When he inevitably opened his eyes, something shiny caught his view. It was the ring Anture had put on him.
“I forgot to ask him to take it off.”
Enrique muttered to himself, staring at the ring.
At first, he had planned to demand Anture remove the ring the next time they met. But perhaps because he had worn it for years, it no longer bothered him at all. He had completely forgotten to ask for the ring to be removed.
Enrique habitually fiddled with the surface of the ring on his ring finger with his thumb. Then suddenly, his own finger with the ring caught his eye. His fingers, which had never done any hard labor, were long and beautifully shaped.
He remembered the shape and feel of the white, firm fingers that had interlaced with his own, holding them tightly. Anture had passionately explored him while holding both hands interlocked like that. The hot and sweet sensation, as if melting into one body, seemed to crawl under his skin.
Before he knew it, his body had heated up slightly. Although he tried to erase it from his mind, the memories and sensations only grew more intense.
‘Enrique.’
The husky call seemed to brush past his ear. The strength of the large hands firmly grasping his thighs and the hot, hard member vigorously stirring inside him… The thick male scent that clouded his mind throughout their coupling.
“…Fuck…”
Enrique cursed, feeling his erect member and throbbing body. He tried to calm down, but it wasn’t easy. Once aroused, the desire only grew stronger.
It definitely wasn’t a heat. Yet he wanted to do it.
Enrique had no experience of enduring desire alone. As his body heated up and desire surged strongly, his hand unconsciously moved towards the cord at the head of the bed.
Enrique hesitated as he was about to grab and pull the cord.
Pulling this cord, and Damiel entering as always… That was the established routine.
But this wasn’t a heat, was it? Would he call Damiel just to satisfy a sudden urge?
Enrique couldn’t bring himself to pull the cord. But he also didn’t know what to do with his aroused body.
