[BL] The Ice Prince and his Fairy

Proposal*

"Ah, yes, Rong has always been a slippery fellow." Xander muttered, snickering. "So you underestimated him, is what you're saying?"

"Please punish me for this, your highness." The man replied, pressing his head to the ground. "It was all my fault."

The other guards bit their lips, wanting to speak but not daring to. It definitely was their fault for assuming such a slim and pretty person was weak. None of them had expected how much strength was behind each of these attacks.

Yet the captain was defending them.

Xander stared down at them, his face showing none of his thoughts. The silence was deafening, making the guards more nervous.

Just as the captain was about to speak again, a voice cut through the tension.

"Ah, are you still interrogating them, brother?"

The guards jumped, their hands clenched around their swords as they watched a figure walk out of the shadows. As in literally, out of a dark corner, a pair of young men strolled out.

The 11th prince, Nikolaus.

Otherwise known as the Prince of Shadows.

Seeing how he so casually walked out of the darkness, it was clear why he was called that.

The green-haired youth who followed behind the prince bowed, greeting the 11th prince as was proper. His haggard eyes spoke volumes of how much stress he had to deal with so early in the morning.

Serving prince Nik was a full-time job it seemed.

Said prince smiled at his older brother and spoke. "Da-ge?"

Xander responded in kind, the words spoken foreign to everyone in the room. Even Captain Lopomin, who was well versed in most languages, couldn't even begin to guess what was being said.

How could he know that the language didn't belong to this world at all?

"Why are you here?" Xander asked, watching his brother approach. He was sure Nik had had a 'eventful' evening so he wasn't expecting to see him up so early.

Sure enough, Xander could just barely see a bite mark on his brother's neck that hadn't been there the night before.

At least someone got some action.

"I heard you rounded everyone up." Nik replied, glancing at the confused guards watching them. "I was worried something had happened."

"My Fae ran away despite me placing guards nearby to prevent that." Xander grumbled, though he kept his expression stoic.

"You actually thought Rong-ge would be stopped by them?" His brother snickered, cocking a brow. "He got past our shadow guards that time at the camp. The men here are good but don't compare them to our men. It's just plain unfair."

Comparing the shadow guards that had been recruited and trained by the two princes personally to regular castle guards would be like comparing a house cat to a tiger. Both could scratch and cause damage but the scale of each was impossible to even contrast.

The fact that Qin Rong got past all of them without any of them noticing meant that the Fae was truly a top-class mercenary. It was pure luck that his mission wasn't an assassination or they might very well be dead.

"I expected it but I must be sure."

"He didn't take anything this time, right?"

"How could he?" Xander huffed, feeling insulted. "I kept him occupied.."