Payback: Isekai

Rise of the Black Curtain

Yoohan had no idea why Jay had to make such a fuss about not sleeping in the same room. They still had different bedrooms in the black castle, and it never stopped Jay from sneaking into Yoohan's bed at the end of the day. It was to the point that the servant brought Jay's morning tea into the crow's nest now.

Like now, when Jay nonchalantly came into his room as Albert finishing his last touch on Yoohan's hair. He leaned on the door, crossing his arms and looking at Yoohan, as well as the younger's reflection in the mirror. The pale eyes were scrutinizing Yoohan from top to bottom as the younger frowned.

"What?"

Wordlessly, Jay threw a bag of money towards Albert, who caught it with a slightly widened eyes. Jay had already walked towards Yoohan though, so Albert just bowed his head and exited the room. The coins bore a clear message—"good job".

Yoohan raised his brow at Jay's act, but had no time to question it as the man already in front of him, hands slipped beneath Yoohan's overcoat and rubbed on the younger's waist. The pale eyes spelled admiration and affection, but also hunger.

"I just got dressed." Yoohan frowned, feeling the hands rubbed lower, cupping his lower cheeks. Jay said nothing, only smiled deeply while lowering his face closer to Yoohan's annoyed but redden face. A sweet smell wafted over him and Yoohan blinked in confusion, wondering where it was coming from, until Jay planted his lips on Yoohan and pulled his lips apart. Yoohan, although dreading the condition of his (another) three-layered outfit, accepted the intruding tongue and with it, a sweet flavored candy.

"Mph?" Yoohan grabbed Jay's shoulder in surprise, feeling the sweet hard marble-like candy rolling into his tongue. He frowned and tried to part their lips, but Jay hold him fast and kept their mouth slotted against each other. The candy rolled between their tongue, Jay maneuvered it inside Yoohan's mouth until his whole mouth was covered in the melted sugar and sweet taste.

Yoohan felt goosebumps from the invading sweet, but the kiss tasted good beyond anything, his body and mind slowly melted into Jay's embrace and his arms found their rightful place around Jay's neck. The older man only stopped and parted their lips once the candy had completely melted, coating Yoohan's mouth with a sickeningly sweet sensation.

"What...what's with...haa...that?" Yoohan panted, gulping the leftover melted sugar. He still clutched on Jay's shoulder for balance, as the Prince leaned their foreheads together like usual.

"I won't be able to stay with you later," Jay stroked on Yoohan's back, smoothing the crease he made during the kiss. "So I want you to think about me throughout the night," the Prince pulled back and looked at Yoohan, smiling. "I'll come to you before the sweet taste disappear,"

Yoohan rolled his eyes—was it likely that he'd forgotten about Jay when they were essentially in the same house? But deep inside, he was also rather worried too. What should Yoohan do inside this social event if Jay was to be apart from him? Would Yoohan just stand dumbly in the corner?

Sighing, Yoohan felt the impending exhaustion.

And yes, it did taxing, but at least not as much as the banquet. The Dowager's invitation was for a soirée, attended by her friends and acquittances, most of them were the nobles and rich merchants from the western empire. There were also scholars, priests, and artists, all of them were big names, famous people of the empire. It was a testament to the Dowager Empress's connection and reputation.

Of course, they had wanted to honor her invitation, and some of them were regulars of the Dowager's social events. But they also wanted to see whether it was true that she invited the First Prince.

The Dowager Empress had never meddled with the palace's matters or politics ever since she moved into the Feylake Villa. She didn't even attend events in the Capital. She said nothing when the emperor brought his mistress and bastard children and crowned them empress and princes. She made no move when the Crown Prince title was made a competition. She never responded to any of the capital faction's requests for support and always rejected visits.