A/n: includes slightly graphic violence
Cale was confused, anxious, panicked, and extremely caught off guard. Various voices sounded out, but everything seemed to play out in slow motion.
Not even five minutes before this, he was calmly talking with Hans... or whoever that guy was. Then, out of nowhere the guy switched up his tone. Cale remembered their conversation clearly.
"C, Cale... Since this all happened because of what you d, did to his highness, you should take responsibility."
"...Fine. I'll get us out of here, so don't panic."
"No, n, no. Just promise to never go near his highness ever again. No more attending noble gatherings, or even royal summons. Swear on your f, family name."
Cale was confused. Why was this so important to Hans? But nonetheless, Cale hesitantly started to agree with him. If they were both kidnapped because of what Cale had done to the crown prince, that meant these kidnappers were likely to be sent by said prince's underlings.
He had thought that Alberu had recognized him as the boy from his memories, but that was definitely a delusion. Cale had been tipsy at the time, so Alberu had merely thought of him as a crazy drunkard who dared assault royalty.
That would explain this entire situation. Yes, it must be true.
"I swea—"
"No, wait, swear on your life."
Cale was surprised at how serious Hans was, but something in his voice seemed a bit different. What was it... Obsession? Was that the right word?
But Cale still complied. He owed this much to Hans, and he hated noble gatherings anyway.
This just gave him another reason to avoid them.
And even if he broke it, it wasn't a vow of death or anything like that. ... Actually, even if it was, his life wasn't that valuable anyway. Anyone on the street would wish for his death if they knew the situation. Nobles included.
He would simply be putting everyone's minds at ease. An annoying eyesore would suddenly disappear for good.
It would be a dream come true.
"I swear on my life, I'll avoid him."
"Good, I feel better knowing that. But at the same time... the second you escape from here, where will you go?"
"The mansion... Where else would I go?"
A moment of silence overtook the room. Faint sounds could be heard somewhere behind him but he brushed it off as the wind.
"What about the Palace of Joy? You've been there before... you have slept in the crown prince's bedroom... eaten lunch with him and the king... your families met as well... Fuck... It's true, isn't it?"
Cale sweatdropped a bit at Hans' strange words. He didn't recall sleeping in his highness' bedroom, but the other two were true. This kind of behavior was extremely weird for Hans.
Why did he care so much about Cale and the crown prince? Actually, how did he even know all these things?
"...What is true? I don't understand what you're saying."
Had Hans gone crazy from blood loss? Cale looked towards Hans' arm.
There was no blood splatter.
Cale glanced down as far as he could. The only thing on the floor was mud and water.
There was no blood there either.
'What...?'
"Haha... You are saying you don't understand? You agreed to swear with your life on the line, but you didn't even know why?!"
'What the fuck?'
"I'll tell you why, Cale Henituse."
The way Hans spat his full name like it was physically taxing, nearly offended Cale. This was not something Hans would do. Had he gone crazy from torture, or blood loss? Wait, there was no blood.
'No blood...?'
Something wasn't adding up. There was also no stutter or weak tint to his voice anymore.
"His highness, the shining star of our kingdom, future sun of the bright future, the one who will lead this homeland to prosperous times, Alberu Crossman. That man is mine."
'... ????'
Cale's brain short circuited the moment he understood what was coming out of Hans' mouth.
"That is why. You are a nuisance, a speck of dirt on my perfect plans for his highness and I. You kept on getting in the way. And now you have sworn to avoid him forever... but it is not enough."
'?????'
"If you so readily offered your life as collateral for this vow, you must not hate the idea of dying where you sit. I do not feel safe if you are not completely gone from my future husband's line of sight."
'Who's husband...!???'
Cale was completely shocked by what was happening. It was almost to the point that he thought he was hallucinating or dreaming.
Because what kind of bullshit was this?!?!
"Cale Henituse. I was always part of the plan."
Tak... tak... tak.
Cale's eyes blew wide open as a familiar figure entered his vision. Hans was now in front of him, somehow free from his restraints.
"The prick you felt as we carried that foolish baron into the carriage; that was not thorns. It was my needle. I was impressed by your ability to resist the sleeping poison for so long, by the way. Perhaps I should up the dosage for when I use it on his highness..."
Cale's brain was going a mile a minute. Nothing was making any sense, and it was getting annoying. He felt so lost, like he missed some giant reveal.
The Hans in front of him had no injuries. There was not even a speck of blood. Cale had more blood on his cheek from the baron's slap than Hans did during the entirety of the 'torture' sessions.
"Anyway, since I'm soon going to marry his highness, you pose a threat to our perfect partnership. I apologize, but I'll have to get rid of you."
'I, I have to get away from this crazy bastard!'
Cuuut. Cuuut.
Cale anticipated the dagger slicing through his wrists, but all that was cut was the top layer of his skin, as well as the rope. The cut ran from the inside of his elbow to his wrist on both arms.
His clothes were sliced as well, and started to stick to the dripping blood. It was uncomfortable, but the stinging sensation was quickly covered up by the sense of dread, that this person, who wanted him dead, had full control over his life.
"Did you know? I've known Alberu nearly my entire life. I know he's in love with me, just as much as I love him. Even if he doesn't admit it out loud, his eyes tell of his feelings for me! But you? You met him only enough times to count on one hand! And yet you dare threaten our future together!?"
'This delusional lunatic—!'
"I just happened to meet the baron that time you knocked him unconscious. Luckily, we had similar interests. Keeping you alive was not one of them."
Now Hans was cutting through the rope securing his legs. The rope binding his chest was still there however. He seemed to be decreasing the speed of the blade as he talked, making Cale internally wince at the dull sting.
"My bright future with his highness will happen. Your existence is a potential threat, which is why you will die down here. You understand, right?"
"W, what if he doesn't love you?"
"... He will. I will make him love me back. If I take him down here where no one can find him, he will surely come to love me. And if that doesn't work, I will gladly bear his child. He will not have the heart to kill his child's mother."
Cale was pretty terrified of the words coming out of Hans' mouth. Men couldn't even get pregnant as far as he knew, but that was surprisingly the least terrifying thing he was saying.
Openly admitting to a planned out kidnapping and possible rape of the crown prince was just asking for a death sentence. And this person had planned quite a bit of it in advance.
'This isn't Hans... What the fuck is happening!?'
The noises he heard from earlier were growing louder, but he could not look behind him. They almost sounded like footsteps. Perhaps it was the baron coming back to torture him for real.
Cuuuuut-
'Ugh...'
His legs were freed now, and the only rope left was around his upper arms and chest. Cale vaguely thought that Hans could more easily cut through the parts of the rope that was touching the chair instead of his soft skin.
Or Hans was doing it there on purpose. The thought of that sent more shivers down his spine.
'Why is he freeing me when he can just stab my vital areas right now while I can't move?'
"But anyway, I may be the one to kill you in the near future, but I'm not so dishonorable as to kill you when you can't even stretch your muscles first. Stand up, stretch a little."
'What the fuc—!!'
Slash!
"Kurgh!!"
With one quick slash across his chest, Cale was free from his restraints. He shakily stood up and moved to put himself behind the chairs as fast as possible. He didn't want to be near that crazy fuck any longer than he had to be.
His legs felt weak because of the cuts and stiffness, and the fact that he hadn't eaten anything for a while made it more intense. But he ignored the pain; something much worse was waiting for him on the other side of the chairs.
His whole body ached, and his lack of sleep and open wounds caused him to be slower than usual. His reaction time suffered as well. The only thing keeping him grounded was his pounding heart which threatened to escape his chest.
"Y, you're right. I'm sure his highness loves you. Can you put the dagger down now...?"
Hans was slowly walking around the chairs, while a panicking Cale walked at the same time, attempting to keep the same distance away from him.
They slowly continued to walk counterclockwise like a twisted game of musical chairs, but the point of the game was not 'get in a chair', but 'fucking survive', instead. A thin oval of smeared blood was also being created around the chairs thanks to Cale's dripping cuts.
Hans talked again at that moment.
"Why would I put the dagger down when I can just use it?"
'Shit, I'm about to get murdere—!!'
Hans lunged over the chairs, aiming for Cale, but missed thanks to Cale's incredible foresight. (He slipped backwards and barely caught himself from falling, coincidentally dodging the attack)
Hans seemed stronger than usual, and would have won in an instant if it weren't for the slippery floor that was covered in mud, water, and now blood. The low lighting and Cale's lucky dodges also helped him avoid the attacks.
But soon enough, Cale tripped and started rolling on the ground, trying to block the dagger which repeatedly aimed for his neck and chest. Every rough movement sent pain signals shooting through Cale's body, and the many scratches, knicks, and bruises he got from tumbling over rock hurt a lot as well.
He believed the pain was indeed nulled because of adrenaline, as it wasn't overwhelming, and just sat at the back of his mind constantly annoying him.
Somewhere across the room he heard the door burst open, and internally cursed that this was probably the end. If the baron was back here, Cale would stand no chance at being double teamed. He was barely surviving the first attacker, but his struggle was probably all in vain.
"Hap!"
Hans lunged down, dagger positioned just above Cale's eye. The only thing keeping the dagger from moving down further was Cale's hands, which were tightly grasped onto Hans'. His arms were shaking like crazy, and he was putting every ounce of strength he could muster into keeping the dagger away from his face.
"Ugh! Jackass—! Get off! You! Bastard!"
After every word, he shoved Hans' arm away, rolled on top of him, and bashed their heads together. He didn't have much strength left in his hands, so Cale decided to use his skull instead. Otherwise he definitely would have punched this guy six feet into the ground.
...
That was when he found himself being pulled off of Hans, and finally looked at his surroundings. There were many unfamiliar faces, but two in particular stood out. On his far right was vice captain Hilsman from the Henituse territory, and behind some of the men was a person covered in dried mud.
The dim lighting made it hard to tell who it was, but he had a striking resemblance to the person who just tried to kill him.
"What the FUCK is going on?!"
A/n: ;; vote?
Thx for reading.