LP 3.3 The Prince’s Rebellion

Kosha, with his head between his legs, groaned helplessly. Honestly, even before this, he had suddenly acted like this once… Though saying “before” only means yesterday…

“Your Highness, honestly, it’s too…”

Their gazes tangled for a moment. For someone with his face buried between another’s legs, his gaze was sharp. Kosha instinctively checked himself and corrected his mistake.

“Not Your Highness, Lu, Lucian.”

“Speak.”

“Well, uh, it seems a bit too promiscuous… for us. I thought so last time too.”

“Promiscuous?”

Lucian frowned as if unfairly accused.

“What are you suddenly talking about? I’m even sucking you off like this.”

The statement made no logical sense. That’s exactly what makes it promiscuous… Kosha immediately swallowed the words about to burst out. He tried to explain step by step, starting from the most fundamental issue.

“So, listen, Your Highness. Uh, I don’t know how we ended up like this. But first of all, I’ve never even heard of breaking magic through such… obscene methods… Magic is originally the opposite of, like, lustful desires, ah—!”

His words couldn’t continue. Because a shameless finger, showing no intention of listening, abruptly dug into the hole.

The hole was still sufficiently softened and loosened. Something buried deep inside was slowly seeping out, making it damp. Lucian subtly grabbed Kosha’s thighs, spreading them apart, and crawled on top of him.

“Let’s do it one more time.”

The third law. Mana discharge is once per night.

Once discharged, the mana hides away again. As if instinctively refusing to return, as if wanting to remain in Lucian’s body—this was truly an ‘unnatural’ occurrence, so from the perspective of Kosha, the mana’s owner, it was utterly incomprehensible.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered seizing the opportunity and struggling to retrieve all the mana. It was truly a futile effort.

So, from now on, the act was unrelated to ‘detoxification.’

Sex for the sake of sex, without any reason.

“But…”

Kosha hesitated. Lucian, who had sat up, finished taking off his clothes and stroked his penis a few times as if masturbating. Staring straight down at Kosha.

The menacing, glistening penis, soaked in all sorts of fluids, was fully exposed before his eyes.

As always felt, Lucian was truly beautiful all over. Not just his face, but the lines from his neck to shoulders, chest, waist, his body proportions, the muscles of his thighs down to his calves—everything was ideal.

But just that one, that one spot…

Because every other part of his body was beautiful, the menacing nature of that place stood out even more. It hurt his heart to see it each time. Did he use up all his beauty on other parts of his body, leaving that place like that? Kosha lamented. At least the color could be a bit…

“This time, I’ll go slowly. Gently. However you like it. Okay?”

Interpreting Kosha’s silence in some way, Lucian added coaxingly as he pressed his body closer.

It was always like this. Every time he demanded a second round. He would tempt Kosha with all sorts of promises—to go gently, to go slowly.

Of course, he was generally a man who kept his word once given.

Kosha unconsciously sniffled a little.

It was too big and ugly, but still, still, he couldn’t just hate it outright, because he knew how strangely and pleasantly it could make him feel if handled well…

…He had learned that men shouldn’t be recklessly swayed by lust.

But it was a hopeless battle. Kosha, unable to resist the temptation any longer, slowly nodded. Simultaneously, Lucian smiled pleasantly and covered his lips.

A large hand grabbed the soft thigh and spread it open upward. Feeling the sharp sensation of the glans, aligned with the hole, pushing in as if finding its home again, Kosha closed his eyes dizzily.

When he opened his eyes, he was inside the bath.

It was his private bath attached to the inner part of Lucian’s bedroom. Simply and neatly decorated with only wood and stone, but filled with high-quality items from bath additives to furniture that were uncommon to see. The bathtub, just the right size to be perfectly full when two people entered, was carved from a single large piece of marble.

He couldn’t gauge when he had last lost consciousness or how much time had passed since then. Kosha slowly looked around.

He felt Lucian’s firm chest against his back.

This was the third time entering this bath.

After hearing that Kosha had washed his body in the servants’ communal bathhouse the day after their first night, he acted as if something unthinkable had happened. From Kosha’s perspective, it didn’t seem like such a shocking matter. For some reason, he seemed to have assumed that a servant would have separately brought bathwater to his room.

How could that be? After all, Kosha also appeared to be just a servant.

Anyway, from then on, he began directly managing Kosha’s washing process.

“Are you awake?”

A languid voice came from behind. It seemed he had also dozed off briefly in the bath.

“Shall I add more hot water?”

The privilege of receiving hot water supplied through pipes kept constantly heated was something only the royal family’s private bathrooms could enjoy.

But Kosha shook his head. The water was still sufficiently warm, and he already knew Lucian would soon get out of the bath.

As expected, Lucian fiddled with Kosha’s hair a bit before rising. Kosha, resting his cheek languidly against one side of the tub, watched him rinse his body with lukewarm water.

Watching him move without even enough time to rest brought back stray thoughts.

Somehow, it felt a bit off because they seemed to be having too much sex. Of course, he knew that sex-based detoxification was the most practical help for him right now…

“Relax as much as you want, then sleep in my room.”

After drying off and putting on his pants first, Lucian spoke.

“I might not be able to come in, so don’t mind it.”

He was running around everywhere, working without sleep, while Kosha…

Still, I am a magic being after all.

For the first few days, his body, unaccustomed to sex, was tired and ached, but now he had somewhat gotten used to it. After a little rest, he recovered enough to move around…

Kosha gathered courage and opened his mouth.

“Um, Your Highness.”

“Hmm?”

“Is there any other work I could help with? Or, I, I was thinking… maybe I should go to that archive again…”

“What?”

While putting on his shirt, Lucian sharply turned his head. His expression was as if he had heard something absurd.

“Go where?”

“The magic archive… the one in the East Wing.”

“Are you insane?”

His voice, cutting off the words, was sharp. The languid atmosphere became sharp in an instant.

Lucian sensitively scrutinized Kosha’s intent. But Kosha’s face, floating in the water, was only pure and innocent.

“But, listen. Oh, today, for some reason, you didn’t even lose your senses. This is hard to understand and strange. I’m doing it because it has an immediate effect, but I don’t actually know the principle…”

“……”

“And for Your Highness too, doing this every day like this might be a bit tiring…”

Kosha cautiously added. Lucian shook his head as if it were ridiculous and ignored him.

That profile was so smooth that Kosha felt a bit cowed.

Well, he did look remarkably… good in many ways lately, considering he was moving around without a moment’s rest. He seemed almost ready to prove with his whole body that moderate indulgence is better for health than excessive abstinence.

Still, the mage mustered courage once more.

“I am a mage. I can hide my body well now too… It’ll be different from last time.”

“Mage or whatever.”

The reply was merciless. He irritably tied the front of his shirt with a cord and strode toward Kosha sitting in the bathtub.

“Just staying quietly is helping.”

A large hand grabbed Kosha’s cheek firmly once, then released.

“Answer if you understand.”

“…Yes.”

The reply came a beat late. Given his usually compliant nature, such behavior was rare, making Lucian’s eyes narrow. His mouth was pouting, showing clear dissatisfaction.

What’s the problem with just eating and sleeping? I heard mages dislike moving their bodies,

Did living too long with those insane geese make him pick up strange habits? Lucian irritably tapped the edge of the bathtub with his finger.

No matter how grand the reasons attached, a mage acting rashly is unacceptable.

…Because a mage acting alone becomes grounds for suspicion.

He didn’t want to suspect the mage. He was in a position where he had to suspect out of duty. So, please. He didn’t even want to create that possibility.

Kosha, who had been avoiding his gaze, slid his body smoothly into the bathtub. Submerging half his face in the appropriately cooled water, he blew bubbles and feigned ignorance. He wanted to point out that silent protest, but he also had no more time to spare.

“…Really, just quietly sleep.”

In the end, hastily throwing on a courtyardy over his shirt and leaving one more warning was all he could do.

But if mages were beings that could be governed by humans, they wouldn’t have been persecuted so severely in those days.

---

Anyway, Kosha tried hard to obey.

After splashing around alone in the bathtub until the water cooled completely and coming out late after drying off, clothes were prepared.

It was a long nightshirt in a one-piece dress form.

Lucian truly seemed intent on keeping Kosha confined only to the room. This type of nightwear was something only children wore. If an adult man were seen wandering around in such attire, he would have no excuse not to be used as a laughingstock for the rest of his life. In some cases, merely having such clothes brought could be considered an insult.

But Kosha put on that nightshirt without much complaint. He was only a little curious about how on earth Lucian had obtained a one-piece nightshirt in adult male size.

Anyway, that nightshirt was soft and felt good, and it even smelled nice.

Kosha crawled into Lucian’s bed. Lucian’s bed was incredibly plush and comfortable. He desperately needed rest to refuse such luxury. If Lucian also had to receive that monstrous thing from behind, he wouldn’t have been able to walk around so normally.

Kosha thought it was fortunate that his body was the one being worn out and fell deeply asleep.

Kosha, who had been sleeping deeply without dreaming, woke up with a start not many hours later.

The surroundings were dark, and Kosha was still alone. He seemed to have slept too deeply and soundly.

Kosha got up from the bed, disheveled.

Anyway, since he slept quietly and woke up, he had done everything Lucian told him to.

What next? Well, it’s up to me.

His mind, refreshed from a good sleep, was clear and thought endlessly like a mage. There was no one else beside him to hold him back and insert a human self—for example, Lucian or Gosrick.

The whereabouts of his original clothes were mysteriously unknown, but summoning the gray robe was not difficult. That robe, thoroughly soaked in Kosha’s mana, was now no different from his outer skin. Kosha pulled the gray robe out of thin air and wrapped it tightly over the flimsy one-piece nightshirt.

That was sufficient preparation for going out. Dragging slightly oversized indoor shoes, Kosha went outside. Locks made by humans couldn’t stop a mage.

A lizard crawled out from inside the robe. When he grabbed it and set it down on the floor, the creature began walking, swishing its strangely twisted tail.

Toward the place its master desired.

The castle during curfew was quiet. Kosha didn’t encounter anyone until he reached the massive bridge connecting the East and West Wings. Of course, even if he had, no major problem would have occurred. At least as long as he was wearing that robe.

A rougher wind than last time blew across the dizzyingly high bridge.

Autumn in Central Izelant tends to last quite long, but once the temperature starts to drop, winter arrives in an instant. Lately was precisely that period.

The temperature of the wind blowing each day changed, and the daily temperature difference gradually increased. Soon, frost would fall and blizzards would rage.

Still, thinking he wouldn’t have to worry about the geese this winter, Kosha crossed the bridge with quick steps.

Upon crossing to the East Wing, a heavy, unpleasant energy enveloped his body. His brow furrowed involuntarily.

Unsettling and alien energy.

It was similar to the energy of that mage—what was his name? Al… something?—who had been acting suspiciously around the West Wing. But here, it was spread throughout the entire East Wing in a much denser concentration. As if asserting a ‘domain.’

Does he live in the East Wing? Then could he be Bastian’s mage?

It wasn’t enough to breach Kosha’s protective barrier, but his shoulders grew heavy in an instant. The lizard also seemed displeased, trembling its body.

Just as he was walking slowly, more alert to his surroundings.

The lizard, which had turned the corner first, halted, then hopped back and hid inside Kosha’s robe. Kosha hurriedly caught the lizard, holding it close, and pressed his body tightly against the wall.

Sharpening his senses, he faintly heard human voices from afar. It sounded like a conversation…

Since he couldn’t hear well, Kosha began walking forward little by little. The lizard poking its head out from between his chest watched vigilantly along with him.

The voices became slightly clearer. They seemed to be a man and a woman, and their tones were raised as if arguing. Just as Kosha had stealthily advanced to the next corner and peeked his head out.

Bang! A heavy sound, like a heavy door closing, shook the corridor. Startled, Kosha jumped and crouched. Soon, agitated breathing sounds and footsteps mingled.

No particular mage’s presence was felt.

If he kept holding his breath like this, the humans probably wouldn’t notice Kosha’s presence and would pass by.

But…

Kosha, who had been concentrating on the sounds, got up from his spot and abruptly turned the corner.

“Ah!”

The person walking from the opposite side let out a short scream. It was a shrill female voice.

Kosha also staggered back. The lantern the other person was holding hit Kosha’s body, making a clanging sound as it swayed.

“…Who are you?”

The woman wearing a gray hood asked. Her voice, lowered as much as possible, was full of wariness. Because of the deep shadow under the hood, her face wasn’t clearly visible, but the long, curly black hair falling beneath it was clearly seen.

“Merda?”

Kosha cautiously asked. She flinched in surprise and took a step back.

“I said who are you.”

Though her tone seemed aggressive at first glance, it also sounded frightened. Instead of answering, Kosha slowly took off his hood.

His pale face was revealed under the lantern light. He saw the woman lift her hood slightly and narrow her eyes.

“It’s me, Kosha.”

“…And who is that?”

“Gooseherd Kosha. Don’t you remember? From Osterwick.”

After a brief silence, the woman’s lips parted blankly. She flung off her hood. Her eyes were as wide open as her mouth.

“Gooseherd?”

‘Merda’ exclaimed. Kosha smiled awkwardly. It seemed she hadn’t remembered Kosha’s name or the like.

“Yeah. That gooseherd who also made a ‘Love Potion’ for you.”

Merda’s thick, gaping lips trembled slightly, then twisted peculiarly upon hearing ‘Love Potion.’

Staring at Kosha with an indescribable expression, she pressed a hand to her forehead. Then, like a cat with its nerves on high alert, she checked her surroundings, pushed Kosha, and turned the corner.

Merda, clinging to a large pillar as if hiding behind it, grabbed Kosha again. Her lips moving, she frowned and thrust the lantern toward Kosha’s face.

“Are you really that gooseherd? Y-you looked like this? What happened?”

“Umm…”

Kosha gently pushed away the lantern radiating warm heat and nodded. Of course, it would be quite different from the appearance Merda ‘remembered.’ Back then, Kosha was wearing a gooseherd shell.

At the time, he hadn’t realized it himself, but it was a kind of protective barrier. Like the gray robe he wears now.

“Really, I didn’t recognize you. Did you tidy up your hair?”

“It’s fine. I almost didn’t recognize you either.”

“How on earth did you end up here? Don’t tell me…”

Her gaze swept over Kosha from head to toe.