Tap, tap tap.
Raindrops suddenly poured down, drumming against the car window. Without his tiger ears or tail, Kiss seemed almost like an ordinary human at first glance, if you overlooked his excessively gorgeous appearance.
In the original work, Kiss was reluctant to reveal his true form. Partly because he’d been educated that way since childhood, and partly because the closer he got to his beast form, the harder it became to control his violent tendencies.
The problem was that maintaining a human appearance also required using magic, which put quite a strain on his body. I’d heard it described as feeling like standing at attention while holding two dumbbells. After glancing repeatedly at Kiss, who stubbornly remained in human form, I casually spoke up.
“You can be comfortable if you’d like.”
“Hm?”
“It seems like you might be uncomfortable.”
It was consideration mixed with a bit of selfishness. I’m not interested in Kiss’s human form, you see—what I’m interested in is only Kiss in his large, powerful white tiger state. At my desire-filled consideration, Kiss hesitated for a moment before answering with his characteristic subtle smile.
“Well, I prefer being moderately uncomfortable. If my body’s comfortable, I let my guard down.”
“……”
“We’re about to discuss something uncomfortable, so it’d be a bit odd for only me to be in a comfortable state.”
Kiss answered in a gentle voice as he dropped several sugar cubes into his teacup. Come to think of it, there was a setting that he liked sweets. Even so, that looks more like sugar water than tea. Unaware of the terrors of blood sugar spikes, Kiss stirred his teacup round and round as he continued.
“Getting to the point. Ash, have you heard the story that black tigers are ominous?”
“No, though I think I may have heard that black cats are ominous.”
“Really? Well… they’re both felines, so I guess the legends are roughly similar.”
What an easygoing answer, without a trace of authoritative consciousness. The sugar cubes that hadn’t quite dissolved slowly sank beneath the tea. Kiss, who had been quietly watching the scene, met my gaze with an expressionless face.
“In the imperial family, it’s a story passed down for thousands of years. A legend that the moment a black tiger is born, the empire will fall. But several decades ago, a real black tiger was actually born.”
“……”
“A monster who can speak neither human nor beast language. Who can only speak the Ancient Language. That monster’s name is Deus Zebron. My half-brother and the Crown Prince, first in the Succession Order.”
His voice, which had been gentle all along, suddenly sank. I hesitated before opening my mouth.
“Then having me interpret the Ancient Language just now was……”
“This is the last chance I’m giving you.”
“……”
“Will you choose? To help me and interpret that monster’s words. Or to be used and killed by Baron, who doesn’t even treat you like a person.”
My pupils shook for a moment at Kiss’s words. This was definitely a line that wasn’t in the original work.
‘Did Kiss know? That Ash was being abused by Baron?’
In the original, he was portrayed as having absolutely no interest in Ash whatsoever. Without realizing it, I habitually tapped my index finger on my knee. It was a habit that only came out when I was thinking. Kiss, who had been staring intently at my actions, shrugged his shoulders with a bright smile as if he’d never looked serious.
“Of course, the choice is yours. Interpreting the Ancient Language while risking your life isn’t an easy thing. I won’t penalize you for refusing either.”
“I’ll do it. However, I also have conditions.”
As soon as I finished judging, I leaned my upper body forward.
“Please appoint me as the Crown Prince’s exclusive attendant.”
“Reason?”
“In case I happen to die, it would be better to have a clear position. For things like compensation. Or achievements.”
Silence flowed at my detached answer. Kiss, who had been staring at me blankly, spoke as if surprised.
“You speak as if death doesn’t particularly frighten you.”
“It’s not that I’m not frightened.”
“Then?”
“I want to stand against my fate at least once.”
I spoke without a moment’s hesitation and looked straight at Kiss. Stillness filled the air. When Kiss’s foot lightly kicked the table leg with a thud, tea sloshed from the teacup. Kiss, who had been sneaking glances at me, grabbed a few more sugar cubes and dropped them into his tea. I spoke with a furrowed brow.
“Don’t sneakily add more sugar cubes in the middle of an important conversation.”
“Usually the attendants won’t let me eat much because it’s bad for my health. Cut me some slack.”
“Can you even taste the tea?”
“Want to try it?”
As if.
I stood up expressionlessly and bowed my head. Since the deal was finished, I had no more business with Kiss. I asked Kiss, who was sipping his tea, in a dry voice.
“That’s all my conditions. Do you have anything else to say?”
“Good, that’s all fine. But you still have to pass a minimum entrance exam. I’m quite the stickler for principles.”
“……”
“There’s one unique tradition among the attendants entering the imperial palace. When joining, superiors and subordinates share one secret each with each other. You could call it a kind of oath.”
Come to think of it, there seemed to be such a tradition. Unlike me, whose complexion had rapidly deteriorated, Kiss had an expression like he was dying of amusement. I opened my mouth with a sour expression, gaze lowered.
“When I was young.”
“When you were young?”
“I drank urine.”
Kiss, who had a puzzled expression for a moment, asked in a voice full of interest.
“Why on earth? How did that happen?”
“I was locked in a room… it was summer and I was on the verge of dehydration. It tasted more ordinarily bad than expected, so I remember thinking it wasn’t quite the worst.”
“……”
“Though after that, I became a bit afraid of situations where I’m locked somewhere.”
It was a story from when I was briefly adopted into an ordinary family from the orphanage. They’d lock me in the storage room at the drop of a hat and give me neither food nor water, so I had no choice but to survive that way.
It wasn’t particularly a secret, but since it was the first time I’d confessed it to someone like this, I felt strangely awkward. Kiss, who had been silent, lowered his head slightly. Then his shoulders shook.
“Sorry, sorry. It’s just such an unexpected secret.”
In the end, Kiss, unable to hold back his laughter, laughed aloud. Unlike him, my expression grew increasingly sour. I felt it when reading the original work too, but his personality was oddly twisted. Kiss, who had been cracking up by himself for a while, caught his breath and made an apologetic expression.
“Sorry for laughing so much—it must have been a terrible memory for you. So the thing Ash is most afraid of is a situation where you’re locked somewhere and have to drink urine instead of water?”
“Roughly speaking.”
“I feel like I’m going to throw up everything I just ate. The worst.”
“Now please tell me Kilius-nim’s secret.”
What kind of secret will come out? Well, given Kiss’s personality of not revealing himself well, it won’t be such a big secret. But even a trivial weakness might help with survival someday.
“Your secret was so impressive that my secret doesn’t even seem like a secret.”
Mischief flickered in his gray eyes, which seemed to be pondering for a moment. At Kiss’s action of suddenly standing up, I instinctively pulled one foot back. Even though Ash wasn’t short either, there was quite a difference in build.
The sense of intimidation was felt just from looking up. Kiss, who had been looking around, bent his upper body slightly. Like a child telling a secret, he curved his hand and brought it to his mouth.
“You know, me.”
“……”
“Actually, men are possible too.”
His long, horizontally torn eyes folded into crescents. I asked back in a bewildered voice.
“What do you mean by possible…”
“I mean that all sorts of lewd things done with women are also possible with men.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. Because he specifically said ‘lewd things,’ I couldn’t pretend not to understand. The shock was greater because I prided myself on knowing everything about Kiss as an avid reader of FluffyChron. So, Kilius Zebron, who made readers cry and laugh with all sorts of overpowered actions…
Meant he was gay.
* * *
‘I didn’t plan to confess it this way.’
The smile disappeared from the lips of Kiss, who had been grinning at Ash’s pale complexion. It was a secret he hadn’t told anyone since confessing it to his nanny as a child.
Following the nanny’s advice not to tell anyone, there was one reason he impulsively brought out that secret he’d kept hidden.
‘I can’t let go of a fish I’ve raised in a fishbowl.’
Kiss recalled the day he first met Ash. Helping Ash, who was being beaten to death by noble children, was all calculated behavior.
The Serpent Family was a conservative faction that supported direct bloodline succession to the throne. Backed by the power of the Empress, the current power holder in the imperial family, they actively prevented Kiss’s forces from growing stronger. For Kiss, who harbored plots to usurp the throne, they were no small annoyance.
No matter how he was treated by those around him, Ash was an adopted son of the Serpent Family. That meant he was one of the few people who knew the Serpent Family’s internal affairs. Ash, who didn’t notice Kiss’s schemes, would readily talk about sensitive family matters with his earlobes flushed every time.
Ash was foolish to the point of stupidity. He didn’t know how to scheme for ambition or how to hide his emotions. He was the complete opposite of Kiss, who could readily ignore his own feelings for the greater cause.
But at the same time, that aspect was amusing and entertaining. For Kiss, who hadn’t had much fun since childhood, trampling on the pure heart Ash offered was a very entertaining thing.
‘But the current Ash is, how should I say…’
Looking at that cold face that didn’t smile for him like usual made him strangely irritated. Kiss, who had been quietly watching the silent Ash, muttered with an expression of boredom.
“How annoying.”
Ash, whose body had flinched, raised his head. Kiss, who quickly returned to a refreshing expression, smiled brightly.
“I enjoyed the tea.”
“……”
“I’ll send a carriage soon, Ash. Take good care of yourself until then.”
Kiss passed by the frozen Ash and left the drawing room. Kiss, chewing over the sweetness remaining in his mouth several times, muttered meaningfully.
“I don’t particularly need Ash once he’s been sucked dry.”
The unceasing rain fiercely pounded the window. It was a downpour that seemed to herald an impending storm.
