'Shuu is acting weird. Is he… avoiding me? But why…? And why is it bothering me like this?'
Prince Kaiden felt conflicting emotions inside him as he followed after Shuu. But instead of facing these emotions, he decided to bottle them up and continue like he always had.
He was sure that whatever he was feeling was because of his lingering feelings from before and nothing else. After all, he already had someone he liked in a romantic way…
So for now, he kept following Shuu, not wanting to be separated from him. And it was beginning to get on Shuu's nerves.
'Why won't Prince Kaiden leave me alone? He has no reason to follow me around like this… He's behaving almost as if he likes me…'
It was an almost scary thought to have. Mostly because Shuu did not want to get his hopes up, only for them to get dashed later.
So that's why he started to walk faster. But then the crown prince started to walk faster, causing him to try and walk even faster.
But in terms of stamina, Shuu was no match for the crown prince, and he ended up getting caught. His chest heaved as he tried to get more oxygen in, but it was of no use.
He ended up coughing, and Prince Kaiden immediately soothed his back to make him feel better.
"Are you feeling fine? Maybe we have been out here too long. Let's get you back inside where you can rest. Tsk, you are still burning up. What was the healer thinking, letting you out like this?"
Prince Kaiden sounded worried and agitated. Shuu had a sudden feeling that his decision would put the healer in charge of him in danger.
So he decided to head back inside before a tragedy could take place.
"The healer does not know that I am out here, and I would prefer it if you don't blame him. I will head in now. Have a good night, Prince Kaiden."
Shuu was surprised at how confident and calm he sounded. Inside, he was panicking, wondering if this was too much. What if he lost what little affection the prince had left for him?
'But does it even matter at this point? It would be so much better if I had no expectations to begin with…'
Shuu told himself as he went back to his room. Prince Kaiden followed him for a while before he left Shuu alone and went his own way.
The familiar reception made Shuu feel a little better about his decision, but his sleep was not as peaceful as he wanted it to be.
The healer quickly came to check on him after an hour and hissed at how high Shuu's temperature had gotten.
"Tsk, what happened to you? I just left you alone for an hour or so, and you were doing fine as well. Ugh, this is such a nightmare…"
The healer complained, now suddenly afraid that he would die because of what had just happened. So he did his best to make sure such a tragedy would not come to pass.
__________
"What happened…? Were we not getting along well? I thought I finally had someone to talk to… sigh. Maybe I should cut Shuu some slack as well. He is currently sick."
Despite what was said about him, Prince Kaiden was not a completely hopeless person. He was understanding and made decisions with his mind… except when it came to Sera.
Sera was someone irreplaceable in his life. She was his eternal partner and the one he had vowed his life to. She was the one Prince Kaiden wanted to spend his life with and take along.
Unfortunately, she was sickly and could not endure all this.
He had resigned himself to spending a lifetime without her when he came across Shuu.
For some reason, his senses, which were not supposed to react for anyone other than Sera, suddenly flared up. And by the time he realized what he had been doing, he had already marked Shuu.
Weirdly enough, he had never felt arousal with Sera before. But with Shuu… somehow, he always ended up losing his reason. He had never experienced this before, so he did not know how to stop it.
And now, even his mood was being affected because Shuu refused to talk to him about what was bothering him.
He slammed the door as he entered the house, and Liam flinched as soon as he noticed him.
"Prince Kaiden, is something wrong? You look… a little worried…"
Liam asked in a worried voice, but Prince Kaiden only sighed.
"Is there a reason Shuu might not want to talk to me or avoid me? I mean, I don't remember making him angry or annoyed with me. Can you think of a reason?"
Liam sighed, recalling a lot of reasons. But he treasured his life enough not to say them.
Still, as Prince Kaiden's aide, he needed to nudge him in the right direction.
"Hmm, maybe it's because you talked to him about Lady Sera. After all, isn't Shuu your lover currently? No lover wants to hear about their partner's love life."
"Lovers? Since when were we lovers, Shuu and I? We are just… friends… or rather partners. I've told you this before, right? I have someone I love a lot. Only Sera can become my lover. I am sure Shuu understands this as well."
That… Liam was not so sure about.
Shuu might pretend to be fine, but he must be hurt by this decision as well. But because his partner was the hero and Crown Prince Kaiden, he was not able to say anything… just like Liam could do nothing but accept the reality.
"Hmm, you must be right. Maybe the stress of all this got to him. I mean, he had to donate a lot of blood, and he was already not in a good position. And who knows? Maybe this fragile condition might make someone take a liking to him…"
The glare Prince Kaiden leveled at Liam was not one he wanted to see again. He felt like he was about to die if he said anything more.
"Hmm, finding someone for Shuu, huh? I guess it's not a bad idea. But Shuu is… special. So he needs someone special as well. I will only approve of someone who is perfect for Shuu and who would take care of him forever."
Prince Kaiden's words said one thing, but his tone said another. Liam could hear the jealousy in his voice, but he did not want to be the one to point it out and risk his life.