by Dr. D
“The earth dragon still refused to attack.” The nobleman anxiously glanced at the queen and quickly switched another horn.
The white dragon in the pit growled and extended its membrane wings. Its cold silver eyes locked onto the person in the center.
It was who Acheron stood there, expressionless.
The ice dragon growled with its jaw wide open until its scales all frozen solid with the moisture in the air. The entire space was covered by a thick layer of white frost. The white dragon seemed to gain some comfort from the action and had the courage to lurch forward toward the prince.
The limited space made it harder for the dragon to maneuver. It bumped around like a bird trying to fly out of a cage, but Acheron always managed to veer out of the way of the attacks.
The brown earth dragon was stressed out by the situation, seemingly dreadful of the possibility that Acheron might cast his magical spell. It continued to avoid Acheron, and eventually roared with anger and confronted the white dragon. A sharp stone spear shot out of thin air, aiming at the white dragon’s throat.
However, the stone was frozen by the ice dragon and had become brittle by the time it hit the ice dragon’s hard scales. It shattered down to the floor into countless pieces.
The agitated white dragon widened its jaw and turned to bite the earth dragon. They started to fight each other. The blood that was drawn from their fangs rapidly turned into black ice on the ground.
Acheron shifted between small bumps on the wall that worked as footrests and remained unhurt and aloof in the middle of the chaos.
“Break the fight,” the queen said with a frown. Dragons were too valuable for them to lose one in a meaningless fight.
The older man hurriedly picked up another horn and held both of them up. The effects were not immediate, but the dragons were influenced by his actions and eventually calmed down.
“Should we switch to the water and fire dragons, your majesty?” the old nobleman asked. Certain combinations of elements were kept so there was less chance than the dragons could seriously damage each other or strengthen each other and escape.
“No …” The queen raised her arm. “It shall suffice for the day.”
The nobleman bowed slightly in acknowledgment and then spoke reluctantly. “Your majesty, controlling a living dragon is an unprecedented and challenging task ...”
“You are the best bone craft master alive; I trust your abilities,” the queen said.
The older man grimaced a little. There was no doubt that he wanted to succeed as well. Tame dragons would be able to breed with each other and drastically reduce the cost of obtaining an advanced elemental stone. Live dragons would also be more powerful than bone crafts when used in battle.
He would be forever remembered in history with an achievement like this.
However, having a test battle this often was still a bit excessive. It gave him a lot of pressure to make some process.
“Your Majesty should put your health at first and have plenty of rest.” He chose his words carefully and looked up at the queen.
“No.” The queen glanced down at the pit instead. “It is important to keep a monster’s energy drained.”
Acheron slowly looked up from the pit and met the queen’s gaze.
“I have never seen him acknowledging anything more than twenty feet away from him,” the queen murmured lightly.
The senior bone crafter wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and kept silent. The distance was exactly the length of a dungeon cell.
“Words also used to be no different to any other background noises to him,” the queen continued.
The senior crafter nodded ever so slightly. He had been working for the queen long enough to make the observation. The sensitivity to language and expressions that were second nature to most people didn’t seem to exist in the prince’s brain.
“But that has been changing,” the queen said without any emotions; her expression was hidden behind the black veil.
“Had he killed any other dragon?” the queen suddenly asked.
“No. Aside from the accident with the ice dragon last time,” the crafter said apologetically. That ice dragon lost control due to an error on his part.
The prince had indeed started behaving differently. But it was still hard for him to imagine the prince initiating any attack. In fact, Acheron barely acknowledged the dragons other than when a dragon’s claws were inches away from slicing his skin open.
The queen seemed almost displeased with the answer.
Down in the pit, Acheron stepped toward the dragons. Without the manipulation from above, both dragons backed away with submission. The brown dragon gagged and threw up a small rock with shiny color. It rolled on the ground and hit the tip of Acheron’s foot.
It was a rock mixed with gold.
Acheron glanced at it and seemed to consider it for a moment. He eventually accepted it and put it into his pocket.
“Should I tell them to restrict his access?” the crafter asked, knowing that the prince had started to take valuable items out of the dragon cells.
“No need,” the queen said coldly and stood up.
The bone craft master bowed deeply as the queen left. He pursed his lips and told himself to keep his curiosity in check. Even his skills might not be able to save his life if he asked too much.
Later, the queen’s dragon bone craft landed back in the garden of the palace.
The door of the bone craft opened and Acheron stepped out eagerly to head back to the palace.
“Doesn’t it feel wonderful to love someone?” Queen Evdokia smoothed out the none wrinkles on her glove and suddenly asked
The prince stopped abruptly.
Evdokia clenched her hands together. Her voice was low and cold. “Just imagine the pain of losing …”
Acheron looked back and locked his gaze on the queen. His jaws were tight, but he didn’t say anything.
For a moment, they stood silently. There seemed to be an abyss that separated them from the tender and colorful flowers blooming around them.
The queen gazed deeply into the garden in the direction of the rose garden. Agony and recollection filled her voice. “The pain of witnessing her painful death and then never, never being able to see her again.
“You are a killer.” The queen squeezed each word out of her hoarse throat, and Acheron shut his eyes. “How funny is it that you would actually care about someone, to have desires and weakness?” There was no humor in the queen’s voice, only contorted hatred. “Isn’t that toy of yours scared that he would die at your hands?”
Acheron’s shoulder shook, and he strode toward the palace without looking back. He wanted to see Dezi, wanted to feel his golden hair and tasted his lips. The desire was drilling through his bones and devouring his flesh. He walked faster and faster, and then started running through the wide hallway.
He burst into the room with uneven breath.
The flashy sunlight hit his eyes.
But Dezi was not there.
Acheron walked to the window and gripped onto the curtains that he had learned to leave open.
Dezi had promised he would be back before he did. Acheron’s fingers tightened.
The air he breathed in stalled in his chest and turned into a sharp stone that sunk into his stomach.
Where was Dezi?
The prince let go of the curtains, slid down to the floor, and tucked his head between his knees.
Chapter 19
“Fucking bitch.” Dezi cursed and rolled a letter into a ball and stuffed it in his bag. He had been trying to get Stacy to fall in love with him, but despite Dezi’s efforts, Stacy’s response had always been ambiguous, swimming in the gray area between friends and lovers. Dezi had to suspect that she was playing this game with many other gentlemen and wouldn’t make her decision easily.
Today Dezi was going to bite the bullet and confess to her on their date, but after waiting for her for hours, all he got was a letter.
“Hey,” Dezi said with a slight smile when he saw the prince, who was waiting for him by the gate.
Acheron jumped in the slow-moving carriage before Dezi could get off. Dezi chuckled at his pointless move and looked around. It was dusk, and the last bit of sunlight was disappearing in the horizon. The darkness blended the statue-like guards well into the surroundings and blocked out their concealed glances in their direction.
Dezi patted the prince’s poker face and pushed it away. “I told you not to wait here.”
Acheron had been waiting for him at the gate ever since he started regularly coming back late.
Acheron’s expression was a bit obscure in the dark, but his voice came through clearly. “Where did you go?”
“Nowhere.” Dezi threw it out light and curt, like a bird’s chirp, as he stood up and brushed past the prince.
The carriage had come to a stop in front of the main entrance. Dezi jumped off and paid the coachman without looking back at the prince. The coachman bowed several times timidly as he accepted the payment. “Thank you, my lord.”
Dezi glanced at the man who had understandably mistaken him as a noble and answered him with an ambiguous nod before he headed toward the palace door.
As Dezi reached his hand out to open the door, it was pushed toward him from within.
Dezi had to step back to avoid the swinging door before he looked up.
It was Mathew who was standing in the well-lit palace hall.
“My lord.” Dezi ignored the prince that came to his side and bowed to Mathew.
“Please make sure to be back early tomorrow,” Mathew said.
Dezi glanced up at Mathew’s face.
“There will be a dinner party that his highness needs to attend,” Mathew’s gaze fell on the prince, who was studying Dezi’s profile with a perverse focus. It was clear that Mathew doubted the prince would show up if Dezi wasn’t there.
“Yes, my lord.” Dezi held onto Acheron’s hand that was touching his neck and dragged it down without looking too obvious. “I will make sure his highness will attend.”
Dezi gave Mathew a smile, but Mathew’s face was cold. Dezi felt the old man’s piercing gaze looked through his skin and scrutinized every vile grime in his organs.
As Dezi was almost certain that Mathew was going to say something harsh, Mathew only told Dezi to take his leave.
Dezi bowed again and headed down the hallway.
Dezi dropped Acheron’s hand as they got back to the bedroom. “What is with this dinner party tomorrow?” he murmured as he unbuttoned his coat. Dinner parties were held on all the time in the palace, and Acheron was never required to attend before.
“Where did you go?” Acheron grabbed Dezi’s arm and asked again.
Dezi glared at the prince at the corner of his eyes. He had heard this question like a thousand times in the past few days. But Acheron’s features looked very delicate under the dim light of the candles in the room.
Dezi swallowed back his annoyance. “Nowhere.” He pulled the prince closer, holding his face only an inch away from Acheron, and whispered, “Don’t worry.”
Acheron’s black eyes squinted and leaned in to kiss Dezi.
Dezi was glad to make the prince forget his question, but his brows knitted up as Acheron knocked him against the door and bit his lips. The leather bag on his shoulder dropped onto the floor, and a scrambled letter along with a few books fell out.
Dezi shoved Acheron several times and had to gasp for air when Acheron finally let him go.
“It hurts.” Dezi covered his mouth and snatched his bag from the floor.
Acheron picked up the scrambled paper that rolled to his feet and stared down at it.
“Hey.” Dezi shoved something at the prince.
Acheron looked up and saw Dezi snicker. “Put this on.”
It was a lady’s nightgown made out of silk that Dezi pulled out from his bag.
Dezi was going to give this to Lisa and told her to stop bothering him. He didn’t want Stacey to find out that he slept around before seeing her. But Dezi was frustrated with Stacey and suddenly wanted to use it to tease the prince more.
The prince stared at Dezi and wasn’t sure what to do.
Dezi took the letter out of the prince’s hand and casually threw it in the trash bin. He unbuttoned the prince’s garments and put the dress on him.
Dezi broke out in laughers at the sight of Acheron. The dress didn’t fit well. The prince was too tall, his shoulders were too broad, and his appearance too handsome.
Acheron wasn’t bothered by the dress. He swallowed at Dezi’s smiling face and pecked on Dezi’s lips again.
Dezi’s laughers turned into a crooked smile and he rubbed Acheron’s face with his fingertips. The eyes under his fingers looked back at him with undivided focus. Dezi’s smiled slowly ceased.
“I don’t know what she got to be so proud of.” Dezi was reminded of Stacy’s attitude and murmured. “You know who really is the most beautiful person I have ever seen? It is you. And I bet you would marry me in a heartbeat if you were a girl--” Dezi’s words were blocked by Acheron’s lips.
Acheron pushed Dezi’s shirt up and palmed through his skin. Dezi was still lean, but muscles had replaced the rib bones on his torso after the recent improvement in his diet.
Dezi whipped his head away and said breathily, “Ha, you would just jump on the chance, wouldn’t you? Get down.” Dezi pressed on Acheron’s head.
Dezi’s dick had started to swell in anticipate when it was taken in the prince’s mouth.
Dezi stared down at Acheron and combed through the fine black hair. He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. Seeing this refined face doing dirty and lewd things never failed to please him, and tonight it looked even more erotic with the feminine dress.
“Look at you.” Dezi noticed the Acheron’s raging erection under the silk fabric and pressed it lightly with his foot. “Getting so excited already. That is not very ladylike,” Dezi said tauntingly as he stepped down harder. Acheron moaned quietly under his breath, but couldn’t make out a word with Dezi’s erection in his mouth.
Dezi grinned at the carnal expression the prince made. It had become easy for him to break Acheron’s impassive face.
“Does it feel that good just to suck me, huh?” Dezi smirked. “Look at you, it is like that you...” Dezi had a word stuck in his throat. The realization sent a coldness down his back and took the teasing words right out of his mouth
“Dezi...” The prince took Dezi’s dick out of his mouth and looked up.
Dezi’s skin shook with the prince’s hoarse voice. Since when did the prince started to actually call his name?
Dezi looked down and clearly saw a reflection of himself in Acheron’s black eyes. He shivered and stepped back as if those bottomless eyes had opened up to swallow him.
Acheron fell forward with his hands on the floor and ejaculated. Semen stained the white dress in pulses.
“Dezi ...” Acheron called for him again, but Dezi frowned deeply and walked away further.
The prince’s infatuation with him started as game and fun, but it had grown into something heavy and overbearing when he wasn’t looking.
Chapter 20
The princess noticed them from across the hall.
Dezi’s blonde hair stood out a bit, but the rest of him had been converted perfectly to an image of nobility. Acheron, on the other hand, was following him step by step, almost like a shadow. Their figures were nearly identical, except that Dezi was wearing a white waistcoat with gold trim and Acheron was wearing a black one.
Tatiana saw the way Acheron stared at Dezi. Those eyes were so dark and focused, like a starving panther looking at the fresh meat in its trainer’s hand. The poor animal had done all the required tricks and couldn’t figure out why he was still deprived of his reward.
The princess’s lips curved up
as she came right behind Dezi. She stood and smiled under the warning eyes of Acheron until she turned to Dezi and spoke.
“That is Lord Marcel, the Duke of Ushuocia.”
Dezi was startled. He was looking at the queen, who having a seemingly unpleasant conversation with a nobleman in his late forties. He turned to face the princess and realized that she was telling him who that nobleman was.
“Your highness.” Dezi faltered and hesitated to kneel down.
“No need.” Tatiana smiled and held up Dezi’s elbow. She shot a glance behind Dezi and was amused to see the panther in Acheron’s eyes bristle and glow with jealousy. She had come too close to his food. “It will attract too much attention,” the princess whispered to Dezi.
Dezi felt his face burn. He was the only commoner in this grandiose dancing hall. The only one that was supposed to bow deeply to the nobles and kneel down to greet the royals. If he followed the rule, he would be facing the ground every time someone walked past him.
“Would you come with me, Acheron?” Tatiana’s gaze swirled from Dezi’s face to the prince. “I think mother was expecting you.”
Acheron didn’t respond.
“The princess requires your attention, your highness.” Dezi said after the silence had made him uncomfortable.
Acheron tried to reach for Dezi’s hand, but Dezi stepped away. He hadn’t given Acheron one good look since last night.
The princess’ mouth parted when she saw that turbulence in the prince’s eyes again, brewing under the surface like a volcano waiting for its time.
“Acheron, the queen …” the princess said again.
Acheron clenched his jaw tight, glanced at Tatiana with almost visible annoyance, and strode toward the queen.
“Interesting.” Tatiana murmured with her lips curving up.
Dezi looked up when he heard the princess’s words. But Tatiana already turned around and left, leaving Dezi in the spot like a tool that had lost its use.
Dezi pursed his lips and picked up a glass of wine from all the selection on the table. He sipped it slowly and wandered to the edge of the room.
