Yunho could barely keep eye contact with the ruby red pair of eyes staring at him. He felt like prey being hunted by a predator.
So, he averted his eyes and decided to take a look at his surroundings.
The Crown Prince had taken them to his room. It was larger than Yunho's and had a small lounge area where they were currently seated.
The lounge area was separated from the bedroom, so it didn't feel like a particularly intimate space.
"Well, it'd be odd if I pulled you out to talk and didn't say a word, so I'll cut to the point," The crown prince said.
Yunho looked back at the man, folding his hands in his lap to prevent them from shaking.
"What's your relationship with the Grand Duke?"
"..."
For some reason, Yunho really didn't expect that question. And even more, he didn't expect not to know how to answer it.
Yunho drummed his fingers on his thigh.
"Oh, the Duke? His Grace was kind to me when I moved to the North, and we've been acquaintances since."
He didn't intentionally do it, but Yunho heard his voice go up towards the end of his response. Like even his subconscious was questioning the words coming out of his mouth.
But what else was he supposed to say? It would be embarrassing to say they were anything closer if the feeling wasn't mutual.
The Crown Prince went quiet for a moment.
"I don't mean to sound accusatory, but, quite frankly, I don't know if I believe you. If you're worried, just know, I'm not prejudiced against same sex relations."
Yunho's mind went blank. He could feel his cheeks get blazing hot. There was obviously a huge misunderstanding here.
He and the Grand Duke.... Having a relationship like that
Yunho shook his head.
"Ah, no, really... His Grace and I aren't in any type of... romantic relationship. At most, we just help each other out sometimes." Yunho replied sheepishly.
The Crown Prince hummed in thought.
"Oh, so it's just a sexual relationship?" The man asked, blasé.
"..."
Yunho felt like his head was going to explode. Involuntarily, it was suddenly filled with visualizations of the Grand Duke and him....
He wished he could slap the invading thoughts out of his brain.
"I would rather this conversation was about Irene than whatever's happening now..." Yunho thought.
It felt like they were playing the Misunderstanding Game...
"No... I meant what's between His Grace and me is completely platonic. We're not even particularly close. I just needed help breaking into the social scene, and he helped me due to my aid efforts in the North." Yunho said.
Then, he remembered something. The Crown Prince had seen them underneath the tree! That probably was what sparked this misunderstanding.
"If this is about me helping the Grand Duke sleep, that was just an act of kindness for everything he's helped me with. There were no other motives behind it," Yunho stated.
The Crown Prince looked over Yunho like he was slowly analyzing him.
Finally, the man spoke again, like a judge announcing the final ruling.
"Well, you seem to be telling the truth. Feel free to go now."
And the ruling was... Not Guilty!
Yunho considered quickly leaving, but he felt a little aggrieved to just leave now after being interrogated like that.
He debated asking the question on his mind, but Yunho decided to take the risk.
"But, why does Your Royal Highness want to know?"
For the Crown Prince to take time out of his day, just to ask him these questions.... Yunho couldn't help but wonder why it mattered so much to him.
The Crown Prince's eyes slightly widened in surprise before he smiled in amusement.
"Of course, it's not like I mean to pry into my dear friend's personal life. But it's quite a predicament for two people I consider on my side to have such drastically different opinions about you." The Prince said.
The Crown Prince didn't even need to say who the other person of the two was for Yunho to immediately know.
Irene...
"Well, maybe Your Royal Highness can get to know me and form an opinion about my character yourself," Yunho said resolutely.
He didn't know where the confidence came from, but the words suddenly ran out of his mouth.
The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow.
"I feel like I already am."
The sentence wasn't an admission of anything like good favor, but it felt promising.
Yunho did a quick bow.
"Then, I'll take my leave now."
The Crown Prince nodded in acknowledgement, and Yunho left the room, taking a gulp of air as soon as he was out.
The outside breeze felt refreshing on his skin. But the day had been quite busy, so Yunho decided that it was a good time to freshen up and head back to his room.
Each dorm building had a designated bathhouse close by but detached from it. The bathhouses had multiple separate stalls that acted as individual bathrooms, so you'd only see anyone while you were leaving or coming in.
Yunho quickly freshened up and changed into his night clothes. It wasn't exactly time to sleep yet, but Yunho felt like he had had enough excitement for the day already. He would just rest in his room for the rest of the day.
Yunho left the bathhouse and was making his way to his room when his stomach grumbled.
He hadn't had a chance to think about it earlier because he was talking with the Prince, but thinking about it now, Yunho realized that he never got to eat today!
The canteen workers were supposed to eat after mealtimes ended, so since he was dragged away early, Yunho never got to eat. He sighed.
"It's fine..." Yunho grumbled to himself. His stomach grumbled back.
Yunho arrived at his room and plopped himself down on the bed. He hadn't gone hungry in so long that the sensation felt foreign.
"Maybe I really am a spoiled young master," Yunho remarked to himself.
Then, suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"It's me, Drelle! I came to give you something." Said a voice from outside the room.
Yunho got out of bed and slowly opened the door.
There, standing outside, was Drelle, holding a bag.
Yunho was about to say something when Drelle held the bag out for Yunho to take. A nice smell wafted out from it, reigniting his hunger.
Yunho took the bag and peered inside. Just as he thought he had smelled, there were a couple of pieces of bread.
"I realized that you left before you could eat anything, so I made sure to get you something," Drelle said.
"It's the least I could do. Consider it thanks for giving me that salve," The man continued.
Yunho looked at him with awe. Drelle had really come to his aid two times in one day. And they had only known each other for that one day.
"I definitely was mistaken about his reaction at the canteen earlier. I feel silly for overthinking now," Yunho thought, giving Drelle a smile.
"Thank you so much! You've really been today's hero for me!"
Drelle smiled back and nodded, turning to leave.
"As I said, it's really the least I could do." The man said before waving goodbye.
Yunho closed the door and sat back down on his bed, placing the bag of bread on his lap.
He helped himself to a piece, happily satiating his hunger.
Yunho was halfway through the second piece of bread when he heard another knock at the door.
"Did Drelle come back? Maybe he has some of the stew with him this time."
Yunho placed the remaining half of the bread back in the bag and opened the door.
But the person standing there was not Drelle.
"I know I said I wanted to interact with more people here, but this is not what I meant!" Yunho inwardly complained.
He stared at the familiar woman standing in his doorway, and her piercing blue eyes stared back at him.
"Hello, brother."
----
Earlier-
"I'm bored..." A temple worker groaned. She and a fellow temple worker were taking a quick walk outside.
They had both grown up in the temple and had only recently come of age to devote themselves fully to Baihye, so they lacked any high-ranking position, leaving them with more time to spend chatting and taking walks like these.
The other temple worker hushed her.
"Merit, don't say that too loudly! Our duty isn't to have fun." She said, but after taking a quick look around, she began to whisper.
"But being honest, I feel that way too."
Merit rubbed her chin. Then, an idea came to her.
"I know, let's play the spotting game! I'll go first." The girl said.
She looked around for a few seconds before speaking again in a rhythmic voice.
"I see. I see. Do you know what I mean, when I say I see something... that crawls?"
The other temple worker scanned the area around them before spotting a bug crawling through the grass next to them.
"I think, I think I know what you mean... Is it that bug?" She said.
Merit nodded.
"Yes! I feel like I can never stump you in this game. Okay, your turn, Charisse."
Charisse started the chant while looking around.
"I see. I see. Do you know what I mean, when I say I see something-," The girl paused.
"...strange," Charisse continued, but it was obvious that her focus was directed towards something else.
"What? That's not a very good clue..." Merit commented, but before she could sulk anymore, Charisse tugged at Merit's wrist and pointed into the distance.
"No, I meant 'strange'. What's going on there?" Charisse said.
Merit followed where Charisse's finger was pointed, and there, she saw two figures walking by.
"His Royal Highness... And is that Her Holiness' brother? What are they doing together?" Merit said. Her voice quirked up in surprise.
"I don't know... Where do you think they're going?" Charisse responded.
The two girls exchanged a glance and began following the pair of men at a distance. They just meant to trail them for a moment, but then they saw the two men enter the Crown Prince's room.
The two girls exchanged another glance and ran back to the temple workers' quarters.
They could hardly catch their breath, but they already were buzzing and chatting about what they had just seen. A group of four other younger temple workers had gathered around Merit and Charisse, excited to hear what they'd been up to.
Charisse gladly took center stage of the circle to share their findings.
"Well, Merit and I were taking a quick walk around the base when we saw something very strange... The Crown Prince and Iris, that brother of His Holiness, were walking together. But that's not all; we then saw them go into His Royal Highness's room! Just the two of them." Charisse recounted.
Charisse was about to speak again when she noticed that everyone's eyes were on something behind her. Before she could turn around, Charisse felt a hand on her shoulder. The only thing she could see was silver strands of hair in her peripheral.
Charisse slowly turned to face the woman behind her.
"Your Holiness! Sorry for slacking off..." She exclaimed.
Irene shook her head and softly patted the girl's shoulder.
"No, it's fine. I'd never be offended by some harmless fun. But I do wish to ask... What did you just say?"
---
Irene was a whirlwind when she made it back to her room. She couldn't show any of her anger before because she was in public, but now in private, Irene could hardly restrain herself from punching a hole in the wall.
"Nikolai and Iris... Nikolai... and Iris..." Irene repeated to herself.
Irene didn't think Nikolai was cheating on her or doing anything akin to betrayal, as the likelihood the prince had suddenly been enraptured by Iris's charms seemed quite low.
But even the reality that Nikolai and Iris were simply having a chat felt threatening to Irene.
"Iris... Iris... Iris..."
The woman sighed and rubbed her head.
She hated how often she had to think about that name lately.
"Hah, I really didn't want it to come to this..." Irene muttered to herself before pulling out a box from under her bed.
"But you've really forced me to be the villain here, Iris."
---
End of Chapter 37