Sweetcrasy

“Haa……”

The real problem was that this new “order” involved Cedar and the Emperor, meaning I had no way of knowing what it entailed in advance. After all, this novel focused on Johan’s life, not the story of the villain Cedar, which was rarely elaborated on. In other words, I had no idea how to support Cedar.

“I don’t think following the order itself will put your life in danger or anything like that…”

Since in the original story, there was no mention of Cedar being injured or anything.

“Still, it’s the Emperor’s command. What if something goes wrong?”

“Yeah. That too… But I personally think I need to return to the Empire with you. If you stay here, I don’t know what might happen to your life.”

“Right…”

The new governor the Emperor would appoint in Cedar’s place did appear in the original, but… I couldn’t even remember his name.

‘Je… or something like that.’

Because in the original, he was just an extra who eventually got assassinated by Johan. The only detail I remembered was how he exploited the Milos people after being appointed as governor…

‘So the chance he’ll treat me well, the Prince of Milos… is zero.’

“If I leave, the one most likely to be appointed as governor is Zenix Rodenire.”

Surprisingly, Cedar seemed to have intel on the governor.

‘Right! Zenix… That was the name.’

Once I heard it, fragments of the original story came back to me. I quickly asked Cedar what kind of person this Zenix was.

“He’s exactly what you’d expect from a high-ranking noble of the Empire.”

“What about his personality?”

“Mm… you know, the kind of bastard you hate on sight.”

Cedar looked straight at me and added bluntly.

“And he is into men.”

“What?”

‘Was that ever mentioned in the original?’

I vaguely remembered that during Johan’s assassination of the governor, Milos ‘ concubine held captive by the governer helped by slipping him a drink laced with a sedative…

‘I assumed it was a woman since they said “concubine.”’

Shocked by the open(?) sexual culture of this world, I stammered.

“…That… that’s… dangerous…”

“Yeah. I actually thought about leaving you here and just ordering the governor not to kill you until I returned… but Zenix’s tastes are a little.”

“Don’t you dare leave me alone.”

Cedar nodded obediently, but furrowed his brow slightly.

“Still, if I want to take hyung with me, I’ll have to come up with another excuse.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I don’t think the pet excuse will work again…”

He was referring to the excuse he’d used at the previous banquet that he wanted to make the prince his pet to humiliate the Milos people. It sounded plausible, but who knew if such a flimsy excuse would work in front of the Emperor?

‘In the original, the Emperor hated Milos enough to destroy it.’

I didn’t know anything else about the Emperor beyond that. So I asked Cedar.

“Based on your experience as Cedar, do you think that excuse will work?”

“No. It could raise unnecessary suspicion.”

Then…

“You remember our previous agreement, right? That I’d become your slave and get dragged to the Empire.”

“Ah… yes.”

“We’re going to have to stick with that plan.”

If Cedar had successfully captured Johan, maybe the pet story might’ve worked with the Emperor. But since he failed…

‘Still, judging from how the Emperor didn’t react much to Johan’s escape… there’s still a chance.’

Maybe, to the Emperor, the fall of Milos was more important than Johan’s life.

Meaning, if we gave the Emperor the right justification… there might be a way to save my life.

“First, we need to let them know you’re pissed about missing Johan. Take it out on ‘Louis’ in front of the imperial knights.”

Cedar seemed to understand and nodded.

“How should I do it?”

“What if you beat me up a little?”

Violence is the most convincing, right? If I showed myself getting beaten up(with consent), everyone would believe Cedar was truly angry at me. But Cedar shook his head.

“If I hit you, you’ll die.”

“I-I said lightly…”

“If I hit you lightly, the knights will know I’m faking it.”

“…Right.”

The imperial Knight had been watching Cedar for a long time to know how strong he was. If he hit me hard enough to fool them, there’s no way I’d survive with my current endurance…

Deep in thought, I asked Cedar,

“About the whole… sex slave thing.”

“Yes?”

“Do we have to do it in front of others?”

“What do you mean by…?”

“I mean… s-sex…”

Cedar was silent for a moment, then answered.

“No.”

“T-then… couldn’t we just pretend? I mean, there’s no one in the bedroom anyway…”

“…”

“We just need the knights here to believe it.”

Cedar looked at my slightly brightened expression and thought for a moment. Then, he nodded affirmatively.

“That might actually work.”

“Okay, then… how about this?”

And so, Cedar and I came up with a pretty convincing “Prince Louis, enslaved” act.

First, using the failure to capture Johan as a premise, Cedar would pretend to be in a bad mood. In front of others, he’d hurl insults and degrading remarks at me. He even grabbed my hair lightly and made threatening statements.

Just as a warm-up, to set the atmosphere in advance.

Then, a week before Cedar’s return to the Empire, we would host a banquet and make the shocking announcement: that I, the prince, would become his sex slave.

***

“This is getting boring.”

Cedar said and looked at me briefly. I knew this was the moment he’d grab my neck, so I took a small breath.

Sure enough, his thick hand reached for my throat.

“guh…! guh…!”

Even though I was mentally prepared and Cedar was trying to hold back his strength, I couldn’t breathe. I instinctively clawed at his forearm, and Cedar gently eased his grip.

Once my complexion returned a bit, Cedar continued with our prearranged script.

“…At first, it was amusing to see a royal squirm and beg…”

“Urgh…!”

“But now, you’re practically useless… not that I can just set you free, either.”

“P-please… I’ll do anything…!”

“Anything?”

“Yes…! W-whatever you command—”

“Hmm… What exactly do you have to offer with that frail body of yours?”

Then, Cedar deliberately ran his gaze slowly over my body. When he said “that body,” he used an imperial slang term. Immanuel, who was standing nearby, seemed to pick up on the nuance and his expression stiffened slightly.

When Cedar eventually declared I’d become his sex slave, Immanuel and the other knights all looked visibly shaken. Most of them grimaced in disgust.

I briefly worried about Cedar’s reputation, but he carried on speaking as if he were made of steel. I, too, feigned a pathetic eagerness to survive and accepted his offer.

“…Fine. If that’s your choice. Who knows, you might even be good at it.”

“Then let me personally initiate you.”

“Haa… haa…”

Then Cedar grabbed me by the hair. This was the climax of our act.

Immanuel opened his mouth as if wanting to intervene, but after seeing Cedar’s feigned excitement, he shut it tightly. And so, once we reached the royal bedroom, we let out a long sigh of relief.

We had pulled it off.