before he was crowned king

In Alex's mind, Sean's room should be as simple and clean as his own, but when he saw a table full of desserts, he stopped.

"A lot of desserts." Erics looked a little dull, "Is this... are you going to prepare afternoon tea?"

Sean made tea beside him, "If you want to eat, you're welcome, these desserts can't be stored for too long, it's a pity if they go bad."

"But, why are there so many?" Alex was still staring at the various desserts on the table in a daze, "Are these bought in the college restaurant? Sean, do you like sweets?"

"It's for a friend." Sean said lightly, he motioned for Alex to sit down, and handed him another cup of black tea with milk.

Erics held the warm porcelain cup, and the dense white steam fluttered in front of his field of vision, and suddenly he seemed to remember something.

"Is it your friend who often asks you to help bring desserts?" Alex asked.

"Well, it's him." Sean paused slightly, "Have you had dinner?"

"No, no, but I'm not too hungry." Alex lowered his head and touched his stomach.

"If you don't mind, just use some." Sean put a scone dotted with cranberries in front of Alex, and smeared a circle of jam thoughtfully.

"Can you eat it for me?" Alex said, "You said it was for a friend..."

"He probably won't come at this time." Sean said calmly, "Desserts can't be left out for too long. If you don't eat them, they will be wasted."

"You must be very good friends." Erics broke open the scones in front of him, his expression becoming more and more lonely, "Even if you can't make the appointment, you won't be angry. It's great to trust and tolerate each other unconditionally."

"He probably doesn't have such a good temper." Sean replied, taking out spare mattresses and quilts from the cabinet, and spreading them on the floor layer by layer.

"I'm sorry, Sean, I've caused you trouble again." Alex looked at the young man's busyness and felt guilty, "Actually, I can go back to my dormitory, but I'm the only one there, I want to find someone to tell Talk, and then I don't know why I want to come to you."

"How do you know I live in this room?"

"I met a shaggy-haired senior in the hall, and he told me." Alex scratched his hair.

"That's probably Senior Stephen." Sean said, "Would you mind sleeping in my bed?"

"Ah, I, I just need to sleep on the ground!" Alex felt a little hot on his face, feeling very embarrassed by his actions, "It doesn't matter what I do, I am already very grateful if you are willing to take me in gone."

"Since you are here, you are the guest, and it is also a kind of etiquette for the guest to follow the host."

"Yes, I'm sorry." Alex apologized softly, looking like a child who was criticized by his parents for doing something wrong.He turned his head, his eyes fell on the scones in his hand, and his eyes couldn't help but sink.

Sean didn't speak, and it's not hard to guess what Alex was worrying about, presumably it was because Mrs. Mary's matter had been hit hard.

Alex split the scone in half from the middle, took a bite, and looked a little surprised.

"Is this salty?"

"Really?" Sean flipped through the book in his hand, "But scones are indeed salty."

"Everyone says that scones are the first dessert that girls learn from their mothers." Alex rolled his throat and took a sip of black tea.

"Ah, after all, it is an indispensable part of afternoon tea for nobles."

"I think the salty taste is better, but in my memory, the afternoon tea at home has always been sweet," Alex broke open the scones in his hand again, looking at the sprinkled crumbs that seemed to be sweet. Thinking about something, he murmured, "I didn't know there were salty ones. All along, I accepted what they gave me. I always thought that everyone's scones were sweet."

Sean listened silently. He knew that Alex's heart was full of unspeakable bitterness. Mrs. Mary's actions subverted Alex's cognition. The once elegant and dignified mother turned into a cruel and vicious mother. This kind of tangled sense of guilt will undoubtedly make the kind-hearted and upright son fall into painful torment.

"After eating, remember to wash up." Sean glanced at the needles on the clock, it was time for him to sleep, "There is a set of clothes that I haven't worn, change them before going to bed."

"I... I usually don't wear it to sleep..." Seeing the other party looking at him, Erics fell silent halfway through his words.

"I see, I will change it." Alex sighed, and suddenly let out a low smile, "Sean, you speak like Grandpa Toms."

"Is it the butler I met last time?"

"Well, Grandpa Toms took care of me when I was young." After finishing eating, Alex cleared the tableware and table, "What about the leftover desserts?"

"Let's put it there, maybe some cats will come to eat when they are hungry at night." Sean said casually.

"Are there cats that eat sweets?" Alex was a little shocked, "I only shared some dried fish and meat with them."

It was dark outside, and Alex went to the cubicle to wash and put on light cotton clothes. He was about the same size as Sean, except that the arms were a little tight.

He came out wiping his wet hair, and Sean was sitting there applying medicine to the wound on his back.

"I'll help you." Alex's eyes sank and he walked over.

"Thank you." Sean did not refuse, and handed the round iron box with gold patterns to Erics.

"This medicine works very well. After a period of time, the scars will disappear." Erics said, "I have used this before, and it was prepared by Master O'Neill himself."

"Is that so? I don't know. This was bestowed upon me by His Royal Highness Mars."

Hearing the name of "Mars", Alex's expression became more and more tangled, but after much deliberation, he swallowed some words of persuasion.

Although he was very worried, he knew that he was not qualified to dictate other people's lives.

What's more, he himself has brought unnecessary troubles to Sean——

Erics pursed his lips tightly, and the branch-like scars crawled on the smooth and white back. Different from the skin of women, the undulating lines revealed a sense of untouchable sternness.

These are the scars left by Sean protecting him. Erics throat hurts, he doesn't know what to say, he can only quietly help the young man spread the ointment evenly.

The uneven touch on the fingertips made Erics feel extremely guilty. For the first time, he felt that he was such a bad and useless person.

"A little itchy." The person in front said lightly.

Erics came back to his senses, only to realize that his hands had almost slipped to the young man's waist, and quickly painted the rest of the place carefully, "Yes, I'm sorry, I was distracted just now."

"Ok?"

"Okay, okay." Alex returned the ointment to Sean, "Let me sleep on the ground, your back is hurt, the ground is too hard."

"It doesn't matter." In Sean's view, such conditions are already very good. When he lived alone in the village, his sleeping place was only a layer of tattered straw mats. Most people in the village were like this. Stuff a little soft thatch.

This kind of life is definitely not the most difficult in the Sanvia Empire, but even so, it is already unimaginable for people living in the capital.

"But--"

"You just need to keep quiet." Sean lifted the quilt and lay down, closing his eyes. He has to get up early tomorrow.

"I slept soundly." Erics turned off the lamp on the table and assured him in a low voice, "There will be absolutely no movement."

"I hope so." Sean's voice did not fluctuate, "I hope you won't roll out of bed tomorrow morning."

"It was really an accident that time." Lying on the bed, Alex resisted the embarrassment and argued, "I... I don't know what happened, it may be because of a dream."

"Well, good night." The person sleeping on the ground turned his back and ended this boring topic.

Alex sighed, the whole room was silent, and he became more and more anxious, without any sleepiness.

This afternoon he quarreled with his mother for the first time, and tomorrow afternoon he will attend the judgment as heir.

He really didn't know how to face his mother.

Alex turned sideways slightly, under the bath of moonlight, the golden hair refracted dim light, like countless stars hidden in the dark night.

It's an amazing feeling.Just watching this person do nothing, the restlessness in my heart will slowly subside.

Alex had a lot of friends, and he was always popular, but he had never felt such security in his relationship with other people.

His eyes narrowed slightly, tiredness slowly hit him, it seemed that he was used to falling asleep looking at such a back.

"Good night." Alex whispered, not knowing who it was.

Sean was a light sleeper, and when the quilt on the bed fell on him, he was wide awake.

He opened his eyes, looked at the arm that was about to reach the top of his head, was in a daze for a few seconds, and sat up.

It was still early, and the black-haired young man was lying on the bed in an extremely comfortable and free posture, sleeping soundly, but the quilt that covered him last night had long since disappeared.

"What kind of habit is this?" Sean sighed, and after a brief tidying up, he left the dormitory.

Because he was not in the academy, he didn't go to Professor Nick's alchemy room these days. Today is the first day of the end of the holiday. Sean plans to go there early to finish the experiment that he didn't have time to complete during the holiday. The doctor had an explanation before he came back.

Sean took out the key to open the door, but unexpectedly found that the door was unlocked.

He pushed open the door, and a piece of parchment full of calculations fell at his feet, Sean's pupils shrank slightly, and he was surprised that such parchment was scattered all over the floor.

The entire alchemy room was in a mess, as if it had been searched wantonly.

Sean picked up the formula paper that was smacked into a ball on the ground, and briefly glanced at it. The derivation process on it made him a little dazed.

The experimental records above actually involve the zero matter, which is the basic property tested by the Heller God Nucleus.

Then, he heard a slight gnawing sound.

He looked up and saw a figure curled up in a corner, biting the nails of his left hand, holding a pen and writing something frantically.