A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

Although it was still in the afternoon and the sun was in the sky, the weather in Wangcheng had turned cold recently, so I was soaked in the pool water all over, and it was still a bit cool when the wind blew.

The body is a little cold, but that hand is hot.

The big brown hand held his hand tightly, pressing his hand to his chest forcibly.

It was obvious that his fingers touched the soaked clothes, which should be cold, but the high temperature from Heymos's chest seemed to be transmitted to his fingertips through the wet clothes, which was extremely hot.

He pressed Heymos's chest, only felt that it was like a volcano about to erupt, jumping up and down, and the invisible magma gushing out was so hot that his fingers were almost burned.

The heat was transmitted upward from the fingertips along the hand and along the blood of the arm, as if the heat was also dyed in his body.

He even felt his heart beating up and down, as if he was connected to Heymos' heartbeat through his right hand.

This unprecedented feeling made Garlan at a loss, and struggled in a panic, wanting to retract his hand.

But as soon as he moved, Heymos's fingers clenched tightly, and he clenched his hand tightly, refusing to let go.

Garlan tugged his hand a few more times in a panic.

Soon, his hands stopped.

Because when he was struggling, he felt a slight tingling sensation caused by the rubbing of Heymos' rough palm.

Garlan's hands were well maintained, with slender fingers, fair skin, and shiny skin.

Although there are some thin calluses from practicing with a sword, every night, a maid takes care of the skin on his hands and feet.

Most of the nobles were like this, and so was Heymos, as could be seen from the brownish skin on his wet arms.

However, at this moment, the palm of Heymos' hand holding him was extremely rough. Only those old slaves who had worked hard all their lives and were nearly sixty or seventy years old would have such rough palms.

……

These palms, which are full of scars and even without palm prints, are what Heymos left behind to rescue him from the sea of ​​fire.

This injury was for him.

Garlan's heart softened suddenly.

He is not a person who doesn't know good and bad. He remembers all the good things Heymos has done to him and everything Heymos has done for him over the years.

When he was a child, he was indeed terrified of Heymos. Even if he later learned the truth about Heymos' distorted personality and knew that Heymos was innocent, as long as he remembered the past few lives, he would suppress him. He couldn't help but feel the fear of Heymos in his heart.

But over the years, unconsciously, this fear has become less and less.

On the one hand, it is because he himself has gradually started to grow, and he has many companions by his side.When a person starts to become strong himself, he will no longer be afraid of others.

On the other hand... Heymos' meticulous care for him also subtly dissipated that fear little by little.

So, enough is enough.

It is almost time for the shadows of previous lives and the person in front of me to disappear.

"Heymos, you are very important to me."

That was something he hadn't noticed all along.

I don't know when, Heymos has become a very important person in his heart.

He would want to protect him, he would not want him to be hurt, he would hope that Heymos would have a good life in the future, a good life... just like King Kamos, just like Kaihos and the others.

Garlan looked seriously at those golden-red eyes.

"I care about you as much as you care about me."

He moved his hands, not struggling, that movement was very light.Only this time, he easily pulled his hand out of Heymos' palm.

"We grew up together, until now, maybe in the future, we will walk together like this now."

The boy leaned over.

For the first time, he took the initiative to reach out and hug Heymos.

He leaned on Heymos, wrapping his hands around his neck.

He closed his eyes and pressed his cheek against the wet black hair.

"I won't take a step forward, and likewise, I won't take a step back."

He hugged Heymos' shoulder, closed his eyes, and whispered into Heymos' ear.

"We will always be like this, nothing will change."

Garlan clearly felt that the shoulders around his arms suddenly tensed.

When he said this, the person in his arms seemed to freeze for a moment.

Heymos understood what he said.

Because I understood it, I had such a reaction.

【We will always be like this, nothing will change. 】

It can only go so far, it can only be like this.

We will not be alienated, but it is impossible to go any further.

He will no longer be afraid of him, and the shadows of previous lives will disappear from the bottom of his heart.

They will always be close and will guard each other until the end.

……

However, he would not accept Heymos' feelings.

Maybe he was a little soft-hearted, maybe he was a little moved, maybe he was indeed moved by Heymos a little bit.

But he couldn't accept Heymos.

In every sense, from every aspect.

Garlan straightened up, and he opened his eyes to look at the person in front of him.

Heymos lowered his head slightly, his thin lips were tightly pursed like a straight line.

His shoulders were tense and strained, the muscles bulging.The wet black hair fell down and stuck to his forehead, making the shadows of his eye sockets more intense.

Garlan's hands were still on Heymos' shoulders.

He lowered his head and kissed Heymos' forehead lightly.

Then, he stood up.

The drops of water fell from the boy who got up like broken threads, fell on Heymos, or fell into the pool water, splashing circles of water patterns.

Garlan got up to leave.

He walked very fast, leaving traces of water on the gravel road he walked.

However, when he was about to leave the garden, he couldn't help but look back after all.

He saw Heymos still sitting quietly in the pool water, eyes downcast, motionless, wondering what he was thinking.

Black hair clung to his cheek wetly.

It was like an abandoned black wolf, its hair was all wet, just squatting in the puddle in a daze.

…………

………………

Near the evening, the sun slanting on the horizon was still bright, and a little bright starlight had appeared on the other side of the sky.

Although it was still early, the lights in the palace had already been turned on, illuminating the entire room brightly.

Garlan was sitting on an olive wood chair. He had just finished taking a bath, his fair skin was emitting a little heat, and his slightly damp long hair was hanging down from behind him.

"You are not a child anymore, how could you accidentally fall into the pool?"

Standing behind him, the magistrate was wiping the prince's wet hair with a soft white towel, muttering in a low voice.

Garlan's drenched appearance when he came back startled her.

Later, Garlan said that he was walking and talking to others, and stepped into the pool without paying attention.

Taputi was very skeptical, so she asked. She didn't think the little prince was such a careless person.

But Garlan sat in front of her, smiled and just didn't speak.

Shaking her head, she focused on drying the blonde hair in her hands, and didn't ask any more questions.

When she was about to dry off, Garlan who had been looking ahead as if in a trance suddenly asked her a question.

"Taputi."

He says,

"If you have someone you like, someone you like very much, but that person won't be with you, so he rejected you several times, will you continue to like him?"

"will not."

Answer in a second.

"... so fast! Don't you think about it?"

"There is nothing to consider, Your Highness, I am a person with strong self-esteem, no matter how much I like someone, let alone say it several times, even if I am rejected only once, I will give up."

"Then...if a person with strong self-esteem is similar to you, no, stronger than you, if he refuses to give up after being rejected several times, do you think such a person is stupid?"

"Although my concept is different from mine, I won't laugh at him. Maybe it's because my love is not deep enough, so I can't do what he does... But if the person you mentioned really does that, It must be that he really loves each other, so much that he can even give up his pride for it."

Combing the velvet-soft blond hair in his hands with ivory combs, Taputi replied softly.

"But there is no reason for emotional matters. No one stipulates that if he likes you, you must also like him. It can only be said that Avdomir did not show mercy to this person, and sent the bouquet of hyacinths to that person hands."

Garlan turned his head subconsciously, looked through the open floor-to-ceiling windows, and looked at the large hyacinths by the pool in the courtyard.

The clusters of lavender flowers were bathed in the fiery red sunset, and the tiny petals swayed slightly in the wind.

Avdomir, the goddess of love and beauty, was born with countless beautiful flowers, and each flower has its own symbolic meaning.

Among them, hyacinth represents sad and fruitless love.

When Aaron Landis comforts a broken-hearted person, they will say, you are not wrong, it is just that Avdomir sent a bouquet of hyacinths to your hands.

…………

It was late at night, and Lady Tapti had already left. Garlan was lying on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

It was impossible for him to accept Heymos, so he made a conclusion.

There can be no further step between him and him.

He rejected Heymos again.

Heymos lowered his head, as if the scene of sitting quietly in the pool without any life had been circling in his mind, unable to get rid of it.

Garlan got up and sat up, put on a coat casually and left the room.

He stood by the pool, looking at the large patches of hyacinths by the water.

Tiny lavender flowers, gathered in clusters, are slender and lovely, exuding a faint fragrance.

He thought about Heymos, he knew that he cared about him, valued Heymos, and even liked him, but it wasn't love.

Taputi said that there is no reason for emotional matters, and there is no right or wrong.

So, he doesn't think he has done anything wrong.

But he... feels distressed.

It was like a wild, fierce and sturdy wolf dog raised by himself, but at this moment, it looked as if it was about to be abandoned by him, squatting pitifully in the corner with its ears raised.

It's a little unbearable to watch.

The night wind was a little cool, and it brushed over the cheeks of the young man who was fascinated by the hyacinth flowers.

Suddenly, there was a movement from the wall not far away, and Garlan, who was keenly aware of the slight noise, immediately woke up.

He raised his vigilance and turned his head to look, ready to call the guards guarding the outer door to come in at any time.

As soon as he turned his head, he saw a black figure leaping down from the high wall with great agility.

That movement is extremely proficient, one can tell that it is a veteran.

Gallan: "..."

Anyway, let him be sentimental for a while.

Also, when will Heymos' habit of climbing over the walls of his palace at night be cured?

Before Garlan could finish complaining in his heart, Heymos, who jumped down from the high wall, had already spotted the young man standing among the hyacinth flowers, and walked over quickly.

His actions were so fast that before Garlan could react, Heymos, who was walking over, grabbed his wrist.

Garlan felt that he was starting to have a headache.

He thought he had already said that, he had rejected Heymos so many times, Heymos had such a proud character, he should have given up on him a long time ago.

He didn't break away from Heymos's hand, but just sighed and said, "Heymos, I think I made it very clear this afternoon."

"Ok, I know."

"I said that no matter how much time passes, the distance between us will not change."

"I remember."

Heymos replied.

"I thought about it for a long time, and then I had the answer."

He said, "If you say you won't change, then you don't need to change. As you said, between you and me, you can not take a step forward, but, Garlan, you also said that you Not one step forward, but not one step back either."

"I said it, but..."

What he meant was that he would not alienate Heymos, would not have a barrier to him.

"You didn't say that I'm not allowed to go forward."

Heymos interrupted Garlan's words in the middle.

"If you don't move, let me do it."

He looked deeply at the young man in front of him and said, "Let me walk to you."

"I'll come to you, no matter how long it takes."

No matter how far away, no matter how long it took, he would walk up to Garlan, just as he was doing now, and hold onto this person tightly.

He won't let go.

Because he was interrupted in the middle of his speech, Garlan still opened his mouth slightly.

But he looked at Heymos, his mind was in a mess, and he couldn't speak for a while.

Heymos took his arm with both hands and looked down at him.

Those golden-red pupils reflected his shadow, shining brightly in the dark night as if they were shining.

Stared by those eyes, he felt that his heart rate was starting to be a little abnormal again.

Just as he was about to say something, he accidentally caught a glimpse of a light in the distance from the corner of his eye.

Surprised, he reached out and grabbed Heymos' shoulder and pressed him down violently.

"Hide away!"

He spoke quickly and in a low voice, pushing Heymos down hard.

Fortunately, the large hyacinth bushes were so tall that they almost reached human thighs. As soon as Heymos knelt down, his body could be hidden among the flowers.

"His Royal Highness?"

It was a maid who watched the night, she was holding a lantern, and she stood at a corner not far away to salute him.

"It's so late, don't you rest yet?"

"Well... I can't sleep a bit, so I went out for a walk."

Garlan coughed uncomfortably.

"There's nothing wrong here, you can go and look elsewhere."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Seeing the maid bowed and retreated, Garlan heaved a long sigh of relief.

………Um?

He suddenly felt something was wrong.

and many more.

Why is he in such a panic?

Why did he hide Heymos with a guilty conscience?

They didn't do anything shameful——

………………

Goddess Avdomir...

In the dark night, the maid who left quickly was so excited that her hand holding the lantern trembled slightly, and the light swayed endlessly on her face.

She saw... saw...

Crown Prince Garlan, and His Highness Heymos.

them……

……

Ah, what a beautiful scene that was.

Dreamy.

In the dark night, they stood among the hyacinth flowers.

Fragments of starlight fell on the two people surrounded by hyacinths...

It was a love affair hidden in darkness.

When the wind blows, the clusters of lavender bouquets are gently swaying around the two quietly embracing each other, as if lamenting softly...

Hyacinth, sad love, sad love that cannot be fulfilled.

The maid clutched her chest.

Oh, Goddess, I seem to feel the taste of that sad love too.

Is this your arrangement?

You gave us love.

It is so beautiful, yet so cruel.

So... heartbreaking.