房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

"..."

The former second prince leaned down and picked it up – the box contained an engagement ring of peculiar design. A big diamond while two smaller blue stones were at the bottom, giving it the look of a water molecule.

"Miss Burushiitto, you can keep it. I do not remember making it in the first place."

"Nah. I don't want it anymore. I am not into memorabilia, and honestly, the world could use a few more people who can just give up and move on."

Surou looked up from the ring at Burushi and said in hesitation, but the blond-haired girl scoffed and waved her hand in refusal, already turning away and moving towards the door.

"Burushi – about visiting my teacher to check up his back...?"

"..."

Zoemi also called out after her, but not with a completely different intention than Surou.

"...why are you messing my cool exit, my dude? Of course, I will go see him! But that will have to wait until after the ball!"

Burushi groaned grumpily before shaking her head and declaring in a stern voice and exiting the room.

"Thank you~!"

Zoemi called gratefully after her with a big smile before turning back to Surou...

"Now then, we wait for the king."

...and his expression switched back into a grim one as if someone suddenly turned off the light...

"We can talk while we wait - you made some interesting allies – did I make a mistake not putting you on a full-time watchlist? Was there anyone else to come in contact with you in that territory? Could it be that you actually ARE giving out secrets to the kingdom's enemies?"

The black-haired boy leaned forward and put his elbow on the table, resting his chin on his hand.

"Do I look dumb enough to try something like that and then show up here to have a talk with Horeo? I know how he is and what he can do!"

Surou frowned, clenching his fists, upset about the baseless accusation.

"You were dumb enough to bring a girl who actively tried to cause me harm and decided it was okay to not consult me on the matter... So maybe you should be the one to answer that question."

"...!"

Zoemi tilted his head and asked, staring intently at the increasingly uneasy blue-haired boy.

"Although to be fair, the two of us didn't interact all that much before you got hexed so maybe I am being too harsh."

The black-haired boy's point wasn't to make Surou anxious or anything, so he breathed out to calm himself down and took his arm off the table.

"..."

"..."

The two young men looked at each other in silence for a few minutes, neither one keen to break the awkward tense silence.

Zoemi checked the time on the clock by the wall – Horeo was getting late, but being the king and all, especially one freshly ascended on the throne, meant that he had to deal with any trouble that popped up, no matter how unexpected and no matter what plans did he made prior to it.

The black-haired boy gulped down his saliva, realizing that his throat was actually pretty dry.

He was about to reach for the bottle and pour himself a glass of juice but then he glanced to the side at the mostly full glass that Burushi had left behind.

The juice inside wasn't the most expensive thing or anything, but it was good enough to make the black-haired boy not waste it like that, so he grabbed the leftover glass and...

"...!"

...noticed Surou flinching as he did that...

"What is it?"

Zoemi asked taking the glass and moving it towards his mouth while raising his brow at the blue-haired boy's peculiar behavior.

Why was he getting jumpy now? There was no chance of Zoemi attacking him or anything...

"N-nothing... it's just... sharing a glass with another person isn't hygienic... and... you should be careful with your health and all."

Surou tensed up and mumbled, crossing his arms defensively while also trying to act calm and leaning back into his chair.

...while continuing to steal glances at the glass in the black-haired boy's hand...

"I can see where you are coming from, but my condition isn't like that – this juice was drained of any mana and that is what's important. Also, Burushi is probably the most hygienic person in the enitre kingdom, so there you have it."

Zoemi scoffed and shrugged his shoulders and was about to take a sip...

"Isn't it kind of in bad taste to finish leftovers from your guests? If you will make a custom out of it, you could lose in the eyes of others...!"

Surou tensed up and declared, staring intently at the glass without even making eye contact with Zoemi himself.

"My house, my rules. Why are you, even so, bothered by..."

The black-haired boy scoffed, slightly annoyed by the comment, and waved his hand to the side – together with the glass – and stopped talking the moment he saw Surou's eyes closely following its movement.

"..."

As if that was some kind of experiment, Zoemi started moving the glass around just to have Surou watch it cautiously whenever it was.

"What in the world...? Hold on – are you bothered by the possibility of me indirectly kissing Burushi through this glass? Is that it?"

"!!!"

The black-haired boy asked half-jokingly, but then the blue-haired boy jolted up and blushed deeply while biting his lips from embarassment.

"...Okay... I was under the impression that you don't have feelings for her and it was all just caused by the hex. So what is this supposed to be? Second-hand jealousy?"

Zoemi asked, solving the issue by simply pouring the juice from one glass to another, and putting the glass that the blond girl used to the side.

"Because I am pretty sure that was the case."

Surou breathed out, looking to the side with a bothered expression.

"What I think is happening is that the hex has left some changes in my mind that need time to return to normal. My feelings towards Buru included..."

The blue-haired boy revealed, accidentally using the nickname only he used towards Burushiitto back when they were in the Academy together.

"...ah, so that's the case – but, you do know that you were away from her, like, seven times over if not more the times you two even knew each other?"

Zoemi pointed out taking a long sip.

"That is an argument that speaks for my case, not against."

Surou responded putting one hand towards his mouth and grumbling.

"In that case, everything that you've done today was so you would get this exact outcome, right? You knew that you can't give up on her – most likely because of the remaining effects of the hex – so you made it so she would be the one to end it?"

"Yes. You have witnessed my behavior yourself, I wanted her to keep the ring and all..."

Zoemi asked and Surou nodded without hiding anything while tapping the blue box with the engagement ring with his index finger.

"You know, you might not be such an annoying guy after all. But it still angers me that you couldn't warn me about Sifra."

The black-haired boy smirked before leaning back in his chair and taking another sip.

Surou smiled apologetically but didn't comment – which was most definitely the correct choice in that situation.

The silence returned, but at least this time it wasn't nearly as awkward.

The two of them has said what they wanted, and now they were simply waiting for the gold-haired young king to show up.

Finally, after some more time has passed, a flash of golden light announced the appearance of king Horeo.

Both Zoemi and Surou stood up and were about to kneel at the sight of the gold-haired youth but...

"What in the world are you two trying to do here? Sit down."

Horeo scoffed, breathing out with annoyance while massaging his forehead at the sight.

"I'm late, and if I will not come back within half an hour, there is a chance that the King's Guard will send a search party after me despite knowing exactly where I went."

The gold-haired young man complained, sitting down immediately and grabbing himself a bottle of juice and pouting it generously into the glass.

"Well then. I've been roughly explained why the relation between the two of us soured to such a degree, younger brother, but I am yet to experience whether you want to change what has been the issue."

Horeo downed the juice and put down the empty glass, asking straight-up without beating around the bush, looking strictly at Surou.

"I do. Ever since lord Banemor saved me from the monastery I was working undercover in Vexzi in Atreterve and began to create a network of informants that could help our kingdom in the long run. Thanks to that I came in contact with a very useful ally that shed light on the illegal slave trade that is still going on between Atreterve and Belcephora kingdom despite the very clear policy of our kingdom about the act of enslaving others and treating them like property."

The blue-haired boy didn't waste time and straightened his back as he began his explanation immediately.

"That's right. That useful mysterious contact of yours... there were supposed to be more people here, weren't there?"

Horeo furrowed his brows and nodded, looking at the empty seats.