Ruth hesitated and paused mid-sentence, prompting Ail to urge him on. After a moment of thought, Ruth finally decided to speak.

“Think about what Your Highness did. If I hadn’t loved you back then, I would have given up as you said. But I love you… and I couldn’t stay by your side like that. If I stayed near you, I would have wanted to be loved, to be treated kindly… but there was no chance of that happening with you. Don’t you understand? It was to the point where dying seemed better than staying by your side.”

Hearing Ruth’s words filled with resentment, Ail felt a twinge of guilt. He knew he had been harsh, but that didn’t mean he regretted his actions. In his mind, they had both repaid each other equally, so the debt was settled.

“I… I’m sorry about that. But you’re not without fault either. You should have clung to me, begged even. When you act like you don’t want anything from me, it makes me uneasy.”

Ail’s tone was calm, but his words carried an undercurrent of anxiety and passion for Ruth. Despite still being selfish, unrepentant, and cruel, Ruth couldn’t help but smile. They both understood so clearly what they wanted from each other.

“I’m sorry if I made you uneasy. But know this: I love you much more, and far earlier than you did.”

“Don’t be so sure. I might’ve been first.”

“That’s absolutely not true.”

Ruth smiled faintly, denying Ail’s words. Without continuing the argument, Ail took Ruth’s arm and kissed his forehead. The gentle kiss, filled with deep affection, helped Ruth shake off his dark mood and smile brightly.

Their gazes met, soft and warm.

But the tender atmosphere didn’t last long before Ail’s next words disrupted it again.

“So… aren’t you even a little curious?”

He was relentless. Ruth sighed inwardly, wondering why Ail was so tenacious.

“Please stop. I told you I’m not curious.”

“You’ll be shocked when you hear it next week.”

“I’m already prepared.”

“Really?”

“Stop making me repeat myself.”

Ruth’s tone became sharp, and his face hardened in apparent irritation. Ail chuckled quietly at his reaction.

“What’s so funny?”

“You seem to be feeling better now. I thought you were shaken when you heard about Lyman’s death.”

At Ail’s nonchalant words, Ruth realized how deeply he had been affected by the news of his father’s passing. He had thought he had severed all ties in his heart, but it seemed that wasn’t entirely true. It wasn’t sadness exactly—more like a profound sense of loss, as if half of his had been ripped away. Perhaps that’s why his nerves were on edge.

“…I didn’t realize it myself. How did you know?”

“Just. I can tell when I look at you.”

“You’re becoming quite human, noticing things like that.”

“If it’s about you, I’d notice.”

At Ail’s tender voice and gaze, Ruth felt his face heat up. Being confronted with such words so directly made him flustered, even a little embarrassed.

Not knowing how to respond, Ruth began rambling out of nervousness.

“Would you like some tea? Or maybe it’s time to change your bandages? Should I call for the physician?”

“No tea. The bandages can wait until evening. No need for the physician.”

“Then please rest. You should stay lying down a bit longer.”

“Stop bustling around and just sit down.”

Ail gestured for him to come closer again. Watching him, Ruth suddenly had a mischievous thought.

“Well… now that I think about it calmly, Your Highness might be right.”

“I’m always right.”

“…Not always, but… maybe I really do like young boys.”

His words hit their mark. Ail, who had been lounging lazily with a finger beckoning him, froze mid-motion, his expression stiffening.

“…What?”

“It really feels like that. My heart skipped a beat when I saw Ayulahi earlier.”

It wasn’t a lie. When Ayulahi’s image overlapped with Ail’s childhood, his heart fluttered. He even missed those days a little. But when he deliberately left out the reason and only stated the conclusion, Ail looked dumbfounded.

“But Your Highness is already taller than me, so my heart doesn’t skip a beat.”

Ail was initially taken aback by Ruth’s statement that he liked young boys, but soon realized what he meant and chuckled in annoyance.

“Ruth Kaizel… you…”

“I really seem to have a preference for boys. I like small and pretty boys. Especially boys around the age of thirteen or fourteen, when their gender is already distinct.”

Ruth confessed his perverted tendencies with a straight face, without any expression. Ail twisted his lips into a smile, thinking, ‘You’re caught.’

“Is that so? That’s a big problem. I’m already grown up, and you like young boys… For the sake of the palace’s order, you shouldn’t go outside from now on.”

Ruth leaned back in his chair and avoided Ail’s gaze at the sly smile that appeared on Ail’s lips. Ruth tried his best to think, but Ail was still a step ahead. It was impossible for the rigid and simple Ruth to defeat Ail, who was both vile and cunning.

“Locking you up is too much, so should I make it impossible for you to go out at all?”

Ruth looked troubled as Ail got up and approached him. He seemed to have messed up with Ail.

“You.. You take a rest. I’ll go see His Highness Nathan for a while.”

Realizing he had made a big mistake, Ruth quickly got up and ran towards the door. But before he could take a few steps, he was pulled into Ail’s arms from behind, preventing him from going any further. As Ruth hesitated, thinking he was in trouble, Ail bit his earlobe and whispered in a languid voice.

“If you’ve started, you have to finish it.”

Ruth’s heart began to beat wildly at Ail’s low husky voice.

“… I was joking.”

“But I am serious.”

Saying that, Ail pulled Ruth, who was struggling to break free, and laid him down on the chair where he had been sitting just moments ago, and then lay on top of him. Ruth awkwardly smiled at Ail, feeling the danger creeping up on him.

“You’re not feeling well yet.”

“It’s okay. You saw it yesterday, didn’t you?”

He had definitely seen the bandages wrapped around Ail’s chest yesterday. And despite that, he had also seen his overflowing strength.

“Yes, so take a rest today.”

Ruth tried to soothe Ail in a pitiful voice, not for Ail’s sake, but for his own. But Ail, as if he couldn’t hear Ruth’s words, licked Ruth’s ear with his tongue and whispered in a secretive voice.

“Don’t worry about me. It’s worse to hold back.”

His soft tongue licked inside his ear, and his hot breath brushed against his skin, sending shivers down his spine. It was still autumn, but the sun was high in the sky outside. It seemed like it would be a long time before sunset. He didn’t like the idea of sitting in the room and panting from this time on, but he didn’t have any reason to refuse either.

It’s definitely not good to hold back.

“I’ll fuck you hard until you get used to me more than those young boys. You won’t be satisfied with boys by then.”

Ail’s hand had already unfastened Ruth’s clothes and was inside. His fingers kneaded his chest, twisting his nipples, and his lips licked his earlobes and neck, nibbling and sucking, making Ruth’s breath grow heavy.

Ruth, who was already wriggling his hips and swaying his body, reached out to help Ail unfasten his clothes.

Ail chuckled at the sight, and Ruth couldn’t help but laugh along.

The two of them explored each other’s bodies, sharing a deep kiss. Their breaths and body heat mingled, growing hotter and hotter.

Ruth closed his eyes, embracing Ail’s neck, feeling his skin and body heat right on his bare skin.

Ruth, perched on top of Ail, who was leaning back on the long chair, spread his legs and sat on his thighs, moving his hips. Every time Ruth swayed his hips, clinging to Ail’s shoulders, Ail’s fully erect penis would peek out between his buttocks.

“Ugh, ha-. Ohh.”

Ruth gasped, clinging to Ail’s neck, as he felt the sensation of Ail’s penis rubbing against his insides. He was still unfamiliar with it, and he didn’t know how to satisfy himself, so he just kept moving his hips desperately.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t reach it. No matter how much he swayed his hips, Ail’s stiff penis only rubbed against his inner walls, not giving him a rough and intense stimulation.

Ruth let out a stifled moan in frustration, and Ail licked his nipple and squeezed his buttocks hard.

“You won’t hit your sensitive spot like that.”

Ail, who had been leisurely watching Ruth move, muttered that and sucked hard on Ruth’s pointy nipple. Ruth’s body trembled in that instant. Ruth’s penis was also erect, leaking pre-cum on Ail’s lower abdomen, but he couldn’t bring himself to cum.

“Hngh, Haah.. where… how… do I…?”

Ruth, his neck arched back, moaned and managed to ask. Ail then slapped Ruth’s buttocks.

“Move more. We might be doing this until tomorrow morning at this rate.”

“Ha, ugh. Ngh..”

Ruth, grimacing as if in pain and pleasure, lifted his buttocks even higher. Ail’s penis was half exposed between Ruth’s buttocks. His already large member was fully erect, and it was already a struggle just to insert it, but Ruth took a deep breath again and lowered himself onto Ail once more.

The moment it all entered his body, his lower abdomen throbbed.

“Huk-.”

A primal gasp and lewd moan erupted from his mouth, and Ruth’s mind went blank. Ail held his waist to support him, and Ruth started moving his hips frantically, searching for that sensation. His movements, which had been hesitant and unsure just moments ago, were now aggressive, and Ail laughed and pulled Ruth’s waist closer to him.

Ruth had already lost his grip on his sanity. Ail’s lips teasing his nipples and the hard, hot penis thrusting from below were melting his whole body. He forgot about the pain as the thing inside him expanded to its maximum, pushing against his inner walls and stimulating his sensistive points.

He felt like his whole body was being pierced.

His whole body was filled with him.

“Ah- haa, ugh! Ohh!”

After riding Ail and letting his hot and hard member pound his wet hole faster and harder as if desperate to reach something, Ruth gasped and desperately clung to Ail’s body. He was clinging to Ail’s shoulders with his fingernails dug in when, at some point, Ail’s member inside him erupted with hot cum. His leftover essence spread deep inside his body. Slowly, warmly.

His waist and leg muscles contracted tightly, and he trembled as if he were having a seizure.

With the sensation spreading from inside, Ruth also came on Ail’s lower abdomen. The next moment, Ruth’s body slumped and slid down Ail’s body. Ail reached out, embraced Ruth’s body, and tenderly kissed his shoulders and neck.

Tears welled up suddenly. For no particular reason, they just… came.

As Ruth’s tears soaked his shoulder, Ail kissed Ruth’s hair and patiently waited for him to calm down. For a while, Ruth, who had been crying without understanding why himself, finally seemed to settle. Leaning against Ail’s shoulder, he let out steady breaths.

Sitting in a chair, Ail draped the blanket resting on the chair back over Ruth’s shoulders. Stroking his back, he whispered softly.

“…It’s not about luck or anything else. His time just ran out. He would have died one way or another. You have no reason to grieve.”

Thinking Ruth was troubled by Lyman’s death, Ail offered his words of comfort. But Ruth thought that wasn’t it. No, perhaps his sudden outburst of tears did stem, in part, from the sadness and futility of Lyman’s death, but that wasn’t the main reason.

“It’s… not that,” Ruth murmured.

“I know how attached you are to blood ties. You don’t have to hide it,” Ail replied.

Ruth shook his head.

“No… it’s not that. Well, maybe it is, but… it’s more than that. Everything ends too easily, too unexpectedly, heading in directions I can’t even imagine. That’s what makes me sad and leaves me feeling empty. No matter how much I long for something, there are paths I can’t reach through willpower alone. And the thought that everything, even tomorrow, could vanish in an instant without warning… that’s what saddens me.”

It felt as though all the time that had passed might disappear like a dream, scattered on the wind. No matter how hard he tried to hold on, it seemed impossible to grasp, like an illusion. Ruth feared that Ail might suddenly vanish before his eyes. Before that boy entered his world, he never imagined Lyman would die. Coming to terms with the loss and shock of his death, he now began to fear the force of coincidence and fate.

Neither he nor Ail could know what might have happened to them in the Karileum, nor what might lie ahead.

Human life was so fragile, and life itself so fleeting.

Its beginning and end were beyond his control.

“That’s true for everyone. Life is unpredictable. But you have to hold on for as long as you can. I’ve only just found you, and I have no intention of dying anytime soon,” Ail said in his gentle voice, stroking his back reassuringly.

At last, Ruth stopped crying and raised his head to look at him. His tear-streaked face drew Ail’s tender gaze as he leaned in and kissed the corner of his eye.

Then he whispered, “I’m not going to die so easily. And I won’t let you die easily either. The end of my life… is still far away.”

Ruth laughed softly at the audacity of his words, as though he could peer into his own destiny. He rested his head on his shoulder, feeling that, with him, he could survive any danger.

“I’m much older than you, so… I’ll probably die first,” Ruth said.

“You don’t need to worry about that. You might be older in years, but I’m far older in spirit,” Ail teased.

Ruth burst out laughing.

“Yes, that’s true… Your Highness, you’re someone who might die any day from a blade to the chest.”

“As long as you’re by my side, your heart is tied to mine. If I die, you die too.”

“I’ll pass on that, thank you,” Ruth replied playfully, kissing his shoulder.

He wasn’t promising eternity, as he had suggested. He simply wanted to love him as if life might end tomorrow—or even tonight—and live without regret.

To love him for the rest of his life, as though every day was the last.

And at the same time, to be loved in return in the same way.

He had often asked himself why it had to be him. Why, to him, did it have to be him?

If they had never met, life might have been easier. He regretted and regretted again.

Hurting each other, being hurt, hesitating, and turning away, only to be drawn back together repeatedly. He wanted to cut that vicious cycle.

He had even run away once.

But in the end, he came back.

And he knew that even if he left again, he would always return here.

To be with Ail at the end… he would come back, no matter what.

And for that alone, he felt he wouldn’t regret his life when it came to an end.

Even if it wasn’t the path he had wished to take.

Before long, the sun had set, and a soft moonlight seeped into the darkness. The autumn moon shone with a gentler and warmer light than the summer moon. A tender golden glow passed through the window and entered the room.

As if entranced by that golden light, Ruth closed his eyes and kissed Ail’s bare skin.

Everything had returned to where it belonged.

His embrace was his home.

(The End)

Lhaozi’s Note: Hello, Hello, Glad you read it up here until the end, its been a roller coaster ride, thankyou for reading! See you in my other Uploads! Only read this in Shanghai Fantasy Website! Thankyou!