Rating: mature (not that fun kind of mature, unfortunately)
That afternoon, Rian sat in his Imperial Father’s office, with his Imperial Father’s desk separating them. There was a thin folder on the desk, between the two stacks of papers on either side.
“How tall are you these days, Rian?” King Edric asked.
“Over 175 centimetres last I was measured, Imperial Father,” Rian replied.
“At your age, I’m sure you think you know what copulation is.”
Rian had a disconcerting feeling. Was his Imperial Father really about to—? He didn’t do this in Rian’s first life!
“Well? Do you?” King Edric gave him a look.
Rian reluctantly nodded. “Yes, Imperial Father.”
“However, as a prince, you’re not allowed to have children out of wedlock,” King Edric said. “You should understand the implications of it.” He slipped out a thin, unassuming-looking book from under the folder. “You can’t trust women to make sure they don’t get pregnant. In fact, they might plot to become pregnant. Memorise these spells before you have any sexual intercourse. Destroy your semen afterwards.”
Rian reluctantly accepted the book.
“As a prince, you also must be good at sexual intercourse. I’m sure you know how to obtain that experience. Don’t tell me about it. Do you understand? Put that away and read it later.”
Rian’s eyes towards his Imperial Father changed. “I understand, Imperial Father.”
“Good.” King Edric tapped the folder on his desk. “Now, the Azure family has been ruling Sedaveria for over 500 years. The continuation of our family line is crucial. In this folder, I’ve gathered the profiles of all the ladies who are suitable as marriage candidates. If you have any preference, now is the time to tell me, and I will arrange it, if suitable.” King Edric pushed the folder towards Rian.
But Rian didn’t lift his hands. “Imperial Father, I already have a marriage candidate in mind. Please don’t contact other people on this matter.”
King Edric raised his eyebrows. “Oh, is that so? Do I know who it is? Is it a certain Lady Sage whom you danced with yesterday?”
“It’s not Lady Sage,” Rian said. “But you do know who it is. We’re already engaged.” His lips curved up, obviously thinking of his dear paramour.
King Edric narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, he had a bad feeling. “Who is it, Rian?”
“You know him.” Rian smiled.
“Him?” King Edric couldn’t believe it, but Rian wasn’t denying it. “You can’t be engaged to a man! Who is it?”
Rian’s smile became smug. “Isn’t it obvious? He’s the one and only Earl Ayden Rosewood.”
King Edric’s mind broke at that moment. Earl Ayden Rosewood…Weren’t they meant to be good friends? How did two good male friends become engaged? Was this some joke between the two boys????
“Yes, Ayden Rosewood,” Rian repeated. “He proposed to me on the return trip from the Hraun Nation. He didn’t have a ring at the time, so he made me an ice ring—it was so sweet. Luckily, I had already prepared engagement rings for us earlier.”
King Edric felt like he was floating away in a spiral. The words entered his ears but he couldn’t understand. Did Rian just say that Earl Rosewood proposed to him? Did Rian just say that he had engagement rings made?
Rian continued talking (boasting) about Ayden Rosewood, but King Edric’s mind was elsewhere.
Had Mira known about this?
She must have known! That was why she had him talk to Rian about marriage. The excuse to talk to Rian about sex, man-to-man, was a trick!
“Rian, you’re not getting married to a man, let alone Earl Rosewood,” King Edric cut into Rian’s effusive praise of Ayden Rosewood.
Rian raised his eyebrows. “Oh, is that so? And how do you intend to stop me?”
The fact that Rian had orchestrated the coup in Angio flashed in King Edric’s mind. “You—”
“In the Rosewood fief, marriage between men is legal. Unfortunately, I must wait until Ayden is 18. You have less than three years, Imperial Father.”
King Edric had another realisation. “So that’s why you want to change the marriage laws in Sedaveria!”
“I don’t mind holding my wedding in the Rosewood fief, but people might question why it was there, instead of here in the Capital.” Rian smiled. “Imperial Father, I believe you understand.”
King Edric suppressed his anger—he wasn’t like the old King Augustus Lūpiter. “Take these and pick a suitable woman.”
“I’m afraid I cannot, Your Majesty.”
“Rian.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Your Majesty.”
“Gb sbe kjca wf ab raglq sbe bo sbeg Jgbkc Uglcmf alaif?”
Eljc rwlifv lc jwerfwfca. “Gb sbe atlcx atja Cifzler kbeiv kjca ab yfmbwf Jgbkc Uglcmf? Ccv vbc’a atlcx jybea vblcu rbwfatlcu ab Csvfc. Tbe xcbk atja Cifzler ilxfr Csvfc jiwbra jr wemt jr wf.”
Blcu Svglm uglaafv tlr affat. Lf qertfv atf obivfg abkjgvr Eljc. “Kjxf atfrf jcv ifjnf. Tbe’gf vlrwlrrfv.”
Rian stood up without taking the folder. He bowed. “Long live the king.”
King Edric was left in the office with his folder of ladies’ profiles that he (i.e., his staff) had worked hard on. He clenched his hands. Where was Mira?!
He stood up and swept out of the office. He found his ‘dear’ wife Queen Mira in her office with her ladies-in-waiting.
The ladies-in-waiting smartly excused themselves, leaving the king and queen alone.
“I just spoke with your son,” Edric said.
“About what?” Mira asked.
Edric glared. “You knew!”
“I know many things,” Mira said.
“You knew that Rian was messing around with Earl Rosewood!”
Mira raised her eyebrows. “Oh, that. Wasn’t it obvious that Rian was following Earl Rosewood like a love-sick puppy? Unfortunately, that love-sick puppy is growing up.”
“I thought they were best friends! A prince needs a loyal, powerful friend!”
Mira snorted. “No doubt that’s also true.”
“This is your son we’re talking about.”
“Maybe you should have raised your son better.”
“What are you talking about? You should have raised both Rian and Alexius better!” Edric retorted.
“Is it not because you’re a poor father and a waste of a male figure that both Rian and Alexius gravitated to Earl Rosewood?” Mira shot back.
“The important point is how we separate Rian from Earl Rosewood,” Edric said.
Mira crossed her arms. “And how do you propose that, oh wise king?”
“Forbid them from seeing each other,” Edric said.
Mira snorted. “Oh, and you think that’s all you need to do? Rian can merely follow the letter of your words, by closing his eyes whenever he’s around Earl Rosewood. Assuming he listens.”
“Forbid them from seeing or communicating with each other,” Edric said.
“Well then, how will you enforce that?”
Edric opened his mouth, and then closed it.
“The more you try to stop him, the more stubborn he’ll become. A bit like his father,” Mira said.
“You mean, a bit like his mother,” Edric scowled. “We’ll strip him of his Crown Prince title.”
Mira smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Very well. And what will you tell the nobility and the public?”
Edric felt like he was being punched in the gut. Just yesterday, Rian had drawn hundreds of young nobles into his association of future leaders meeting. Rian’s influence was growing.
Telling the public the truth was impossible. If they gave a reason that damaged Rian’s reputation, the Azure family’s reputation would also take a hit.
In fact, there was no reason that wouldn’t cast aspersions onto the Azure family and onto their original decision to make Rian the Crown Prince.
If it was absolutely necessary, Edric could revoke Rian’s title. But it was too soon, not even a year since the announcement.
Rian had them cornered.
“At this point, we should simply wait for the young lovebirds to break up on their own accord,” Mira said.
“And what if they don’t?”
“Like father, like son. Didn’t you like someone else before me?”
Edric felt inexplicably guilty. But he was the king! There was nothing he should be guilty about! “What should we do?”
“You should decide what you would prefer to do. You could revoke Rian’s Crown Prince title. You could disown him if he makes his relationship public. Or you consider changing the marriage laws and laying the groundwork for a future where men marrying men is commonplace and people won’t do much more than blink upon learning their Crown Prince is about to marry a man too.” Mira snorted. “No doubt Rian has prepared plans for both situations. You may as well start getting used to the idea of having a new son-in-law in the future.”
Edric rubbed his temples. He felt a real headache coming on. “I need time to think about this. Unlike you, who has clearly had much more time and didn’t tell me.”
“Maybe if you raised your son better, you would have noticed earlier,” Mira said. “You’re the king. Be a little more observant.”
Edric had enough of being stabbed in the gut, so he left.
He had other important work to do that day, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the revelations.
How did Rian and Earl Rosewood act like love-sick boys? They were clearly good friends! How did Rian suddenly think about falling in love with another boy? Was it just some childish rebellion?
It wasn’t his fault that he hadn’t noticed. He was too busy to spend a lot of time with Rian, and he rarely spent any time with Rian and Earl Rosewood together. Other people spent a lot more time in their joint company, like Count Aegean…
Count Aegean!
Count Leopold Aegean was relaxing at his property in the Capital. He planned to head back to the Aegean fief tomorrow for a long and deserved rest.
Now that Prince Rian was attending the academy, Count Aegean’s services were no longer required. Thinking about spending time at his home fief with his family made Count Aegean feel five years younger.
Knock knock!
Count Aegean frowned when a servant interrupted his resting time.
“My Lord, His Majesty King Edric requests an urgent audience.”
Count Aegean had a bad feeling. It was about Prince Rian, wasn’t it? What did he do now?
Count Aegean quickly changed clothes and headed to the Palace with the Imperial messenger.
“Your Majesty, you requested me,” Count Aegean bowed upon entering King Edric’s office.
“Sit. There’s something I need to ask you about.”
Count Aegean sat at the edge of the seat. “I am your humble servant, Your Majesty.”
“If that’s so, why didn’t you tell me about Prince Rian’s matters?”
“Your Majesty, I’ve reported to you about Prince Rian’s matters…”
King Edric snorted. “Really? Then why didn’t you tell me he got himself engaged to Earl Rosewood? On the Hraun trip, no less?”
Count Aegean showed real shock. “Prince Rian, engaged to Earl Rosewood?”
King Edric narrowed his eyes. “Hmm. So, you didn’t know after all.”
Count Aegean pursed his lips. “No, I didn’t know.”
“Do you know the punishment for lying to a king?”
“I know, Your Majesty. I swear that I didn’t know that Prince Rian was engaged to Earl Rosewood.”
Despite Count Aegean’s assurances, King Edric remained suspicious. Count Aegean internally sweated. It didn’t seem that King Edric was annoyed about the engagement per se, but rather about Count Aegean knowledge of it…
“Your Majesty, they are very good friends with great camaraderie,” Count Aegean said.
“Yes! Exactly!”
Count Aegean immediately nodded. “Yes, yes. I would have thought them to be a great example of friendship, for although they get into a lot of mischief together, they also work together to create great things.”
“Precisely,” King Edric said with a huff. “They duel together and train together. They’re such good example of hard-working and intelligent noble boys. I’ve seen some of the daily reports that Rian gives to his mother. The two of them are role models, working together on making more magical products…”
Count Aegean nodded, occasionally saying things like, “Yes”, and “You’re right!”
Finally, King Edric gave a huge sigh. “Leopold, old friend, what do you think should be done with Prince Rian’s so-called engagement?”
Count Aegean, who had partially relaxed, tensed back up again. “Your Majesty, I don’t dare to control Prince Rian. If he doesn’t want to listen to me, then he won’t. Thankfully, he is amenable to most of my requests…aside from those regarding Earl Rosewood.”
King Edric’s expression darkened.
Count Aegean quickly added, “However, Prince Rian is most susceptible to arguments about the good of the people and the good of the country. Perhaps that is an avenue that Your Majesty can take.”
King Edric had a thoughtful look. “Indeed, Prince Rian has a strong sense of duty. You’re dismissed.”
Count Aegean left that office feeling like he had lost five years off his life and more hair off his head. He mentally reviewed over the conversation as he fled back to his home.
Thankfully, technically, Count Aegean hadn’t known that Prince Rian had gotten engaged with Earl Rosewood. (He didn’t want to think about this.)
Thankfully, King Edric hadn’t noticed that Count Aegean hadn’t technically replied either way about what should be done with Prince Rian’s engagement. (He didn’t want to think about this.)
He really, really needed his holiday.
Later that night, King Edric and Queen Mira got ready for bed. There was a clear gap between them as they laid down.
“I talked with Leopold Aegean today,” Edric said. “He hadn’t noticed either.”
Mira snorted. She wasn’t sure she believed it, unless Count Aegean had been in denial. “Do you know what Rian is up to these days?”
Edric had a bad feeling. “What haven’t you told me?”
“If you were a good father, you would know that he organised joint quarters for himself and Earl Rosewood at the academy, the ones normally assigned to poor students. They share a common living-study room.”
Edric sat up. “What?! Are they sharing a bedroom?”
“They have separate bedrooms,” Mira said.
Edric thought back to when he told Rian about sex. In retrospect… “Argg!! That boy! I didn’t want to know that!”
Mira smirked, rolled over so that her back was to Edric, and went to sleep feeling vindicated.
King Edric was the one who had trouble getting to sleep that night.
King Edric: (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Count Aegean: ┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ) New around here? Just relax, inhale, exhale, it’ll be alright.
Queen Mira: You should just give up ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
King Edric: …
Thank you to BeezerAG for the support!
Alternative title for this chapter: A bad feeling 🤣🤣🤣
website | tumblr | twitter | email newsletter
lmao get rekt, King Edric XD tho now im suddenly getting a sinking feeling about him and his quibbles about Rian’s engagement…I hope he doesn’t start anything that Rian will make him regret. (Because Rian would DEFINITELY make him regret it.)
Let’s see if so-called very busy King Edric has time 🤣🤣🤣
😂😂😂
Oh my gosh. I know it’s not suppose to be funny but King Edrics mounting dread and realization that he can’t stop Rian is… Pft.
It is meant to be funny—for us, for Rian, and for Queen Mira 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
queen mira is just happy she’s not the inly suffering about this anymore 😂😂
queen mira is just happy she’s not the only one suffering about this anymore 😂😂
Correct! In fact, she’s gaining pleasure from King Edric’s suffering 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Lol poor guy. He was tricked into having a man-to-man talk with his son and finding his son with a man probably exploded his poor brain
Never cross Queen Mira, unless you’re Rian and you’ve prepared beforehand 🤭🤭🤭
Yep, the king ran into it at the full speed as expected. Not sorry for him 🤣🤭😅
😎😎😎😎😎😎 please enjoy his suffering~
omg i adore this cause even if the King and Queen are squabbling, you can still tell they do care about each other. It seems like a typical, real argument between a couple.
🤭🤭🤭 I’m glad you feel that way! If they really hated each other, that argument could have been a lot more dark…
Poor Count Aegean! He’s not paid enough for this! 🤣
Thank you for the chapter.
He’s definitely not paid enough 🤣🤣🤣
Thank you for reading!
Thank you so much for the wonderful chapter!(☆▽☆)
How glad I am that now both the king knows and the Count of Aegean:)
I’ve been waiting for this for a long time (≧▽≦)
It is incredibly interesting what will happen next:)
I laughed so much at the end of the chapter, aha ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ
I just realized that I’m interested in the reaction of the king and queen if they found out that Ren is “younger” than Rian.
Ryan seduces minors
(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
Thank you so much, I’m glad you found it funny! 🤣🤣🤣
Oh, there are so many things that the King and Queen could find out that would blow their minds…. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
haha… that theater at the end….🤣🤣🤣 inhale…exhale…
Count Aegean is just spreading his knowledge and coping habits 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Oof I usually avoid dating people with homophobic parents 😭 but honestly Rian’s parents That bad tho.. like I’ve meet some homophobic ass people. Good luck to Ren tho! Dinner with the whole family is gonna be interesting to say the least (after they get married).
Unfortunately, Rian’s parents had Plans, and Rian is completely messing them up 😏😏😏😏
OMG family dinner scene 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Whew! The king just slammed into face slapping scenarios galore.
Good thing Rian’s parents aren’t the truly scary kind that might just move on to Alexius and bye bye Ri Ri… The king and queen originally started in this story like they were On The Lookout for Rian to overthrow their kingdom/empire…
Next up: Cassiopeia meets with the less dangerous one 🔥👀 😵💫 bawhahahahaha…
The king kinda did it to himself 🤣🤣
Yeah, the King and Queen could definitely be worse, but I didn’t want to do make it too intense 🤣
Ahhahaaa, thank you for the chapter 💪💪💪🫠🥰
Thank you for reading!
summoning a paid vacation for Count Aegean ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ
he needs it! 🤣
I actually forgot that this was a fantasy setting based off slightly medieval times.
it wasn’t until the king said “go have an affair, make sure no one knows and kill your sperm.” that I realize “oh yeah!!! medieval time!!” 😅😅😅
Ren Xiyang’s magical tech is too good, huh 🤣🤣🤣
¡¡¡Mierda!!! La reina Mira acaba de decir lo que creo que dijo. ¡¡¡Rian y Alexius con problemas de papá!!! JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA. Dios, me estoy muriendo. Ambos hermanos quieren llamar papá a Ren (pero uno de ellos de una manera divertida). Es un día triste para la dignidad de un hombre cuando su esposa le dice que el novio de su hijo mayor, que es “más joven que ese hijo”, es una mejor perspectiva para una figura paterna que usted.
Oh Dios, el rey es historiador y el Conde Egeo también se muere por eso (ᵔᵕᵔ)/.
OMG DADDY ISSUES 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣