22. Eren

"In that case, return the stolen items," the man said, pointing to Claude.

Claude shook his head, hugging his stolen goods. Those were the personal nails of the Blacksmith. It seemed Xavion pitied him as long as Claude wasn't with him; he seemed to have changed a lot.

"I'll pay for it, look!" Xavion gave some of his money to the merchant.

But Claude snatched it to count it again, then he gave the rest to the Blacksmith.

Claude pouted, he sat on a bench in the park, his face bent, counting how little money he had left, his business was finished but he was still annoyed.

Kane was also angry, he didn't expect that Claude had been living a life of trouble for himself all this time.

"That's why don't be lazy, don't be lazy, you've been like that for 4 years! It's hard, it's hard, but don't be like that anymore, understand?" Kane grumbled irritably.

Claude nodded slowly.

"And... you? Why are you following me?" Kane asked seeing Xavion at Claude 's side while holding Claude 's body close to his chest.

"Following you? I'm following Claude," Xavion answered sounding annoyed.

Kane immediately grabbed Claude 's body and got rid of Xavion from there. The young man immediately wiped traces of Xavion's sweat from Claude 's body using his waist scarf and then brought the blonde young man's body closer to his chest.

"Only I can, do you understand?" Kane said emphatically.

****

Meanwhile, in the real world. Eren, Claude 's ex-assistant writer, stood before the Author's dead body, in the middle of nowhere of a forest at midnight.

[This is the first BL Book that I have ever read and I immediately liked it.]

[The character is similar to Prince Viera, isn't it? Is this a fanfic? The difference is the main role is Claude, not Xavier.]

[Xavier, Xavion, Kane, aren't they from the Viera family?]

[One family liking one Rosel child? Disgusting.]

[Hey author, aren't you exaggerating in creating scenes of Claude always having bad luck, do you hate him that much?]

[The Rosel family is all trash, even Claude , I wanted to drop this story but ended up reading it until the end anyway.]

[I like Claude, he reminds me of someone....]

[Author, can the ending be like this? I want Claude to get pregnant because her husband has three, I want when she gives birth later, she's watched by everyone in the palace to prove that the child is from Claude's womb, don't bother wearing clothes, I'll pay $100,000 later.]

[Yes.]

[Yes.]

[Yes please.]

Ping

Ping

In a dark room, in a large glass container resembling an aquarium, formalin is injected into a corpse. Comments keep coming in, disturbing notifications; he already knows they're probably about his readers' severe fetishes.

Eren picks up his phone, momentarily silent as he observes the comments on his phone. There's a slight feeling of guilt in him for killing Claude just for this (novel). He continues, brushing Natan's white hair with black hair dye, even though... slowly damaging the hair.

Natan's face is stiff, displayed like a doll. His death is not peaceful; Eren not only wants his book but is obsessed with his body. Natan's body has been violated by Eren multiple times, even the wounds in his orifices widen.

Natan's hands, their fingertips rotting even though his body has been preserved in formalin, but unfortunately, Eren won't bury Natan if he's caught by the police, but he's sure nothing will be sniffed out.

Natan has no family, no siblings, never left the house, and not even the neighbors know about him. That's why Eren's position is still safe.

"I'll make sure you're happy in my story, to atone for my sins. Can I?" Eren whispers.

"But for now, let me enjoy you." Eren kisses Natan's cold and darkened lips.

****

Inside the book's world.

"Yeah, Kane is here, we're still in the park, with me and yes, 'him' too, I'll discuss it with Kane later, I'll tell him to go home, or just send someone here to catch Kane, then Claude will handle my affairs." Xavion is telepathically communicating with his father. He hides behind a tree, sitting and playing with the grass.

"I've sent them, just wait at Claude's place in the goblin forest area, there's a little surprise."

Xavion nods in understanding; he also knows the surprise isn't a pleasant one.

"And also... ... you understand?"

There are a few words the King doesn't say, it's like an order.

Xavion then watches Claude from behind the tree, clenching his fists while murmuring 'Sorry.'

"Kane, come on," Claude runs around playing tag, feeling amused because Kane is always getting angry.

Xavion then smiles seeing Claude's childish antics.

"Hahahah." Claude laughs as Kane chases him, they play tag and chase each other, at first, Xavion sees it as normal but eventually, his lecherous younger brother, Kane, kisses Claude 's neck after catching him.

Xavion is surprised to see that.

"Aaa tickles, Kane, tickles," Claude laughs. He still hasn't realized that the kiss has turned into a mark. A mark of ownership that will be difficult to erase, something that should only be done by spouses.

****

After playing tag, Claude touches his neck, feeling something strange, he realizes it and then stares sharply at Kane who has made a red mark on his neck.

"Kane! You're so lewd!" Claude yells angrily.

Kane immediately turns his face away whistling as if nothing happened.

Xavion's heart is already worried about his father's plan. He feels even more guilty towards Claude . If one day Claude can't forgive his mistake, he promises he will stay away from Claude .

Sure enough, when they arrive at Claude 's place, everything is on fire, trees from a fallen tree spread to Claude 's house, and the goblins rampage because their boundary area also caught fire, this unexpected event shocks Claude .

"Is this the surprise my father meant?" Xavion murmurs.

"My stuff!" Claude runs past Xavion, he wants to save his belongings but unfortunately, the fire grows larger. The fire rages, a fire Claude has never seen before as if someone is controlling it from afar so the fire can quickly engulf everything.

Claude also sees the goblins running towards the river. Some of them are on fire, and for some reason, Claude feels pity, those goblins are creatures he created when writing stories in the real world, and he feels sorry for them.