28 He Made a Mistake

The flurry in Kanaru's mind was nothing less than the storms that kissed their country from time to time. Multiple thoughts clouded his mind, and he couldn't even react to the kiss in an instant. Not that anyone had ever kissed him that way, either.

Kanaru Burdett was just the third prince of his little country. He was sent to the harem court in an attempt to receive resources from the most powerful country in the world right now. He never thought that the king would even visit him during sleeping hours, what more of sleeping next to him?

However, right now, the warmth on his lips was left from a kiss. King Fenris Middlemist, whom he met just today, already planted a kiss on his mouth. When he didn't move, Fenris even leaned close and kissed him again. The king didn't pull back this time, and his tongue even licked Kanaru's lips as if asking for them to open.

Swoosh! In a panic, Kanaru used his strength and pushed Fenris off of him! When a loud thud echoed along with Fenris's groan, that was the only time Kanaru came to. One look was all it took for him to realize what he had done.

"Your Majesty!" Kanaru would pull on his hair if he didn't choose to roll close and help him up from the floor. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you…"

"It's all right. It was my fault…" Fenris, however, was laughing at the sudden ache of his body. He just rolled back into the bed and let Kanaru dust his clothes. "Vulcan knew this was going to happen. I should start listening to him again."

Kanaru had a worried look in his eyes, but he didn't think Fenris would just go back to lying down as if nothing happened. The king patted the bed yet again. "I won't do anything more. Let's sleep. Rodnir left me with so much work to do. The ministers will tear my ear off again in the evening…"

The bird prince lay on his side again and stared at Fenris's sleeping face. "…I guess, good night, Your Majesty. I'll wake you up when it's time to rise."

"Come closer. It's cold." Fenris patted the bed again, Kanaru overlapping two images together. It was just that the very notion that they just acted so similar made him avoid Fenris more. In the end, Kanaru just grabbed the blanket, rolled it, and stuffed it in Fenris's arms. It also seemed that Fenris fell asleep with the fake Kanaru just the same.

"…what's going on…?" Kanaru held onto his face, his palm covering one of his eyes. "My eyes had never tricked me before."

…

An intrusive sound then blared in the silence of the evening. Fenris's eyes cracked open as soon as he heard the ringing, more when he realized that he was wrapping his arms around a balled blanket. As for the person, Kanaru just rolled to face the nightstand and turned off the noisy alarm clock with a broken glass face.

Kanaru then sat up and yawned, soon stretching on his bed. Since he was just wearing a t-shirt to sleep, the stretching pulled the hem high enough for his lower back and belly to show. Fenris reached out to touch the skin, but Kanaru rolled off to the side again. The prince started putting on his socks and his boots.

This left Fenris to rise as well. He made sure he was not looking indecent, forgetting a few habits after traveling for a long time. Then again, it was supposed to be his first evening to wake up in Middlemist again. However, he actually woke up in someone else's room.

"Kanaru, what is that?" Fenris asked as he used his hand to tame his hair. It was long enough to tangle after rolling around last night.

"It's an alarm clock. Gannett found it in an abandoned country close to ours. He let me have it so I won't oversleep." Kanaru walked over to Fenris's side and offered to comb the king's hair. "Your Majesty, you should go back to your room now. You still need to groom yourself for today's work. Uhm, you mentioned how Rodnir—I mean, His Grace… His Grace gave you a lot of work to do."

Fenris only closed his eyes as he felt how Kanaru gently ran the wide-toothed comb through his long hair. It was then followed by the fine-toothed comb to make sure it looked shiny and free from knots. Afterward, Kanaru got up to fetch a basin of lukewarm water from a water thermos at the side. He threw in a clean cloth and used it to clean the king's face.

Even if Fenris liked the pampering, didn't this mean he looked awful? However, this must be normal, considering that he and Kanaru should always be their best when seen by others. They were both members of their respective country's royalties.

Kanaru then cleaned Fenris's hands with the warm towel. The king would laugh, but he noticed how the bird made sure he wouldn't meet the king's gaze. Fenris then spoke, "You don't seem to like the idea of me visiting you, Kanaru."

"…I just think His Majesty made a mistake last night. I'm not part of the inner court, and I'm not a woman." Kanaru mumbled. He didn't want to think about the kiss that came out of nowhere. "I hope His Majesty wouldn't get upset about it…"

"I am getting upset, but I shouldn't blame you for it." Fenris chuckled, noticing Kanaru's flinch at the beginning. "You're doing a nice job at this. I'd—"

Loud knocks came to Kanaru's door, and the bird turned to the door. He got up from the bed and walked to open the door with a crack. However, Eann exclaimed from behind the door while banging at it again for the second time. "Kanaru! Kanaru! Please wake up!"

Kanaru opened the door, hoping not to show the king in the background. "Hey, Eann, what's going on? Did something happen?"

Next to Eann was another male concubine who had his insect wings out. He said as he leaned at the frame. "Natucha is summoning the outer court to the main lounge. The palace is in a flurry. It's like the inner court claimed the king is missing. We might have to look for him with the soldiers. Let's go. No need to beautify yourself."

"Okay, let me just take a jacket." Kanaru closed the door and felt a whiff of cold air in the room. When he turned behind him, he didn't see Fenris anymore. Moreover, the hatch overhead was left open as if Fenris left in a hurry.

That was for the best, Kanaru thought to himself as he walked to find a jacket to wear. It was just that he kicked something along the way. When he looked down, his foot just knocked over Fenris's shoes. Kanaru then darted his gaze at the longer drawer at the side, finding how the coat and jacket rested on it without a problem. The black crown even gleamed as if making itself apparent.