II: The prince.

The emperor's voice echoed in the walls, Alatus did not hesitate to enter the bedroom as he did every morning at the time he was allowed to enter, even though he believed he lacked empathy, he did not feel good about what he saw.

His lord was getting dressed and was talking to him about what he planned to do that day as usual, but his eyes were shifted to the bundle of sheets on the emperor's bed, it was trembling slightly and he could clearly hear a cry that was trying to be concealed.

"Are you listening?" —Asked Rex Lapis standing in front of the youngest, he flinched looking back at his lord.— "I know you're curious, but this isn't the time."

Alatus nodded silently, his ears unable to ignore the sound of the emperor's new mate crying. Most people imagined the emperor to be a violent lover, it was no secret that he had anger issues, and for Alatus to be there, hearing what happened the night before was direct confirmation of those words.

They left the new empress in the room, Alatus followed his lord through the corridors of the palace while his mind was blank, when he reached the dining room, as spacious and luxurious as ever, he stood next to his lord's seat. The brown-haired man sat at the end of the long table, he was used to eating in "solitude", for him his servants usually resembled more furniture than people.

"Alatus, I am going to change your position."

He said as he drank some tea, the hot steam wafting around him giving him a sophisticated touch.

"Sorry?"

The young man was immediately alarmed, he took a couple of steps to approach his lord, his frightened expression made the older smile.

"I'm not going to degrade you…" —He took a sip of his tea, leaving tension in the air due to the silence.— "I need you to find a suitable guard for my concubine, though, until then I'll ask you to fill that position."

He explained calmly, the emperor didn't have time to take care of himself and to be honest, he didn't want to have to deal with it.

"But sir-!"

"This is important..." -He interrupted.— "We can't relax yet, if someone wanted to ruin me, all they have to do is attack my new partner for my nation to come into conflict with Celestia, it's a delicate moment."

The man's golden gaze settled on Alatus, a subtle warning about the weight of his words.

"I understand..."

He said resignedly, Alatus was not thrilled at all by the idea but he thought that he could solve it quickly if he started as soon as possible.

"You are the only one I trust for this, find someone you trust who is at the level to protect something so valuable."

"I will, my lord."

He responded with a bow, in his mind he was already beginning to remember the high-ranking officers who could be useful.

"Is this what you asked for, my lord?"

A maid entered the room, in her hands was a small metal pot scented with herbs.

"Oh yes, that's exactly it." —Rex Lapis replied, his gaze returning to his escort.— "Alatus, you should take this."

"Y-you mean... now?"

He asked despite knowing what he meant, he forced himself to accept the object in his hands while the emperor patted him lightly on the shoulder, as if he already knew what he was thinking.

"Of course, 'he' needs it."

The emphasis on that word made the guard speechless, a boy? Was the empress... a man?

. . .

Perhaps it took longer than it should to get back to the room, unconsciously trying to delay the inevitable, strangely he felt nervous to be in the presence of his new superior, or rather, empress. Alatus wished he could completely forget what he had heard the night before, but, the more he thought about it, the more embarrassing it seemed, at that moment he thought he was hearing a woman because of his melodious voice.

Upon entering, he breathed a sigh of relief at not hearing that person's cry anymore, he was worried about not knowing how to deal with it since he really doesn't know how to comfort people, the only thing he's good at is fighting.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty? I was asked to bring you this..."

He said then, Alatus saw how a boy came out of the sheets with golden eyes like honey, red from crying, and a tender expression of surprise despite looking tired, his chest was exposed so he covered himself with the sheets when he noticed that the guard's eyes were shifted to see him in that part.

"A-ah... That, I thank you."

The young man reached out to grasp the ointment, his fingers brushing delicately over Alatus's. The blond looked at the small metal container and then looked at him, perhaps hoping that he would leave the room.

Alatus again felt strange, for a moment he was blank when he heard it, had he heard correctly? Was that person thanking him? To think that he is not used to his rank would be strange, after all, he was still a prince.

"Sorry, I should introduce myself." -He hastened to say when the silence started to get awkward, with all possible grace the dark-haired man knelt and bowed to the person on the bed.- "Yaksha Alatus at his service, I will be taking care of you until I find a suitable escort for you."

"Yaksha? Oh! You are one of those, amazing."

The blonde exclaimed, emotion was noticeable in his voice.

"Sorry?"

Alatus looked up meeting a nice smile from the blond, he felt his heart speed up at the sight.

"I've heard about your exploits on the battlefield, it's totally worthy of admiration."

The prince explained while looking into the eyes of the still kneeling guard, Alatus was surprised by how sincere he sounded and for a moment he believed the praise.

"Sir, you don't need to flatter me, I'm already at your complete disposal."

The golden-haired young man got up from the bed, the sheets falling from it but covering his body as he held them against his chest, he reached down to offer his hand encouraging the other boy to get up.

"Please, you don't need to bow to me... I really hope we can get along."

He said as he stood up at the same time as the guard, the fact that their hands were touching embarrassed the jet.

"Uh, sure, of course."

Alatus took a couple of steps back as he hid his hands behind his back, the heat seemed to stay and he even had the feeling that the area where the prince touched was tingling.

"You can call me Aether."

The jet could not oppose the request since at that moment a maid entered the room, in her hands folded clothes. The woman ignored the guard who walked away from them as much as possible as she walked towards the prince, she indicated that she would be there to help him get ready every morning and the boy simply smiled at her.

The prince took his time in the bathroom before even getting dressed, Alatus could imagine what he was doing that took so long although he really didn't want to have that mental image.

After almost an hour, finally, the prince was ready to go out, he was surprised that he had to wear traditional Liyue clothes but he did not put up any resistance, he just made slight complaints about the amount of unnecessary clothes he wore underneath and the conflict that caused him to be dragging clothes of such quality on the floor.

A different maid proposed to give him a tour around the palace so that he could get to know the surroundings and, without even thinking about it, the prince accepted, as usual, Alatus kept a few steps away from the blonde while following him around the place.

The tour took longer than it should since the prince took his time to greet the servants he met, they were initially stunned by the inappropriate proximity of someone in that position but they quickly sympathized with him, they looked happy to find that their new lord was kind to them. They did not tour the palace completely since at noon the emperor expected to see his new partner to have lunch with him, after indicating where he should go, Aether walked hurriedly knowing that it was time, being late would give a very bad image of himself.

The silence in the great hall was broken when the prince entered followed by the guard, Alatus hastening to indicate where he should sit before he did something to disturb the peace of his lord. The emperor simply stared after them as his husband sat at the other end of the table, he was surprised that he was smiling when he was so down in the morning.

"Good morning, Your Majesty." -The blonde exclaimed as he looked at the older man who didn't change his serious expression.- "I don't want to disturb you while you eat but... Would you mind listening to me for a moment?"

The man snapped his fingers causing the servants who were around to leave the place and when there was no one but them, and Alatus, he made a gesture with his hand waiting for him to continue, the emperor did not seem to want to speak in the least but he kept his gaze on the prince.

"I think we started off on the wrong foot, I wish we could get along despite our circumstances."

Alatus could tell immediately that the emperor did not take him seriously from the way he covered his mouth to avoid showing his cynical smile, his eyes revealed a malicious feeling of superiority, he had seen him make that expression before but he still did not understand where the contempt for the young man came from.

"I would have liked to introduce myself earlier since it probably has not been informed about the heir to come, I regret that the decision was not made until the last moment."

"Although I am curious about your indecision, I am not going to complain, I did not accept this deal because I had a predilection for one of the two, until now it was irrelevant to me who would come."

The emperor answered, although the young man tried to be friendly with him, by the way he spoke, it sounded as if he was not interested in having a cordial treatment as they were proposing.

"It's a relief." -The prince sighed, only then he get up from his seat, standing to one side, and from the spot he bowed.- "My name is Aether Viator, "the son of the sun", it is a pleasure to meet you."

Without saying anything, the emperor also got up and approached slowly until he reached the blonde, the much taller man looked at him from above, one of his fingers passed through the minor's cheek until it stopped under his chin, he was delicate when doing lift his face to look him in the eye.

"Delighted, I am known as Rex Lapis but my name is Zhongli, although you... I prefer that you call me 'Your Majesty' or even 'my lord' will be fine."

The amber-eyed man said in a low tone, his deep voice seeming to seduce. Rex Lapis lowered his face and pressed his lips against the blonde's before he could respond to his words, his thumb pressing on his lower lip to force him to open his mouth allowing that kiss to deepen. The emperor's tongue became entangled like a snake around the prince's who, despite not being able to keep up with the violent movements of the older, did nothing to stop him.

Alatus looked elsewhere as soon as they began to kiss, it was awkward and seeing them caused him a strange feeling that he could not understand, he frowned because even when he tried to ignore them he could clearly hear the lewd and wet sounds that his lord caused when kissing the prince.

As the sound ceased Alatus looked back up, his mind going blank as he admired the beautiful color of the prince's flushed face, his eyes were closed and his mouth slightly open letting out a panting as the emperor finally pulled away.

"Good boy." -He said softly leaving a chaste kiss on the blonde's forehead.- "As long as you're obedient and docile, we'll get along just fine."

Alatus could not understand why the prince simply nodded at those words, the man was clearly treating him as something inferior and it did not seem to bother him, in theory, they would have to treat each other as equals since the pact benefits them both equally, and even so...

"I have work to do, you should familiarize yourself with the palace in my absence."

"Of course."

"See you at night."

He said as he walked out the door leaving the place in complete silence, Aether waited a few seconds until he stopped hearing the rumble of the echo made by the emperor's shoes to let himself fall into his seat letting out a long sigh.

"I think I'll die." -He exclaimed as he covered his face with his hands, Alatus was startled by the statement and approached thinking that something bad had happened to him.- "It's the first time I've kiss, it's too intense for me."

The blonde expressed honestly, Alatus was relieved but at the same time disgusted by the situation.

"O-oh..."

"At least he doesn't hate me..."

He muttered to himself, there was a certain relief in his voice, the guard beside him might differ. In the silence of that great hall, Alatus felt that even the beating of his heart was too loud that he dared not say anything.

"He's a complicated man, isn't he?"

The prince barely moved his hands to meet the eyes of the boy next to him, Alatus didn't even know what to say since he wasn't good with that type of conversation, with that type of situation, but apparently, he was going to have to get used to it.

"Hey, Alatus..."

"Y-yes, Your Majesty?"

He forced himself to answer appropriately.

"You know him, don't you? Would you help me get along with him?"

Alatus was surprised by the question, of course, he would not refuse such a request no matter how strange it seemed.

Later he would come to regret such a decision.

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