PEDRO, CAMILLA, LUCIAN, AND RAPHAEL went to the Imperial Palace together. The carriage stopped in front of the entrance to the banquet hall where the ball was being held.
The four got off and entered in pairs.
Pedro was spotless as he usually was, unlike how haggard he was when Raphael saw him last. And Camilla was also beautifully dressed.
After glancing at the married couple only once, Lucian thereafter paid attention only to Raphael.
He no longer needed to keep his father in check, and it felt like he was over the moon because he and Raphael wouldn’t be disturbed anymore.
And more than that, Raphael was wearing the necklace he had given him, and tonight, he felt like he was the most handsome man in the world.
When Lucian was picking out the accessories, he decided on them while dressing up the fashion doll(Boy Doll) Raphael gave him.
He called the jewelry company that’s said to be the most famous one in the capital and chose the design and color that would suit the doll the most.
When the doll looked very much like Raphael, he imagined Raphael himself wearing them.
And exactly as he pictured, Raphael wore the necklace and smiled next to him.
Seeing the banquet hall that was decorated with flowers to match the theme of spring, Raphael exclaimed in admiration.
Lucian held his hand tightly as Raphael appreciated the view, then they walked forward together.
“Brother, this is my first time attending a spring banquet. I didn’t imagine it would look like this.”
“There’s also an order for each family to present a flower-themed tapestry later.”
“Then will the Duchess of Leon do that?”
“Yes. And you’ll have to do it, too, when the time comes.”
Lucian smiled brightly as he imagined the near future. And as he smiled, he didn’t miss how his cheeks turned red just then.
“But isn’t that what the Duchess should do? Is it okay if I do it? I a male tho..” At his innocent question, Lucian’s mood plummeted to the ground at once.
He recalled the time when he called him by his name the first time.
That was when everything was bleak because of his father, and only Raphael’s voice rang in his ears.
[ Lucian! ]
The pleasant voice still seemed to echo in his ears.
He gently rubbed his ear and looked at his sideways. As Raphael looked at these things that were new to him, his eyes sparkled beautifully.
Raphael’s mesmerizing dark blue eyes were like the sun as it would fill up the dark night sky with light as the day would start, but whenever those eyes were to capture something other than Lucian, his stomach would twist in discomfort.
Lucian tapped Raphael on the back of his hand. Then, he saw those dark blue eyes focus back on him.
The dark blue eyes that reflected only him were captivating. He could feel goosebumps rising all over his body. He couldn’t hide his joy as he smiled.
“Look over there, Brother.”
At the mention of the word ‘brother’ again, he carefully brought it up.
“Can you call me by my name?”
“Huh?”
Raphael, who was in the middle of admiring the banquet hall’s decorations, asked back. He thought he heard him wrong.
“Why don’t you call me by my name? You called me Lucian last time.” Raphael could recall at once when that time was.
“It’s just that I was surprised back then…”
“Will you call me by my name only when you’re surprised?”
“It’s…”
“Then should I surprise you?” He said it as a joke, but Raphael’s expression changed subtly. Lucian no longer saw him as a younger brother.
Rather, because he wanted him by his side, he confronted his father fiercely.
Until he met Raphael again, all he wanted was to be with him.
Without knowing where that desire originated, from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning and closed them again at night, he just knew that he wanted to be with Raphael.
Now, he knew what he wanted.
And he knew the origin of that thirst.
“Pfft…”
After hearing his words, Raphael burst into laughter. He looked adorable as he covered his lips with his hand, his shoulders moving up and down.
Lucian eagerly observed Raphael’s every action so as not to miss anything about him.
Raphael mirth-filled blue eyes looked up at Lucian. Holding his arm tightly, Raphael went on his tiptoes.
Then, covering his lips with one hand, he whispered.
“How are you going to surprise me, Brother?” He didn’t like that he still called him brother, but just by the warm breath that touched his ear, he became dizzy.
Lucian’s heart was beating violently. His heart, which was usually quiet like a calm sea, stirred mercilessly when the wind that blew was his.
Even a weak wind such as this caused rough waves to stir within him, dominating the sea of his heart as it pounded.
The corners of his lips quietly went up. He went closer to Raphael’s side, and what he saw reflected in his eyes was only him.
Oh, this was how it felt.
Being with someone you love—it could make you this happy.
For the first time, Lucian felt sorry for his father, who had to part with his loved one.
However, this appreciation ended very briefly after this as he was forced to turn his eyes to the emperor, who announced the beginning of the spring banquet.
He still didn’t know why the bastard who kidnapped Raphael became a prince and why he kept approaching him.
He asked his father, but Pedro didn’t seem to know either.
That bastard was someone powerful enough to slip through the information of the Duke of Leon. Either that, or he had other tricks up his sleeve.
Would Raphael know who he was? He seemed to know that he was his kidnapper, but why didn’t he bring it up with Lucian?
Just the thought that he didn’t know one thing about him made him anxious.
As though he felt the helplessness of losing Raphael like in the past, Lucian glared at the prince with malice.
At that moment, he made eye contact with the prince. Those violet eyes had a mysteriousness to them that felt overwhelming.
Time had passed for the matriarch of each family to step up as representatives to present the tapestries they had prepared.
Raphael still shed his exclamations. While capturing his innocent appearance with his eyes, he kept the men around him in check.
Since his debut, he explicitly felt more eyes heading towards Raphael.
It somehow felt that he, who he held dear and precious, was like a white rabbit that had fallen into a wolf’s den.
Raphael was his entire world, and yet these detestable eyes were looking at him as a prospective marriage partner.
He wanted to dig out those eyes and feed them to beasts.
Grinding his teeth, he noticed the eyes of the young noblemen on Raphael again. He was barely holding himself back.
“Brother?”
When he heard the small sound, Raphael Looked up at him. Every time he did this, his heart fluttered.
“It’s nothing.”
“But your teeth will hurt later. You’re okay, right?”
“Yes, Ray.”
Raphael was still worried, so he reached up to his chin, his touch as light as a feather.
With just this slight action, his heart pounded loudly once again.
Lucian kept wanting him all to himself. He thought he could finally have him without anyone interfering, but there were still so many people keeping him away from him.
“Lucian, good evening.”
Noah approached the two. Lucian felt Raphael staring at Noah, who was wearing bright clothes, with his eyes wide open.
There were times when he would look at Noah persistently, and it was the same today. When Lucian saw Raphael staring at him like this, he felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
Why was he so interested in Noah? He couldn’t understand at all.
“Young Master Leon, Good Evening.” Noah didn’t forget what Lucian had warned him about before.
“Brother Noah, you look good in your outfit tonight.”
“You look amazing as well.” Lucian then looked Noah up and down. He was wearing a white suit with a pink dress shirt.
It was a spring banquet, but men didn’t like to wear the color pink.
“Pink is definitely manly. I like men who look good in pink.” And at the same time, the young men furtively glancing at Raphael looked down and checked their attires.
One side of Lucian’s lips went up. His twisted heart seemed to want to express itself freely through his lips.
“Haha, thank you for the compliment. Both the Raphael’s and Lucian’s outfits look really good as well. I think I’ll need to try harder…”
At Noah’s ensuing words, Lucian’s forehead became wrinkled. He disliked Noah.
It was unpleasant enough that Noah approached him in a friendly manner as though he knew him well.
So he tried to distance himself from Noah, but every time, Noah would cleverly pick up on this and move towards Raphael.
During those times, Lucian couldn’t act as he pleased whenever Raphael was involved. Even if it was an act to wrench away the other man.
Of course, not much had changed until now.
Raphael replied more enthusiastically to Noah’s praise.
“I knew it, Brother Noah has very good eyes. With Brother Lucian’s emerald shirt, pumpkin-colored amber brooch and dark brown suit make him look dashing in a tree’s colors? I was really surprised by my brother’s sense of fashion. His outfit contrasts my simple light green suit.”
As Lucian listened to how he bragged about him with a bright smile on his face, Lucian’s expression was frozen for a moment, but it loosened gently.
Whenever he did that, he had a difficult time because he would feel a tingling sensation from his toes to the crown of his head.
With courage, he tried to wrap an arm around Raphael’s shoulder. He wanted to let everyone know—the seat next to Raphael had already been filled.
However, he missed the timing again by a short margin. It had been like this as well with his first dance at the debutante.
“Since I came to propose to you, you’ve become so elegant, Young Master Leon.” With Elliot’s bold remarks, Lucian’s eyebrows crumpled mercilessly.
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