Inside the bathroom, the atmosphere suddenly felt completely frozen.
Arvin, whose body had just been forcefully hurled against the wall, was still sitting on the wet floor, remained silent, gazing with deeply sorrowful eyes at the indigo-haired youth in front of him.
Seeing that dim and sympathetic gaze from his hero, Calverd's breath instantly caught in his throat. His consciousness was forcibly dragged back to reality. He immediately realized that he had just acted far out of line toward the figure who had saved him.
Calverd stared at his own trembling hands, then looked at Arvin with eyes full of profound regret.
"I-I apologize, Arvin." Calverd said with a quivering voice, holding back the tears that threatened to fall. "I truly did not mean to do that to you. I was... I was just... terrified..."
"It's alright, I completely understand." Arvin replied with an incredibly gentle tone, not blaming the youth at all for his uncontrollable self-defense.
With relaxed and slow movements, as if the hard impact had never occurred, Arvin stood up from the floor, then walked closer to the bathtub.
"I want to soak for a moment before finishing my bath." Arvin said, gazing at the calm water. "Because after this, Kylen and I must immediately leave to continue our journey to the Flamort Kingdom."
As soon as Arvin stepped in and sat leaning his back into the warm water inside the bathtub, Kaydan, who had been silent all along, immediately shifted closer.
Without the slightest hesitation, he hugged Arvin's right arm very tightly, as if making that arm his sole anchor of sanity. Kaydan rested his head comfortably on his husband's shoulder, absorbing the warmth that chased away all the coldness from the prison cell.
"My Light, thank you so much for freeing me from that hellish place." Kaydan said with a voice filled with infinite happiness and relief. "I don't know what would have happened to the rest of my life if you had not infiltrated that palace and freed me from this slavery."
Hearing those sincere words, Arvin replied with a faint smile. Without warning, both his hands moved to pull Kaydan's body from the side, making his spouse sit on his lap.
Thump-thump! Thump-thump!
Kaydan's heart instantly beat so fast that it felt like it was crashing against his ribs. He never expected to end up sitting face-to-face on his husband's lap with their faces so close. A red flush immediately spread across his face.
On the other side of the room, Calverd, who still felt guilty, slowly stepped closer to the edge of the giant bathtub. He stood hesitantly, watching the warm interaction between the two youths in front of him.
"May I soak together with you?" Calverd asked softly, asking permission to join the warmth that seemed to be an antidote to his wounds.
Arvin turned his head and nodded, giving him permission without taking issue with the previous incident.
After receiving the permission, Calverd immediately stepped into the water. He took a position at a rather distant space, then sat leaning his body inside the tub.
A peaceful silence managed to take over the bathroom for a few moments, filled only by the sounds of breathing and small ripples of water.
Until finally, Arvin broke the silence.
"Kaydan?"
"Yes, My Light?"
"How did it come to be that you were imprisoned by those bastards?" Arvin asked curiously, his tone of voice turning slightly more serious and dark when inquiring about the root of all these disasters.
"This afternoon, when I had just finished bathing and was putting on my clothes in my room, Prince Lionias suddenly barged in without knocking." Kaydan said, beginning the origin of the incident.
[A few moments earlier, right before the sky of the Victoriaz Kingdom's capital turned dark]
Inside his room, Kaydan, who had just dried his body, was facing away from the door, preparing to put on his shirt.
Suddenly, his room door was opened roughly.
Lionias stepped in arrogantly. However, the prince's steps suddenly halted stiffly right at the doorway. His eyes widened perfectly, unblinking as he stared at the bare back of his slave.
"You...." the third prince said in shock, his voice catching in his throat. "How did you remove that slave seal tattoo?!"
Kaydan turned his head quickly, surprised to realize Lionias's presence. However, the gray-haired youth simply stood frozen in silence. Aside from the fact that he would never be willing to betray his husband, there was an absolute command from the soul seal bond within his mana vortex that bound him absolutely.
He could not leak any secret regarding Arvin without direct permission from the owner of the soul.
Seeing his former slave remaining utterly silent, standing and staring at him without showing any intention of answering his question, the shock on Lionias's face was instantly replaced by explosive fury.
The prince immediately stepped forward swiftly, roughly grabbed Kaydan's wrist, and dragged him out of the room toward the throne room to face the King.
With hurried steps and heavy breathing due to emotion, Lionias continued to drag the gray-haired youth all the way to the throne room.
King Estadian, who was discussing something with his minister, immediately stopped speaking. The ruler of the Victoriaz Kingdom looked at his son, who was forcibly dragging his slave, with a feeling of confusion and a furrowed brow.
"Why are you dragging him here in such a manner, Lionias?" the King asked, demanding an explanation.
Upon arriving in the middle of the room, the prince released his grip and directly pushed Kaydan's body so roughly that he fell tumbling onto the floor.
"Look at his back, Father!" Lionias said with ragged breathing, entirely ignoring the initial question thrown by his father. His hand pointed straight at Kaydan's exposed back. "Is there something strange there?!"
Hearing his son's unusual tone of voice, the King narrowed his eyes, looking at and carefully observing the back of the Larde tribe youth who was sprawled on the floor.
And a few seconds later, King Estadian's heart seemed to stop beating. His eyes widened when he realized that the slave seal carved onto the youth's body was no longer there. That back was clean without a blemish.
This is impossible! How could that slave tattoo be erased just like that? King Estadian thought, panic and anger beginning to mix in his head.
"Who erased that tattoo?!" King Estadian pressed with a loud voice, echoing throughout every corner of the throne room accompanied by a deadly, probing glare.
However, Kaydan maintained his silence. The youth simply knelt, staring at the floor. He did not want to say it and would never be able to say a single word about his husband's secret to anyone else anyway.
The atmosphere inside the throne room instantly became silent and tense. The air felt as if it had been completely sucked out. King Estadian, Prince Lionias, and several guards present there awaited the answer to come out of the Larde tribe youth's mouth.
However, after two minutes had passed, Kaydan still did not speak a single word. That absolute stubbornness and silence finally caused King Estadian's patience to run out and turn into unbearable wrath.
"Force him to speak!" the King commanded with a booming voice, pointing toward Kaydan.
Hearing their king's command, two soldiers began to step forward, approaching Kaydan who was kneeling resignedly on the floor.
One of the soldiers forcibly lifted Kaydan's body until he stood upright, restraining his movements so he could not evade. Meanwhile, the other soldier stepped forward. That soldier began to pull his right arm back...
Thwack!
An incredibly hard bare-handed punch struck squarely against Kaydan's right cheek.