Yerhan Herbet, the illegitimate son of the emperor whose identity as a person with royal blood had so far been kept secret.
Yerhan’s mother, who was the only child of a rural area lord, became pregnant with Yerhan after spending one night with the emperor.
But she did not reveal that he was the emperor’s child, and was eventually expelled from the family under the stigma of being pregnant with the body of a virgin.
She gave birth to Yerhan in a foreign land and had difficulty raising him in the empire.
When Yerhan turned 14, she became ill and handed over his identification card. Shortly before her death, she revealed his father’s identity.
But Yerhan did not visit the imperial palace, nor brag about his birth to anyone.
He thought there must be a reason why his mother kept his existence strictly as a secret.
After burying his mother and wandering around the empire, something happened.
And rumors started to spread that Yerhan was part of the imperial family.
Yerhan fled, but rumors that a royal appeared had already secretly entered the imperial city.
The first one to hear the rumor, the empress, quickly sent an assassin to kill Yerhan.
Yerhan dealt with assassins to survive.
However, the more he killed men with a sword, the stranger he became.
His rationality was eaten by instinct, and the surrounding area was always covered in blood after he woke up.
He was afraid of his uncontrollable self, but Yerhan had no choice but to lift the sword.
Just like today.
Chased by assassins, Yerhan entered the echo forest.
He was going to throw the assassins off in the forest.
But contrary to his wishes, the assassins were persistent, and eventually forced him to wield the sword.
When he came to his senses after a long time, the situation was over.
Yerhan, who managed to escape the dead bodies of the assassins, sank.
He couldn’t control his body anymore. His seething flesh seemed to subside only when he cut down animals.
At this rate, it was clear that he would lose his rationality and change.
“Are you okay?”
Someone with a soft voice laid a hand on Yerhan’s shoulder. There were a few short gasps of breath.
One hand on his shoulder calmed his hot body, and his stuffy chest eased.
As soon as the lost rationality returned, the hand was about to fall from Yerhan’s shoulder.
Yerhan held that hand reflexively. The hand was like a salvation to him and a ray of light so that he did not fall into the abyss.
Knowing the urgency, the owner of the hand stayed still.
There seemed to be a refreshing energy blowing deep into his lungs from the hand in contact.
The soft, warm hands were nothing but like a resting place for Yerhan.
His body calmed down, and his pulse was back to normal.
All the destructive emotions akin to animals who lost their rationality disappeared and his head became calm.
He had never found a place to rest this fast before.
If it were a matter that could be solved by just one palm, he wouldn’t be so afraid.
Yerhan looked at the boy standing in front of him.
Short hair and clear red eyes caught his eye first.
There was nothing special, but Yerhan couldn’t turn his attention away.
All the light in his world was on the boy.
“I’ll go to the village and get what we need.”
Yerhan was unconsciously disappointed by the words.
He thought it was obviously empty words just to leave him here. It was clear that he would never come back.
Yerhan kept his eyes on the trail of the boy who had already gone.
He never regretted his relationship with anyone before, but this time he was disappointed.
Yerhan leaned against the tree and gazed at the palm of his hand.
The palms he held were still warm.
“Huhh…”
Breathing in, Yerhan slowly lifted himself up.
He couldn’t stay like this. He was sure the boy wouldn’t come back, so waiting for him was useless.
And by now the empress’s men would have come looking for his dead body.
Yerhan stumbled through the trees, dragging himself.
How long did he walk? Yerhan was exhausted and collapsed in front of a tree.
At this rate, it seemed that night would come before he even got out of the forest.
Staring blankly into space, he saw someone through the white trees.
The rustling sound came like a dream. As the individual got closer and closer, the figure became clear.
He couldn’t believe it. There was no reason for him to return.
He thought he must have left.
When Yerhan thought of all kinds of things, wondering if the boy had gone the wrong way, he said with his arms crossed.
“I’ve told you I’ll come back.”
The thoughts that filled his head disappeared cleanly with that one sentence.
The boy really went to the village for him.
When he realized that, he felt very strange.
The tips of his fingers tingled, and his heart became noisy.
The boy who was treating him introduced himself as Liden.
Yerhan, who repeatedly called Liden’s name, looked at his face.
The clear smile was so beautiful that all his dark emotions seemed to subside.
His eyes kept on looking at everything about Liden.
A very thin neckline for a boy, little hands which used to wrap the bandage, red eyes between the eyelashes and the corners of the mouth that were slightly raised.
Everything he thought was normal, seemed special.
Yerhan was sure he had never met him before, but why was he so attracted to him? Why did it feel as if they had been together from the beginning?
After a long thought, he couldn’t make a straightforward conclusion about the feeling.
After finishing treatment, Liden was ready to leave. Yerhan became nervous watching it.
He didn’t want to let him go like this.
He wanted to at least find out the reason for this feeling.
But if he did as he wanted, the boy would run away, and he couldn’t go after him with that body.
He wanted to hold on to the boy, even by using sympathy.
When his thoughts reached that point, his following action led very naturally.
Yerhan groaned with his face distorted as much as he could, pretending to be sick.
Then the startled Liden was at a loss.
Yerhan did not miss that opportunity.
He pretended to be as pitiful as possible, but his gaze did not let Liden go, and he whispered.
“Stay with me a little longer.”
***
Yerhan and Liden found a deserted cabin just before night came.
Not long after their conversation, Liden fell asleep.
Yerhan lifted himself out of bed and glanced down at Liden.
He thought it was weird when the boy changed his clothes earlier, but his soft and fine face shape and build looked like a woman no matter how much he looked at it.
Yerhan stared at the face and swallowed a sigh.
When tomorrow came, he didn’t know what excuse he would have to use to keep him.
He was about to lie back in bed when he heard the rustling rain sound outside the window.
Yerhan rose to his feet and stood by the window. The chill that came through the window pierced his spine.
Yerhan grabbed the sword straight away. He had a hunch tonight wouldn’t be smooth.
After leaving the cabin, Yerhan turned to get as far away from here as possible.
He was thinking of luring the enemy in case Liden was in danger.
As he ran through the white trees, the sound of footsteps of several people stepping on the fallen leaves was mixed with the sound of rain.
Right behind, masked men were fiercely chasing Yerhan.
After a long run through the forest, an open space appeared.
Realizing that he could no longer escape, Yerhan stopped there.
The assassins rushed at the same time without missing the opportunity.
Numerous swords pointed toward Yerhan like a rainstorm.
Yerhan stood motionlessly as if he had given up everything.
And just as the sword was about to rub against his flesh, he quickly picked up the sword.
Yerhan’s black sword neatly cut off all the swords from all sides.
It looked as if he had predicted where the swords were flying.
The assassins, perplexed by his unexpected skill, paused for a moment.
And Yerhan didn’t miss it.
A stretched sword cut through the air, cutting down the assassin in front of him.
The assassins who saw his excellent swordsmanship, rushed to save their lives.
“Eakkh!”
The assassin, who targeted Yerhan’s head, was stabbed through the abdomen by a sharp sword and collapsed.
Behind the falling assassin, another assassin popped out and thrusted a sword toward Yerhan.
Reflectively blocking the sword, Yerhan shoved the opposing sword and quickly cut off his head.
Blood splattered on the floor and all over Yerhan’s face.
Every time his sword cut the assassins, his heart pounded.
A very exalted sensation began to heat his whole body up.
His arms and legs instinctively cut off enemies, and each time Yerhan cut them down, he felt pleased.
The sword that was wielded to live was already focused on slaughter.
His eyes were as blue as the clear sky.
And now, his eyes were completely dark navy.
“Haa…”
Yerhan stopped only after killing all the assassins.
Blood was dripping from the blade of the sword that now lost its purpose.
It was only then that Yerhan realized he had been hurt a lot.
However, far from suffering, only an unfulfilled desire for destruction was rampant.
Yerhan held his hands together. At this rate, he was not satisfied with the slaughter and will destroy himself.
A great fear encroached on Yerhan.
It felt like he was being eaten into a deep swamp that he could never escape.
Yerhan walked at a stumbling pace.
He had a massive headache, and the pain spread all over his body.
He longed for someone to stop him, but there was only the cold wind that laughed at Yerhan.
Unconsciously, he stopped and groaned.
No.
Yerhan bit his lip. He was now holding onto his last string as a human being.
If he let go of this string, he might rush into that cabin and kill the sleeping Liden.
And it was the moment when he held on to the last string.
“!”
A warm hand came through the cold rain and touched his cheek.
His trembling body stopped right away, and a fresh wind blew from somewhere.
As his hot head cooled, his vision that was blurry became clear.
Yerhan slowly looked up and saw a boy standing in front of him.
It was Liden.
With a thirst that still hadn’t been completely quenched, Yerhan hugged Liden instinctively.
The sound of a thumping heart from their touching chests overbeared the sound of rain.
When their flesh touched, his rationality gradually returned.
However, his hot body continued to crave for Liden.
Yerhan knew he had to stop but he couldn’t.
Instead of letting Liden go, he hugged and kissed him.
The kiss was sweeter than the water in the desert, so he wanted more.
Yerhan, who was still craving Liden’s lips, led Liden back to the cabin.
And he laid Liden in bed without stopping to take off his wet clothes.
Yerhan Herbet, the illegitimate son of the emperor whose identity as a person with royal blood had so far been kept secret.
Yerhan’s mother, who was the only child of a rural area lord, became pregnant with Yerhan after spending one night with the emperor.
But she did not reveal that he was the emperor’s child, and was eventually expelled from the family under the stigma of being pregnant with the body of a virgin.
She gave birth to Yerhan in a foreign land and had difficulty raising him in the empire.
When Yerhan turned 14, she became ill and handed over his identification card. Shortly before her death, she revealed his father’s identity.
But Yerhan did not visit the imperial palace, nor brag about his birth to anyone.
He thought there must be a reason why his mother kept his existence strictly as a secret.
After burying his mother and wandering around the empire, something happened.
And rumors started to spread that Yerhan was part of the imperial family.
Yerhan fled, but rumors that a royal appeared had already secretly entered the imperial city.
The first one to hear the rumor, the empress, quickly sent an assassin to kill Yerhan.
Yerhan dealt with assassins to survive.
However, the more he killed men with a sword, the stranger he became.
His rationality was eaten by instinct, and the surrounding area was always covered in blood after he woke up.
He was afraid of his uncontrollable self, but Yerhan had no choice but to lift the sword.
Just like today.
Chased by assassins, Yerhan entered the echo forest.
He was going to throw the assassins off in the forest.
But contrary to his wishes, the assassins were persistent, and eventually forced him to wield the sword.
When he came to his senses after a long time, the situation was over.
Yerhan, who managed to escape the dead bodies of the assassins, sank.
He couldn’t control his body anymore. His seething flesh seemed to subside only when he cut down animals.
At this rate, it was clear that he would lose his rationality and change.
“Are you okay?”
Someone with a soft voice laid a hand on Yerhan’s shoulder. There were a few short gasps of breath.
One hand on his shoulder calmed his hot body, and his stuffy chest eased.
As soon as the lost rationality returned, the hand was about to fall from Yerhan’s shoulder.
Yerhan held that hand reflexively. The hand was like a salvation to him and a ray of light so that he did not fall into the abyss.
Knowing the urgency, the owner of the hand stayed still.
There seemed to be a refreshing energy blowing deep into his lungs from the hand in contact.
The soft, warm hands were nothing but like a resting place for Yerhan.
His body calmed down, and his pulse was back to normal.
All the destructive emotions akin to animals who lost their rationality disappeared and his head became calm.
He had never found a place to rest this fast before.
If it were a matter that could be solved by just one palm, he wouldn’t be so afraid.
Yerhan looked at the boy standing in front of him.
Short hair and clear red eyes caught his eye first.
There was nothing special, but Yerhan couldn’t turn his attention away.
All the light in his world was on the boy.
“I’ll go to the village and get what we need.”
Yerhan was unconsciously disappointed by the words.
He thought it was obviously empty words just to leave him here. It was clear that he would never come back.
Yerhan kept his eyes on the trail of the boy who had already gone.
He never regretted his relationship with anyone before, but this time he was disappointed.
Yerhan leaned against the tree and gazed at the palm of his hand.
The palms he held were still warm.
“Huhh…”
Breathing in, Yerhan slowly lifted himself up.
He couldn’t stay like this. He was sure the boy wouldn’t come back, so waiting for him was useless.
And by now the empress’s men would have come looking for his dead body.
Yerhan stumbled through the trees, dragging himself.
How long did he walk? Yerhan was exhausted and collapsed in front of a tree.
At this rate, it seemed that night would come before he even got out of the forest.
Staring blankly into space, he saw someone through the white trees.
The rustling sound came like a dream. As the individual got closer and closer, the figure became clear.
He couldn’t believe it. There was no reason for him to return.
He thought he must have left.
When Yerhan thought of all kinds of things, wondering if the boy had gone the wrong way, he said with his arms crossed.
“I’ve told you I’ll come back.”
The thoughts that filled his head disappeared cleanly with that one sentence.
The boy really went to the village for him.
When he realized that, he felt very strange.
The tips of his fingers tingled, and his heart became noisy.
The boy who was treating him introduced himself as Liden.
Yerhan, who repeatedly called Liden’s name, looked at his face.
The clear smile was so beautiful that all his dark emotions seemed to subside.
His eyes kept on looking at everything about Liden.
A very thin neckline for a boy, little hands which used to wrap the bandage, red eyes between the eyelashes and the corners of the mouth that were slightly raised.
Everything he thought was normal, seemed special.
Yerhan was sure he had never met him before, but why was he so attracted to him? Why did it feel as if they had been together from the beginning?
After a long thought, he couldn’t make a straightforward conclusion about the feeling.
After finishing treatment, Liden was ready to leave. Yerhan became nervous watching it.
He didn’t want to let him go like this.
He wanted to at least find out the reason for this feeling.
But if he did as he wanted, the boy would run away, and he couldn’t go after him with that body.
He wanted to hold on to the boy, even by using sympathy.
When his thoughts reached that point, his following action led very naturally.
Yerhan groaned with his face distorted as much as he could, pretending to be sick.
Then the startled Liden was at a loss.
Yerhan did not miss that opportunity.
He pretended to be as pitiful as possible, but his gaze did not let Liden go, and he whispered.
“Stay with me a little longer.”
***
Yerhan and Liden found a deserted cabin just before night came.
Not long after their conversation, Liden fell asleep.
Yerhan lifted himself out of bed and glanced down at Liden.
He thought it was weird when the boy changed his clothes earlier, but his soft and fine face shape and build looked like a woman no matter how much he looked at it.
Yerhan stared at the face and swallowed a sigh.
When tomorrow came, he didn’t know what excuse he would have to use to keep him.
He was about to lie back in bed when he heard the rustling rain sound outside the window.
Yerhan rose to his feet and stood by the window. The chill that came through the window pierced his spine.
Yerhan grabbed the sword straight away. He had a hunch tonight wouldn’t be smooth.
After leaving the cabin, Yerhan turned to get as far away from here as possible.
He was thinking of luring the enemy in case Liden was in danger.
As he ran through the white trees, the sound of footsteps of several people stepping on the fallen leaves was mixed with the sound of rain.
Right behind, masked men were fiercely chasing Yerhan.
After a long run through the forest, an open space appeared.
Realizing that he could no longer escape, Yerhan stopped there.
The assassins rushed at the same time without missing the opportunity.
Numerous swords pointed toward Yerhan like a rainstorm.
Yerhan stood motionlessly as if he had given up everything.
And just as the sword was about to rub against his flesh, he quickly picked up the sword.
Yerhan’s black sword neatly cut off all the swords from all sides.
It looked as if he had predicted where the swords were flying.
The assassins, perplexed by his unexpected skill, paused for a moment.
And Yerhan didn’t miss it.
A stretched sword cut through the air, cutting down the assassin in front of him.
The assassins who saw his excellent swordsmanship, rushed to save their lives.
“Eakkh!”
The assassin, who targeted Yerhan’s head, was stabbed through the abdomen by a sharp sword and collapsed.
Behind the falling assassin, another assassin popped out and thrusted a sword toward Yerhan.
Reflectively blocking the sword, Yerhan shoved the opposing sword and quickly cut off his head.
Blood splattered on the floor and all over Yerhan’s face.
Every time his sword cut the assassins, his heart pounded.
A very exalted sensation began to heat his whole body up.
His arms and legs instinctively cut off enemies, and each time Yerhan cut them down, he felt pleased.
The sword that was wielded to live was already focused on slaughter.
His eyes were as blue as the clear sky.
And now, his eyes were completely dark navy.
“Haa…”
Yerhan stopped only after killing all the assassins.
Blood was dripping from the blade of the sword that now lost its purpose.
It was only then that Yerhan realized he had been hurt a lot.
However, far from suffering, only an unfulfilled desire for destruction was rampant.
Yerhan held his hands together. At this rate, he was not satisfied with the slaughter and will destroy himself.
A great fear encroached on Yerhan.
It felt like he was being eaten into a deep swamp that he could never escape.
Yerhan walked at a stumbling pace.
He had a massive headache, and the pain spread all over his body.
He longed for someone to stop him, but there was only the cold wind that laughed at Yerhan.
Unconsciously, he stopped and groaned.
No.
Yerhan bit his lip. He was now holding onto his last string as a human being.
If he let go of this string, he might rush into that cabin and kill the sleeping Liden.
And it was the moment when he held on to the last string.
“!”
A warm hand came through the cold rain and touched his cheek.
His trembling body stopped right away, and a fresh wind blew from somewhere.
As his hot head cooled, his vision that was blurry became clear.
Yerhan slowly looked up and saw a boy standing in front of him.
It was Liden.
With a thirst that still hadn’t been completely quenched, Yerhan hugged Liden instinctively.
The sound of a thumping heart from their touching chests overbeared the sound of rain.
When their flesh touched, his rationality gradually returned.
However, his hot body continued to crave for Liden.
Yerhan knew he had to stop but he couldn’t.
Instead of letting Liden go, he hugged and kissed him.
The kiss was sweeter than the water in the desert, so he wanted more.
Yerhan, who was still craving Liden’s lips, led Liden back to the cabin.
And he laid Liden in bed without stopping to take off his wet clothes.
