Struggle Chapter 69

Wrapping his arm around Nanyoung’s waist, he forced him to sit on his thigh—was that it? Taerok’s tone had shifted back to the one he had used throughout the night.

“The fragrance you chose yourself, Uncle, is the very one that doesn’t suit me at all. I dislike that your scent comes from my body.”

But Nanyoung wasn’t backing down a single step either.

“Anyway, when it comes from you, it smells quite different from mine. There’s such a thing as the scent of one’s flesh.”

“I don’t know.”

Playing coy.

To be fair, Nanyoung’s bodily scent was nearly odorless. It had been that way since infancy. He had heard that even his wet nurse had barely left a mark on him—he ate little at a time, and if he overate even slightly, he would vomit all the milk back up. Perhaps that was why Nanyoung had no fragrance.

And Taerok found that both delightful and displeasing at the same time. It was obvious that his scent would easily be overwritten by whoever was beside him. If so, the fragrance Taerok chose for him would suit him best.

“Living as a Grand Prince is dreadfully boring.”

Taerok firmly embraced Nanyoung’s waist as he tried to leave, buried his nose in his nape, and muttered.

“I don’t want to die colorless and odorless, Nanyoung. Would you want the man you once admired to end up preserved like a dried specimen?”

He gripped Nanyoung’s cheek firmly, forcing him to look directly at his face. He knew well that Nanyoung would gaze at his face from every angle, as if bewitched.

This time too, Nanyoung stared blankly, as if under a spell. Just as Taerok thought, He’s about to give me the answer I want, Nanyoung replied.

“A sacrifice that leaves nothing behind may be the greatest achievement of all.”

“…”

“Isn’t what remains… in me… enough for you?”

Did he say that knowing exactly how it would sound?

Taerok’s face twisted violently. Almost simultaneously, he threw Nanyoung onto his back. Catching the back of his head so he wouldn’t strike it, he pressed his lips to Nanyoung’s before he could even gather his wits. His collar and hair were firmly seized, leaving Nanyoung no escape. Through the gap in his loosened collar, Taerok’s hand slid in like a current of water.

“Ah…!”

Nanyoung’s nipples and chest, swollen and like red beans, were crushed and seized all at once. Taerok’s hands were so large that even while gripping Nanyoung’s chest, his fingertips could reach his back. It felt as if his sternum would be crushed and burst open.

“Don’t go.”

Taerok parted his lips slightly and whispered.

“You need to stay at least one more day for me to consider it settled.”

Nanyoung shook his head. A desperate shake. But Taerok wouldn’t hear it. The hand cradling his head slid slowly away. Clink, clink—the hairpins fell to the floor. At the sound, Nanyoung flinched.

“You should never have come to me in the first place. You should have gone straight to His Majesty and reported me.”

Taerok blamed Nanyoung.

“Why did you come back to me?”

But Nanyoung didn’t even realize he was being blamed.

“So this is your fault, Nanyoung. You made me commit a sin.”

Nanyoung’s heart lurched.

I made him commit a sin? His mind was in turmoil. Like not knowing whether the chicken came first or the egg, he couldn’t tell whether treason came first or incest.

In the meantime, Nanyoung’s collar had become disheveled. His hair was the same. His topknot had come undone—he could no longer go out like this. Taerok, holding his disheveled hair, brought his lips to Nanyoung’s chest as he bit back his tears.

“Hngh, ngh…”

He bit Nanyoung’s nipple and sucked persistently. When he caught it with his front teeth and pulled, Nanyoung’s socked feet pushed against the floor as he struggled. Taerok caught the foot that was striking his thigh and this time bit the toe of the sock with his lips.

“Haaah…”

After a sound and sensation that tickled down to his waist—sshuu—Nanyoung’s bare foot was revealed. As white as melon flesh.

“Your Highness.”

Just then, a voice called for Taerok from outside. At the same moment Nanyoung’s head snapped toward the door, his heel kicked Taerok’s shoulder.

“Ah.”

It was fairly strong. Taerok grabbed his pushed-back shoulder and frowned.

Stunned by the shock of having kicked his uncle’s body and alarmed by the presence of someone outside, Nanyoung clamped both hands over his mouth. His wide, startled eyes darted frantically between the threshold and Taerok. Meanwhile, his feet busily pushed against the floor, retreating all the way to the folding screen—a thoroughly busy sight.

Taerok watched Nanyoung’s antics with a frown, then rose with a sigh.

“…Wait.”

He placed the medicine bowl and tray on the table, then lifted the tray himself.

“You’d like me to ask you to open the door, but you won’t come, will you?”

He looked back over his shoulder at Nanyoung, deliberately teasing.

Instead of answering, Nanyoung crept and crawled, hiding behind the folding screen. His white, rounded heels remained visible until the very end, then disappeared behind it.

Swallowing a sigh, Taerok opened the door with his toes.

“I’ve brought it.”

The servant, who hadn’t expected him to bring it himself, blinked in surprise.

Taerok set the tray down beside him and was about to turn away when he turned back and asked.

“Is there any honeyed peach?”

“Yes, yes… some has come in.”

“In late summer? You still have it?”

“It’s just about to spoil, so I hadn’t brought it out—shall I serve it…?”

Did Nanyoung like peaches?

After a moment’s thought, Taerok nodded. The servant, emboldened, said there were also nectarines, and Taerok told him to bring those as well. Since Taerok tired easily of sweets, he ordered tea to be served as well. At this rate, the refreshments might end up weighing more than the main meal.

Having said all he needed, Taerok grasped the door handle—and, uncharacteristically, closed it very quietly. After making sure it shut without a sound, he headed toward the folding screen.

“…”

Unaware that Taerok was approaching, Nanyoung remained crouched in hiding. Taerok looked at the rounded curve of his buttocks, his socked foot, and his bare white foot, then quietly stroked his chin.

Nanyoung seemed completely oblivious to the situation beyond the screen. Taerok leaned in, grabbed his ankle, and pulled.

“Ah…!”

Startled, Nanyoung was dragged out before he could even grasp the situation.

“D-don’t!”

When he grabbed the folding screen as if it were his last fortress, Taerok caught it to keep it from toppling over.

“Nephew, you’re odd. It seems you’re the one who wants to make a fuss and alert the servants.”

At Taerok’s words, Nanyoung’s hand trembled violently before finally letting go with a thwack.

Dragged out completely, Nanyoung was a complete mess. His carefully arranged hair was again in disarray, making him look like a ruffian—yet his face was far from that of a ruffian. Taerok burst out laughing.

“…You find this amusing?”

“Of course.”

Taerok shot back, then sat Nanyoung between his legs. He picked up the hairpins rolling on the floor and neatly fixed his hair again.

“…You’re good at this.”

Nanyoung muttered in a sullen tone. Looking at his reflection in the distant mirror, his topknot was far better done than anything he could manage himself.

“I suppose I’ve handled one for at least thirteen years longer than you have.”

When Taerok’s hands withdrew, there remained, except for his mismatched bare feet, the perfectly composed Grand Prince Heonui.

“I simply don’t understand you at all, Uncle.”

“Think of me however you wish.”

With that, Taerok gave Nanyoung’s buttocks a smack. He gestured with his chin for the startled Nanyoung to get down.

No sooner had Nanyoung hesitantly stepped down from one of Taerok’s thighs than a voice called, “Your Highness,” from outside.

Still, at least his appearance was different from before—Nanyoung pitifully retrieved his scattered socks and put them on. Taerok waited for him, then opened the door.

“…?”

The servant, seeing Grand Prince Heonui in the room when he hadn’t been there moments before, tilted his head. As he set down the honeyed peaches and nectarines and left, he wondered, When on earth did he arrive?

He was here from the very beginning. In fact, he’s been busy sharing a bed with me since last night.

Taerok muttered inwardly, then picked up the knife. Nanyoung, who until moments ago had worn a complex expression on many levels, now showed interest in the sweet, fragrant fruit scent filling the room.

“You know how to do that too?”

Meaning, could he even peel fruit?

Taerok snorted.

“When camping out, would I bring dozens of servants and a whole estate with me? You do everything yourself.”

Indeed, Taerok handled the knife skillfully. Whether he was skilled with a blade, or skilled at peeling fruit, it was hard to tell which came first.

“Here.”

Taerok placed the sweet, dripping flesh of the fruit atop the knife and tilted his chin.

Nanyoung looked at his uncle with suspicious eyes, then quietly opened his mouth.