Late at night, the sound of rippling water was lethargic.

A bath, hot enough to redden the skin without even dissolving bath salts, seemed less to relieve the tension of the user and more to make him tense. In the first place, in Heathcliff’s hand, who was taking a bath, there was a glass of undiluted brandy.

He was not in the bathtub to end the day from the beginning.

“…….”

The water was so hot that it was close to torture. Besides, he was drinking alcohol, so now he was no different from being on drugs. It was when Heathcliff had half emptied the glass.

There was a small commotion outside.

“!”

The glass slipped from his hand and broke on the bathtub floor with a sharp sound. Heathcliff, who got up in a hurry, looked around with a terrified face.

“Who’s there!”

Heathcliff shouted. His harsh voice echoed in the bathroom where only the sound of water had been serene. However, no matter how much time passed, the outside of the bathroom remained quiet.

“Is it a delusion…….”

As he was about to sit back down, something cold fell on Heathcliff’s shoulder.

“Hmm?”

Thinking that the steam had condensed, Heathcliff’s eyes widened as he lightly brushed his shoulder.

‘Blood.’

The hair all over his body stood on end. The blood that fell from the empty ceiling. There could be no more terrifying situation.

“Is there anyone outside!”

He was too scared to even get out of the bathtub and pull the bathrobe. Heathcliff continued to shout loudly, but no one came in.

“Damn it!”

He purposely swore loudly. He wanted to deny his frightened self. But every time.

Drip, drip…….

Red droplets fell from the empty ceiling. Now he couldn’t be in the bathroom with a sound mind.

“Aah!”

Not caring whether the shattered glass pierced his soles, he hurriedly pulled out the bathrobe hung in one corner of the bathtub and put it on. As he rushed into the living room, clear bloodstains marked the wide steps.

“……Ugh.”

But as soon as he opened the bathroom door, Heathcliff clenched his teeth. Now he was not sober due to the suddenly increased alcohol, but he did not forget the living room that he had brightly turned on before entering the bathroom.

All the lights in the living room were turned off.

“What fearless fellow is…….”

Heathcliff, without even properly tying the belt of his bathrobe, turned on the lamp straight away. The moment he turned around, he sucked in his breath so hard that his solid abs tensed.

In the dim room.

There was a silhouette sitting on Heathcliff’s favorite sofa.

The orange light cast a deep shadow on the person’s face. From the eyes that contained a bit of melancholy and boredom, the swampcolored pupils stared directly at Heathcliff.

“Benjamin…….”

The unexpected visitor was none other than the crown prince, the protagonist of today’s banquet.

Benjamin seemed to dominate in the darkness as if he was the owner of this room.

Heathcliff unconsciously felt a chill in his thighs and his legs trembled. He didn’t know if his toes had gone cold from the blood draining or if he was scared by the directly staring Benjamin.

“…….”

“…….”

A silence so harsh that it made the skin tingle settled between the two men.

Actually, Heathcliff had only met Benjamin a few times in the last 15 years. It was not that there was no opportunity or he did not want to meet. It was just that Benjamin was too sickly.

For the last 15 years, he had been repeatedly suffering from fever, severe cold, or unnamed plagues, and rarely attended the official events of the royal palace. Even if he attended, he would only show his face from afar and return, saying that his condition was not good.

So today was the first time Heathcliff had faced Benjamin privately.

‘Am I… this drunk on alcohol? Or…….’

Heathcliff didn’t know. Why Benjamin, who he saw today at the banquet and other official occasions, looked bigger than the Benjamin he was seeing now. Who on earth was this oppressive and dangerous man?
After swallowing his dry saliva for a while and looking around, Heathcliff realized that Benjamin was not wearing his glasses.

Glasses!

It’s merely a vision aid made of glass. However, for Benjamin, the round frame and the long stretched glasses string were clearly used to suppress his unique ominous and sharp atmosphere.

It’s an absurd thought, but Heathcliff thought that the glasses were synonymous with Benjamin’s reason.

And taking off the glasses, synonymous with reason, and coming here meant…

“What… What’s your scheme!”

Heathcliff shouted in terror. But even to the sharp question, Benjamin remained silent, without a care, like a beast waiting for its time.

“How did you get in here? By whose authority!”

Heathcliff stepped forward. The sound of squelching came from the blood pooled on the floor.

The pain must have been considerable, but Heathcliff was not himself now. Because Benjamin playfully snapped his fingers in the air, a drop of blood dripped down Heathcliff’s nose.

“Aah!”