"You are late!" Edous shouted as soon as Zain stepped inside the room. The room seemed newly decorated because he didn't recognize it. He even took his time to find Edous standing near the window with moonlight giving clarity to the muscles on his folded arms and forming shadows beneath his arched eyebrow making his eyes shining brighter than ever. His emotions were so transparent that it reminded Zain how cute he actually was.
With no explanation Zain just stood there admiring the built arms of the man who was furious at him right now.
Annoyed, Edous ordered, "Come here." And Zain followed obediently and stood just before Edous, the second Prince of the Remon Kingdom.
Edous chuckled as he breathed the air around Zain, "You were so eager to meet me that you even took a bath before coming."
Zain wanted to slap his narcissist ass but kept quiet not to cause must action so that he could get out of there as soon as possible.
"Isn't it too cold for that in the evening?" Zain looked up at the concerned man, "And I'm sure you would've taken longer if you had gone to take warm waters. Why did you take cold showers when it's so cold?" 'When did he get so aware of things and considerate?' Zain thought and at the same time felt proud.
"I just slipped and had soap water fell on my body. That's why I had to take the bath." Zain replied without hesitation.
"You don't need to protect them."
Zain looked up at Edous who narrowed his eyes, "Is it true that you were poured soap water upon?"
'How did he know? Did someone tell him?'
The straightforward question surprised Zain and he had to take a moment before he replied, "No. it's not. I just slipped and fell getting soap water on my body when I was washing the dished."
"Just tell me who are they?" he leaned closer to look directly at his eyes as if casting a command.
"Edous." Zain said from his light pink lips making Edous fell his heart clench, "Stop."
Edous stared at those red eyes which weren't giving in so he finally moved back and sighed.
"Why are you always like this?" he asked with no answer expected.
"What was it that you needed from me?" Zain asked getting to the point.
Edous stared at him for a long moment before he finally replied, "You will be working for me from now on. You are to stay with me from now on."
"Are you kidding me?" Edous had to narrow his eyes as he heard no hesitation in Zain voice.
Zain cleared his throat, "I mean I am way better in the servant's quarter and it is indeed true that that is the worst place for me to work. Isn't that what you needed?"
Edous mentally reminded himself that Zain knew more about the palace than he himself. He had been to almost every corner of the Palace.
"Yes. Indeed. But I want to keep an eye on you and I swear I will give you really hard time since you like being in trouble so much."
'Your existence is already giving me enough troubles.' Zain thought as he just stared at the fairly built man for using his power to control his life.
"Okay. It's decided. Now get your things and get shifted here, in his room."
"Wait!" Zain couldn't hide his surprise, "Why is there a need to shift? I'm really better at the servant's quarter."
Edous just stared down at him with his intense eyes which clearly said, 'Are you defying my order?'
Zain couldn't say further and just nodded his head to Edous satisfaction. Without another word Edous walked out of the room past Zain but not from the door he entered. He walked across the room to the other side which had a door he just noticed. Edous opened it to another room which Zain clearly recognized.
'Why is this room attached to Edous'!?'
Confused and infuriated Zain could only stare at the door as it closed before him. He looked around him at the cozy furniture that was arranged. 'Is this my new room?' he asked himself as he sat down on the bed which contrasted to the weight.
'It has always been like this', he thought as he looked up at the moon that shone out the window.
*Flashback-
"Zain."
Zain looked up from the dishes at his uncle, Minister Lour, standing near the door. He had tidy dark hair with light brown eyes watching him calmly. He was as wise as he looked.
"Why don't you just tell him that you hurt your legs and just couldn't play with him." He asked and waited patiently for the answer.
"It's just, if I told him he would stop playing altogether and beg to take care of me. He might even miss his classes. I don't want that to happen since he is the Lord of this kingdom. I just don't want to cause hindrance in his growth." He replied with a smile looking down at his pale fingers.
"Is that really it? You know your feelings won't go through if you don't speak." his uncle said making Zain smile brighter.
"I just want to see him grow to be a fine man."
Zain sighed at the memory of when they were around 13 years old, 'He is indeed a fine man now. He's too fine.' He shook his head remembering all the muscles Edous has gained in the past years while he was only admiring them through the side lines.
'What is he trying to do? Is he doing this just because I ran away? Wait-' Zain realized the most important thing that confused him, 'Why didn't he ask me why I ran away? Does he already know? Is he waiting for me to answer without being asked? Either way it's odd that he's not curious. Did something happen while I was gone. Did he find out something-'
Zain was started out of his train of thoughts when there was a knock on his door.
"Yes?" he opened the door to Carlo who stood there with two suitcase and a servant behind him with a tray of food.
"Lord Zain, your luggage." Carlo stated handing over the suitcase to Zain.
"Why did you bring it. I could've brought that myself." he took his luggage from his hand and kept it aside the door.
"I have been ordered to be of as convenient for you as possible. And here are your dinners Lord Zain." He pushed the tray of food forward too.
"Thank you very much but you didn't really have to do that and also stop calling me Lord. I am just a servant here." Zain reminded getting embarrassed being reminded that Carlo was the one who made him work in the servant's servant section and suddenly there was a change of address. Must be Lord Rave, Zain thought.
"That would not define you according to Lord Rave. You are one of the most precious member of the palace and needs to be protected at any cost or the life and death of people would be written on Young Lord Edous' hand, is what he said."
'Why is Lord Rave spreading such weird thoughts? This is all wrong.' Zain mentally cried but managed to hide his emotions.
"Bytheway when did you start working under Lord Edous? I'm quite sure you were in charge of your own village and worked under Lord Rave for all these years."
"You are well informed, I see." Carlo narrowed his eyes.
'Ofcourse I will! I lived with the former Minister of this Kingdom afterall.' "I just happened to learn about you from Lord Rave since he admires you so much for your hard work, that's all." Zain smiled to lighten up the mood.
"I will take that as a compliment. Past year Lord Edous had been hard to control because of some incident that I'm not informed about. He even accidently hurt his personal assistant who is still in the hospital. So, Lord Rave wanted me to help Edous out while his assistant was still recovering."
"What? Derry is in the hospital?" 'No wonder I haven't seen him around.'
Carlo was surprised by how familiar this so-called servant was with everything around here. "You seem close since you could speak so casual of him."
Zain cleared his throat, "Yes, since I've seen him around Edous all the time."
Carlo just kept his stare before the big question he could never ask to any of his masters but can to the servant, "What is your relationship with Lord Edous? He seems so attached to you."
Zain's eyes widened at the sudden question and he started looking around in nervousness.
"Uhh..." He hesitated, "he's just a-attached to me since I've been in the palace from my birth. Yeah, that's it." He plastered a smile on his face, "We technically grew up together so he just got attached to me like his own brother." There was no way he could tell him the truth.
Carlo didn't seem to buy it but he didn't question any further. Bowing his head, he wished him goodnight before walking out of the room.
Zain sighed in relief. He jumped on the soft bed he hasn't felt for years. Rubbing his face into the pillow he said, "Thys iz xo zzoftt!"
Pausing suddenly, he turned his face to the side, feeling the comfort and smiled.
-Flashback-
"Zain..."
Zain turned his head in surprise. A small head peeping from the door looked at him timidly.
Zain smiled with his eyes as he saw the boy walking inside the kitchen slowly, "Lord Edous. What can I help you with?"
"Are you done?" Edous asked without looking at his eyes.
"Yes. Almost." He lied knowing that he won't be able to know since the remaining dished were hidden under the foam.
"Are you..." Edous hesitated but Zain waited patiently, "Are you... Are you cold?" he finally asked surprising Zain once again.
Zain didn't know what to say. Yes, he was cold, extremely indeed, but would lying make him feel any better. He must surely be feeling guilty for making him do this work but Zain couldn't efford to see him sad.
"No. Not really."
"Liar!"
"Huh?"
"You are a Liar Zain! A big Liar!" Edous shouted with his eyes shut.
Zain was dumbfounded by his words. He just stared at Edous who seemed to glare at him. 'Did I do something wrong?' 'Did I upset him?' 'Is he angry?' 'What to do?' All kind of questions flowed in his mind but he couldn't give answer to anything.
"How can you say you are not cold when you are clearly shivering!"
It took a moment to realize but Zain had been shivering for a while. He looked down at his hands which had already turned purple without him realizing.
Edous walked up to him in a fast pace and pulled Zain by the arm. Zain felt himself loose balance on the stool he was standing on to meet the height of the basin. Scared, he closed his eyes but never felt the ground. He opened his eyes quickly to the surprise of being in the arms of Edous in a bridal posture. He held his arms onto his heart trying to calm the fast beating rate as he felt the heat coming up to his face.
"P-Put me down." he requested shyly.
"NO." The quick answer surprised him making his face burn up. He wanted to hide his face.
"But I'm heavy." He insisted hoping his bangs would hide his face.
"You are hurt, aren't you?" Zain felt his heart skip a beat. "The servant's son told me. He asked me where you were and if you were fine. Why don't you ever tell me anything? W-Why won't y-you..."
Zain looked up at Edous who stammered through his words as tear started building up and soon rolling down his soft cheeks. Confused what to do Zain subconsciously rubbed tears off his face with his hands.
"Please don't cry, my lord. Please.", he plead, "I'm sorry. I just didn't want to bother you. Please don't cry."
"You never tell me anything." Edous stated the truth, "I hate you. And your hands are cold."
"I'm sorry." Zain panicked at what to do, "Please don't cry. Please."
Zain smiled at the memory. He vaguely remembered what happened after that. Maybe his uncle found them.
Edous has always been obsessed with Zain and he loved the fact but also hated it because it has caused a lot of problems to the family and him too. He had to find a way to get out of here again. He can't afford to stay here much longer or things would start getting complicated. Zain had a very clear idea of what might happen if he stayed here longer. He held up his hands and stared at the red string on his little finger. The sting which he was tying his hardest to ignore; the string which connected him to his soulmate. Yes, soulmate and he was very well aware of who it was. Following its path through his eyes he stared at the door over the room and sighed.
"What to do now?"
His mind seemed to wander around as he stared at the door for a long moment before he suddenly jumped out of the bed realizing something.
'Wait! He's just next door?', he started panicking as he felt his heart beating faster and face burning up. 'I've lived in the palace ground my whole life but I've always been living in the Servant's quarter. If I stay too close to him, I wonder if I can control myself. This is frustrating! I can't take this! He's too close for my heart to take it!'
Taking a deep breath, he walked towards the door slowly. 'First, I need to make sure the door is closed properly so that no accident can happen.'
There was a sudden pause, 'what kind of ACCIDENT am I thinking about!' Zain mentally screamed rubbing his head to furiously.
'This is too much!' He reached the door quickly and froze in shock.
'There. Is. No. Lock. What?!!' he still checked the door but there was no lock on this side and no door knob either. Only a handle to pull or push the door open and close.
'What is Edous thinking!? Is it that the lock is on the other side?' He made a gentle push and to his assumption the door did not budge. It was clearly locked from the other side. 'What is Edous thinking?' he mentally cried but didn't have the guts to knock on the door as he wanted to avoid contact with Edous as much as possible.
'How can I sleep with this?', Zain slide on the floor feeling defeated.