What to tell his lord a story that wouldn't be suspicious or strange for the reason behind his knowledge and intelligence. "I simply found writings interesting... So I taught myself how to read and write when I was little... Read books and such..."
Now all he could do was pray this man wouldn't ask for his favorite novel as all he knew were rather... strange ones from this era, some that may be seen as as controversial.
"What novels?" the prince asked, exactly what he didn't want, but now he had to tell him. How embarrassing and possibly dangerous as there were no documentation on how this lord went around with homosexual relationships.
It wasn't that Iseul felt romance towards other men, he just didn't know any novels that were specifically written in this era other than those as he had classes about the secrecy behind such subjects and books.
Wicked and depraved, the elite scholars would term homosexuality, sweeping that idea under the rug entirely as it went into secrecy in order to keep men from shaming themselves.
"Novels of romances," Iseul carefully spoke, then carefully began to squeeze the muscles surrounding the prince's neck until the man demanded elaboration on what kind of novels Iseul would enjoy to read.
"I don't want to talk about it... Milord," Iseul said softly until hands got held onto.
The grip on his hands wasn't painful as he would expect them to be, was this man suddenly a different person now? It wasn't the same demeanor as back when he had delivered his robe to his chambers.
No this was different, he felt like he could speak on it "Novels surrounding homosexuality... But I do not desire or long for it, I was just curious what it was," Iseul quickly defended himself. The prince stayed silent for a bit, which was expected of one who would be part of those calling it wicked and depraved.
He was somehow thankful there was just silence, it gave him a reason to switch up the subject. "Milord, may I ask... Your calligraphy work... May I see some in person? I've only seen prints."
The prince hummed and let go off of the boy's hands before giving him a small signal with the flick of his wrist to continue his massage.
"Milord I promise I don't think of men like those nov-" The prince looked behind him towards the boy with softer eyes "I wouldn't shame you if you did, at least you're honest, we share a same interest."
What was he supposed to take from that? Iseul gulped after the prince swept his eyes off of him to look at the fire once more "I shall show you my work when I feel you are deserving of it, Iseul."
He called him by his name, perhaps he was finally gonna show kindness from then on out.
His happiness could be felt as his hands slid over the skin and muscles freely with no restraint due to nerves or stress; The massage felt much more enjoyable for the prince now as he slowly closed his eyes, leaning his head back to lean onto Iseul's chest.
Iseul didn't mind it as much as he'd expected, it made it easier to reach for his shoulders and upper arms.
The prince hummed as his slight detail of eyebags were much more visible up close in the warm flickering light. The dark circles somehow made his face look beautifully detailed, not something many could pull off.
Somehow, the promise to show his work when he deserves it made him feel like he had a good reason to work for him, happy to do so as well.
"Alright enough. Sit," the prince ordered as he pulled Iseul right onto the pillow next to him without taking his eyes off of the fire.
Iseul didn't mind being pulled and moved against his will this time.
The pillow was quite comfortable, Iseul lightly brushed his hands over the pillow, feeling the soft fabric, he had never actually felt something this soft before, even his age of time.
The prince peaked to his left to the boy and felt the corners of his lips trying to curl up, how come this boy managed to make his face feel so tingly together with his hands any time he'd touch his soft and smooth skin.
He was special.
Iseul felt his tummy rumble as he carefully placed his hands on them, then felt something push against his lips. It was cold and hard, yet if he were to bite in it, he felt like it would snap.
He looked to his right where the arm came from and noticed the prince trying to feed him grapes as the mans eyes looked slightly nervous. His eyes didn't look so defined and rough anymore, so Iseul trusted this, it wasn't like he saw him poison those grapes.
Iseul parted his lips, letting the grape push inside as he was careful he wouldn't accidentally brush his lips over his thumb, then pulled back when he noticed he didn't pull his hand back. Was he testing him on his answer on the novels?
He sure wasn't attracted to men, that's what Iseul know for certain.
He chewed on the grape, enjoying the sweet liquid that seeped through the easily broken skin. Iseul reached out for another grape, but the prince held it up in the air as he grew a playful smirk as if he was telling him to fight for it.
Iseul raised an eyebrow before growing a slight smile, giving Jun-Suk his first small glance of it ever which made the man's heart skip a beat once more.
The weaver quickly reached up to the grapes as he got a hold of them, then took a few and pushed them in his mouth, making the prince chuckle before taking a grape for himself to enjoy. His sister, watched them for a little behind the corner with a sweet smile on her face.
She knew their start wasn't the most smooth one as it was quite common for her brother to not be too likeable to most.
She felt like this one might be different however.