As soon as the trio entered their common room, Klaus took off his boots and lay down on the bed.
"Quite comfortable, but small," he was indignant. "Now I will give it to you, and by nightfall I will ask for two more beds to be brought."
"I can sleep on the floor. Look at the thick mattresses they brought," Egor pointed to two bundles. I doubt that it is even possible to fit three beds here, even if you take out the table, the mattresses will take up all the remaining space.
"Yes, you are right. Then I will go for a walk, and you rest. Lilith, this concerns you too."
"But, sir…"
"No, I want to be alone and think."
The girl lowered her head and stood like that until the prince left the room, and then quietly, like a mouse, slipped out after him. Egor rolled his eyes and lay down on the bed. He only wanted to lie down for a while and think, but sleep quickly overcame him.
Klaus wandered along the corridor, but as soon as he decided to turn off the straight path once, he immediately got lost. This building reminded him of a labyrinth, but he stubbornly did not ask the people he met for directions back. He was tense with their fear and awe, which he saw in the eyes of soldiers, ordinary people and even children. People did not know how to behave properly with him and could not disobey the captain's order not to kneel when greeting the crown prince. Klaus decided not to add to the awkwardness, so he only nodded in greeting and stubbornly walked forward, stumbling upon another dead end.
He knew that Lilith was following him, but he decided to pretend that he did not notice the girl's desperate attempts to hide her presence. He thought that something definitely needed to be done about this. He could not remain the center of her universe for the rest of his days? He needed to come up with something and teach the poor guy an independent life.
A few hours later, Klaus finally found himself in a familiar corridor, along which he was able to find his way to his room. It was empty. He saw a note on the table, written in Egor's handwriting in the language of another world. It said that the young man was at the doctor's and would return soon. Klaus took off his shoes and lay down on the bed, throwing his hands behind his head. The door timidly opened.
"Come in already," Klaus said without looking. "Are you tired of following me?"
The girl timidly entered the room and lowered her head.
"Sorry, sir, I thought I was hiding well."
"You really were hiding well, I just have a talent for noticing surveillance," he grinned. "If you want to stay with me, you must learn a few rules, and the main one is that I need personal space, so if I tell you not to follow me, I expect to see obedience. Got it?"
"Sorry," was all the girl answered.
"Listen. You're safe now."
The prince got out of bed, went to the table, pulled out the drawer, but found nothing suitable. Then he tore off the top button of his shirt, put it between his palms and closed his eyes. His hands glowed with white light and immediately went out. Klaus took the button with two fingers and handed it to Lilith.
"Here, take it. I have imbued this button with my power. If you are in danger, just crush it with your foot, and I will immediately feel where you are and come to your aid. And this thing will also protect you until I arrive."
The girl's eyes sparkled, she held out her palms and held the button as if it were some kind of treasure.
"Thank you, thank you, sir," she fell to her knees and bowed low.
"Let's just do it without bowing," Klaus sighed.
The door opened again, and Egor entered.
"Everything is alright?" the prince immediately decided to clarify.
"The doctor said that I am completely cleansed of the poison," - the fair-haired guy smiled. "How was the walk?"
"It's like I've completed a quest," Klaus grimaced. "I don't understand at all what principle everything is arranged here."
After another half hour of their peaceful conversation, August came for Klaus. The captain was in a suspiciously high mood.
"Come on, come on," he nudged Klaus in the back, "I'm dying of hunger."
They walked along the corridor that Klaus already hated and turned a corner, then another and another. Klaus had already lost count of the turns and gave up trying to remember the way.
"Well, here we are." August pointed to an unremarkable-looking room, the doorway of which was covered with a light, but not translucent curtain.
It turned out to be very cozy inside. A low table, covered with soft pillows around it. A light aroma of incense, the warmth of the fireplace and subdued lighting.
"Very relaxing atmosphereб" Klaus noted, having settled comfortably on one of the pillows.
"Glad you liked it. Girls, you can set the table."
Klaus felt like some important eastern sheikh from another world, when, sitting on soft pillows, beautiful, sexy girls began to walk around the table, coming out with dishes with food, jugs of wine and cutlery.
The girls threw flirtatious glances, which the captain accepted with pleasure, winking, smiling and "accidentally" touching the beauties. Klaus did not share his excitement. In general, he was calm about the fair sex. Yes, he noticed beauty, but he had no desire to take possession of it.
"Well, there you go again, so strict and detached. This trait in you is unchangeable. Do you really not want to relax in the arms of one of these lovely ladies? Or maybe even in the arms of several at once."
A quiet, melodic laugh was heard. The girls wanted to attract the prince's attention not only because he was their king, but also because he was a very handsome, strong and attractive young man.
"You know that I am not a sucker for physical pleasures."
"Or maybe you just prefer men? We also have several here who want to give you relaxation and pleasure."
And indeed, after his words, three young men entered the room with new incense and firewood for the fireplace.
"In principle, I am not particularly interested in sex," Klaus decided to say directly. "It does not matter whether it is a man or a woman."
"Do you really not experience physical attraction? Do you have problems with…," August directed his gaze to Klaus's crotch.
"Do you think this is a good topic for discussion?" the prince grimaced, but still decided to clarify, in order to save himself from August's attempts to "cure his ailment", "and no, I don't have problems with erection. I just don't feel an emotional need for sex, or something. I don't care whether there is intimacy or not, but I, like everyone else, enjoy it, only it doesn't make me want even more. I hope I made it clear?"
"So you can fuck after all?," having heard only what he needed, August laughed.
"Yes," Klaus grimaced. "And now, maybe we should eat?"
During the meal, they had casual conversations, reminiscing about old times. Klaus relaxed, and even his unapproachable aura dissipated a little, so the girls and one of the guys grew bolder and sat closer to him. August ate the fruits with pleasure, which the brunette with large breasts fed him. But no one dared to feed Klaus by hand, so they only poured him wine, as if accidentally touching, and pushed snacks towards him.
"You know, I thought that you wanted to achieve freedom for people, but what do I see? You have set up a brothel in your little kingdom," the prince said, putting his arm around the girl sitting next to him, as if pointing to one of the "employees".
"Well, first of all, this is your little kingdom, and secondly, am I forcing anyone to do anything?" he spread his arms and looked around at those present.
The girl sitting on the other side of the prince plucked up her courage, clung to him and said:
"Sir, I was sold to a house of pleasure at the age of thirteen and I don't know how to do anything except this craft. Here," she waved her hand around the room "I feel free. No one forces me, all my actions come from my own desires," she looked up at Klaus, seductively twitching her eyelashes.
Yes, this girl really knew what she wanted and knew how to use her natural gifts and experience masterfully.
"And what do you want now?" the prince asked her.
"At the moment, I want you," she reached out to the prince's cheek and slowly moved it to his neck.
"And in the future? What do you want from your freedom?" Klaus intercepted her hand, but did not remove it. The girl took this as an invitation and pressed herself against the prince with her whole body, placing her other hand on the young man's thigh and squeezing it lightly.
"If we talk about the future, then I want to open my own house of pleasure, where girls who had to sell themselves, and they are no longer capable of anything or are not ready to learn something new, can earn a living."
"Not much different from what they do now."
"Not at all," she did not agree. "They will be free to choose and will be able to leave whenever they want."
***
More than two hours passed, and Klaus still hadn't returned. It took Yegor and Lilith no more than twenty minutes to finish dinner, what was the prince doing for so long? Did he really miss his cousin so much that he completely forgot about them?
Egor understood that the almost empty jug of wine was speaking in him, but this did not assuage his indignation. He opened the second jug and poured himself a new portion.
"Will you have some?" he offered Lilith wine for the umpteenth time, but she shook her head again and stared at his slave mark, which was noticeable as soon as the sleeve of his shirt was pulled up.
"Junior master, tell me, is this," she pointed to the guy's wrist - the mark of the senior master?
"Junior master?" Egor was surprised. "Just call me by my first name."
"Am I allowed to do that?"
"Of course, I'm not a prince," Egor snorted.
"And our master, the prince? I've heard how they address him, but I don't know how to behave with him. I'm used to the fact that a master is the one you belong to, but I don't know any other differences."
"Oh, you've never lived freely at all?"
"No. All I remember from childhood is the basements of the master's house. I never left there and only saw slaves like me. I only saw the master and his family once, when I was sold and taken out, put in a cart."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"But you have absolutely nothing to do with it. Why would you be sorry?"
"It's simple. I just don't like the way this world works, that's all. And this - he decided to change the unpleasant topic of conversation, rolled up his sleeve and showed the brand - this is a sign that I belong to Klaus, yes. If you think about it, I'm the same slave as you."
"But the master always treats you as an equal," Lilith was surprised.
"As far as I know, he doesn't make you bow to him all day long either," Egor noted.
Lilith approached Egor, bent over his wrist and began to examine the brand. It was similar to the one the girl received after the bandits' attack, only there was no lightning cutting the sun and the moon.
"I want one too. Do you think the master will give me such a generous gift?"
"A gift? Do you think that branding yourself is a gift?"
"And isn't it a great happiness to belong to Master Klaus? I don't see that you are unhappy with anything," the girl noted.
"It's not that simple. I'll go and look for him. He's taking too long."
"I'm with you," Lilith stood up immediately, happy that she would be able to see the master faster, and not sit here and languish in anticipation.
It wasn't difficult to find out where the captain was having dinner today, it was more difficult not to get lost in these corridors.
***
"By the way," as if remembering something important, Klaus turned his attention from the girl to August. "I don't understand the structure of your possessions at all. Could you share your knowledge with me?"
"And you, as always, prefer the easy way?" August grinned "I can draw you a map."
"Spare me an unnecessary headache," Klaus grimaced.
"Okay, but on one condition. You will share with me the knowledge of the world you visited."
"We agreed."
"We'll do it tomorrow, we drank too much today," the captain noted, and Klaus had nothing to say in response.
The young man, who had been following Klaus along with the two brave girls, poured him more wine. The prince raised his glass, looking the handsome young man in the eyes, and drained it. The brave young man sat with his back to the prince and leaned back slightly. The girls snorted in displeasure and tried to push him away. An irritated and drunken voice was heard in the doorway.
"Oh, sorry for disturbing you, Your Majesty," the voice was dripping with sarcasm. Klaus turned his head and saw a disgruntled Egor, and behind him stood Lilith with wide eyes. Klaus cursed under his breath. Egor clearly got it all wrong, and what conclusions would poor Lilith draw?
The prince stood up abruptly, looking like a naughty kitten, which did not escape August's close attention. The captain's brows drew together, and this time it took him longer to return his face to its casual expression.
"Brother, is it just me or do your companions not live an hour without you?" he laughed.
"It's been more than two already," Egor said discontentedly.
"Master, I can do that too," she pointed at the girls who were hugging him and seducing him just a minute ago. "And will you teach me how to do it right?" she addressed the girls with a completely serious face.
Klaus put his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes, the girls and August burst out laughing. Egor frowned even more, and Lilith sincerely did not understand why everyone laughed so sharply.
"No Lilith, you don't need to learn this."
"But the master was so pleased..."
"Look, Klaus, I told you that such an environment would make even you pleased," August noted, not stopping laughing.
"You just don't need to learn anything like that," - Klaus sighed, but Lilith was already serious and the girl she was burning with a questioning look nodded slightly. "I think I'll go. It was nice to see you again and thank you all for... the company."
The girls began to persuade him to stay, but the burning look on the back of his head hinted to the prince that it would be better not to accept the offer.
They returned to the room in complete silence, having made several wrong turns. All this time, Klaus heard only the dissatisfied snorting of his friend behind him, but as soon as they closed the door behind them, Yegor could not stand it.
"So this is how you prefer to relax? And I was wondering why you agreed to Clara's offer so quickly, it turns out you enjoy it... Such... atmosphere!"
"Don't talk nonsense."
"Well, yes, of course, I'm talking nonsense." Egor wanted to add something else, but he deflated, realizing that he had no right to tell Klaus all this now. "Okay, let's forget it. I just drank a little too much. Let's go to sleep."
"Lilith, you sleep on the bed, and that's not up for discussion," Klaus said, sitting down on one of the unfolded mattresses.
He wasn't used to sleeping in clothes, but he had to share a room with a girl, so he decided to limit himself to just a shirt, which he pulled over his head and threw on the table.
Egor silently unbuttoned his shirt, folded it carefully, did the same with Klaus's clothes and lay down on the mattress next to him.
"It seems to me that it would have been safer for me to go to bed on the same bed with Lilith," the blond guy muttered and turned his back to Klaus, covering his head with a blanket.
"Safer for whom?" but there was no answer.