IBPC | Chapter 9.2

“Being taken to such a place, it’s only natural to think…”

“While it’s reasonable to think that way, that child wasn’t touched by other men. Of course, there was one who tried to lay a hand on him—”

“……?”

“—but I killed him on the spot.”

Heegon’s head tilted slightly towards Jeokbin.

“I also cut out the tongues and gouged out the eyes of the remaining ones before banishing them from the capital.”

Jeokbin awkwardly smiled at the eerie words spoken so casually.

“Is… that so?”

But Heegon’s calm demeanor ended there. Heegon stared at her with a gaze as cold as ice.

“So, my question is… how do you know about something no one else should know?”

“—!!”

Heegon pressed each word as he questioned Jeokbin. She stopped breathing. Jeokbin bit her trembling lips and looked up at Heegon. Meeting his eyes again, Jeokbin desperately tried to feign composure.

“It was just… a rumor…”

“Where did you hear this rumor?”

“From… people coming and going…”

Jeokbin’s words trailed off. But Heegon continued to stare at her more intently. The moment Jeokbin’s mouth finally closed under that gaze.

“……”

Heegon reached out his hand towards Jeokbin.

⊹₊⟡⋆

“Aaaah!!”

A sharp scream echoed through the night from Jeokbin’s quarters. The scream fell onto the well-paved stone floor outside her quarters.

“P-Please…!! Prince!!”

Jeokbin’s long hair, which she was so proud of, was wrapped around Heegon’s left hand, held in a tight grip. Her frail body was being dragged out of her quarters by her hair. Her body, dragged across the ground, was covered in wounds, but Heegon continued to pull her forward, forward.

“Please, Prince!!”

The court ladies and eunuchs were in a panic, trying to stop Heegon.

With an expressionless face, Heegon dragged Jeokbin by her hair down the stairs. He only let go when they reached the rough dirt ground, tossing her hair aside as if discarding it.

“Kyaa!”

Jeokbin was thrown to the ground, falling face down. Her hair was a tangled mess, her face was twisted with anger and fear, and her clothes and skin were scraped and unsightly.

Watching this, Heegon dusted off the end of his sleeve.

“I warned you. I told you to be careful if you didn’t want to be dragged out like a dog in front of the servants.”

The court ladies hurriedly ran to lift Jeokbin’s fallen body. Jeokbin, unable to regain her senses, whimpered and sobbed, then looked up at Heegon with a mix of anger and desperation.

“How… how could you do this to me! My father… what have I done to you, Prince!”

Jeokbin’s clenched teeth released a burst of resentment.

“My family has always stood by you, a prince who cannot even have an heir!! Do you think you can do this to me and get away with it?!”

“……”

“If His Majesty finds out how you’ve treated me, he won’t stand by idly!!”

At Jeokbin’s furious outcry, Heegon’s gaze grew even colder. Heegon approached her, lowering himself to meet her eye level.

“Stand by me? Who do you think you’re talking to with such words?”

Heegon raised his hand and grabbed Jeokbin’s flushed chin.

“That…!”

Jeokbin’s anger faltered, and Heegon let out a sigh. Then he grabbed the back of her head and pulled her closer.

“Let me remind you of the significance of what you’ve done.”

Heegon’s grip on the back of Jeokbin’s head tightened.

“You tried to harm someone I publicly declared as the Third Prince’s consort, someone marked as mine, blinded by mere jealousy.”

“I… I…”

“The moment you laid a hand on that child, it was as if you pointed a sword at me. How could you not know that? What you’ve done is akin to treason. What makes you think His Majesty would side with you?”

A rather pitying smile played on Heegon’s lips.

“Also, how much has your father profited by selling me out, yet you think I was unaware and just stood by as an incompetent prince?”

“W-What do you mean…?”

“You didn’t protect me. I tolerated and overlooked you. Even though we shared a bed, I treated you kindly, but you dared—”

Heegon gritted his teeth. Jeokbin didn’t need to hear the rest to understand the words he was biting back. Her eyes filled with tears of despair. But even that seemed contemptible to Heegon.

“If I wanted, I could wipe out your father… no, your entire family. Do I need to prove that to make you shut that absurd mouth of yours?”

“—!!”

Heegon pressed down on Jeokbin’s head before releasing her. Then, as if he had nothing more to say, he stood up. He spoke quietly to those gathered, unsure of what to do.

“Drag her out of the palace. If she appears before me after tonight, I’ll behead everyone involved.”

It wasn’t just a command to confine her to her quarters; it was an order for immediate expulsion from the palace. Jeokbin, seeing Heegon’s resolute face, realized it was the end and didn’t even try to cling to him.

“How—over a mere man like that…”

Jeokbin struck the dirt with her delicate hand, disbelief etched on her face.

“Aaaah!!”

Leaving behind Jeokbin’s final desperate screams, Heegon turned away. As he walked away from it all, he finally felt the rough breaths rising within him.

Nausea welled up. Though there was a fear that someone might have realized Seoyul was an Eumin and tried to exploit him, the fact that the mastermind, the one he least expected, was Jeokbin was unsettling.

In the end, was it his fault for not managing his people properly, leading to this mess?

Heegon ran a hand through his slightly disheveled hair with irritation. As he did, he pressed his palm against his eyes, trying to calm the rising heat.

He thought it was anger, but this heat wasn’t solely Jeokbin’s doing. It was something within himself, a familiar prelude now surfacing.

The madness was rising properly. Heegon frowned deeply, exhaling increasingly heated breaths.

Indeed, it seemed it wouldn’t work out.

From Jeokbin’s quarters to Seoyul’s room, each step was filled with rising heat. The gradually escalating madness was still bearable, but it intensely craved the scent and body of Seoyul, which he had already tasted.

Heegon walked down the long corridor leading to Seoyul’s room in his quarters. When he reached Seoyul’s door, he paused for a moment.

Heegon grasped the doorknob with his own hand instead of the court ladies’. Before opening the door, he quietly issued an order to those standing behind him.

“I’ll endure the madness here, so just prepare some simple snacks at the door and withdraw until I call for you. …No one, absolutely no one, should set foot near here.”

The court ladies and eunuchs bowed their heads silently. Without looking back, Heegon opened Seoyul’s door and stepped inside.

⊹₊⟡⋆

Seoyul tossed and turned. The mild fever that had started a while ago was getting worse, making it difficult to fall asleep. As he moved around in his sleep, he suddenly caught a scent that made him open his eyes.

This scent—?

As soon as he became slightly more conscious, the scent that was pricking his senses made Seoyul rub his dry eyes and turn his head.

“……?”

In the dimly lit room, with only a small lamp on, stood Heegon, looking down at him.

“Prince…?”

He had already guessed it was him from the scent.

Why is Heegon here…? When did he come in?

The strong pheromones emanating from Heegon made Seoyul sit up halfway from where he was lying. As Heegon slowly approached, Seoyul felt goosebumps rise from his fingertips.

It seemed Heegon was in rut. Seoyul had been experiencing a mild fever for a few days, so he had suspected it might happen.

As Heegon came closer, his scent grew stronger. It felt like it was caressing his entire body. Seoyul gripped the edge of the blanket and bit his lip.

His body—

Just moments ago, he had only felt a faint heat, wondering if he was entering heat, but as soon as he became aware of Heegon, that faint feeling surged to its peak. His lower body was already throbbing and convulsing from Heegon’s pheromones. Embarrassed by this, Seoyul turned his head away from Heegon.

Seoyul’s body was slowly enveloped in Heegon’s shadow. The shadows of Seoyul and Heegon overlapped and swayed on the wall in the lamplight.

Heegon knelt on the bed and lowered his body. But when Seoyul moved back a little, Heegon reached out and lifted Seoyul’s chin.

“Ugh…”

Seoyul’s face, filled with unhidden desire, was caught in Heegon’s hand. Seoyul exhaled a trembling breath and looked up at Heegon.

I can’t take it—

Seoyul raised his hand and grabbed Heegon’s arm.

And Heegon couldn’t hold back either. Just looking at Seoyul’s eyes, filled with desire for him, made him feel like he was going to explode. It was hard to resist the urge to spread those white thighs and thrust himself inside.

Heegon lifted Seoyul’s chin and lowered his head. Then he covered Seoyul with his entire body.

It was the beginning of another long, long few days.

The foreplay wasn’t very long. Their bodies, clinging to each other impatiently, didn’t have the luxury of time.

Heegon hurriedly loosened Seoyul’s insides as if being chased by someone. He held onto his last bit of reason until Seoyul’s fluids flowed out abundantly.

When it was finally possible to insert, Heegon couldn’t hold back any longer and brought his member to Seoyul’s tight entrance, pushing it in.

“Hngh…”

Seoyul’s body flinched once but soon accepted Heegon’s member as if familiar with it. But just because he was in heat didn’t mean it was easy. The place Heegon always thrust into had been neglected for a few days, so it tightened around his member as if it was the first time.

“Ugh…”

Heegon frowned and put more weight into widening the narrowed space.

“Ah… Ah…”

As he widened the tight inner walls and pushed inside, Seoyul’s fingertips trembled.

Thinking back, there hadn’t been any insertion during the secret journey, so it had been a long time since Heegon’s member had entered. Even though he was in heat, Heegon was in rut, so his member was much larger, making it difficult. But just because it was hard didn’t mean he didn’t want it.

The feeling of being filled deeply and fully inside was something he hadn’t felt in a while. Anyway, this pain would soon be buried in pleasure and fade away. Knowing this, Seoyul gritted his teeth and accepted Heegon.

“Ah… ngh…”

Heegon pushed his member all the way inside. Seoyul, without realizing it, looked up at Heegon with tears in his eyes. Only after fully inserting himself did Heegon manage to calm his impatient emotions and meet Seoyul’s gaze.

“Are you okay?”

At his question, Seoyul couldn’t answer and twisted his waist a few times. Then he caught his breath and nodded belatedly. Seeing this, Heegon leaned down and lightly kissed Seoyul’s cheek. He brushed against his ear and began to move his hips.

“Ah—”

Seoyul’s body shook and trembled, and Heegon’s member rubbed inside him. The tight yet soft inside wrapped around Heegon’s member. The inside, warmer than usual, felt even hotter. Indeed, when both of their madness was rising, it made their minds even more hazy.

“Ugh…”

As Heegon’s member carefully rubbed inside, it gradually widened, making it easier to move. The more it did, the more Heegon’s member pulled out and thrust deeply inside. The most intimate sensations of both touched, providing indescribable pleasure.

“Hngh… Ah… Too much…”