Circumstances of a Fallen Lord

Chapter 78

Back in the basement, if the snake monster had not appeared with its mouth wide open, the two’s lips would have naturally touched. And from then on, the relationship between Luisen and Carlton would have changed. This was the first time they had been left alone in a room since that incident. No one was looking for them, and the door was locked; they were perfectly alone.

Luisen nibbled and sucked on his candy. He was weary and tired, but he strangely trembled with excitement.  All this while, they had held hands, bumped bodies while riding horseback, embraced each other while wandering throughout the mountain…he had even woken up in Carlton’s arms. The young lord couldn’t believe he was bothered by a brush of the knee now.

Ahem. Luisen coughed for no reason. Perhaps the mercenary thought the young lord was thirsty, Carlton handed over the bottle again. Come to think of it, wasn’t sharing a single bottle of alcohol a little…*too much*?

Since when had he felt so flustered by his relationship with Carlton? Although the young lord was overwhelmed, the general had done him a great service to teach him how to keep a poker face. That skill was highly useful at this moment. Luisen gulped down the drink and said casually, “If the new king only receives the acknowledgment of three great lords, he’ll sit upon an imperfect throne forever.”

Luisen took a sneaky glance at the mercenary; Carlton didn’t seem as conscious of the situation as he was.

‘What is this? Am I the only one that’s stressing over this?’

 It would have been awkward if his companion was just as self-conscious as he was, but Luisen’s pride was hurt when the other looked completely fine. Sure, the king is a popular man right now, but even the young lord had a colorful past in which many people offered bribes to his servants in order to be alone with him.

 “I suppose the first prince’s, your master and king’s, position has always been a bit insecure,” Luisen said with a touch of grumpiness in his voice.

“That’s true. If the royal authority is shaken, the nobles in the land will fight; everything, from top to bottom, will be a mess. It’ll be difficult for the state to function properly, and the kingdom will be helpless to address any small crises.”

Faced with Carlton’s analysis, Luisen forgot his earlier complaints and made an audible gasp. The future he experienced really went that way. As soon as his duchy collapsed, the South fought fiercely; they were briefly united against the common enemy of the locusts and, later, everyone else. Betrayal and slander became rampant in their peaceful land, which once held abundant fields of grain and ripe orchards with fruit. Everything became a mess.

If one considered how dire the situation was in the relatively relaxed and leisurely Southern Region, the other areas touched by territorial conflicts and catastrophes were like scorched earth–the people’s lives were simply devastated. In particular, the denizens of the Northern Region ran away from their residences, abandoning countless cities; in their place, monsters came down from the mountain to occupy the resulting emptiness. What a headache.

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In such a situation, no one emerged as a dominant power; the political game never turned in favor of any one group either. No one benefitted from the misfortune that hit their kingdom. Quality of life quickly declined; the people were impoverished. Everyone became poor and sick. Luisen had a short life, but, in that small time, he had observed everyone else’s hellish lives. Unless a hero stepped up, the future would probably grow worse.

“Considering all of that, do you think their dream is to truly destroy the world?”

At Luisen’s serious question, Carlton erupted into laughter, “They’re not some third-rate theater villain. What kind of cliché like that would exist in today’s world?”

“Mmm…” Luisen adopted an awkward expression. As he knew the future, it was hard to let this theory pass as some joke.

“If you’re truly targeted by a villain whose dream is to destroy the world, then it’s a huge deal. Because of my duke, I too am targeted by this third-rate villain… I should receive a good reward from you. I’m an expensive mercenary, you know?” Carlton laughed.

Luisen burst into laughter at his companion’s lighthearted joke. “No, no. Even if it weren’t for me, you’d be targeted by them as well. Aren’t you the first prince’s sword? No matter what, someday you would have been in their sights as well. Rather, you should thank me for giving you extra information as we travel. Your eyes have been opened, and you won’t be caught with your pants down between your legs. I should be the one that’s rewarded!”

“What’s with that logic?”

The two bantered playfully. Meanwhile, uncomfortable feelings and worries disappeared; a pleasant alcohol buzz washed over them.

Luisen leaned back on his arm, smiling, “You’re drunk, right?”

“No,” Carlton smirked, taking the bottle from Luisen’s hand before hand-feeding the young lord another piece of candy.

‘Am I a child?’ the young lord thought. Still, as he rolled the candy around in his mouth, the young lord could feel the mercenary’s worries for him, conveyed through the medium of sweetness. He was sure his companion continued to make silly jokes to alleviate his anxiety.

Still leaning back on his arm, Luisen slid his eyes up the mercenary. ‘Is this man really the ‘butcher’ I was so afraid of?’

That question often entered his mind while traveling. Was this really the man who brutally killed his retainers, slaughtered innocent people, and burned down his golden fields?

In Luisen’s watchful eyes, Carlton was hot-tempered, easily lost his cool, and was an objectively ‘bad’ person…but he wasn’t evil. Although he dealt with his opponents a little harshly, this man knew how to sympathize with and comfort him. This man was clever and a visionary.

No matter how mentally-driven and hot-tempered Carlton may be, would he really carry out a slaughter that would ultimately stain his reputation and become a blot on his life? It was clear that he had committed a massacre in the previous timeline, but he was beginning to doubt that it was solely the mercenary’s fault.

Now that he regressed, there were unimaginable plots everywhere in the past; schemes that had been inadvertently ignored. Hadn’t Ruger concealed some ulterior motive in the midnight escape plan, although the young lord previously thought the choice to run away had originally been his own idea.

Luisen had no clue, but many people must have lost their lives in similar conspiracies. Most of them probably didn’t even know they were caught up in a scheme–like the people of the Allos caravan who died from a snake monster’s venom, even though they were ignorant to the fact that they had been bitten.

What if there was a conspiracy against Carlton as well?

A conspiracy may have bitten Carlton’s ankle as well; the mercenary would have been just as ignorant as the others.

‘What a shame.’

That, however, was the problem of the past. No one but Luisen remembered; there was no way to find out if the mercenary was innocent. If the crime had been committed because the mercenary was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The young lord had been given the opportunity to return to the past and to atone, but Carlton had not.

The mercenary–the one that would remain in Luisen’s memories forever–would stay a sinner.

Thinking about this possibility, Luisene felt so sorry that he inadvertently reached out; Carlton’s rough hair slipped through the young lord’s soft fingers. For a moment, the mercenary’s pupils trembled.

“Ah, sorry.” Luisen realized what he had done and rushed to try and withdraw his hand. How rude of him to stroke a grown man’s head so suddenly. However, Carlton immediately grabbed his wrist; his expression looked subdued, but there was a boiling warmth in his eyes.

The mercenary asked, “Why didn’t you avoid me?”

There was no need to explain the mercenary’s words. As soon as Carlton spoke, both Luisen and Carlton recalled their moment in the hull. A fast heartbeat–unable to determine whose since they were in such close contact. Their breath intermingled and strangely tickled each other’s cheeks. The young lord’s fall was a mistake, but the narrowing distance–almost too close–wasn’t a mistake.

Since Carlton looked so indifferent, Luisen was quite flustered by the question. ‘What’s this? Is his poker face better than mine?’

Well, come to think of it, it wasn’t so unexpected that the young lord didn’t notice the other’s feelings due to his own denseness. “Just because.”

“Just because?” Carlton sounded like he was suppressing his anger.

Luisen hurriedly added, “I didn’t dislike it. At that moment, I thought I would be alright with being swept along in the atmosphere.”

Honestly, there were not many thoughts inside his head. He’d previously done more than kissing while going along with the flow.

Luisen’s impassive answer set Carlton’s heart ablaze. The mercenary was well aware that Luisen was known as a famous playboy in the capital, but experiencing it in person was different.

“So. Just because. Because you didn’t particularly hate it. You were swept along by the atmosphere…” Carlton said to himself, calmly. Goosebumps ran down both Luisen’s arms.

“Then, when faced with that sort of atmosphere, you’ll simply ‘not avoid’ your partner?”

“…No, I don’t do that with just anyone.” Luisen shook his head desperately. ‘Ah, I think I said something wrong, but how do I fix this?’

However, Carlton didn’t give him space to relax and craft an answer. He pulled at the young lord’s wrist and kissed Luisen’s palm.

“C-Carlton?” Startled, Luisen tried to retrieve his hand, but the hand remained still. Carlton looked the young lord straight in the eye and kissed him again–the wrist this time. He pressed down with soft lips before licking the young lord’s delicate skin with the burning tip of his tongue. Afterwards, the mercenary released the young lord.

He didn’t stop there; Carlton kissed down the young lord’s forearm and then his shoulders. It felt like the rush of alcohol heat surged in the young lord’s body; his view suddenly spun. Luisen gave a small gasp–an exclamation. Carlton gently placed his teeth against the young lord’s wriggling, trembling neck; Luisen’s body shook.

In the blink of an eye, the mercenary had wrapped his hand around the back of the young lord’s neck. His dark eyes seemed to question Luisen, ‘What will you do now?’

‘What does he mean by that?’ Luisen thought. The allure that the mercenary exuded felt so chillingly exhilarating. This was beyond simply ‘not hating’ him; Luisen wanted him.

“You’re so awful.” Luisen placed his arms around the mercenary’s neck. There was no space to get closer; Carlton’s lips overlapped Luisen’s. The young lord could feel the vibrations of the mercenary’s laughter through their lips.

‘Does he like this that much?’

Luisen bit Carlton’s lower lip gently because he was slightly grumpy. Even that stimulated the mercenary; the kiss was deepened, more and more. Their lips touched, fell away, then touched again…and again….and again. For quite some time, only the moist sounds of kissing could be heard in the room.

TL: FINALLY

Also, can I just say that I love that the bottom/shou is the sexually experienced one in the relationship? Too often it’s the opposite.