Author's Notes:
1. Standard disclaimer applies. Rated M for sexual situations and some gore. And this is also slightly yaoi-ish (Mark/Tserriednich).
2. Tserriednich Hui Guo Rou, Fourth Prince of Kakin, is such an intriguing character that I really, really liked from the very first time he appeared in the manga. As it is, there are no fanfics where I can see him getting screwed. And by screwed, I mean exactly that. :D This fic will try to explore this psycho prince in a benign manner so expect no super graphic gore. But it still contains a bit of gore so yeah.
3. Title is from the game Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water.
4. The main protagonist in the story is Mark, an actual HXH manga character, one of the prince's personal assistants. He is the guy who lured women for Tserriednich to kill on Chapter 345. I've been waiting for his personal interaction with his prince but alas, there was nothing further than their phone conversation (basically Tserriednich ranting at him about how the women he brought only cared about fashion and fucking). Everything in this fic is seen through Mark's eyes. And Mark isn't nen user so he can't see the prince's nen beast.
5. Mark will be calling Tserried "Your Royal Highness" since he is now Crown Prince in this fanfic.
Theme Song: Summer Breeze by Seals and Croft.
.
.
Chapter 1: Heaven (天)
.
.
Mark understood that with Tserriednich winning the succession war, Kakin is screwed. Literally.
Or perhaps he was the only person thinking that.
Looking at the mass of Kakin citizens waving and blowing kisses at his prince, now Crown Prince, they must believe that Tserriednich was what his official facebox profile said: a gentle-hearted prince who never wanted to be king and was only forced to join the succession war. Mark knew it was bullshit of course, but majority of the people didn't even know anything about the vast collection of human trophies in their prince's private art gallery.
Upon reaching the palace gates, the parade had officially ended. Tserriednich looked slightly exhausted but the smile on his face remained intact. His was a hard-won victory. Mark didn't know much of the details and nobody spoke anything to him about it but he knew that his prince's journey to the Dark Continent and back to the Capital had been a difficult one. What was important however was that his prince had survived the struggle and emerged to be the victor.
Tserriednich's smile however kept Mark on his toes. That was the same smile his prince sported whether when he was happily reading his favorite history book or when he was skinning a woman alive. It was disconcerting.
More especially disconcerting to Mark was his own instinct telling him that he needed four women for his prince's regular bloodbath.
He sighed mentally and tried to console himself with his favorite author's quote: "Good men do not necessarily become good kings and evil men do not necessarily become evil kings. On the contrary, good men sometimes make the worst kings that bring about the fall of civilizations while evil men may sometimes become the best kings that can prolong a dynasty for a thousand years."
However, the most disconcerting thing of all was that even if his prince would be both evil and destined to destroy his family dynasty, Mark couldn't care less.
Because the most important to him, more than countries or dynasties or even his own life, was the prince himself.
.
.
"Say, can you help me practice for my wedding night?"
Mark choked at those words. And coughed. He was at the prince's presence so it was quite embarrassing but it's not like he can stop his lungs from involuntarily wheezing.
Tserriednich continued reading Kakin's Constitution and ignored Mark's antics. "That Lady Hana I'm supposed to marry is pretty smart and her family can provide me a lot of political backing. She's so beautiful and delicate."
The prince looked at him meaningfully and Mark understood. The prince might kill her and it wouldn't look good.
True enough. He does need practice if that would be the case.
Mark regained his composure and drank his mineral water. "Forgive my rudeness. I will help Your Royal Highness in any way I can."
That did not sound quite right. Coupled with the view of Tserriednich's slighty wet hair sticking to his neck, the smell of soap on his skin and thick eyelashes half-covering the prince's eyes glued to the pages of the thick book, Mark was thinking of "helping" in a completely different context. That context was making him really hard. It was supposed to be creepy but much to his dismay, it wasn't.
"Good. I will need at least three women for this. Be more selective, okay? I'll brief you with the details later."
.
.
Never in his life did Mark imagine himself to be in his current position. Granted it was an honor to serve the future king of his country and he was very well-paid, but he most certainly never even wished to be doing what he was doing, watching every movement in the dimly lit royal bedroom as the Crown Prince was lying on his back, slightly propped up by the mass of pillows on the bed, hands gripping the sheets with a woman on top of him. She was enjoying herself and rightly so. Tserriednich's body was wonderful even when he wasn't moving very much.
Her mouth now moved from his neck to his lips, her sex still joined with his in a frenzied dance. Mark sucked his breath as he watched her lick the prince's lips open and dipped her tongue inside. Their mouths were now locked so intimately swallowing each other's moans. Tserriednich's hands rose up to her waist as the pace grew faster and faster. The hands rose further up to her shoulders but the prince opted to let them fall down and grip the sheets again.
Mark understood. The prince was keeping his hands from strangling his bed partner to death.
Only time could tell if he would attain his one-hour goal. He must succeed. There had been four failed attempts and the prince was getting more and more exasperated.
Then it happened.
There wasn't even a scream, just the sound of a neck cracking as the prince lost control. It was Mark's cue to leave the monitoring area and enter the bedroom to soothe his prince's hurt ego.
Never mind that woman's pretty face contorted forever in an expression of sweet orgasm combined with the surprise of a sudden death and the sheets soaked with blood and semen. The cleaning crew would restore the room to its pristine state later.
"Forty three minutes and ten seconds," Mark announced. "You are succeeding, Your Royal Highness."
Tserriednich snorted and lay back looking offended. "Five minutes ahead is an improvement?"
Mark shrugged. "At least we're not back to thirty minutes. You're definitely improving."
He reached a hand out to help his prince up. Tserriednich was too frustrated with himself to protest being hauled to the waiting bathtub. Royal bath servers came to assist but the prince waved them away. Mark sighed, took the bathing paraphernalia, and sat on the edge of the tub.
"Pardon me for being intrusive but I don't understand why you need a one-hour mark. You can finish in fifteen to twenty five minutes without incident."
Tserriednich laid his head on the edge, exposing his neck and chest caked with the woman's blood. Mark dipped a sponge on the tub's hot water and proceeded to wash away the grime.
"I need to be inside the bedchamber for the entire wedding night." The prince sighed. "If I can't endure for an hour without killing a bed partner, how can I spend an entire night with my wife? How can I become a proper King if I can't even properly sleep with my Queen and sire heirs? I never thought preparing for a wedding night would be this difficult."
"Well, you're already improving, sir," Mark reiterated. "Give it some rest first and try again tomorrow. You're tired, both physically and mentally. Of course, that will affect your performance."
Tserriednich's smile brought him relief.
"Well said. I will follow your advice."
Yes, you'd better, you fucking prick. Of course, Mark would never voice those thoughts out. Especially since said prick was making his own prick so alive.
Tserriednich's eyes closed softly. That was Mark's cue to stop the talking and finish the washing.
If there was something he prided himself in, it was his great amount of self-control. He had done this a thousand times before so he can do this now. He swallowed hard and tried his best to ignore Tserriednich's slightly parted lips.
.
.
tbc