Author's Notes: Dul Song Er literally means "Two Two Two" in Korean (Dul둘), Thai (Song สอง) and Mandarin (Er 二) respectively. Jinjong 진종 means "virtue" and Ye 葉 means "leaf".
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Chapter 7: Mountain (山)
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Mark woke up by an incessant nudging on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw the ceiling. He blinked twice upon hearing the ringtone of his own phone beside his head.
Huh. So it was another dream again?
He frowned, pissed. This trend was getting worse than before. Most annoying was that it felt more real than the previous one.
Stupid dream. Stupid prince looking gorgeous all the time. And stupid Chief Lord of the Bedchamber as well for falling for it every single time. It was frustrating.
He scratched his head but his hand was thrown off by the same fist nudging him.
"Turn it off."
Huh.
It was a man's voice.
That was strange. He might be desperate and all but never in his life did Mark ever bring anyone, let alone a man, into his own bed and inside the palace. That would be a breach of protocol.
Regardless, he turned the phone off. When he turned to his right, there was His Royal Highness, eyes closed and still naked save for the soft silk blankets partially covering him.
Huh?
"So annoying," Tserriednich mumbled and seemingly went back to sleep.
Mark looked hard, almost expecting his prince to disappear like any illusion would but he remained there on the bed. With him.
Now that's really strange.
Looking around the room, Mark realized that he was actually inside the prince's inner quarters and on the prince's own bed. When he looked down at his own body, he realized that he was just as naked as the prince beside him. On the slightly torn sheets were some remnants of, well, last night's lovemaking.
Uh-huh.
He sat up, still not buying it. For all he knew, he might still be asleep and this could be nothing more than a dream within a dream. Really, if what transpired had been real, he wouldn't even be alive and waking up now, would he?
Mark nodded to himself. Yes. This is a dream within a dream. And because of that, there was no way he would pass up this opportunity.
With that, he pulled the sheets away from the sleeping prince. There was no reaction other than eyebrows slightly knotting. Mark shrugged. Any reaction would be fine since this wasn't real anyway. He parted the prince's legs and touched. He whistled at the wetness he felt there. Apparently, this dream had some sort of continuity.
His own cock began to rise and Mark sighed happily. His prince always excited him, dream or no. He positioned himself before burying himself to the hilt. He grunted in bliss, not worrying that he would hurt Tserriednich. He had two plausible reasons – one, this was only a dream, and two, the prince was still slippery from 'last night's' activity. Judging from the way the prince moaned, it didn't seem like he was hurt, even if this was only a dream.
As he hit the correct spot, the prince's voice began to sound as beautifully as an artist's hand hitting the piano. It was so like the previous dream, but Mark only shrugged it off. Of course it would be somewhat like it since it was a 'continued dream'. And since it was only a dream, Mark was free to kiss and touch his prince all he liked.
Unlike the previous dream however, Tserriednich responded to his touch by touching him in return. It was pure joy unlike anything he had ever felt before. Mark sincerely wished that he wouldn't wake up anymore.
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It was real.
For a normal servant well-versed in palace decorum, the present situation would warrant continuous kowtowing while begging for one's life. However, Mark was too frozen in shock to even utter a whole word.
The dream was real, evidenced by the prince staring back at him as languidly as the guardian beast standing on the bedside.
It was all real. He fucked the prince. Twice.
There was no need to worry however. There was no aura of animosity in the air as the prince beckoned him to come closer.
Despite everything that had happened, Mark did not forget his decorum and obeyed, bowing slightly in respect to the Crown Prince. Never mind his own naked self and his own member getting painfully hard again.
"That was some good morning exercise," Tserriednich said, twirling the beast's hair on his fingers. "I have to thank you for that. I feel quite relaxed."
Mark racked his brains for something, anything, but found nothing to say in such a situation. It was palace manners ingrained into his mind that saved his sorry ass. "It is my solemn duty to see to your comfort, Your Royal Highness."
Tserriednich laughed lightly. "Well said. It would please me if you would serve me in the same manner in the future."
At that, Mark's blood started rushing to his groin. His chest was palpitating so fast. Even so, he managed to bow in respect. "It would be my greatest honor."
With that, the prince waved his hand. "Very well. You are now dismissed."
Duty overriding shame, Mark cut in, "Shall I have the baths drawn, my prince?"
Tserriednich hummed. "It's fine." He looked down, eyes avoiding Mark. "We're both too exhausted to continue our exercises, aren't we?"
Oh. Mark sucked his breath trying to calm himself down. "Whatever pleases you, Your Royal Highness."
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As far as Mark was concerned, no one else knew anything of what had transpired between him and his prince. Thus, there was nothing out of the ordinary. And just as before, he performed his duty assisting his prince in any way.
Thanks to Mark's excellent service, the prince deemed himself ready enough to train himself once again for his wedding night. It was such a delight to be credited for so special a task and so, Mark brought it upon himself to painstakingly bring in the most precious gems he could find to suit the prince's tastes.
In the prince's private yacht, ten women of varying degrees of sophisticated beauty were paraded to the prince to grace his bed with. The previous batch which was left untouched was discarded by Mark, deeming them all unworthy. They were then moved to Dr. Lindenburg's suite where the doctor transformed them into wondrous pieces of art.
Compared to the previous beauties, this current batch was quite unique for all of the women claimed to descend from the fallen royal clans of the past. Mark was intrigued, so was Tserriednich.
As the ladies displayed themselves, all gracious and formally dressed without a hint that they were applying as concubines, Tserriednich's eyes sparkled with interest. But despite the attraction, Mark could sense no killing intent therein.
Mark sighed contentedly. This time, it seemed like he did his job right. He couldn't say if any of these women will survive in the end but he was quite confident that the prince will finally succeed.
Of all the beauties presented, Tserriednich's eyes lingered mostly at the lady with innocent-looking, wide amber eyes and silvery pink wavy locks. She was quite tall, almost reaching Tserriednich's height in her high heels. She conducted herself in a peculiar manner, bowing with her two palms pressed together, an ancient form of greeting practiced by Northern nobility before the Hui Guo Rou Clan united the many warring states into a single Kakin nation.
"My name is Dul Song Er of the Jinjong Ye Clan. It is my greatest honor to be in your presence, Your Royal Highness."
The prince's eyes travelled from her soft hair to her uncommonly beautiful face to her flawless skin as white as snow to the curves of her body hugged by the bright lilac silk of her dress. She smiled subtly and Mark bit his lip, impressed. She looked perfect.
Unlike the previous sessions, Tserriednich was the one who picked the lady of his choice. Obviously, he chose her. "Would it please my Lady Ye to accompany me for a drink?"
She bowed to the prince, hands pressed together in her archaic manner, her eyes sparkling in a mixture of relief, success and lingering ambition. "It would be my utmost pleasure, Your Royal Highness."
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Mark sat on the front deck staring at the sunset. Right now, the prince was in his cabin with the Lady Ye. It had been five hours since they went into the room to 'chat' privately. Unlike before, there was no monitoring room and Mark did not know what was happening inside. Some of the Royal Guards stood beside him holding their high powered arms and on full alert.
In a few moments, the blood red sun finally sank, leaving the moonless sky a cool black velvet expanse littered with stars. Mark could hear the other nine ladies giggling politely together as they finished their dinner. Even if they were not chosen by the prince, they were given royal accommodation and they were entitled to enjoy the cruise as much as they wanted.
Despite the little time he was given, Mark had made quite a thorough background check on each of the ladies. From that, he knew that all of the women's claims were genuine and that they were truly high-bred. He also knew that seven of them obtained their information about the 'concubine auditions' through privately hired investigators and the other three through underground tippers. Dul Song Er belonged to the latter and that made Mark impressed by her even more.
Mark's own ringtone cut through the air, startling him from his reverie. He picked it up.
"Hey Mark," the prince drawled, "can you activate your en for a while?"
"Of course, my prince," he answered, quite confused.
En was akin to looking through a CCTV camera, only clearer. With it, Mark could see everything in the prince's cabin. He could see the prince on the bed, divested of all clothing and draped with nothing but an equally naked Dul Song Er who was fast asleep. The guardian beast was inside the room as well, staring at the woman on Tserriednich's arms.
Moving his aura further in a span of thirty meters in diameter, Mark could feel the prince's aura menacingly flowing beyond his own room. However, upon feeling Mark's aura touching him, Tserriednich seemed to calm down a bit. A few minutes later, the prince had fallen asleep.
Mark smiled. Tserriednich was truly succeeding. A few more sessions with Dul Song Er and the prince would be ready for the Bedding Ceremony with Lady Hana. Soon enough, Mark's help won't even be needed anymore.
He felt quite sad at the prospect. He was quite jealous of the Lady Ye as well, even more than his jealousy towards the Lady Hana. At least with Hana, Tserriednich was obviously disinterested and only wanted to obey his father who arranged the marriage. But Dul Song Er was different. The prince chose her, wanted her. And now –
Mark shook his head hard. Just because the Crown Prince allowed a mere servant access to his sacred body didn't mean that he had any right to have the prince all to himself. He was nothing but a servant. He knew that his grand title as Chief Lord of the Bedchamber was nothing more than ceremonial position for a trusted personal assistant.
He sighed forlornly and went back to his own cabin to sleep. He had no right to feel sad. He must sleep this all away.
As he closed his eyes, he was only startled with his phone suddenly ringing again.
"Hey Mark." As usual, it was the prince. Mark could see with his en that the prince was still on the bed but the sleeping Dul Song Er was no longer clinging to him.
"Your Royal Highness. What's the matter?" Mark mentally chastised himself for sounding so sleepy.
"Well, I was about to ask you that. What's the matter?"
Mark was quite surprised at that. "Forgive me but I don't quite understand what you mean, my prince."
Tserriednich sighed. "Your aura seems a bit off. I can't sleep because of it."
There was irritation in the prince's voice and Mark knew that apologies would mean nothing to him right now. He attempted to solve the problem. "Should I remove my en?"
"No, you idiot." Tserriednich seemed more irritated than before but also confused like Mark was. "Just – just make it right again."
Mark scratched his head, not knowing what to make of the prince's words. Then it dawned on him. Tserriednich couldn't sleep because Mark was feeling lonely.
Huh?
That realization made Mark laugh a bit. He could feel Tserriednich frowning but he only shook his head at it. The feeling of Tserriednich's aura catching all of the emotions from Mark's aura was just so ridiculous but filled Mark with all sorts of emotions that made him feel quite tickled with happiness.
Just as Mark's mood began to feel lighter, Tserriednich began to relax as well.
"Is it alright now, my prince?"
Tserriednich was still frowning but less angry. "Yes, it's alright now. Don't do that again, you understand?"
Mark decided to be more honest. "I cannot guarantee it, Your Royal Highness, but I will do my best."
"You're so annoying."
When the prince ended their conversation, Mark embraced his phone. It was quite embarrassing that a grown man would act like a lovesick girl but he couldn't care less. No one else knew about him being this stupid anyway, no one else but His Royal Highness who felt every single one of Mark's emotions each time their auras touched.
Three cabins away, he could feel Tserriednich sighing at the absurdity of it before going back to sleep. Mark smiled and closed his eyes. He wouldn't have it any other way.
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tbc
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